The moment Josh saw Howard, he felt the temperature around him drop a few degrees.
Turning his head, he noticed that Dracula's expression had turned icy cold, his look at Howard filled with murderous intent.
What the hell? Has Howard slept with your wife too?
That doesn't make sense... Your wife's been dead for centuries.
Vampire brides? Didn't you just say you didn't care?
Josh was baffled by Dracula's sudden change and a little worried that he might really go berserk and kill Howard.
Howard also noticed Dracula's expression and felt a sudden uneasiness... Who is this guy? Did I also sleep with his wife? But I don't remember!
Well, Howard had to admit that he had been with so many women that he could hardly remember most of them, let alone their husbands.
"Sir, do we know each other?" Howard looked at Josh, saw his equally confused expression, and asked cautiously.
"No, we haven't." Just as the situation became awkward, Dracula suddenly smiled and shook his head.
It's been centuries, but I still can't forget… Mehmed, my brother!
"All right, Josh, everything has been handed over. I won't bother you anymore. I'll find you before we leave." Dracula patted Josh on the shoulder, completely ignoring Howard, and walked out of the reception hall without looking back.
"Who is he?" Howard, still confused, walked over to Josh and watched Dracula's departing figure.
For some reason, even though they had never met, this aristocratic young man felt strangely familiar.
It was a strange feeling.
"Nothing, just a business associate. By the way, why are you here so early?" Josh looked at him and chuckled, imagining Howard being drained by vampire brides.
"Well... it's a little embarrassing, but I actually came early because I need your help with something," Howard coughed.
"What's that? S.H.I.E.L.D.? Don't tell me you want to take Carter with you? If she's willing, I have no objections." Josh smiled slightly.
At the end of last year, S.H.I.E.L.D. had been officially authorized.
It wouldn't be long before Howard was officially named director.
In the original timeline, the first director had actually been Peggy Carter.
After all, Howard was a scientist, not suited for intelligence work, and the other founder, Dum Dum Dugan, was great at leading the Howling Commandos into battle, but not at being a director.
And the former head of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, General Phillips? Unfortunately, he died of a stroke late last year. Whether the Council had a hand in it, Josh wasn't sure, but it had nothing to do with him—he even attended the funeral with General Ross and his family.
But Peggy Carter had already been recruited by Josh to become a super-soldier.
And after the incident with Captain America's blood, their relationship had hit rock bottom—Peggy would never work with Howard again.
So now, Howard had no choice but to take the director's seat himself—after all, he wasn't going to hand S.H.I.E.L.D. over to the military after all the effort he put in.
"Of course not. The reason I came so early is because I want to work with you," Howard shook his head.
"On what?" Josh was curious.
"The Tesseract," Howard said seriously.
-
Two days later, in a remote valley a few miles from Neuschwanstein Castle, a 40-meter-long spaceship sat quietly.
Nearby, a dozen large trucks were loaded with special goods from various countries.
A group of CIA (Ouroboros) agents, under the command of Carter and Mar-Vell, transferred the cargo to the ship.
Three days had passed quickly, and today was the day Mar-Vell would leave.
"The time is almost up. Why aren't they here yet?" Carter checked her watch.
"They're already on their way," Mar-Vell pressed a button on her wristwatch and a small holographic 3D map appeared. A bright spot was rapidly approaching their location.
Sure enough, within two minutes, the sound of approaching helicopters filled the air.
A few minutes later, the helicopter landed near the spaceship.
Josh and a young man dressed in elegant, old-fashioned clothes jumped out.
Seeing Carter and Mar-Vell in the distance, Josh's expression turned slightly strange.
According to intelligence reports, the two women had spent the last two days and nights almost entirely in their hotel room, except for the first day when they toured Vienna...
Josh found it hard to wrap his head around this.
Noticing Josh's strange look, Carter instinctively avoided his eyes. Even though what had happened had already happened, she still felt embarrassed.
Mar-Vell, on the other hand, seemed completely at ease.
It made sense—after all, the Kree Empire had been around for who knew how long, and their information network was undoubtedly advanced. Mar-Vell had probably seen it all.
Between the two of them, she was probably the dominant one.
Josh couldn't help but think.
"So this is the friend who wants a ride?" Mar-Vell looked at Dracula.
"That's right, Dracula Vlad," Josh said, but Dracula had already stepped forward and extended his hand.
"Finally, I can leave Earth! This is great!"
Unless a few thousand years passed, or that old bitch, the Ancient One, finally died, there was no way in hell he was coming back!
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