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When Luke and Bucky walked towards the cinema on the opposite side of the street, Steve Rogers, the future Captain America, was being beaten in a back alley.
*Bang*
A punch hit Steve in the stomach, causing him to wince as his face scrunched up because of the pain. Unable to maintain his balance, Rogers was knocked to the ground.
His thin body could give no defense against the street gangster.
The street gangsters caused a lot of trouble and harassed everyone; however, none of the bystanders dared to stand up against these people in fear of getting into unnecessary trouble.
Only a "fool" like Steve will risk being severely beaten and jump out to stop these gangsters from causing trouble.
After getting punched, Steve, who had now fallen in a corner, picked up the lid of the trash can next to him in a hurry and used it as a shield to block the next punch.
In his eyes, there was not even the slightest tinge of fear, but there was a look of resolution as he stood up.
Like a brave soldier.
However, it's a pity that his courage couldn't cover the massive gap in size and strength. The gangster waved his fist and knocked Rogers back on the ground again.
But it didn't take long for the little man to struggle and stand up as if he wasn't feeling any pain.
As he took up the posture of a boxer, he gasped, "I can do this all day!"
His punches were slow, and his strength was not enough, so he was quickly blocked by the gangster.
"Looks like you haven't learned your lesson!"
The gangster sneered and clenching his fists; he targeted Rogers' nose this time.
'I am going to teach you not to be so nosy.'
However,
*Bang*
A strong force came from behind.
The gangster let out a scream as he lost his balance and staggered towards the wall.
"Who the fuck are you? Don't you fucking dare touch my friend here!"A cold voice rang from behind.
The gangster turned his head quickly and found two young men.
One was wearing a nicely-ironed brown military uniform, while the other had a leather jacket.
The latter is staring at him with sharp eyes.
"Luke! This kid was being nosy! I didn't know he was your friend..."
*Bang*
Without saying a word, Luke stepped forward and punched the gangster's nose.
The guy leaned to the side and fell heavily on the hard road.
Blood began to flow out from his nose, unceasingly.
However, Luke didn't stop there. He lifted his legs, stepping on the gangster's face with his dark black boots, almost crushing his teeth.
"Ugh... Luke!"
The mud and dirt on the shoes poured into the gangster's mouth.
With the blood spilling from the nose, it gave out a strange smell.
After a while, Luke let go of him and said coldly, "Get out of here. Next time I see you bullying my friend, I might come over 'to paint the house'."
The gangster with blood all over his face, ran out of the alley in embarrassment, without even uttering a single word.
He was afraid of Luke because of Luke's Uncle.
Moreover, Luke worked with the Irish gang, so he couldn't afford to offend Luke.
"That's why I have asked Luke to stay in Brooklyn to take care of you." Bucky, in his military uniform, stretched out his hand to lift Rogers; with a helpless expression on his face, he continued, "Sometimes, I think you just like to get beaten up, otherwise why do you always like to provoke these assholes that you can't beat."
Rogers patted the dust on his clothes and took a breath from his inhaler to calm himself down.
The pain on his face was finally transmitted back to the brain, and now he felt a burning sensation.
Earlier, he relied on the adrenaline rush of his courage, and didn't feel the physical pain.
Now… Rogers felt like he needed to go and find a doctor as soon as possible.
"You went to the conscription station again?"
Just then, Luke picked up the enlistment form on the ground, which had Steve Rogers' identity information written on it.
"It's illegal to fake a draft form, Steve."
Luke rubbed his palms. Fortunately, he had been exercising all year round and was quite physically strong, so it was no big deal for him to beat up a street gangster.
He, Rogers, and Bucky grew up in Brooklyn.
But compared to him, the two of them had much similar experience as kids.
Firstly, both of their parents died in the war.
Steve's father, Joseph Rogers, served in the 107th Infantry Division and was killed by a German grenade in an ambush.
His mother was a nurse in the tuberculosis ward. Unfortunately, she was also infected and could not survive.
As for Bucky's background experience, it was also similar.
His father also served in the 107th Infantry Division but died in an accident in a military exercise and was raised by his mother.
Therefore, both of the kids, who have known each other since childhood, became inseparable brothers.
"I just want to do something..." Rogers lowered his head slightly, feeling depressed as he coughed a little from the still lasting pain of the beating he had just recieved.
Steve was not only thin and weak but also had mild asthma.
Then there were his occasional chest and body pains.
With such a physique, sending him to the war was no different than killing him.
Therefore, every time Rogers went to the recruitment station, he would be rejected.
Rogers looked up at his friend and hesitantly said, "You didn't need to be so... angry, Luke."
Luke frowned slightly, then giving a friendly smile, he said, "I have to do that. Everyone will begin to push you around. This is Brooklyn, after all."
"Luke is right; if it weren't for his uncle and his own good connections in the Irish gang, we don't know how much trouble we would have faced every day." Bucky nodded in agreement.
The punks always bullied him and Rogers in the past.
This went on for days, being blocked in a corner and non-stop fighting on the streets. Until one day, they met Luke and soon became good friends.
Keeping each other's backs, their friendship grew deeper, And in Bucky's eyes, Luke was very quick-witted.
He came up with an idea to make money, taking advantage of the strict discipline of military bases and the fact that soldiers weren't allowed to go out of the base.
These three then sneaked into the barracks to sell small things like alcohol and tobacco.
Because their parents were old comrades, many people turned a blind eye to their sneaky actions and chose to leave them be.
They made quite a significant amount of money by relying on this business.
Later, this attracted the attention of the bootlegging gangs in Brooklyn.
(Editor note: Bootleggers mostly include smugglers.)
Due to this, Luke had to make good relationships with the Irish gangs and even took the initiative to part away with a big chunk of his sneaky business to escape from the trouble caused by the bootleggers.
As they talked about how Luke lost his fight earlier with Bucky, he joked, "That's good, you stay here and continue running this business. When I come back, maybe both of you will already be rich! Just like Howard Stark!"
No one knows how long the war will last.
For civilians, they hoped that the guns would stop firing as soon as possible and life would return to normal.
But for others, this was an excellent opportunity to make a fortune.
Industrialists will never let go of any opportunity to accumulate wealth.
Many people knew that before the United States participated in this world war, it sold a large number of weapons and equipment to the Axis and Allies at the same time, thereby making a fortune.
Among them was Stark Industries, which had gained a lot of fame and money in recent years.
It continues its rapid growth, jumping up and standing side by side with those old military-industrial groups, mainly because Howard Stark seized the opportunity.
He used his own witty mind and was also the central figure in many new inventions, which was appreciated a lot by the Ministry of National Defense.
Then he used the colossal wealth to make connections with the upper class, thus laying a broad and sound foundation for the future.
In just a few decades, he had become a huge military tycoon.
Apart from the rapidly growing Stark Industries, oil companies also seized this opportunity.
They broke through the British blockade through neutral countries like Switzerland and shipped barrels of oil to Germany, and made huge profits from this deal.
As a multinational-corporation and industrial giant, Ford was even more exaggerated.
He even helped the Germans produce trucks and made some hidden political investments.
Therefore, Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Company, was awarded the Grand Cross, the highest medal awarded to foreigners by the Germans.
Anyone can see from this that the industrialists were not taking sides in this war.
They only had one purpose, and that was to make more money.
Even now that the United States had entered the war and joined the Allied powers, with the political scene getting more and more serious, it still didn't stop people from going after wealth.
"Howard Stark? I don't have that kind of mind!" Luke smiled slightly, and he turned his head and said to Rogers: "Steve if you really want to join the army, there are many other drafting stations. I can accompany you to some; let's try our luck there."
"Really?" There was a surprised smile on Rogers's face.
Bucky had always opposed him from joining the army, and there have been several arguments between the two.
However, Luke rarely expressed his stance, but today he suddenly agreed to accompany him to the drafting stations. This made Rogers very happy.
Standing next to them, Bucky was about to say something, but when he saw Luke throw a look that said, 'I know what I am doing', he chose to remain silent.
He knew that Luke, a friend who was the quietest among their group of three, would never do anything without reason.
"Alright then, tonight is my last night in New York! Are you guys planning to waste time in this alley?" Bucky changed the topic.
He was going to be on the battlefield tomorrow, rushing to a foreign country.
However, tonight, he would enjoy his time with hot ladies and get drunk with his best friends. Possibly for the last time.
…
By the time Luke and Bucky came out of Roger's house, it was already dusk with the sun setting on the horizon.
The afterglow of the setting sun illuminated New York, coating the surrounding skyscrapers with a layer of golden glow.
"In the future, you may have to look after yourself. Luke and I can't always be there every time." Bucky patted Rogers' shoulders, while the little man felt awkward and remained silent.
The scars on his face were not severe, and after some cleaning, only faint bruises remained.
The three of them put on some good clothes and headed to the Stark Industries' World Expo.
On the way, Rogers frowned while saying, "I also want to join the 107th Infantry Division like you. You know my father was also once part of it." He was still unwilling to stay behind.
Due to the war propaganda, many youngsters were eager to join the army at this time. They wanted to step onto the battlefield and win some honor medals.
Rogers and Bucky are among them.
Compared to Bucky, who had more than average physique, Rogers is thin, weighed less than a hundred pounds, and had a mild asthma case.
So even if he were allowed to join the army, he would have to run for several kilometers, ending up exhausted and panting for breath. This can even lead to death due to his weak body.
His physique prevented him from joining the army even if Rogers changed his address and falsified his identity every time he went to the conscription station to look for chances to join the military.
His medical evaluation always turned out to be 4F - the worst score.
Luke, who was walking behind, with his hands in his pockets, smiled as he said, "There will always be more opportunities."
He was thinking about whether to find a way to get the super soldier serum or not.
His regular workout and exercise over the years had promoted the progress bar to 99% and was only one step away from being unlocked.
Intuition told Luke that he needed a solid external boost to get the progress bar to 100%
At present, the easiest and most-likely-to-work thing for him was the super soldier serum.
As a transmigrator who roughly understood the direction of the plot, Luke knew that tonight was going to be a turning point in the life of Steve Rogers.
This little man was going to encounter Dr. Abraham Erskine, a German scientist who had sought refuge in the Allies and was the super soldier serum's inventor.
He was moved by Steve Roger's heartfelt words and strong will and gave him the opportunity to join the army.
Later at the military base, Rogers was selected to be the receiver of the super soldier serum.
'Should I take it or not?' Luke, who was walking behind, was still undecided about this.
If he could grow stronger silently, he would not have such thoughts, and in no way was he going to join the army.
After all, the battlefield was full of bullets and constant danger.
Even Captain America and the Winter Soldier were not entirely safe.
However, the delay in receiving his plot armor gave Luke a headache.
There was really no other option; he had to take this gamble.
As Luke was distracted, he unknowingly followed Rogers and Bucky to the bar on the corner.
Many people were present at the bar, ordering beers and snacks, chatting non-stop, waiting for the start of the World Expo by the Stark Industries.
Rogers still looked a little sullen and hadn't yet dispelled the idea of joining the army.
Bucky didn't notice it. He was already enthusiastic about defeating the Germans and bringing victory for the Allies.
"Let's go. I know some hot chicks!"
After looking at the time, Bucky and Rogers left the bar.
The streets outside were pitch black, and only the World Expo venue was brightly lit, giving it a great look.
At this time, World War II was in full swing,
Like European countries, the United States was also on the cusp. To save energy, the military had implemented intense electricity control policies.
Like neon lights and colorful billboards, they were restricted at night.
Every night, the city will occasionally cut off electricity to prioritize and ensure the power supply to the military bases and government agencies.
Even New York is no exception.
However, tonight because of the Stark Industries' World Expo, the military significantly relaxed the restrictions. Otherwise, New Yorkers wouldn't see such a brightly lit scene.
"It's quite lively." Bucky smiled as they entered the venue.
…