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Ch. 5 Truth Game
🕑 Added 2023-08-27 06:39:02 +0000 UTCCaptain America's appearance was like a spark that ignited the prelude to the superhero era. Spider-Woman and the Fantastic Four were just some of the more well-known entities among them. Others, such as Daredevil, Iron Fist, Ghost Rider, Blade, and other superheroes, made their appearances one after another.
Since there were superheroes, it was only natural that super-villains would emerge as well. However, compared to the influx of superheroes, the number of super-villains was relatively fewer for the time being.
The reason was simple: these super-villains not only had to contend with the attacks of the superheroes, but also with official forces and the treachery of their peers. In the world of super-villains, being enemies with colleagues was even more pronounced.
For instance, there was only one Earth, but there were more than one super-villain who wanted to conquer and destroy it.
So, the issue of who would conquer and destroy Earth became an internal problem that the super-villains needed to address.
"I'll have someone investigate the anonymous call to see if we can find any useful information from it."
"However, do you need to explain your behavior from yesterday now?"
Although he already knew Diana's origins, Russell had never disclosed this fact.
Now that he had a chance to openly inquire about how Diana ended up in this world, he wouldn't easily let go of this opportunity.
Upon hearing Russell's inquiry, Diana put down the knife and fork in her hand, a complex expression appearing on her lovely face.
After several seconds of silence, she began to speak slowly, "I... am not from this world."
During the time that followed, Diana did not hide anything and told her story in great detail.
As Diana confessed her origins, Russell compared the information he knew in his mind. While he knew that Diana was from the neighboring DC world, he didn't know which universe of the neighboring DC world she hailed from.
In terms of the number of parallel universes, the Marvel Universe, with its infinite parallel universes, was far more abundant than DC's mere 52 parallel universes.
However, even with that in mind, it didn't necessarily mean that the Diana before him was the same Wonder Woman he knew of.
Diana's explanation was swift.
In less than ten minutes, Russell had a general understanding of Diana's life experiences.
In simple terms, Diana's past experiences weren't too different from what he remembered. She grew up on Themyscira, was brought to the human world during World War I, and ultimately defeated the instigator of the war, the god of war Ares.
In 1984, she defeated Cheetah and resolved the "Dreamstone" crisis.
Later on, she met Superman and Batman, and the three of them joined forces to defeat the destruction of Day.
Up to that point, Diana's life experiences matched Russell's memories.
However, after Superman's death, Diana left human society and returned to Themyscira. A few years later, after dealing with a devil attempting to invade the human world, she was struck by a red lightning bolt.
When she woke up, she had already been transported to this world.
In terms of time, she had crossed over a year before Russell.
After Diana finished, Russell furrowed his brows slightly.
Her method of crossing over was somewhat clichéd!
Seeing Russell's furrowed brows, a hint of worry appeared on Diana's face.
Although Russell possessed superhuman abilities, Diana still thought that her interdimensional origin might be too fantastical for him to accept.
She didn't know how Russell would perceive this information, and she was even concerned that he might distance himself from her because of it.
Despite Diana projecting an aura of a strong and assertive individual, at the end of the day, she was a woman with certain common vulnerabilities shared by females.
Just as she looked at Russell with concern, his furrowed brows gradually relaxed, and he spoke slowly, "Um... actually, I'm the same as you. I'm not from this world either."
Diana didn't hide the fact that she was from the DC Universe, so Russell decided to openly reveal his own status as a traveler.
Trust worked both ways!
Since Diana had chosen to trust him, Russell naturally reciprocated.
After more than two years of cohabitation, he had learned enough about the kind of person Diana was.
"You're also from another world?" Diana asked incredulously.
"Yes! But the way I came to this world is quite different from yours. I didn't get struck by lightning; I went to sleep and woke up here," Russell quickly explained.
This time, Diana furrowed her brows.
"We need to talk again about everything we've discussed before. Everything!"
On that morning, neither Russell nor Diana went to work. Instead, they started a truth game within the apartment.
Russell was mostly honest about everything, except for the existence of the system and the fact that Marvel and DC were merely comic books and movies on his original Earth.
In comparison, Diana was more forthcoming.
She disclosed everything, including details about her life in the world before she was here.
She disclosed everything, including details about her peculiar sensation.
After the truth game ended, Russell and Diana, both wanderers of the world, engaged in deep discussions about the origins of life and the meaning of their lives.
Noon arrived.
After having lunch in the apartment, they left separately, each driving to their respective workplaces.
Diana's destination was the American Museum of Natural History, located to the west of Central Park in New York.
Russell's destination was the Octopus Detective Agency in Hell's Kitchen.
Both the American Museum of Natural History and Hell's Kitchen were in Manhattan, not far from each other, with a distance of less than 3 kilometers.
Russell chose to open his agency in Hell's Kitchen because it was conveniently close to the museum where Diana worked, making it easy for him to meet her for lunch.
Moreover, Hell's Kitchen was famous in the Marvel Universe as a hub for newcomers who had crossed over from other worlds.
Although newcomers came to dislike Hell's Kitchen as their starting point, Russell still chose it as the foundation of his career.
Of course, his choice was also related to Hell's Kitchen's well-maintained security environment.
Being a detective on the surface but having multiple identities as an underground world member in the shadows, Hell's Kitchen's mixed society was better suited for him to apply his professional expertise.
The Octopus Detective Agency.
Arriving at the agency, which had remained closed for several days, Russell opened the windows to let in some fresh air. He then picked up the various commission letters left at the door and began reviewing them one by one.
Although he hadn't been a private detective for as long as he had been an assassin, he had already established a significant reputation in the detective field.
Speaking of which, he couldn't help but thank the Japanese elementary school student who brought a death aura with them. Wherever they went, murder cases occurred.
Before his crossover, the knowledge he gained from that Japanese elementary student was mostly useless trivia he would never use in his daily life.
However, after crossing into this world, that previously useless knowledge became a significant asset for him to earn a living.
Due to his decent reputation as a detective, he had formed a good working relationship with the NYPD, becoming a consultant for the New York Police Department.
