After giving orders about the Blackwater Gang, Josh returned to his normal life.
The follow-up matters would naturally be handled by Dix, the new boss, and Linden Schneider, the strategist. Josh only needed to provide the funding and plant a few finance personnel into the operation.
Of course, a newly established gang couldn't be expected to become combat-ready in just a few days. Even the U.S. military needs at least three months of training before sending troops to the battlefield.
But as the saying goes, a gentleman's revenge is never too late, even if it takes ten years.
For Josh, he couldn't wait ten years, but waiting a few months was no problem.
Aside from occasionally checking on the progress of the Blackwater Gang, Josh was more focused on Europe.
With the appearance of Captain America and his national tour, the leader of the Hydra Corps, Johann Schmidt—also known as the Red Skull—had completed preliminary research on the Tesseract.
He officially raised Hydra's banner, broke away from Hitler's command, and began attacking both Hitler and Mussolini indiscriminately.
With advanced energy weapons, he quickly gained the upper hand.
In particular, Prokhorovka, which was originally known for the largest tank battle in history, had now become a stage for Hydra's energy tanks.
However, at this point, the Allies hadn't realized the severity of the situation and mistakenly believed that they were seeing signs of victory. Taking advantage of Hydra's all-out assault on Hitler and Mussolini, the Allies easily landed in Sicily and began advancing into the Italian heartland.
After pushing into the Alps and taking control of all of Italy, the Allies halted their advance, waiting for Hydra and the Axis powers to wear each other out.
Thus, World War II began to diverge from the traditional historical path and race toward the Marvel Universe's timeline.
But all this had little effect on Josh, and he had no intention of trying to change anything.
After all, if he recklessly interfered with the course of history and Captain America failed to defeat the Red Skull, leading to the Red Skull bombing the East Coast, he'd be the one in trouble.
Alright, truthfully, even if Josh wanted to interfere, there wasn't much he could do.
Was he really going to take his newly formed Blackwater Gang to fight in Europe?
...
On this day, Josh and Margot were playing tennis in the backyard.
Although it was already October and Chicago's weather was starting to cool, the skies were clear, and with the exertion of playing, neither of them wore much.
Despite being a wealthy heiress, Margot was far from a delicate flower—she had great athletic ability.
Adding to that, her ex-husband was a professional tennis player, so her skills were quite good.
Still, as a woman, her height and physique were limiting factors, and soon she was panting for breath.
Josh, though not initially skilled at tennis, had been in this world for nearly a year now. Having often played with Margot, his skills had steadily improved.
Even after several rounds, he remained relaxed—serving, lobbing, smashing, and volleying with ease—forcing Margot to run all over the court while he thoroughly enjoyed the bouncing scenery.
"No more, no more! Don't you know what 'ladies first' means?" Finally overwhelmed, Margot grumbled in protest after Josh scored with another smash. She handed her racket to the maid and sat under the sunshade, grabbing a glass of iced tea to gulp down.
Speaking of iced tea, the first thing many Chinese might think of is the Taiwanese brands like Uni-President or Kang Shuaibo.
But in fact, the origin of iced tea is credited to Americans.
In the early days, whether Asians or Europeans, people drank black tea hot.
It wasn't until the early 20th century that a tea merchant got the idea to add ice and lemon to black tea, which instantly became a hit in America.
The specific year is debated—some say 1904, others 1929.
Josh believed the latter was more plausible.
After all, there were no refrigerators in 1904. Though saltpeter ice-making and ice cellars existed, they were rare.
Ordinary people being able to enjoy ice at low cost didn't happen until after the refrigerator was invented in 1923.
"Alright, dear, it's my fault, I apologize!" Josh, ignoring the fact that both were drenched in sweat, squeezed onto Margot's chair under her glare and even tried to steal her iced tea.
"Sir, there's a call for you!" A maid came out from the house, interrupting their moment.
"Sorry, dear, I need to take this call." Josh gave a small apologetic smile.
"Hurry up, I need a shower anyway. Shame the weather's a bit chilly, or I'd go for a swim too." Margot pushed him away with a sigh.
This young man was perfect in every way—just a bit too clingy.
She had no idea where someone his age had learned so many tricks to please women. She used to think he was an honest guy.
Josh simply smiled and went inside to take the call while Margot headed to the bathroom for a shower.
When she came out, Josh had finished his call and was sitting in a chair by the bed.
"Margot, didn't you say you wanted to swim?" Josh asked as he saw her emerge.
"Yes, why?" Margot responded.
"How about we take a vacation to Florida?" Josh pulled her into his arms and asked.
"Really? You can get away?" Margot was pleasantly surprised. Although Josh always seemed to have time for her, she knew he was actually quite busy.
Besides the three factories, she also had a vague idea about some of his black market dealings. Josh hadn't deliberately hidden them—Margot just chose not to pry.
"Of course. I'm not as busy as you think. All the businesses are already running smoothly. Taking some time off won't make a difference." Josh smiled.
Of course, the real reason was something only Josh knew.
Chicago was about to get very chaotic.
No, not just Chicago—New York, Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, and Atlantic City in New Jersey would all be thrown into turmoil.
So, for both safety and avoiding suspicion, he thought taking Margot on a vacation was a good idea.
And the warm, sunny Palm Beach in Florida was the perfect destination.
"That's wonderful! How are we getting there? Cruise or plane?" Margot asked, arms wrapped around Josh's neck.
"Hmm, let's fly. It'll be faster. We can charter a plane and be there in a few hours." Josh smiled.
The legendary Douglas DC-3, a landmark in civil aviation, had already entered commercial service back in 1935. But at this time, airplane tickets were still prohibitively expensive for the average person.
For Josh and Margot, however, it wasn't an issue at all.
Forget flying—buying a plane wouldn't be difficult either. After all, a DC-3 only cost around $20,000 brand new.