Steve ignored the looks on Tony and Yinsen's faces, waving his hand in disgust while pinching his nose.
"Alright, let's get out of here. This isn't exactly the place for catching up. Honestly, it stinks so damn bad in here I'm about to suffocate…"
Two months of eating, drinking, and everything else in this cramped cave—no one needed to imagine how the place smelled.
Good thing Steve hadn't eaten breakfast today. If he had, he would've puked right then and there.
So really, calling this place Resident Evil wasn't entirely wrong…
Tony nodded immediately—he'd long since had enough of this hole. He couldn't wait to leave.
Yinsen said nothing, but his eyes said it all: Me too, brother.
In agreement, the three quickly made their way toward the cave's exit.
On the way out, Tony couldn't help but gape at the severed limbs and shattered corpses littering the ground.
Captain America wasn't just different from the legends in personality—his methods were brutal.
Damn. These wounds didn't look like gunfire. They looked like they'd been torn apart by sheer brute strength, and sharp edges.
A glance at the blood-stained shield strapped to Steve's back made it obvious who the culprit was.
So this was the shield his father had once built. In Steve's hands, it wasn't for defense—it was for butchering. Fitting, really, for the world's one and only vibranium shield.
And Tony had only one thought: Beautiful work.
After two months of torment under the Ten Rings, he wanted nothing more than to tear these bastards apart himself. To him, Steve's savagery wasn't cruelty—it was justice.
What, did they think America's number-one arms dealer had no temper?
Just wait, Ten Rings. When I get back, if I don't wipe you out down to the roots, I'll change my last name from Stark to… Shit-King.
Yes, with Steve rescuing him early, the whole "Yinsen's noble sacrifice" arc had been completely bypassed.
Tony's mindset did change somewhat. He would still go on to build the Iron Man armor.
But unlike in the movies, he had no intention of shutting down Stark Industries' weapons division.
On the contrary—he planned to use the tech he'd developed here, along with his other inventions, to wage bloody revenge against the Ten Rings.
At the end of the day, Tony was still a weapons dealer. You don't seriously expect him to act like some idiot movie superhero and "repay hatred with kindness," do you?
But Steve neither knew nor cared about Tony's plans. All he was waiting for was the system prompt in his head.
Finally, the moment they stepped out of the cave
[S.H.I.E.L.D. Mission: Rescue Tony Stark (Completed)]
[Reward Issued: Reinforcement Points ×500]
"Holy shit!!!"
Wait… how much did you just say?
Five. Hundred.
Last year alone, Steve had completed dozens of missions of all shapes and sizes. But his biggest reward until now? Not even one hundred points.
And one body stat upgrade cost one hundred points.
Which meant this mission alone had given him five upgrades.
Five.
Hell, his entire last year's worth of missions had only given him enough for six upgrades.
This one mission was basically worth a whole year's grind!
Well, what else could he expect? Tony Stark—Marvel's chosen child. The rewards for rescuing him had to be insane.
And so, Steve made up his mind: in the future, he needed to do more missions tied to Marvel's main characters.
'System, dump it all into Physique. Every last point!'
Right now, the system only offered one upgrade function: Physique. No point in saving.
So he slammed all the points in at once.
His physique shot up to a terrifying 14 points. His strength? Doubled outright.
But that wasn't even the best part. The real surprise came at Physique 10—the first awakening of a brand-new ability.
Steve closed his eyes, focusing. He could feel it—an invisible yet tangible layer of energy coating his skin. His lips curled into a wild grin.
Oi… a new ability: Biokinetic Field.
Yes. That Biokinetic Field. The concept-level ability of another universe's golden boy—Superman, Clark Kent.
The applications were endless: personal defense, extending protection to others, flight, even pseudo-telekinesis.
Its upper limit was sky-high, just like Superman himself—a willpower-driven ability capable of spawning infinite variations.
Of course, Steve had only just awakened it. He couldn't expect decades of mastery overnight. Only veteran Supes—or Silver Age Supes-level monsters—could do the crazy stuff.
Right now, all he could do was the basics: protect himself, and extend that protection to whatever he touched.
Before, he might've been fast and strong enough to crush enemies, but in heavy fire zones, he could never guarantee the safety of those he was protecting.
One stray bullet—or even his own tens-of-tons-level strength—could kill an ally instantly.
Not even the vibranium shield could fix that.
Movies were lies. That shield couldn't block everything. It wasn't big enough.
But now? Now he had the Biokinetic Field. A full-body, 360-degree, no-blind-spot defense.
Better yet, he could extend it to cover others.
That's why Superman could catch a crashing jet without tearing it apart. Why explosions couldn't hurt the civilians standing behind him.
All thanks to the Biokinetic Field.
Protecting others was nice. But the main use? Protecting himself.
With Physique 14, small- to mid-caliber firearms were no longer a threat.
But heavy-caliber weapons still posed danger. Missiles? Fatal.
Now, with the Biokinetic Field? Forget ordinary missiles—they couldn't scratch him.
Extreme strength at two hundred tons + near-invincible defense = unstoppable beast.
If he could develop the flight aspect, he'd be an outright nightmare in urban combat.
Even nukes would have trouble taking him down. He could always just fly clear of the blast zone.
Of course, assuming he got fast enough.
Still, for a first awakening, the Biokinetic Field was more than he could have dreamed.
And now… he could only look forward to the next awakening.
Though for that, he'd need Physique 50. A long road ahead.