From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Noon.

New York.

As the most populous city on the east coast of the United States, it is also one of the nation’s economic, commercial, and entertainment centers. It seems prosperous, but it used to be in dire straits.

The gap between the rich and the poor is huge, the cost of living is extremely high, and you may be threatened by violence and criminals at any time. As a result, the quality of life of ordinary people is actually not high. Although it looks glamorous on the outside, it is actually full of hardships.

Manhattan, where the Empire State Building is located, and Brooklyn, which is less than five kilometers away in a straight line, should be a typical comparison of the huge gap between rich and poor. However, today's Brooklyn is lined with a large number of new buildings, and there are still huge buildings under construction. .

Get a closer look.

It can be seen that there are many old-fashioned Hex robots in the open space, assisting workers with welding, assembly and other matters. The construction site supervisors wearing white safety helmets have the red "Atlas" symbol printed on their clothing. Λ" logo.

It seems that Atlas contracted these projects, which not only created more job opportunities for Brooklyn, but also significantly increased income and consumption levels here.

In addition, the streets of Brooklyn are covered with holographic technology, and the infrastructure is becoming more complete and advanced. Van-like "objects" even flash in the sky from time to time?

This is almost like the shadow of the rebuilt New Accra in every aspect, except that the number of patrol drones is smaller.

In comparison, Manhattan's development appears to be relatively sluggish.

However, even if Atlas provides a large number of jobs, not everyone is willing to spend five days a week and seven hours a day at work, even if these jobs have comprehensive medical pension insurance and three times the overtime. Subsidies and holiday benefits, and the average hourly wage reaching $12, don't help matters.

You must know that according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage in various cities published in early 1999 was 6.89$ in New York.

No matter how you look at it or calculate it, working well is one of the best ways to improve your life.

But there are always a small number of people who want to take a different approach, either enjoying happiness for the rest of their lives at once, or directly reincarnating and sending them to the next life.

now.

In a remote neighborhood of Brooklyn, inside a local New York bank branch;

The holographic screen displays advertisements for various financial products and recommends drinks and food from partners, while the large central screen displays the status of each counter and the real-time time:

Monday, February 1, 1999, 10:35.

Maybe it was because of Monday, or because Atlas paid wages on time on the first of every month, so the lobby of this bank was crowded with people waiting to handle business, and even the ATM machines were full.

Although today's society has entered the Internet age, and functions such as mobile payment and online shopping have provided great convenience to life, there are still many people who like to convert their wages transferred to bank cards into cash.

The Internet has made it possible to consume and shop without leaving home. For example, on Atlas Taobao.com, some accessories and clothing from private merchants are marked with the words "Only 9.99$! Free shipping and gifts! Come and buy!" Attract everyone to consume.

A one-time consumption of 9.99$ has no impact. If it is three, four, or even more times, all that seems to disappear is just numbers. It requires deliberate inner calculation, or checking the balance in the bank program to realize that this month's consumption is a bit biased. high.

On the other hand, traditional cash is actually held in the hand, and it does lose convenience. However, every consumption has an intuitive feeling, and each has its own pros and cons. People need to find the balance between the two that suits them best.

It is also during this period that many banks reserve large amounts of cash, providing an opportunity for some criminals.

On the street outside, an old white van speeded up instantly after passing the intersection and rushed to the door of the bank.

Chi——!

When the van came to a sudden stop, four armed men wearing black hoods, gas masks, and black clothing immediately poured out of the van.

!

The two security guards who noticed something unusual in the van from the very beginning saw four 5.56mm caliber gun muzzles as soon as they put their hands on the holsters at their waists.

The leading militant warned in a dull tone: "We only seek wealth, not life. If you don't want to die, throw away the gun and lie down on the ground!"

"."

Hearing this, the two security guards frowned and hesitated for a while, and finally chose to hand over their guns and surrender, lying on the ground with their heads in their hands.

"Handcuffs! Let's go."

Two security guards had their wrists tied with plastic ties and were dragged into the bank lobby by armed men.

"Everybody put your hands up! Get down! Get down!"

"ah"

"Shut up! Or we will feed you a bullet! This is not a joke! Get down!"

Before the crowd had time to scream, the scene was taken over by militants who quickly took advantage of the situation. However, before that, the bank staff had already pressed the silent alarm.

The leader of the militants, who seemed to have known this for a long time, looked at his watch and reminded loudly: "There are still three minutes! Speed!"

Three armed men forcibly tied everyone up and guarded the scene.

The leader first punched the bank manager in the face, leaving obvious injuries, and then threatened the other person to open the safe door to the vault. Everything went as expected.

After all, they had already figured out the patrol routes and intervals of the police in the vicinity, and calculated the time from the triggering of the silent alarm to the response of the police station and the dispatch of police to the bank.

Well-equipped and well-trained, this is obviously a professional robber, not an ordinary "zero-dollar purchase".

"Uh! Uh!!"

Suddenly, a middle-aged uncle in a plaid shirt began to have difficulty breathing and his body twitched uncontrollably.

And his hands were tied, so the uncle couldn't take out the medicine bottle in his pocket at all, and the twitching and struggling became more and more intense.

"Beep-! Beep-!"

The smart watch worn by the uncle on his left hand also sounded a piercing alarm.

"What's going on!" The leader rushed back to the hall after hearing the noise.

"Maybe a heart attack?" A robber shrugged, indicating that they were "innocent".

"Forget it! The mission continues!" The leader didn't ask any more questions and turned back to the vault.

Soon, the uncle who failed to take the medicine in time fainted completely.

The leader successfully dragged two black travel bags full of cash back to the hall and reminded again: "Forty-five seconds!"

Before he finished speaking, a robber quickly stepped forward to help the leader carry their "trophies".

But when they were about to leave the hall.

"Bang! Bang!"

There were large-caliber gunshots on the street outside, and they hit the engine of the van responsible for picking them up, cutting off their retreat.

"Da! Da!"

The driver got off the car to check, and was also shot by a rifle, his arms and legs were broken, and he fell on the street and wailed.

"Enemy attack! Be alert!"

Seeing this sudden situation, the leader shouted loudly and threw away the travel bag, preparing to pick up the 5.56 rifle hanging in front of him.

The other robbers were also ready to fight to the death. Anyway, they had hostages and sufficient ammunition, and there would always be a way to create an escape opportunity.

Bang-bang-bang!

However, before the four robbers could separate and find shelter, eight "armor-piercing bullets" penetrated the bank wall one after another and hit their shoulders accurately.

Snap--Snap--!

However, before the "armor-piercing bullets" were about to penetrate their shoulders, they exploded at a low intensity.

Buzz--!

The four robbers, whose arms became soft, fell to the ground. They could only hear a ringing in their ears and felt their shoulders were too numb. They did not react for a while to what happened.

The rapid loss of blood made their consciousness begin to fade.

! ! !

The people lying on the ground with their hands tied were shocked. Some of them were so full and frightened that they vomited the breakfast in their stomachs.

Outside the street at this moment.

A flying boat painted mainly white with red embellishments and with the doors on both sides opened was hovering around the bank at a low altitude, assisting the "soldiers" holding AMWS guns to deal with all the robbers.

However, these soldiers equipped with mechanical skeletons were wearing medical green combat uniforms, and their armor and face-covering helmets were also medical white, just like the "special forces" affiliated with the hospital.

After confirming that the threat was lifted, the flying boat hovered in front of the main entrance of the bank.

Then, five soldiers carrying professional equipment jumped out of the cabin and rushed to the bank lobby.

Two of them went straight to the uncle who had a heart attack and started rescue work.

"Lost consciousness, no normal breathing and pulse, prepare CPR (cardiac resuscitation)."

"Three, two, one! Check the situation."

"Heartbeat and breathing have recovered, prepare to transfer the customer."

In less than half a minute, the two soldiers put on a breathing mask for the uncle and transferred him to a folding stretcher.

The other three soldiers maintained and controlled the order at the scene and checked whether the hostages had suffered physical injuries.

But while cutting the straps, the soldiers also warned all the hostages not to move around at will. On the one hand, they were worried that it would interfere with the rescue work of their teammates, and on the other hand, everyone present except them might be a suspect.

Therefore, all hostages were forbidden to leave the scene before the police arrived.

As for the four robbers and the driver, they were also given simple treatment by the soldiers and put on universal metal handcuffs, unable to move at all.

Next, the flying boat slowly landed, allowing the soldiers to carry the uncle into the cabin, and then under the watchful eyes of the police officers who had already arrived, the flying boat took off again and gradually disappeared into the sky.

"Wow" a police officer joked to his partner beside him: "Atlas's medical team, this name is really confusing!"

"Don't dawdle, deal with the scene quickly, and report to the dispatch desk that there are five bastards here who need treatment."

"Yes."

The police officer stopped slacking off and hurried to assist his partner and more colleagues who arrived at the scene.

The full name of Atlas's medical team is Atlas - Emergency Medical Response Team (EMRT), or medical team.

Each member is a former professional special police officer with an emergency medical qualification certificate. At the same time, the medical team also has the power to intervene in police communications.

If a violent crime in New York City involves a customer who has purchased Atlas Health Insurance, especially when the customer is in critical condition and ordinary police officers cannot arrive in time, the medical team will have temporary law enforcement authority and directly handle the crime on behalf of the police.

And Atlas customers only need to insure themselves or their family for more than $1,200 and $1,800 each year to enjoy the emergency treatment services of the medical team.

However, the prerequisite for activating the service is to purchase a smart bracelet worth $39.99 to detect the customer's physical condition at any time. After all, the medical team also needs to guard against false alarms.

The reason why Atlas can enjoy a certain degree of law enforcement power in New York is that the newly elected mayor of New York in 1998 signed a number of agreements with Atlas to improve medical links and create jobs.

If we dig deeper into the reasons, it is that Water International went bankrupt at the end of 1996. As of today, February 1, 1999, nearly two and a half years have passed.

However, the impact of this incident has directly led to a reshuffle of the American political arena, and it has also been caught in a "bloody storm" for nearly two and a half years.

The Internet not only provides convenient shopping without leaving home, but also builds a multi-channel news dissemination, allowing people to instantly learn a lot of information.

So "Soldier Boy" exposed the politicians who had been coerced and bribed by Vought International through the Internet, as well as the politicians' private actions and true appearance.

This directly caused public outrage in the United States. The West Coast cities led by Seattle and Los Angeles were more radical, while the southern cities led by Houston and Dallas spontaneously formed a militia of more than 30,000 people to confront the National Guard and the federal government.

You should know that the southern United States has always been at odds with the federal government, and now there is a devastating scandal exposed, causing the southern people to completely lose their trust in the federal government.

But Atlas, or Sui Yang, the leader behind the scenes, took advantage of the most turbulent period to support a group of "political new stars" and began to actively participate in the elections of mayors, governors, and congressmen in the United States in 1997-1998.

More than half of the "rising stars" successfully won the votes and support of the people and stood out from the election with their excellent political achievements and clean backgrounds in their early years, in sharp contrast to the politicians caught in the scandal.

Of course, the reason why Atlas was able to win this election is inseparable from its strong financial resources and the secret operation of the Hunter Company.

Some of the actual political newcomers are investigators planted by Sui Yang in the early years of the government, and some are real politicians who were caught by Atlas.

The turmoil in the political situation in the United States has further expanded Atlas's control over the main universe. As for other military-industrial complexes, whether in the open or in the dark, they cannot match the current Atlas and are not on the same level at all.