Captain America Awakens

White House, the president’s office.

Steve tossed the report onto the desk, leaned back, and slumped into his chair.

"Seeing that we’ve occupied the United States, they all want to come over and profit from it, right?"

Saoji Carter walked behind him and habitually kneaded his shoulders. "There are still many states in the United States that we haven’t swallowed up, so the willingness of the other branches to come over is also a source of support for us. Besides, Madame Hydra has already reached an agreement with Director Pierce’s side."

Steve closed his eyes, furrowed his brows, and sighed. "I know, but I don’t know why. Every time I see something like this, I feel inexplicably irritated."

Looking at the troubled Steve before her, Saoji felt an increasing tightness in her chest. Her heartbeat quickened, and her hands gradually began to tremble.

"What’s wrong?" Steve sensed that something was wrong with Saoji and hurriedly turned his head to ask.

But the moment he turned around, he saw Saoji’s body sway. She opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Saoji!" Steve was shocked. He hurriedly reached out and pulled Saoji into his arms, then moved to press the emergency button, but Saoji stopped him from within his embrace.

She grabbed Steve’s hand. Blood continued to spill from her mouth, but her eyes had never been brighter.

"It’s useless, Steve. My genes are collapsing. There’s no saving me." Saoji spoke in a feeble voice.

"No, no, there has to be a way. Medicine is so advanced now, and we can even use magic. There must be a way to treat you!" Steve was thrown into a panic, completely at a loss.

"It’s useless." Saoji no longer even had the strength to shake her head, but she wasn’t afraid in the slightest. Instead, she looked relieved.

"I was actually a clone created by Hydra using Peggy Carter’s cells. My lifespan has always been limited. Fighting against the brainwashing exhausted the last of my life force, but I’m glad that I regained consciousness at the very end of my life. I now have Peggy Carter’s memories again. Steve, I’ve missed you so much."

Steve was struck as if by lightning. He felt as though his heart had been crushed to pieces. Looking at Saoji before him, he trembled as he caressed her cheek, tears streaming from his eyes.

Saoji’s eyes had already begun to lose focus, but she still wore a smile. Clutching Steve’s hand, she murmured contentedly, "Steve, I thought I’d never see you again in this life. It’s wonderful that you came back…"

As Saoji approached death, her memories, worldview, thought process, even her bearing and soul had already drawn infinitely close to those of her original, Peggy Carter. In Steve’s eyes, the person lying in his arms at this moment was clearly Peggy Carter.

In his daze, Steve seemed to return to seventy years ago. Scene after scene of meeting Peggy Carter flowed through his heart like running water. The flood of memories surged and battered his mind, making him feel as if his head were splitting apart.

His brain seemed like a pot of boiling water, and it also felt as though a hundred Thors were hammering away inside his skull.

With one hand, he held Saoji in his arms; with the other, he covered his head, which seemed ready to explode, tears and mucus running down his face.

Saoji seemed to be saying something, but Steve couldn’t hear her at all. His ears were filled with nothing but shrill noise, as if someone were scraping a knife forcefully across glass.

He opened his eyes wide and focused, trying to make out what Saoji was saying. But everything before him spun, blurred and indistinct. He couldn’t even see Saoji’s face clearly. He could only see her lips moving, a smile at their edges.

No one knew how long passed. Perhaps it was only an instant; perhaps it was several hours. Through his bloodshot eyes, he saw Saoji close her eyes and purse her lips, as if asking for a kiss—or perhaps as if she had simply fallen asleep.

Steve lowered his head to meet her, but his lips felt only a wave of coldness.

Saoji Carter… was dead!

Peggy Carter… was dead too!

This had clearly been a chance to begin that romance from seventy years ago all over again, yet he had missed it perfectly!

He hadn’t even heard what Peggy had said at the very end!

Why?

Why had it turned out this way?

Goddammit, why had it turned out this way?

Steve held Peggy tightly with both arms and slammed his head against the nearby desk.

With a boom, the desk shattered.

With another boom, the floor shattered too.

"Ah…" Steve wept bitterly and let out a tortured howl. The pain in his body was nothing compared to even one ten-thousandth of the pain in his heart.

Overwhelmed by grief, his Magnetic Field Force’s rotation speed skyrocketed, climbing rapidly, then climbing higher still. In an instant, it broke through the barrier of the Tenth Heaven!

The disturbance in the president’s office alarmed the security personnel outside. A group of them rushed in and saw President Rogers kneeling on the floor, clutching the person he loved and suffering beyond endurance.

They hurriedly called for medical personnel while surging forward to help Steve up.

Steve’s head was dizzy and muddled. His Magnetic Field Force swept out chaotically, reading the minds of everyone present in an instant.

Then his headache grew even worse!

Having realized the truth, Steve finally used his Magnetic Field Force to purge the traces of the brainwashing. But everything that had happened while he was brainwashed was vivid in his mind, replaying in its entirety.

"Heh… hahaha…" He covered his forehead with one hand and began laughing wildly. "So I wasn’t Hydra after all!"

"I was just a fool brainwashed by Hydra!"

"I am Steve Rogers!"

"I am Captain America!"

"…I’m fucking a pig!"

The United States itself had now been completely divided into several parts by local separatist forces. The S.H.I.E.L.D. faction led by Alexander Pierce had seized the country’s legitimate authority, and virtually the entire government had been infiltrated.

The central heartland of the country, as well as the eastern United States, all fell within S.H.I.E.L.D.’s sphere of influence.

The western United States had been sold to Loki. In Nevada and California, he had built more than a hundred enormous arenas, where thousands of people died in gladiatorial combat every day.

But compared with the other Hydra forces, Loki could be considered the most benevolent.

The southern United States had been completely occupied by Hive. Centered around Texas, it was spreading into the surrounding areas. All the humans there had been transformed into Inhumans, while those whose transformations failed had all died. The total death toll couldn’t be calculated, but it numbered at least in the tens of millions.

The northern United States, including Montana and the surrounding areas, was controlled by Dr. Zola, who had built a Mechanical Kingdom there. No one had died there, but all the humans lived like slaves.

Besides that, because Hydra had been stirring up trouble everywhere, the local forces in each state had been thrown into a state of panic. They had all raised their own armies and entrenched themselves, forming de facto local separatist regimes.

And all of this had been caused by Steve himself.

As a true patriot, Steve watched as the country he loved most was torn to pieces in his own hands, with warlords everywhere. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to die.