When You Wake Up

They found Captain America?

Old Wang sat up abruptly and hurriedly asked, "How is he? He’s alive, right?"

Master Wang, you were the one who told me Steve was alive… The Winter Soldier replied, "He still has vital signs. His body is in a state of cryogenic hibernation, but his condition is different from mine back then. I don’t know how to wake him."

After casually cracking a joke, Old Wang nodded.

"Cut away the ice directly and keep him frozen in the Quinjet. I remember Fitz specially equipped you with a cryogenic hibernation pod. Return as fast as possible. I’ll have Fitz make preparations."

"Okay." The Winter Soldier hung up.

Clutching his phone, Old Wang could barely contain his excitement.

Captain America! That was Captain America!

His strength might not have been especially outstanding, but his overall abilities were incredibly high. In the martial world, he was known as the "Fifty-Fifty Man"—able to fight anyone to a draw. Plus, he had that bug-level Vibranium shield. He was no joke.

Most importantly, he was America’s earliest and most famous Super Hero, the idol of more than half the men and a small half of the women in the United States. His influence was extraordinary, and his value was impossible to measure.

Unable to wait any longer, Old Wang hurried to the Physical Engineering Laboratory and found Fitz.

"What? They found Captain America?"

Fitz was even more excited than Old Wang. "Quick, move the equipment over there! Dr. Lucy, activate Plan Two! Dr. Eli, I need you to wire everything according to the blueprints. You have one hour! You there, bring me coffee! Black coffee, no sugar. I need to stay alert!"

The others were excited as well.

Watching coldly from the side, Old Wang once again witnessed Captain America’s appeal.

The man had not even arrived yet, and they were already this worked up. Was that really necessary?

When you first met me, none of you were this excited!

It seemed being a Super Hero had its benefits. Old Wang wondered whether he should learn from Tony—fight evil, uphold justice, hold press conferences whenever he had time, and increase his exposure?

He quietly reflected on whether he had been too low-key lately. That would not do…

Two hours later, the Quinjet landed in the central square. All unrelated personnel had long since been cleared out. Confidentiality had to be ensured.

The hatch opened, and the Winter Soldier strode down carrying a hibernation pod on his shoulder. He marched into the laboratory, then set it down with incomparable gentleness, as though he had not been carrying a pod but a boneless, delicate young woman.

Fitz immediately rallied a large group of people. They safely thawed the pod and measured various indicators, and the results came quickly.

"Uh… His indicators are similar to Sergeant Barnes’s. His physical condition is slowly recovering. I’ll use bioelectric stimulation to help awaken his consciousness. At most, it’ll take one day!"

Fitz explained while gesturing. "He was asleep for too long. His consciousness has remained dormant the entire time, so he won’t wake as easily as Sergeant Barnes did. But there won’t be any problems. He’s too healthy, too strong. He has a perfect physique!"

Is that really what a man should be focusing on? Still, Captain America’s trembling pecs really did make plenty of men want to touch them… Old Wang chuckled. Anyway, I have no interest in touching them. My pecs are even bigger than yours.

My belly is bigger too.

Other than eyes that can’t open, everything about me is bigger than yours.

The Winter Soldier’s icy face softened, and his white-wolf gaze turned gentle.

"I’ll stay with Steve the whole time," he said.

Old Wang had originally wanted to tell the Winter Soldier to get some rest. After all, he had not slept for a very, very long time.

But upon hearing that, Old Wang decided to forget it. The Winter Soldier would not get tired anyway, so he said:

"There’s something I need to tell you."

The Winter Soldier narrowed his eyes.

Old Wang explained the current situation before asking, "Bucky, just how strong are those five?"

Bucky pondered for a full minute before answering, "Their physical abilities are about the same as mine. They are the world’s top assassins. But there were problems with the serum they received. Their condition is unstable. Also, most of the time, I was enough, so Hydra sealed them away until they found a way to completely control them before unsealing them."

"Weren’t they already brainwashed?" Old Wang asked in confusion.

"The serum stimulated their minds. The brainwashing failed, and they could break free of control at any time."

The Winter Soldier said, "Maybe they already have."

So that was it… Old Wang frowned slightly.

Super assassins who had broken free of control were more terrifying than super assassins under someone’s control.

Everyone had different personalities and emotions. Once they broke free, what would they do? Massacre innocents? Assassinate important officials? Seek revenge against S.H.I.E.L.D. or even Hydra? Or hide their identities and try to live as ordinary people?

All of those were possible.

That would make finding them even harder.

Harder upon harder.

"Looks like we can only rely on S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tony." Old Wang shook his head.

Skye was not around, and Old Wang did not want to disturb a family’s happy time together. When it came to finding people, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tony were more reliable.

Captain America’s condition was even better than expected.

In less than a day, his physical condition improved drastically, soon stabilizing at a certain peak.

This nearly ninety-year-old "elder," after more than sixty years, finally opened his eyes once more.

Who am I?

Where am I?

What am I supposed to do?

The young old man sat up in bed, his face confused and his gaze hazy.

A flood of memories surfaced in his mind.

"I’m Steve Rogers. I’m the captain of the Howling Commandos, Captain America!"

"My mission was to eliminate Red Skull, seize the Cosmic Cube, and stop the Valkyrie and the weapons aboard it from destroying the world!"

"I fought Red Skull. The Cosmic Cube suddenly erupted with terrifying energy and revealed a brilliant, beautiful expanse of starlight, like some divine kingdom that existed only in myths and legends. When the energy erupted, Red Skull disappeared."

"Where did the Cosmic Cube go?"

"The Valkyrie was damaged and about to crash into New York. I could only fly it somewhere uninhabited."

"I don’t know where I flew it."

"The Valkyrie couldn’t hold on any longer. It crashed at the edge of a glacier, and I passed out from the tremendous impact."

"Was it Carter or Howard who saved me? Or someone else from the Howling Commandos?"

"Did the war… end?"

"Did I… complete my mission?"

Captain America stared blankly at the bedsheets and suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

The sheets were very new, and the material was excellent. It seemed like a material he had never seen before. Was it one of Howard’s new inventions?

Looking around, he saw several people in work clothes. Why didn’t he recognize any of them? Did Hydra capture me? No, probably not. They had not restricted his freedom.

He could clearly sense their attitude toward him. They were fairly friendly, not enemies.

Those instruments and devices looked unfamiliar—far more complex than Howard’s equipment. They did not even seem like products of this era. Or perhaps…

Have I been unconscious for many years?

Everything here was unfamiliar. Captain America felt uncomfortable and uneasy.

He turned his head again and saw pairs of eager eyes. He felt as though the way these people looked at him carried curiosity, admiration, and a desire to dissect him, as if they were looking at a gorilla in a zoo or a white mouse in a cage.

It instinctively made him feel danger.

His first reaction was that he had to seize the initiative.

But when he saw a slightly chubby Eastern face, he gave up.

His instincts told him never to provoke the smiling man, or things would definitely end badly.

Don’t rush. First, figure out what’s going on. Besides, I can’t beat them anyway. I can basically be sure they aren’t enemies… Captain America turned his head again.

At last, he saw someone familiar.

"Bu… Bucky? You’re alive?"

Everything from the past surfaced in his mind. At that moment, Captain America seemed to have been struck by lightning, touching the softest part of his heart.

He hurriedly climbed out of bed and stared at the Winter Soldier, disbelief and joy written all over his face.

That heartfelt joy melted the coldness around the Winter Soldier.

He tried hard to force out a faint smile and nodded. "Steve, we’re both alive."

Yes, being alive was better than anything… Captain America rushed forward and tightly embraced Bucky. "Thank god… You, what happened to your arm?"

He had felt the metallic texture. Bucky’s arm had been severed and replaced with a mechanical arm?

"I broke it after falling off the cliff." The Winter Soldier’s tone was calm.

Captain America fell silent for a moment, then patted the Winter Soldier’s shoulder. "It’s good that you’re alive. What about the others? Where are Howard and Carter? Why aren’t they here?"

Did they all go on a mission?

"Howard is dead," the Winter Soldier said. "I killed him."

Captain America froze, unable to believe his own ears.

What had happened?

How could my brother have killed my other brother?

"What about Carter?" He released the Winter Soldier’s shoulders. He did not know what to say or what to do. Right now, he only wanted to see Carter.

He still had a date with her.

"She’s in the hospital. Her condition isn’t very good. I didn’t dare go see her. Once you recover, we’ll go see her together. She’ll get better. Master Wang promised to give Carter a dose of Resurrection Serum," the Winter Soldier said.

Her condition was not good?

What did that mean?

Why did she need a serum? And a Resurrection Serum at that?

Captain America muttered, "What exactly happened?"

Why had things turned out like this?

I woke up after one sleep. How did everything change? Is this still my world?

"It’s a long story, Steve."

The Winter Soldier’s gaze was complicated. "Steve, you were asleep for sixty-four years."

Captain America suddenly went rigid.