"In the future, there may be many factions within the lineage of the Supreme Mage."
In the square, the Mage King observed the mages familiarizing themselves with the new energy and spoke with deep feeling. He himself had already begun to experience and master this new energy. Using the words of Luke, the energy's creator, and the evaluation of the Supreme Sorcerer, he concluded that this new energy was not simply a single energy like the powers of other cosmic demons, but rather possessed the complexity and diversity of the emotions of intelligent beings.
During the initial filtering and familiarization phase, there's naturally no need to worry about any risks. However, to truly unleash the power of this energy, one must gradually accept its unfiltered essence. During this stage, the mage's inner emotions actually determine their affinity with it.
Even among mages who had all entered the second stage, that is, those who had come into contact with the essence of the new energy, their affinity attributes varied. This could be seen from the energy mark that appeared on their foreheads when they used their power.
The imprint of an energy often reveals the identity of its master. As a lineage of Supreme Mage, a mage must learn and master the power imprints of the demon gods of the universe in all dimensions. Like the insignia of ancient nobles, these imprints possess uniqueness and inviolability.
However, as the most knowledgeable wizard besides the Supreme Sorcerer Ancient One, Wang's experience and judgment were challenged at this moment.
If a mark represents a type of energy, then what are the different marks of power on the foreheads of these mages?
Not only the appearance of the mark, but even its color is noticeably different.
As bright red as blood.
Warm golden.
Cold white ash.
Pure white.
Compassionate Leng Qing.
Furious orange.
Just by taking a quick glance, you can see at least six different marks of power.
"What is the Supreme Mage's opinion?"
Mage Mordo, who had just returned from the Sanctuary of the Most Holy Place and had published everything he had seen and felt, inquired upon hearing the Mage King's words. He had brought back a batch of Heberon bracelets, which would help mages better comprehend, familiarize themselves with, and control the new energy.
At least when the other party loses control, you can calm him down quickly.
"Master Ancient One has gone to Asgard and hasn't returned yet." The Mage King shook his head. However, he had no objection to this situation. If these power marks represented the current mental state of a particular mage, then perhaps that wasn't a bad thing.
In particular, the different power characteristics of different marks undoubtedly provide mages with a great deal of choice in terms of diversity. Of course, rewriting spells based on the new energy may also require a greater workload.
"Is that Mage Casillas? His magical talent is as outstanding as ever." Mordo's attention was quickly focused on a mage whose energy seemed to be overflowing. The mark on his forehead was a circle with a "convex" pattern inside the circle. It looked like some kind of glowing liquid had penetrated into his skin, revealing a glaring orange-yellow color that represented a fanatical state.
"He's about to lose control, stop him!" The Mage King also paid attention to Casillas. When he saw the other party's condition, his expression changed and he hurriedly shouted to the mages who were supervising around him.
…
"If you have something to say, please hurry up and tell me. I'm very busy right now and don't have time to chat with you."
Haibolun Industrial Park.
In Luke's lab, he looked at the two uninvited guests with a somewhat irritated expression. He was currently poring over a thick book containing information on various dimensional materials and monsters. He had already read four or five of these books in the past few days.
"Should I speak first or you?" Nick Fury asked Tony Stark next to him.
"Come here." Tony Stark took a step back. He had been eager to share his research with Luke. Of course, it would have been even better to see Luke's amazed expression. That would have been far more satisfying than having to nab several top-quality products himself.
However, after coming out, after meeting Nick who was traveling with him and learning from him about many things that had happened in the past few days, Tony's high spirits were suddenly dampened. If Nick hadn't been staring at him, he would have felt embarrassed to leave and would have wanted to turn back halfway and go home quietly.
He was just so absorbed in his research that he disconnected himself from the outside world for a while, but the situation changed so quickly that he was a little stunned.
Nick, who had been observing Tony's expression, remained calm as he saw Tony's mood visibly darken. He said this not to intentionally leak intelligence information to Tony for no reason, but to see if he could use Luke to stimulate Tony and get some of the information he wanted.
As a result, he was relatively satisfied.
The only purpose of his tentative behavior was to find a reliable technical backup for S.H.I.E.L.D. who could replace Hebron at certain times. And Tony was the one he had his eyes on, the one he was most optimistic about among the candidates, and the one he was most willing to trust.
Of course, this choice doesn't mean Nick's SHIELD will split from Luke and the Hyperion he controls. SHIELD is already strapped to the train Luke is driving, with the doors welded shut. Even if they weren't, Nick and SHIELD wouldn't want to get off. Anyone can see the bright future of this collaboration.
He was simply preparing for the worst possible outcome, a plan to compensate for it. This was a decision anyone in his position would have made. Others might even resort to more drastic and extreme measures.
Compared to some officials, Nick's approach was gentle and non-aggressive. He was also afraid of provoking Luke and being kicked out of the newly formed circle of interests. After all, in this new circle, whether it was the Supreme Sorcerer and her mages, or Luke and the Hybron under his control, they were the unshakable core of the soul.
On the contrary, SHIELD, which he presides over, although it seems important, is not irreplaceable. If Luke really wants to, he can kick SHIELD out and bring in organizations like the military, or simply start a new organization with the official authorities to serve this new circle.
The reason Luke didn't do this was probably because they had a good working relationship before, and Nick understood Luke's boundaries and was very compliant with his requests. It was a relatively small undertaking, he could get paid, and he could help resolve some official complications. Finding a new partner or forming a new alliance would only create uncertainty about how much trouble would ensue.
Therefore, Nick has a clear understanding of his and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s position in the new circle. Not to mention the Sorcerer Supreme and Hebron, even for Asgard and other forces in the Nine Realms that may participate in the future, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s importance is probably ranked lower.
"I'm here to ask, regarding that new energy, in addition to supplying those wizards, have you ever considered developing a version that can be used by S.H.I.E.L.D." After Tony gave in, Nick stated his purpose very clearly.
After much thought, Nick still couldn't accept that his SHIELD could only become a service-oriented organization in the new circle. If he didn't want to be a service-oriented organization and wanted to gain a certain amount of power and voice, he would have to ask Luke for help.
"What do you mean? Are the beast series equipment not easy to use?" Luke finally raised his eyes from the big book and looked at Nick with some confusion.
"The version updates too quickly. The equipment also needs to keep up." Nick forced a smile. "Beast series equipment is certainly useful, but it does have hidden dangers, right? Since we have our own energy source, why would we still use equipment with hidden dangers?"
You may not know that one day some SHIELD agents who used beast-series equipment suddenly began to pray to an unknown existence in public. We found the best psychologist for him, but the conclusion was that he was normal.
That's totally normal! That agent is still unemployed and under surveillance. You never told me that these equipments can also be used to recruit followers for those demons behind them!
"Are you sure? The equipment I sell to you is 100% quality-inspected. The filtering device inside will definitely filter and purify the beast's energy to a certain safe threshold before it can be used by the agents. If this threshold is not broken, the beast's power will hardly affect the spirits of your agents. Are you sure he didn't have a seizure that day?" Luke finally became interested.
"Every one of my agents is well-trained," Nick replied through gritted teeth. He knew his statement was flawed, perhaps even impossible. But the agent in question was an elite with a high mission completion rate!
"In that case, I can take some time to help you check. You can bring the agent and the Beast series wristband he was wearing. If I'm not mistaken, this agent used some method to secretly overclock himself, and then was captured by the Beast's offspring. There are many hidden dragons and crouching tigers in SHIELD." Luke smiled sarcastically.
Nick was speechless. Could he say that SHIELD hadn't researched that equipment? He couldn't! Could he say that the agent wouldn't fall into the situation Luke described? He still couldn't! And since Luke had said so, based on Nick's understanding of him, the possibility he described was clearly the most likely one.
So Nick couldn't help but think of a shadow that might be hidden inside SHIELD that made him sleepless, and his face became gloomy.