Three Years of Exam Prep, Five Years of Practice

Russell was a little dazed. If he hadn't seen Steve being teleported to outer space by the Tesseract, he would never have believed that the plot would develop like this.

Schmidt's space travel is nothing to be surprised about; he's destined to become an NPC. But what's with Steve's situation? Does he want to go to outer space to get his credentials and come back seventy years later to mock Tony Stark as a country bumpkin?

Russell was speechless. This was a complete collapse. The timeline was now completely unpredictable, and he could forget about pretending to be omniscient and omnipotent from now on.

The most frustrating thing wasn't the plot, but Bucky's expression. He looked like a rubber man whose brother had died.

He knelt on both knees, his hands reaching out weakly forward, a look of astonishment frozen on his face, his pupils dilated, his mouth agape, uttering a trembling sound that was difficult to decipher.

"BOSS, what was that just now?" Natasha snapped out of her daze, suppressing her shock, and looked at the still glowing Tesseract on the ground. She instinctively took two steps back to keep her distance.

"The Tesseract is also known as the Space Stone, or rather, the Cosmic Cube- shaped Tesseract is just an artificial shell, with a finger-sized gem at its core." Russell squinted at the Tesseract, pondering the possibility of Steve and Schmidt, these two sworn enemies, becoming NPCs together. "As the name suggests, the Space Stone can open portals and travel to various parts of the universe."

Russell's explanation was simple and easy to understand, Natasha immediately grasped its deeper meaning, asking, "You mean... Captain America and Red Skull aren't dead?"

"I can't be completely sure, but these two guys are incredibly resilient; there's a high chance they've survived," Russell said after a moment's thought. He couldn't guarantee anything, as one-way portals are dangerous. Nobody knows what's behind the portal. A habitable planet would be fine, but if it leads directly to deep space or the interior of a star, then sorry, there's no hope.

Thinking of the punishment for his mission, Russell chuckled to himself. If Steve were teleported to Thanos's bed, he wondered if he could still hold his own.

That probably won't work, because Steve left in a hurry and didn't even take the Vibranium Shield with him. Without the shield, he's just a weakling, and even if he teamed up with Schmidt, he wouldn't be able to Thanos.

Bucky's ears twitched as he overheard Russell and Natasha's conversation. He scrambled over to Russell's side and grabbed his leg, pleading, "Sir, Steve... Steve really isn't dead?"

Holy crap, you didn't fawn over me when I Enslavement, but now you're kneeling down for a guy who abandoned you and started a family with another woman. Do you even consider me your master?

Russell stretched his legs with a look of disgust, but Bucky was holding him too tightly, and he couldn't shake him off no matter what he did. He could only say speechlessly, "Don't underestimate the Super Soldier Serum. Steve's vitality is very strong. As long as it's not an environment where he's sure to die, he can adapt very quickly. You might not believe it, but even if he crashed his plane and was frozen in the Arctic ice for seventy years, he could just microwave it a couple of times and be a hero again."

Russell gave an ambiguous answer, only to comfort Bucky, after all, he was the first super soldier he created, and he couldn't let a friend who started something and then abandoned him be ruined.

"That's wonderful, wonderful..." Bucky was in tears, his whole body trembling with excitement.

He believed Russell wholeheartedly; that's human nature—on the verge of a mental breakdown, even a fragile Soap Bubble can be seen as a lifeline. If he didn't believe Russell, it would be tantamount to sentencing Steve to death, so he was willing to believe even lies.

No, he must believe!

Russell's eyes flashed with a glint of insight; he felt this was a good time to win people over. He patted Bucky on the shoulder and said, "Remember what I said before?"

"What..." Bucky stared with confused eyes. "What did you tell me before?"

"Hmph, I know you won't listen."

Russell curled his lip. Although he Enslavement Bucky's soul, the latter had always been a half-hearted worker, neither proactive nor ambitious, just loafing around and always wearing a sour face, pretending to be an ice-cold god.

In contrast, Natasha was far better. After Enslavement, she quickly adjusted her mindset, doing everything she could to please Russell, and always considering his best interests when devising strategies. Even after work, she didn't forget to offer herself as a bedmate, showing concern and warmth to Russell's vulnerable Mind Stone with her frail body in the freezing cold of Siberia.

Of course, Russell wasn't asking Bucky to pose in an S-shape on the bed like Natasha. He wanted Bucky to learn from Natasha's attitude, to put in 100% enthusiasm when working, and not to always be perfunctory.

Russell grunted. "I've said it before, I've never thought about dominating the Earth. A small plot of land is too narrow a scope. Fighting over the same few places is meaningless. The vastness and magnificence of the universe are beyond imagination. My goal is here!"

Listening to Russell's wild words, Natasha secretly turned her head away. It was good that the new boss was ambitious, but he wasn't very bright. Humans hadn't even landed on the moon yet, and he was already thinking about the stars and the sea. Wasn't he afraid of making a huge mistake?

Bucky's thoughts were similar to Natasha's, but he wasn't as tactful as Natasha. He looked at Russell with an expression of utter disbelief. "Sir, are you serious?"

Russell was furious and punched Bucky on the forehead. "Remember what you said today. When I travel to outer space in the future, don't beg me to get on board."

Bucky instantly realized what he had said and clung tightly to Russell's leg, "Sir, I take back what I said before. Please be sure to take me with you."

As long as we can leave Earth, we can find Steve. Although the chances are slim, it's better than doing nothing.

Thinking of this, Bucky flashed what he thought was a fawning smile, "Sir, how far have we progressed in our spaceship research?"

"Soon."

"Almost done! That's awesome!" Bucky's face lit up with joy, and he almost jumped up on the spot.

"The blueprints for the spaceship manufacturing factory are almost ready."

Bucky: "..."

The three left the base without taking the Tesseract, but Bucky picked up the Vibranium Shield.

The night the Howling Commandos captured the Hydra Base, they sent a message back to America. An elite squad returned with the Tesseract and news of Steve's disappearance. The rest of the team remained still, engaging in a mix of excavation and sabotage, using transport trucks to haul away the high-tech equipment from the Hydra Base. This was intentional, to cover up any traces of the Tesseract's existence.

The Soviet Union fell for the trap. A large number of Soviet troops arrived, seized the transport trucks, and confronted the American forces, resulting in several clashes. Ultimately, through negotiations between the two sides' leaders, the transport trucks were sent to the America, and the Soviet Union sent scientists to jointly study and share the results.

Siberia was indeed Soviet Union territory, but this was during World War II, and the America had provided the Soviet Union with approximately $10 billion in aid, a huge sum at the time. As the saying goes, "He who eats another's bread sings his song," and facing its creditor, the Soviet Union dared not make any harsh statements and could only choose to compromise.

Russell asked Natasha to stay behind to confirm that the Tesseract would eventually fall into the hands of the America, and sent her to New York first to gather information on SSR.

Russell then took Bucky back to base and rebuilt a mechanical arm for him. In the coming period, he would build two more Winter Soldier.

The process was the same as Natasha's: first Enslavement, then modification, to ensure a high success rate. Even if something went wrong during the experiment, Russell could use a contract to control the soul, preventing it from collapsing due to intense pain.

The experimenters were soldiers from the base. After the order to volunteer was issued, the base instantly erupted in excitement, with everyone eager to participate.

Everyone desires to be strong; it's an instinct of life, just like a salted fish that doesn't want to turn over and only wants to be the saltiest one.

Having witnessed Bucky's inhuman strength, the soldiers at the base had been itching for a fight, and now that the opportunity had arrived, they rushed to take it. Even when Russell told them that the success rate of modifying them was low due to differences in physical abilities and mental states, it couldn't stop their frenzy; they were willing to gamble their lives.

The final success rate was about 1 in 10; only two of the twenty-two soldiers survived, the remaining twenty all suffering mental breakdowns during the experiment. Even the Enslavement Contract couldn't save them; their mental fortitude was nowhere near that of Bucky and Natasha, and even if they were saved, they would be of little use.

These two Winter Soldiers were far more powerful than ordinary people, but still far inferior to Bucky; he fought them both without breaking a sweat. The reason for this was that while the Enslavement Contract did allow the two Winter Soldiers to endure the agonizing transformation, it was precisely because of this "cheating" that their enhancements were weakened.

Erskine's Super Soldier Serum has low physical requirements for test subjects, but extremely high requirements for mental will. Russell's knock-off version requires both; during the enhancement process, those with weak mental will will be tortured to death by the serum.

Of course, the two Winter Soldiers who came out of the factory are not bad in strength, but they lack a bit of willpower. They can be super soldiers even if they can't be heroes.

To understand how important a strong will is, you can look to Steve.

When a person's will reaches a certain level, it can unleash unimaginable and astonishing power. Steve caught Thanos's punch while wearing the Infinity Gauntlet because of his mental strength, not his physical strength.

Russell created two Winter Soldiers to strengthen the base's defenses. Jason went to New York with him, leaving Bucky alone wasn't safe. The enhancement raised Bucky's minimum skill level, but to reach his maximum potential, he still needs to learn a lot. For example, combat skills, espionage abilities, even astronomy, geography, chemistry, and physics—it's like studying for the college entrance exam for three years and practicing for five years; there's so much to learn, and he's not yet ready.