Dimensional Trader in Marvel

"...Hah, I accidentally gained another solid base. That was way too easy," Josh said with boredom, sitting confidently on Attilan's throne, dressed in golden armor and holding the Sword of Rupture.

Cutting the moon had just been a joke. Anyone with some basic knowledge of astronomy would know how important the moon is to Earth and to humans. But destroying the Inhuman city of Attilan on the moon? That was real.

With the Eternals gone, Attilan—another unstable element—had to be dealt with. Besides, in this era, there weren't any particularly powerful Inhumans left in the city.

And Josh had already captured five Inhumans during the Antarctic incident. He handed them over to Yuri.

Among the five, two had mind-based powers, but their abilities were average, about the same level as Ophelia. Compared to someone like Yuri, they were nothing.

With Yuri's help, Josh easily read their memories and got all the important information about Attilan. So, this attack wasn't made on a whim.

The only thing that surprised Josh was how easy it was. It had already been almost a year since the five Inhuman leaders with deep knowledge of Attilan disappeared, yet the city had barely strengthened its defenses. Can you believe that?

Then again, thinking of how in the original story, Black Bolt's brother Maximus staged a successful coup like it was a joke, Josh could only shake his head. The Inhumans had lived peacefully and alone for so long that they'd become completely careless.

"But that's a good thing, right?" Xu Wenwu said as he walked in, speaking to Josh who was still lounging on the throne.

Xu Wenwu's appearance here was kind of unexpected.

Since they teamed up to take down the Eternals and had met Tiamat together, Josh, Xu Wenwu, HYDRA, and the Ten Rings had built a pretty stable alliance.

Especially in the Eastern regions, where unknown powers had weakened the influence of both HYDRA and Ouroboros, Xu Wenwu still held strong sway.

Of course, due to some recent special circumstances, Xu Wenwu had moved his core forces to places like Hong Kong and Macau. Over there, it was just easier for him to handle things than for Josh to do everything himself.

And after confirming their alliance, Xu Wenwu really did follow through on the guess Josh had made the first time they met—he started pursuing Jiaying.

Josh didn't mind though. Jiaying was just the steward of the Kahn family, managing only the family's public businesses. The underground side of the empire had always been controlled by Josh's trusted inner circle like Ophelia.

Sure, Jiaying was hardworking thanks to her Inhuman stamina, but she wasn't irreplaceable.

For example, there was Vito's sister, Francesca—the head maid of the Kahn family. Because of her bond with Margaret and her longer time working with Josh, Francesca's status had quietly risen above Jiaying's.

At first, Jiaying had more responsibilities because of her Inhuman powers, while Francesca was just a regular human with limited ability.

But after Josh secured the Pool of Eternal Youth and perfected the super soldier serum, that changed everything—now with both enhancements, Francesca's stamina and abilities were nearly endless.

So with a simple handover, Francesca could easily take over all of Jiaying's work.

Xu Wenwu had come to find Jiaying just before Josh was about to leave, so Josh simply brought him along. Free labor—might as well use it. Plus, Josh planned to show off his newly gained power a bit too.

But before he could even show off, Attilan's Inhumans had already fallen.

Not only did they fall, but a civil war broke out too. Just as Josh took control of Attilan's outer areas, chaos erupted inside.

The reason was simple. Attilan still followed an old caste system. Inhumans who couldn't awaken powers lived lives even worse than slaves, forced to serve the ruling elite...

Once the rebellion began—well, that was it.

"This really doesn't feel satisfying at all," Josh said with a sigh. He hadn't even used his Sword of Rupture.

"…Then why don't you send your troops to take over the White House? That'll feel satisfying for sure," Xu Wenwu said with a raised brow, clearly annoyed by Josh's shameless boasting.

When they first met, this guy hadn't been so arrogant. So what if he got Tiamat's blessing? So what if he was Jiaying's master? Was it really that amazing?

Okay, fine. It was kind of amazing.

Xu Wenwu wasn't too impressed by Tiamat's blessing—he'd lived for over a thousand years and had seen plenty—but he did care about Jiaying. And even though she hadn't rejected him, it was clear she stood with Josh, who was both her master and her savior. That left Xu Wenwu feeling helpless.

Still, he only grumbled in his heart. These days, he was like a man in love, completely focused on Jiaying, barely paying attention to the Ten Rings anymore.

He was even considering marrying her, giving Josh the Ten Rings as a gift, and retiring for good. (TL/N: This is a joke… probably?)

"You can't say that," Josh replied casually. "The Inhumans of Attilan don't even see themselves as human, so to us, they're another species. Fighting them isn't a big deal. But attacking nations on Earth? That would be civil war."

By now, the two of them were close, and with no superior-subordinate relationship, their conversations had become pretty casual.

"…I'm not going to argue with you. If you're that strong, go fight aliens instead!" Xu Wenwu rolled his eyes, but then suddenly realized something. His face turned serious as he looked at Josh. "Wait—you're not seriously thinking of…"

"…Don't you want to?" Josh asked with a faint, knowing smile.

"…I used to. But not anymore," Xu Wenwu said after a pause, shaking his head.

"Heh, no rush. It's just an idea for now. The time's not right. My kids are still young," Josh said with a soft smile, then stood up from the throne and walked toward the exit.

"Where are you going?" Xu Wenwu asked.

"Home. Gonna bring the wife and kids here to enjoy the moonlight. We've always looked at the moon from Earth—why not try seeing the moon up close, and see Earth from the moon for a change?" Josh replied without turning around.

…Hmm? That actually sounds kind of romantic. I could bring Jiaying…

"Wait for me!" Xu Wenwu suddenly jumped up and quickly followed after Josh!

--

Join my patreon to read ahead and use code 6657F to get 40% off—valid for the next 24 hours exclusively!