AHumanMadeMOFO
patreon
Chapter 55: Fried Dinosaur Eggs
🕑 Added 2024-11-28 15:27:50 +0000 UTC"By any chance, could you get me some of that, uh, energy sample from the Tesseract and some blood samples from the super soldiers?" After finishing his meal, Yuri asked Josh. "The technologies from different worlds might spark new ideas."
However, as soon as Yuri made his request, Josh immediately furrowed his brow.
Because whether it was the super soldier blood or the energy samples from the Tesseract , both were basically impossible for Josh to acquire… especially the Tesseract.
When he first realized that this world was part of the Marvel universe, as a time traveler, he had of course thought about the super soldier serum and the Tesseract . But that was all it was—just a thought.
Captain America wasn’t like the Mafia; even if Josh equipped the Blackwater mercenaries with machine guns, tanks, armored vehicles, or fighter jets, they probably wouldn’t even scratch him.
The likely result of such an endeavor would be that Josh would be labeled as a spy coveting the highest military secrets of the United States, leading to his arrest.
And as for the Hydra weapons based on the energy of the Tesseract … forget about it. Without going to Europe and taking down a few Hydra battalions, there was no way to get them.
The harshness of the European battlefield was well known, and Hydra’s presence made the danger level exponentially worse. Only super soldiers like Captain America stood a chance there; ordinary people would be nothing more than cannon fodder.
That’s why Josh never considered stepping foot in Europe before the war ended.
But now Yuri was aiming for both of these things. Was he joking?
"I understand," Josh said, after a pause. "This isn’t urgent. Once we start official trading, I will prioritize finding some equipment for you. With that gear, you and your people will be able to move more safely on the European battlefield. But of course, if you don’t want to, I won’t force it."
"As long as I have good equipment, at least there will be a higher chance of obtaining energy weapon samples. But the super soldier blood is still very difficult," Josh added after thinking for a moment.
As of now, there were only two super soldiers in the world—Captain America and Red Skull. Getting blood samples from either of them would be nearly impossible. Plus, by early 1945, Red Skull would be transported to Vormir, and Captain America would fall into the North Atlantic.
Josh had at most a year to work with.
As for retrieving Captain America after his fall into the Atlantic… that wasn’t realistic. The North Atlantic was vast, and finding a crashed plane wasn’t easy. In the movie, Captain America was found because the ice drift had brought him to the surface.
In contrast, the Tesseract , with its high energy readings, might be easier to track down.
That’s why, in the movie’s final scene, Howard Stark could find the Cube but not Captain America.
As for Bucky, he had been injected with a version of the super soldier serum created by Dr. Zola when he was captured. Even getting Bucky’s blood would require Josh to go to Europe.
After all, since Captain America and his team set foot in Europe, they hadn’t returned to America.
"It’s fine, let nature take its course. What’s meant to happen will happen, and what’s not meant to happen, don’t force it. That’s life, isn’t it?" Yuri casually responded with an old saying.
"...You actually understand Chinese?" Josh stared, wide-eyed, at Yuri.
"Is it surprising? I can speak eighteen languages," Yuri raised an eyebrow.
…Okay, fine, you’re the expert.
"Though it’s hard to obtain super soldier blood, there is a very special type of blood. I wonder if you’d be interested," Josh asked Yuri.
"Oh? What type of blood?" Yuri seemed intrigued.
"The legendary creature, the dragon," Josh answered.
"...Of course, I’m interested!" Yuri’s eyes lit up at the mention of dragons.
Why was Yuri so interested in super soldier blood? Because Yuri wasn’t just a physicist—he was extremely well-versed in biology as well.
In the Red Alert universe, Yuri's faction even had a super soldier-like unit—the Beastmen. They were created by optimizing various animal genes and combining them with human DNA.
So when Yuri heard Josh mention super soldier blood, his first thought was to combine those genes with the Beastmen.
Additionally, dinosaur genes were also on his list of research targets.
And now, hearing that Josh could get dragon blood, he was even more excited.
"That’s great, but for now, it’s too early to discuss all of this. The urgent matter is to help you re-enter the industrial age. Once we do, I’m sure I’ll have plenty of things for you to help me research. We’ll call it a day for now, though; it’s getting late!" Looking at the clock, Josh realized it was already early morning and decided to end the lengthy conversation.
...
"Sorry, darling. Business affairs have changed a bit, and I may be stuck in Chicago for a while," Josh called Margaret early the next morning.
"It’s fine. I’ve grown tired of being here too, so I think I’ll head home instead," Margaret replied. Upon hearing that Josh couldn’t come back, she decided she’d return to Chicago since winter there would be over soon.
Josh had no objections to this.
After bidding Margaret goodbye, he made a call to arrange for a private plane to pick her up.
"Francesca!" After hanging up the phone, Josh called out to the maid, who was busy making breakfast.
"Sir, do you need anything?" Francesca asked.
"I have two ostrich eggs in my study from a friend. Could you try cooking one of them? The other one, just put it in the fridge," Josh instructed. The "ostrich eggs" were actually dinosaur eggs Josh had traded with Yuri.
Of course, he couldn’t tell Francesca that they were dinosaur eggs, so he simply claimed they were ostrich eggs.
Fortunately, despite the head-butting dinosaurs being much larger than ostriches, their eggs weren’t significantly bigger.
Upon hearing Josh’s request, Francesca was a bit confused.
Ostrich eggs? She had never cooked one before.
But since Josh had asked, she couldn’t refuse, especially after she had asked him for help the previous day.
Since it was just an egg, she assumed it might be similar to cooking a regular chicken egg, just a bit bigger.
Francesca nervously found the two eggs in Josh’s study and moved them to the kitchen, putting one in the fridge and preparing to crack open the other.
"Wait!" Just as Francesca was about to crack the egg, Josh walked into the kitchen. "I’ll do it myself. You can go now."
Though Francesca was confused, she obediently left the kitchen.
Once she was completely out, Josh sighed with relief.
Because he had just realized, if either of those eggs was already formed into a dinosaur, there would be a serious issue.
Hurrying over, he sent the maid out, preparing to handle it himself.
The eggshells were quite thick, and after some effort, Josh cracked one open. Fortunately, it wasn’t yet formed, and the contents were just like any other egg.
However, the smell was strong. Could this actually be tasty?
He scrambled the egg and made himself a dinosaur egg scramble.
Once cooked, the strong smell dissipated, and the texture was softer than chicken eggs. It actually tasted quite good.
However, the egg weighed over three pounds, so the portion was large.
Since eggs weren’t meant to be consumed in such quantities, Josh only ate a third of it.
As for the rest, the maid would take care of it.
After finishing breakfast, Josh headed out to prepare for the goods he was expecting.
