Washington.
A war without gunpowder was erupting in the conference room.
"A journalist?"
A slick-haired man in an expensive suit examined Lynn with a look that bordered on insulting.
Senator Brandt.
He carried the oppressive aura of someone long accustomed to high position, making all the Military bigwigs present feel disgusted.
"I've read the reports, Mr. Morris. Before you took over, this project was stagnant."
"And since you took over, it has become a... circus."
He picked up a financial statement, pinching it between two fingers with disgust.
"Staggering war bond sales, and equally staggering... operating expenses."
"I have no intention of questioning your patriotism, but the Super Soldier program is the nation's top secret, a sharp blade to turn the tide of the war!"
"Yet now it has become an entertainment project, fully managed by a journalist of unknown origin?"
Colonel Davis was about to slam the table and stand up, but was stopped by a look from a general beside him.
Senator Brandt's influence on Capitol Hill was enough to have their Military budget slashed by a quarter.
"Senator, Lynn Morris was the person Dr. Erskine trusted most before his death, and he is also the discoverer of Captain America and..."
"Enough, Colonel."
Brandt interrupted him impatiently, his eyes filled with arrogance.
"I respect the sacrifices of soldiers, but that doesn't mean you can act recklessly."
"Given the specific nature and importance of this project, I propose that all regulatory authority over the Captain America project be transferred to a special congressional committee."
He had finally revealed his true intentions.
He was determined to have this piece of fat that could lay golden eggs and bring endless political prestige.
Lynn watched the senator's performance quietly.
He knew this was not an assassin from HYDRA, nor was he an enemy from the battlefield.
This was a brand new species.
An apex predator that used power and rules as weapons.
Against such people, fists were the most useless things.
The meeting ended on a sour note.
As soon as Colonel Davis returned to his office, he angrily swept all the files on his desk onto the floor.
"Bastards! Politicians! Maggots!"
He roared.
"His people are on the Appropriations Committee! If we dare to say no, the supplies for the front lines will be cut off next month! They'll be withheld!"
He panted heavily, looking at Lynn powerlessly.
"Kid, this time... I'm truly out of options."
There wasn't a hint of tension on Lynn's face.
He even helped Colonel Davis pick up the files scattered on the floor one by one.
"Colonel, there are two battlefields in this war."
He organized the files and placed them gently on the desk.
"The one on the front lines belongs to you. This one in the rear belongs to me."
After saying this, he turned and left the office, leaving a stunned Colonel Davis behind.
Night.
Lynn did not contact any connections in the Military or government.
He simply dialed the number of an ace reporter at The Stars and Stripes whom he had personally groomed.
On the phone, Lynn's tone was full of worry and sadness.
"Yes, I'm very worried about Steve... He is a good man, a soldier. In his World, there is only black and white, right and wrong..."
"I'm just... I'm just afraid that some people will exploit his purity to turn him into a tool on the political stage, and that will destroy him. He will become a puppet, reciting scripts he doesn't even believe in himself."
"At the very last moment of his life, Dr. Erskine looked in Steve's direction and said... he hoped Steve would always be a good man."
"I'm not asking you to do anything, Tom. I just... as a friend, I wanted to talk to someone about what's on my mind. I'm afraid the doctor's dying wish will end up as a joke."
He didn't utter a single accusation, didn't utter a single word of incitement.
He was simply recounting a "friend's" worries to another "friend."
And the tragic, dying wish of a departed "mentor."
He perfectly bound himself, Captain America, and Dr. Erskine together.
Shaping them into an unbreakable, tragic heroic trio.
And Senator Brandt naturally became the villain trying to destroy it all.
The next day.
An in-depth report titled "Who Wants to Put Political Shackles on Our Captain?" appeared on the front page of The Stars and Stripes.
The writing style of the article was filled with deep emotion.
It did not directly attack Senator Brandt.
Instead, it portrayed him as a Washington bureaucrat detached from the people and obsessed only with political maneuvering.
"...He came from the narrow alleys of Brooklyn, carrying righteous integrity and the determination to sacrifice his life for the country. Dr. Erskine ignited him with the fire of life, Mr. Lynn Morris guided him like an older brother, and countless soldiers paved the way for him with their blood on the front lines..."
"...He should have been a banner flying over the battlefield, a hero belonging to all the people of the United States. But now, someone wants to take the light away from him and turn him into a shiny political medal in their private office."
"...We cannot help but ask, when Dr. Erskine's spirit in heaven sees this, what will he think?"
"When our Captain is forced to recite scripts at hypocritical political shows, how much must his heart be suffering?"
This article was like a bombshell, detonating in the hearts of the public.
Senator Brandt initially scoffed at this.
The next day.
A newspaper he controlled published a counter-attack article, accusing The Stars and Stripes of inciting populism and implying that "a certain Mr. Morris" was the true mastermind behind the scenes.
Exploiting the Captain for personal gain.
However, this rational accusatory article only added fuel to the fire.
Lynn had long anticipated this step.
The Stars and Stripes published a second report with the headline: "Look, He's Panicking! Can Cold Accusations Tarnish the Burning Heart of a Hero?"
The report portrayed Brandt's counter-attack as the contempt and suppression of the public's passion by a high-and-mighty bureaucrat.
"They don't understand, nor do they care about the tears of a mother sending off her son; they only care about power and money."
"They accuse the hero's Guardian simply because the hero's light did not illuminate their own political careers!"
For a full week, Captain America did not hold any tours.
This caused people who had been waiting for a long time to complain endlessly.
During this week, The Stars and Stripes and other reports incited by Lynn continued to ferment.
Public opinion completely spiraled out of control.
A father working in a Detroit arsenal slammed his fist onto the dining table in anger while reading the report.
"Those damn Washington masters! Besides stealing, what else can they do!"
A mother who had just sent her son to the battlefield read the article with tears streaming down her face.
"Don't touch our children! Don't touch our Captain!"
The public's sympathy and long-suppressed patriotism were completely ignited.
They spontaneously took to the streets, holding various slogans in their hands.
"Don't let politicians tarnish our hero!"
"Brandt, go back to your office!"
"Captain America belongs to the American people!"
The protest march spread from one block to another, finally converging into a wave that swept across the country.
Senator Brandt went from being a powerful figure with connections everywhere to a "national traitor" and "opportunist" that everyone wanted to beat up.
He discovered with horror that the political allies who used to call him brother on a daily basis had suddenly drawn a line between themselves and him.
His office phone was ringing off the hook, filled with telegrams and letters demanding his resignation and apology.
He couldn't understand: he had clearly played by the rules, so why did he lose so miserably?
Why would the public rather believe the story of a journalist than the "facts" of a senator like him?
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