Chapter 115: Chapter 114: Research Data on Nuclear Weapons? I Have It!
"Enough, Calvin!" Thomas Gloucester, sitting in the front seat, scolded Calvin, then turned to Josh and said, "Our actions are not as excessive as you think. In most cases, these actions are done out of necessity. You are a businessman, so you should understand that many of Roosevelt's policies are not suitable for the post-war economy."
"Of course, sir, I completely understand!" Josh nodded, pretending to be honest.
"It's good that you understand. You don't have to get involved in this. After all, you just returned to the organization. Although you joined the Chicago Consortium, your influence in the U.S. is not deep enough, so it's not appropriate for you to get too involved in U.S. politics. Your most important task is to help us re-establish ourselves in Europe!" Thomas Gloucester said, looking at Josh with satisfaction as he spoke sincerely.
He had originally thought that this promising young man would be someone as arrogant as Schmidt. He agreed to let him return to the organization only because the young man had accidentally gained control of the European branch. At one point, he even thought that the young man was just a pawn being pushed by the European branch. But from the short time they had interacted, he realized that the young man was actually very calm and smart.
In comparison... Thomas looked at Calvin and secretly shook his head.
Originally, Isodyne Energy made a fortune during the Great Depression and should be a giant now, comparable to Citigroup or Roxon. Unfortunately, Mr. Chadwick died at a critical moment, leaving Calvin, a fool, in charge.
"Of course I will do my best!" Josh was also surprised to hear Thomas' words. He had originally thought that the other side was raising a big issue like interfering in the election and attacking Roosevelt to make things difficult for him and find a way to hold something against him.
But now it seems that's not the case.
It seems that Hydra is still quite lenient internally.
But when you think about it, it's right. Tasks that could affect the fate of the organization should not be given to someone like Josh, who just joined. It would be a joke with one's life-even if Josh joined as a council member, it still wouldn't be appropriate.
Therefore, the other council members nodded in agreement with Thomas' words and Josh's performance.
"Speaking of which, there's another matter. After Whitney's death, the progress of the nuclear weapons research has been greatly delayed. I think the Council should come up with a contingency plan. After all, if we can't develop nuclear weapons quickly and show them to the world, it won't be so easy for the United States to achieve world leadership!"
Seeing that Josh seemed to have gained the approval of the other Council members, Calvin Chadwick couldn't help but ask a question.
"By the way, doesn't Whitney's death have something to do with you, Josh?" The other council members also looked at Josh after hearing this.
Calvin is just a fool compared to these old-timers on the Council.
However, to most ordinary people of this era, Calvin, who has received a strict elite education since childhood, definitely can't be considered a fool.
Although the Manhattan Project is a national program in the United States, its creation and operation are still closely tied to the interest groups behind the Council members here. In a way, it's also Hydra's own project.
As mentioned earlier, Whitney appeared to be just a female star on the surface, but secretly she was one of Hydra's key researchers involved in this project. However, because of her female identity, she was never able to participate directly in the project.
It was clever of Calvin to use this issue to pressure Josh.
"That's right, I did it. This woman's theft of the Midnight Oil almost got me court-martialed as well. If my research team hadn't happened to develop the BrightLight serum, I don't know if I'd be sitting here right now... What? If you were in my position, would you still let her spend Christmas?"
Unlike the last time Malick had tested him with vague words, this time Josh admitted it outright.
Because the situation was different now, before he joined the Council, they weren't on the same side. Josh admitted it, knowing that the other side could use it against him for revenge.
But now that Josh had become one of the highest ranking Council members in Hydra, Whitney's previous actions were considered "disobedience.
Other council members could use it to pressure him, but they couldn't do anything to Josh. That was the privilege of being a Council member.
"Even though Whitney was wrong in this matter, Josh, your handling of it was still a little too violent. It doesn't matter how you punish her, but killing her directly was still inappropriate!"
The head of the Roxxon Group, Hugh Jones, spoke up at this point: "However, this matter isn't beyond repair. I have a good personal relationship with that genius scientist, Howard Stark. Perhaps we can persuade him to join the Manhattan Project. In terms of skills, he should be even more skilled than Whitney."
Upon hearing Hugh's words, the other Council members immediately expressed their agreement. Although Howard Stark was obviously not on their side, that didn't stop them from using the super-scientist under a different front.
Previously, Howard Stark had been recruited to the front lines by the Strategic Scientific Reserve, responsible for the development and production of various special equipment, so the Council couldn't easily take action against him.
With the end of the European war, however, Howard Stark, like Josh, had returned to the United States, giving the Council an opportunity.
However, no one noticed that when Hugh Jones mentioned his personal relationship with Howard, Josh looked at the top of this Council leader's head, his expression somewhat strange.
Why?
It's because of Howard's moral problems, of course.
Undoubtedly, the Stark father and son are both geniuses, and many times, they are also responsible "heroes."
But compared to other upstanding heroes like Captain America, the personal morals of this father and son are not that high.
Being friends with this father and son means that you first have to worry about whether you will end up wearing a "green hat" because of them.
And coincidentally, Josh knew that this man, Hugh Jones, who claimed to have a good personal relationship with Howard, was one of the victims...
Josh hadn't seen Agent Carter Season 2, so he didn't know about Whitney Frost and Calvin Chadwick before.
But Hugh Jones was an exception, because the Roxxon Group he controlled was a frequent presence in Marvel comics, movies, and TV shows. Because of this, Josh had specifically looked at the information about Roxxon Group collected by those content creators.
And among that information was mention of the tangled love-hate relationship between Hugh Jones and Howard Stark.
Simply put, Hugh Jones treated Howard like a brother, but Howard slept with his wife.
From that time until the time of Tony Stark, the Roxxon Group relentlessly targeted Stark Industries.
Aside from the business rivalry, no one would believe it if there wasn't a personal vendetta involved.
However, this matter had nothing to do with Josh, and he had no intention of reminding that person.
But when Calvin uses Whitney to pressure him, Josh wouldn't let it go so easily.
It's just nuclear weapons research data, right?
He has the whole package!
With Yuri on his side.
Don't even mention the first-generation atomic bomb.
Second-generation hydrogen bombs, tri-phase bombs.
Third-generation neutron bombs, electromagnetic pulse bombs.
Even fourth-generation nuclear directed energy weapons, can that be considered a problem?
"If you're all worried about slowing down the progress of nuclear weapons research, don't be!"
As the other Council members discussed this matter in a heated debate, Josh spoke up.
"Oh? Josh, what do you think?" Calvin asked provocatively.
"Have you all forgotten about the superweapon Schmidt was researching before he died?" Josh raised an eyebrow and said.
"Of course we know, but wasn't it incomplete? Besides, according to the intel we got, that thing needs the Tesseract to work!" Thomas said when he heard Josh's words.
"Although it may seem like bragging, I can tell you that the research team under my command also has some talented individuals. After acquiring the superweapon data left by Schmidt, they have been conducting research and have already made considerable progress... However, due to industrial limitations, they have not been able to turn it into a physical product!" Josh smiled mischievously as he shifted the blame for the nuke technology to the Red Skull.
Whether they believe it or not is not Josh's concern. After all, the Research Data on nuke he has is real, and even if Red Skull or Zola came out to deny it, it wouldn't change anything.
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