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Chapter 54: A Request
🕑 Added 2024-11-28 15:27:35 +0000 UTC"Francesca, are you asleep?" Josh called as he walked out of his room.
"Not yet, sir. Is there something you need?" A young woman in her early twenties appeared at the top of the stairs. She was Francesca, a new maid from Italy whom Josh had recently hired.
Since both Josh and Margaret had been in Florida throughout the winter, the few experienced servants had gone with them, leaving only two to stay behind and rotate in looking after the house in Chicago.
Francesca was one of them.
"Is there any food left in the house? If so, could you prepare something? Make sure there's more vegetables, enough for two people, and also bring up two bottles of red wine!" Josh asked.
Although Josh hadn’t been home much lately, he always made sure to inform the servants who were staying behind, and since they needed to eat as well, there were always some basic supplies in the house.
Large-scale trades with Yuri were out of the question, but he could still meet Yuri’s immediate hunger. As for the materials required for actual transactions, Josh had already contacted Linden Schneider to take care of it.
It was estimated that everything would be ready by tomorrow afternoon.
"Mr. Kahn, would small veal steaks be acceptable? We also have some mushrooms, lettuce, carrots, and cabbage." Francesca asked cautiously.
"Just prepare whatever you think is best, and also get some fruit," Josh replied casually. After all, he wasn’t eating himself. As for Yuri... before being bound by the dimensional beacon, Yuri had been living in the Cretaceous period for over a year.
Although Yuri, as an expert in mind control, didn’t need to worry about survival and was eating dinosaur meat daily, he didn’t have proper cooking equipment or seasoning. Josh could easily imagine how miserable his life must be.
So, even though there were veal steaks and vegetable salads, Yuri would probably consider even a few slices of dry bread a delicacy right now.
"Okay, sir!" Francesca nodded and immediately went to prepare.
Meanwhile, Josh returned to talking to Yuri.
Although Josh wasn’t particularly interested in a lonely, bald old man, Yuri, after spending over a year isolated in the Cretaceous period, was eager to talk to a human and couldn’t stop chatting.
In exchange for hearing about the super technology in the Red Alert world, Josh had no choice but to indulge him.
Yuri went on about how he went from an experimental subject to becoming one of the Soviet Union's most important scientists and military commanders, eventually becoming a power-hungry dictator who almost built the mighty Yuri Empire on the Moon.
After hearing Yuri’s rambling for over half an hour, Francesca knocked on the door, bringing in the meal.
Josh temporarily shut off the trading system and opened the door to let Francesca in.
However, after delivering the food, Francesca hesitated and looked at Josh with uncertainty.
"Is there something you need, Francesca?" Josh asked, immediately sensing that she might want to discuss something with him.
"Well, Mr. Kahn, my brother got into trouble last winter and was arrested. Because he speaks Italian, he was recruited into the army. Last November, he was captured, but Captain America saved him. Unfortunately, he was shot while escaping, and it’s only recently that he’s recovered and received a month’s leave. He’ll be back in Chicago next week," Francesca said, hesitating.
"And... what does this have to do with me?" Josh asked, feeling a little curious. Wasn’t this the time when Captain America saved Bucky, making a name for himself? Captain America rescued not just Bucky but also many other soldiers from several nations, including British, French, and even Soviet soldiers, numbering in the thousands.
That’s also why Captain America became a hero adored by major Allied nations, not just the U.S.
"It’s my mother. She knows you’re a big deal, so she asked me to see if there’s any way you can help so my brother doesn’t have to go back to the frontlines. My father passed away in an accident last year, and my brother is the only man left in the family. My mother is scared that if he goes back to the battlefield, he won’t come back. Mr. Kahn, please, I’m begging you, I’ll do anything you ask if you can help!" Francesca pleaded.
...Anything? Josh, who was mentally more like a man in his thirties, immediately started to think in a less innocent way.
Looking her over, Francesca was wearing a maid’s outfit. Well, the traditional maid's dress was long and conservative, making it hard to see anything, but her face was delicate—she wasn’t a super beauty, but she would rate an 80 out of 100.
Then, Josh’s mind wandered to Margaret’s beautiful face, and he shook his head.
"What’s his name? Which unit is he in?" Josh asked, as this wasn’t a big deal for him. He could handle it with just a phone call, and since she was one of his servants, helping her out wouldn’t be a problem.
"Vito, Vito Scagliano! He’s serving in the 504th Parachute Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division!" Francesca replied excitedly, thinking that Josh had rejected her at first.
"Alright, I got it! I’ll take care of it," Josh waved his hand, signaling Francesca to leave.
Seeing this, Francesca quickly left the study.
Josh opened the trading system again. Yuri was still waiting, and Josh traded the food and wine for two dinosaur eggs.
These were the eggs of a Pachycephalosaurus, but Yuri didn’t want Josh to incubate them or do anything with them; he just wanted Josh to try them.
According to Yuri, these were the best-tasting eggs he had eaten in the past year.
"Nice, fine wine. But too bad, I still prefer vodka!" Yuri said as he eagerly took a swig from the wine bottle.
"Tomorrow’s supplies will include vodka. It’s very cheap. One bottle of wine could buy dozens of vodka bottles," Josh replied. Although he didn’t drink, seeing Yuri drink like this made him roll his eyes. The wine in his house was a special collection of Margaret’s and was very expensive.
But Yuri clearly didn’t care, devouring the food greedily.
He only had a few bites of the veal steak before digging into the vegetables and fruit salad.
No surprise—meat was plentiful in the Cretaceous period, but vegetables were scarce. Occasionally, they could get some tender ferns to substitute for vegetables. It was a pitiful situation.
While Yuri ate, Josh took the opportunity to briefly introduce the situation in his world.
But when Josh mentioned Red Skull, Captain America, these super soldiers, and the Tesseract, it clearly piqued Yuri’s interest.
