Chapter 147: Bask in the Holy Light!

Instead of looking down, Mei Jilou cast his gaze toward Fred, the federal government representative sitting in the front row.

The bespectacled young man suddenly flinched as if pricked by a needle, instinctively turning his head back toward the direction that had filled him with unease.

Mei Mumumu did not avoid his gaze, offering Fred a cryptic and unfathomable smile instead.

This only deepened Fred's inner anxiety. On the surface, however, he still managed a polite smile back at Mei Mumumu.

Down below, the test subject, Steve Rogers, was already about to receive his injections.

The first needle went in.

"Doesn't feel too bad," Steve said.

"Well, that was just penicillin, to prevent infection and other complications from bacterial contamination," the doctor said, looking slightly taken aback.

At that moment, the syringes secured to the experimental rig began to move. There were six in total, arranged in two rows of three, every single one as thick as two fingers.

As the apparatus activated, the liquid from the six syringes was channeled through plastic tubing into more than fifty individual needles. These needles covered every corner of his body, plunging into Steve all at once.

"Ugh!" Steve groaned softly.

In that instant, he felt as though he had been pierced by the Iron Maiden, that medieval humanoid instrument of torture. Packed with interior spikes, such a device was designed to inflict the absolute maximum agony upon its victim.

The ice-cold medication was injected straight into his muscle tissue, triggering an uncomfortable reaction.

First came a sharp sting, followed by a tingling numbness, and finally, a blazing, burning sensation.

The experimental chamber began to close, forming something resembling a humanoid coffin. Apart from a circular glass window positioned over his face, Steve was completely sealed off from the outside world.

As the metallic, mummy-coffin-like apparatus slowly tilted upright, Steve looked through the glass window at the people in the observation room. He found that all his attention was not focused on the beautiful Miss Carter, but rather on the man who had provided him with enlightenment and the opportunity of a lifetime—Mr. Mei.

Unlike the Steve Rogers in the usual timeline, Mei had made contact with Steve well before Dr. Abraham Erskine ever did.

In Steve's eyes, the man who had solely sponsored and driven the entire project was Mei Mumumu! Even Dr. Abraham had been tracked down and brought in by this omnipotent, mysterious figure. Therefore, the person who had truly given him the chance to prove himself was Mei Mumumu, and no one else.

Towards Mei Mumumu, Steve held a level of trust that surpassed his own imagination.

Clearly separated by two layers of thick glass and the glare of reflections, Steve could nonetheless read Mei Mumumu's lip movements with absolute clarity. The man was clearly saying—Have faith in the Holy Light! You shall attain salvation, and... rebirth!

"Understood, I will!"

Intramuscular injections were merely the prelude; no American soldier would fall at this step. The true test lay in the subsequent saturation exposure to Vita-Rays. According to tests, this was a hundred times more terrifying than Professor Yang's electric shock therapy.

"Five, four, three, two, one!" As the doctor called out the final count, Howard Stark, the man responsible for the mechanical engineering apparatus, personally pushed the power switch.

With everything ready, Howard turned a dial on the control console. Within the closed, coffin-like chamber, the bulbs designed to emit Vita-Rays began to glow brightly.

Steve, who had already closed his eyes out of tension, instantly found his whole body tightening involuntarily. His ordinary young face scrunched up into a knot, and crow's feet-like wrinkles, which hadn't been there before, appeared at the corners of his eyes.

Inside the metal coffin, the glass window—the only viewport through which the subject's condition could be observed—was now entirely filled with a blinding purple light.

"Dosage at ten percent!" the technician announced the instrument readings in as calm a tone as possible.

"Twenty percent!"

As the irradiation dosage increased, the light bleeding through grew even more dazzling, reaching a point where it could no longer be looked at directly.

The high-ranking officials in the observation room grew somewhat tense as well.

Peggy, deeply concerned for Steve, saw her full chest rising and falling violently.

"Thirty percent!"

By this point, Dr. Abraham, standing beside the experimental rig, could clearly hear Steve's muffled groans echoing from inside the metal casing.

The subject's groans of pain were transmitted into the observation room via the intercom, causing a mild commotion among the officials.

Colonel Phillips had to explain to the congressmen: "According to a female soldier who had experienced childbirth, thirty percent is already roughly equivalent to the pain of giving birth."

"Can... can this young man named Rogers hold out?"

The colonel smiled helplessly. "God knows."

Everyone knew Steve was pushing his limits.

They were all sweating for him.

"Dosage at fifty percent!" This time, it wasn't the technician, but Howard himself who shouted it out.

The technician beside him added, "Subject's heart rate is rising rapidly; vital signs are generally stable."

This already surpassed the records of all previous test subjects.

When the dosage was raised to sixty percent, Steve inside finally could not help but let out a shrieking scream.

"Aaaaaaaaaagh!"

That heart-rending, soul-shattering scream moved everyone present!

Every muscle in Peggy's face tightened. Her hips lifted off her seat into a semi-crouched position; she instinctively wanted to stand up, yet feared blocking the officials standing behind her. Unbeknownst to her, her heart had become completely intertwined with Steve's safety.

Steve inside was in agony—excruciating agony.

He had thought the lamps would at most bring him an oven-like heat.

Events proved him wrong. Under the massive dose of radiation that triggered the Vita-Rays, the serum injected into his body began a violently intense reaction with his muscles and bones.

It felt as though—

Every single bone in his body was being shattered by a heavy sledgehammer, then thoroughly ground into ashes by a stone mill.

Every single muscle was being torn apart, ripped to shreds, and minced into paste by thousands of tiny claws.

Every inch of his skin was being forcibly torn open by industrial machinery, every pore stretched wide enough to fit a football.

That pain completely surpassed his imagination, exceeding the absolute limit of what he could endure.

He felt as though his body was falling apart, and his soul was being annihilated inch by inch.

"Aaaaaaagh!" That was a cry of anguish echoing from the deepest depths of his soul!

"Steve! Steve! How are you?" Outside, the doctor shouted anxiously. Just feet away, Howard froze the dial, daring not increase the dosage any further.

Everyone held their breath, awaiting Steve's reaction inside the metal coffin. The moment Steve uttered the words "I give up," the experiment would end in failure.

Just at Steve's moment of greatest agony—when even he believed he could no longer endure it—he suddenly saw Mr. Mei again. The man seemed to be a soul transcending the physical body, suspended right before him.

Mei Mumumu wore a solemn expression, his face radiating a mysterious glow. The voice of his soul carried an overwhelming warmth.

"I have seen the most just and kind aliens, and I have witnessed the most cruel and treacherous humans. I believe—the path of the Holy Light is the path of justice. Justice knows no race, skin color, or gender! If you accept this truth, then embrace the Holy Light!"

These words resonated deeply within Steve: "I... Steve Rogers, am willing to walk the path of the Holy Light!"