The argument inside the tent continued.
"Enough, Dr. Erskine!"
Phillips's patience was exhausted.
"I don't care about your philosophical theories! My soldiers are dying! Now that there is a weapon that can keep them alive, I must use it!"
"As for your plan to keep searching for the perfect good man, to hell with it!"
"You will regret this, Phillips!"
"You and everyone else will pay for today's decision!"
Dr. Erskine let out a roar of disappointment and turned around aggressively.
He ripped open the tent flap and rushed out without looking back.
He walked very fast.
His face was full of anger and helplessness, to the point where he almost bumped into Lynn, who was "happening" to pass by.
"Sorry."
Dr. Erskine adjusted his glasses, muttered distractedly, and tried to walk around him.
"He doesn't understand, does he?"
Lynn's voice made Dr. Erskine's footsteps come to a sudden halt.
He turned his head back.
With eyes bloodshot from anger, he perplexedly scrutinized the young man in reporter's attire before him.
"Do I know you?"
"Lynn Morris, a war correspondent."
Hearing the introduction, Dr. Erskine frowned.
"Is it you? You are the one manipulating that psychopath?"
"No, I am just a guide; I cannot control the thoughts of Soldier Boy."
"You are right, Dr., the Colonel only sees the sharpness of the weapon but fails to see whether the hand holding it is trembling."
The wariness on Dr. Erskine's face eased a little.
The young man's words struck a chord with all his pent-up frustration and worry.
"He only sees a tool that can solve the immediate problem."
The anger in Dr. Erskine's eyes was replaced by a deep sorrow.
He took off his glasses.
He wiped the lenses with a not-so-clean handkerchief.
This action made him look more like a confused scholar.
"You... you know him very well?"
"I know him better than anyone, Dr."
Lynn looked him straight in the eye.
"I understand his strength, and I also understand the emptiness within him."
"So you used him and packaged him as a hero?"
Dr. Erskine's voice carried a tone of judgment.
"I am putting a leash on him, Dr."
Lynn did not shy away.
"An out-of-control beast in the jungle will only bring destruction."
"But if someone can lead it, letting it hunt only in specific hunting grounds, then at least it can still serve a purpose."
Lynn took a step forward and lowered his voice.
"I admit, my methods are risky, but I have no other choice. And you, Dr., you do."
"What do you mean?"
"Your serum, that is the true hope. It is not about creating a stronger soldier, but creating a better role model."
"Someone who can win respect and victory with his character, not his muscles."
Dr. Erskine looked at Lynn in shock.
His lips parted slightly.
This young man...
This reporter, whom he had regarded as a demonic manipulator, could actually articulate his life's pursuit!
"How could you..."
"I am a reporter, Dr. My job is to listen and observe."
Lynn's expression was flawlessly sincere.
"I have heard the prayers of soldiers and seen the tears of civilians. What they need is not a monster that can smash tanks, but a symbol that can let them believe that justice still exists in the midst of despair."
"Soldier Boy cannot become that symbol."
Dr. Erskine sighed.
It was a sense of relief at being understood, as well as helplessness toward reality.
"Phillips and the others won't understand. In their eyes, soldiers are just expendable. They only want a sharper knife; they never care if the handle is stained with blood."
"So, they cannot find that good man."
Lynn picked up where he left off.
"They aren't even willing to look!"
Dr. Erskine's emotions stirred.
"They treat my project as a joke! They poured all their resources into that monster who only knows how to drink and cause trouble, yet they won't even give me a single chance for a real selection!"
"They only look at resumes, at physiques, at whose muscles are bigger, at who has killed more people!"
"They simply don't understand that great power amplifies everything! A bad person will become worse! Only a good person will become better!"
Lynn listened quietly to his venting, and only when Dr. Erskine began to cough from agitation did he interject.
"Perhaps I can help you, Dr."
Dr. Erskine stopped coughing and looked at him with suspicious eyes.
"You? How can you help me?"
"You can't find the right person because you only stay in the barracks; the military is a place that will wear down the kindness of too many people."
Lynn's reasoning was incredibly clear.
"I am different; I am a reporter. I can go to every corner and come into contact with all kinds of people."
"I can help you find that person. Someone who has not been corrupted by war and slaughter, someone who still harbors conscience and courage within. Someone who meets all your criteria."
Dr. Erskine fell silent.
He looked at Lynn, his eyes full of struggle.
Reason told him.
This person before him had an unknown background and was closely related to that dangerous Soldier Boy, so he was absolutely untrustworthy.
But emotionally, Lynn was the first person who truly understood his ideals.
He wanted to grab this straw.
"Why should I trust you?"
Dr. Erskine asked the final question.
"Because we have a common enemy, Dr."
Lynn smiled.
"One is called shortsightedness, and the other is called stupidity."
"And," he paused, continuing, "I also need a true hero to appear. I cannot keep this beast, Soldier Boy, on a leash forever. I need someone who can keep him in check; in order to protect myself, I must also help you."
This reason was more convincing than any noble ideal.
Lynn took a notebook out from his pocket.
He tore off a page and quickly wrote an address on it.
"New York, Brooklyn, recruitment office."
He handed the note to Dr. Erskine.
"Go find a young man named Steve Rogers. He is physically weak, has asthma, and a bunch of other messy ailments, and he gets rejected every time he applies to enlist."
"But, Dr., I saw with my own eyes how he was beaten half to death by a brute two heads taller than him just to stop a thug from bullying the weak, yet he never backed down once."
"Strength can be created, but character cannot. Go see him, Dr., and use your own eyes to judge whether he is the person we are looking for."
Dr. Erskine took the note with the address written on it, the warm sensation of the paper transferring to his fingertips.
Watching Dr. Erskine's back as he hurried away with reignited hope, the sincerity and admiration on Lynn's face vanished without a trace.
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