The Marvel Universe, May 2, 2012.
A garden villa located in Midtown Manhattan.
The decoration of the living room on the first floor was minimalist yet luxurious.
The carefully laid marble floor, its natural gray veins resembling mountain ranges, complemented the Swarovski crystal chandelier overhead, reflecting a dreamlike brilliance.
However, Hermione couldn't care less about the villa's luxurious environment; her cheeks were flushed red with anger as she sat down in a huff on the leather sofa.
"Harvey, are you satisfied now?"
"Telling me to calm down? Pfft—"
"You just want to fuck me... don't think I don't know what you're scheming!"
Harvey froze for a moment, putting on an innocent look as he said, "How could you see me that way?"
Even though he had attended Hermione's coming-of-age banquet a few days ago, Harvey didn't want to deflower this tender young virgin so early.
At this moment, Hermione crossed her arms and leaned back against the sofa, deliberately turning her head away, unwilling to look at the annoying playboy in front of her.
"At the banquet the other day, I clearly didn't even invite you, yet you still had the nerve to show up."
"And then you... you..."
At this point, Hermione's chest heaved violently, seemingly too furious to continue speaking.
It was just casually chatting with Luna for a few sentences at the banquet, and then drinking a few glasses of wine.
Was there really a need to get this insanely jealous over nothing?
Harvey found it completely incomprehensible.
"Alright, Miss Know-It-All, since you've come to this world, stop thinking about Voldemort's messy affairs and just rest peacefully for a few days."
Hermione wore an icy expression, having absolutely no desire to pay attention to a certain someone.
"I have to go out for a bit. Stay here nicely and don't run around; wait for me to come back tonight and I'll take you out for some great food."
After instructing her like coaxing a child, Harvey shook his head with a helpless smile, turned around, and walked into the shimmering golden portal.
Watching from the corner of her eye as the portal vanished.
Hermione let out a faint, quiet sigh.
"You annoying jerk, why do you have to be so outstanding?"
"What do I actually have to do to catch up to your footsteps..."
Meanwhile.
Harvey traveled through the portal and arrived in Brooklyn, New York, in front of a recently renovated apartment building.
"This should be the place, Captain America's former residence."
He cast a Confundus Charm on himself so that no one else would notice his presence, and Harvey walked into the apartment building.
He took the elevator to the 16th floor.
Standing in front of the door of a seemingly ordinary room, Harvey was just about to knock when he vaguely heard the sound of people talking inside.
"Interesting, could there happen to be another guest visiting the old popsicle right now?"
Harvey thought for a moment, and without even using his wand, he silently cast at the door lock, "Alohomora!"
With a "click," the door opened.
Harvey walked through the door openly and boldly.
This entire floor of the apartment seemed to have been converted into a training facility.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
The heavy sound of fists hitting a punching bag echoed through the spacious training room.
A heavily muscled man wearing a white tank top, sporting an eight-pack of abs, was relentlessly pummeling the punching bag.
His intense dedication made it seem as if the punching bag was his mortal enemy.
"Trouble sleeping?"
A one-eyed black guy wearing an eyepatch stood with his hands behind his back, watching Captain America struggle against the punching bag with an expressionless face.
Hearing the voice, Steve paused his movements and glanced at the black guy who had spoken.
"I slept for 70 years, sir. I think I've had my fill."
This black guy was exactly the Motherfucker himself, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury.
He could see that Captain America's mental state seemed to have issues, constantly reminiscing about the past.
"You should go out for a walk and see this colorful world."
Steve shot a glance at Nick Fury, and remembering that this black guy was his commanding officer, he lost all interest in continuing to punch the bag.
While unwrapping the white tape wrapped around his fists, he sighed with emotion:
"When I went to sleep, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."
Captain America had actually observed modern-day America: racial discrimination, school violence, smash-and-grab looting, and frequent mass shootings.
This post-victory America made him feel like a stranger, which was why he felt such lament.
Nick Fury didn't want to talk too much about this, cutting straight to the point: "We've made some mistakes along the way. Some very recently."
Steve looked up at the file Nick Fury was holding in his hand.
"Are you here with a mission, sir?"
"I am."
"Trying to get me back in the world?"
"Trying to save it."
Nick Fury handed the file over.
Steve took the file and opened it, immediately seeing the familiar image of the Tesseract.
"Hydra's secret weapon?"
Nick Fury explained, "Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you."
"Howard had the same thought as me, believing the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy."
"And that's something the world sorely needs."
Steve quickly scanned the file; it was all research data regarding the properties of the Tesseract written by S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists.
He actually couldn't understand the technical jargon on it.
But he still asked with a calm face, "Who took it from you?"
Nick Fury answered, "His name is Loki. He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in."
"After all, the world has gotten even stranger than you already know."
Steve, having seen plenty of America's bizarre news, spoke in a very calm tone: "At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me."
"Ten bucks says you're wrong," Nick Fury bet jokingly.
Steve disdained to argue, silently grabbing his duffel bag and hoisting a punching bag over his shoulder, preparing to leave.
Watching his dashing figure walking away, Nick Fury added one more sentence.
"There's an assignment packet already waiting at your apartment. Also, is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract?"
Carrying the sandbag, Steve continued walking forward without looking back.
"You should have left it in the ocean!"
Harvey, who had watched this classic conversation unfold in its entirety, suddenly felt a wave of emotion.
"Does this count as witnessing history?"
Afterward, acting as an invisible man, he tailed Captain America back to his room on the 19th floor of the apartment.
When Steve placed the punching bag in the corner by the door, covered in sweat and getting ready to hit the showers.
Harvey suddenly lifted the Confundus Charm and revealed himself right in front of Captain America.
In a spot that should have been completely empty, a boy who still hadn't lost his youthful features suddenly popped out, making Steve rub his eyes, thinking he was seeing things.
"Kid, where did you come from?"
Harvey had originally planned to just use Obliviate, take a blood sample, and leave.
But at this moment, he changed his mind.
A living, breathing super soldier was placed right in front of him.
As the saying goes, if heaven offers a gift and you do not take it, you will suffer the consequences.
After all, researching the Super Soldier Serum through blood samples was something even the myriad of super-genius scientists in the Marvel Universe couldn't achieve.
Harvey didn't have 100% confidence he could pull it off either.
Therefore, if he took a fresh, living test subject back with him, it would definitely drastically increase his success rate in developing the Super Soldier Serum.