American Comic Dimensional Trading Device

But being a puppet WAA director is enough to gain experience and prestige.

Phillips saw it clearly: Josie's real purpose was not to help William Ross, but rather because he had his eye on that terrifyingly large amount of military material.

So, with both sides willing to agree, they settled the matter in just a few words.

I turned to William Ross, and even after it was all over, I still didn't fully understand the situation.

After Phillips left, Josie explained it to him carefully, and he finally understood the meaning of WAA.

He had no objection to this, because Josh made it very clear that taking this position would only bring him benefits, not harm.

From the moment they met, Josie never betrayed his old friends like Ross and McGinnis, so his word was highly credible.

Afterwards, Josie stayed at Ross's house for dinner before leaving.

On her way back to the hotel, as Josh looked at the bustling streets, it suddenly dawned on her that she hadn't actually bought a house in New York yet.

Although haunted by the Avengers movies from his past life, he has no plans to live in New York for long.

But for a super-rich person to stay in a hotel every time they come to New York is a bit too undignified.

Speaking of which, that piece of land that will become the United Nations in the future...

Chapter 140 Big Toy

“Peggy, I don’t think you need to stay in the Strategic Science Bureau. They don’t value you at all. Apart from that ‘interrogation’ the other day, no one has even bothered to check on you. You might as well come out and help me. If you agree, the general manager of the New York Group branch will be yours!” Josie said while peeling an apple for Carter.

"Thank you, Josie, but I can't just leave like this. Bucky is still missing, and I'm not willing to give up!" Carter leaned against the hospital bed, took the apple, took a bite, but ultimately shook his head and refused.

Four days have passed since Carter was hospitalized. During these four days, Josh has taken some time every day to visit him, bringing him snacks and fruit. She also hired a young nurse named Colin to take care of him. Josh has also covered the expensive medical bills all by herself. Even in the 21st century, American health insurance is still a huge burden, let alone in this era.

Although the Strategic Science Corps offers good salaries and medical subsidies, it's just a drop in the ocean when it comes to supporting the costs of intensive care units at top-tier hospitals like the Presbyterian Hospital.

It's impossible to say that Peggy Carter wasn't grateful to Josie; most women would have already thrown themselves at her.

However, it is still the early days after the war ended, and Steve Rogers is still her "nightmare". It is not easy to get out of it. Now, the inexplicable arrest of Bucky, Steve's most important friend, has further intensified Carter's stubbornness.

Therefore, at this point, it was absolutely impossible for Peggy Carter to leave the Strategic Science Bureau.

Josie had actually nipped Carter's idea in the bud, which was why she made the invitation. Her purpose was to deepen Peggy Carter's sense of indebtedness towards her, not because she was sincere.

Peggy Carter believes that Josie comes to see him every day, but recently Josie has been acquiring land along the East River in Manhattan—actually, she's just picking out which places to buy, and he doesn't have to worry about the specifics of the transactions, so he's relatively free and often wanders around the area, which is why he comes to see Carter every day.

Of course, if Peggy Carter were to lose her mind and accept his invitation, Josie wouldn't mind going along with it.

As one of the oldest capitalist countries, Britain opened its higher education to women earlier than the United States. For example, Oxford and Cambridge opened their programs to women in the 1920s.

While Carter didn't graduate from a prestigious university, he did attend college and was considered a top student in those days, more than capable of serving as a regional general manager.

“Alright, then I won’t say anything more. But remember, if you encounter any problems you can’t solve, you can come to me. We’re friends!” Josie nodded and stopped trying to persuade her. “I just bought a house in Huntington, Long Island. If you need anything, you can go there. Even if I’m not there, the housekeeper there will notify me.”

The Manhattan plot of land was intended for use by the United Nations. He planned to replicate Rockefeller's actions in the original timeline and, through the Council, "give" a portion of it to the United Nations.

This will then drive up the commercial value of the surrounding land.

Moreover, that entire area was originally a light industrial zone, and after the acquisition, it had to be completely demolished and rebuilt before it could be used.

So Josie bought another estate on Long Island as her residence in New York.

“I will!” Card nodded.

"Then you should rest. I have some things to do today, so I won't bother you any longer!" After chatting for a while, Josie got up to say goodbye.

Just as Josie left, a young nurse came in.

The nurse's name is Colin O'Brien.

She was a full-time nurse that Josie had hired specifically for Carter.

"Wow, Peggy, Mr. Kahn is so good to you, he comes to see you every day!" Colin said with a hint of envy. "I wish I had a young, handsome, and rich man who treated me like that!"

"Don't overthink it. Josh has a fiancée and kids. We're just friends!" Carter rolled her eyes. She wondered where Josh had found such a gossipy cutie, but she seemed like a nice person and had taken good care of her lately.

Hearing Carter's words, Colin curled his lip. Friends? Who would believe that?

Meanwhile, after leaving the hospital, Josie headed straight for the port.

A small fleet, led by a formidable warship flying the flags of Austria and the United States, was slowly making its way towards New York Harbor, a dozen or so nautical miles away.

The lead warship was the Prinz Eugen, a German-made heavy cruiser that Josie had purchased from the military after the Weimar Conference.

It is also the flagship of the newly established Austrian Navy, and this fleet is naturally the newly formed fleet of the Austrian Navy.

Using a mere heavy cruiser as the flagship of the entire navy was obviously somewhat shabby, but for Austria, it was undoubtedly a huge breakthrough.

It's worth noting that the last time Austria possessed large warships was during the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I.

Now, 27 years have passed since the Austrian Navy was partitioned in 1918.

In those 27 years, there were no warships, not even a port to the sea.

There's a reason why the Prinz Eugen was chosen as the flagship.

Prince Eugen's name comes from Prince Eugen von Savoy, a famous general of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Meanwhile, during World War I, one of the only four dreadnought-class battleships in the Austro-Hungarian Navy was also named Prinz Eugen.

Therefore, this name holds a very special significance for Austria.

The purpose of the Prinz Eugen's visit to the United States was quite simple: to pay homage to the US.

However, Josie wasn't there to pick up the Prinz Eugen, but rather a behemoth from the fleet, a ship even larger than the Prinz Eugen—the Europa aircraft carrier/cruise ship.

Europa, originally a giant luxury ocean liner built in Germany in 1930, won the Blue Ribbon Award on its maiden voyage—an award given for breaking the Atlantic voyage record.

It became one of the most luxurious cruise ships on the Atlantic at the time.

However, with the onset of war, the ship was requisitioned by the German army and originally planned to be used as a troop transport ship, but it never got a chance to be used – the army did so in the wars against Finland and Norway, but there was no chance to use it in the war against Britain.

So the Germans tried to convert the giant ocean liner into an aircraft carrier, but just like the ill-fated Zeppelin, the plan was ultimately not completed—after all, the Europa was twice the size of the Zeppelin, and it was not so easy to convert.

After that, this semi-finished giant ship, which was half cruise ship and half aircraft carrier, quietly moored in the Baltic Sea for three years until it was discovered by the US military at the end of last year, and then bought by Josie for almost scrap metal.

Also purchased was a warship named Degras, which was an unfinished warship originally intended to be converted into a light aircraft carrier. However, its tonnage was only one-fifth that of the Europa. It was directly transferred by Josie to the Austrian Navy and is currently still undergoing conversion.

As for the Europa, Josie planned to tow it back and convert it into a cruise ship, making it his own big toy.

Both of these warships shared a common characteristic in their original timeline: after the war, they were given to the French Navy by the United States as part of the compensation for Germany's invasion of France during World War II.

The De Grasse, in particular, was originally a French warship. It was only partially built when France surrendered, and it ended up in Germany's hands.

However, this compensation was not required by any agreement; it depended entirely on whether the Americans were willing to accept it.

In other words, Josie's purchase of these two warships from the Americans was a sleight of hand over to the French.

Yes, that's right, Josie did it on purpose.

Who told you French people to like defaulting on debts?

Although the French have agreed to repay the debt under Truman's mediation, does that prevent Josie from collecting some interest? No, it doesn't.

And this is just the beginning.

In the future, whenever the opportunity arises, the French will have plenty of chances to suffer.

Chapter 141, 18 years old

Watching the massive Europa slowly sail into the dock at the New York shipyard, he nodded with great satisfaction. This huge toy, once the modifications were complete, would allow him to take his whole family to travel the world.

Although airplanes are fast, comfort remains a major issue in this era. When you're in a rush for work, airplanes are naturally the best option.

But if you're just looking for a simple trip, taking a boat is still the most comfortable.

Especially these giant cruise ships that are even larger than aircraft carriers.

However, this giant cruise ship is about to become Josie's private toy. Isn't that more exciting than the so-called superyachts of those rich people?

Of course, the excitement comes at a price; the construction and maintenance costs of cruise ships are incomparable to those of yachts.

If the Europa's hull hadn't already been prepared, requiring only internal modifications, the cost would have been greatly reduced.

In addition, Josie does have quite a lot of "spare money" that she doesn't keep on record.

Otherwise, even he couldn't handle using this thing as a private yacht.

However, this giant ship is not just a simple toy. After the power and living and entertainment facilities are modified at the New York shipyard, the ship will undergo some special modifications before its next voyage to Austria.

The reason for bringing the ship to the United States for modification instead of completing it directly in Austria was out of necessity. After all, Austrian shipyards are still building ships and have difficulty even repairing a small sampan, so they simply don't have the capacity to modify a super-giant ship of this size (50,000 tons).

France, Britain, and other countries had just finished fighting a war and were too busy with their own shipbuilding operations to handle such a large order as Josie.

Therefore, in the short term, only American shipyards have the capacity to complete this 10,000-ton behemoth.

Anyway, the Europa itself has a propulsion system, although it is somewhat outdated compared to post-war standards, so sailing it to the United States wouldn't be too difficult.

“Let’s go home!” Josie said to Jia Ying beside her.

That's right, it wasn't just the giant ship USS Europa that came to the United States this time.

Also arriving were Jia Ying, the butler who had just graduated from the butler academy and whom Josie had booked, and four enormous Saint Bernards.

In fact, a regular training course at the Butler Academy usually only takes about six months.

Jia Ying's study time is often already beyond the standard.