Card Abilities, Extractable?
Is this what they call my "golden finger" as a transmigrator?
Without further ado, Lu Ming immediately extracted the card ability of "Basic English Mastery" from the youth standing in front of him.
It was just a passing thought, and within three seconds, the extraction was complete. The youth's words, which Lu Ming could now understand, reached his ears. "Are you okay? You look awful. Do you want to go to the infirmary again?"
"Uh, I'm fine. I just haven't fully woken up yet," Lu Ming replied as he tried out his English, which flowed fluently with a local accent.
"That's good then." The young man breathed out a sigh of relief as he handed over a glass of water and some medicine, smiling. "Take your medicine first."
Lu Ming nodded as he swallowed the pills, took a few sips of water, and relaxed for a moment. "Phew, I feel alive again. By the way, my head still feels a bit dizzy. I want to confirm something with you, where am I?"
Seeing Lu Ming's serious expression, the youth was briefly astonished but quickly laughed it off as a joke. "Kyle, did you hit your head and pass out? This is a training base of the U.S. military."
"Kyle, Military Training Base?" Lu Ming contemplated, knowing that the original body's name was Kyle, and he had naturally accepted Kyle as his new name.
From now on, there would be no more Lu Ming; there was only the brand-new Kyle.
After all, no matter how cruel reality was, life had to go on.
The youth continued, "Yes, a training base. We've only been training as new recruits for a day. Maybe the weather was too hot, and you suffered from heatstroke during the high-intensity running training."
Heatstroke, it seems this body's constitution isn't very good.
Kyle silently complained, and it was as if suddenly remembering something and he quickly placed his hands on the youth's slender shoulders and asked anxiously, "By the way, let me ask you one more question: have you heard of the 'Avengers'? It's important, tell me quickly."
Confirming whether this was the Marvel World was his top priority.
"Kyle, don't shake me so hard," The youth rolled his eyes, almost feeling like his malnourished and frail body would collapse.
After Kyle stopped shaking him, he let out a sigh of relief and replied, "I really don't know what you're talking about, what is Avengers? Some kind of alliance? What is that?"
"You don't know..." Kyle frowned, but quickly remembered something and widened his eyes as he asked, "Wait, what's the current date? I mean the year, month, and day."
"Kyle, did you really hit your head?" The youth exclaimed in surprise and worry.
"Just tell me."
"It's September 1943."
"1943... during the Second World War..." Kyle fell into silence. Even in the Marvel World, the Avengers didn't exist during World War II.
By the way, there is one iconic character in this era.
"One last question." Kyle took a deep breath and asked with an anxious expression on his face, "Is there someone here in the training camp named 'Steve'?"
"Steve?" The youth's expression became strange when he heard this.
"Yes, Steve Rogers." Kyle quickly confirmed. In the Marvel World's World War II era, Steve Rogers was the earliest hero to appear in the Avengers.
Captain America, he should also be Marvel's earliest superhero.
"Kyle, what are you talking about?" The youth blinked and, under Kyle's puzzled gaze, pointed to himself and said with a smile on his face, "I am Steve Rogers."
Upon hearing this, Kyle widened his eyes in shock and carefully examined the youth in front of him from head to toe.
Compared to a normal young man, he had a slender and delicate figure, simple blonde hair, and a face that appeared seemingly weak but exuded a righteous aura. Ah, no wonder it felt somewhat familiar. The youth in front of him was none other than Captain America himself before receiving the Super Soldier Serum.
Since he was here, this place was undoubtedly the Marvel World.
Kyle had no interest in paying attention to his real-life idol in front of him. He didn't know whether he felt happy or scared at this moment. The thought of being able to interact with superheroes and amazing technology that lived in movies excited him. However, the powerful villains in the Marvel World also gave him a headache.
But this was Marvel during World War II. Whether he had the fortune to live until the 21st century was also an uncertain factor. It was too early to worry about Thanos' finger snap.
Besides, Captain America himself was right there. That could be considered a big opportunity, right? (Even if it's a mosquito leg, it's still a leg.)
With this in mind, Kyle's gaze towards Steve changed, which sent shivers down Steve's spine, causing him to instinctively take a half step back.
"Oh, right." Steve seemed to remember something important and said with concern, "Commander Brandt asked me to inform you that once you wake up, he wants to see you."
"Oh, the commanding officer for training new recruits?" Kyle nodded. He had watched the first Captain America movie and had some impression of the role of a training officer.
He remembered that before Steve became Captain America, he was constantly targeted by the commander and his fellow teammates because of his frail and weak physique.
Maybe it was trouble caused by the original body's host. Passing out from heatstroke on the first day of training as a new recruit must have given the commander a very unfavorable impression.
After contemplating for a moment, Kyle calmly said, "I don't quite remember how to get to the commander's office. Could you take me there?"
"Alright, follow me," Steve nodded.
Steve led Kyle out of the military camp dormitory, and the two walked along the internal roads of the base.
Outside the gate, the sunlight was dazzling. On the vast training grounds of the base, groups of young soldiers wearing white short-sleeved shirts and baring their toned arms ran under the command of their slogans.
"Hey, look, isn't that Kyle and Steve?"
"He got heatstroke on the first day of training. What a greenhorn (newbie)."
"One pretty boy and one weakling. They make quite a pair."
A squad of new recruits, blowing their whistles, ran past the two. Obviously, they were training teammates who shared the same dormitory.
"Kyle, you don't have to pay attention to them," Steve turned back to comfort him, but instead, he saw no trace of resentment on Kyle's face. Instead, there was a hint of a smile that seemed both present and absent.
Kyle, of course, didn't pay any attention to those new recruits. With his golden finger that allowed him to draw cards, only Steve, who would soon become Captain America, qualified as his comrade.
On the way to the commander's office, Kyle continuously tested his Extracting Card Ability.
Soon, he gained some insights into his ability:
First of all, as long as a person is within three meters of his body, he can obtain the card data from that person.
Currently, the cards can be divided into Item Cards and Ability Cards. Item Cards are non-extractable, while Ability Cards can be freely copied and extracted.
Ability Cards represent a person's skills and abilities. Commonly used skills, such as Basic English and driving, fall under Ability Cards, which are categorized as White Cards. Those who have reached a certain level of expertise in a specific field, such as English Proficiency or Pistol Proficiency, have green cards.
"Green Ability Cards can also be extracted, but the extraction time is longer than that the time is for white cards..." Kyle was still exploring his Extracting Card Ability when Steve suddenly reminded him and patted his shoulder, leading him toward a room.
"Reporting, Commander! Soldier Steve, I have brought Kyle here."
"Uh, Soldier Kyle reporting!"
Following Steve, Kyle stood with him at the entrance of the office, performing a standard military salute.
"Come in!" With a stern and composed voice, the two walked side by side into the office. The interior was simple and neat, following the military style, with a single desk placed in the center.
A middle-aged man in a military uniform sat in the office chair, presumably Commander Brandt. In addition to him, there was a female agent wearing a military-style dress and holding a record document, standing beside the desk.
"Soldier, how is your body doing?" Commander Brandt glanced coldly at Kyle, who immediately responded, "Reporting, sir. My body has fully recovered, and I'm ready to resume training."
"Oh?" Commander Brandt frowned and calmly said, "No need for training anymore. You can go pack your things. Someone will send you back home tomorrow morning."
Steve's expression slightly changed. These words undoubtedly pronounced Kyle's death sentence in his military career.
The female agent remained silent, keeping her head down as she recorded something in the document.
Only Kyle, the person in question, remained calm, it was as if the statement didn't concern him at all. He calmly responded, "Reporting, sir. I insist on staying and continuing the training as a soldier."
Commander Brandt snorted coldly. "Training? What training? You collapsed from heatstroke on the first day, and your willpower is lacking. It's a disgrace to the US military!"
"You tell me, what qualifications and abilities do you have as a defender of the nation?" As he spoke, Commander Brandt's gaze swept over Steve, clearly including him in the scolding as well.
Facing the questioning, Kyle took a deep breath, took a step forward, and confidently replied, "Give me a chance, Sir, and I will show you my abilities and qualifications."
With just this step, Kyle entered the three-meter range of Commander Brandt. Concentrating his mind, he saw more than thirty white and green cards appear before his eyes.
Impressive! No wonder he is the officer training new recruits. There are nine Green Cards alone!
[Pistol Proficiency], [Rifle Mastery], [Military Support Equipment Mastery], [Military Boxing Mastery], [Training Soldiers and Instructing Mastery]...
"You talk quite big for a weakling. Tell me, how do you plan to demonstrate these so-called abilities?" Commander Brandt sneered as he spoke. This statement could be understood as confidence if one had talent, but if one lacked talent, it was pure arrogance.
What abilities could a recruit who collapsed from heatstroke on the first day of training have?
The female agent beside the desk shook her head inwardly, her perception of Kyle deteriorating. Although the soldier in front of her could rank within the top three in terms of looks in the entire training camp, his willpower and self-awareness were not even on par with Steve's.
"If you don't believe me, Commander, would you like to have a test with me as a soldier?" After seeing Commander Brandt's cards, Kyle's confidence grew, and he calmly said, "If I win, I'll continue to stay in the camp. If I lose, there's no need for the Commander to bother with expulsion; I will pack my things and leave on my own."
"A test? You? You don't want to play cards or flip a coin, do you?" Commander Brandt gave him a look of contempt as he asked this question.
"Of course not, Sir. I want to have a test that would showcase my abilities as a soldier!" Kyle said with a deep breath.
"That's enough! Soldier, you shouldn't go overboard!" Commander Brandt stood up and slammed the desk with a hint of annoyance on his face. "What qualifications do you have to challenge me? You're humiliating an officer. I can easily report you to the military court and have you court-martialed!"
Kyle knew he had no way back and could only persistently say, "I never meant to insult you, Sir. I am serious and want to take this opportunity to demonstrate my abilities as a soldier."
"You!" Commander Brandt was about to say something when the female agent beside him interjected, "Soldier, what do you want to challenge Commander Brandt in?"
"Just marksmanship. Any type of firearm will do," Kyle answered firmly.
The female agent locked her beautiful eyes onto Kyle, and it looked as if she is trying to find something on his face. Finally, she said, "I think we can give him a chance," before returning to her silence.
"You want to challenge me in marksmanship, huh? I can't tell if you're overly confident or just giving up on yourself," Commander Brandt sneered as he spoke while sitting back in his chair with a silence that spoke volumes.
He continued, "But I'll make sure you leave from here convinced. Five o'clock this afternoon, at the shooting range, we'll compete on the fifty-meter rifle target."
"Okay," Kyle breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was going according to plan, and his attention was now focused on the female agent.
A female agent who could interject in the commander's words seemed to have some authority. Kyle wanted to see if she had any Ability Cards that would be useful in the upcoming challenge.
With a decisive thought, Kyle directed his attention toward the female agent. At the next moment, he was almost dumbfounded.
Far surpassing the commander's thirty-odd cards, more than seventy Ability Cards sprang forth from the female agent. The white and green cards intertwined, almost obscuring her mature and graceful figure.
[Psychology Mastery], [Medical Aid Mastery], [Morse Code Mastery], [Assassination Mastery], [True Rifle Mastery], [Etiquette Mastery]...
There were nearly twenty green Ability Cards alone!
Moreover, among them was a card that was even greener and more vibrant than the ordinary Green Cards, radiating brilliance...
"Since this is a wager, can we have this agent as a witness? It would be best to have physical evidence," Kyle suggested with a smile on his face. At this critical moment, he wasn't trying to flirt.
After all, extracting Green Ability Cards required three minutes of time and had to be done within one meter of the target.
However, the confident look on his face silenced everyone in the office, including Steve.
Author's Note: This story follows the Marvel universe's superhero, individualism, and the fantastical elements of technology and mythology.
(That is to say, some plot elements may be exaggerated, and item attributes enhanced, all to match the protagonist.)