"Emotional awareness is becoming more and more apparent."
As the amount of energy liquid increased, the blank consciousness that Luke had sensed before also began to grow stronger and stronger as it absorbed more and more energy liquid, as if it had absorbed nutrients.
It's not as if they possess the thinking abilities of intelligent life forms. Currently, they're more like manifestations of certain emotions, the instincts of intelligent creatures. If I had to define them, they'd be beasts, not humans.
Luke looked at the first Mind Ring he had crafted. As a reference for future equipment, he named it the Ring of Discernment. Before being worn, it was unconscious and blank. But once possessed by a master, it would be imbued with the wearer's deepest and strongest emotions, transforming into a Mind Ring imbued with a certain kind of psychic and emotional power.
During this transformation, the ring's face will also be outlined with the corresponding spiritual power imprint. From then on, the ring will possess a certain emotional attribute and will only absorb the energy of this emotional attribute.
The most important thing is that before the wearer dies or changes his or her emotions, the ring will be like a soul binding or DNA binding and can only be used by the wearer.
Sounds a bit like the characteristics of a symbiote?
The material used to make this ring is the latest generation of symbiote material! Under Luke's technical operation, this material retains some of the advantages and characteristics of the symbiote to the greatest extent.
To be frank, this ring could even be considered a powerful auxiliary creature. It was loyal, powerful, and could provide the wearer with the auxiliary effects of most technological equipment.
For example, communications?
The ring uses the mysterious communication network between symbiotes, allowing the wearer to communicate with the wearer of another ring through the ring.
Of course, if you have advanced technical experience in using the ring and are skilled and proficient in the construction of some instruments, you can also use the energy of the ring to create a communication device that can contact other communicators.
To this end, Luke asked the White Queen to compile a thick instruction manual to teach future users how to correctly use the power of the ring; how to maintain the ring; how to charge the ring; how to deeply explore the usefulness of the ring; and how to protect your spirit in a healthy manner under the emotional erosion of the ring.
The A4-sized paper, with over 900 pages of content, seemed rather brief to Luke. But for the current mass-produced version, it should be sufficient.
Luke did not wear the original Mind Ring. This was just a prototype. The only advantage was that Luke did not set too many restrictions on it, and it had a certain degree of self-growth in terms of materials and technology.
…
"Half a month, your research speed is really unexpected. I thought it would take you a little longer to come up with the finished product." In a closed training ground in the Heybollen Industrial Park, Nick Fury, who hurried over with his men, looked at Luke in amazement.
If all the researchers under him could have the same research efficiency and strength as Luke, why would he have to bow his head and spend huge sums of money?
Although Nick knew very well that the researchers he had recruited and trained had already produced a lot of eye-catching black technologies for S.H.I.E.L.D., but everything is afraid of comparison, isn't it?
People are always greedy and don't know how to be satisfied.
"Fury told me about you, Luke Field. The Hyperion you run is now the most important equipment provider for S.H.I.E.L.D." Steve Rogers beside Nick also extended his hand.
"I've heard him talk about you too, a sign of the times." Luke shook Steve's hand.
"You said that in addition to ordinary testers, we also need someone with a strong will, a bottom line and a conscience. After thinking about it, the most trustworthy person who meets your requirements is Rogers." Nick spoke after the two shook hands.
"You know yourself," Luke smiled. This proved that Nick knew exactly who he was and who the agents under his command, S.H.I.E.L.D., were.
Nick might have considered them guardians of order and peace, but they definitely didn't meet Luke's requirements. Out of caution and a sense of security, Nick had invited Steve Rogers, a representative figure, to join him at the beginning of the test, when he was completely in the dark.
At least the other party's will and morality are much more convincing than those of the agents under his command.
"Can I see your product?" Nick's intact eye fell on Snooker, who was standing behind Luke with a suitcase.
Luke snapped his fingers and stepped aside. Snooker, receiving a look from his boss, immediately placed the suitcase on the ground and squatted down to open it.
The box was very heavy and thick. Nick had thought that the new equipment would be something larger in size, but he didn't expect that after opening it, the first thing that caught his eye was a thick book.
"What's this?" Nick watched as Snooker took the book, estimated to be nearly ten centimeters thick, out of the box and handed it to Luke's outstretched hand. Then, through Luke's hand, it passed to his own. He felt a sinking sensation in his hand, a bit bewildered.
It can't be said that the equipment Luke promised was just this book, right?
"You're holding it the wrong way around," Luke kindly reminded him. Snooker had already turned the box around, with the open side facing Nick and the others.
Nick turned the book over in his hand and looked at the words on it in silence.
"Instruction manual for the Mind Ring?" Steve, who was beside Nick, turned his head to glance at the cover and couldn't help but recite it aloud.
"Are these the soul rings?" Nick calmly clamped the thick instruction manual between his right arm, took two steps forward, squatted down and looked at the six rings arranged in a circle in the box.
He wanted to reach out and take them, but suddenly he seemed to remember something. He looked up at Luke beside him and asked, "Should I be able to take them out and have a look?"
"As long as you don't wear it." Luke nodded. Then his eyes fell on Steve beside him. He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out the prototype ring. Under Steve's stunned gaze, he tossed it away. "Next."
Steve nimbly grabbed the ring that was thrown towards him in mid-air. After glancing at Luke, he opened his clenched hand and looked at the silver-gray, plain-style ring lying in his palm.
"Is this the special ring you told me about?" Seeing this, Nick didn't bother to look at the rings in the box. He stood up, took the prototype ring from Steve's palm, put it in front of his one eye, looked at it over and over again, and glanced at Luke next to him.
"This is the first mind ring on this planet. As its creator, I feel it is necessary to find a good owner for it." Luke said.
"What's its use?" Nick said, then seemed to realize that his words were ambiguous and changed his words, "I mean, what can it do?"
"Captain, you can try it on. Isn't that the purpose of our meeting?" Luke took two steps aside and motioned Nick to return the ring to Steve.
Nick readily put the prototype ring back on Steve, then retreated a distance with Agent Natasha and Luke behind him.
Steve looked at the silver-gray ring lying quietly in his palm, took a breath, picked it up with his other hand, turned it over twice in his hand, and then put it on the index finger of his right hand.
Two or three seconds after putting it on, Steve suddenly felt his mind sense the presence of a certain energy. This energy seemed to emerge from deep within his body, and also seemed to surge in from the outside.
He closed his eyes and carefully sensed the power emerging in his body. Everything in the outside world was blocked by him now.
What Steve Rogers didn't know was that Nick, not far away, had already opened his single eye wide in uncontrollable surprise. In his eyes, Steve was wrapped in a layer of golden energy, rendering him a slightly dazzling brilliance, as if standing in the sun.
What surprised him even more was that Steve's toes were now slightly off the ground due to the energy. Looking at him, Nick suddenly felt an inexplicable mixture of trust and tranquility well up in his heart.
Nick didn't wake up from this emotion until the golden energy on Steve's body dissipated and his toes, which had been suspended in the air, returned to the ground.
He frowned and began to examine his inner self. Why had he just felt such an urge to fight alongside Steve? After thinking about it, he set his eyes on the ring on Steve's right index finger.
At this moment, the previously plain silver-gray ring had undergone a visible transformation. First, its original silver-gray hue had been replaced by a transparent jade-gold hue. The metal ring, which felt both tactile and visually appealing, also had a sense of transparency, like jade.
A mark that was not there before appeared on the ring face. Due to the angle, Nick could not see it clearly. He could only roughly judge based on what he saw that the mark on the ring face should be a ball of light like the sun, radiating golden lines outward.
"How does it feel, Captain?" Seeing Steve open his eyes, Nick couldn't help but step forward and ask while looking at the ring on his hand eagerly.
"How does it feel?" Steve frowned, thought seriously, and gave a vague answer: "It's great. It's like taking a hot bath, cleansing myself from the inside out. All the anxiety, uneasiness, hesitation, and loneliness I've felt since waking up seem to have been dispelled. I've never felt so relaxed."
"What about more specific things? Putting aside the spiritual level, for example, what changes have occurred in your body?" Nick was more concerned about something.
"Physical changes?" Steve closed his eyes again and carefully felt it, then quickly opened his eyes and said, "I feel like there's endless strength flowing through my body. It seems like my strength has become even greater, and I can also feel some kind of energy."
"What did you feel just now?" Nick turned and looked at Agent Natasha behind him.
"Feeling? I feel like he's trustworthy, and I feel more courageous around him. This feeling is strange. I usually don't trust someone I don't know easily." Natasha described her feelings seriously. She truly felt a sense of trust in Steve, like a comrade-in-arms. It was as if as long as he was by her side, no matter who the enemy or opponent was, she was fearless.
"Do you know how to use and control that power, Captain?" Nick nodded, turned to Steve and asked again.
"I only know some simple ways to use it, and it has become an instinct, as if someone taught me. But I think there is still a lot to be explored." Steve gave his answer very honestly.
"It seems like I can get started without an instruction manual?" Nick subconsciously glanced at Luke who was observing Steve with interest.
"That's a special edition, one of a kind. Don't compare it to these mass-produced ones," Luke said, his eyes glancing over the rings in the box. "If you want to master the rings, have your agents memorize the manual carefully."
Nick looked at the ring on Steve's hand, which had changed drastically. "It looks like it's made of very special materials."
"Very rare material." Luke nodded.
"Are these rings made of the same material?" Nick asked with interest, looking at the rings in the box.
Luke rolled his eyes at him. "Don't dream. These rings are made of the metal of the first generation symbiote."
"I heard that this material has been eliminated within Heybollen?" Nick looked at Luke with strange eyes.
"Who said that? Where did you hear that? It's complete nonsense! It hasn't even been released yet, how could it be eliminated?" Luke retorted confidently.
"What kind of emotional power does the captain possess?" Nick raised his hands in surrender.
"Trust, courage, you can think of it as a unique leader's ring. It can greatly enhance the wearer's power and influence those around them, bringing them courage and strength.
This refers to the captain being able to master the ring. As long as the other party can achieve this, he alone can form a super-powered team. The more faith and admiration one has, the more power one can allocate.
"If a zealot reaches the level of a believer, they might be able to obtain a disembodied energy ring. This is just my speculation, and the conditions for achieving it are very demanding," Luke explained bluntly.
Because it was a prototype ring, Luke subconsciously couldn't help but add a lot of functions to it when he was in an inspired state. As for the subsequent mass-produced version, it didn't have the fancy functions of the prototype ring. At most, it was a battle suit similar to a symbiote.
The difference is that the symbiont is parasitic and has a physical body, while the ring's amplification is an energy suit and an energy body.
"Once you master this power, you can shape it into any weapon you like. And if you have a weapon you like, you can also coat it with this power.
The gold of tolerance!
The stronger your willpower, the greater the amplification you grant to your weapon. Think of it like a mage enchanting an item with magic. Frequently harnessing this power to enhance your weapon will optimize and enhance its material.
It can form an energy vest to protect you, or it can be used as a ranged weapon, launching energy beams. As long as you don't undergo a drastic change in your personality and your will remains steadfast, it will never betray you and will be your unwavering support.
Luke said a few more words under Steve's implicit pleading eyes.
"Do these rings also have the same properties?" Nick couldn't help but look at the rings in the box again, even though he knew that this possibility was unlikely.
"The characteristic of the mass-produced version is that it's not picky about its owner; it can be used by anyone of any personality. While its power has been significantly reduced, its various hidden dangers and limitations have also been significantly reduced. For example, the ring in the captain's hand isn't strictly speaking a dead object. After its first owner wears it, it becomes a template for choosing subsequent owners.
My advice is, forget about the ring the Captain has. A mass-produced version would suit you better. Even if I were willing to sell it, you wouldn't have the money to buy more." As expected, Luke gave Nick an answer that didn't surprise him at all.