Chapter 22: Instructor

In the afternoon,

A loud noise woke Jack up. He sat up in bed and looked out the window, where he saw a truck parked on the playground not far away. Soldiers were jumping off the truck one by one, and among the crowd, a short and skinny person caught his eye.

These soldiers were from different allied forces, including elite soldiers who had been on the battlefield and new recruits like Steve Rogers.

Now that the soldiers had arrived, Jack, as an instructor, could also go on duty.

After finishing his morning routine, Jack walked out of his room wearing a short-sleeved shirt. Over at the training grounds, the soldiers had just finished lining up, and Peggy punched a disrespectful soldier in the face.

Colonel Phillips, who had come from a distance, was not surprised by this scene. The military base always had various problems, including gender discrimination, and this was not the first time Peggy had reprimanded someone.

"Agent Carter, I'm glad you're getting along with the new recruits!"

Colonel Phillips walked over, ignoring the soldier who was getting up off the ground with a bloody nose, and instead looked at the short skinny person.

With a slightly melancholic expression, Phillip began his motivational speech.

"General Patton once said, "Wars are fought with weapons, but they are won by men." We are going to win this war because we have the best men.

"The Strategic Science Corps has gathered the elite soldiers from various allied armies. Your mission is to demonstrate that you are the best soldier within a week, and then we will choose one man to be the first new breed of a super soldier, and they will personally escort Adolf Hitler to the gates of hell!"

"I'm done speaking. Let's begin now."

Colonel Phillip didn't like to waste words, so he left after his brief speech.

Next up were Jack and Peggy.

"Ladies, let's introduce ourselves. I am Agent Peggy Carter, your instructor, and this is Lieutenant Jack Wayne. We will be conducting a week-long special training for you, and by the end of the week, we will decide who is the best candidate for the super soldier program!"

Perhaps it was Peggy's charm or words that excited and eager these soldiers prove themselves as the super soldier by doing hundreds of push-ups immediately.

On the sidelines, Jack shakes his head and sighs. These soldiers are all talk and no action. From the beginning, they never had a chance to become super soldiers. In other words, they're just there to be Steve's associates.

"Captain Wayne, it's your turn!"Peggy hands over the notebook to him, probably because she sees Jack just standing there doing nothing.

After all, he is the real instructor.

"Okay."

He already had the training plan in mind, and too much complexity wouldn't be good, so be it.

Jack returned the notebook to Peggy and then turned to the orderly soldiers, saying, "Let's keep it simple. I'll do something, and you do the same. If I don't stop, you can't stop, either. It's best to keep up, but it's okay if you can't. After all, there's only a week."

Not only were the soldiers in training confused, but even Peggy was a bit puzzled. What was he trying to do? Why wasn't he following the script?

"Okay, if you all understand, let's go. Next, I'll take you around the area and show you around the camp!"

After finishing his sentence, Jack didn't wait for anyone's reaction and started jogging alone. It was a slow jog, not very fast, similar to a marathon pace.

"Don't just stand there, girls. Hurry up and catch up!" Peggy seemed to know Jack's purpose in doing this and urged the soldiers.

The soldiers, who had just assembled less than twenty minutes ago, quickly formed a column and ran behind Jack. The short skinny Steve was naturally relegated to the back. When he passed by Peggy, he glanced at her discreetly.

Peggy noticed Steve's gaze and felt curious. She was curious about how he came here with his skinny body.

Shaking her head and watching the column of soldiers disappear into the distance, Peggy sat in the nearby jeep and ordered the driver to follow, beginning her job of recording the soldiers' performances during training.

Four hours later!

Peggy, who was on the jeep, had become somewhat stunned. She had thrown her record book aside and leaned against the car door, propping her chin up with one hand, watching Jack's performance.

For four hours, he ran countless laps around the training base. At first, others could keep up with him, but the long exercise duration clearly wasn't something ordinary people could handle.

As a result, everyone else had collapsed and refused to get up, leaving him the only one still running.

Peggy instinctively turned her head and saw a small figure limping, swaying as if he would fall down at any moment. But despite this, he didn't stop. Instead, he pushed himself to keep up with Jack's pace despite being far behind.

People taller and stronger than him had given up, but this little guy still lasted. Even though he had fallen down many times, he would always get back up and keep running.

Peggy felt a sense of admiration as she watched Steve running tirelessly around the training base for hours. Even though others had given up and fallen, Steve kept running.

Peggy realized that she herself could not achieve such physical endurance.

Meanwhile, Colonel Philip watched Steve through his binoculars from a nearby hill and sighed, saying he understood why Steve had been chosen for his training camp.

Dr. Erskine stood beside him, looking proud and asking Philip what he thought now. Philip conceded that Steve possessed unique qualities that set him apart from others.

As they continued to observe Steve, Philip reluctantly agreed that Steve was the best candidate, even though he still needed to observe him further.

Dr. Erskine, pleased with the decision, reminded Philip that he had already chosen Steve and there was no need to keep choosing himself.

Philip could only sigh at Erskine's persistence.