In the evening, Josh quietly sipped the coffee made by his butler, Francesca, while waiting for the beacon to activate.
As the wait ended, the first thing that appeared on the screen was a messy and ordinary room. Normally, people would think this was the home of a rough man.
However, a small blue camisole in the corner of the sofa suggested something else.
Sure enough, the next moment, a young white woman with short, messy hair and sleepy eyes appeared on the screen.
"What is this thing? A dimensional trading system? Damn, I must have drunk too much!" she muttered, scratching her messy hair, looking confused.
"I can tell," Josh couldn't help but twitch his lips after hearing her words. How much did she even drink?
"I think I'll just go back to sleep…" she mumbled, lying back down. The call was automatically cut off.
Maybe I should just find a way to get rid of this host, Josh thought, rolling his eyes at the disconnected screen.
But just as Josh was about to give up on this call, the woman sent another request.
Josh curled his lips and didn't answer right away. He waited for a minute or two.
"Sorry, sorry! I drank too much at a party last night! And this… dimensional trading system… it's just too strange. It's hard for anyone to accept it right away, right?" The woman smiled awkwardly and apologized to Josh.
"That's true. So, I'll accept your apology. Why don't you introduce yourself first, miss?" Josh nodded, not making a fuss about it.
"I'm Jill Valentine, and I'm in Raccoon City, USA," the woman said, fixing her hair and becoming more serious. "Sir, is all the information in this trading system real? So, you're not from the same world as me?"
"That's right. I'm also American and live on Earth, but we are not from the same world. Also, it's 1959 here. I'm guessing it's not the same year on your side! Oh, by the way, my name is Josh Kahn. Just call me Josh," Josh said with a nod. Even though the United Kingdom of Austria had been established and his daughter had become queen, Josh's American citizenship had not been canceled. He now had dual citizenship, so calling himself American wasn't wrong.
Jill Valentine? Raccoon City? No wonder Josh found her familiar.
That world was pretty famous.
Though, it didn't mean much to Josh anymore.
But then again, if something like the T-virus ended up in Yuri's hands, or mixed with alien genes, or combined with magic, who knew what kind of trouble it could cause?
Hmm… that actually sounded kind of interesting!
Josh couldn't help but smile at his own wild thoughts.
"1959? Wow, that's really surprising! But if that's the case, what can we even trade?" As a police officer, Jill wasn't good at doing business. She couldn't think of anything from 1959 that would be worth trading with her in 2002.
"You don't really think you're my only trading partner, do you? And what makes you think my world is just an ordinary one?" Josh chuckled after catching the meaning behind her words.
"Alright then, Josh. Do you have anything to recommend for me? Honestly, I'm just a poor cop. Even if you have something good, I might not be able to afford it," Jill scratched her head again, snapping out of her excitement about talking to someone from another world.
Although American cops earned decent salaries, Jill, like many Americans, barely had any savings. She was single and spent most of what she earned.
She didn't have anything valuable at home either. That was the reality.
"Heh, you're mistaken. As the holder of dimensional trading system in your world, anything you can get your hands on can be used for trade. Laws mean nothing to us here," Josh explained with a smile, shaking his head.
"Uh… well, that sounds a bit strange to me," Jill shrugged.
"As for what I can sell you, there's too much to count. Let me show you some," Josh said casually, swiping his hand. A long list of items instantly appeared on Jill's screen.
"Are these things… real? This super soldier serum, is it the same as the one from that Captain America comic? And this robot… is it Ultron? And this armor… Iron Man? Hmm, it doesn't quite look like it. Oh my God! Laser swords, star destroyers… and even Tsar Bomba… I must be dreaming!" Seeing the items and their descriptions, Jill was completely shocked. Her mouth hung wide open in disbelief.
"Don't worry. The system guarantees everything is real," Josh said proudly.
"But… I can't afford any of these!" Jill wasn't like most women. She had no interest in fancy things—she preferred weapons and gear. Looking at the list, she was very tempted, but these items looked way too expensive. As a poor cop, what could she possibly trade?
Was she supposed to trade her little M9 pistol?
That guy would probably send her a Tsar Bomba in return… the kind that explodes!
"What time is it on your side right now?" Josh suddenly asked.
"It's 2002. Why?" Jill replied, confused.
"Be more specific," Josh raised his eyebrow.
"It's September 22, 2002, in the afternoon," Jill answered again.
September 22? What a coincidence!
Josh was very familiar with the Resident Evil movies in his previous life, and he clearly remembered the timeline of the story.
In both the ending of the first film and the start of the second, there was a newspaper that briefly flashed on screen. Some sharp-eyed fans had caught the date—September 24, 2002—which was when the Raccoon City outbreak happened.
And the events of the first movie took place two days earlier, which was exactly the night of September 22.
"…Very good," Josh nodded, then picked out a few items from his inventory and sent them to Jill through the trading system.
He gave her a general super soldier serum, a full-body vibranium-scale combat suit, a pair of thermal energy blades, and a pair of plasma pistols.
"Uh, Josh, what do you mean by this?" Jill was confused as she looked at the items in the trade window.
She definitely wanted these things, but she also knew that nothing in this world came free.
"Because you're about to face huge trouble. Without these, there's a high chance you'll die. Also, I need you to help me test something," Josh said calmly.
"So this is basically a job? And these items are my payment? Josh, I think you got it wrong—I'm a police officer, not a mercenary," Jill replied, feeling helpless.
"You can think of it as a job if you want. But I suggest you accept it and follow my instructions—unless you want to watch your world be destroyed," Josh said seriously.
"What? The world… destroyed?" Jill couldn't believe it.
"Yes, you'd better act fast! I know you must be very confused, but instead of listening to me explain everything now, wouldn't it be better for you to put on this gear and see it for yourself? After all, how you act later is up to you, right?" Josh said with a shrug.
Jill thought for a moment and agreed. If Josh's request was too extreme, she could simply refuse. Worst case, they'd never contact each other again.
And either way, she'd still get the serum and the gear, so she wouldn't lose anything.
Without hesitation, she followed Josh's instructions and injected the super soldier serum right away.
"Whew… this feels awful!" After going through a long, painful process, Jill stood up, covered in sweat.
Although the serum had been refined by Yuri and other top scientists to remove most side effects, the strengthening process itself was still very tough—like thousands of ants biting every inch of her body.
However, Jill didn't make a sound throughout the whole process, enduring it with sheer willpower—showing just how strong-minded she was.
After recovering, Jill went to grab a beer from her fridge to calm herself down—but she accidentally ripped the fridge door right off.
"…So strong!" Jill muttered after staring at the fridge door for a few seconds.
From then on, she became much more careful, avoiding more accidents.
After calming down a bit, she apologized to Josh, saying she needed to shower and change, then temporarily cut off the call.
Josh looked slightly disappointed. They were in different worlds—what was she afraid of? She wasn't nearly as open as Daenerys… No wonder Daenerys became a queen, and Jill was just a cop.
About half an hour later, the call reconnected. Jill had now fully transformed into a futuristic warrior.
"So, what's next?" Jill asked.
"Find Spencer Parks and Alice Parks. I believe it won't be hard for you as a police officer to locate their address. Just be careful—they're very special people," Josh said.
"Got it." Jill immediately called her most trusted colleague and easily looked up their address using the police database.
"So, am I supposed to go there now?" Jill asked after getting the address.
"Of course," Josh nodded.
Jill then took off her helmet, threw on a jacket to hide her combat gear, and drove straight to the house—a villa in the suburbs.
About ten minutes later, she arrived.
It was now late afternoon, and the sun was beginning to set.
"What should I do now?" Jill asked as she hid in the woods nearby, using an infrared scope to watch the villa.
"Just wait," Josh replied casually.
"…Fine." Jill sighed and waited.
"Wow, look at that—there's a beautiful woman coming out of the shower. She looks a bit confused. I bet this isn't what you wanted me to see, right?" Jill teased after spotting Alice, who had just woken up and looked lost.
"She's important—but not yet. Keep watching," Josh said.
"What exactly am I waiting for?" Jill asked, getting impatient. Her willpower was strong, but her patience wasn't great.
"The helicopter," Josh said casually.
The moment he finished speaking, Jill heard the sound of helicopter blades approaching. Then, she saw a tactical team fast-roping down and storming into the villa.
"Damn, are those military guys?" Jill asked, shocked.
As an important member of Raccoon City's SWAT team, she hadn't heard about any police operation today.
And the way those men moved—so skilled—she immediately thought of the military.
"No, they're just Umbrella Corporation's private security force, sent to handle special situations," Josh said calmly.
"Umbrella? Why are they here?" Jill asked in confusion. She wasn't surprised that such a powerful company had its own private army—in fact, SWAT itself was funded by Umbrella—but she was still puzzled.
"Because that villa is actually the entrance to one of Umbrella's secret underground labs. A few hours ago, a biological crisis broke out down there," Josh explained.
"…You know way too much. Is this the world-ending thing you mentioned earlier?" Jill's face turned serious.
"How I know doesn't matter. What you need to think about now is how to reduce the damage from this disaster," Josh said with a faint smile.
"Can't we stop it?" Jill asked anxiously.
"There's no way to stop it—unless you can launch the entire Raccoon City into space. Otherwise, even if you nuke it, it'll only make the virus spread faster," Josh replied with a strange look.
In the movie, Umbrella nuked Raccoon City, which caused the virus to spread into the atmosphere and quickly infect the world.
Of course, that had been Umbrella's plan all along.
"Damn! So what should I do?" Jill panicked. Josh could stay calm because this wasn't his world—but she couldn't.
Josh didn't answer right away. He was thinking about whether he should tell Jill about Umbrella's deepest secret—the hidden facility beneath the Hive, where their top leaders were in cryosleep, along with the cure.
"Hurry up and tell me!" Jill shouted, getting even more anxious. Right now, all her hopes were pinned on Josh.
"Follow them. There's still a tiny chance to stop it—but it depends on how far you can go," Josh finally said.
Though Jill didn't fully understand, she knew she had no choice. She immediately snuck toward the villa.
By the time she got inside, the Umbrella team had already captured Alice and Matt and were heading down the tunnel to the Hive.
(End of Chapter)
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