American Comic Dimensional Trading Device

Tiamat's blessing is one thing, but Xu Wenwu has lived for over a thousand years and doesn't really care that much about such things anymore.

However, Jia Ying was indeed quite concerned about him. Although this woman did not seem to reject him, she was biased towards Qiao Xi, her master and savior, in every way, which left Xu Wenwu feeling somewhat helpless.

Of course, Xu Wenwu only complained in his heart. Right now, he was just like the character in the movie after meeting Ying Li, the mother of the character who was depressed. He had his mind on Jia Ying and didn't even care about managing the Ten Rings Gang's businesses.

He even considered that if he really wanted to marry Jia Ying, he would simply hand over the Ten Rings Gang to Qiao Xi and retire from the martial arts world.

"You can't say that. The Inhumans of Attilan don't consider themselves human, so to us they are definitely an alien race, and it's not unreasonable for us to fight them. But if we attack countries on Earth, that would definitely be a civil war, which is not good, not good~~" Josie didn't take Xu Wenwu's casual mockery to heart and casually replied.

Now that they are quite familiar with each other and are no longer in a superior-subordinate relationship, they can speak more casually.

"...I'm too lazy to argue with you. If you're so capable, why don't you go fight aliens!" Xu Wenwu rolled his eyes, but he quickly realized what he meant and looked at Qiao Xi with a serious expression. "You don't really mean to..."

"...Don't you want to?" Josie asked, a faint smile playing on her lips.

“…I used to think about it, but I don’t now!” Xu Wenwu pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said.

"Hehe, no rush. This is just my initial idea. It's not the right time yet, after all, my children are still young!" Josie smiled slightly, then got up from the throne and walked out of the hall.

"Where are you going?" Xu Wenwu asked upon seeing this.

"Of course, I'll go home and bring my wife and kids to see the moon. We used to only see the moon from Earth, but now we have to try seeing the moon up close and seeing Earth from the moon!" Josie said without turning her head.

...Huh? That seems like a pretty romantic idea. I could bring Jia Ying along...

"Wait for me!" Thinking of this, Xu Wenwu hurriedly got up and followed Qiao Xi's footsteps!

Chapter 238 Yuri's Revenge

With the Eternals and Attilan, two potential threats, completely eliminated, Josie's life gradually returned to normal.

Spending time with my wife and kids every day, chatting and trading with various trading partners from different dimensions, and occasionally going to work, I live a very comfortable life.

And so, the year 1950 arrived.

Inside the Area 52 research facility, Howard Stark stood on a platform, giving a lengthy explanation of a machine.

Below them sat many researchers, as well as high-ranking military and political officials and people from various special departments.

Josie was among them.

Sitting next to him was an unremarkable-looking, short man.

However, no one present would underestimate him because of his physical defects.

Because his name is Anim Zola.

Formerly the chief scientist of the Hydra Empire, led by Red Skull.

Today marks the day this once-evil scientist has "gained his freedom."

It was also a feast of dividing up the results of Operation Paperclip—although with the establishment of S.H.I.E.L.D., Howard's personal research capabilities and the strength behind him gave this newly established department the responsibility for the entire plan.

However, the researchers and research projects involved in the entire Paperclip Project are not something that S.H.I.E.L.D., which has only been established for a short time, can handle. After all, the annual budget is limited, and even if Howard himself is very rich, he cannot be too willful to take on everything.

So the result is that all the researchers and projects, after being screened and selected by Howard to be of value, are then announced internally, and various special departments select and participate.

Of course, not all projects will be presented.

For example, the research on the Tesseract, also known as the Space Stone, was secretly taken over by both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the CIA—this was almost an agreement that Howard and Josie had reached two years ago when Howard attended Josie's wedding.

If possible, Howard would like to study the Cosmic Cube on his own. In the original timeline, he was the one who was initially responsible for the research on the Cosmic Cube. The inspiration for the Arc Reactor came from the energy of the Cosmic Cube.

However, research on the Cosmic Cube yielded little further result. It wasn't until the 70s, when Mar-Will came to Earth, gained the trust of high-ranking officials, and joined forces with multiple departments to begin Project Pegasus, that Howard lost his sole researcher on the Cosmic Cube.

In the original timeline, the reason Howard was able to obtain sole access to the Tesseract was quite simple: he was the most outstanding scientist in the United States at the time, and also the one who retrieved the Tesseract from the Arctic Ocean.

However, in this world, the Tesseract wasn't retrieved from the sea by Howard. Instead, it was left behind in Red Skull's fortress after Captain America and Red Skull disappeared, and was subsequently captured by the Strategic Scientific Legion led by Carter.

At the time, the Strategic Science Corps' secrecy capabilities were not that strong.

Therefore, many departments are aware of the existence of the Cosmic Cube.

Therefore, even though S.H.I.E.L.D. was reorganized from the Strategic Scientific Corps, it would be completely impossible for Howard to study the Tesseract on his own.

However, if the alliance is also with the newly established and extremely powerful CIA, then there will be no problem.

So the current situation is that although the Tesseract is located in one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s bases—the former Captain America recruit training camp in New Jersey—the CIA also has the right to study it.

However, Josie wasn't particularly enthusiastic about researching the Cosmic Cube.

Because he knew it wasn't the right time yet.

Instead, he placed more emphasis on Dr. Zola and the future Insight Project based on the Zola algorithm.

"Congratulations on regaining your freedom, Dr. Zola!" Josie whispered her congratulations to Zola as she watched the presentations on the research project on stage.

“Freedom? What a luxury word. True freedom is not so easy to obtain, and besides, I don’t need it at all, don’t you think, Mr. Director?” Zola smiled slightly and replied to Josie.

As Zola said, his so-called freedom is just walking out of the prison cell. In reality, he will still need to be under surveillance in both his life and work. This surveillance may even be permanent—at least in name. After all, with Hydra's infiltration capabilities, it won't be long before everyone around Zola is one of their own. But even so, all the pretense must continue.

For example, right now, although Josie and Zola are standing together, there are still quite a few agents standing around Zola to "protect" him.

However, these agents had all been quietly replaced with "one of their own," which is why the two could communicate so freely.

“Well said, as expected of Dr. Zola. I look forward to you bringing new vitality and glory to the organization!” Josie smiled slightly and ended her conversation with Zola.

At this point, Howard's explanation also came to an end.

Josie also stepped forward to greet them at the opportune moment.

"That's so well said, Howard! I'm even interested in this project myself!" Josie complimented.

This wasn't just him being perfunctory; it just shows that Howard has a lot of charisma when he's serious, just like his future son.

“Oh, then it’s best not to. This project seems very tempting, and it’s also very difficult, but it’s hard to make money from it, and it’s very difficult to commercialize.” Howard leaned closer and whispered.

Although the two are in great competition and conflict in terms of their personal businesses, the departments they control, and the financial groups behind them, they have no conflicts in their personal lives and even have a fairly good personal relationship.

Upon hearing Howard's "reminder," Josh smiled slightly. He could only say that Howard was still as narcissistic as ever. He thought Howard's speech was good, but that didn't mean he would actually be interested in the project, because the technology of this project was already outdated to a certain extent in Josh's opinion.

With the Red Alert, I, Robots, and Transformers universes at his fingertips, Josie has no interest in the conventional technology of this era.

"By the way, I just saw you talking to that mad scientist. What did you say?" Howard asked again when Josie didn't respond.

The mad scientist he was referring to was, of course, Zola.

The others present might not have noticed the brief exchange between Josie and Zola, but Howard on the stage did.

Of course, he asked this not out of suspicion of Josie, but purely out of curiosity.

Given Josie's contributions during the war, Howard would never suspect that he was a Hydra agent.

To be precise, in this era, even those who participated in eliminating Hydra, such as Captain America and Peggy Carter, equated Hydra with Red Skull in their hearts.

It was completely unexpected that the true core of Hydra was actually in the upper echelons of the United States—a level that was inaccessible to them.

"Nothing much. I'm just a little curious about that mad chief scientist. After all, I've seen those weapons during the war. But like you said, he's a mad scientist; I can't understand any of his ramblings at all," Josie replied casually. "By the way, speaking of which, have you made any new progress in your research on the Cosmic Cube?"

“…No!” Howard’s face twitched when he heard Josie change the subject.

Aside from the technologies Zola had previously developed, Howard remains completely clueless about the Cosmic Cube.

This was quite unpleasant for him, who always had a very high opinion of himself.

"Oh, I see... Keep it up!" Seeing this, Josie patted his shoulder with a "regretful" look and comforted him.

"Hmph, didn't your people also come up with nothing?" Howard retorted, slightly annoyed by Josie's attitude.

"Huh? You didn't know?" Then he saw Josh looking at him with a surprised expression.

"Know what?" Howard was completely bewildered.

“I submitted my resignation to the White House a few days ago. At most a month later, someone will take my place. There will also be some changes in the CIA personnel in charge of the Cosmic Cube project... Dude, I'm not saying this to be mean, but you guys at S.H.I.E.L.D. are supposed to be doing intelligence work, how come you're so slow to get the news?” Josie said with a hint of sarcasm.

"No? That rumor is actually true? You built the CIA from scratch. Can it still function without you?" Howard was stunned when he heard Josie's words.

He had heard rumors about Josh's resignation, and his subordinates had also reported it to him.

But Howard always thought it was just a rumor.

Because he, who also single-handedly ran S.H.I.E.L.D., knew very well that although the CIA seemed powerful, without Josie, its founder, many things would probably not be as smooth as they are now.

"It's not that exaggerated. Although I will be leaving, I have basically arranged all the follow-up matters. The CIA's situation may develop a little slower than before, but it will definitely not reach the point of being unable to function!" Josie explained, shaking her head.

Although he outwardly left the CIA, both Hydra and Ouroboros continued to deeply infiltrate it, leaving the CIA with several relatively stable sources of funding to facilitate its continued development.

"But...why?" Howard was puzzled. After becoming the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Howard experienced the benefits of power for the first time. Many research resources that he couldn't obtain when he was just a rich man were now easily accessible.

Therefore, as a scientist, Howard greatly enjoys the convenience brought by S.H.I.E.L.D.

“Many things. One is that I have too much authority, which has caused dissatisfaction among some people. It was fine when Harry was in power, but my situation will be worse when he steps down. On the other hand, you know, I have been getting too close to Austria in recent years, which has also caused dissatisfaction among many people. And another very important point is that knowing too much is not always a good thing!” Josie answered ambiguously.

These words might not be fully understood by some outsiders, but Howard, who was in the situation, understood them immediately.

"Damn politics!" Howard muttered, spitting under his breath.

Of course, what Howard didn't know was that what Josie said, and what Howard himself thought, were all fabrications.

Ultimately, Josie was just getting a little tired of the political games and was ready to try something else.

In fact, if the youngest son weren't so young, the progress would have been even faster.

After chatting for a while, Josie didn't stay in Area 52 for long before saying goodbye to Howard and leaving with her entourage.

This spoils-sharing meeting was just a formality for him. After all, the projects on it were meaningless to him; he could easily come up with projects a thousand times more advanced.