American Comic Dimensional Trading Device

Even someone like Daenerys, who lived in medieval society, found it quite enjoyable.

Little Abidis was even more captivated; he was mesmerized the first time he played with one of these things.

However, Josie's goal was to cultivate little Abidis into a qualified trading partner, not a good-for-nothing who wasted his life on pleasure. In an ordinary ancient world, a nobleman with no ambition who only knew how to eat, drink, and have fun might be a good thing for Josie, because such a person would be easy to fool.

Moreover, in the ordinary ancient world, social classes were clearly defined, and unless it was a particularly serious crime, it was not easy for ordinary nobles to get into trouble.

However, in a world like Azeroth, a useless nobleman will definitely not live long.

Unless Josie constantly commands Abidis, she can cultivate him into a powerful ruler.

Otherwise, he would never have been able to obtain what Josie desired in several lifetimes.

Although Josie won over Abidis's favor with game consoles and snacks, she was very strict about controlling the quantity.

For example, the battery life of a game console will not exceed one hour.

If you want to continue playing, you have to trade and recharge Josie's account.

The amount of snacks such as potato chips and cola consumed each day is extremely limited.

Especially the cola. Although Josie had changed the cola recipe for this era and removed some of the toxic substances that are known in later generations, he still only gave little Abidis a sip or two each time.

It's fair to say that Josie cares for little Abidis more than she does for her own two children.

"Oh, of course, but you can't eat too many chips and cola, and you have to brush your teeth afterwards!" Josie reminded him, handing over the food she had prepared beforehand.

"I understand, you don't need to remind me every time. By the way, Josh, shall we continue with the Romance of the Three Kingdoms today?" Faced with Josh's reminder, Little Abidis happily confirmed the deal, not in a hurry to eat it immediately, but temporarily put it in the warehouse.

Like many children, Abidis has a habit of saving his favorite foods to eat slowly.

After receiving the food, Abidis began asking Josie to tell him a story.

Telling the story of the Three Kingdoms.

This was also something Josie specifically chose.

Although she is still very young, Abidis's mind is actually much more mature than that of children on Earth. In the end, although they look the same, humans on Azeroth and humans on Earth are not the same species at all.

Moreover, because he received aristocratic education from a young age, and because of Josie's instructions, little Abidis was very good at hiding his secrets from the time he was old enough to understand. He never told anyone, including his parents, about the existence of the trading device.

So after Josie confirmed that little Abidis could understand the content of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, telling little Abidis a passage from Romance of the Three Kingdoms every day became one of their daily routines.

Chapter 192 Java Strategy

Josie originally planned to return to the United States a month after the wedding.

However, the plan had to be changed because Margot became pregnant with her second child.

Although Margot felt there was no major problem, Josie, always on the safe side, still thought it best for Margot to rest and give birth at Neuschwanstein Castle for the next year.

Anyway, for Josh now, all his businesses are basically on the right track, and he doesn't need to do anything personally anymore.

Even the work of the CIA is the same.

So for the next few days, besides handling some routine official business that required his decision, he spent his days taking his two children horseback riding, hunting, and skiing.

Neuschwanstein Castle is situated in the foothills of the Alps, where the scenery and wildlife resources are top-notch.

The two kids followed their father all over the mountains every day, and they've become like wild children.

In the evening, I'd catch up with my trading partners, then cuddle up with my wife.

Although he couldn't do much because Margot was pregnant, holding his wife while sleeping was a comfort to her.

However, this peaceful period did not last long.

“Josie, I’m sorry, I couldn’t persuade Salazar to give up Port Macha. But to be honest, Port Macha is too small, and the situation in the East isn’t very good, so I’ve prepared another, larger piece of land for you!” In the reception room, a middle-aged man of average height said to Josie.

However, this person was not tall, and could even be described as short—163 centimeters, which is shorter than Napoleon.

However, Josie did not underestimate her opponent.

Even in this era, few people would underestimate the other party.

Because the other person's name is Francisco Franco.

The dictator of the Kingdom of Spain.

From launching a coup in 1936 to officially becoming a dictator in 1939, he claimed to be neutral during World War II but actually helped Hitler fight against Trump. After the war, he was not purged and, although isolated, he steadily controlled Spain until his death in 1975.

This person's life can truly be described as legendary.

In other words, he was born at the wrong time. He appeared during the decline of Spain. Otherwise, if we go back a hundred years or so, he would probably be another great hero.

Despite not being purged and isolated after the war, he was still able to thrive.

A very important reason is that he made the right bet: he began to actively cultivate good relations with the United States even before World War II was over.

It was precisely because of this relationship that Josh, who once represented the American business community in Europe, became quite familiar with him.

When Josie came to Europe, she had a meeting with him when the cruise ship passed through Spain.

He also attended Josie's wedding.

Josie's purpose in contacting him was to use him, in his personal capacity, as an intermediary to persuade the Portuguese rulers to relinquish control of Porto Amaral.

In exchange, Josie will make things much easier for Portugal in terms of future Continental Group investments in Europe and the upcoming Marshall Plan.

As for Josie's purpose in going to Macau... well, as the Buddha said, it cannot be spoken, it cannot be spoken!

In Josie's opinion, this was not a very difficult thing, and Franco also thought it was a very simple thing when he heard Josie's purpose.

Because times have changed, Porto Amaral, one of Portugal's most important strongholds in Asia, had already lost its economic status by the end of the 19th century. After all, Porto Amaral is too small and so close to the Bauhinia City, so it is basically impossible for it to recover into the important trading city it once was.

It was only at the end of the 19th century, when Ma Kong transformed into the gambling and entertainment industry, that its economy recovered considerably.

However, with the special situation in East Asia in recent years, the situation in Porto Amaranth has become increasingly pessimistic – even the British in the neighboring Bauhinia City are not optimistic about the situation in Asia, let alone Portugal.

Don't think that Britain is now vulnerable.

In fact, Britain at this time was like a wounded wolf, and its danger was not low.

After all, the war had only been going on for a few years, and the British military had not been significantly reduced, especially the navy, which was still the second largest navy in the world.

This is quite different from the Britain of decades later that was completely deindustrialized, lost almost all of its colonies, and whose armed forces were drastically reduced.

Therefore, even when Josie was dealing with Britain, she mainly resorted to underhanded tactics behind the scenes rather than directly overturning the table.

Such a Britain is also at a loss when facing the situation in Asia.

Besides, what about your mere Portugal?

Given this situation, coupled with the extremely close and friendly relations between Spain and Portugal during this period when both were autocratic regimes, this situation presented a unique challenge.

Franco naturally didn't think this would be difficult.

Especially the price Josie offered, even Franco was tempted by it.

What Josie and Franco didn't expect was that during this period, Salazar, who had always acted relatively moderately, and his extremely autocratic government were surprisingly stubborn on the issue of colonies.

He rejected Franco's lobbying almost without hesitation.

This greatly displeased Franco, but there was nothing he could do about it.

However, Franco did not want to lose the additional offers made by José – although he was a dictator, Franco was not a hedonist and had been committed to the economic development of Spain during his time in power.

Josie's conditions, especially the economic support from the Marshall Plan, were very important to Spain.

But what if Portugal disagrees?

Just when Franco was at his wit's end, an international news article in a newspaper caught his attention.

So before coming to see Josie, he went to the Netherlands first.

"So, you're talking about Java? What's the Dutch stance?" Upon hearing this, Josie couldn't help but look at the Dutch ambassador to Austria who had accompanied Franco on his visit.

The man was already standing in front of Josie; he wasn't stupid, so he naturally understood what Franco meant.

Just last December, while Josie was still adrift at sea, the Netherlands launched its "Second Guard Operation" against Java.

It has taken military measures against the Republic of Java.

The Java Islands were a Dutch colony from the 16th century until they were occupied by Japan in 1942.

As World War II was drawing to a close, seeing that Japan was on the verge of collapse, the local resistance forces cunningly declared independence and established the so-called Republic of Java.

However, things are clearly not going to end so easily.

In the latter half of 1945, following Japan's surrender, British fleets in Asia landed in Java and occupied several major cities. They released and armed the Dutch colonial soldiers imprisoned in the cities, forming an Anglo-Dutch alliance that did not recognize the so-called Republic of Java, and conflict broke out between the two sides.

However, due to Josie's large-scale arms sales in Africa, the African colonies were thrown into chaos. Coupled with the war in Wakanda, the British withdrew from Java in 46 and handed Java over to the Netherlands.

Java has been a resource-rich archipelago since ancient times.

It is rich in sugarcane, coffee, indigo (dye), and quinine (quinine, a highly effective medicine for treating malaria; Java produces 92% of the world's quinine).

The Netherlands is a small country, and the specialties produced in the Java region have been the economic backbone of the Netherlands for the past few centuries. Naturally, it is not easy for them to give up this fertile land.

Therefore, in the first half of 1947, the Netherlands deployed a large amount of military force to launch an attack on the areas controlled by the Republic of Java, which was the first guard operation.

Although the Netherlands was a small country, its military was clearly far more advanced, forcing the Republic of Java to sign a humiliating treaty and relinquish control of most of its territory.

The matter should have been over by now.

But the country changed drastically as soon as the war ended.