The Happy Zone Nightclub, as the most exclusive private venue in Chicago, was exceptionally soundproof. Even with gunshots and screams erupting inside, there wasn't the slightest disturbance from the outside.
It wasn't until several hours later, when things returned to normal, that a disheveled Vito and another bodyguard escorted Wilfred Malick—who appeared as though nothing had happened—out of the private room.
After seeing Malick off, Vito and his companion, now in a fresh set of clothes, resumed their post outside the room.
A few minutes later, Josh also exited the private room, his expression calm as ever and the group finally left together.
Afterward, the woman named Velma, who had earlier brought Josh to the private room, entered with a team. Wearing a composed look, she began cleaning and restoring the room.
Inside, apart from some beast-like claw marks and several large bloodstains, there was nothing else.
A few girls who learned things they shouldn't have naturally had to be sent to Yuri.
The four mutilated corpses were no exception.
Sigh. Compared to Daenerys and Yuri, who each ruled their own realms, Josh was still the most miserable among them.
Even doing something slightly out of line had to be done with extreme caution.
Now, with the year drawing to a close, a new dimensional beacon would arrive in two months. No one knew what kind of world or people he would encounter then.
Josh was full of anticipation.
By the time he got home, it was already deep into the night. Margot was still awake, sitting in the nursery built next to the master bedroom, smiling foolishly at the two babies in the cradle. Francesca sat nearby, yawning repeatedly as she kept them company.
So the saying "pregnancy dulls the mind for three years" is true?
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Josh squeezed next to Margot, glanced at the two pink, chubby babies in the cradle, and said with a smile.
"…Go take a shower. What did you do? You reek of rust!" As soon as Josh approached, Margot wrinkled her nose.
Josh was momentarily stunned by her words.
Rust?
The next second, he realized—it wasn't rust. It was the scent of blood.
Although he had done some cleaning at the nightclub, he had still spent hours in a bloody private room. Margot, still recovering postpartum and extra sensitive, could easily smell it.
Without hesitation, he left the nursery to shower.
There was no helping it. While Josh might seem commanding and untouchable outside, ever since the birth of the two little ones, Margot's maternal instincts had surged. All her attention was focused on the children, and Josh's status at home had plummeted.
…
Several days later.
New York.
The Competitive Social Club!
Although this Council of Nine had business cards all over America, most of their fronts were upscale venues like the Happy Zone. Only New York and Los Angeles—the two largest cities—actually had buildings officially marked as clubs.
In a dimly lit conference hall, seven men in suits sat around a large round table.
Not far away stood Wilfred Malick, who had met with Josh not long ago.
Clearly, despite Wilfred's years of hard work bringing the Malick family back into Hydra's core, standing as an equal with the other "heads" was still a long way off.
It wasn't about age—among the seven seated, Calvin Chadwick of the Isodyne Group and Hugh Jones of Roxxon Group were roughly Wilfred's age.
Yet both calmly occupied two of the council's seven seats and held significant sway.
The sole reason? The strength of Isodyne and Roxxon vastly outmatched the now-declining Malick family.
Only Wilfred truly understood the bitterness of that reality.
"Wilfred, tell us about your contact with Josh Kane," said the elder seated at the head of the table, looking at him.
This elder was Thomas Gloucester, Hydra's top leader, a Wall Street financial magnate, and head of the First Citigroup Consortium.
The First Citigroup Consortium, centered around Citibank, was one of America's top financial groups—and Citibank was the oldest bank on Wall Street.
In Josh's previous world, the First Citigroup Consortium declined during the Great Depression in the 1930s, falling under the control of Rockefeller and Morgan conglomerates, only barely recovering in the 1950s.
But in this world, under the Council of Nine control and in alliance with Roxxon and Isodyne, the First Citigroup Consortium was the hidden hand behind the Depression—and its biggest beneficiary.
Conversely, Rockefeller and Morgan suffered major losses and had become marginalized. The most visible sign of this: in this world, the Rockefeller Center wasn't called Rockefeller Center—it was called Roxxon Center.
In other words, the First Citigroup Consortium had replaced the Morgan family's position, and Roxxon had taken Rockefeller's.
Isodyne was the core of the California-based financial powers.
As for the Malick family, their real-world counterpart in Josh's original universe was the Mellon family—another old money dynasty that declined during the Depression, eventually losing their grip to other families and corporations.
So, if you included the temporarily weakened Malick family, four of America's top ten financial groups were within the Council of Nine—and they were the four strongest.
No wonder Josh placed such importance on the Council.
If you controlled the Council of Nine, didn't that mean you basically controlled half of America?
The remaining Council members were comparatively weaker.
One was media tycoon Mortimer Hayes, who controlled half of New York and Los Angeles' media industry.
The last two were political figures.
Ironically, the weakest of all was actually the von Strucker family.
In the comics, Strucker—like Red Skull—was one of Hitler's top men, alongside Zemo.
But in this world, which seemed based on the cinematic universe, the von Strucker family had shone briefly during WWI as a noble German family.
By WWII, internal power struggles with Hitler and Schmidt led to their exile to America, where they became vassals of the Roxxon Group.
It wasn't until the end of the war that they returned to Europe and began picking up Hydra's remnants after Red Skull's fall. During the Avengers era, they gained some influence—the Strucker killed by Ultron in the movie was the current head's son.
But even then, Strucker was beneath Gideon Malick and Alexander Pierce in status.
And in this world, it seemed nearly impossible for the Strucker family to rise again—because Josh had already swallowed up most of Hydra's European assets.
"Yes, Leader. I can fully confirm—Josh Kane is one of us!" Wilfred answered solemnly in response to the Council leaders' inquiry.
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