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Chapter 175: Venture Capital - Captain Carter (2)
🕑 Added 2025-01-20 15:48:30 +0000 UTCCai Lin had no idea of Josh's hidden thoughts. Looking at the mountain of supplies in their system warehouse, she was overwhelmed with excitement.
There were tanks, cannons, armored vehicles, and even airplanes.
Rifles and machine guns were plentiful.
With such a stockpile, she could easily assemble a powerful force, even if she had to recruit new troops instead of relying on her father's old subordinates.
Money would be no problem. Among the logistical supplies Josh traded her were large quantities of canned meat. Selling that could bring in ten times the amount of grain.
In this era, food was far more valuable than money.
The only potential challenge was securing fuel for the future. But even that wasn't much of a problem. Josh had informed her that the Three Qin region had abundant oil resources. Once she secured the area, he could provide equipment and training for oil extraction and refining.
To her, the local warlord armies with outdated Hanyang rifles, and even the Empire's main forces, seemed like paper. The Three Qin Region didn't intimidate her at all.
If what Josh said was true, and she could awaken the Dragon Emperor and obtain the Pool of Eternal Life... her ambitions burned even brighter.
After ending his communication with Cai Lin, Josh checked the time. It was past 6 a.m., and the sky was beginning to light up.
Instead of going back to sleep, he went to the garden to practice the basics of gun kata.
Although the Super Soldier Serum had been perfected, Josh had no plans to use it for the time being. At most, he kept a few vials of Beast Transformation Serum in his system storage for emergencies.
Being young, Josh wasn't desperate for higher-level power. He also wondered if using the serum might limit his potential to access other forms of power in the future.
With limitless possibilities ahead of him, Josh didn't want to commit to one path too soon.
After practicing gun kata for a while and breaking a sweat, Margaret woke up. Josh showered, had breakfast with Margaret and their child, and then headed to the small airfield next to their property to catch a flight to work.
Since it was still early spring and relatively cold, they were staying in West Palm Beach, Florida, instead of Chicago.
Today's work wasn't for the CIA. Even though Josh held a high position, there weren't many tasks that required his direct involvement.
Instead, he was headed to the Truman Launch Center, built last year by Boeing on Merritt Island, about 60 miles from West Palm Beach. It was a clear nod to President Truman—a gesture that, while obviously flattering, had proven highly effective. (TL/N: This was not built IRL)
On the surface, Truman seemed mild-mannered. But those who knew him well understood that he was someone who was bubbling beneath the surface.
Josh's role in the creation of the CIA was greatly influenced by the naming of the launch center.
There was also a very important reason; in the original timeline, this launch center would have been called the Kennedy Space Center... but in this world, that was out of the question! At this very center, Boeing was about to launch the first carrier rocket, Cupid One, under Josh’s personal guidance—a full ten years earlier than in the original timeline.
But this wasn’t exactly an act of rushing things.
In the original timeline, just a few years after World War II, the United States had already made significant technological advances. However, with its possession of nuclear weapons and high-speed aircraft, the U.S. hadn't prioritized space exploration, allowing the Soviet Union to take the lead.
In the original timeline, the Soviets launched their satellite in October 1957, prompting U.S. President Eisenhower to initiate the space program under domestic pressure. The first rocket was completed in December of that year, but it failed. It was not until January 31 of the following year that the second rocket was successfully launched.
The whole process took less than four months.
Without sufficient technological preparation, such rapid progress would have been impossible.
After Josh acquired Boeing, he realized that the company possessed several advanced aerospace technologies, which led him to this early achievement. Though the timeline was advanced by a decade, the manpower and resources required weren't as great as Josh had anticipated.
However, the significance of mankind's first satellite launch was undeniable.
Important people such as Truman and Marshall would be present at the launch.
Just as Josh arrived at the launch center, he received another message from the CIA. Because of the importance of the launch center, Josh had secured it for CIA use, making it a CIA-controlled facility.
The message he received was that Peggy Carter had agreed to join the CIA.
"Really?" Josh was surprised to hear the news from Vito. His initial invitation to Carter had been a casual offer, not expecting her to accept. However, it was clear that Peggy had experienced significant difficulties within the Strategic Scientific Reserve in recent months, leading her to abandon her romantic thoughts about Captain America, leave the SSR, and join the CIA.
"Yes, Ms. Carter is already at Langley awaiting your instructions!" Vito said.
"That's great news!" Josh nodded. He was surprised, but not alarmed. Instead, he immediately thought of another crucial piece of information and turned his gaze to Truman.
As the CIA's Director of Administration and the agency's true controller, Josh had access to a wealth of information from various sources within the U.S. government.
Not long ago, he had seen a report from the Department of the Army, which had made progress in studying Captain America's blood and was preparing for human trials.
The Army had chosen black soldiers—people who had no personal rights in this era—as test subjects.
When Josh saw this mission, he realized it had to do with the forgotten black version of Captain America.
However, Josh planned to involve Peggy Carter in the project.
While the risks were enormous, Josh had seen many alternate universe short stories before his time travel and knew that many parallel worlds had versions of Captain Carter.
Thus, Peggy Carter was theoretically the most compatible with the original Super Soldier Serum compared to the other test subjects.
Furthermore, Josh believed that if given the choice, Peggy would gladly participate in this project. Her obsession with Captain America was beyond imagination.
So if given the opportunity to replace Captain America and complete the mission, she would never refuse, even if the chances of success were slim.
Having a Captain Carter within the CIA would be quite intriguing.
