The atmosphere in the Congressional Special Committee's meeting room was entirely different from their last gathering to divide the spoils.
"The beast is out of its cage. A tamer is urgently needed to calm him. Return at once."
Colonel Phillips's telegram, encrypted at the highest level, lay on the expensive mahogany conference table.
Soldier Boy.
That name was the sword of Damocles, hanging over every head in the room.
They could deal with politicians.
They could manipulate public opinion.
They could carve up the profits brought in by "Captain America" like a pack of hyenas.
But they couldn't deal with a monster who could crush a tank like a tin can.
"A madman! He's a complete and utter madman!"
An official from the Department of the Treasury instinctively touched his fat neck, his voice trembling.
"We have to send someone to calm him down!"
"Who? You?"
An army general shot a cold glance at the congressman who had just spoken.
"Let me remind you, even Phillips couldn't keep him under control. Anyone we send won't mean a damn thing to him."
"I don't want my head knocked across the English Channel like a baseball."
The meeting room became a madhouse.
Only this time, they weren't arguing over who could get a bigger slice of the pie, but who could avoid this deadly hot potato.
Everyone passed the buck, and everyone blamed someone else.
This enraged beast was the nation's ultimate weapon, but also its most terrifying liability.
Lynn sat quietly throughout.
He watched these creatures of power, who had been so arrogant just moments ago, behave like sheep surrounded by a pack of wolves.
All they could do was bleat.
Only when the arguing in the meeting room gradually died down did everyone turn to look at him once again.
The young man who had created the miracle of "Captain America."
The only person who could talk to Soldier Boy.
"Mr. Morris."
A senior congressman cleared his throat.
"You discovered Soldier Boy. You should know what to do."
"What to do?"
Lynn looked somewhat puzzled.
"Gentlemen, he isn't a machine you can stop at the push of a button. He's a... god with a will of his own and terrifying power."
He looked around the room, and everyone his gaze passed over felt a chill run down their spine.
"If you send a general over now, he'll just take it as a provocation from the bureaucrats back home. Send a politician, and he'll just tear him to pieces."
"For this matter, we need someone with... enough weight behind him, someone he can trust."
Everyone knew perfectly well.
The only candidate was sitting right in front of them.
"I'll go."
Lynn stood, his tone carrying the weight of someone "sharing his country's burdens."
The committee members looked delighted, as though they had been granted a reprieve.
"But!"
"In Europe, I won't be representing the Strategic Scientific Reserve."
His gaze sharpened.
"I need a position that gives me the authority to act as I see fit in Europe. I need to be able to draw on whatever resources I require, whether military or intelligence, without any restrictions."
"What I want is full authority to represent the entire Congressional Special Committee!"
Under normal circumstances, the demand would have been nothing short of a pipe dream.
But now, faced with a beast on the verge of going completely out of control, the politicians had no other choice.
"Agreed!"
The congressman at the head of the table made a snap decision, settling the matter with a bang of his gavel.
"The committee will grant you the status of 'plenipotentiary representative.' Everything you do in Europe will represent the will of Washington!"
They were eager to toss this hot potato away.
The moment Lynn turned and left the meeting room, he could no longer suppress the curve of his lips.
Plenipotentiary representative?
No, this was a credit card with no limit, a ticket to all of Europe's vaults, handed to him by the committee itself.
Calm Soldier Boy down?
That was just the opening act of this European tour.
His real aim was to plunge the company's straw into European soil, made exceptionally fertile by the plow of war.
First stop, London.
The Strategic Scientific Reserve's European headquarters, a heavily guarded underground bunker.
Lynn met Peggy Carter there in his capacity as a special congressional envoy.
She wore a sharp military uniform and looked every bit the dashing officer.
The scrutiny in her beautiful eyes was well concealed.
"Lynn, welcome to Europe."
Peggy's voice was polite, but distant.
"Agent Carter."
Lynn returned her greeting with a smile.
All the Strategic Scientific Reserve's core members in Europe sat in the meeting room.
Lynn didn't waste a word.
He switched on the projector he had brought, and detailed charts and graphs appeared one after another on the screen.
"This is the sales curve for war bonds in Pennsylvania after the Philadelphia show. The growth rate was twelve hundred percent."
"This is Detroit, and this is Chicago... Since the national tour began, total war bond sales on the home front have surpassed the entire previous year's total."
"This report is from the 3rd Infantry Division on the front lines. It states that the Captain America radio dramas and newspapers have raised troop morale by at least thirty percent, while the desertion rate has fallen to a historic low."
Numbers and indisputable facts were the best weapons.
With a flawless presentation, Lynn packaged all his "unorthodox" actions as his most brilliant achievements.
A circus?
This was pumping the strongest fuel into the war machine!
The officers who had been skeptical gradually began to see things differently.
Peggy Carter watched quietly without speaking, but her brow relaxed somewhat as well.
The appetizer had been served. Now it was time for the main course.
He turned off the projector, and the meeting room filled with light again.
He took a letter out of his briefcase.
A letter in Steve Rogers's own hand.
He didn't hand it directly to Peggy. Instead, he held the paper in his hand, his face showing sorrow and helplessness.
"Peggy, I understand your doubts."
"You, Steve, and I are all heirs to Dr. Erskine's legacy. We all want to fulfill his final wish. It's just that... we've chosen different paths."
"You chose to wield a sharp sword on the front lines, while I chose to forge the strongest shield for him back home."
He handed Peggy the letter, his tone pleading.
"Steve wrote this for you. He isn't as fragile as you think, Peggy. He understands the mission he carries better than any of us."
Peggy took the letter.
The familiar handwriting, the words sincere to the point of awkwardness.
In the letter, Steve described the families he had seen whose hope had been rekindled because of "Captain America."
He described how Lynn had guided him like an older brother, helping him understand the true meaning of Dr. Erskine's words, "a good man."
There was not the slightest trace of coercion or pretense between the lines.
There was only heartfelt conviction and pride.
"...I'm not putting on an act, Peggy. Every time I raise my shield, I feel like the doctor is right there beside me. I'm becoming the person he wanted me to be..."
Peggy's hands trembled slightly.
She looked up at the young man before her, whose face was full of sincerity and whose eyes even held a hint of hurt.
Could it be... that I was wrong?
Did I judge a great undertaking through the narrow perspective of a soldier?
Did I underestimate Steve's commitment?
And misunderstand Lynn's painstaking efforts too?
At that moment, the scrutiny and suspicion in her eyes were finally replaced by a trace of guilt.
"I'm sorry, Lynn."
Peggy's voice was full of apology.
"I... I made too many assumptions."
Lynn shook his head, a relieved, rueful smile on his face.
"It's all right. We're all working toward victory."
Seeing the guilt in Peggy's eyes, Lynn knew he had breached this strongest of fortresses from within.
Peggy carefully folded the letter, once again becoming the calm, professional ace agent.
"I read Colonel Phillips's telegram."
She raised her head and looked intently at Lynn.
"Soldier Boy is a thorny problem. You need a local guide who knows all the intelligence networks and secret channels in Europe."
She paused, then said decisively:
"I'll help you."
Everything went according to plan!
Not only had he dispelled the female agent's suspicions, he had also turned her into a piece on his own chessboard.
Only now had the rest of his journey through Europe truly begun.