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"Yes, sir. At the time, Mr. Bucky and I were tied to the experiment table and injected with some strange, unknown drugs. Although the military lab later checked and found nothing seriously wrong, I believe that if it weren't for the Captain arriving in time, we would have definitely died. Because during our captivity, we never saw anyone come out of those laboratories alive...Sir, is there a problem?"
Seeing Josh was curious, Vito didn't hesitate to explain the situation at the time. After speaking, he noticed Josh's thoughtful expression and felt a bit strange.
"Ah, it's nothing. I just didn't expect your experience to be so thrilling. If written as an autobiography, it would definitely be a bestseller. In that case, letting you retire halfway might have deprived the world of a legend." Josh responded casually after coming back to his senses, though his mind was spinning rapidly.
Injected with drugs along with Bucky? Wouldn't that be the Winter Soldier serum?
Of course, like Bucky, Vito should still just be a semi-finished product for now.
But who says semi-finished products are useless?
"Maybe. But I think being able to return safely and reunite with my family is already the greatest happiness!" Vito raised the document in his hand and said with a smile.
"Exactly, family is everything!" Josh nodded, then suddenly asked, "Vito, now that you're back, do you have any plans for the future?"
"Maybe become a dockworker like my father? At least that's what my mother hopes." Vito said helplessly. He couldn't help it—his elderly mother just wanted a peaceful and stable life. But for a hot-blooded young man just 20 years old, that clearly wasn't what he desired.
"Oh, oh, oh. A war hero working at the docks? Sorry, I mean no disrespect to your mother, but that is quite unexpected...But from the looks of it, you clearly haven't made up your mind yet. So, would you be interested in working for me?" Josh was a bit stunned when he heard Vito's words.
Dockworkers in this era weren't like the skilled laborers of the future.
Even though future dock work would also be tough, the pay would at least be decent but in this era, dock work was pure manual labor and often exploited by foremen. It was basically the lowest class job of the time, mostly done by Blacks and newly arrived immigrants.
Having a strong, good-looking guy like Vito do that kind of work really was too much of a mismatch.
"Work for you? Can I?" Vito was pleasantly surprised to hear Josh's offer.
Unlike when he had just come back and was unsure of the situation, now he had a basic understanding of Josh—a big boss, for sure. Even though he didn't know the pay yet, it definitely had to be far better than being a dockworker. Plus, his sister worked for Josh, so his stubborn mother likely wouldn't oppose it either.
"Of course, why not?" Josh shrugged.
"Thank you so much, Mr. Kane!" Vito agreed without hesitation.
"Since you're one of us now, there's something I won't hide from you." Josh waved off the thanks and continued.
"You've met Brook, right?" Josh asked.
"Yes, sir!" Vito nodded.
"Last year, your sister borrowed a high-interest loan to bury your father. I was the one who covered it, and Brook handled it. I'm not telling you this to gain gratitude or ask you to repay it, but because during the process, Brook discovered something else—your father's death might not have been an accident!" Josh said.
"What? Is that true?" Vito's expression changed drastically.
He had always thought his drunkard father had drowned by accident, just like his sister said in her letter. He hadn't doubted it...because based on his father's heavy drinking, it did seem like a possible outcome.
But if what Josh said was true, and it wasn't an accident—then that was a whole different matter.
Vito didn't like his drunk of a father, true, but that was still his father! And at least in childhood, the man had left him some good memories.
"Whether it's true or not, you'll have to investigate yourself. I was just a bystander in all this. If it wasn't for my wife Margot's request, I probably wouldn't even have paid that money, let alone looked into it. But now that you're back and working for me, I'm telling you…go find Brook, he'll tell you the details. Don't worry about the job for now—handle this first." Josh said slowly.
After hearing Josh's words, Vito immediately understood what he meant by telling him all this.
It was both a favor...and a test of loyalty.
"I understand. Thank you, Mr. Kane!" Vito nodded and left Josh's study.
After Vito left, Josh was silent for a moment. He got up, walked to the door, locked the study, then opened the trade device and connected to Yuri.
"What's up, Josh?" Yuri's face soon appeared.
The background was still the cave, but although only a week had passed, the cave was already completely transformed into a large laboratory. Some controlled Japanese "foot-basin chickens" were busy at work inside.
And the once wild-looking Yuri was now clean, dressed in a proper white lab coat, once again resembling the near world-dominating villain he used to be.
"Got some good news—a semi-finished replica super soldier just walked right to my door. So I'm asking if you're interested in doing some research. Do we have enough equipment now?" Josh looked around at the devices behind Yuri and asked.
All this lab equipment had been bought at high prices from the University of Chicago. Many were custom-made and usually not available this quickly.
But Josh's high offer convinced the university to sell, seeing it as a chance to upgrade their gear.
Of course, Josh wouldn't lose money—because it was Yuri who was footing the bill in the end... Iridium wasn't easy to sell in this era, but platinum was. And since iridium is a byproduct of platinum, if Yuri had a large iridium mine, there must be plenty of platinum too.
"Of course I'm interested. But to study this properly, I do still need a few more pieces of equipment," Yuri said, his eyes glinting slightly.
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