American Comic Dimensional Trading Device

At this time, the local warlord armies in various parts of the empire who were still using old-fashioned Hanyang rifles, and even the main force of the empire, were completely insignificant in her eyes. She didn't care about the mere Shaanxi region at all.

And if it really is as Josie said, that they can awaken the Dragon Emperor and obtain the Fountain of Immortality... Chae Rim's gaze became even more fervent.

After ending her conversation with Cai Lin, Qiao Xi checked the time; it was already past six in the morning, and the sky was beginning to lighten.

Instead of going back to sleep, Josie went straight to the garden to practice the basics of gunfighting.

Although the Super Soldier Potion has been replicated, Josie has no intention of using it for the time being. At most, she keeps some Beast Transformation Potion in her system warehouse just in case.

After all, he is still young and is not in such a hurry for higher levels of power.

Moreover, while the Super Soldier Serum seems perfect, it's uncertain whether it will prevent him from accessing other levels of power in the future.

Therefore, with unlimited possibilities at her disposal, Josie doesn't want to "define" herself so early.

After practicing the basic gunfighting techniques a few times, Margot, covered in sweat, got up. Josie then took a shower, had breakfast with Margot and the children, and then went to the small airport next to the estate to catch a flight to work. Because it was still a rather cold early spring, their family was not in Chicago, but in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The job he's going to now isn't with the CIA—although he's the head of a department, he doesn't actually have many tasks that require his personal attention.

He's now heading to the Truman Launch Center, which Boeing built last year on Merritt Island, more than 100 kilometers from West Palm Beach—well, a very obvious act of flattery, but very effective.

Truman appears to be a very mild-mannered person on the surface, but once you get to know him, you'll find that he's actually a very reserved person.

The naming of this launch center played a significant role in Josh's ability to become a key figure in the formation of the CIA.

Of course, there is another very important reason, which is that in the original timeline, this launch site would have been named the Kennedy Space Center... but in this world, don't even think about it!

And right here at this launch center, the first launch vehicle manufactured by Boeing, Cupid 1, which was personally overseen and developed by Josh, is about to launch today. This launch is a full 10 years earlier than in Josh's original timeline.

However, Josie's actions could not really be considered forcing growth.

Because in the original timeline, only a few years after World War II, the United States already had a wealth of technological accumulation. However, because it possessed nuclear weapons and high-speed aircraft, it did not invest heavily in the aerospace industry, and as a result, the Soviet Union beat them to it.

The original spaceship was a satellite launched in October 1957. After the launch, then-President Eisenhower initiated the space program under pressure from domestic public opinion.

The first rocket was completed in December of that year, but the launch failed.

The second rocket was successfully launched on January 31.

The entire process took less than four months.

It would be impossible to do this without sufficient technological accumulation.

Josh realized this after acquiring Boeing and discovering the various related aerospace technologies Boeing possessed.

Although the day was ultimately brought forward by a full 10 years, the actual amount of manpower and resources consumed was not as great as Josie had imagined.

However, it was, after all, humanity's first satellite launch, and its significance was still very great.

Truman, Marshall, and a host of other prominent American figures will be in attendance.

Just as Josh arrived at the launch center, he received another message from the CIA.

Because of the importance of the launch center, Josie directly misused public resources, bringing it under the jurisdiction and protection of the CIA, and thus establishing a CIA headquarters there.

The information he received was that Peggy Carter had agreed to join the CIA.

"Really?" Upon hearing this news, Josie looked at Vito, who had delivered the message, with great surprise. He had only casually invited Carter, but he hadn't expected that the other party would actually agree.

However, it's also clear how much trouble Peggy Carter faced in the Strategic Scientific Corps over the past few months, which led her to abandon her feelings for Captain America, leave the Strategic Scientific Corps, and join the CIA instead.

“Yes, Ms. Carter is now in Langley, awaiting your appointment!” Vito shrugged.

"That's wonderful!" Josie nodded, somewhat surprised, but not flustered.

Instead, he immediately thought of another important piece of information and turned his gaze to Truman, who was not far away.

As the CIA's director and de facto controller, Josie greatly enhanced her access to various intelligence sources in the United States.

Not long ago, he had just seen a document of intelligence sent by the Ministry of the Army and accepted a mission to cooperate with the Ministry of the Army.

That is, the Army has made a breakthrough in its research on the blood left by Captain America and is preparing to start human experiments.

However, the subjects chosen by the Army were all Black people who had no personal rights in this era.

When Josie saw this mission, she understood that this was the origin of the forgotten Black Captain America.

This time, however, Josie is planning to involve Peggy Carter in the project as well.

Although the risks involved were enormous, Josie had read the "What If" series of short stories before her time travel and knew that there were many Captain Carter characters in many parallel worlds.

Therefore, compared to some other test subjects, Peggy Carter's suitability for the original Super Soldier Serum is theoretically the highest.

Moreover, Josie believed that even if Peggy Carter had the choice, she would definitely agree to join the project.

This woman's obsession with Captain America is absolutely beyond everyone's imagination.

So when an opportunity to replace Captain America and complete the mission is presented to her, she will absolutely not refuse it, even if the chance of success is extremely slim.

It would be quite interesting to have a Captain Carter who belongs to the CIA.

Chapter 163 Howard's Defeat

"Welcome to the CIA, Peggy!" The next morning, Josie met Peggy Carter, who had arrived early to report for duty, in Langley's office.

“Thank you, Josie. It’s great to work with you in the future. But, if it’s a bit presumptuous of me, I’d like to confirm whether your previous promise still stands.” Peggy Carter asked cautiously with a smile.

Although they were friends before, they would be boss and subordinate from now on. Peggy's experiences over the years, whether in MI5 or the Strategic Scientific Corps, were enough to make her cautious and prudent in the workplace.

“Of course it counts, but don’t rush. The nature of CIA work is different from MI5 and SSR; it’s more like MI6. Also, before you officially take up your post, there’s something very important I need to talk to you about.” Josie said, carefully closing the office door and drawing the blinds.

Although he didn't actually need to do this, since his people were everywhere in the CIA administration, he still had to put on a show in front of Peggy Carter.

"...What is it?" Seeing Josie acting so mysteriously, Carter became curious as well.

“Take a look at this!” Josie didn’t say much, but first gave Carter a pair of gloves before taking out a confidential document from the safe filing cabinet.

Seeing Josh's serious expression, Carter's face also turned solemn. He put on gloves before beginning to read the document.

Carter's expression changed drastically as he looked at the document, a surge of emotions including anger and sorrow welling up inside him.

"Why? Why do you have Steve's blood? And why do you dare use his blood for this kind of experiment?" Carter slammed the file on Josie's desk and demanded in a low voice. "He did so much for this country, for this world, how could you do this!"

Then, while pacing back and forth in Josie's office, he muttered curses and tears welled up in his eyes.

Without a doubt, the contents of the document are the blood sample study of Steve Rogers, the related experimental report, and the follow-up plans.

Because the blood sample that Howard had stolen had already been taken from the Strategic Scientific Corps' warehouse by Dix beforehand, Carter did not know about the existence of this blood as in the original storyline.

This kind of thing is blasphemous to Peggy Carter and many others who see Steve Rogers as a hero.

Although Josie disagreed with this attitude, she could generally understand it.

So he just leaned back quietly in his office chair, letting Carter vent his anger—at least Carter knew where he was, and even when he was venting his anger and complaining, he tried to keep his voice down.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away!" After venting for a while, Peggy Carter gradually calmed down and apologized to Josie.

Having worked in the intelligence service for so many years, she understood that many things were beyond her control, even at Josie's level.

Research into Captain America's blood is something so important that it's simply impossible for a newly reorganized agency like the CIA to control it.

Furthermore, the document clearly states that the Army was in charge of this matter, and the CIA only provided some assistance.

“I understand how you feel, don’t worry about it too much,” Josie said, getting up and pouring her a cup of hot coffee.

"Thank you. The Strategic Science Legion should know about the blood issue, right?" Carter thanked him, took the coffee, and then asked.

“They used to be part of the military, didn’t they?” Josie replied.

“Yes… how could they not know!” Card nodded and muttered. Without the consent of the Strategic Scientific Legion, how could the military have obtained Steve’s blood? It was ridiculous that he had been kept in the dark all along.

“Actually, you don’t need to worry about this too much. The Strategic Science Officers have no choice. After all, Project Rebirth was an Army project from the beginning. They are just executors. In fact, they have been doing their best to protect Steve… I think you should understand that,” Josie advised.

“You’re right… but may I ask, did Steve leave behind a lot of blood samples back then?” Carter asked with a sigh of relief.

“Not too many. From what I understand, they left behind a total of twelve blood samples, each about five milliliters. The military got eleven of them!” Josie replied.

"Eleven? Where's the last one?" Carter asked, his brow furrowing slightly.

Josie pretended to hesitate and didn't speak.

But seeing his expression, Carter guessed it.

"Howard, is it?" Carter asked. It was unlikely that the blood sample remained with the Strategic Science Corps. As the chief scientist of Project Rebirth, Howard was the most likely candidate to possess the remaining sample.

Upon hearing Carter mention the name, Josie nodded slightly.

Previously, because Josie didn't really think Carter could be recruited to her side, she didn't try to sow discord between the two.

But now that Carter has joined the CIA, there's no need for their good relationship anymore.

If handled well, Carter might become the CIA's vanguard in the fight against S.H.I.E.L.D. - although the establishment of S.H.I.E.L.D. was hindered at the end of last year, it doesn't mean that S.H.I.E.L.D. will never be born.

The United States has so many intelligence agencies, but limited funding, and the competition among them is extremely fierce.

Furthermore, since S.H.I.E.L.D. is more research-oriented and requires more funding, the CIA and S.H.I.E.L.D. will inevitably be in a semi-opposing situation in the future.

Continuing to maintain an overly close and friendly relationship between Carter and Howard is not a good thing; it's better to tone it down.

Howard has always known about Captain America's bloodline, but he has kept it a secret for the past few years. While this alone is not enough to cause a rift between the two, it would be difficult for them to be as open and trusting as before.

This was a situation that Josie deliberately created.

In the future, it would be great to let Carter lead the CIA to compete with S.H.I.E.L.D. while I sit back and watch the show, and even act as a peacemaker.

“Okay, I understand. Thank you for telling me all this, but are you trying to get me to take charge of this project?” Carter put down his cup and looked at Josie as he asked.