Dimensional Trader in Marvel

"Finally, they made their move. Heh, they couldn't hold out for long, could they?" In his study, Josh played with the invitation in his hand, a cold smile creeping across his face.

It was an invitation to a nightclub in Chicago, sent by none other than the Competitive Social Club. (TL/N: May change the name ahead)

The signature at the end? Wilfred Malick.

Wilfred Malick, the current head of the Malick family, was one of the heads of Hydra and would be known as the leader of Hydra in the future Avengers era. He was also Gideon Malick's father.

At the time, Wilfred wasn't very old—just in his early forties. As for Gideon? He hadn't even been born yet. In the U.S., many tycoons married and had children late in life. With their wealth, they could afford to enjoy themselves for as long as they wanted.

Take Howard Stark, for example. Born in 1917, he lived a carefree life until the late 1960s, when he met Maria, Tony Stark's mother, and finally settled down and married.

This explains why Tony was born so late.

These wealthy individuals rarely worried about heirs, thanks to the rise of professional management systems. By the early 20th century, institutions like the American Management Association had established robust systems for hiring professional managers.

Large families, such as the Rockefellers and Morgans, rarely relied solely on family members to run their businesses. Instead, management companies handled their affairs, ensuring continuity even when direct heirs were too young to take over.

This arrangement had its advantages-corporate control could not easily be seized by outsiders during a succession period. Examples include Tony Stark in Marvel and Bruce Wayne or Green Arrow in DC.

Even when their parents died early and their companies were temporarily taken over by others, the core assets remained untouchable. The law and other wealthy groups fiercely protected these rights, preventing anyone from setting a precedent that could harm their own interests.

However, this also meant that if a family's descendants failed to maintain influence within their companies, their say in decision-making would diminish over time-much like Disney's situation today.

By comparison, Josh, who wasn't even fully grown yet—born in August 1927 and now 17 years old in November 1944—already had a pair of adorable twins. That was rare indeed.

As for Wilfred Malick, his background was surprisingly inspiring.

During the Great Depression a decade earlier, the Malick family had been nearly bankrupted. Although Hydra Leaders had staged the Wall Street crash, that didn't mean their own businesses were immune.

Like the Red Skull who betrayed Hydra, the organization was never truly unified.

Prior to the economic crisis, Wilfred's father had been the head of Hydra's Council of Nine. However, other Hydra factions deliberately kept the Malick family in the dark about the impending crash, pushing them to the brink of financial ruin. Wilfred's father committed suicide, and the family's assets were seized by the banks.

Wilfred struggled for years on the lowest rungs of society. He finally found his footing by taking a risky job transporting materials for Schmidt's super-soldier experiments. Schmidt, who had not yet betrayed Hydra, helped Wilfred reclaim the Malick family fortune and reinstate them to the Council of Nine.

However, Wilfred's influence within the Council remained limited. Restoring the Malick family to its former dominance would take time.

Josh had received all this information from Whitney Frost, who was now serving as Yuri's assistant.

Frankly, Josh hadn't expected Hydra to send Wilfred Malick. The first Hydra member he had interacted with was Whitney Frost, rumored to be the mistress of Calvin Chadwick, CEO of Isodyne Energy.

Josh had assumed that Hydra would send Calvin Chadwick instead.

However, Wilfred Malick was not a bad alternative.

Based on Whitney's intel, Wilfred was much easier to approach than the arrogant, entitled Calvin who had grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth. Having experienced both the ups and downs of life, Wilfred seemed more open to cooperation, making him an ideal target for Josh's plans.

Josh's goal in joining Hydra was to eventually take control of it.

However, in terms of wealth and influence, Josh was still far behind most of Hydra's Council members.

The technology provided by Yuri could help close the gap, but converting innovation into power and wealth took time.

During this transitional period, Josh couldn't afford any interference from Hydra's higher-ups.

Of course, there was another option, seize control of a nation and start a world war with the U.S., turning the tables entirely.

But the last person to try that—Hitler—was long dead, and Schmidt had vanished into space.

While Josh had his own advantages, he didn't consider himself a genius capable of doing better than either of them in the short term.

Without the resources to overthrow the system entirely, he had to play by America's rules, navigating its social structure to challenge Hydra's Council.

Fortunately, his takeover of Hydra's Austrian branch had already saved him considerable trouble.

Still, it wasn't enough. To gain a voice within Hydra, Josh needed allies.

Given how Wilfred had been burned by his Hydra peers during the Great Depression, Josh doubted he lacked the ambition to reclaim his family's former glory.

Before attending the meeting, however, Josh had to be fully prepared.

Although the invitation was polite, who knew what to expect?

He also needed to increase security at home.

While direct conflict with the Council seemed unlikely, Josh couldn't rule out the possibility of extreme measures.

Better safe than sorry. If Hydra decided to act irrationally, Josh didn't want to end up regretting it.

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