The moment the soldiers outside saw Nolan lying inside the chamber, several of them exchanged knowing glances. They'd been through this routine plenty of times, some even involved in the actual experiments. They all knew what was coming.
"This guy's got a death wish. Would've been better if we just shot him ourselves."
"Failed serum? Never tried it myself, but I've seen it. One guy begged me to finish him off."
"He's nuts. Completely gone."
....
Inside the command office...
The HYDRA soldier watched Nolan enter the machine and, remembering Baron Strucker's words began to relax. His earlier unease vanished.
This guy was as good as dead.
As he watched Nolan inject the serum, he grabbed the phone to report in.
Inside the chamber, tubes extended across Nolan's body. As the sapphire-blue liquid began to flow into his muscles, pain exploded through him like a lightning bolt.
"AAAGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
He had expected pain but nothing like this.
Agony surged through every nerve, threatening to tear his very soul apart. Nolan almost passed out, but he knew that if he lost consciousness now, he might never wake up again.
Without a conscious will to command the transformation, the body would collapse.
That's why Steve Rogers was chosen for the original serum trial, not because of his strength but because of his willpower.
Though weak physically, his mental fortitude made him the perfect candidate.
Nolan's sweat poured like rain. His body trembled violently as he fought to hold himself together. His eyes bulged from the pressure.
"Hold on…!"
He roared internally.
If he could survive this, then with his talents, he'd be unstoppable in this universe. He might even touch the limits of what this world had to offer.
There was no way he was dying here right after transmigrating.
Especially not like this a failure even after injecting a perfect serum?
He had come too far for that. His powers were extraordinary. Dying now would be the ultimate waste.
His muscles began to swell uncontrollably. The research facility's power grid is strained under the sudden demand.
When Steve Rogers became Captain America, half a city's energy was needed to complete the transformation.
Nolan's Spirit of Evolution helped him rapidly absorb the serum but it couldn't generate the power needed.
The energy flooding into him felt like molten lava, burning through his muscles from the inside out.
It was even worse than the pain of the injection.
His fists clenched tight so tight that his fingernails pierced his palms. Blood trickled out, but he barely noticed. The rest of his body was screaming in pain far louder.
His frame swelled grotesquely, resembling some fleshy monster.
The cleanup team watching outside the chamber froze in discomfort.
"Looks like a failed injection to me. Poor bastard. I'd rather take a bullet to the head than go out like that."
The squad leader snorted.
"Enough. Let's finish him off, he already wasted too much time"
The reinforced bulletproof glass was covered in cracks now.
Even though they were sure he was dead, they wanted to make absolutely certain.
Gunfire raged against the glass until it finally shattered with a sharp crack.
The cleanup team smiled in satisfaction.
"Finally. I should install this glass at home damn near indestructible."
"Go in there and put a few rounds in him. Let's get this over with."
"Heh, leave it to me. I'll make it quick."
They charged in.
.
-
.
Back in the command room, the soldier picked up the phone. "Sir, he just injected himself with a failed serum. He's in so much pain he's probably praying for death. Shouldn't be long now—huh?"
The soldier suddenly stopped talking. There was a sharp intake of breath.
"What happened?" Strucker's tone sharpened.
"He… he didn't die."
The soldier's voice was filled with disbelief.
Inside the chamber, Nolan had done everything in his power to stay conscious through the waves of agony.
And finally, the Spirit of Evolution activated.
Warm energy surged through him, feeding off the power from the machine and reinforcing his body.
His once frail frame began to bulk up, muscles surging with explosive strength.
Steam hissed out of the open chamber as Nolan clenched his fists, feeling the power in his palms.
"So this… is the Spirit of Evolution? I absorbed the serum this fast?"
Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass echoed in the chamber.
Nolan's eyes narrowed coldly.
"Time for me to take control."
He grabbed a pair of surgical scissors once used to dissect failed test subjects.
Now, they had a new purpose.
With his newfound strength, even ordinary scissors became deadly weapons.
Nolan stepped out of the machine, still completely unclothed. He yanked a slab of bulletproof glass from the machine and, moving like a bolt of lightning, rolled behind a lab bench.
The cleanup team burst in, immediately alarmed by the billowing steam.
"Shoot! SHOOT!"
But Nolan was already gone vanished behind the counter.
The soldiers glanced around in shock.
"Holy crap. He's not dead!"
"No way. That's impossible!"
"He moved that fast did he actually succeed?!"
The squad leader's face twisted in fear. He grabbed his radio and shouted:
"Captain! I think he succeeded!"
Out of all their test subjects, Nolan was the only one who survived the injection.
Everyone else had turned to sludge.
"I saw it too…" came the terrified voice over the radio.
On the other end of the phone, Strucker demanded:
"What happened?!"
"He's alive, sir!"
The squad captain's voice trembled. He knew exactly how powerful a Super Soldier could be.
If the lab had just birthed another one… they were in serious trouble.
But Strucker sounded thrilled.
"He really did it!"
A regular researcher had actually succeeded in perfecting the Super Soldier Serum.
"Bring him back alive! I want full testing done to find out exactly what we're dealing with!"
---
100 Power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter!