"Of course." Fujino stood up and smiled. "Follow me. Today, Penguin Logistics has no other commissions besides ours at Umbrella, right?"
Texas nodded and said to Exusiai and Croissant beside her, "Let's go."
Leaving the office, the four people entered the elevator.
Inside the elevator, Croissant couldn't contain her curiosity and asked Fujino, "Boss, do you know how much our boss spent to customize weapons for us?"
Hearing Croissant's question, Texas and Exusiai also turned their attention over. They were equally interested in this topic, as customizing weapons at Umbrella meant that the more money spent, the better the quality of the resulting weapon.
Since it concerned the weapons they would be using later, they were naturally very concerned.
"Just one hundred million lungmen coin." Fujino said lightly. Following a ding, the elevator doors opened, signaling they had reached their destination.
"Three hundred forty-three."
Fujino stepped out of the elevator first, turned back, and smiled at the three astonished people inside: "Are you coming?"
Rhine Lab, the most watched company in Columbia, possesses the most cutting-edge Originium Technology.
The Rhine Lab Laboratory is a subordinate department of the Rhine Lab company, and one of the most capable departments within Rhine Lab.
The Rhine Lab Laboratory is located in Didi Bian, Columbia. Aside from the personnel of the Rhine Lab Laboratory, no one else in Columbia knows that there is a massive Experimental Base beneath their feet.
And at this moment, inside a laboratory deep within the Rhine Lab Laboratory, Saria, the Highest Director of the Rhine Lab Laboratory Defense Department, and Doctor Silence were standing in front of a screen. Both of their expressions were grim and somewhat gloomy.
Looking at the screen in front of them, the information displayed made their mood quite poor.
Finally, Saria was the first to speak. She composed herself and said to Silence, "We can't delay this any longer."
However, Saria's words were met only with Silence's Silence. Saria didn't mind. She shifted her gaze, looking through the High-Strength Glass behind the screen at the little girl lying on the hospital bed inside the room, her eyes closed.
"Ifrit's condition is far from optimistic. We must make a choice. I already had Ptilopsis cut off the laboratory's monitoring of this area previously, so they won't discover the situation here. So, Silence, what is your choice?"
This time, Silence did not remain silent. She looked up at Ifrit behind the glass: "I understand, but don't go to Umbrella."
Saria frowned and said coldly, "If not Umbrella, where do we go? At this stage, if we want to leave Rhine Lab, we can only rely on Umbrella's power, and only Umbrella's technology can alleviate or even treat Ifrit's condition!"
"Go to Rhodes Island!" Silence gave her answer. She turned back to Saria, meeting Saria's cold gaze without fear, and said, "Go to Rhodes Island. They might have the answer to Ifrit's problem there."
Saria's frown deepened. A trace of anger flared in her heart, but Saria suppressed it well and did not let it out. She knew exactly why Silence made this choice, but that was precisely why she felt angry. Yet, beneath the anger was helplessness. Silence undoubtedly loved Ifrit; their relationship was like that of mother and daughter—though not bound by blood, it was even stronger.
"What will you do if they don't have it?"
This time, Silence did not answer. She didn't know what to do herself.
Watching the silent Silence, Saria sighed, punching the solid laboratory wall to vent her anger. The reinforced wall instantly developed a small crater from Saria's furious strike.
Saria withdrew her fist, turned around, and walked toward the door.
"You take Ifrit to Rhodes Island. Ptilopsis and I will go to Umbrella to look for a way to treat Ifrit. If Rhodes Island doesn't find a solution to treat Ifrit, I will bring Ifrit back from Rhodes Island with Ptilopsis."
After speaking, Saria only heard the sound of the door closing. The entire room fell silent again, leaving Silence alone, staring blankly at Ifrit behind the glass, her lips slightly parted:
"Thank you."
The sound was like a mosquito's buzz, softly echoing in the room, but Saria, who had already left, could no longer hear it.
"Ifrit, I will save you and I will definitely cure you. Don't worry, we are leaving for Rhodes Island immediately. If there is no solution there, then—" Silence bit her lip, causing thin trickles of blood to seep out—"We will go to Umbrella. Even if I have to beg That Woman, I will save you!"
Uttering that sentence seemed to drain all of Silence's strength. She collapsed weakly onto the floor, her gaze never leaving Ifrit beyond the glass.
On the other side, in the Monitoring Room of the Rhine Lab Laboratory, three people were watching the scene of the laboratory where Silence was located on the screen.
The three people had heard every word Silence had just said.
Among these three was Saria, who had previously left the laboratory.
"This idiot!"
Saria punched the wall again. Accompanied by the sound, another crater was left on the sturdy surface.
The expressions of the other two changed slightly upon seeing this. The force of that punch was no joke; if it landed on their bodies, their small frames would lose half their lives. Although they knew Saria's strength was extraordinary—she was the Director of the Defense Department, a powerful individual capable of handling all kinds of emergencies—witnessing it firsthand still left them shaken.
Exhaling, Saria looked at the other two in the Monitoring Room. One of them, a girl with a deadpan expression, was Ptilopsis, whom Saria had mentioned earlier.
"Ptilopsis, you've made your choice."
"Data initialized." Ptilopsis replied in her mechanical manner. Those who knew her understood the meaning: she had chosen to follow Saria to Umbrella.
Saria nodded with satisfaction, then looked at the other person.
Mayer, also a researcher at Rhine Lab, possessed outstanding talent, but due to her personality and other factors, she was not highly regarded in the lab. However, she was a decent person and held feelings of disgust toward Rhine Lab's clandestine activities, which was one of the reasons Saria sought to recruit him.
"I'll go too. I've long wanted to take a look at Umbrella's technology." Mayer's eyes shone brightly.
"Since that's settled, let's depart now. We already scheduled our departure for Umbrella this afternoon, so no one should stop us. However, to prevent any unforeseen changes, we should leave early."
"Ptilopsis, contact Miss A2. I recall you got her number last time."
"Contact established. Miss A2 expressed surprise that Ptilopsis called her. Ptilopsis's mood is decreasing."
Saria had long grown accustomed to Ptilopsis's manner of speaking. Since contact was established, there were no major issues remaining.
"Say goodbye to this place. Mayer, inform Silence. We are leaving now!"
"Yes!"
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