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Letting the shop owner help move the guns into the car and paying the money, Josh then got into the car and left.
But after turning a few corners, Josh stopped again. He brushed his hand over all the guns and bullets, and everything disappeared instantly.
Only then did he safely get back on the road.
Half an hour later, Josh finally returned home. Very fortunately, he didn't encounter any trouble along the way.
Perhaps because a large number of unemployed youths had joined the army, the public security in Chicago during this period seemed quite decent. At least in the week since Josh arrived, he hadn't witnessed any serious criminal activity.
Nor had he seen any of those gangster movie-style scenes where the Mafia wielded Thompsons and blasted away on the streets.
Of course, just because Josh hadn't seen it didn't mean it didn't exist.
After all, whether it was the past twenty or thirty years or the next twenty or thirty, it was all a period of wild growth for the American Mafia.
If Josh had come a few years earlier, then those scenes in movies where gangsters wore trench coats, donned fedoras, and fired Thompsons on the streets would have been much more common.
The reason it was rarely seen now was, for one, because the neighborhoods he frequented had good public security. In this era of ongoing racial segregation, you also wouldn't see any Black people on the streets.
And another reason—was war.
Don't think that war has nothing to do with gangs.
There are deep connections.
One is just what Josh was thinking: a large number of unemployed youths who used to roam the streets had all joined the army to earn money, so fresh blood for gangs was relatively reduced.
The second is that most gangs were now busy making money.
Why do people join gangs? Ultimately, isn't it just to make money?
And during wartime, what kind of money is easiest to make?
Smuggling!
No, it can't even be called smuggling anymore—it should be called transport.
During wartime, to support the European war and because of the great risks of maritime shipping, the United States had almost completely lifted restrictions on ocean shipping to Europe.
As long as you had the guts, any Liberty ship full of cargo could bring back dozens or even hundreds of times the wealth from Britain, Europe, or Asia.
Still risking your life, but isn't that way better than scrambling for turf in America?
So during the years of World War II, most American gangs were busy doing "foreign trade."
Of course, this wasn't all of them—but the rest either weren't prominent or had nothing to do with ordinary people.
Therefore, overall, the white neighborhoods during wartime had significantly better public security than before the war.
Back at home, Josh locked the door and sat down on a chair.
"System, connect to Daenerys."
As soon as the words fell, a virtual screen appeared in front of Josh.
This was Josh's most important safeguard for survival in this era—and also his golden finger—a system from some unknown high-dimensional civilization called the Interdimensional Trader.
The system's function was very simple. It had an interdimensional beacon, which would be randomly sent to an unknown world and select a host.
Then Josh could trade with the host of that beacon.
Additionally, the system would generate a new interdimensional beacon every year to search for new worlds.
Besides that, the system also had an extremely powerful storage function. The reason all the guns in the car had vanished earlier was because Josh had used the storage function.
And the system's first interdimensional beacon had located the world of a TV series Josh had watched in his previous life—Game of Thrones! And the host was none other than the famous Daenerys Targaryen.
The ten ounces of gold Josh had used before was his first trade with Daenerys.
The items he used to trade were a .38 revolver left by his deceased father and a copy of The Prince.
The M1917 he was preparing now was naturally intended for more trades with Daenerys—more gold, or silver would do too.
"Josh, did you get the goods?"
As the once-dim screen lit up, Daenerys appeared on it, dressed plainly, but with a clean and striking appearance, and her signature silver hair.
The time when the interdimensional beacon bonded with Daenerys was right during Season 6 of Game of Thrones, when she had been captured by the Dothraki, then killed many of their leaders with fire, earning the loyalty of the Dothraki horde, and was preparing to return to Slaver's Bay to suppress the rebellion.
By the time she reconquered Slaver's Bay, she would lead her three dragons, Unsullied army, and the Dothraki horde across the sea to begin the reconquest of Westeros.
"Of course. Look, this is a rifle. Its power and range are both several times that of a handgun."
With a wave of his hand, a 1917 rifle appeared in Josh's hand from the system's warehouse. He then began explaining the bolt-action rifle's operation to Daenerys. A live demo wasn't possible, of course—if he fired a shot, the police would surely come knocking.
"Very good. Still the same price as last time?"
Daenerys didn't mind. She had already used a handgun before and understood the power of this weapon called a firearm. Even a weak person could easily kill a trained soldier with it—many times more effective than a hand crossbow.
"That definitely won't do. A handgun is small in power and cheap in price but a rifle is different. Its power is enormous. Trust me, Daenerys, no matter how good your world's armor and shields are, they probably can't withstand this within its firing range," Josh said, shaking his head. He wasn't trying to deceive her.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the M1917 was basically phased out by the U.S. military and relegated to training use—it didn't mean the gun was inferior. In many countries, it was still highly sought after. Even years later, Chinese soldiers were still equipped with large numbers of this rifle and used it to give the then-arrogant U.S. military a hard lesson on the Korean battlefield.
This rifle had high muzzle velocity, high bullet kinetic energy, long range, flat trajectory, and excellent accuracy—far superior to well-known rifles like the Arisaka Type 38.
Moreover, during WWI and WWII, most countries used full-powered cartridges with excessive stopping power. In terms of penetration, it was absolutely top-notch.
Although A Song of Ice and Fire was a fantasy world, aside from the legendary Valyria, the metallurgy of most human kingdoms wasn't very advanced. The previously low-purity gold already said a lot.
So Josh didn't believe Westeros had any armor or shields that could withstand a shot from this rifle.
"Oh? Then what price are you asking?"
Seeing Josh so confident, Daenerys became quite interested.
Although the previous handgun had impressed her, the classic .38 revolver's power was well known. At close range it might get through leather armor, but against steel—it was uncertain.
"Three times!" Josh made an outrageous demand. "And don't think it's expensive. That handgun only came with fifty rounds, but this time each rifle comes with a hundred rounds of ammo."
Hmm, Josh had actually bought a thousand rounds, but he planned to give only a hundred and sell the rest separately.
After all, this was a monopoly. He wasn't afraid of Daenerys refusing to buy. A gun without bullets was no different from a stick.
"If this gun's power is really as you say, then the price isn't unreasonable." Daenerys nodded.
As for gold—once she returned to Slaver's Bay, she really wouldn't lack it. The wealth accumulated by the slave masters was enormous.
If this gun's power was truly as Josh claimed, then if the Unsullied and Dothraki were all equipped with such miraculous weapons—plus her now fully-grown three dragons—who in Westeros could stand in her way?