American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

After only a month, Luke received the sales list from Nick as he had hoped. According to Nick, there were two copies, one sent to Heberon and one to the Sanctum Sanctorum.

There was no way around it; even Nick Fury, with his top-level clearance, had to sift through the dangerous items that S.H.I.E.L.D. had collected and preserved over the years. After that, information descriptions, defects, defense methods, and so on had to be compiled.

After that step, there was an even more troublesome next step, which was to put a price on these items.

Just thinking about this made Nick feel that this cooperation was simply absurd. From the time S.H.I.E.L.D. started collecting these items, no S.H.I.E.L.D. director had ever thought of putting a price on them and selling them.

These were all previously non-sale items of S.H.I.E.L.D.!

Nick Fury was initiating this historical precedent.

Not only did he need to evaluate the dangerous items on the first batch of sales orders one by one, tentatively pricing them according to their value, but Nick also had to work hard to convince some dissenting voices above, to make this transaction with Heberon as reasonable and legal as possible.

After all, although S.H.I.E.L.D. was a closed-loop organization, such a big move was difficult to hide from the higher-ups for long. One or two dangerous items were fine, but the first batch had already sorted out forty-three items.

Most of these dangerous items were stored in certain heavily defended bases, or even studied by S.H.I.E.L.D. researchers. If they suddenly disappeared, even if the researchers were slow to react, someone would eventually suspect something.

To those above, Nick changed his tune again, changing the sale to cooperation. The funding for managing these dangerous items would still be allocated every year, and the technological products produced by Heberon would be given priority to S.H.I.E.L.D. After subtly pointing out that this cooperative transaction might include some Dragon Bone Potion allocation shares each year, all previous objections and disputes became negotiable. In the end, Nick's application proposal was approved with extremely high efficiency.

The various obscure transactions and distribution of benefits within this are omitted. But at the moment of approval, Nick, who had finished dealing with these old foxes with similar characters, only felt a long-lost sense of mental and physical exhaustion.

To be honest, these kinds of things usually take half a year or a year to truly implement after discussing them back and forth. This shows how much effort Nick put in.

Considering that Luke and the mages would have to inspect the goods together after selecting the items, and that the other party might have objections to the prices marked by S.H.I.E.L.D. when placing an order, Nick also thoughtfully provided a bargaining step.

As long as it didn't fall below his psychological bottom line, then the transaction would be considered successful. If both parties had objections to the price and negotiations were ineffective after many attempts, then the transaction could only be temporarily shelved.

After all, Nick was also doing this kind of transaction for the first time, and he was still using the new currency. The only thing that allowed him to see the current purchasing power of the new currency was the mages' expensive dimensional materials and Heberon's technological products.

Especially the materials taken from various dimensional worlds by the mages. Even if you have the money to buy them, the other party still has to evaluate your overall strength and technology to see if you can correctly use and utilize these materials.

The transaction threshold was frighteningly high.

Thinking about the fact that he also participated in drafting and perfecting this set of transaction rules, Nick had nothing to say about it. What he was anxious about was that if S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't seize the time to catch up, it was obvious that the transaction threshold might become lower, but it was more likely to become higher and higher, eventually reaching a point where he lost confidence and accepted failure.

Luke received the list of goods and the corresponding images, first taking a general look, and did not see any familiar items such as the Cosmic Cube or the Obelisk on it.

Luke, who failed to bottom out, was not too disappointed. He knew very well that Nick would not put these valuable items on the shelves without figuring out the purchasing power of the new currency. Especially since Nick had seen the power of the Cosmic Cube.

If Luke were in his position, he would make the same choice.

But this step was a good start after all. With his eyes on the list of goods, Luke was already calculating that even if there was nothing he wanted on it, he would still pick a few to buy. One was to avoid Nick being discouraged because the transaction amount didn't meet his psychological expectations, and the other was to give Nick a little hard-earned money.

Well, just deduct it from Nick's IOUs.

...

Triskelion.

“Do you think I did the right thing? Agent Hill.” Nick, who had handled everything with efficiency, was now sitting in his office chair, feeling a rare sense of regret in his heart. Although he knew that this regret wouldn't change anything, would be of no help, and would bring hidden dangers to the future, he couldn't help but think about it.

“What are you referring to?” Agent Hill, standing upright in front of the desk and reporting to her superior, asked with a serious expression.

“This transaction with Heberon.” Nick's operation this time was not hidden from Hill. With Hill's authority, she had enough access to understand these secrets.

“Don't you already have the answer in your heart?” Hill looked at the small black metal box that her superior was holding in his hand, watching him gently caress the box with his fingers, a look of contemplation on his face, and gave an answer that made Nick smile wryly.

“Yes.” Nick suppressed the regret and wry smile on his face, and his expression became firm and calm again under Hill's gaze. “Now that I've made up my mind, there's no need to have this kind of hesitant and uncertain emotion. Thank you for your enlightenment, Agent Hill.”

“I wasn't needed. You can sort out your emotions quickly.” Hill shook her head. She supported Nick's approach. Now that they had come into contact with the door to a higher level, they naturally couldn't give up halfway because of the fatigue and difficulty of climbing the steps. What's more, they were now stuck in the middle, either going up or going down.

Going up might lead to a new situation.

Going down, it would be difficult to say what the future would hold. At least if they chose to go down, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s future status and power would definitely decline endlessly. It was also very likely that it would be abolished and a new organization would be rebuilt on its corpse to replace its responsibilities.

“Has he been contacted?” Nick asked about the main issue.

“He has been contacted, but sir, I need to remind you that he is no longer the person you once knew.” Hill nodded, hesitated for a moment, and added.

“I know. But we need his power now, don't we?” Nick said helplessly. “I'll take the Captain with me. Don't worry.”

...

Night.

An abandoned warehouse in a deserted suburb.

When Nick, along with Captain America Steve, pushed open the rusty, creaking metal door, a low male voice sounded from the darkness inside the warehouse.

“What's going on? Why are you so eager to meet with me, Nick?”

Along with the voice, a man wearing a black tight-fitting vest that outlined smooth and solid, powerful muscle lines, and camouflage pants on his lower body, exuding an aura of coldness and danger, walked out of the darkness, actively exposing himself to Nick and the others.

“Frank, my old buddy. I need your help.” Nick saw the man who appeared before him, a smile on his calm face, and said softly.

“I'm not an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick.” Frank Castle said.

“I didn't want to recruit you into S.H.I.E.L.D. either.” Nick shrugged.

“Who's this? The Captain? Frank Castle.” Frank's eyes swept to the man beside him who gave him an extremely dangerous yet safe and harmless feeling.

“Steve Rogers.” Captain America also greeted him.

“Let's get straight to the point, Frank. I need your power now. Your overall quality and strength have been assessed as a Level 10 agent. Whether it's psychological quality, combat literacy, weapon mastery, or combat power, you've reached the pinnacle of human solo combat power.” Nick interrupted the pleasantries, his one eye looking at Frank seriously. “You might want to consider it.”

“You need my combat power?” Frank's amused gaze lingered on Captain America for a while, meeting Nick's eyes.

“To be precise, we need your enhanced combat power.” Nick said with a calm face.

“Enhancement? Those Super Soldier programs?” Frank's face revealed a hint of disapproval.

“Of course not those imperfect and immature abandoned plans. But better ones, single-soldier energy devices from Heberon. I really don't want to use this name to explain it to you, because its creator calls it the Mind Ring.” Nick gestured to the Captain next to him with his eyes.

Receiving Nick's signal, Captain America immediately raised his right hand. An inconspicuous metal ring on his right index finger suddenly flashed with a golden, warm light, and then a layer of golden energy clothing spread from the ring, covering the Captain's entire body.

The warm and non-glaring soft light illuminated a small golden area of the dark warehouse. A golden, seemingly substantial energy shield suddenly extended from the ring and was tightly held in the Captain's hand.

“No need for injections or medicine. As long as you wear it, it can give you incredible power. Believe me, old buddy, it will enhance your combat power to an even more terrifying level, far beyond human.” Nick took out a black metal box from his pocket, opened it in front of Frank, revealing a metal ring inside that was exactly the same as the one worn on Captain America's finger.

“Has Heberon's technology become so powerful?” Frank raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Heberon's technology is probably far beyond your imagination. There's a lot of information that I can't tell you for the time being. But if we reach a cooperation agreement next, then you'll come into contact with a wider world, old buddy.” Nick held up the black ring box in his hand.

“What price do I have to pay? Obey your orders? To be honest, I don't have a good impression of any of your official organizations. If you want me to listen to those old men, I refuse.” Frank shook his head.

“No, you don't have to listen to those people. You just need to listen to me. Just like we cooperated on the battlefield before, fighting side by side.” Nick denied Frank's words.

“Looks like you want to build a private army?” Frank was a little interested now.

“The inside story is too complicated. I can only ask, are you willing to accept this condition? Wear the ring and become my teammate, a collaborator acting in concert.” Nick's face was serious.

“I don't do dirty work.” Frank picked up the ring in the box, but didn't put it on his finger right away, but looked at Nick and said softly.

“Those won't need you. You and the Captain's power are needed to deal with higher-level threats that ordinary agents and soldiers can't fight.” Nick gave a definite answer.

“Then let me experience whether this ring is really as magical as you say.” Frank smiled. Out of trust in Nick, he put the ring on his finger.

Boom!

Blood-red energy, like real blood, sprayed out from the ring, enveloping Frank. At the same time, Frank, covered in red energy, let out a painful groan.

“Why do I feel like something's wrong?” Nick was pushed back two steps by the surging energy. He put one hand in front of his eyes, blocking the dazzling red light, while his sixth sense, sensitive to danger, was frantically warning him.

“Something's not right.” Captain America next to him also said seriously. While staring at Frank, who was undergoing a transformation, with a serious expression, he asked Nick, “Didn't Luke tell you how to handle this situation?”

“He didn't say.” Nick shook his head.

“Did you carefully study the Mind Ring User Manual?” Steve asked again.

“I don't need the ring.” Nick said, “But I did read it roughly. There was no relevant information in it. When you put on the ring, Captain, the energy reaction didn't seem to be this big.”

“What does red represent?” Steve pressed.

“Red? Let me think, anger, revenge, fighting… Fuck!” Nick looked at Frank, who was wrapped in a layer of red energy clothing and whose facial expression was twisted and distorted, and shouted at him anxiously, “Will! Frank! Use your own will to control this energy! Don't let it run wild in your body!”

“Damn it! He can't hear me now. Can you take the ring off his hand, Captain?” Nick's gaze swept to Steve, who was blocking in front. He didn't expect that something good would turn into this kind of accident!

Did something go wrong with the Mind Ring?

“I can try, but it's best to have a definite solution.” Steve put the energy shield in front of him.

“I'll contact Luke right away.” Nick said, taking out his communicator.

Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

Frank's arched body suddenly lifted up, and many hideous wounds suddenly opened on his skin. Warm blood sprayed on the clothes and energy clothing on the surface of his skin. Under the astonished gazes of Nick and Captain America, the two produced some kind of incredible reaction.

The blood-red energy clothing actually turned into blood-like energy liquid, and then little by little, as if time was flowing backwards, it was rolled back into Frank's body through the wounds.

At the same time, the hideous wounds on his body were rapidly healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The violent energy seemed to be tamed at this moment. Everything quieted down, as if the previous danger had passed safely. This made Nick, who was holding the communicator, a little unsure whether to make this call or not.

Perhaps I'm just overreacting?

Perhaps the process of wearing different power rings is simply not the same?

"Frank? Old buddy? Are you alright?" Seeing Frank calm down, Nick thought for a moment and decided to put down the communicator in his hand for now. Under the captain's protection, he cautiously approached and carefully called out to Frank.

Just as Nick was about to get closer, Frank, who had been quietly standing in place, suddenly raised his head under his gaze. His face was still twisted and ferocious, and his eyes were blood-red, his pupils filled with madness and rage.

On his forehead, it looked like a mass of bright red blood was seeping out from under his skin, dyeing a strange red mark on his skin.

"Run... run!" Frank managed to utter a difficult warning with the last of his sanity, before his entire consciousness was completely replaced by an endless surge of anger and a mad desire for battle.

Two blood-red guns condensed from the void into his palms. The muzzles rose, and blood-colored bullets fired, transforming in mid-air into a phantom-like blood shadow of some kind of beast, tearing towards Captain Steve, who was迎上来的.