Strategic Scientific Reserve

"You lost Dr. Erskine?"

Let's turn the clock back five minutes. A tall female officer asked sternly.

"German spies could be hiding anywhere in this city, waiting to capture or execute Dr. Erskine! Do you have any idea how important he is? Go find him, now!"

The female officer berated her subordinates without holding back.

Her strikingly beautiful face was covered in a cold, frosty expression, like an iceberg.

The plainclothes agents nodded repeatedly, doing their best to conceal the disdain in their eyes.

This was a turbulent era when women's status had yet to receive proper recognition.

Most people still believed that women ought to stay home as full-time housewives and do chores, with no need to show themselves in public.

Even though the stern-faced female officer before them was their superior, and they had to maintain an obedient attitude.

The respect these plainclothes agents showed her was still perfunctory.

To them, the female officer was a beautiful vase with a bad temper, not their superior!

"We got separated from him. There were too many people at the expo grounds. Who knows where that old German ran off to!"

One of the plainclothes agents defended himself.

"He is Dr. Abraham Erskine!"

The female officer corrected him.

"That doesn't change the fact that he and Hitler are fellow countrymen."

Another plainclothes agent sneered in rebuttal.

Due to deliberate propaganda from public opinion, the public harbored obvious hostility toward Germans.

Even though Abraham Erskine was on the side of the Allied Nations, it could not stop these people's prejudice.

Bang!

A clear gunshot rang out from nearby.

Faint screams of panic could also be heard.

The female officer's expression changed. She gave the plainclothes agents a cold glance and strode away in her flat shoes.

Three minutes later.

She arrived at the recruitment station with a squad of heavily armed soldiers.

Several cold corpses lay on the ground, while a pungent stench of blood filled the area.

"Doctor!"

The female officer could not help but breathe a sigh of relief when she saw that Dr. Erskine was unharmed.

He was now the military's highest-priority protection target, as well as a thorn in the Germans' side.

Everyone who knew the truth understood exactly how valuable the Super Soldier Serum developed by Abraham Erskine was.

It could end this war!

It could tip the scales of victory!

It could even reshape the world order!

"These people... should have been spies sent by them."

Dr. Erskine had already recovered from his panic and said calmly, "It seems Schmidt truly does not want me alive in this world."

The female officer nodded in agreement.

Then, she glanced at the two young men beside Dr. Erskine from the corner of her eye, her gaze carrying a trace of vigilance.

"Fortunately, this young man saved me. By the way, I still don't know your name."

Dr. Erskine explained.

He had seen Luke, alone, narrowly take care of the three spies who had followed them to assassinate him, and had assumed he was a plainclothes agent sent by the military to protect him.

But judging from the female officer's wary gaze, that clearly was not the case!

"Luke. My name is Luke Cahill."

The young man said with a smile as he holstered his pistol.

He had not expected to meet Abraham Erskine and Captain America's girlfriend, Peggy Carter, in this way.

That was right.

The female officer standing before him was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s future founders.

At present, she should have been an agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve.

She was responsible for protecting Abraham Erskine and participating in the Super Soldier program.

"Did you kill all these spies? Not bad."

The female officer named Peggy Carter said meaningfully.

She gave the corpses of the Black-Clad Spies a rough look. All three had been killed with a single shot, with no unnecessary external wounds. Every bullet had struck a vital spot.

Judging from the wounds alone, the young man named Luke was an excellent shot.

Moreover, after killing the three men, he had not shown any intense panic or distress.

No matter how one looked at it, he did not seem like a novice.

Such abnormal behavior gave Peggy every reason to be suspicious.

It was not as though ordinary young men in Brooklyn could casually crush German spies, right?

If that were the case, the Allied Nations would have marched into Berlin long ago and ended this war!

"I learned a few self-defense techniques."

Luke answered casually.

He had indeed studied fighting and shooting with Uncle Frank for a while.

The latter had once wanted to train Luke into a gang enforcer who handled house painting jobs.

The Irish Mob was rising rapidly and happened to be short on capable young men who could get things done.

Unfortunately, Luke had no interest in that path.

Although he had worked hard to learn fighting and shooting and kept training his body, that was only to give himself more means of self-protection.

He was not some donut head who wanted to become a "gangster superstar"!

"Doctor, this place isn't safe. We should leave first."

The female officer withdrew her scrutinizing gaze and looked at Dr. Erskine beside her. "We'll investigate everything afterward."

"All right. I'll remember your name, Luke."

Dr. Erskine nodded. He knew he was under tight military protection.

He had only been able to attend the Tomorrow World Expo that night because Howard Stark had invited him.

However, after meeting him, Dr. Erskine felt that the promising young Mr. Stark sounded more like a businessman in conversation.

His passion for scaling the heights of science was far inferior to his interest in accumulating wealth and pursuing women.

Thus, after exchanging only a few pleasantries, the two had not continued their conversation.

"Is he your friend?"

Before leaving, Erskine looked at Steve Rogers nearby.

For some reason, he was very interested in the thin, undersized young man.

Perhaps Steve's conversation with the recruitment officer had stirred some memories buried deep within Erskine's heart.

As the developer of the Super Soldier Serum, Abraham Erskine knew its dangers and the side effects it carried.

He had already created one devil. He did not want to create a second, or even more!

Therefore, Erskine had been searching for a suitable candidate—a "Super Soldier" who would not bully the weak and understood compassion.

"Yes. His name is Steve Rogers."

Luke pulled Steve over and said loudly, "My friend wants very much to serve his country. Though he isn't strong enough, his patriotic heart has never gone out."

"I understand."

Erskine seemed thoughtful as he turned and left.

The female officer quickly followed him, though she glanced at Luke before leaving, as if she still harbored some suspicion.

The heavily armed soldiers remained behind to protect the scene and clean up the aftermath.

"Luke, who are they?"

Steve, who had escaped disaster, was somewhat bewildered. He still did not know what had happened.

"People who can change your fate."

Luke curled his lip and said softly.

He patted Steve's thin shoulder, and a glimmer of light appeared deep in his eyes.

He had not expected to enter the military's field of vision in this way.

Most likely, the female agent named Peggy Carter would soon conduct a thorough investigation into Luke.

But he was not worried. The Strategic Scientific Reserve was destined to find nothing.

Their enemies were Hydra and the evil Axis Powers.

Luke had absolutely no connection to the so-called German spies or the assassins sent by Hydra.

"What happened just now was terrifying."

Steve, unable to understand what Luke meant, still felt lingering fear.

The recruitment officer who had argued with him had also fallen into a pool of blood.

His hollow eyes had lost all color.

"If you step onto the battlefield, you'll encounter far more things like this and watch even more comrades die."

Luke sighed.

He had watched Uncle Frank paint houses.

He had even personally taken care of several gang scum.

He had long since grown accustomed to blood and death.

"Will I ever get the chance to step onto a battlefield?"

Steve was somewhat dejected. He had suffered too many rejections.

Everyone said he could not do it and believed he should stay safely on home soil.

Even his good friend Bucky was no exception.

"You will."

Luke nodded firmly.

He seemed even more confident than Steve himself.

"All right, hurry up and find Bucky. Tonight is his send-off."

Sensing Steve's puzzled gaze, Luke changed the subject and dragged the thin, undersized young man away from the recruitment station.

P.S. All right, I need to change the book title, but I'm terrible at naming things~

P.S. 2: Investments, bookmarks, recommendations—please give me the triple support~