When Alex ran into Steve again, he found him clutching a medical examination form. His gaunt face was filled with excitement, and his eyes were full of disbelief.
Seeing Steve's expression, Alex knew it had worked.
Sure enough, as soon as Alex approached, Steve grabbed him. His tightly clenched hands made Alex feel a slight pain. "Alex, I made it! I'm a soldier now too!"
Alex chuckled and pressed down on the wildly excited Steve. "Isn't that great? We can fight side by side!"
When Bucky heard the news, his face was full of suspicion. Only after seeing the medical examination form in Steve's hand did he break into a smile. Without saying anything, he threw an arm around Steve's shoulders and wrapped his other arm around Alex, holding them tightly.
After only a few days of rest, the three of them were drafted out of Brooklyn together and sent to a recruit training base in New Jersey. They would undergo three months of training there before being deployed to the battlefields of World War II to **fight for their lives.
Before enlisting, Alex and the other two had already gone through more than half a year of physical training, and all three had improved greatly. Though Steve still lagged behind, he was about on par with an ordinary person. During the recruits' initial assessment training, Alex and Bucky took the lead over the other recruits, while Steve managed to keep up with most of them instead of ending up at the bottom like he had in the movie.
After the assessment training, the recruits were assigned to different units for specialized physical and military skills training. Because of their outstanding performance, Alex and Bucky were assigned to the Army's elite 107th Infantry Regiment. Steve's performance was average, so he was assigned to another unit.
After a day of training, Alex brought Bucky along to find Steve. Steve had a strong sense of justice but lacked the strength to back it up, and Alex was truly worried that he would be bullied in the barracks.
"Alex, was that really your first day handling a gun?" Bucky asked in amazement as he slung an arm around Alex's shoulders and headed toward Steve's unit with him. "Did you see that? Ten shots, ten bullseyes. Even the instructor was stunned!"
Alex shrugged and replied casually, "Do you think I ever had the chance to touch a gun before?" With his powerful Psionic Power, Alex could easily lock onto the center of the target. The rest was simple: aim, fire, hit the bullseye.
Just as Bucky was about to say something else, a violent voice rang out from the nearby training ground.
"Steve, go home and draw your comics. This place isn't for you!"
Alex and Bucky exchanged a look, fury blazing in their eyes, then broke into a run toward the training ground.
On the field, Steve lay sprawled on the ground in a miserable state. Even the smallest uniform hung loosely off his body, and the helmet strapped to his forehead nearly covered half his head.
"Steve, are you all right?" Seeing Steve in such a pitiful state, Alex's anger flared up at once. He rushed over, helped Steve to his feet, and glared furiously at the laughing soldiers around them.
Hearing Alex's voice, Steve turned and spotted Bucky beside him. A faint smile appeared on his face as he said in surprise, "Alex, Bucky, you're here!"
Looking at the lead soldier, who was even more heavily built than himself, Bucky's expression darkened. He demanded sharply, "Steve, what happened?"
Steve wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and slowly shook his head. "Nothing. It's nothing."
Steve did not intend to pursue the matter, but someone else only grew more arrogant.
"Oh? You've got help now?" The hulking man crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Alex and Bucky with disdain.
Alex was tall, but he was very thin, about the same as Steve. Bucky was fairly sturdy, but there were seven or eight men on the other side. Bucky alone clearly would not be enough.
Bucky refused to back down. He stepped forward and provocatively stared at the large man. "What, you want to fight?" Back in Brooklyn, Bucky had no idea how many fights he had gotten into. Without exception, his opponents had all been bigger than him and more numerous.
Alex said nothing. He simply stepped forward, silently making his position clear through his actions.
Steve had wanted to say a few words to stop them, but seeing Bucky and Alex's expressions, he clenched his fists and stood beside them.
"What are you doing? Do you want to get thrown out?" A vicious-looking middle-aged man in a bright green lieutenant's uniform rushed over.
The hulking man's expression immediately changed when he saw the newcomer. He hurried forward with a fawning smile, skillfully pulled a cigarette from his pocket, and respectfully offered it to him. "Lieutenant Daniel, these three started the trouble."
Steve could not help shouting, "It was clearly you guys—"
Before Steve could finish, Lieutenant Daniel waved him off and roared angrily, "Starting trouble in camp. Thirty kilometers of cross-country running with full gear!"
Alex and the other two were even more furious when they heard that and tried to argue. "Sir, they provoked us first—"
"Disrespecting a superior. An additional twenty kilometers!" Lieutenant Daniel took a deep drag from his cigarette and spoke with an expression of enjoyment.
Bucky was about to say more, but Alex reached out and held him back. Looking up at Lieutenant Daniel, Alex said calmly, "Recruit Alex admits his mistake. We'll accept the punishment now." Without another word, he dragged Bucky and Steve away, put on their weighted gear, and began the long-distance run.
Bucky and Steve were filled with resentment, but they could only turn their anger into motivation and follow closely behind Alex.
After running for a while, Steve was already panting heavily. His frail body could not bear such a burden. Seeing this, Alex and Bucky gradually slowed down and ran on either side of Steve.
"I dragged you into this!" Steve trudged forward with difficulty, turning to look at the two beside him with guilt written all over his face.
Bucky spat on the ground and said indignantly, "Steve, how can this be your fault? If anyone's to blame, it's that Daniel and that big guy!"
As he spoke, Bucky turned to Alex on the other side and asked in confusion, "Alex, why did you stop me just now? I wanted to beat them up!"
Alex gave a mysterious smile but did not explain. Just then, he had seen a strange man wearing glasses and a dark gray plaid suit, utterly out of place amid the bustling military camp. More importantly, Colonel Phillips, the highest-ranking officer at the recruit training camp, was accompanying him!
It was already strange enough for someone wearing glasses to appear in a military camp. With Colonel Phillips by his side, the man's identity was obvious.
Dr. Abraham Erskine, the great doctor who had invented the Super Soldier Serum.
When Alex saw those two and recalled the plot of the movie, he immediately guessed that they had come to select a test subject for the Super Soldier Program. In order to leave Steve with a good impression in their minds, Alex could only suppress his rage and accept Lieutenant Daniel's punishment.
The facts proved that Alex's choice had been a good one. As they ran off, Alex saw the faint smile on Dr. Abraham Erskine's face.
Before you continue