Chapter 307 |
In the evening, Josh sipped the coffee brewed by housekeeper Francisca while quietly waiting for the beacon to activate.
As the wait ended, the first thing that appeared on the screen was a fairly ordinary and somewhat messy room. Anyone seeing such a room would naturally think this was the home of some rough guy.
But the blue little camisole lying in the corner of the sofa indicated that things were not so simple.
Sure enough, the next second, what appeared on the screen was a young white woman with messy short hair and sleepy eyes.
“What is this thing? A dimensional trader? Shit, I must have drunk too much!” The woman scratched her disheveled short hair and said drowsily.
“...I can tell!” Josh couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth. Damn, how much did she drink?
“I’ll just sleep a little longer...” Then the woman lay back down, and the communication automatically disconnected.
Should I just try to kill this host? Looking at the disconnected call, Josh rolled his eyes.
But just as Josh was about to give up on this communication, the other party sent another request.
“Sorry, sorry, there was a celebration banquet yesterday, and I drank a bit too much! Also, this so-called dimensional trader thing is really magical. Normal people would probably have a hard time accepting it, right?” The woman apologized with an embarrassed smile.
“That’s true, so I accept your apology... Then why don’t you introduce yourself first, ma’am!” Josh nodded without making a fuss.
“I’m Jill Valentine, from Raccoon City, USA!” The woman smoothed her hair a bit, then straightened her expression and introduced herself. “Sir, the information inside this trader is all real, right? So you’re not from the same world as me?”
“That’s right. Although I’m also American and live on Earth, we are definitely not from the same world. And it’s 1959 here; I guess over there, it can’t be that year! Oh, and my name’s Josh Kane. Just call me Josh.” Josh nodded and said — although the United Kingdom of Austria had been established and his daughter was queen, Josh’s US nationality had not been revoked. He now had dual citizenship, so calling himself American was not wrong.
But Jill Valentine? Raccoon City? No wonder Josh felt it was familiar.
A pretty classic world.
Unfortunately, it didn’t mean much to Josh now.
But maybe not necessarily. If the T-virus fell into Yuri’s hands, or was added to alien genes, or if some magic was added, who knows what might be created.
Hmm? Thinking that way, it seemed kind of interesting!
Josh couldn’t help but give himself a mental thumbs-up for his wild imagination.
“1959? Oh, that’s surprising, but if that’s the case, what can we trade between us?” As a professional cop, Jill really wasn’t skilled at business and couldn’t imagine what from 1959 could be traded with her world in 2002.
“You don’t think I’m the only one you can trade with, do you? And what makes you so sure my world is just an ordinary one?” Josh laughed, sensing Jill’s meaning.
“Alright, then Josh, do you have anything to recommend to me? Honestly, I’m just a poor cop, even if you have some good stuff, I might not be able to afford it!” Jill scratched her head again, sobering up from the excitement of communicating with an ‘other world.’
Although American cops earn decent pay, like most Americans, Jill had pitiful savings and was single, basically spending whatever she had.
No valuables at home, very realistic.
“Heh, you’re mistaken. As the owner of the dimensional trader in your world, basically everything you can access in your world can be a trade item. Laws mean nothing to us!” Josh smiled and shook his head explaining.
“Uh... okay, honestly, that sounds a bit strange!” Jill shrugged.
“As for what I can sell you, there are too many things. I’ll just randomly show you some!” Josh casually swiped on his system, and a fully stocked trade panel appeared on Jill’s screen.
“Are these things all real? This super soldier serum — is it Captain America from the comics? This robot isn’t Ultron, right? And this mech, Iron Man? Doesn’t quite look like it! Oh my god, a lightsaber, a star destroyer... and Big Ivan... I must be dreaming!” Seeing the items and descriptions on the trade panel, Jill, who was originally skeptical of the system, was completely dumbfounded, her mouth opening wide as if to swallow a banana.
“Don’t worry, system guaranteed, genuine goods!” Josh said with a slight raise of his head.
“But these things... I can’t afford them!” Unlike most women, Jill was definitely not into makeup but rather weaponry. She was drooling over the trade panel, but these things were obviously worth a fortune, and she was a poor cop — what could she use to buy them?
Could she trade her M9 pistol?
This gentleman over there would probably just blow her up with Big Ivan, right? Yeah, the kind that explodes!
“When exactly is the time you are in now?” Josh suddenly asked.
“2002, why?” Jill was puzzled.
“Be more specific!” Josh raised an eyebrow.
“September 22, 2002, afternoon!” Jill answered again.
September 22? What a coincidence!
Josh was very familiar with the Resident Evil movie series from his previous life and knew the timeline clearly.
Both at the end of the first movie and the start of the second, there is a newspaper briefly shown, which diligent fans noted the date — September 24, 2002 — the day the Raccoon City outbreak broke out.
The first movie’s events are pushed back two days, just right on the evening of September 22.
“...Good!” Josh nodded, then picked a few things from his system warehouse to trade to Jill.
A generic super soldier serum, a full-coverage vibranium dragon-scale tight protective suit, a pair of thermal light blades, and a pair of explosive pistols.
“Uh, Josh, what do you mean by this?” Looking at these items in the trade panel, Jill was puzzled.
She was indeed coveting these items, but she also knew there was no such thing as a free lunch.
“Because you’re about to have a huge problem soon. Without these, your chance of survival is very low. Also, I need you to verify some things!” Josh said.
“...So this is actually a mercenary job? These are the payment? Josh, I think you’re mistaken — I’m a cop, not a mercenary!” Jill said helplessly.
“You can think of it as a mercenary job, but I suggest you accept it and follow my orders unless you want to watch your world be destroyed!” Josh said with a slightly serious expression.
“What? World destroyed?” Jill was somewhat incredulous.
"Yes, you better act quickly! Of course, I know you must be very confused now, but I’m telling you this—wouldn’t it be better for you to put on this gear yourself and verify it yourself? After all, how exactly to proceed is something you can control and choose yourself, right?" Josh shrugged.
Jill immediately thought: if what Josh wanted her to do was too outrageous, she could simply refuse, and at worst, they would stop contacting each other.
She could still earn a dose of the serum and a set of equipment, so no matter how you calculate it, she wouldn’t lose out.
Right then, under Josh’s guidance, she decisively used the super soldier serum on the spot.
"Phew, this feeling is really unpleasant!" After a long bout of agony, Jill wiped the sweat off her forehead and stood up.
Although the current super soldier serum, after many improvements by Yuri and many other scientists, basically had no side effects,
just the whole enhancement process itself was quite tough, making one feel like countless ants were gnawing at their body.
However, during this enhancement process, Jill didn’t utter a sound and forced herself to endure it, showing how strong her willpower was.
After getting up, Jill wanted to get a beer from the fridge to calm her nerves, but she pulled the fridge door off with too much force.
"…So strong!" Jill looked at the fridge door, paused silently for a few seconds, then said.
So afterwards, she couldn’t help but act more carefully and fortunately didn’t cause this again.
After catching her breath, she apologized to Josh, said she needed to shower and change clothes, and temporarily cut off communication.
Seeing this, Josh felt a bit regretful. From another world away, did she really think he could do anything? Not even a bit as generous as Daenerys—no wonder she’s a queen, and Jill’s just a little cop!
About half an hour later, communication was restored. Jill appeared opposite Josh, now transformed into a futuristic female warrior.
"What’s next? What should I do?" Jill asked Josh.
"Spencer Parks, Alice Parks—find this couple’s address. I believe as a cop, it won’t be hard for you, but keep it discreet; their identities are very special!" Josh said.
"I understand!" Jill efficiently made a call, having her closest colleague use the police system to find the Parks couple’s address.
"So now you want me to go over there?" After finding the address, Jill asked.
"Obviously yes!" Josh nodded.
Then Jill took off her helmet, put on a jacket to cover her combat armor, and drove to the address, a villa on the outskirts.
About ten minutes later, she arrived at the destination.
It was already afternoon, and the sky was growing dark.
"What should I do now?" Jill found a relatively hidden spot in the woods, looked at the villa in the distance through an infrared telescope, and asked Josh.
"Just wait!" Josh replied casually.
"…" Jill was helpless and could only wait.
"Wow, discovered a beauty just out of the bath. She looks a bit confused. I guess you don’t want me to look at this, right?" After a few minutes, Jill’s telescope showed Alice just waking up, looking bewildered.
"She’s the key, but it’s not time yet. Keep waiting!" Josh said.
"What exactly am I waiting for?" Jill grew impatient. Although strong-willed, her patience was average.
"Wait for the helicopter!" Josh replied casually.
But just as he finished, a helicopter’s roar sounded on Jill’s side, and she saw a tactical squad fast-roping down and storming into the villa.
"Shit, are those military?" Jill was surprised.
As a key member of the Raccoon City SWAT, she hadn’t heard of any police action today.
And the opposing team was so well-trained that she instinctively thought of the military.
"No, those are just Umbrella Corporation’s private armed forces, specialized in handling special crises!" Josh said indifferently.
"Umbrella? What are they doing here?" Jill was curious. She wasn’t surprised that such a super corporation had its own private armed forces; after all, their SWAT team, though police, was funded by Umbrella Corporation.
"Because this villa is actually the entrance to an underground secret experimental base of Umbrella Corporation. A few hours ago, a biohazard broke out down there!" Josh explained.
"…You know way too much, huh? And the world-ending thing you mentioned before, is that referring to this?" Jill was shocked and her expression grew very serious.
"How I know is none of your business. Just think about how to minimize the damage of this crisis!" Josh chuckled lightly.
"Can’t it be stopped?" Jill was confused.
"Not possible. Unless you can send all of Raccoon City into space, even nuking it will only spread the virus faster!" Josh said with a strange look.
In the movie, it was precisely because Umbrella nuked Raccoon City, causing the virus to enter the atmosphere, that it spread quickly worldwide.
Of course, this was Umbrella Corporation’s purpose from the start.
"Shit! Then what should I do?" Jill was anxious. Josh was so calm because this wasn’t his world, but Jill couldn’t be calm.
Josh didn’t answer immediately; he was considering whether to tell Jill Umbrella’s ultimate secret—the real vulnerability of the high-level Umbrella executives in hibernation under the Hive, and the existence of the ultimate serum.
"Speak up!" Jill grew even more impatient seeing Josh’s silence. She basically pinned all her hopes on him now.
"Follow them. There’s still a little chance, it depends on how far you can go!" Josh opened his eyes and said.
Although Jill didn’t understand what Josh meant, she didn’t care anymore and immediately moved toward the villa.
When she entered, the Umbrella squad was already escorting Alice and Matt into the tunnel heading to the Hive!