One night in February 1944, Josh sat alone in the study of his Chicago residence, quietly waiting.
Today was the day the new plane beacon would refresh, so he had specifically arranged for the Blackwater Gang's resupply to fall on this day, returning to Chicago.
The goal was to avoid all interference.
As time ticked by, the countdown on the system finally hit zero.
"Deploy the beacon immediately!" Seeing the new plane beacon refresh, Josh couldn't wait to give the order.
"Plane beacon deployed, searching for a matching user…" Following Josh's command, the beacon was launched.
Under Josh's expectant gaze, more than three minutes passed before a prompt indicating a successful match appeared on the system screen.
The screen changed, showing the interior of a cave.
Wait… a cave? Josh's heart sank slightly.
Because in his opinion, the environment in which the beacon's host lived could somewhat reflect the potential of the trading partner.
Just like Daenerys, the first person matched—she was in a fallen state, living in a Dothraki tent.
Fortunately, Daenerys herself was extraordinary and quickly got out of her predicament.
But even she had a tent at the time, and now… a cave?
And when the host appeared, Josh felt even worse.
Because the other party was a bald wild man wearing a patchwork of various unknown furs… Did he get matched with someone from a primitive tribe?
"Huh? What's this? Plane trading system? Interesting, very interesting—it can actually connect and facilitate trade between people from different universes. Fascinating. I wonder what level of civilization could invent such a powerful thing. Truly awe-inspiring." Just as Josh was lamenting his bad luck, the other party spoke.
And that first sentence made Josh freeze.
The beacon gives hosts some basic information when matched.
But that information only helps the host understand the function of the trading device—knowing the "what" but not the "why." It doesn't actually teach them anything.
But now the other party was throwing around conceptual terms like "universe" and "civilization"—clearly not something a primitive person could say, even with the system's real-time translation.
Just from those two words, the person couldn't possibly be a primitive.
Could it be that, like Daenerys, this person had fallen into hardship for some reason and ended up like this?
"Hello, I'm Josh Kane, a plane merchant. May I ask how I should address you?" Josh asked tentatively.
"Hello, Mr. Kahn. I'm Nonolias Yuri. You can just call me Yuri. As for my identity…hmm, scientist? Politician? Military strategist? Hahaha, forget it, I'm just a fallen man now." Yuri smiled and shook his head.
Nonolias Yuri? Yuri?
At first, Josh didn't think much of it, but when he saw the bald head, a flash of inspiration hit him—could this be that Yuri? Only… his appearance…
"Judging by your expression, it seems like you know me?" The other party saw the change in Josh's expression and immediately guessed his thoughts.
"You're Yuri? The former operations minister of the Soviet Bear Nation, who later founded the Yuri Nation—that Yuri?" Josh didn't hide it, swallowed hard, and asked with some disbelief.
"Oh? You really know me? Could it be that we're from the same world? Or does your world have a counterpart similar to me?" Hearing Josh's question, Yuri was also surprised.
"No, no, no. While our worlds share many similarities, my world doesn't have you. And the timeline of my world should be far earlier than yours—it's only 1944 now. But I did previously meet another chosen one from your world, someone from the Rising Sun Empire. I learned about you from him. Unfortunately, he was unlucky and died before he could even trade with me." Josh's mind spun rapidly, and he instantly came up with a reason, shifting the blame to the Japanese guy from the same Red Alert world.
He was absolutely thrilled now.
This wasn't bad luck—this was a jackpot!
Like winning the lottery's grand prize!
This was Yuri. Yuri! The one from Red Alert who could be compared to Einstein—no, even more badass than Einstein!
"The Rising Sun Empire? Then you really were unlucky. That tiny nation only barely survived between the Allies and the Soviets. Even if he had lived, he probably wouldn't have had anything good to trade with you." Yuri sneered when he heard the name.
In his time, the Rising Sun Empire was just a colony of the Allies and a frontline in the standoff between the Allies and the Soviets.
"Mr. Yuri is absolutely right. However…Mr. Yuri, your current situation… doesn't seem very good either?" Josh asked tentatively.
He already had a guess about Yuri's situation because in Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge, there were three possible endings for Yuri.
The first was that only his brain remained, stored in the Kremlin's basement.
The second was that he was locked in Einstein's psychic prison.
The third—which clearly resembled the current Yuri—was that he was sent to the Cretaceous period by the time machine, fate unknown.
"Ahem, that Rising Sun Empire guy didn't tell you my outcome?" Yuri asked. But even as he asked, with his intelligence, it wasn't hard to guess—whether Soviet or Allied, Yuri's fate would have been classified, especially since the time machine was a top-secret project.
"Uh, right, he only said you disappeared. No official details were released." Josh feigned ignorance.
"Alright then. My current situation is indeed quite bad. I'm alone, far from civilization. The era I'm in is the Cretaceous. But I think…that might be good news for you!" Yuri stroked his chin as he spoke.
"Oh? How so?" Josh asked curiously.
"Do you recognize this?" Yuri held up a piece of silvery-white metal.
"Uh…this is?" Josh regretfully admitted his ignorance.
"This is iridium! Metal iridium!" Yuri sighed. "Don't tell me you don't even know what iridium is?"