As for the movie company matter, Josh merely set the general direction and invested some money into his two films, then left it to Linden and the group of "industry professionals" to handle on their own.
Given Linden's shrewdness and his control over personnel and finances, it wouldn't be easy for the company to go off track.
Besides, those "industry professionals" weren't fools either.
In this era overrun by gangsters, unless one had a very powerful background, any employee trying to swindle money from an investor had to carefully consider one issue—after taking the money, would they still be alive to spend it...
As for Josh himself, after getting rid of the movie company's mundane matters, he didn't return to Chicago.
Instead, he traveled around with his beautiful elder sister, sightseeing and having fun.
Since it was a rare trip to the West, why rush back? It's not like he lacked money.
But he hadn't enjoyed himself for many days when Linden Schneider came knocking again.
"How come you have time to visit me today?" In the study, Josh asked Linden while instructing Francesca to go make some coffee.
"Well, it's like this. I was sorting through some company documents recently and came across a letter from the United Service Organizations..." Linden began.
"What? Them again?" At the mention of the USO, Josh immediately felt a headache coming on. In the past year or so, he had already bought over five million in bonds. These guys couldn't just keep squeezing one sheep dry forever.
"Boss, you misunderstand. It's not about buying bonds. It's a public letter to major Hollywood film companies. They're planning a large-scale performance tour to the European frontlines and hope the film companies will voluntarily send actors to participate," Linden quickly explained after seeing Josh's reaction.
"Oh, I see. Then let's send someone. Didn't we still have a lot of girls under contract from before the merger? Spend a little money and see who's willing to go. No need to report this kind of thing to me." As soon as he realized it wasn't about buying more bonds, Josh relaxed.
Although selling bonds was a guaranteed investment, with the resources Josh currently controlled, he could turn a profit greater than bond interest through virtually any venture. Naturally, he didn't want to tie up too much of his liquid assets in that.
"Of course. But I received a special application today—from Whitney Frost. She volunteered for the tour," Linden said.
"Huh? That woman... is she really that patriotic?" Josh was quite surprised upon hearing Whitney's name. Unlike the domestic tour where he first met her, this trip to the frontlines carried far greater risks. Even though Germany was in decline, it hadn't reached the point of complete collapse.
As for Hydra, despite being harassed by Captain America and the Howling Commandos for the past six months, it was still in its prime.
So, major stars typically wouldn't appear in situations like this.
Especially considering that beyond the safety concerns, conditions on the front were harsh—living in barracks, eating army rations.
Plus, the performance itself was volunteer work. Funding came from donations, and the pay was minimal.
Ordinary actors earned $10 a day; big stars no more than $30.
So, for a first-tier actress like Whitney, volunteering for such a thing was rare.
In Josh's previous life, the only A-list American actress on record to do so was Marilyn Monroe...
But that mostly referred to actors.
For singers, there were more.
That Whitney took the initiative to apply was... quite odd.
"Exactly. And she seems quite determined... so I wasn't sure what to do. After all, she's still the company's leading star. If anything happened to her, it would have a big impact on us," Linden explained.
"When is the performance scheduled for?" Josh pondered and suddenly recalled something—wasn't the Normandy landing about to happen soon?
It was already late April. If he remembered correctly, the Normandy landings were in June.
"End of May!" Linden answered immediately.
Josh nodded. So that's it—the military wanted to boost morale for the landing operation.
And the end of the European war was now only a year away.
Thinking of the equipment Yuri had provided him during this period, Josh couldn't help feeling tempted.
Though he didn't want to meddle in the war itself, he certainly didn't want to miss out on the post-war European feast.
But if he wanted to secure the juiciest portions, he couldn't wait until the war was entirely over. If he acted too late, he'd lose out to the financial tycoons.
"Let her go. Not only her—Angela should go too. And you and I must go in person!" After thinking it through, Josh decisively made his decision.
But this decision left Linden stunned.
What the hell? I came here just to ask about one actress, and now you've dragged me and your mistress into this too?
"What are you afraid of? We're not going to fight. We're going to do business. Inform Dix: in the coming period, he's to collect every material resource he can get—food, sugar, fabric, alcohol... and tobacco. Don't sell anything for now. Stockpile it all!" Josh gave the old man a glare and ordered.
"Boss, you mean...?" Hearing the order to collect these strategic supplies, Linden widened his eyes in realization.
"That's right. Just as you're thinking—during this difficult time, we'll bring our warmest regards to our European brothers and sisters. Of course, these 'regards' will require a tiny bit of payment on their part..." Josh revealed a cunning smile.
"But boss, what about transportation...?" Linden hesitated. No doubt, if these materials could be transported to Europe, they could be exchanged for wealth many times greater than their domestic value. But at the same time, getting them over there would be a big challenge.
He did know Josh had a covert logistics network—but that was domestic. This time they were going to Europe, which was a whole different ballgame.
"That's not your concern. Just focus on gathering materials. Even if you manage to collect enough to fill all of Chicago, I'll have a way to transport it!" Josh shot him a look.
"Yes, boss, I'll get right on it!" At that, Linden's heart tightened. He bowed and quickly left Josh's residence to carry out his orders.
After Linden left, Josh didn't idle either. He immediately contacted both Daenerys and Yuri.
Currently, Daenerys was sweeping through Westeros undefeated. Given the spoils, she probably didn't have much surplus food, but things like tobacco—useless for survival—could likely be collected in large quantities.
As for Yuri...the Cretaceous era lacked many things, but there was one thing it had in abundance.
Meat. Dinosaur meat.
Under Yuri's encouragement, Josh had tried many types of dinosaur meat after the dino eggs. Most herbivore meat was actually quite good—like a blend of chicken and beef, with little odor.
So Josh could easily process it into canned meat and sell it...Over the past two months, he had sent a large amount of industrial equipment to Yuri. Now, Yuri could mine and smelt most common metals. And since the Cretaceous was full of open-pit mines, Yuri had no trouble sourcing resources.
Otherwise, Yuri wouldn't have been able to build that Magnetic Storm Infantry Armor.
Among the many mines was an ultra-large bauxite mine.
So all Josh had to do was send Yuri a few canned food production lines
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