Chapter 013: The Red Skull in Action
The next morning, Steve—sporting dark circles under his eyes—knocked on Mason's door.
His resentful expression was a far cry from the excitement he'd felt the night before when he received his enlistment notice.
"You son of a bitch, did you do that on purpose?!"
Steve punched Mason's shoulder, his face a picture of sexual frustration. Mason gave an awkward laugh. Making a future lifelong virgin eavesdrop all night was definitely not honorable.
His enhanced stamina was incredible, and after such a long period of abstinence, Connie's seduction had naturally led to... The two had continued their activities until dawn, finally stopping though still hungry for more.
Meanwhile, poor Steve—with bloodshot eyes—had endured a torturous night in the adjacent room.
Mason, full of energy, only needed three hours of sleep to be fully recovered, while Connie, exhausted from his marathon performance, was still dead to the world in bed, unlikely to surface until noon.
Thinking of the woman's voluptuous curves, a look of satisfaction crossed Mason's face again. Those genes were something else—she was absolutely incredible.
Steve, seeing his expression, knew exactly what he was thinking. He reflected that this new friend of his was even more shameless than Bucky. "Breakfast is ready, eat it while it's hot."
Mason was genuinely embarrassed; crashing and mooching off Steve was a bit much. He clapped Steve on the shoulder. "I've found a great girl for you, absolutely perfect. I'll introduce you another day."
Steve didn't take it seriously. Barnes had introduced him to countless women over the years; basically, every time Bucky had a new girlfriend, he'd set Steve up with her best friend.
But over the years, Barnes had cycled through girlfriend after girlfriend, and best friend after best friend. Only Steve remained perpetually single.
"Her name's Carter. You'll love her."
After breakfast, Mason briefly explained the Super Soldier Program to Steve. Steve didn't react much after hearing about it. His original motivation was simply to serve his country; becoming a super soldier wasn't the main draw. However, under Mason's repeated encouragement, he became increasingly interested.
"Steve, you've gotta get that super soldier spot! With your medical conditions, you'll never pass a standard military physical. Only by becoming a super soldier can you actually serve your country!" Mason urged him.
Mason noticed that while the real Steve was resilient and possessed a strong moral compass, he seemed less confident than his movie counterpart. He suspected Steve hadn't yet developed true self-assurance; he was simply driven by patriotic passion.
It wasn't until noon that Connie emerged from the bedroom, blushing furiously. Even after a full morning of rest, her walk was still somewhat awkward. However, the way she moved her hips made her figure even more mesmerizing.
Connie's family owned several textile mills; she was an only child and a genuine heiress. Her father had extensive connections and had secured military uniform contracts, making a fortune from the war effort.
Having lived through decades of future economic history, Mason's insights captivated Connie, who grew increasingly infatuated with him.
Mason's mind brimmed with ideas, though they seemed foggy, hazy and just out of reach. Without overthinking it, he simply shared some carefully selected business opportunities from future decades with her.
Connie was enthralled, listening intently and even taking notes. If she followed Mason's advice and invested in various industries systematically, she could easily become extraordinarily wealthy, if not rival the Stark fortune.
Time flew by, and three days passed in a blur of Mason and Connie's passionate affair. Mason and Steve arrived at the military installation at the provided address.
Meanwhile, deep within the snow-covered Alps, amidst rugged cliffs, a group of scientists were tackling a dangerous problem.
This was a sealed underground facility, carved directly from solid rock. Along the walls stood a ring of sealed cylindrical chambers, each about ten feet tall.
The front of each cylinder featured a single pane of reinforced glass, within which muscular men and women floated unconscious in viscous fluid. Countless metal tubes, each about finger-thick, were inserted into their bodies, all converging toward a strange device positioned at the center of the underground space.
"Dr. Zola, what's the status of our preparations?" a pale-skinned, sinister-looking man asked. It was Red Skull—Johann Schmidt himself.
He'd stolen the incomplete Super Soldier Serum from Dr. Erskine, gaining superhuman strength, but the serum's side effects had caused his skin to burn away, leaving him a grotesque scarlet red—like a demon risen from hell itself. The skin on his face was merely a prosthetic mask for disguise.
"I need to verify the calculations again. If the energy output is too intense, they simply won't survive it," replied a peculiar man with an abnormally large cranium, dwarfish in stature. Dr. Arnim Zola adjusted his glasses while manipulating controls on the device.
"It's been over four months, and our experiments have made zero progress! Countless Wehrmacht soldiers are dying on the Eastern Front because of the Führer's incompetence. How long do you intend to stall? Until the Red Army is at Berlin's gates?" Schmidt demanded harshly.
"You will begin the experiment immediately!"
"But..."
"Begin! Even if this attempt fails, I want to see results!"
"Jawohl." Dr. Zola's expression hardened. Though reluctant, he activated the apparatus as Schmidt commanded.
A deep thrumming sound resonated through the chamber.
Schmidt, carrying an ornate antique case, slowly approached the device. He opened the lid, and brilliant blue light flooded the entire facility.
"This is the power of the gods. Every time I witness it, it moves me profoundly." He carefully extracted the cube radiating azure energy and inserted it into the apparatus.
With a decisive click, the device achieved full activation.
Buzz... Buzz!
The entire chamber trembled like rippling water, and pale blue energy coursed through the metal conduits into the cylinders lining the walls. Stimulated by the Tesseract's power, the young men and women inside the chambers—who'd been comatose—suddenly opened their eyes, faces contorted in agony as they thrashed against their restraints.
"Mein Gott, the energy levels are catastrophic! Their bodies can't withstand this!" Dr. Zola exclaimed in alarm. "Keep the output at seventy percent maximum; if it exceeds that threshold, these soldiers will literally explode!"
"I didn't conquer Tønsberg and steal Odin's treasure to create pathetic weaklings!" Schmidt strode forward and cranked the energy regulator to maximum. Instantly, blue light erupted from the apparatus, saturating the entire facility.
Distantly, Dr. Zola and Schmidt seemed to hear whispers from the depths of existence itself. Stars and alien dimensions flashed before their eyes—glimpses of the shattered cosmos.
Only after an eternity did silence return.
"What... was that!?" Dr. Zola asked, his voice hoarse with awe and terror.
"That," Schmidt breathed, "was a glimpse of a new world!"
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