"Good. I admire your honesty. When I regain my true form and unite the world, I will grant you the title of Empress. What do you say?" The Dragon Emperor looked at Cai Lin. Earlier, he had been too preoccupied with his resurrection and his clay body's lack of sensation to notice.
Now that he looked carefully, Cai Lin's beauty and figure were truly exceptional—far surpassing Ziyuan.
It might not be a bad idea to have such an empress. He had never officially named an Empress during his reign, so this would be a convenient arrangement.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your generosity... But we must act quickly. The little sorceress is dead, and Ziyuan will surely notice. We should move at once!" Cai Lin smiled in satisfaction at his promise and handed him the Eye of Shangri-La, which had transformed into a massive diamond. Although it had lost the nourishment of the Pool of Eternal Life, it still contained a great amount of magic, making it a valuable artifact. It would provide the Dragon Emperor with much-needed energy in his current state.
With their agreement in place, Cai Lin immediately boarded a plane with the Dragon Emperor and flew to the Himalayas.
Except for the pilot and two super soldiers, they brought no one else with them.
The entrance to Shangri-La was near the top of the mountain, an extremely harsh environment. At this time in history, there was no official record of anyone reaching the summit except for the guardians who had protected it for generations.
Under such conditions, bringing too many soldiers would only slow them down.
Instead, with only three super soldiers and the Dragon Emperor, they would travel light and move as fast as possible.
The Dragon Emperor's tomb was over 2,000 kilometers from Shangri-La, just within the one-way range of the DC-3 transport plane Josh had provided for Cai Lin. As for refueling for the return trip, Cai Lin had the trading system, so there was no need to worry. They could leave immediately without any problems.
However, such a long trip would take over ten hours at the speed of the DC-3, which would make for a rather boring trip.
Cai Lin didn't mind keeping the system's communications open and streaming the entire trip for Josh, but Josh had no interest in watching. He would much rather go home and sleep with his soft, fragrant wife than stare at a walking terracotta soldier for hours on end.
Besides, once they reached the Himalayas, it wouldn't be easy to climb to the top. Even if the Dragon Emperor and the three Super Soldiers were tireless, it would still take more than a day to reach the top.
So Josh told Cai Lin to contact him again when she arrived at Shangri-La. Then he ended the call and left work.
After almost two hours of watching the stream, night had fallen outside.
As he stepped out, Vito immediately appeared at his side.
As Josh's personal bodyguard, Vito was also registered with the CIA and had his own workplace—directly across from Josh's office. From there, he could monitor all activity outside Josh's door, making it easier to ensure his safety.
The moment Josh stepped outside, Vito was right there with him.
The CIA office was still bustling with employees—unlike other government agencies, intelligence work didn't follow a strict clock-in, clock-out schedule. Even the Chicago office operated the same way.
When Josh left for the day, many field agents greeted him, some even joking about how rare it was for their "God of Wealth" to work overtime.
Josh had a free hand within the CIA, not only because he had created the agency and staffed it with his own people, but more importantly, because he controlled the agency's entire budget.
Every CIA officer knew that without him, the Agency would struggle financially. Funding from the White House alone would never be enough for the CIA's growing operations, and they would be left scraping by.
In the original timeline, the CIA had suffered exactly that fate in its early years, lacking proper funding and having to generate its own revenue. This had led to its transformation into a global crime syndicate, supporting warlords in Central and South America, Asia, and Africa, as well as trafficking in arms, drugs, and other illicit goods.
If ever there was a real-world "largest criminal organization," it was undoubtedly the CIA.
So-called "warlords" and "drug kingpins" were merely the CIA's leftovers.
But in this world, Josh refused to let the CIA under his control stoop to drug trafficking.
Not only was it unnecessary, it would be disgraceful.
So he made sure the Agency had generous benefits.
For any new CIA recruit, knowing the director's name was optional—but knowing the Directorate of Administration was mandatory.
"Hmm? We have guests?"
Arriving at his estate, Josh immediately noticed two unfamiliar cars parked outside and turned to Vito.
"Uh... Sorry, boss, but I wasn't informed either," Vito admitted, slightly surprised. Normally, Francesca would notify him first if there were visitors, and he would relay the message to Josh, who would then decide if he wanted to receive them. Given Josh's status, not just anyone could meet him—most required appointments.
Since Vito hadn't been notified, the guests probably weren't here for Josh.
And in this house, if they weren't visiting him, then they could only be...
Sure enough, when he entered the drawing room, he found Margaret talking to four guests.
Josh recognized two of them. One was Linus Leibler, his children's godfather and heir to the Leibler family fortune. The other was Linus's girlfriend, Elizabeth Tyson, daughter of a prominent southern plantation owner.
The other two were unfamiliar.
"Josh, you're back!" Margaret greeted cheerfully. "Let me introduce you. This is Mary Yellen—oh, I mean, Mary Osborn now. She's my high school classmate. And this is her husband, Amberson Osborn!"
Then she excitedly added, "You won't believe this, but Amberson and Linus were college classmates! What a small world!"
Josh raised an eyebrow.
Osborn?
Could it be that Osborn?
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