The C-47 Transport Aircraft landed at a makeshift airfield in New Jersey.
This was Camp Lehigh.
The Strategic Scientific Reserve's secret training base.
It was a world away from the chaos and filth of the European front, where the shadow of death hung over everything.
Everything here seemed orderly.
Soldiers in immaculate uniforms.
Clean barracks.
Even the air carried the peace of the home front.
Dr. Abraham Erskine had been waiting anxiously on the tarmac for some time.
When he spotted Lynn, he hurried over at a jog.
His scholarly face was alight with excitement.
"You're finally here!"
"Doctor, it looks like your project is going well."
"Going well? It's much more than that! It's a gift from God!"
Dr. Erskine clasped Lynn's hand tightly.
His almost fanatical excitement stood in stark contrast to Lynn's calm.
Just then, a crisp, businesslike female voice sounded beside them.
"Dr. Erskine, I take it this is the Mr. Morris you've been telling me about?"
Lynn turned to look.
A woman in an officer's uniform stood a short distance away, her posture upright.
Her hair was pinned up immaculately.
Her red lips stood out.
Her gaze was full of scrutiny.
Peggy Carter.
"Yes! Peggy, come over here!"
Erskine introduced him enthusiastically. "This is Mr. Lynn Morris, the man who recommended Steve to me!"
Peggy Carter stepped forward and extended her hand to Lynn.
Her handshake was firm.
"Agent Peggy Carter. I've read the reports about you, Mr. Morris. I have to say, you have a talent for creating legends."
There was a pointed barb beneath the compliment.
She had reservations about the "Soldier Boy" the newspapers had praised to the heavens.
"I'm just a reporter, Agent Carter."
Lynn's expression didn't change in the slightest.
"And sometimes, reality itself is more legendary than a story."
He released her hand, his tone turning professional and serious.
"I came back this time because of Soldier Boy. Doctor, you know he's an extremely powerful but highly unstable weapon."
Erskine's excitement cooled a little, and he nodded.
"Yes, Phillips mentioned it in a telegram. He's like a powder keg."
"A powder keg needs a bucket of cold water, or a sturdier safe."
Lynn took the opportunity to present his central argument.
"I've seen firsthand how power magnifies a person's inner desires. If someone else, someone full of hatred or cowardice, gained the same power, what would he become?"
His words brought a measure of agreement from Agent Carter.
She had seen too many people lose themselves in war.
"That's why we need to succeed."
Lynn looked Erskine straight in the eye.
"Our project isn't just about creating a super soldier. It's also about forging a rein for that uncontrolled power."
"An example of someone who can guide power with morality and will, rather than violence and desire."
Those words perfectly aligned with Erskine's ideals.
The birth of a legend needed a sufficiently formidable villain to set it off.
Lynn watched the vigorous soldiers on the distant training field and silently added a thought.
The works of art Professor Pyg created are the perfect stepping stones.
Under Erskine's guidance, Lynn met all the Strategic Scientific Reserve's candidates.
The atmosphere in the camp was tense.
On one side stood a dozen or so elite soldiers, all big and muscular, with impressive records.
Standing together, they radiated testosterone and a sense of superiority.
Even their gazes were aggressive.
On the other side.
A frail figure stood in a corner of the group.
Steve Rogers.
His uniform hung loosely on him, making him look out of place among his sturdier companions.
The elite soldiers looked at him with undisguised contempt.
A beefy-faced colonel with a chest full of medals was addressing the candidates.
His voice rang out like a bell, each word hitting the ground hard.
"Listen up, rookies! I don't care what kind of goddamn elites you used to be. Here, you're a pile of trash!"
"Dr. Erskine's damn project needs the strongest warriors! Not a bunch of weaklings at a Boy Scout summer camp!"
Colonel Miller Davis.
The man in charge of selection.
His gaze lingered on Steve for a full three seconds.
His disgust was plain to see.
"Some people, I don't know how they snuck in here. Maybe through pity? But bullets on the battlefield won't take pity on you!"
Lynn keenly realized that Davis was the greatest obstacle to the project.
All he had in his head were muscles and obedience.
He simply couldn't understand Dr. Erskine's ideals.
"Everyone! Twenty-kilometer cross-country run with full packs! The last one back gets no lunch! Move out, now!"
At Colonel Davis's command, the soldiers charged out like tigers racing down a mountain.
Unsurprisingly, Steve Rogers fell behind.
He gritted his teeth, a pack on his frail back.
Every step took all the strength he had.
His asthma made it hard to breathe, and his face grew paler.
Partway through the course, there was a stretch of marshland.
Sure enough, Steve missed his footing and fell into the mud.
He struggled several times but couldn't get up.
A burst of undisguised laughter rose around him.
Mounted on his horse, Colonel Davis looked down at Steve in the mud and gave a contemptuous snort.
"What did I tell you? Little girl, trying to get by on pity! Why don't you crawl back into your mommy's arms?"
Dr. Erskine trembled with anger.
Just then, Lynn, who had been watching silently, suddenly stepped forward and gave Colonel Davis an "approving" smile.
"The colonel is right. Physical strength is indeed the first standard for a soldier."
His words stunned Miller Davis, and even Erskine and Carter looked at him in confusion.
"But this kind of training is still too slow."
Lynn pointed to the camp flagpole towering nearby.
"Why not try a more direct test?"
Davis narrowed his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"It's simple."
"Whoever can climb that flagpole and take down the flag at the top gets the honor of riding back to camp in a jeep with Agent Carter."
The muscular soldiers' eyes lit up.
Their gazes swept hungrily over Peggy Carter's shapely figure before turning to the towering flagpole.
Every one of them rubbed his hands, eager to try.
Peggy Carter frowned and was about to object, but Lynn stopped her with a glance.
Colonel Davis found the suggestion amusing.
It would let them show off their strength and humiliate Steve for not knowing his own limits.
He immediately laughed and agreed.
"Good idea! Boys, here's your chance!"
The first to charge forward was a soldier as muscular as a bear.
He wrapped his arms around the pole and pushed hard with his legs.
But the smooth metal gave him no purchase, and he slid down every time he tried.
Everyone who joined in failed without exception.
The flagpole was too tall and too slippery; brute force alone could never conquer it.
Davis's expression soured.
He felt that the young reporter had made a fool of him too.
He turned his gaze to Rogers, who had just climbed out of the mud and was a complete mess.
"Even my strongest men couldn't get up there, and you're counting on that little runt?"
He waved a hand and led the main group away, having lost interest.
Soon, only Lynn, Erskine, Carter, and Steve Rogers, who stood silently beneath the flagpole, remained on the training field.
Rogers walked silently to the base of the flagpole.
He bent down, examined how the pole was secured, then reached out and pulled two metal pins from the base.
"Creak-"
With nothing holding it in place, the flagpole fell toward the ground as he pushed it.
Rogers walked calmly to the top of the fallen pole and untied the flag.
He carried the flag over to the three of them.
His face was smeared with mud, but his eyes were clear and bright.
Shock and admiration flashed in Peggy Carter's eyes, difficult to conceal.
Lynn walked over to the doctor and patted him on the shoulder.
"Strength and skill can be trained, but wisdom and character are innate."
Dr. Erskine nodded firmly.
His eyes were even a little moist.