AHumanMadeMOFO
patreon
Chapter 52: Yuri!
🕑 Added 2024-11-28 15:26:51 +0000 UTCOn a night in February 1944, Josh sat alone in the study of his Chicago residence, waiting quietly.
Today marked the refresh of the Dimensional Beacon. For this reason, he had deliberately scheduled his supply run for the Blackwater Gang to align with the day, ensuring he could return to Chicago and avoid any distractions.
As the seconds ticked by, the countdown on the system finally reached zero.
"Deploy the beacon immediately!" As soon as the new Dimensional Beacon refreshed, Josh wasted no time issuing the command.
"The Dimensional Beacon has been deployed, searching for a suitable user..." Following Josh's instructions, the beacon began its deployment.
Under his expectant gaze, the system screen displayed a notification indicating the matching process had completed.
As the screen transitioned to a new view, it revealed the interior of a cave.
Wait... a cave? Josh's heart sank slightly.
From his experience, the living environment of the beacon's host often provided clues about their potential. For example, Daenerys, the first person matched, had been in a state of misfortune, living in a Dothraki tent. While she had been exceptional enough to overcome her circumstances, at least she’d had a tent. But now… a cave?
When the host finally appeared, Josh's heart dropped even further.
Before him stood a bald, wild-looking man clad in an assortment of crudely sewn-together animal pelts. Could this really be some primitive tribesman?
"Hmm? What's this? A Dimensional Trading System? Fascinating, truly fascinating. A device capable of enabling communication and transactions between different universes—what an astonishing invention! I can’t imagine what level of civilization could create something so incredible," the man said, breaking the silence.
This speech stopped Josh in his tracks.
When the Dimensional Beacon matches a host, it performs a basic information transfer. This transfer simply conveys the purpose of the device, a superficial understanding without any deeper knowledge.
Yet the terms universe and civilization flowed effortlessly from this person’s mouth. These were not words a primitive man, no matter how intelligent, should casually use—even with the system's translation feature.
Just from these two words, it was clear this person was no mere primitive.
Was this individual, like Daenerys, another extraordinary figure merely down on their luck?
"Hello, I’m Josh Kahn, a Dimensional trader. May I ask how I should address you?" Josh inquired cautiously.
"Greetings, Mr. Kahn. I am Yuri. You may simply call me Yuri. As for my identity... hmm, a scientist? Politician? Military strategist? Hahaha, let’s just say I’m currently a man in exile," Yuri replied with a chuckle and a shake of his head.
Yuri? Yuri?
At first, Josh didn’t think much of it, but the bald head caught his attention, sparking a sudden realization. Could this be that Yuri? But his current appearance…
"You seem to recognize me," Yuri noted, catching Josh’s reaction.
"Are you the Yuri? Former Minister of Operations for the Soviet Union, and later the founder of Yuri’s Nation?" Josh asked, swallowing hard in disbelief.
"Oh? You do know me? Could it be that we come from the same world? Or perhaps your world has a similar counterpart to me?" Yuri asked with genuine curiosity.
"No, no. While there are many similarities between our worlds, my world doesn’t have someone like you. Additionally, the timeline in my world should be far earlier than yours—it’s currently only 1943. However, I previously encountered another individual selected from your world, someone from the Rising Sun Empire. I learned of your achievements through him, though sadly, his fate was unfortunate, and he perished before we could trade," Josh explained, his mind racing to fabricate a plausible story, ultimately pinning it on the Japanese Empire from Yuri’s universe.
He was practically ecstatic.
This was far from bad luck—it was the jackpot! The equivalent of winning the lottery's grand prize!
This was Yuri—the Yuri from Red Alert! A man who rivaled, no, surpassed Einstein in intellect!
"The Rising Sun Empire? Your luck must have been terrible. That insignificant nation merely survives between the Allied and Soviet powers. Even if their representative had lived, they likely wouldn’t have had anything worthwhile to trade," Yuri sneered at the mention of the Rising Sun Empire.
In his era, the Rising Sun Empire was little more than a colony of the Allies and a frontline in their confrontation with the Soviets.
"You're absolutely right, Mr. Yuri. However... your current situation doesn’t seem too favorable either," Josh ventured carefully.
In truth, Josh already had a theory about Yuri’s predicament.
The Red Alert 2 and Yuri’s Revenge storylines had three possible endings. First, Yuri is reduced to a mere brain, stored in a Kremlin basement. Second, He is imprisoned within Einstein’s Psychic Isolation Chamber. Third, He is sent to the Cretaceous period via a Chronosphere, his fate unknown.
From the looks of things, the third scenario seemed to fit best.
"Ahem. Didn’t that Rising Sun representative tell you my ultimate fate?" Yuri asked, though he suspected the truth. After all, both the Soviets and the Allies would likely keep such information classified, given the Chronosphere’s significance.
"Er… no. He only mentioned that you went missing and that the official records were vague about your whereabouts," Josh replied, feigning ignorance.
"Fair enough. My current situation is indeed dire. I am alone and far removed from any civilization. The era I’m in is the Cretaceous period. Still… perhaps this is good news for you," Yuri mused, stroking his chin.
"Oh? How so?" Josh asked curiously.
"Do you recognize this?" Yuri pulled out a silver, metallic object.
"Uh… and this is?" Josh asked, puzzled.
"This is Iridium! Iridium Metal!" Yuri declared, his voice tinged with amazement. "Surely you’ve heard of it?"
