After spending over a decade in the Wizarding World in the blink of an eye, returning to Raccoon City felt like only a few months had passed since the last stadium incident.
This was Asa first time experiencing such a long time span while crossing between two worlds. Perhaps in the future, in some world, he might spend hundreds of years before even considering going to another world.
An ordinary morning.
The snow in 1998 arrived earlier than usual.
The snow in Raccoon City fell to the ground in a thin layer, only managing to appear for an instant before vanishing from the world, leaving the road damp for a moment.
The finale of the stadium incident had finally come to an end.
The bigwigs on Capitol Hill went through countless proposals, meetings, discussions on TV, and attacks in the newspapers. Seeing the stench of corpses becoming increasingly severe, which had already seriously affected the normal lives of Raccoon City residents, the relevant health departments finally decided to define these people's status as "brain dead"—which is to say, they were roughly, definitively dead.
With the matter settled, the President lowered the flag at the White House to mourn, commemorated the people who had died, and defined this incident as a national tragedy.
During the speech, Mr. President was heartbroken and choked up several times.
Meanwhile, National Security Advisor Mr. Simmons also looked solemn, claiming during his speech that if it weren't for Mr. President's command from the White House and the efforts of a rising star in the pharmaceutical industry, the consequences could have been irreversible.
Fortunately, the United States branch of the Umbrella Corporation had been destroyed, which was a good result.
Here, the Security Advisor mentioned the name of Xinghai Pharmaceutical.
The United States had defined the nature of the matter, so this page could be turned.
Everyone could go back to kidnapping the President's daughter, controlling small African nations, and so on. Let's wrap this up.
To mention the Raccoon City incident again would be considered having ulterior motives.
Consequently, in Raccoon City, the military's blockade of the stadium was finally lifted.
When Asa drove by, the front square of the stadium was filled with white flowers representing remembrance.
The police car driving in front of Asa suddenly flashed its lights, signaling Asa to pull over.
"What's going on?"
As a law-abiding citizen of Raccoon City, Asa obediently pulled over, turned off the engine, parked, pulled the handbrake, and considering that the dark night didn't give him black skin, Asa didn't bother putting his hands behind his head and lying on the steering wheel.
A person got out of the police car in front—an old acquaintance.
Crew cut, blonde hair, rugged features, and a not-so-obvious cleft chin.
Leon S. Kennedy.
However, he looked listless, with an expression that screamed, "My salary is really low."
After the stadium incident, the merits and demerits of the S.T.A.R.S. Team were not yet to be discussed.
Because Officer Leon had acted without authorization and participated in the stadium incident, he was actually disciplined and was still just an ordinary patrol officer at the Raccoon City Police Department, with no hope of promotion.
Leon walked over and knocked on Asa car window. After Asa rolled it down, he tapped the glass:
"Sir, I had you pull over for an inspection because your window tint is too dark."
"Hello, Officer Leon, we meet again."
Inside the car, Asa extended his right hand.
"You know me?" Leon was somewhat surprised.
"Of course, the heroic officer from the stadium incident. Jill Valentine told me about you."
"You are?"
Leon looked at Asa black hair and dark eyes, thought of the news from a few months ago, and suddenly realized:
"You're Jill Valentine's boyfriend?"
A few months ago, a rumor spread through the Raccoon City Police Department: the star policewoman of the S.T.A.R.S. Team, the dream girl of so many, had successfully started a relationship with an Asian young man.
There were rumors that Jill Valentine's boyfriend was also the boss of Xinghai Pharmaceutical and Watchdog Security, and that Annette had saved the whole city with the help of this boss.
Moreover, he was incredibly handsome, looking like a prince from a foreign land.
With no hope left in this lifetime, who knows how many people cried their hearts out and got drunk late at night after hearing this news.
Leon was not among them, but he was aware of this rumor.
"I can hardly be called heroic."
Leon shook his head. After the Raccoon City stadium incident ended and the dust settled, Leon's heart, which longed for justice to not be buried, remained unsatisfied.
He returned to his daily duties, and the stadium incident felt like a dream.
Who was the mastermind behind the release of the biochemical virus, what was that huge monster, and who was the mysterious girl?
Who triggered this infection, and what did they want?
Some puzzles remained unsolved to this day, and some were only known from the news.
"An anticlimax."
That was Leon's evaluation of the operation afterward. He had participated in it, but it felt like he hadn't; adding him or removing him made no difference at all.
This made the young man, who aspired to be a good police officer and still had fantasies about his career, feel deeply disappointed, to the point where he was somewhat absent-minded during his daily patrols.
"You have the talent for it, Officer Kennedy."
Asa smiled and said, "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Alright, sir, let me check your car."
"People in Raccoon City are panicking; I hope you can understand."
After some checking, nothing was found at the time.
Before leaving, Asa handed Leon a business card:
"Officer Kennedy, if you have any new thoughts about your career development, you are welcome to call this number!"
Leon returned to his car and looked at the business card in his hand.
Why did that Asian boy's attitude just now feel a bit strange, as if he had met an old acquaintance?
But Leon was certain he had never seen him before.
With such a distinct and outstanding appearance, if he were holding a Dry Martini, he wouldn't have been able to forget him.
Maybe Ms. Valentine told her boyfriend about him?
Leon quickly put this question behind him; the routine of a patrol officer was quite busy.
...
Asa wasn't wandering near the stadium for no reason; in fact, he was there to pick someone up: Rebecca Chambers.
A month ago, she suddenly seemed to have figured things out, and the baby-faced medic decided to give up martial arts for medicine, making the same choice as she did on her original timeline.
Originally, Rebecca Chambers was going to continue her studies at a biological laboratory in a certain university, but Asa, having received the news from Jill Valentine, intercepted her without hesitation and sent the laboratory work invitation to Rebecca Chambers in the name of Annette. He had heard that Annette was Rebecca Chambers's idol.
After Zombrex saved most of the public.
This time, to show his sincerity, Asa came personally to pick up this genius girl to visit the laboratory.
After circling the residential area, Rebecca Chambers was standing on the side of the road. She looked exactly the same as when Asa saw her ten years ago: short brown hair, a petite face, only the clothes on her body had been changed to winter attire, and a red scarf tied around her neck gave her an even purer temperament.
The car stopped slowly in front of Rebecca Chambers, and Asa rolled down the window:
"We meet again, Officer."
"You are Asa?"