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Chapter 164: Agent Carter
🕑 Added 2025-01-16 16:47:43 +0000 UTCIn the past six months, Austria easily crushed the Federal Republic and Wakanda fiercely defeated the Anglo-French coalition, leaving the major world powers in shock—so much so that they were becoming numb to it all.
As for the smaller nations, they could only watch from the sidelines.
However, the news of the Soviet Union dropping a nuclear bomb still sent panic through countries worldwide, especially among the Allied forces led by Britain, France, and the United States.
The Allies had plans to deal with the Soviet Union's development of nuclear weapons. But the speed with which they not only built nuclear weapons, but also achieved strategic delivery capability, completely exceeded their expectations.
In addition to the atomic bomb, the TU-4 strategic bomber and a supersonic escort fighter that was briefly spotted during the drop also caught the attention of the Allies.
In response, the United States, at the instigation of Britain and France, sent a note to its loyal ally, Austria; "Have you secretly sold aircraft technology to the Soviet Union? Is their cooperation on Balkan issues tied to this?"
As for the atomic bomb, the United States did not suspect Austria. On the surface, Austria had no involvement with nuclear weapons and lacked the capacity to produce weapons-grade nuclear material. The idea that the Soviet Union could secretly sell such materials to Austria was beyond their imagination, as no rational nation would sell such a strategic resource.
Austria, of course, denied the accusations—even though they were true.
In response, Austria released evidence; footage of an air combat engagement captured from the cockpit of a Mirage III fighter jet. The opponent? The Soviet Union's new supersonic fighter, the MiG-21.
Seeing the footage, which showed a design similar to the Mirage III but seemingly superior in performance, the United States and Great Britain fell silent and dropped the matter entirely.
Unbeknownst to them, Austria had secretly sold the Mirage III's technology and production line to Boeing. With the proceeds, Austria ceased production of the Mirage III and quietly began building a new fighter jet production line. This new jet? In Josh's original timeline, it was called the F-4 Phantom.
While the Allies were busy fretting over the Soviet Union's sudden display of nuclear and air power, the most alarmed party was Wakanda.
There was no doubt that the atomic bomb was a warning to them.
And Wakanda was indeed shaken.
Yes, thanks to Vibranium, Wakanda was strong. But in this era, its strength had clear limits.
While materials are crucial to technological advancement, scientific theory and research are equally important.
The two must work hand in hand.
When it comes to materials, Wakanda can easily surpass the rest of the world. However, in terms of scientific theories and technological development, it's not necessarily stronger than the European and American nations that just fought a world war.
In the movies, Wakanda's advanced technology owes much to one individual; Howard Stark.
A visionary scientist in the Marvel Universe, Howard Stark's ideas were incredibly ahead of their time. However, many of his concepts couldn't be realized due to material limitations. Even Tony Stark's Arc Reactor was in some ways based on his father's groundwork.
Take, for example, the hover car from the 1943 World's Fair. Its design and operation are very similar to Wakanda's aircraft in Black Panther. While Howard Stark didn't implement many of his ideas, his scientific theories spread around the world. Unfortunately, the same material limitations prevented these theories from being implemented.
Wakanda, on the other hand, never had a shortage of materials like vibranium.
But that is all in the future. For now, Howard Stark, while a brilliant scientist, is far from his peak. Many of his theories are still being developed. Even if Wakanda wanted to learn from him, it couldn't.
As a result, Wakanda's overall technology remains at the level of Europe during World War I. Its superiority in conventional warfare is due to vibranium.
When it comes to strategic weapons like nuclear bombs, however, Azzuri and the Wakandan leadership can't help but feel intimidated.
The Soviet Union nation's sudden nuclear strike frightened them even more, especially given its unpredictable nature. Although the bomb was dropped in the uninhabited Sahara, Ethiopia is uncomfortably close.
Besides the lack of strategic weapons, Wakanda's limited population was another significant weakness. With the industrial capacity of the Soviet Union, they could produce dozens of nuclear bombs with little effort. If a barrage of them were launched, Wakanda wouldn't stand a chance.
Despite their fear, Wakanda has not abandoned its plans for revenge against the Federal Republic, nor has it stopped its territorial expansion.
Their thinking? I can't afford to provoke the Soviet Union, but I can certainly handle Britain and France.
Unfortunately for Wakanda, the United States and the Soviet Union were unwilling to leave them alone. The two Anglo-French wars against Wakanda had already exposed the nation's strengths and weaknesses. Vibranium was now a primary target in both American and Soviet intelligence reports.
For these superpowers, the idea that such an incredible material was in the hands of what they considered a "primitive" nation was unacceptable.
Wakanda's strength in its wars with Britain and France didn't deter them; it only increased their desire for vibranium.
First, they wanted vibranium because of its immense value.
Second, they realized that if Wakanda's level of technology caught up to theirs, they would become an unstoppable force.
"Josh Kahn, regarding the Soviet Union's nuclear weapons, I think you owe us an explanation!"
With the world in turmoil over Wakanda, Josh found himself in New York, facing a grilling from the Council.
He had barely sat down when Calvin Chadwick, his longtime adversary, launched an immediate attack.
While other nations and organizations might not know the connection between nuclear weapons, the Soviet Union, Austria, and Josh, the Council of Nine, who had also acquired nuclear weapons plans from Josh, certainly did.
"An explanation? What explanation? The nuclear plans are mine. Who I sell them to is none of your business," Josh replied dismissively, giving Calvin a cold look.
"You are harming the interests of the Council!" Chadwick's angry demeanor made it clear that Josh's dismissive attitude had infuriated him to no end. He slammed the table and nearly jumped in anger.
"Harm the interests of the Council? Ha! And selling nuclear weapons data to the British and French isn't harming the Council's interests?" Josh countered, casually dropping a bombshell.
"You're slandering me!" Chadwick froze for a few seconds before shouting in a fit of rage.
But every member of the Council was an experienced schemer. Chadwick's reaction was as good as an admission that he had indeed sold nuclear weapons data to the British and French.
Josh wasn't just making baseless accusations either—he had evidence to back up his claims.
He had uncovered this information thanks to the chain of hotels he had established in various countries during the war. These hotels, now owned by the Continental Illinois Bank—one of the core institutions of Josh's Business—were renamed the Continental Hotel chain.
However, the management of the hotels was turned over to Ophelia and her Ouroboros organization. As a result, the Continental Hotel network became a major intelligence hub for Ouroboros.
The information about Chadwick selling nuclear weapons data to Britain and France was discovered through the Continental Hotel—ironically, because Chadwick's men loved to stay in luxury accommodations and flaunt their status.
Speaking of the Continental Hotel... why does that name sound so familiar?
"Calvin, you'll have to explain this to the council later. Well, Josh, while it's true that the nuclear weapons data belongs to you, you should have at least informed us before selling it to the Soviet Union. The Congress already suspects that the Soviet Union Nation developed nuclear weapons so quickly because of an internal spy. They've turned the matter over to the FBI for investigation. And J. Edgar Hoover, the director of the FBI, is not one of us and is notoriously difficult to deal with. We're in a tough spot here!" Thomas, the Council Leader, finally stepped in to stop Chadwick's outburst, addressing Josh in a tone of measured concern.
"Enough of this useless talk. Haven't you already found a scapegoat for this?" Josh replied calmly. "As for Edgar Hoover, if he's so annoying, why not replace him? Put one of our own in his place."
With his rapid rise to power, Josh's influence within the Council had grown significantly. He was now the third most influential figure, just behind Thomas and Hugh Jones. This was another reason why Chadwick's animosity toward Josh had deepened.
The scapegoat Josh was referring to was none other than Howard Stark, the world's most popular genius inventor.
In these turbulent times, Howard Stark found himself in a crisis of his own. A private warehouse containing many of his inventions was robbed.
The theft included several pieces of military-grade technology with black-market value. Among them was a failed combat drug called "Midnight Oil"—useless as a combat agent, but with potential as a biochemical weapon in targeted attacks.
Even more disturbing was the theft of an extremely unstable vacuum implosion nitrate bomb. A bomb no larger than a baseball could incinerate a factory covering tens of thousands of square feet. Its destructive power was unprecedented.
If not for its extreme instability, which prevented its range from increasing, it could have been a weapon even more terrifying than an atomic bomb.
This series of stolen items, combined with Howard Stark's own unorthodox behavior, led to him being charged with treason.
The Soviet Union's development of nuclear weapons? That, too, was pinned on him.
It was this series of events that led Peggy Carter to seek out Josh personally just prior to his meeting with the Council.
Without a doubt, Agent Carter's main storyline was now officially starting.
