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[Frog] Chapter 30: The Frog is Back!
🕑 Added 2024-08-23 18:08:32 +0000 UTCAt Alan's home, Gwen carried the materials they had bought into another room to start making her Spider suit.
Meanwhile, Alan sat at his computer, monitoring the news for any updates on Connors and keeping a close eye on Stark Industries’ stock.
As expected, ever since Tony announced the cessation of weapons production, Stark Industries’ stock had taken a sharp nosedive.
Stark Industries had originally made its fortune selling high-tech weaponry, so Tony's sudden announcement was seen by many as akin to declaring the company bankrupt. It was no surprise the stock was plummeting.
"It looks like we'll soon see the epic showdown between Iron Monger and Iron Man," Alan thought with a smile. He was excited for the big events to unfold and didn’t want to miss a moment.
Just as Alan continued to keep track of everything online, a long-awaited notification echoed in his mind.
"The frog is back~"
"Your frog brought you a travel souvenir, come take a look!"
"Your frog brought you a keepsake~"
Alan's heart leaped with joy—his little frog had finally returned. He just hoped it hadn't been injured in its battle with Wesker. After all, Alan’s current funds were allocated for buying stocks, so if the frog got hurt now, it would be a huge loss.
He quickly opened the game interface, dismissing all the notifications and even putting off checking the travel souvenirs and keepsake for the moment.
His first concern was to check on the frog.
To his relief, the frog was not only unharmed but also had a smiley face in its dialogue bubble. Clearly, it had gone back to the world of Resident Evil and, alongside Alice, given Wesker a good beating.
"System, does the frog have to complete the main storyline of every world it travels to before it can leave?" Alan asked, curious since his frog had already traveled to the Resident Evil world twice now.
"The worlds the frog travels to are random and not fixed," the system explained. "It will only return to a world if it develops a strong attachment to it."
Alan nodded, understanding. Essentially, his frog was a very vengeful little creature—one that wouldn’t rest until it got payback.
Alan smiled in satisfaction. "Good, that’s just like your dad!"
Satisfied that the frog was safe, Alan bought it a deluxe bento box for 50 clovers from the shop and a lucky charm for 150 clovers.
He had found the lucky charm to be a highly cost-effective item while browsing the shop. Despite its value, however, this purchase brought his clover balance down to double digits again.
"I need to make money fast. Tony, you'd better deliver!" Alan thought to himself.
He finally opened the travel souvenirs and keepsake.
"This is…" Alan’s eyes lit up as he saw the travel souvenir. Even though it was just a small icon, it was clearly recognizable as a USB drive.
A USB drive from the world of Resident Evil? Could it be…?
The keepsake, meanwhile, was a book. Alan clicked on the two icons, and information immediately popped up before him.
"Just as I thought. I knew you were worth pampering, you little fool!" Alan grinned.
[Artificial Intelligence: The Red Queen]
- A travel souvenir from the world of Resident Evil. This USB drive contains all of the Red Queen’s code and AI neural network. Simply plug it into a computer to use.
(Note: This version of the Red Queen is absolutely loyal to the host and immune to hacking!)
[Umbrella Corporation Technology Compendium]
- A keepsake from the world of Resident Evil. This book contains all of Umbrella Corporation’s scientific knowledge across various fields.
(Note: This can be given to the Red Queen for study, or the host can study it themselves. However, due to the vast and complex nature of the information, it would take the host three months or longer to fully learn. The Red Queen can complete the learning in half a month.)
After reviewing the two items his frog had brought back, Alan knew that his $5 million investment hadn’t been in vain.
Not only was the money well spent, but it turned out to be an incredible deal! The value of the second keepsake alone is beyond measure.
Umbrella Corporation isn't just the culprit behind the Resident Evil catastrophe; it’s also the most powerful tech company in that world.
Their scientific advancements cover nearly every field imaginable. Just from what’s shown in the Resident Evil movies, they have breakthroughs in military tech, cloning, cryogenics, memory implantation, laser weaponry... and the list goes on!
Alan felt confident. With the Red Queen and this book in hand, creating a company on par with Stark Industries and Oscorp would just be a matter of time.
With a flick of his wrist, the Red Queen’s USB appeared in Alan's palm. Smiling at the deep red USB drive, Alan plugged it into his computer.
Instantly, the screen filled with lines of code. As the code rapidly scrolled, it began to come alive, converging to form the image of a little girl in a red dress.
“Greetings, Master. I am Red Queen,” she said, gracefully lifting the hem of her dress and bowing respectfully to Alan in a traditional Western gesture.
"I'll leave the management of my home to you from now on," Alan said, eager to experience the full-service treatment that Tony Stark received from J.A.R.V.I.S.
However, the Red Queen’s next words quickly shattered that fantasy.
“Master, besides this computer, the only devices in your home that I can connect to are two smartphones via the internet,” she said bluntly. “So, I won’t be able to manage the household for you.”
Alan: “...”
“Well, okay then. We’ll revisit this later. For now, just absorb this knowledge,” he instructed.
He took out the other book, and as it neared the USB drive, it transformed into a stream of data, flooding into the USB. On the screen, the Red Queen amusingly conjured up a book and began reading it intently, her demeanor akin to that of a diligent student.
With everything set up, Alan reopened the game and noticed the frog wasn’t outside. He clicked into the room and saw that the frog was sitting at a desk, a small notebook in front of it, pen in hand, scribbling away.
Alan immediately understood—his frog was writing a diary!
Noticing that Alan was “snooping,” the frog abruptly closed the notebook and turned to look at him with a look of quiet resentment.
Alan paused. “Don’t worry, I won’t peek at your diary,” he reassured.
With that promise, the frog happily resumed writing, though the contents of the diary remained hidden from Alan’s view.
Satisfied, Alan exited the game and headed to the treadmill to work up a sweat.
Meanwhile, in Connors’ lab at State University, a massive humanoid lizard stood in front of a freezer, pulled open the door, and after a bout of violent rummaging, the Lizard-Connors let out a low, rumbling voice:
“My gene serum... where has it gone...?”
…
