One week later, Luke and Rogers left Caspian Training Camp and got into a sedan heading toward New York.
As for the trained recruits, they were reserves.
If the serum injection succeeded, everyone would have a chance to become a super soldier.
I never imagined that after all this twisting and turning, I would return to Brooklyn!
Rogers sighed.
He sat next to Luke, his gaze passing through the car window to look at the familiar buildings retreating backward.
"So Colonel Phillips is right. Good luck always favors fools."
Luke joked.
When Rogers learned he had been selected as a tester for the Super Soldier Serum, he could not wait to find Luke and share the news, only to see Colonel Phillips in the barracks.
The latter shot Rogers a look of utter disgust and spoke the words above.
"This isn't luck! Everything is thanks to you and Dr. Erskine! Without your help, I couldn't have made it this far."
Rogers said earnestly.
He heard from Colonel Phillips that Luke had taken the initiative to recommend him to Dr. Erskine.
Although Rogers was not good at expressing emotions, he buried this gratitude deep in his heart.
"If you were a woman, I might accept this gratitude."
Luke put on an expression of disgust and teased, "Look at that neighborhood, that alley, and the parking lot behind them. These places were all your old 'battlefields'!"
Rogers lowered his head and smiled awkwardly.
Because he could never break the habit of meddling, he had suffered many beatings.
The "battlefield" in Luke's mouth was actually the places where he used to be beaten up.
"Why didn't you run away?"
Carter, who was driving in front, spoke up.
She was the accompanying personnel this time, responsible for safely taking Luke and Rogers to their destination.
"If I ran once, I'd keep running for the rest of my life! If I stand up and fight back, one day I'll have a chance to knock the other person down!"
As Rogers spoke of his inner feelings, his sincere tone moved Carter somewhat.
Dr. Erskine had not chosen him without reason; at least this courage was worthy of praise.
"Being looked down upon in a certain field—such an experience is something I often have."
Carter seemed stirred, unusually speaking a few extra words.
On weekdays at Caspian Training Camp, this female officer was like an iceberg, making people dare not approach.
Even Howard Stark, the notoriously smooth-talking ladies' man, had suffered Waterloo time and again, and so far had not even managed to send out an invitation to dinner.
"Miss Carter, I don't understand why you joined the army. You're a pretty lady..."
Rogers glanced at Carter and began a straight-man speech with touching Emotional Intelligence—knowing full well that what she hated most was people saying she was pretty and not suited for the undercover agent line of work.
Carter had a strong personality and had never believed her abilities would lose to any male.
Seeing that Rogers was about to anger his future girlfriend, Luke hurriedly smoothed things over and asked, "How much longer until we arrive?"
"Almost."
Carter cast a cold glance at Rogers, snorted, and stopped talking.
The latter wore an innocent expression, having no idea where he had spoken wrongly.
"Rogers, your level of hitting on women is the worst I've ever seen!"
Luke shook his head and lowered his voice.
For the rest of the car ride, the sedan remained quiet.
In about twenty minutes, they arrived at their destination.
The three of them got out of the sedan and pushed open the door of the antique shop.
That's right, this was the secret base of the Strategic Scientific Reserve.
Carter exchanged a rendezvous code with an old woman, then led Luke and Rogers into the inner room.
"Such a cliché design."
Looking at the shelves piled high with books opening to both sides, Luke couldn't help but feel the urge to complain.
Entering the interior of the base, every door was guarded by heavily armed soldiers.
From time to time, researchers in white lab coats walked past carrying documents.
Seeing this kind of array for the first time, Rogers was a little nervous.
He looked at Luke, who was walking side by side with him.
The other man's expression was calm, poised, and unhurried.
As expected of Luke!
Rogers thought to himself.
Actually, Luke's true emotions were far less calm than he appeared on the outside.
Walking step by step from Brooklyn to the secret base of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, about to undergo the serum injection.
This was no easy matter.
For the cheat, I'm risking it all.
The three descended to the bottom floor and saw two metal instruments placed right in the middle, with Dr. Erskine and Howard Stark conversing about something.
Colonel Phillips and the attending Senator stayed in the control room on the second floor.
Everyone was full of anticipation, wanting to witness a miracle!
"Let's begin."
Dr. Erskine said to the two of them.
Luke and Rogers exchanged a glance, took off their garrison caps, and removed their coats.
The two men's physiques formed a stark contrast.
The former could be called strong, powerful, and well-defined, while the latter was as thin as dry firewood.
So much so that the surrounding researchers shook their heads and sighed, highly doubting whether Rogers could survive the serum injection.
"It's fine, you can do it!"
Luke pressed Rogers's shoulder, as if injecting courage into him.
If there was no Captain America, he really would have to debut as an idol and sell war bonds!
Seeing Rogers nod in agreement, Luke shifted his gaze. In front of him were metal instruments with complex wires and cables plugged into both sides.
Responsible for running the machine was Howard Stark with his two thin mustaches.
The latter was busy at the console preparing for the serum injection.
This genius scientist, who traded on patriotism and befriended the upper echelons of the military, was also one of the participants in this project.
Snap!
A flash of light!
Staff members from the military's propaganda department took a photo of Luke and Rogers standing together.
This was a historic moment worth remembering!
"It's about to start!"
Erskine cleared away the onlookers, leaving only Howard Stark and the other researchers.
"Both of you will succeed!"
The doctor said earnestly.
He had originally planned to choose only one person to forge a super soldier.
However, Luke's outstanding performance and sincere attitude shook Erskine's original idea.
Thus, he and Colonel Phillips each took a step back.
They decided to let both of them be injected with the serum and become super soldiers.
In the latter's words, it was "at least one can succeed."
"The beginning is a series of minimally invasive injections to introduce the serum into the muscle groups. Once this step is completed, it will trigger drastic cellular changes..."
Dr. Erskine patiently explained the process, and then the outer shells of the two metal instruments placed together slowly closed.
Luke plunged into utter darkness, unable to see a shred of external light, able only to hear the voices of Dr. Erskine and Howard Stark speaking.
The cold needle pierced his skin, and the serum was steadily pushed into his body, merging with countless cells.
"It seems to have no feel..."
Luke had been somewhat worried beforehand that the process of injecting the Super Soldier Serum would be extremely painful.
At least in his memory, Rogers had screamed his lungs out and almost kicked the bucket.
"Start the instrument!"
Luke heard Dr. Erskine's voice.
The metal instruments plugged into cables introduced a buzzing, strong current.
A burst of white light erupted!
"Fuck!"
Luke instantly felt a tearing pain, as if his muscle fibers were being pulled apart into countless pieces.
His entire body felt as if it were being ripped apart!
Not only physical, but the mental stimulation was equally unbearable.
However, the intense pain, enough to drive someone mad, lasted for only a fleeting moment.
Then, as if it had been absorbed, it vanished without a trace!
100%
Clear data emerged on his retina.
The progress bar that had stagnated for so long finally loaded completely.
Player identity detected
Distributing gift pack
Distribution successful
Please check and claim
Streams of information flowed out.
Immediately afterward, a hazy white light glowed faintly.
A massive data stream refreshed downward like a waterfall, forming a character panel—
Host: Luke (Luke Cahill) Loaded Template: None Abilities: None Reputation: None Quest List: Not yet unlocked
"..."
Luke wore a bewildered look on his face.
Was he saying that after working hard for so long, he only got a three-nothing panel?
"Forget it, let's open the gift pack first!"
Luke, familiar with the routine, tapped into his consciousness space.
Open!
With a thought, golden light burst forth.
Numerous character images flooded into his mind.
"Golden Superman..."
"Silver Superman..."
"Mechanical Superman..."
"Quantum Superman..."
"Ultraman..."
"Superboy-Prime..."
"..."
Various forms of the Superman Template unfolded before Luke's eyes.
Superman Template detected, load it?
"Yes!"
Overwrite skin?
"Uh... No!"
Load successful
Luke opened the character panel once again—
Host: Luke (Luke Cahill) Loaded Template: Superman (LV1) Abilities: Stellar Energy (Passive), Bio-Force Field (Passive) Reputation: None Quest List: Not yet unlocked
Following that, rows of specific information representing his physical data crowded into his brain like a rising tide.
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