American Comic Dimensional Trading Device

Of course, he wouldn't go so far as to kill Josie and all of Josie's men just to keep it a secret.

One reason is that even if Hugh Jones's vampire identity is exposed, it will only be troublesome at most, not fatal, so it's not worth fighting with Josie over such a small matter.

Another point is that he has memories during his non-conscious phases, so he has seen the Magnetic Storm Troopers and the Velociraptors, and he also knows that Josie is not as simple as she appears.

It means that both parties knew each other's little, non-fatal secret.

This situation actually did not distance the two people from each other; on the contrary, it provided an opportunity for deeper cooperation between them.

This means that Josie now has another ally besides Malik—though calling him an ally isn't quite accurate, he's at least a friend.

Basically, they're the kind of person who, while not necessarily siding with you in every situation, at least won't sabotage your plans.

"There are three main things I've gathered here for. The first is about Project Paperclip and Project Rebirth; the second is about Howard Stark; and the last is about Zero Matter," Thomas, the chief, said, glancing at the nine people present.

His words made everyone's expressions turn serious.

“I won’t go into the details of the two plans, as everyone knows them. The main reason I’m bringing this up is that Dr. Zola has returned to our side. Although he’s still a long way from regaining his freedom, he can already offer us some assistance,” Thomas said.

Project Paperclip was a plan by the United States to plunder high-tech talent from Germany and Hydra for its own use—mainly war criminal scientists who had served these two companies. The United States had no way to force scientists who had not served in the war to work for them.

And without a doubt, Zola, who was once a confidant of Red Skull, is the number one person in this plan.

Previously, Josie had also tried to get Ophelia to contact Zola, but the Strategic Science Legion kept a very tight watch on him, and even Ophelia could not find a suitable opportunity.

However, once back in the United States, the headquarters of Hydra, the council, whose infiltration of various sectors of American society far surpassed that of Josie, easily connected with Zola, leaving Josie helpless.

Reinhardt, who will become Whitehall in the future, has already been assassinated by Ophelia.

Although Reinhardt was also a scientist, his research leaned towards "mysticism," so he was not highly regarded by the Strategic Scientific Legion. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been imprisoned until the 90s when he was almost old and dying before being released.

As for the Rebirth Project, it's quite simple; it's the actual name of Captain America's Super Soldier program.

“We know both things, but what’s the connection between them? Captain America did leave some blood samples, but we can’t get our hands on them!” Hugh Jones, who was wrapped up tightly, said.

Very few of Captain America's blood samples survived; only a small amount remained in the military and the Strategic Scientific Corps.

While Hydra's infiltration of various US official agencies is still far less extensive than it was in the 21st century, it is still unattainable.

“That’s right, normally that’s true, but we can’t get Captain America’s blood sample, but we can get Schmidt’s!” Thomas said with a smile.

Everyone suddenly realized, that's right, the world's first super soldier wasn't Captain America, but Red Skull.

Since Captain America can leave a blood sample, there's no reason why Red Skull shouldn't leave nothing behind.

And this is indeed the case.

Where did Vito and Bucky, these two unfinished creations of Zola, get their drugs? Certainly not by deducing them from Captain America.

The source is then quite clear: Zola deduced it by using a blood sample from the Red Skull.

Upon hearing this, Josie felt a sudden chill. Thomas had suddenly brought this up... Could it be...?

“Of course, the blood samples and some experimental drugs that Schmidt left behind were basically destroyed in the war, but our Dr. Zola told me that there are still two experimental subjects alive in this world—and when it comes to this, Josie, you should know more about it than we do!” As Josie expected, Thomas’s words immediately turned to him.

The two test subjects Zola mentioned were undoubtedly Vito and Bucky.

With Zola involved, Josie had no way to hide it.

“I see. So Vito and Bucky were already modified back then?” Josie immediately pretended to understand and said, “So Zola means to continue the research with them? That won’t do. Vito is my confidant and very important to me… But if you want to target Bucky, you don’t need to worry about me.”

In this situation, it would be almost impossible for Josie to save both of them, especially Bucky, who is Captain America's friend, a member of the Strategic Scientific Corps, and an enemy of Hydra.

So, choosing between the two, Josie or Poor Josie, is practically a no-brainer.

Bucky Barnes, good luck to you!

Chapter 133 The Twelve Palaces

"It's good that you have no objections. After all, the Rebirth Plan is still very important to us!" Upon seeing Josie's statement, Thomas and the other old men looked at him with approval.

For them, the biggest obstacle to taking action against Pakistan was not the Strategic Scientific Corps or other law enforcement agencies, but rather the members of the council, including Josie.

After all, everyone in the world who knows Bucky knows that Bucky was rescued by Josie.

If Josie doesn't care, then things are simple.

"The second thing is Howard Stark. I must say, he's a super genius. Many of his inventions are enough to change the world. But unfortunately, he's not one of us. According to the intelligence we've received, once many of his studies are released, they will have a disruptive impact on our current industries. We must have countermeasures!" As long as Josie doesn't object, there won't be any problems with Bucky's matter, so Thomas immediately changed the subject to the next item.

"Hmph! Just kill them directly, why bother with a strategy!" Hugh Jones scoffed. "It's not like we haven't done it before!"

Upon hearing Hugh Jones's words, all eyes turned to him.

Why? Because before this, almost everyone knew that Hugh Jones and Howard had a good relationship. When Howard discovered vibranium, the Council attacked Howard in an attempt to seize that small piece of vibranium.

However, after the first failure, nothing came of it, because Hugh Jones spoke up for Howard in the council meeting.

Howard's rapid rise to prominence is also partly due to Roxson's efforts.

But now, judging from Hugh Jones's words, is he trying to kill Howard?

This left the other board members quite puzzled.

Only Josie looked at Hugh Jones with a thoughtful expression.

Did Hugh Jones discover he was being cuckolded beforehand?

By the way, as vampires, they should be very sensitive to the scent of humans, so it's not unreasonable for Hugh Jones to find the scent of other men on his wife.

“Howard is not the same as before. Killing him will probably be a difficult thing, but we can try to limit him in other ways!” Seeing that Hugh Jones did not object, Thomas immediately nodded. The situation of today’s meeting was somewhat beyond his expectations. Two issues involving the top leaders of the council, which should have been the most troublesome issues, were resolved in the fastest possible time.

But as he said, Howard was highly valued by the Pentagon and the White House because of his strong inventive abilities, so assassination was not a good idea.

Meanwhile, Josie knew even better that this was probably the plot of Howard being declared a "traitor" in the first season of Agent Carter—Josie just hadn't seen the second season, but she still knew the plot of the first season.

It was Carter's experience in the first season that enabled Howard to rise to become the leader of the Strategic Scientific Corps.

In other words, the Council's next action against Howard is likely to fail, and not only will it fail, it will also facilitate the evolution of the Strategic Scientific Corps into S.H.I.E.L.D.

However, Josie didn't intend to change anything about this situation.

After all, he and Howard didn't have much of a connection, so he didn't care.

“In that case, let’s talk about Zero Matter. It was discovered by the military during their first nuclear test in New Mexico. After the nuclear explosion, something resembling a space portal appeared, which led to the disappearance of a military team. Only some fluid-like black substance was left at the scene, which the military named Zero Matter. Aetheran Corporation also collected some of it. The council is preparing to invest some funds in its development and research, which will be led by Aetheran for the time being. Are any of you interested in participating?” Thomas asked.

However, his gaze was mainly fixed on Josie, Hugh Jones, and Malik.

Because apart from Thomas's First Citibank and Calvin Chadwick's Etherdan, only those three families are relatively wealthy. The rest are mostly involved in politics and the military, and don't have much economic resources.

"I'll pass. My focus will be on aerospace from now on. It's both energy-consuming and expensive. I don't have the energy for anything else!" Josie was the first to refuse.

However, this statement is only half true. To say that he is not interested in zero matter would be a lie.

But getting involved with Aetherand is another matter.

“Oh? No wonder you bought Boeing shares from Hugh. If you have any Chase projects, you can send me a copy later. I and Citigroup also have some shares, so we can cooperate!” Thomas nodded when he heard that Josh was interested in the aerospace industry.

Those who are able to sit here are generally not short-sighted, so even in an era when the aviation industry was still in its early stages of development and the aerospace industry was practically nonexistent, everyone understood the importance of this industry.

But as Josh said, this is an industry that consumes a lot of time, energy and money, with no return in sight. So most capitalists are not willing to spend too much energy on this. Generally, only the state has the ability to take the lead.

Now that Josie is willing to dive headfirst into this mess, the council may not be able to fully support her, but it certainly won't hold her back. After all, in their view, it's not easy to find someone willing to invest heavily in a research project.

“I can provide some funding, equipment, and personnel support!” Hugh Jones stated.

“I can’t do it. The infiltration of SSR is progressing slowly. I have to keep an eye on it!” Malik shook his head. One of his main tasks was to infiltrate the Strategic Scientific Legion. He had no time to do any research.

"Then it's settled. The Roxon Group will cooperate with Aetherand. If there are no other objections, the meeting is adjourned!" Thomas immediately made the decision when no one spoke.

Josie really liked the council's meeting format: if there was something to discuss, they would get to the point; otherwise, they wouldn't waste time talking nonsense.

After the meeting, the nine people left through nine different small doors in the conference room.

The nine small doors all lead to different exits; some lead to the hotel to the left of the club, some to the restaurant to the right, and some directly to the street behind the club.

Outside of normal business gatherings and exchanges, the nine individuals have virtually no public contact with each other. At most, their interactions with each other within the industry are just normal business dealings between subsidiaries.

Therefore, even if someone suffers a serious misfortune one day, it is impossible to link it to the other board members.

After exiting through the small door, Josie found herself in a private room on the second floor of the club, where Vito and another bodyguard were guarding her.

As for Aldo, he had already taken office to establish the Blackwater military service company, so it was highly unlikely that he would appear by Josie's side as his bodyguard.

Just as Josh sat down in the private room, intending to have a cup of coffee before leaving, the door opened.

Vito opened the door, but it was Malik who stood there.

"Why did you come here? Aren't you afraid those old men will find out?" Josie asked, somewhat surprised, when she saw Malik.

“I want to buy another batch of medicine!” Malik said in a low voice as he sat down next to Josie after Vito closed the door.

"You've used them all up?... I remember I left you twenty before I went to Europe!" Josie's eyes widened upon hearing Malik's words.

As a hidden ally within the council, one of the conditions Josie offered Malik was to provide him with a portion of the drug each year.

"Don't even mention it!" When Josie asked why the potion had been used up so quickly, Malik's face showed a hint of unease. "I accidentally provoked a mysterious organization before, and in just the past six months, I have survived more than ten assassination attempts. Several times, if it weren't for the potion you gave me, I might not be able to stand in front of you anymore!"

"Oh? Is that so? You didn't report it to the council?" Josie asked, somewhat surprised, upon hearing Malik's words.

This is truly a rare occurrence. Since Hydra was established, it has mostly been Hydra assassinating others; being assassinated by others is a very uncommon thing.

"...This was originally my private matter, and I received something from the other party!" Malik said mysteriously.

"What is it?" Josie raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. No wonder it wasn't reported; it turns out they were planning to keep it all to themselves.

“It’s a highly potent biochemical agent that grants a person extremely strong combat abilities for a short period, somewhat similar to your beast-transformation drug, but with more severe side effects. It only lasts for about ten minutes; after that, the person dissolves into a puddle of liquid. This remaining liquid is also highly contagious and lethal. Fortunately, it doesn’t last long and isn’t infectious; it will decompose automatically after about an hour,” Malik explained, not forgetting to flatter Josie, “Of course, it’s still not quite as good as your beast-transformation drug. Although the combat power is barely on par, but…”