Steve Rogers.
The man who had just obtained god-like power was like an enraged lion.
Barefoot, he smashed through the laboratory's heavy glass door.
He carried with him an unvented power as he chased after the fleeing Shadow.
Lynn knelt on the ground.
Warm blood soaked through his clothes.
"Seal off the scene! Nobody move!"
Peggy Carter, having returned empty-handed, rushed in from outside.
Her face still bore the anger and frustration of a failed pursuit.
When her gaze fell upon Lynn and the lifeless body of Dr. Erskine, that Agent's composure faltered for a moment.
She stepped forward quickly, knelt halfway, and reached out to check Dr. Erskine's carotid artery.
No pulse.
"He... what did he say at the end?"
Peggy's voice was somewhat hoarse.
She looked at Lynn, trying to catch something on the young man's face.
Lynn raised his head, his eyes hollow, as if his soul had been drained away.
"He... he looked in Steve's direction..."
Lynn's lips trembled, full of grief.
"He said... he succeeded..."
"He said... Steve... is a good man..."
The scrutiny in the Agent's eyes was replaced by sadness and relief.
Yes, this was Dr. Erskine.
The doctor who valued character above all else.
In the final moment of his life, what he saw was the perfect embodiment of his ideals.
Colonel Davis rushed in with a squad of armed soldiers.
He looked at the corpse on the ground, his fleshy face turning the color of pig liver.
"HYDRA! It must be a HYDRA spy!"
He roared.
"Search! Turn this place upside down for me! See what exactly they wanted to steal!"
The Military police began to roughly inspect every corner.
"Colonel."
Lynn's weak voice attracted everyone's attention.
"That assassin... took the last of the serum after firing the shot..."
"Right!"
A Military technical advisor realized.
"I saw it too! But that soldier has already chased after him, so he should be able to retrieve it, right?"
"Also, I remember... wasn't Dr. Erskine's notebook next to the serum?"
Lynn's feigned thoughtful expression startled the others.
The notebook!
That was the root of the Super Soldier program!
It was the bible that could infinitely replicate "Steve Rogers"!
Everyone subconsciously began searching the chaotic laboratory for that notebook.
They rummaged through the lab benches.
Checked the doctor's personal briefcase.
They didn't even spare the trash cans.
They found nothing.
"Damn it! It must have been taken by that spy in the chaos!"
Colonel Davis slammed his fist onto the table.
This conclusion was logical and sound.
A perfect closed loop.
The assassin's target was the serum and the notebook.
No one would suspect that the invaluable "holy book" was hidden on the person of the most grieving young man.
Lynn became the core of the incident.
He was the "discoverer" of Rogers.
He was the "supporter" of the doctor's philosophy.
He was also the person who was with the doctor until the very end, listening to his final words.
No one would think he was lying.
Even Peggy Carter was the same.
Officers patted his shoulder, using low tones to tell him to accept his grief.
The politicians who had just been scared out of their wits also gathered around, making empty promises to him.
Claiming that Congress would not forget the doctor's achievements and would certainly seek justice for him.
He perfectly played the role of a young man who had lost his mentor and best friend.
Steve Rogers returned.
The assassin chose to commit suicide.
The serum was smashed during the chase.
As for the notebook, according to Steve, it should have sunk to the bottom of the sea, swept away by the ocean currents, whereabouts unknown.
All leads were broken.
The face of this newborn Super Soldier was filled with confusion and self-reproach.
He watched as the stretcher covered in a white sheet was carried away.
Watching the old man who had created him, yet never got to see his future, disappear before his eyes.
"This is not your fault, Steve."
Lynn walked to his side.
He hadn't had time to change out of his blood-stained clothes, and the smell of blood stung the nose.
"Dr. Erskine paved the way for you with his life; he believed in you."
"Inherit his legacy, Steve."
"Become the person he hoped you would be, and use your actions to tell the whole World how great a good man can become."
These words became the final straw that broke Steve's inner defenses.
He looked at Lynn.
Looking at this "friend" who, like the doctor, possessed "ideals."
Looking at the doctor's blood on him, his eyes filled with gratitude and a shared, resolute determination.
Lynn used this feigned "sadness" as a weapon, influencing everyone.
He stood with Peggy before the ruins of the laboratory, mourning, deepening their "allied" relationship.
He obtained everything he wanted amidst everyone's sympathy and trust.
And incidentally, he also gained the friendship of a future legendary hero.
...
The night was deep and quiet.
Lynn stood in the washroom of the temporary dormitory.
He looked at himself in the mirror.
His face still retained just the right amount of sadness and exhaustion.
He stared at "himself" in the mirror for a full ten seconds.
The sadness faded, the exhaustion vanished, leaving only reason and irrepressible excitement.
Lynn took off the blood-stained coat and then his undershirt.
This shirt had been carefully modified by him.
Near his chest, on the inside, a small pocket made of waterproof fabric was sewn, capable of holding just one notebook.
He took out the hard-won notebook.
Under the light, Lynn opened the first page of the notebook.
On it were dense German shorthand notes and strings of complex chemical symbols and structural diagrams that were impossible to understand.
But Lynn happened to be the one who had stolen the "translator's" partial memories.
In his mind, Dr. Erskine's expression of pride as he pointed to a certain page in the notebook clearly emerged.
"It's here, see? The peptide chain structure of the trans-amino acids was never stable until I... I found inspiration from an extract of a rare orchid. It's like a key that locks the entire structure in place."
Lynn flipped through the pages quickly, relying on his memory.
Found it!
That was the page!
He had found the "key" the doctor had spoken of.
It was a string of chemical formulas that didn't look any more special than the other symbols.
But Lynn knew this was the starting point to deciphering the entire "holy book"!
With this key, he could follow the clues and gradually reverse-engineer Dr. Erskine's entire line of thought.
It would be a long and difficult process.
But it didn't matter.
He had plenty of time.
Lynn's fingers gently brushed over the string of symbols representing the "key," as if caressing a rare treasure.
From this day on, this World would truly begin to get interesting.
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