"Holy shit!"
Since Harry had turned on the speakerphone, everyone present could hear it.
They exchanged glances, each seeing the confusion in the others' eyes.
There was no doubt that the one bound to Harry by the Lending Contract was the real Steve. But why did the real Steve sound even more unhinged than that fake counterpart?
Could the worst-case scenario have happened? Though Steve himself had not died, had Hydra controlled him as well and turned him into another Hydra Captain?
After a moment of silence, Nick Fury said steadily, "Perhaps Rogers has been controlled. Harry, please keep investigating and find out exactly what happened to Rogers."
Harry nodded and began speaking to Steve through the connection of the contract.
He tested the line. "Steve? Steve, can you hear me?"
To Harry and the others' relief, Steve's pupils constricted sharply, and he immediately answered Harry's question. "Harry, I'm fine, but I'm about to not be!"
Harry: "???"
Sure enough, things were not as simple as they appeared. Harry pressed on, "So what exactly is going on? Were you brainwashed by Hydra? Why do you keep shouting 'Hail Hydra'?"
Even now, Steve was still shouting "Hail Hydra," with a fanatical expression on his face, as though he truly had been brainwashed.
Yet his private conversation with Harry and the others remained calm, though tinged with exhaustion. "Listen carefully. This is important.
"Two days ago, I was suddenly attacked by another version of myself and imprisoned in a secret Hydra base.
"Over these past two days, Hydra has been using all sorts of methods to brainwash me, trying to turn me into the new Hydra Captain.
"If I hadn't been interested in soul magic and learned a little about it before, allowing me to use soul magic to resist hypnosis, I