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Chapter 133: The Weimar Conference
🕑 Added 2025-01-03 15:27:58 +0000 UTCAt night, a C-69 aircraft flew into the sky under the cover of darkness from the military airfield.
As Josh watched the plane disappear into the night, he let out a small sigh.
He couldn't help but wonder if sparing Hugh Jones had been the right decision.
Although Hugh had been under observation for half a month since his rescue, and aside from avoiding sunlight and occasionally drinking chilled blood, he had shown no signs of aggression and retained his sanity.
Still, the fact remained that Hugh was now a vampire, no longer quite human.
Sending him back to the United States might as well have given the country a newly created vampire progenitor.
From humanity's perspective, this was hardly ideal.
But for personal gain, Josh decided to go through with it anyway.
Besides, even if Hugh wasn't sent back, it wasn't as if vampires didn't already exist in America.
Just as in Europe, their absence from sight didn't mean they weren't there.
With nearly 500 years of European immigration to America, the idea that not a single vampire had made the journey seemed unlikely to Josh.
And truth be told, vampires might not be any more ruthless than capitalists.
Pushing aside his scattered thoughts, Josh turned and got into his car, ready to return to the fortress.
He was eager because today was a special day.
Yes, it was the annual day to open a blind box—or rather, to activate a new interdimensional beacon.
He wondered what kind of trading partner this beacon would connect him to.
Back at the Fortress, Josh locked himself in the study.
As the minutes ticked by, the new interdimensional beacon finally activated, and Josh wasted no time deploying it.
This time, luck seemed to be on his side—the beacon found a host in less than thirty seconds.
But as the communication link was established, Josh fell silent.
Apparently, luck with the beacons wasn't always guaranteed.
On the other end of the screen appeared a red-haired baby, babbling away, no more than a few months old—about the same age as Mike and Carol.
Seriously?
For a moment, Josh felt the urge to pull a grenade from his system inventory, remove the pin, and send it through the trade link.
Maybe if the baby accidentally confirmed the trade, the beacon could look for someone else.
The thought, however, was fleeting, lasting barely a second.
Despite being far from a saint, with countless lives lost directly or indirectly at his hands, Josh couldn't bring himself to harm a baby.
Especially not when the sight of the infant reminded him of his own two little ones.
Sighing, he disconnected the trade link.
This year's attempt at an interdimensional beacon was effectively wasted.
Until the baby grew up, trade was out of the question.
Still, there was some gain.
The baby's diaper had a distinct medieval European style, similar to the world of Game of Thrones. The high-quality silk fabric and intricate patterns suggested a wealthy or noble background.
Too bad it was just a baby—an adult would have been much more useful.
Well, no use crying about it. It wouldn't hurt to wait another year.
Josh was young and had plenty of time. With Jiaying's abilities at his disposal, he didn't have to worry about lifespan either.
In terms of technology and resources, the worlds of Game of Thrones and Cretaceous-era Red Alert had him covered.
The only real disadvantage was his personal strength.
But that wasn't something that could be rushed. If trouble should arise, the Beast Transformation Serum was always an option.
The only lingering concern was whether those vampires would eventually trace their way back to him.
However, the chances of retaliation were slim. The person in question had already returned to the United States, and the bombing order had come from the Allied High Command.
In addition, Josh had already instructed Ophelia to secretly alter the memories of key individuals—Colonel Ward and General Fletcher.
Thus, if the vampires sought revenge, it was most likely that the high-ranking officers of the Allied forces in Europe would bear the brunt, giving Josh ample time to respond.
However, more than half a month had passed and the expected retaliation from the vampires had not happened.
This allowed Josh to begin to relax.
It seemed that Lady Ellen's position among the Nosferatu wasn't as important as he had first thought.
At least, that was the only explanation he could think of.
If there were other reasons that prevented the vampires from taking revenge, Josh had no way of knowing.
The following days were quiet.
With the realization that trading with the new dimensional world wouldn't be possible for the time being, Josh focused on his business ventures.
And those ventures continued to flourish.
Until about half a month later...
"Boss, look at this!" Vito came rushing into the dining room with a telegram just as Josh was sitting down to breakfast.
"Has the information been confirmed?" Josh's expression became slightly serious after reading the telegram.
"It's been verified!" Vito nodded.
The telegram sent by the Council contained two main pieces of information.
The first was that the four nations were preparing for a conference.
Since the war in Europe had ended much more quickly in this timeline, the Yalta and Potsdam conferences of the original history had not taken place.
A delay, however, did not mean that they would not take place at all, just at a different time and place. The two conferences had essentially merged into one.
According to the telegram, the four nations had agreed to hold the meeting next week in Weimar, a small city on the border between East and West, rich with symbolic meaning.
After Germany's defeat in World War I, the new post-war German government had held its parliamentary sessions in this cultural city to avoid the unrest in Berlin. This is also where the Weimar Republic got its name.
Choosing Weimar seemed to imply a kind of postwar humiliation for Germany.
The second piece of information in the telegram was something Josh had been eagerly awaiting, the first atomic bomb had been completed and was scheduled for a test detonation just two days before the Weimar Conference.
The timing was deliberate. One of the key issues of the conference, much like the original Potsdam Conference, was to force Japan to surrender.
If Japan refused, the U.S. military planned to use the atomic bomb—not only as a measure against Japan, but also as a show of force to other nations.
In addition to the first completed bomb set for testing, a second batch of six atomic bombs was already in rapid production.
Yes, six bombs were being prepared for use, not just the two from the original history.
The power of these bombs was comparable to that of Little Boy and Fat Man, as well as the failed bomb from the original history. (TL/N: Little Boy and Fat Man were the two atomic bombs dropped by the United States on Japan during World War II:)
This was not due to a lack of intent to increase their power, but rather the limitations of the era. With airdrop delivery being the only viable method, the payload capacity of the bombers had to be considered.
The B-29 Superfortress, the most advanced bomber of the time, had a payload capacity of nine tons—but only for short-range, low-altitude missions.
Considering the fuel required for a safe round trip from U.S.-occupied territory to Japan and the estimated explosion yield, the B-29 could carry at most a four-ton nuclear bomb to ensure safety.
This explains why "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" both weighed about 4.5 tons.
As for the rumors of a B-29 dropping both "Fat Man" and a dud bomb on Nagasaki, later given to the Soviets by the Japanese, these were unfounded myths.
As impressive as the B-29 was, it simply couldn't carry two such heavy bombs on a single long-range mission.
The Soviets' ability to produce nuclear weapons came from German engineering and their own technological advances—it had nothing to do with the U.S.
Although the explosion range of the bombs could not be increased, the quantity certainly could.
In the original timeline, Truman's administration had originally planned to bomb six targets, not just two.
But changes in the war situation, combined with production delays and other factors, reduced the number to two.
Even so, six bombs was already a limit due to the shortage of uranium and plutonium.
For an industrially powerful America, producing the bomb casings was easy, but producing weapons-grade nuclear material was another story. That was where most of the cost of nuclear weapons lay.
Moreover, the production of these six bombs had been part of Josh's original terms for the Council.
Whether all six bombs would ultimately be used depended on the Council's progress.
Given the stubborn nature of the Japanese, it was unlikely that they would surrender without being bombed.
The real challenge lay with the U.S. government, specifically President Roosevelt.
Although Roosevelt had personally overseen the Manhattan Project, reports from the Council suggested that as the war drew to a close, he seemed increasingly reluctant to use nuclear weapons.
That wouldn’t do.
