The girl spoke casually, but Luke became extremely vigilant.
He observed the key while pondering the artifacts of the DC world, but after a long time, he couldn't find anything that fit the description.
The golden key was palm-sized, existing between void and reality, emitting countless spatial ripples. Looking closely, one could vaguely perceive a sense of distortion from temporal disarray.
Interesting!
Luke circled the key a few times and asked,
"What is this thing for?"
Linda shook her head, "I'm not sure."
"What do you mean, 'not sure'?"
"It means I don't know!"
Linda shrugged. Perhaps realizing her words were irresponsible, she cleared her throat and explained,
"In Krypton's hundreds of thousands of years of history, there was a long period of colonial expansion, conquering many planets. After some planets fell, their mysterious items became Kryptonian collectibles. The golden key is one of them, always kept by the council, ranking first among all collections."
"My father once told me that the golden key played a crucial role in the development of Kryptonian civilization, but what exactly it was, I don't know."
Luke frowned, "Since it's so important, why give it to me?"
Linda sighed, her expression tinged with sadness.
"Krypton no longer exists. What's the point of keeping it? Besides, the key isn't that easy to get your hands on." With that, she walked to the counter and, to Luke's surprise, her palm passed through the key without any obstruction.
"See? Only Kryptonians with extremely high aptitude can touch it. Clearly, I don't have that aptitude."
Luke's expression was odd, "So, if I have the aptitude, the key is mine, but if not, it has nothing to do with me?"
Linda shrugged indifferently,
"You could say that."
Luke gave a thumbs-up. Alright! Little girl, you've learned to play dirty. So, I've been working hard all this time, and you're just giving me an empty promise.
However, this thing is truly miraculous.
Luke admitted he was tempted. He was a man, after all! Who doesn't have a bit of a collecting habit! If a man doesn't get excited when he sees something good, can he still be called a man?
Thinking this, he took a deep breath, walked to the counter, and slowly extended his right hand.
As his fingers approached the key, Linda couldn't help but clench her fists, her expression betraying her nervousness. The next moment, when she saw his fingers pass through the key, she sighed, her eyes filled with disappointment.
"Sure enough, I was overthinking it."
"Father said that only those with pure hearts, kindness, and integrity are qualified to be attendants. Luke Shaw is greedy, lecherous, shameless, and loves to play tricks. He's a complete scoundrel. How could he possibly be favored by the key?"
"I was so foolish to even think of giving this to him."
Linda hit her forehead, silently cursing herself for being presumptuous.
Luke remained silent, staring at his palm for a long time, unable to make sense of it.
It really passed through!
That makes no sense!
I'm Luke Shaw, a unique transmigrator. Logically, this thing should be tailor-made for me. Could it be exclusive to the Son of the World? No, I'm not Wang Mang, afraid of him hanging a Liu Xiu.
If it doesn't work once, try again.
If twice doesn't work, try ten or eight times. With enough attempts, even an iron rod can be ground into a needle, let alone a key.
Luke, not believing in fate, switched from his right hand to his left when it got tired. He alternated hands, trying dozens of times, but... the iron rod remained an iron rod!
The girl couldn't stand it anymore and pouted, scoffing,
"If you can't grab it, then don't! It's like a dog digging, don't you feel uncomfortable?"
Luke glared at her. You can insult me, but you can't insult my posture.
Don't think I have no way to deal with you like this!
A faint green light flickered in his pupils, and a pale green flame erupted from his palm, spreading along the Texture of Ghost One to his entire arm.
The temperature in the room rapidly dropped. A chill, coming from unknown origins, spread everywhere, making people shiver.
Linda hugged her arms. The familiar fear she had experienced before resurfaced from the bottom of her heart. This time, it was very clear, and its source was the Ghost armor in front of her.
Luke Shaw! What secrets are you hiding?
Luke was not one to give up easily. Since the key refused to yield, he would chop off its head and see how it could still look down on him.
His arm, enveloped in green flames, reached for the key once more.
Before it even made contact, the golden key suddenly vibrated, and large energy ripples spread across its surface, as if resisting something.
"You're so arrogant, aren't you? Let's see if you can still be arrogant now."
Activating maximum power.
A large blue light erupted from his arm, ignoring the ripples, and he grabbed the key.
Boom!
The key emitted a blinding white light, and a powerful shockwave exploded, washing over the surroundings like rain.
Linda had no time to react and was sent flying, her limbs spread wide, pressed tightly against the wall like a human poster.
Luke was even more uncomfortable. The continuous horizontal pressure was like a runaway truck hitting his chest. His chest felt constricted, his face flushed, and a coppery taste filled his mouth.
If not for the armor protecting him, just that one impact would have turned his body into a pulp.
Even so, the armor creaked and groaned like an old machine that hadn't been oiled in decades, constantly on the verge of breaking down.
"Damn it, what the hell is this thing? How can it have such strong horizontal repulsion?"
"Is it Shinra Tensei? Or Gravity Blade - Fierce Tiger?"
Luke's mind raced, but a 'click' sound instantly brought him back to reality.
Ghost One, known for its toughness, actually cracked. Scale-like armor plates broke off and, under the impact of the pressure, became bullets embedded in the wall. Two large cracks appeared on his chest, and the energy core was also affected, starting to flicker incessantly.
And the pressure showed no signs of weakening; instead, it continued to intensify.
"Damn it, you're forcing my hand."
Luke was enraged. His pupils turned eerie green, and an oppressive aura, like that of the Grim Reaper, descended upon the room. The pale green flames became deep and concentrated, carrying a terrifying aura of death.
The flames surged, shifting from defense to offense, and began to erode the outer defense of the golden key, bit by bit, layer by layer. Soon, the tip of the key was tinged with a faint green hue.
That touch of green was like a tender sprout in early spring, yet it exuded a coldness that pierced the soul.
The key's vibrations rapidly intensified, seemingly fighting with all its might. Looking closely, one would realize it was the last glimmer of twilight before nightfall.
As the green climbed upwards, the pressure began to weaken.
Luke took a breath, exerted force with his palm, and clutched the key in his hand.
The golden light quickly faded, revealing the key's true appearance: an unremarkable exterior, pitted scratches, and several mysterious characters he had never seen before.
"This thing is Krypton's number one treasured collectible?"
Luke examined it repeatedly, but no matter how he looked at it, it just seemed like an ordinary copper key.
"Linda... Linda..."
He called twice, but there was no answer. Luke walked over to the girl and, seeing the bloodstains on the floor, his face suddenly changed.