Lord of Cinder in American Comics

Anderson asked, "Anything else wrong?"

"Without a superior officer... I'm just... just a little disoriented... I think I missed an appointment..."

Faced with Steve's sigh, Anderson was very reluctant to play the bad guy, but he had orders from Ash and his teammates had all run away, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.

"Don't even think about it. Peggy Carter got married three months after you disappeared, and they have a son and a daughter. Her children are under the protection of S.H.I.E.L.D. and live in London to this day..."

Anderson's words shattered Steve's illusions. Even if they had mutual feelings, in the face of harsh reality, it was nothing more than a false, one-sided affection.

Of course, all of this was arranged so that Steve would return to the army, his confidence would be undermined, and his illusions about life would be shattered. With no one to rely on, Steve would have no choice but to return to the army.

This sophisticated form of PUA represents the collective will of the military and is Steve's only path in this era.

As for whether Steve will go back in time and reconcile with Peggy Carter like in the movie, Ash says to give up on that idea. The Time Stone has been assimilated by the Primal Forge, and this universe has moved onto a different timeline. Past memories can only be used as a reference.

Steve nearly lost his balance, but he instantly regained his military posture.

"Take your documents; they contain your salary from all these years. You're a rich man now. Go out and travel. Think things through before you come back..."

Anderson pointed to the item he had just handed to Steve, then left.

Steve was not given any tasks, and was even left out in the hospital room, as if he were insignificant.

Advanced PUA helps you find your self-worth amidst confusion. Just give Steve a direction, and he will steadfastly follow it.

Steve, living in the 1940s, certainly wouldn't have known about the psychological tactics that are now widely used in this century.

They attack and negate your self-worth, causing misunderstandings about your position and self-perception. Then, by offering a little something extra, they can make people serve them wholeheartedly.

With the military's full cooperation, no one dared to give Steve a proper job, and even if they did, he would lose it for various reasons.

Thus, Steve had to return to the place he knew and dreamed of contributing to.

To prevent any accidents, the Bureau of Control has issued a strict order that no one is allowed to contact Steve in any way as a fan.

So when Steve walked out of the ward, he saw crowds of people coming and going. Even if someone noticed him, they would only glance at him briefly before quickly looking away.

With only his few belongings—actually just his issued identification and a few changes of clothes packed in a military green briefcase—Steve walked out of the Control Bureau's camp, completely bewildered.

Ash stood in front of the gap in the office, watching Steve's departing figure, and asked Stark on the sofa, "Aren't you going to go check on him?"

"What's so interesting about him? He's just an old man abandoned by the times. He's a target of the military, it's not appropriate for me to get involved."

"What about S.H.I.E.L.D.? Your father created S.H.I.E.L.D., so given the connection, he might also join S.H.I.E.L.D...."

Tony Stark's expression turned grim when Howard Stark was mentioned.

After inheriting Howard's belongings, Tony learned how he was seen in his father's eyes, and the unspoken love that men often feel for men.

But this also reduced Tony Stark's goodwill towards S.H.I.E.L.D. to zero.

After all, withholding someone's father's belongings for decades without returning them, and the previous director being a traitor, had ruined Howard's original intentions.

This made Tony Stark see S.H.I.E.L.D. as something sticky and impossible to shake off, something that made him uncomfortable whenever it appeared in his sight.

Steve Rogers, on the other hand, was his father's friend and might say a few innocuous words, but he and Tony Stark were completely different people.

Seeing Tony's unfriendly expression, Ash's regard for Steve diminished even further.

There's also the fact that Bucky killed Howard and his wife; the outbreak of the Civil War wasn't just about simple revenge, it was a struggle between loyalty and brotherhood.

'At worst, we can just throw these two out...'

Having made up her mind, Ash sat across from Stark and stopped talking about Steve. The two of them began their day of slacking off in the office.

"Ash! Ash!"

The office door was suddenly forced open, and a flustered Cassel appeared inside.

Upon seeing Ash, Cassell rushed over, panting, and grabbed Ash's hand, asking, "Where...where is that...person?"

"Take a breath, catch your breath, and then speak!"

Cassell bent over, panting heavily. After taking several deep breaths, he said, "Where is Captain America?"

"What? You're his fan? He's out now, but we'll introduce you to him for autographs sometime..."

Kassel shook his head and said, "It wasn't me who looked for him, it was my mother. After I learned about Steve Rogers from the Control Bureau's internal network, I told my mother about him as a topic of conversation, and then my mother urged me to come and pick him up, since he's practically a relative of ours..."

At this point, Ash remembered that Kassel's mother's name was Martha Rogers, and it was quite surprising that they shared the same surname.

And according to Martha's age, Rogers was from the same generation as her; well, Martha was a little younger than Rogers.

Ash spread his hands in a helpless gesture and said, "You're a step too late. Steve just went out. After all, he's slept for so long and needs some time to relax."

Kassel seemed to remember something and said somewhat blankly, "You're not talking about someone who's about twenty or thirty years old, blond, and carrying a green tote bag, are you?"

"What? You've already seen them?"

Kassel sprawled out on the sofa, a hint of regret in his voice. "When I drove here, I saw someone walking and waiting for a ride. I even asked him if I could give him a lift! But he refused because we were going in the opposite direction!"

Ash said, "Caselle, now is not the time. We need to wait until he makes a decision about whether to come back here..."

Ash's vague words alerted Cassel to something amiss. A detective needs a keen sense of smell. This level of prompting was sufficient.

Kassel lay on the sofa, Stark sat opposite him slowly working on his documents, while Ashe lay sprawled on the desk like a salted fish.

The three of them each occupied one side, undisturbed by each other, peacefully whiling away the time here...

Good things come to those who wait. The shrill ring of the phone came from beside Ash's hand. It was Kingpin calling.

"Sir, there is a man here with a Control Bureau badge, and he is obstructing my real estate development with a group of people. Is this your order?"

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Chapter 373: What respectable person would have such a name!

Ash was completely taken aback that Kingpin was able to call him.

As an Earthling who knows Ash's true identity, Kingpin avoids Ash whenever possible, only turning to his older brother, Onion Knight, if all else fails.

But now he actually dares to call Ash? This isn't Kingpin's usual style.

Either Kingpin was truly desperate and had no choice but to call Ash for help, or he was confident and was making the call to attract Ash's attention.

And someone with Control Bureau credentials is trying to obstruct Kingpin? Everyone in New York knows that Kingpin is under Ash's protection!

No! There's one more person who doesn't know: Steve Rogers, who just left home today with his ID.

Ash immediately figured out the answer; only Steve, that clueless idiot, didn't know.

But how did he end up going up against Kingpin? Kingpin has completely abandoned his underworld activities, or rather, Ash, through the Bureau of Control, has wiped out the entire New York underworld. Only those clueless outsiders cause trouble, but those will be summoned by George Stacy in his ATS exoskeleton armor for questioning…

Kingpin made the call to warn Ash, fearing he might find some excuse to kill him.

"Alright, I got it. Don't worry, this has nothing to do with you..."

Having received Ash's promise, Kingpin smiled and put down his phone.

Kingpin took the towel from Slee and wiped the sweat from his face. In the face of true terror, it was already quite impressive that he could say all that.

Looking at the few people acting recklessly on the construction site in the distance, Kingpin's lips curled into a cruel smile.

"Withdraw all your men, and be careful not to hurt the person holding the ID. Let them smash things all they want, just wait a bit..."

First, there was Ash and the imposter Thor fighting each other, destroying most of the buildings around Liberty Island. Then, Lord Yhorm of Cinder used his own power to stop a section of the Hudson River from flowing, and flames still burn on that land to this day.

Kingpin, as the largest real estate developer on the entire East Coast, naturally took on the task of redeveloping this area.

But today, a few people broke in, beat up the workers for no reason, and damaged the original excavation equipment.

Those workers were former criminals who had been demobilized from the military, and they were unwilling to endure such humiliation. They all took out the tools they used to use to make a living.

However, some of the opposing side were fearless of gunfire and rushed into the workers, giving them a good beating.

The man and woman who arrived later stopped this behavior. The man produced his control badge, which eased the situation, and the workers slowly withdrew from the construction area.

Unexpectedly, this behavior caused internal conflict among them, and now those inexplicable people are arguing on the construction site.

Before Ash arrived, the New York Police Department was the first to arrive at the construction site.

With several ATS exoskeleton armors, George Stacy's confidence gradually grew, and the righteous police department would never tolerate those superpowered crimes.

Two large transport trucks, carrying four ATS exoskeletons painted with police markings, drove directly into the construction site.

The arrival of the police further panicked the intruders, who were already infighting.

A person dressed in a red bodysuit with two small devil horns on their head said, "We have to leave. This is going against the rules..."

The woman, reeking of alcohol and looking disheveled, rolled her eyes at the man and said, "Oh~ even a big-name lawyer knows it's illegal, so why did you send me?"

The burly Black man, pulling the leather-clad man who was trying to leave, looked around and said, "Don't forget our goal: to stop the Hand and the Society from obtaining the Dragon Bone. And you, Danny, you were too impulsive."

The man called Danny glanced at the black man with disdain and cursed, "Don't fucking call me by my name, there are outsiders here! Call me Iron Fist!"

Looking at the chaos before him, Steve couldn't understand how so much had changed in the world while he had been asleep for decades.

Do construction workers always carry various weapons? Do some people possess bodies of copper and iron that make them immune to light weapons? Is it possible for someone who is clearly blind to move with incredible speed and agility, even dodging bullets? And what about people whose hands emit light, whose wild punches can easily pierce through an excavator?

Looking at the woman in front of him who didn't seem to care at all and reeked of alcohol, Steve couldn't believe that he had gotten himself into all this trouble just by wanting a ride.

Amidst the commotion, the group reached a consensus and quickly began searching for a suitable escape route.

The woman, reeking of alcohol, hiccuped and, looking at the unmoved Steve, shouted at him, "Aren't you leaving? Are you waiting here to get arrested?"

Steve, still not quite understanding the situation, said, "I showed my ID, they should have reported it, and I should stay here and wait for processing."

The woman's eyes widened, and she asked in disbelief, "Is what you showed me genuine?"

"Or what? Should I present false identification?"

Before Steve could understand what the woman was saying, she rushed over and snatched his identification from his arms.

"Control Bureau Captain! Army Captain! Shit, who are you? Using Steve Rogers' name on your ID? This thing looks like a fake! Who would be called Steve Rogers!"

Upon hearing this, Steve's expression turned somewhat strange, but he remained rooted to the spot and waited.

The approaching sirens and the urging of others made the woman panic. She carelessly stuffed her ID back into Steve's arms, gave him a deep look, and then left with the others.

When the police station's ATS armored vehicles broke through the barricades, only Steve, who had raised his hand in a French military salute, remained in place.

After receiving the order to take control of the situation, George Stacy approached Steve.

Looking at the documents and clothing laid out, George sneered and said, "It seems you've prepared very thoroughly, with not only documents but also matching clothes. However, you've made one mistake! You've insulted the name!"