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14.81% Marvel Plane Trader / Chapter 8: I’m Stealing from the Mafia

Chapter 8: I’m Stealing from the Mafia

The Cadillac V16 was released in 1930 and discontinued in 1940. It was one of the most luxurious cars before World War II and the world's first mass-produced car with a 16-cylinder engine. It only accepted custom orders and had low production, with only over 4,000 units sold in 11 years, at an average selling price of $8,000.

Yesterday, when Josh went to buy a car, he also saw one at the used car dealership… which was one of the largest in Chicago.

The seller offered it for $9,000, twice Josh's net worth, and the terrifying price made him retreat.

Yes, it was a used car, but instead of losing value, it was appreciated. Moreover, this one in the garage was a silver convertible, full of artistic sense.

Compared to that, Josh's 1934 Ford 730 De Luxe was industrial junk.

Josh instantly fell in love with this powerful luxury car.

He didn't expect that a black market car dealer could get his hands on such a car.

Cadillac V16 owners were undoubtedly wealthy or powerful as it only accepted custom orders. After all, the high price of $8,000 was beyond the reach of ordinary wealthy people.

Therefore, theoretically, whoever could afford this car was not someone a normal car theft gang could provoke, and even car thieves wouldn't dare to steal it.

Therefore, the appearance of this car in this place was quite surprising.

However, Josh didn't care. Since he saw it here, it was his.

He didn't go out directly but first took off his coat, changed into a leather jacket from the system inventory, and put on a hood… who knows when he prepared it.

After preparing everything, Josh took out the Thompson he had just bought from the inventory and walked out.

"Who are you? Oh, sir, is there anything we can talk about?" Hearing the noise, the two people in the warehouse immediately looked over and rebuked.

But after seeing the Thompson in Josh's hand, the two of them instantly raised their hands, and their tone became gentler.

Josh was very satisfied with their attitude. These Italians were quite friendly, not as bad as in the movies.

"Don't worry, I just need a car. Where are the keys to this car?" Josh asked the middle-aged Mediterranean man in a muffled voice through his mask.

"Oh no, sir, you can't take this car. It belongs to Mr. Scaglione. If you take it, he won't let us live." Seeing Josh asking for the keys to the two Cadillac V16s, the middle-aged man became anxious.

"Scaglione? Who's that?" Josh couldn't help but ask, seeing the Mediterranean man's attitude.

"Mr. Scaglione is a senior member of the Moretti family, in charge of the business in the entire red-light district in the east of Chicago." The Mediterranean man replied, "This is his car, but it's temporarily parked here. Someone will be coming to pick it up this afternoon. If you take it, none of us will survive."

"Moretti family? Who are they?" Josh asked.

"Excuse me, sir, have you just arrived in Chicago?" The slightly chubby young man next to him spoke up.

"What if I did? Is there a problem?" Josh asked, and to some extent, he had just arrived in Chicago.

"The Moretti family is one of the largest Mafia families in Chicago. If you've been here for a while, it's impossible not to know their name. My friend, let me advise you, if you still want to survive in Chicago, it's best not to offend them," the chubby young man flattered.

"Oh? They do sound quite powerful. Can you tell me about the major forces in Chicago besides Al Capone? I don't know much about anyone else," Josh said thoughtfully.

"Hehe, Mr. Capone is certainly worthy of our admiration, but that was over a decade ago. Now in Chicago, it's the Moretti family, the Clementi family, the Vinci family, and maybe even the triads who call the shots," the chubby young man gave a brief rundown of the power situation in Chicago.

Although Josh wasn't planning on getting involved with the Mafia, he found it all quite fascinating. The other party's eloquence was quite good, making Josh feel like he was listening to a storytelling session.

"I didn't expect a car thief to be so well-informed. What's your name?" Josh asked after the other finished speaking.

"My name is Joe Barbera. Just call me Joe. It's Mike. Nice to meet you. Since we're all friends now, I can't let you leave empty-handed. As long as you don't touch this car, you can take whatever you want from this warehouse. And by the way, Mike's safe should have a lot of money. You can take that too," Joe's chubby face smiled like a daisy.

"You're a very clever person, but unfortunately, I just want this car. I'll say it again, give me the car keys," Josh's tone suddenly changed, and he didn't take the other's warning seriously.

Josh's words immediately wiped the smiles off Joe and Mike's faces. They had said so much, but this guy didn't care.

"Sir…" Joe wanted to say something.

"Shut up. Either give me the keys or die here right now. Don't think you can fool me. Since this car is here, it means you're either part of the Moretti family or working for them. Even if I don't take the car, do you think you'll just let me go after seeing everything else in this warehouse?" Josh sneered. "So what if it's the Mafia? That's who I'm stealing from."

It was true that getting involved with the Mafia wasn't a good thing, but ever since the other stole his car, the die was cast. Not taking this Cadillac would only make these two guys feel better, and it wouldn't mean much otherwise.

Moreover, since entering Italy Street earlier, Josh had been covering his face with a coat. Now he even had a hood over his head. With this era's tracking and surveillance technology, as long as he didn't reveal his face, who could find him?

Faced with a gun threat, Mike reluctantly took out the keys from his pocket.

"And the key to that car and the safe. Tell me the password," Josh pointed to his old Ford.

"You'll regret this!" Mike had no choice but to follow the order, but he didn't forget to threaten.

"I don't know if I'll regret it or not, but if you say one more word, I'll make sure you don't even have a chance to regret it," Josh sneered.

"Now, both of you get in the car!" With the keys in hand, Josh opened the door to the Ford.

After the two men got into the car obediently, Josh closed the door and locked it from the outside.

The car door locks of this era were the same as those of houses and could be locked from both the inside and outside.

If someone is locked inside and doesn't have a key, they won't be able to get out unless they break the window. But as long as they dare to break the window, Josh, though he has never killed anyone before, doesn't mind giving them a little scare.

After locking the two people up, Josh, being a jerk, added a pot of coffee to the fuel tank of the Ford car in front of them.

After doing all this, Josh began to search the warehouse. His main targets were naturally the desk and safe.

Opening the safe, there wasn't much money inside, only a few hundred dollars. But there were quite a few ration coupons.

They were for gasoline, candy, liquor, and coffee, all of which were rationed items, and there were only a few of them, but at least enough for four or five people.

In this special period, these things were more valuable than just money.

Without any hesitation, Josh pocketed these ration coupons.

He also searched the desk but didn't find anything good, except for an M1911 pistol, the same model he had bought before. Following the principle of taking feathers from a passing goose, Josh took it as well.

Then, in a corner where the two people in the car couldn't see, Josh took quite a few of the warehouse's tire collections and added them to the inventory in the system warehouse.

In this era, synthetic rubber practicality was only produced in large quantities by DuPont and Goodyear. All the tires in the United States were made of natural rubber.

In addition, Southeast Asia, an important rubber-producing area, was blocked by the Japanese, so the only source of rubber for the United States now was South America. This led to tires becoming a more important strategic resource than gasoline during the war.

In the end, after looting the warehouse, Josh drove the Cadillac away from the warehouse under the resentful eyes of the two Italian guys in the Ford car.


Chapter 9: Hitchhiking

Josh removed his hood when he left the warehouse and hit the road.

Although it was a convertible, Josh had raised the soft top before leaving, so as long as he pulled up his collar, people outside couldn't see his face.

Josh also didn't drive the car directly back home.

After all, a Cadillac V-16 in this era was too conspicuous. If Josh drove this car back home, it would be like telling the Mafia he had stolen it.

So Josh drove the car straight out of the city.

Then, not far from the city, he found a secluded forest and stored the car there. He then changed into a set of clothes he had never worn from the system's warehouse and burned his original clothes in a fire.

Perfect.

Let the Mafia search for it. They can turn Chicago upside down and see if they can find it.

The only problem was that he had no means of transportation without the Cadillac.

It was a few kilometers away from the city, not too far but not too close.

Josh didn't want to walk back.

So after leaving the forest, he went to the side of the road and prepared to hitchhike.

Hitchhiking culture in America had already emerged when cars became popular in the 1920s, so it wasn't anything new.

Of course, there were risks involved, but this was the outskirts of Chicago, and those professional bandits wouldn't operate in such areas.

If Josh was unlucky enough to encounter them, he had plenty of guns in his system's warehouse.

However, not all car owners were willing to pick up hitchhikers.

The first few cars ignored Josh's waving.

Fortunately, his luck was alright. After about ten minutes, a car that had just passed him suddenly slowed down and stopped.

Josh hurriedly ran up to it.

This is a beautiful convertible car similar to Josh's Cadillac V-16. Of course, like Josh's car before, the roof of this car is raised. After all, the weather is still quite cold, and if the roof is open, it's enough to freeze people into popsicles.

The car's hood ornament, the flying lady badge, reveals the car's identity, Packard.

People in the 21st century rarely hear this name because the brand ended its history in 1958.

But in the 1920s to 1940s, Packard was a renowned luxury car brand like Cadillac in the United States.

The brand's badge is not just one kind but three types based on different production times and models: the flying lady, the swan, and the crystal lady. Among them, the flying lady is the most abundant and representative of its peak period.

For example, this Packard 8 is a classic model.

Although the price is not as high as the Cadillac V-16, it still costs more than two thousand dollars and is definitely a luxury car.

But when Josh saw the car's driver, he realized that the car was beautiful, and the person in the car was even more beautiful.

Yes, the driver was a woman and a very beautiful woman.

With delicate snow-white skin, bright red lips, exquisite facial features, and a head of gold curly hair that was a symbol of the era, wearing a smooth fur coat, she was elegant and graceful, a beautiful contemporary American woman.

"Hello, handsome boy. Are you in trouble?" The woman in the driver's seat smiled and asked Josh.

She was going to ignore Josh, but a casual glance made her see Josh's appearance, and she couldn't help but stop the car.

There's nothing to be done. Although Josh looks a bit young, his looks and physique are really impressive.

With his characteristic German golden-brown hair and light blue eyes, paired with delicate facial features and no freckles, although he is not yet 16 years old, he is already close to 1.8 meters tall and very upright.

The only flaw is that he seems a bit malnourished and lacks exercise, making him look a bit thin, but this adds some femininity to Josh. Of course, this kind of soft and feminine beauty is similar to that of an older brother, not that of someone who like eats bananas."

So no matter what era it is, having a good appearance is always good.

This beautiful woman also saw Josh's handsomeness. Otherwise, as a lone woman, she would not have stopped the car in such a place.

"Good afternoon, beautiful lady. I'm sorry to bother you, but my friend played a prank on me and left me stranded in this wilderness, so I was hoping you could give me a ride." Josh politely asked for help.

"Oh, poor child, it seems your friends are not very nice. Get in the car quickly, don't freeze." Upon hearing Josh's words, the woman immediately invited him warmly to get in the car.

"What's your name?" After Josh got into the car, the beautiful woman started the car and asked.

"Josh, Josh Kane. What should I call you, madam?" Josh asked. The word "madam" was not a problem since the large diamond ring on the woman's left ring finger on the steering wheel was quite noticeable.

Although diamonds in this era were not as expensive as they would be in the future, they are still not cheap.

And that diamond ring on the lady's hand is at least 10 carats or more, which later generations would call a pigeon egg. In 60 years, it would be worth millions of dollars.

Even though diamonds just started marketing in this era, this ring is estimated to be worth nearly $10,000.

Wow, this is a rich woman.

Of course, the diamond ring may be fake.

But judging from the lady's attire and this Packard, the probability of that is low.

"Margaret Wendys." Margaret smiled and replied.

"Hello, Mrs. Wendys, you are a kind and beautiful angel. If not for you, I would have had to walk several miles with an empty stomach to get home." Josh complimented.

"Oh, Josh, you really know how to flatter people." Margaret was also pleased to hear Josh's compliment.

"Madam, I'm not flattering you. I'm sincere. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life." Josh said seriously. Hmm, he's not lying. At least in his current life, Mrs. Wendys is the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, far surpassing even Daenerys.

Especially that mature female charm, which is completely lacking in the petite and slender figure of the Dragon Queen.

And for some reason, Josh always felt that this lady was somewhat familiar. Could she be a celebrity?

He didn't know much about the celebrities of this era, and for a moment, he couldn't recall who she might be.

"Stop it. Save that kind of talk for those young girls. It won't work on me." Margaret said, not taking it seriously, but her smile indicated that she was still charmed by Josh's words.

"Madam, are you a female star? I feel that the Hollywood actresses don't have your grace." Josh asked tentatively.

"Is that a compliment? But I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you. I'm just an ordinary housewife." Margaret smiled and shook her head.

An ordinary housewife? Yeah right! Josh looked at the luxurious car beneath him, the huge diamond, and the luxurious fur coat, silently rolling his eyes in his mind.


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