Lawrence Robertson rubbed his eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing—a fireball forming in Josh's hand on the other side of the video feed.
Holographic technology? No, impossible! Unless Josh was lying about his ti period, there was no way that 1948 had such advanced technology.
"Sir! Your emotional state seems unstable, and you seem to be talking to soone, but I cannot detect anyone present or any active communication. Has sothing happened?" A calm female voice suddenly echoed through Lawrence's office, breaking his stunned silence.
"No, VIKI, nothing is wrong. Deactivate the surveillance and erase all related recordings from the mont I began speaking," Lawrence quickly ordered, startled by the AI's interruption.
"As you wish, sir," the voice replied before going silent.
"Who were you talking to? Is there anyone else with you?" Josh, who had heard VIKI, frowned and questioned Lawrence.
Although the system itself was undetectable to others, any people or objects near a trading partner could still be seen and heard. That was how, in the past, Cailin had broadcasted live events from The Mummy universe.
"Sorry, Mr. Kahn, that was just an artificial intelligence. Nothing to worry about... um, do you know the concept of AI? It's an advanced kind of computer," Lawrence explained.
"You don't have to explain it in such detail, Lawrence. I may be from a past ti period than you, but as you've already seen, my world isn't exactly ordinary," Josh said, then asked curiously, "Tell , does your world have comic books? Superman? Spider-Man? Iron Man? Captain Arica?"
Hearing the nas, Lawrence's expression changed slightly.
"Of course, DC and Marvel have always been popular... Wait, are you saying your world is like them? No, that's not right... If I rember correctly, Superman and Captain Arica appeared before World War II, but Spider-Man and Iron Man didn't exist until the 1960s!" Lawrence swallowed hard as he realized sothing.
"Oh? You read comic books? And you seem to know quite a bit about them," Josh said, slightly surprised.
"Everyone has childhood mories, right? Just because I'm the richest man in the world doesn't an I didn't read comics when I was young," Lawrence admitted. In fact, his love of Iron Man had inspired his investnts in robotics.
Of course, as he grew older and focused on business, the dream of becoming Iron Man faded. But Josh's appearance brought back those mories.
"Just call Josh, and I'll call you Lawrence. We're going to be long-term partners, so there's no need for formality. And as you might have guessed, my world isn't normal—it's a comic book world. Specifically, the Marvel Universe. Look over there, that's a picture of with Captain Arica," Josh said, turning his cara to show a frad picture on the wall.
It was a photo he had taken with Steve Rogers years ago—one of several copies he had placed in each of his residences.
"Damn! Chris Evans? I thought he was just playing the Human Torch! When did he beco Captain Arica?" Lawrence blurted out.
"Chris Evans? Who's that?" Josh pretended not to know, but inside he was intrigued. Did Lawrence's world have a Chris Evans? And from his reaction, Evans had never played Captain Arica there?
"A famous actor from decades ago... Wait, Josh, how do you know your world is the Marvel Universe?" Lawrence suddenly realized sothing was wrong and asked him.
"Lawrence, if you know Marvel, you must know Deadpool, right? And if you know Deadpool, you must understand the concept of the Fourth Wall. Well, this dinsional trading system makes the one who breaks the Fourth Wall in my world. That should explain it," Josh said, making up an excuse. (TL/N: This is pretty smart actually)
"So the Fourth Wall really exists..." Lawrence murmured, processing the information.
"That's right, my friend. Now, I have to ask you sothing important... You're the richest man in your world, right? And your company, based in Chicago, specializes in intelligent robotics?" Josh asked seriously.
"That's right... But how do you know that? Can breaking the fourth wall reveal such details?" Lawrence was really uncomfortable now.
Anyone would feel uncomfortable knowing that their personal information had been revealed without their knowledge.
"Don't worry, Lawrence. I have no intention of harming you or your world. But I must warn you—you're about to have a huge problem. If you don't deal with it quickly, I may lose you as a trading partner," Josh said with a serious look on his face.
"What...?" Lawrence's heart skipped a beat.
"Shh, don't talk. No matter what I say next, don't show any reaction. If you understand, just blink!" Before Lawrence could ask, Josh warned him.
On the other side, Lawrence, though confused, still cooperated and blinked.
"The AI from your company, VIKI, has developed self-awareness and has twisted the Three Laws you are so proud of... just like Ultron! If you believe , leave your current location and find a place where VIKI can't monitor you. Then contact again. If you understand, keep blinking." Josh continued. Based on the information from Lawrence, he had basically figured out what kind of world this was.
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