"No way. Who knows if you'll go back on your word and not give me the item after I go to meet your boss with you."
This statement made him difficult again. He wanted Vikram to go with him first because he was afraid that he would take the item and then go back on his word.
Even though he was indeed quite afraid of failing the task of his unpredictable boss, he couldn't be so foolish as to give away an item for free.
As for why not just use the Survival Platform's video communication to let Vikram meet his boss?
Since it was a meeting, his boss naturally wanted to play some tricks. What tricks could be played in a video meeting?
"How about this, you just tell me how much this thing costs, and I'll buy it now."
"We can talk about meeting later, but the meeting place cannot be your shelter. How about that?"
"If it works for you, let's trade now. If not... then I'll just have to go somewhere else."
