On the other end of the line, Nick Fury froze for a second, then caught the hidden meaning in Steve's words. His voice, laced with fury, roared through the receiver:
"Captain Rogers, do you even realize what you're saying?! Just that one sentence alone could ruin your reputation, have the whole nation condemn you, and leave you in total disgrace!"
Steve smirked.
"Ohhh, did I hit a nerve? You're upset, you're upset. I know you're in a hurry, but don't be. Then again, if you really insist on being upset, I could recommend you a book that might purify your soul. Want me to tell you the title?"
Fury assumed Steve was caving in, subtly trying to appease him. His tone softened slightly, and he gave a cold snort before asking,
"What book?"
"It's an eco-themed book. The title is Protect the Sea Turtles."
From Fury's end came the furious clatter of a keyboard being smashed to bits.
Steve had landed a direct hit on his defenses.
It took a long while before Fury's gritted-teeth voice came back:
"Motherf***ing Captain, you have one hour to report to Triskelion. If you're late—don't even think about seeing a cent of your paycheck this month!"
Steve scoffed.
"I'm Captain America. You think you can threaten me? Try docking me a single penny. Just one coin short, and tomorrow's headlines will read: Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Exploits a WWII Veteran, Withholds the Salary of an American War Hero!"
"Coal Boss, take a guess—who do you think will be the one paying the price when that story blows up?"
"Coal Boss"—that was Steve's nickname for Nick Fury.
At that, Fury went silent.
Because the truth was—he didn't dare. If Steve really pulled a stunt like that, within an hour the World Security Council would be ringing Fury's phone off the hook, roasting him alive.
Worse yet, the public pressure might be strong enough to cost him his position as Director.
As for shutting down news online? In America, that was next to impossible.
And if Steve marched out into the streets to lead a good old-fashioned American protest? Things would spiral even further out of Fury's control.
The influence of the Captain America name was something even Fury dared not provoke lightly.
The more he thought about it, the more powerless Fury felt.
Damn it! I'm supposed to be the most politically correct figure in America right now. How the hell am I being crushed by a white guy?! Has society regressed back to the 15th century?!
The more Fury stewed, the angrier he became. But in the end, he didn't dare push Steve too far. He simply let out a cold snort and hung up the phone.
"Hmph. This mission concerns your WWII buddy—Howard Stark's only son. Whether you show up or not is your problem."
Steve stared at the disconnected line, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.
Howard Stark's son? That meant Tony Stark.
So the mission Fury was talking about had to be Tony's kidnapping by the Ten Rings.
Poor bastard. Even though he had ended up altered into Hydra's Captain, Tony still followed the original script—getting kidnapped by terrorists.
Still, Tony being captured wasn't a bad thing. Rescuing him should yield a hefty reward in strengthening points.
That's right—Roger, as a transmigrator, wasn't just stuck with a soul transfer. He had the one thing every transmigrator dreams of: a system.
Its name was straightforward: [Mission-Makes-You-Stronger System].
As the name suggested, completing missions granted him strengthening points.
And strengthening points had only one purpose—boosting his physical stats.
There were no subdivisions like strength, speed, defense, mental power, agility, etc. No messy allocation.
Every point went into comprehensive enhancement, a full-spectrum upgrade to all five attributes at once!
But the system had one prerequisite: he first had to pledge himself to a faction and complete its missions.
When Roger first transmigrated, he had no choice. Hydra had already brainwashed and imprisoned him.
Even though the soul of the original Captain America shielded him from full brainwashing, essentially acting as a substitute to take the fall for him, he still couldn't risk defying Hydra outright.
If he had refused to join Hydra, breaking out with just his 3x human peak physique would've been possible—but risky.
After all, Hydra's base was crawling with armed special forces… and who knew if the Winter Soldier was lurking around too?
Even inheriting Captain America's combat skills, he couldn't guarantee survival.
So after weighing his options, he realized joining Hydra was actually the smartest way to maximize his system's benefits.
Why?
Because Hydra was a parasite spread across the globe!
From the highest levels of S.H.I.E.L.D. and world governments…
To the lowest mercenary groups and assassin guilds…
Hydra's reach was everywhere.
As their motto went: Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.
Back in WWII, Captain America chopped off Hydra's biggest head—Red Skull.
But all that did was force Hydra underground, where they sprouted more heads, infiltrating the world deeper than ever.
So what did it mean for Steve to join Hydra now?
It meant he could take missions from both sides.
Light and dark. Good and evil.
Hydra tasks, S.H.I.E.L.D. tasks—nothing was off-limits.
That way, he'd never be restricted to just one faction's mission pool.
Take his current situation, for example: officially, he was Hydra's mole within S.H.I.E.L.D.
That meant he could take Hydra's covert missions while still accepting S.H.I.E.L.D.'s official assignments. Double the missions, double the rewards!
And why did Hydra trust him enough to send him back as their undercover agent despite his retained free will?
Because he'd passed Hydra's loyalty test.
The examiner asked:
"Would you sincerely complete Hydra's missions?"
Steve answered without hesitation:
"More sincere than pure gold!"
(System rewards for missions? Damn right I'm sincere!)
Hydra asked again:
"If we ordered you to assassinate the President and destroy America, would you comply?"
Steve stood up, face solemn.
"When do we start? I'm already prepared."
(He didn't even dare imagine how many strengthening points that mission would earn!)
…
Seeing the lie detector glowing pure green, the examiner declared no further testing was needed.
Just those two questions were enough to prove the brainwashing had "worked perfectly." The old Captain America was gone.
And so, Alexander Pierce—one of Hydra's top leaders and Fury's own superior at the Security Council—placed Steve into S.H.I.E.L.D. as Hydra's undercover agent.
In the year since, Steve had completed dozens of missions on both sides. His physical stat had risen from 3 to 9.
(Normal human peak = 1. Original Cap = 3.)
At first glance, going from 3 to 9 didn't seem like much. But once past the human limit of 1, every additional point represented a qualitative leap.
For example, a human at peak condition might deliver a punch with 500kg of force.
But with Cap's 3x physique? His strength wasn't just tripled. His base power was 3 tons—and in a full burst, he could reach over 10 tons!
That's more than ten times stronger than a peak human.
Now Steve had a physique 9x beyond human limits.
His normal strength was over 20 tons. At full burst? Nearly 100 tons.
That put him on par with Marvel's second-most iconic powerhouse—Spider-Man.