Reinforcement Begins

After a short while, five individuals in attire arrived at the Human Enhancement Laboratory after their skin had been cleaned and disinfected.

Wei Xiuming's voice echoed through the broadcast system: "To the five future wearers of the Knight System, thank you for your contributions to humanity. Heroes are always lonely and in pain, and the process of transforming from an ordinary person into a hero is full of twists and turns. Being able to secure this opportunity among millions of people is, from my personal perspective, extremely gratifying and admirable."

Admirable? Who would strive for something with no benefit? America's military isn't the people's army.

Even after a long hospital stay, Sonon, the first to officially wear the Knight System and hailed as a hero for defeating Xenomorphs single-handedly, was heavily publicized and promoted by the military. If he wanted to run for president, he would undoubtedly be a formidable contender.

Several companies even extended invitations to Sonon, offering him a high-level executive position upon his retirement, though the specifics of his role were unclear. It was essentially a job where he'd be paid handsomely without much work, with a salary that would make anyone envious.

Sonon was a smart man. He knew his heroic halo was a fluke, entirely thanks to the power of the Knight System. He didn't get caught up in the public's adulation. Upon learning that the Knight System had limited slots and required competitive selection, he used his connections to get in directly.

It wasn't exactly cutting corners, though. America's military propaganda was pervasive, even fooling many of their own people. The selection committee, upon discovering that Sonon, a national hero, had applied, naturally approved him without a second thought. Of course, as a pilot, Sonon was already physically excellent and highly skilled, and his existing fame only bolstered his application. If Sonon had been rejected, that would have been suspicious.

The five elites, restrained on the operating tables, were largely selected in a similar fashion, aspiring to become one-in-a-million Super Soldiers and be widely promoted as icons like Captain America. If Captain America were alive today, his image rights alone would place him on the list of billionaires. The annual pure profit from products bearing his likeness exceeded the pre-tax income of some major corporations.

Before arriving, they had watched footage of human modification – specifically, Steve Rogers injecting Erskine's Potion and transforming into Captain America. The one-minute enhancement process, in their eyes, was something they could endure with gritted teeth.

To be modified into the next Captain America, becoming a celebrity renowned across all fifty states of America, appearing on TV shows for promotions between fighting Xenomorphs, writing books, endorsing products, and transforming from an outstanding soldier into a wealthy magnate.

In America, money represents freedom. The degree of freedom depends on your wealth.

First published at http://xs.com

Although this honor would be shared with four others, effectively diluting any potential profits, one-fifth was still considerable. After all, Captain America was a unique case, with various coincidences involved.

First, the assassin sent by Red Skull managed to infiltrate Captain America's transformation site without suspicion. Routine body searches and security checks failed to detect the firearm concealed on him. Dr. Erskine, having created Red Skull through his potion, feared its misuse. He memorized the formula, leaving no written record. Shot by the assassin, he died without leaving even a single word.

The finished Erskine's Potion was also destroyed by the assassin, who, realizing escape was impossible, smashed it. The current Super Soldier Serums are largely reverse-engineered from Captain America's blood samples, with an extremely high failure rate. Not long ago, an experiment led by an Air Force general failed, not only failing to create a qualified Super Soldier but also turning the lead scientist into a green monster.

Therefore, this golden opportunity must be seized.

However, they had calculated everything except for the fact that Wei Xiuming was an unscrupulous scientist. The initial human enhancement process, which had been refined at the cost of nearly a hundred vagrants, had become remarkably cheap. The process was extremely simplified, costing only eighteen thousand US dollars. With the right equipment and a memorized procedure, even a high school student could operate the instruments to enhance an ordinary person into a superhuman.

But to impress the high-ranking officials observing, Wei Xiuming deliberately complicated the enhancement process.

As the button for the enhancement settings was pressed, the entire laboratory sprang into action. Following the practiced routine, staff members took their positions. The rest was simple: the five wearers were strapped to the operating tables, various electrodes attached to them. The monitoring instruments beside them displayed lines and values as complex as stock market charts, along with a simplified 3D model of a human body indicating organ status.

Then, a syringe needle was accurately inserted into their veins by an automated device, and the solution within was slowly injected into the five individuals.

Various data points were fed in real-time to the monitors. Any significant fluctuations were reported aloud by the staff, and Wei Xiuming, as the lead, would make the decisions.

In reality, what was injected into the five elites was merely glucose. The accelerated heart rate was a normal reaction. Not to mention them, anyone injected with a needle would experience an increased heart rate due to psychological effects, especially when restrained on an upright operating table and injected with a substance of unknown composition.

Yet, Wei Xiuming insisted it was a human enhancement serum, and no one dared to contradict him because he was the expert in the field – much like how the US Secretary of State, holding a tube of white granules that resembled laundry detergent, could declare it a weapon of mass destruction and start a war.

Because America wielded the greatest power, its annual military spending was the highest globally, and the combined military spending of the next ten countries didn't even reach half of it. With its formidable national strength and a financial system that made the world pay for its wars, no one could question its actions.

It's like pulling a tooth. In China, a doctor would first visually examine a wisdom tooth. If it's impacted, an X-ray would be taken, blood drawn for tests, and after results, a surgical agreement signed. Anesthesia administered, and if the case is simple, it's completed in less than a minute on average.

In contrast, across the sea in Japan, pulling a tooth is a luxurious experience. It feels less like going to a hospital and more like visiting a massage parlor run by South Koreans in Vietnam – a royal treatment, as a poor man might imagine.

Not only would the nurses speak softly, but they would also notify you in advance about the adjustments to the operating table's height, giving you time to prepare, and perform actions as gently as possible. If the surgery required a longer duration, the nurses would adjust the TV angle based on your head's position on the operating table, allowing you to pass the time watching the family-friendly "Tom and Jerry."

As long as the doctors and nurses don't turn into elephants or weevils, everything is wonderful.

Of course, equivalent to the service, treating the same dental problem in Japan costs several times more than in China.

Although it was just a glucose injection, the reporting of data and adjustment of instruments by the team made it look very serious. It dragged on for two hours, yet the observers outside didn't notice anything amiss.

After all, specialization is key. Years of medical study at university, with textbooks stacked high enough to touch the dormitory ceiling, only provide an introduction. Expecting these military personnel to understand complex human data is less likely than expecting America to elect a spy as president and throw the country into chaos.