At that moment, Nathan's heart surged with exhilaration and triumph.
He had done the impossible.
He had deduced the formula for the Super Soldier Serum—a feat that organizations like the military and HYDRA had been obsessing over for decades. Billions in funding, secret laboratories, years of experiments—and yet none of them had succeeded.
And he, a lone figure backed only by stolen research and sheer desperation, had pieced it together in mere hours.
Sure, Nathan stood on the shoulders of HYDRA's vast trove of stolen research data. That had saved him considerable time. But the final leap—the one that mattered—was his and his alone.
No matter what came next, he would always be the one who had taken that step. The serum that turned a fragile man into Captain America… now sat in theory, complete, in his hands.
It was thanks to the terrifying research capabilities this world—or perhaps the Earth itself—had bestowed upon him. The ability to compute, deduce, and innovate at a level no normal human could match.
With this power, Nathan believed he could reach the summit—so long as he didn't die first.
The joy flickered out of his expression, replaced by a deep seriousness.
"Now," he murmured to himself, "the most important part is creating the actual serum... and injecting it into my body."
He clenched his fists.
"If I succeed, I'll have a future. If I fail—I die here."
He wasn't just theorizing anymore. This was execution. This was the jump from idea to reality.
And it came with only one attempt.
The lab that had once belonged to HYDRA was now nearly deserted. All the researchers were dead—thanks to whatever madness had unfolded before he woke up. That left the facility eerily empty, with only scattered guards remaining.
Nathan glanced at the dimly flickering surveillance monitors. He needed to be careful—just because the lab was quiet didn't mean it was unguarded.
But first—he needed to erase all traces of what he had just achieved.
Click.
He struck his lighter.
Flames roared to life. The printed research materials he had used began to burn inside an iron bucket beside him. He didn't need the notes anymore. The formulas were seared into his memory.
He watched the fire consume his work, the orange glow lighting his pale face, sharp with resolve.
He took a bite from a chocolate bar—one of the few remaining food supplies—to replenish energy. The sugar snapped his mind back into focus.
Then, his fingers danced across the keyboard.
He hacked into the institute's surveillance system. It wasn't top-tier security—not by modern standards. Nathan exploited outdated protocols and security flaws with ease.
A few minutes later…
"All right," he whispered. "Cameras disabled. Let's move."
He disabled the entire surveillance path from his room to the lab. Then, gently, he opened the door and peeked outside.
No one.
Nathan slipped out.
Step by cautious step, he navigated the quiet halls, each footfall barely audible. He relied on the mental map of the facility burned into his mind from his brief stint as one of its "researchers."
Unbeknownst to him, another team was already active within the facility.
On the far end of the dormitory wing, a cleanup crew was pushing an incinerator, disposing of the corpses left behind in the chaos.
They checked rooms systematically.
At Dormitory 71-01, they confirmed the occupants were dead and burned the bodies to ash.
Then they moved on—71-02, 71-03...
They were getting closer.
Meanwhile, Nathan reached the laboratory.
Luck, it seemed, was still with him.
"This is it," he breathed, looking at the familiar layout of test tubes, counters, chemical cabinets. "Now I formulate the serum."
He opened the door, stepped inside, and locked it behind him.
"The whole lab is built with reinforced bulletproof glass. Once locked from the inside, it can't be opened from outside," he murmured to himself. "Even HYDRA will need time to break in."
That time was what he would gamble everything on.
Nathan moved fast. He swept across the lab to the equipment stations. He was no soldier—but he was a researcher now, in every meaningful way.
He retrieved vials, combined chemical agents with a steady hand, adjusted temperature gauges, and recorded results mentally.
Drop by drop, color by color, the serum took shape.
Some turned green, others blue. At one point, a vial burst into green smoke, the failed compound hissing as he swiped it away.
Every step took intense concentration.
Meanwhile…
The cleanup crew reached Dormitory 71-05.
Click.
The door creaked open.
It was empty.
"What the hell? Where's Researcher 05?" one of them barked.
Another bent over the bed. "Still warm," he noted. "And the ash in this iron bucket—still hot. Someone was just here."
They looked at each other.
"Is it possible he didn't die? That he came back?"
"Check the computer."
A technician began typing furiously, checking login history.
There it was.
Researcher 05 had recently logged in. Accessed the Super Soldier Serum data.
Their blood ran cold.
"He's alive."
The officer grabbed his radio.
"This is Squad 7. We have a situation. 71-05 is alive and active. He accessed classified serum data!"
Back in the command center, the person in charge turned pale.
"How the hell did someone slip through?" he muttered.
"Sound the alarm. NOW."
Sirens blared through the facility. Red emergency lights flared to life, casting the walls in bloody hues.
"All guards, deploy! Orders are shoot on sight!"
At once, security teams scrambled, sweeping every hall and storage room.
Inside the command office, the head operator examined Nathan's computer records.
"He spent the last few hours studying the serum. He must be desperate. He's trying to inject himself with the serum to escape."
The man sneered. "Fool. We've spent decades on that damn formula. He thinks he'll succeed in a few hours? He's just buying time."
Then, coldly: "If Baron finds out I missed a survivor, I'm dead. Terminate him."
Back in the lab…
Nathan heard the alarm and froze.
"They've found out," he whispered. "They're coming."
His hands moved faster. Sweat poured down his face. Every second counted.
He was so close.
Footsteps pounded the ground outside.
Security personnel stormed the hallway. One of them spotted Nathan through the lab's transparent walls.
"He's here! 71-05 is in the lab!"
"Locked from the inside! We can't get in!"
The radio crackled.
"Shoot the glass!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire thundered against the reinforced windows.
Nathan flinched, eyes wide.
Sweat dripped into his eyes, but he didn't stop. His hands kept moving—mixing, measuring, refining.
"Just a little more time," he pleaded. "Just a few more seconds!"
The glass held—for now.
But it wouldn't hold forever.