A company director?
And he owned fifty percent of the company?
Wow. Incredible. Truly awe-inspiring.
That, roughly speaking, was the reaction on Malick and Stephanie’s faces.
Neither of them bought it for a second.
Who are you trying to fool?
You’re a company director? You own half the company? With the way you live, how many times has this company gone bankrupt already?
"I’d like to point out that my current poverty is an extremely convincing disguise."
Evenson caught the skepticism in their expressions and immediately knew what they were thinking.
The problem was, he wasn’t lying.
He really did own fifty percent of Umbrella.
The Eredar Twins split the remaining fifty percent between them.
There had been a reason for that arrangement. Aside from the obvious problem that dividing a hundred percent among three people was annoyingly inconvenient, the twins agreed on practically everything.
If the three of them had held equal shares, Evenson would have been outvoted into oblivion.
Unfortunately, looking at the expressions on Malick and Stephanie’s faces, it seemed that clever corporate planning had accomplished absolutely nothing.
As for his dividends, the Eredar Twins had already explained the situation.
Umbrella was still in its early stages and wasn’t generating profits yet, so there was nothing to distribute. Once the company was fully operational and dividends started coming in, they would hold Evenson’s share for him because his current position made receiving the money personally inconvenient.
Then, once everything was settled, they’d return it to him.
That assurance had made Evenson feel secure for quite some time.
Until one day, he suddenly remembered something.
Parents said the exact same thing when they took a child’s New Year’s money.
We’ll keep it safe for you until you’re older.
And then...
Well.
Let’s just say the money had a habit of entering another dimension.
"Who could possibly imagine that someone like me is actually one of Umbrella’s largest shareholders?" Evenson declared with absolute conviction.
"That much is true."
Stephanie looked him up and down again.
"No normal person would ever guess it."
She paused.
"Actually, you’re incredibly convincing. You look exactly like what you’re pretending to be."
Her expression turned thoughtful.
"No. That’s not quite right. You look even more convincing than the real thing would."
Lady, that one hurt.
Evenson swallowed the pain with the dignity of a man refusing to cry in front of strangers.
"That’s why my disguise works so well."
Malick, meanwhile, was genuinely impressed.
There was something to be said for enduring hardship in pursuit of a greater goal.
He had no idea exactly how large Umbrella had become, but it certainly wasn’t a small organization. Someone controlling fifty percent of its shares was almost certainly wealthier than Malick himself.
Possibly wealthy enough to qualify as one of the richest people on Earth.
Yet Evenson had apparently been willing to abandon all of those material comforts and live a miserable life for years.
No wonder he’d managed to infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D. without Nick Fury’s suspicions ever being raised.
No wonder Fury trusted him so deeply.
Malick couldn’t help admiring that level of commitment.
"That’s certainly... unexpected."
There was still one question bothering him.
"How did you acquire that much equity?"
Malick narrowed his eyes.
"As far as I know, Umbrella specializes in biotechnology. Yet you’re a practitioner of magic. Those two things don’t exactly seem related."
Fifty percent of a major corporation was no trivial matter.
Evenson’s age was one concern, but there was a much larger contradiction in Malick’s mind.
Magic and biotechnology were fundamentally different fields.
So what exactly was Umbrella?
Was it secretly a magical organization hiding behind the facade of a biotechnology company?
Or was Evenson’s so-called magic actually some form of supernatural ability created through advanced biological engineering?
"My shares were inherited."
Evenson answered without hesitation.
"Umbrella’s founding was closely tied to my organization. As the successor to that legacy, I naturally inherited a substantial portion of the company’s ownership."
Malick listened carefully.
"As for the difference between my magic and Umbrella’s biotechnology, there’s no real contradiction."
Evenson spoke casually, as though the answer were obvious.
"Using magic to alter living organisms has existed for an extremely long time. Ever since modern science emerged, my organization has been trying to bring magic and science together."
He gave a small shrug.
"It hasn’t been easy. We’ve hit plenty of dead ends, and progress in many areas has been disappointing."
"But biotechnology?"
"That’s where we’ve made a breakthrough."
"I see..."
Malick fell silent.
So that was the connection.
Science and magic.
Two seemingly incompatible systems being pushed toward the same destination.
Could the ultimate truth of the world really be the complete fusion of the two?
The possibility was fascinating.
And potentially terrifying.
"Cooperation..."
Malick finally nodded.
"I don’t see a problem with it."
Now that he had a clearer understanding of Evenson’s identity and authority within Umbrella, most of his concerns had disappeared.
Working with a mysterious and powerful organization like Umbrella was certainly preferable to becoming its enemy.
There was another consideration, too.
Malick glanced toward the black stone sitting nearby.
His family’s thousand-year mission might very well require Umbrella’s assistance.
If so, having them as allies could prove invaluable.
"But cooperation requires sincerity," Malick said. "Neither side can expect the other to trust them without putting something on the table."
"Sincerity?"
Evenson rose immediately.
"Easy."
He reached across the table and grabbed the glass case containing the black stone.
"This is my sincerity."
With that, he dramatically slammed the case onto the floor.
Clang.
Nothing happened.
The case bounced once, rolled forward another couple of feet, and stopped.
Not a single piece of glass broke.
Evenson stared at it.
He had intended to smash the case and use the black stone inside it to activate a teleportation effect.
Instead, he’d apparently just discovered that the box was built like a tank.
Malick and Stephanie stared at him.
Evenson stared at the box.
Then, refusing to surrender the moment, he kicked it.
Hard.
He immediately recoiled, clutching his foot.
The case remained completely intact.
Malick’s expression became difficult to describe.
"That case is made of bulletproof glass."
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Malick’s mind had already gone through an emotional roller coaster.
When Evenson had suddenly picked up the black stone, he’d been ecstatic. He’d thought Evenson was finally going to help his family fulfill its ancient mission.
Then the box had refused to break.
And Evenson had kicked it.
It was difficult to watch.
"You could’ve mentioned that earlier..."
Evenson grimaced.
He crouched down and examined the case more carefully.
After running his fingers along the edges, he discovered a hidden latch.
He flicked it open.
One side of the case swung outward.
Evenson removed the black stone, placed it carefully on the floor, and stood.
Then he straightened his clothes, summoned every scrap of dignity he had left, and returned to the commanding posture he’d been aiming for in the first place.
He pointed toward the stone.
"This is my sincerity."
Stephanie immediately covered her eyes with one hand and looked away.
This should have been an incredibly dramatic moment.
Somehow, it had become painful to witness.
Still, she felt obligated to clarify one thing.
"We’re grateful that you’re willing to help our family fulfill its mission. But that stone is only a sample. The actual portal is somewhere else."
"For you, it’s a sample."
Evenson summoned his staff.
He slammed its tip against the floor.
A demonic magic circle erupted beneath the stone.
Green fel energy began to seep from his fingertips, swirling around the black stone before slowly sinking into it.
"But for me..."
Evenson’s eyes narrowed.
"This is a portal."
The stone suddenly liquefied.
Blackness flowed outward like molten glass, lifting from the floor and rising into the air.
It spread into a thin, dark membrane that wrapped around Evenson’s entire body.
Then it contracted.
In an instant, the membrane collapsed back into the solid form of the black stone.
Evenson vanished.
The room fell silent.
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