American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

Hebron Industrial Park.

Remember the original website domain name 𝕥𝕨𝕜𝕒𝕟.𝕔𝕠𝕞

Luke's lab.

“Don't be nervous, it's not some evil experiment, just a physical examination for you, and to inform you of some information that must be remembered. You don't have to worry about me doing anything to you, you are now Director Fury's key concern.” Luke walked out of the portal opened by the sorcerer Wang and said to Frank, who was following behind him in silence.

“I'm not nervous, I'm just recalling the feeling of losing control.” Frank sighed, glanced at the space filled with various incomprehensible instruments, and his clear eyes were full of complexity.

“Oh? When you lost control, you still had some consciousness left? Can you tell me how you felt at the time? This may help me understand your state at the time. You understand, only without concealment and reservation can I find the safest and most effective solution for you based on your state and my understanding of this energy.” Luke said very frankly.

“I will.” Frank nodded.

“Is this state of his troublesome?” Steve, who followed behind, asked with some concern. He was afraid that Frank would not be able to control this power. He was present today. If he had not been present and had not obtained the first and earliest Ring of Discernment from Hebron in advance, today's story might have had a different ending. Steve even felt that Frank should not wear the ring again until he could control this power.

“It depends on the subsequent inspection.” Luke replied.

“If, I mean if, the inspection results are not ideal, can this ring be recovered?” Steve looked at the ring Frank was still wearing on his hand, gave him an apologetic smile, and still asked.

“Of course it can be recovered, but you have to understand that a ring, even a mass-produced version, will be bound to the wearer's DNA. And the Ring of Discernment, that is, the customized version for the two of you, will be bound more deeply. In your terms, you can think of it as a living thing, and you are its inseparable master. Unless the master dies, it will generally not choose a second wearer to become its new master.” Luke started the instrument and made corresponding preparations while explaining to Steve, who asked the question, and the others next to him who were also listening attentively.

Steve and Frank, in unison, used the fingers of their other hands to stroke the Mind Ring they were wearing on their right hands. Steve understood what Luke said more deeply than Frank, after all, he had been wearing the ring longer and was more familiar with it.

In his opinion, Luke's Mind Ring was more like an alternative upgraded version of the Super Soldier Serum. For example, both can amplify certain emotions and desires in people's hearts? But the destructive power and power of the ring are much stronger than that of the Super Soldier.

“I believe you, Luke, must have a solution, right?” Nick asked somewhat eagerly. He could be patient with other things, but he couldn't be patient with matters concerning Frank and the ring! He had shouldered such a large debt in order to recruit thugs for S.H.I.E.L.D., or rather, his super team.

If there was no way to solve it, then Frank, wearing the ring, was obviously a time bomb that could explode at any time. At that time, not only would Nick not be able to get his wish and gain Frank's combat power bonus, but he would also have to spend a lot of effort to spare some energy on the other party.

As for giving up Frank's combat power? Nick had never thought about it, because as soon as he thought about it, a bill that made his heart ache would completely dispel his idea. The sunk cost was too high, so high that even he, unless things were so bad that they couldn't be recovered and there was room for maneuver, wouldn't dare to make a decision to give up easily.

“I can give you an accurate answer after I have finished the inspection and understood all the circumstances. Or simply a reasonable solution. But I don't work for free.” Luke said as he led Frank towards a bed-like instrument in the laboratory.

“I need to go back to fulfill my duties. You know, for this trip for you, I asked another mage to replace my work.” Sorcerer Wang had no intention of getting involved. Although the Supreme Mage had the intention to contact and cooperate with the real world, it was currently only aimed at Hebron. Many mages were still unable to completely reverse their internal concepts in a short period of time, and they were still doing things as usual, only abiding by the duties of the mage and not caring about the affairs of the real world.

Perhaps only that mage Strange after Gu Yi will pay more attention to the real world and intervene more.

“Of course, say hello to the Ancient One for me. Well, and tell Strange, don't always call me late at night to harass me, his current situation is not my fault at all. I should have almost completely blocked the mage phone numbers in that area. I hope you can protect your communication device, if he gets it, I will block you too.” Luke waved goodbye to Sorcerer Wang with an embarrassed expression.

“I will tell the mage Strange.” Sorcerer Wang hurriedly opened the portal, darted into it nimbly, and then immediately closed the door.

“Mage Strange? It seems that our doctor has transformed well. He has been upgraded from apprentice to mage.” Luke noticed Sorcerer Wang's title for Strange, which meant that the other party had probably left the position of apprentice and grown up.

“Do they always come and go so freely?” Nick asked with a frown, looking at the place where Sorcerer Wang disappeared.

“Of course, this is their specialty.” Luke said, leading Frank to the bed-like instrument and signaling him to lie down with his eyes and movements. Frank didn't hesitate, he lay down according to Luke's instructions.

The surface of the bed-like instrument was composed of small cylinders. The top of the cylinders was not sharp like a needle, nor was it flat, but had a rounded ball shape. After Frank sat on it, these cylinders, like mechanical force, some were recessed and some were propped up, closely wrapping half of Frank's body.

“Don't be nervous, the test doesn't take long, we'll talk about other things later.” Luke said. The whole process was not as difficult as Frank imagined, it could be said to be so simple and easy that he relaxed a little. This made him more trusting and a little more fond of Luke.

“Doesn't this mean that if they want to, they can go wherever they want? Take whatever they want?” Nick asked with concern. He was worried about the elusive portal of the mages.

Luke just glanced at him and knew that Nick's special skill was starting to break out again in an emergency. “Do you think the mages would take your [treasures] without your knowledge? Don't worry, the mages wouldn't be staring at your things.”

“What about you? This is an important laboratory for you, right? If you were me, how would you feel facing a group of people who can enter your house at any time and take something away?” Nick asked back.

“Sorry, there aren't many valuable things in this laboratory that you imagine. Of course, I'm not referring to these instruments, they are still very advanced and valuable, but the pressure is not great for me to lose them or not. Hebron's technical reserves and all data are under the control of Baihou. I don't think those mages can crack the encryption and understand those boring things. Also, I don't have time to explain too much to you, to be honest, I understand your worries, but it's not necessary. Anyway, you can't do anything about them entering and leaving your house now, can you?” Luke was a little impatient.

Admittedly, this laboratory was indeed built by him single-handedly, and he had spent a lot of money to transform and upgrade it little by little over the years, but men are always fickle, and he was now planning his laboratory in the Dark City, and this one was about to become an transition in his mind, how could he regard it as his lifeblood as before?

Even if there are really some mysterious intruders, are the laboratory's monitoring and defense measures just decorations?

“I don't mean to disturb you, but the light on that instrument is green. Is the test done?” Captain America Steve, who was next to him, pointed a finger at the green light on the bed instrument and asked.

“Baihou.” Luke pulled in the air at will, and a virtual screen appeared in front of him. Baihou projected all the body data obtained from the test onto the virtual screen for Luke to view.

“How is it?” Nick asked nervously, looking at the dense data like a heavenly book. This was related to his huge debt in new currency.

“Except for some hidden injuries, overall it's very healthy.” Luke said.

“That is to say…”

“That is to say, the erosion of the Mind Ring has not brought serious burden and damage to his body. This is gratifying. But some mental tests still need to be done later, this time may be longer, and some more professional psychologists are needed to evaluate. Of course, you can also entrust trusted personnel to participate. After all, the probability of psychological problems in agents is quite high, you should have a familiar set of experience.” Luke took over Nick's unfinished words.

“Can I get up?” Frank, who was still lying on the instrument, turned his head and looked at Luke next to the instrument and asked.

“Yes. Can you tell me about your state of consciousness when you lost control? You don't need to be too detailed, even some vague feelings are fine.” Luke nodded and turned the topic to the direction he was interested in.

“Feeling? It's terrible!” The cylinders of the bed-like testing instrument sensitively judged what he wanted to do according to Frank's movements, and seamlessly supported him to sit up, the whole process did not require him to spend half a point of strength.

“I feel that my heart is full of resentment, the flame of anger and revenge, the first time it collapsed my spiritual defense line, my will was swallowed, my reason was crushed, my calmness completely collapsed, my consciousness was chaotic, I only felt that my body was full of surging power that I wanted to release and vent, I wanted to fight, I wanted to avenge, I, wanted to destroy. My consciousness at that time only had these pure and strong emotions. And the stronger these emotions, the faster the growth rate of the power in my body.” Frank looked at the ring on his right index finger, which had become very simple at the moment, and said softly about his feelings at the time.

“That is to say, you know everything you are doing? And you maintain a certain degree of consciousness?” Nick's eyes flickered.

“No, I was like a beast at the time, there was no such thing as being awake at all. I could only vaguely feel what I was doing. I was powerless to fight that power, and I was powerless to stop it.” Frank shook his head.

“Because this is originally the emotional power in the deepest part of your heart. The Mind Ring just induced it and materialized it, and then resonated with the power in the ring.” Luke said.

“Can it be controlled? Like Captain America? Or, let Captain America introduce him to the skills and experience of controlling the ring?” Nick said, turning his gaze to Captain America next to him.

Steve, who was pointed out by Nick, shrugged: “If I can, I will give help within my ability, but his situation is obviously different from mine, I think it is better to listen to Luke's opinion.”

“Captain America is a positive emotion, and it will not affect his thinking and reason too much. But Mr. Frank is different, his negative emotions are too strong, and they have been amplified by the Mind Ring. To be honest, except for Captain Rogers, you are the second person who can resonate so strongly with a certain type of emotion, your matching degree with it is so high that I am a little amazed.” Luke's eyes were full of admiration.

“Is this a good thing or a bad thing?” Nick was a little confused by Luke's words.

“It's half good and half bad. The emotions represented by the Red of Anger are the most violent and difficult to control among the new energies, but at the same time they are also the most destructive, Frank, who has a very high matching degree, will have a very strong combat power; but the shortcomings are also the same, this energy is dangerous, difficult to control, and it is easy for the wearer to lose himself in battle and become a puppet who only knows how to fight and hunt.” Luke commented.

“What about the solution? You promised me.” Nick stared at Luke eagerly, waiting for his answer.

“The most ideal solution is to let him gradually become familiar with, fight against, and control that power. But this road is very difficult, I don't think he can succeed.”

Luke continued calmly as Nick's face changed: “So my opinion is, if you want a quick-acting solution that treats the symptoms but not the root cause, it is the Blue of Tranquility crystal. Wearing a Blue of Tranquility crystal can fill his heart with peace and double his rationality. It can also effectively suppress the influence and erosion of the Red of Anger ring on the spirit. In simple terms, it can allow him to maintain a certain degree of calmness even in battle.”

“What are the disadvantages? This method should have disadvantages, right?” Nick and Frank looked at each other and asked.

“The disadvantage is that when the Blue of Tranquility crystal is used up, he must stop using the power of the Red Ring. And the power of the Red Ring will be weakened and affected to a certain extent, it is impossible to climb, demand, and strengthen upwards indefinitely like before.” Luke said in detail the disadvantages.

“Now, to the last question.” Nick pressed down the familiar sense of unease that surged in his heart, and asked the question he was most reluctant to ask at this moment: “How much does the Blue of Tranquility crystal cost?”

Frank looked at his old friend's gloomy face, which was forcing a smile, and felt inexplicably strange. He knew that his old friend had skimped on funds to build safe houses. In other words, this guy in front of him was a rich man! Yet, what price could make him feel so pained?

If Nick could hear Frank's question at this moment, he would roll his eyes. He had been psychologically scarred by the price inquiries with Luke, and he was prepared to be ripped off again. But seeing Luke's layers of traps, his only hope was that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s remaining assets could pay off Luke's debts before he sold them all off.

He couldn't leave a mess for his successors; this was Nick's last bit of stubbornness!

"I have some black money from gangs; Nick should be able to launder it," Frank said kindly.

"Old buddy, what Luke wants, you can't provide." Nick was deeply touched by his old friend's helping hand, so he silently increased the proportion of repayment that Frank would bear. After all, he couldn't refuse his old friend's good intentions, could he? Morality, that thing was too luxurious for him. Nick sighed inwardly.

"Don't talk about me like I'm a man-eating monster. Our transactions are all voluntary. I didn't force you to buy my products, did I?" Luke waved his hand leisurely. "I can give you other payment methods."

"I'll pay with money," Nick raised his hand.

"I mean, you can use other things to convert into the new currency," Luke turned to look at Nick.

"I choose to pay with money!" Nick repeated firmly, meeting Luke's gaze.

"You don't have money," Luke pointed out.

"I can take out a loan! The interest rate can be higher!" Nick was even more determined.

"Do I look like some kind of monster?" Luke was bewildered by Nick's sudden determination. He really wanted to offer a way out. After all, if he kept squeezing Nick, S.H.I.E.L.D. would soon be renamed Heberon. He really wanted to ease the situation.

"It's settled then. Just give me the pricing when you're ready," Nick said, not wanting to hear anything more from Luke. He pulled Frank and the Captain and headed out of the lab, familiar with the route. As he walked, he dialed Hill's number, asking her to arrange transportation to pick them up.

Nick was afraid that if he stayed any longer, the bill would go up again! What's more, he had to have a good talk with his old friend about their debt issues.

PS: 5000