At this moment, three items were laid out in front of Luca.
These were the items he had personally identified and picked out during his trip to Wakanda.
Although the "Core Components" of these three items looked a bit odd, they weren't all useless.
The first item was Wakanda's unique flora: the Heart-Shaped Herb.
As mentioned before, Luca had dug up most of Wakanda's Heart-Shaped Herb reserves, soil and roots included.
However, his intention wasn't necessarily to use these herbs to enhance his subordinates directly. It was more of a "since I'm already here" and "might as well take it" mentality at work.
Bringing so much back was mostly for sampling and research; Luca absolutely wouldn't let his people consume them directly.
This wasn't because the Heart-Shaped Herb's effects weren't powerful. A natural, side-effect-free Super Soldier serum would be sought after anywhere.
But Luca suspected that the so-called Heart-Shaped Herb was likely just a conduit for the Panther God to communicate with her believers.
In the source material, it was shown more than once that those who consumed the herb would have their consciousness transported to a specific plane to meet past users.
Furthermore, those enhanced by the herb could instantly have their powers 'removed' by drinking another secret potion without any side effects.
Add to that the fact that the Panther God's avatar appeared at the exact moment Erik Killmonger—an enhanced user—died.
To Luca, none of this looked like genetic modification or a physical enhancement serum.
Gaining power, communicating with a god, having the power revoked at any time, becoming a vessel for a god on earth... no matter how you looked at it, this seemed more like a metaphysical divine blessing. Similar tropes were all too common in fantasy movies.
Of course, this was just Luca's speculation. He would need to conduct further experiments and tests to know the specifics.
But regardless of the principle behind the Heart-Shaped Herb's power, it didn't change the fact that the herb Luca had plucked straight from the garden was a "Core Component."
[Artificial Devil Fruit — SMILE]
[One Piece Universe 2/5]
[Creator: Caesar Clown]
[Core Component: Heart-Shaped Herb]
[Synthesis Materials: 1 Black Panther Soul, 2 pints of Black Panther Blood]
[Item Description: The SMILE Fruit. Developed by Caesar Clown, these are mass-producible artificial Zoan-type Devil Fruits. Due to manufacturing processes and technological limitations, the actual production only has a 10% success rate. Even Caesar Clown himself cannot distinguish which fruits are successful. Successful fruits grant the consumer animal-like abilities, including but not limited to growing animal limbs from random body parts or having a second, uncontrollable animal head sprout from their body. Furthermore, they do not provide the physical stamina boost associated with standard Zoan Devil Fruits. Defective fruits will strip the consumer of all facial expressions except for smiling.]
[Tip: This specific fruit is confirmed to be a successful SMILE. But even so, the consumer needs to worry about how they will obtain the animal ability. So, would anyone really want to eat this thing?]
How should he put it?
Upon reading the item description, Luca immediately categorized this thing as "trash of the trash."
Although the 'System Tip' indicated there was no risk of failure for this specific fruit, and the 'Synthesis Materials' suggested it would likely be a "Devil Fruit: Black Panther Model," the guarantee of "success" was relative.
Luca had watched One Piece. The weirdos created by eating these trash fruits were countless.
If he ate the [SMILE Fruit] and ended up with a panther head growing out of his stomach, or his lower body turning into a panther—creating some bizarre, freakish form—Luca felt it would be less painful to just eat a defective one and laugh for the rest of his life.
So, even if Luca hadn't already eaten the [Pink Dragon Fruit]—which meant he couldn't eat a second one anyway—he would absolutely never use this thing to enhance himself... or his subordinates, for that matter!
Fortunately, synthesizing this fruit wouldn't be much trouble. Luca decided to treat it purely as one of the five keys needed to unlock the 'One Piece Universe.'
Once synthesized, he'd probably just toss it to Sherry and let her study it in her spare time to broaden her horizons.
Aside from the useless [SMILE Fruit], the second item was a bit more interesting.
This was an item Luca had accidentally discovered in their core laboratory while collecting data on Wakanda's Vibranium technology.
It was a Vibranium bracelet that looked somewhat like prayer beads.
Luca ignored its original function for now. Since he had all the technical data and a massive reserve of Vibranium, he could replicate the original item whenever he wanted.
What mattered was what it could synthesize.
[Orb of Harmony/Discord]
[Overwatch Universe 1/5]
[Creator: Zenyatta]
[Core Component: Vibranium Bead Bracelet]
[Synthesis Materials: 5 Miniature Energy Generators, 1 Miniature Healing Device, 1 Miniature Searchlight, 2 Miniature Shield Generators, 9 Miniature Levitation Devices]
[Item Description: Nameless Orbs. Originally just ordinary prayer beads used by the Omnic monks of the Shambali Monastery. However, when Zenyatta decided to leave the monastery and wander the world, he modified these nine beads into high-tech weapons capable of both offense and defense. The orbs possess multiple abilities: attacking, amplifying damage taken by enemies, and healing allies. If a massive amount of energy is consumed at once, the user can enter a transcendent state, becoming immune to damage for a short duration while continuously healing themselves and nearby allies.]
[Tip: Controlling the Orbs requires an Omnic Mind. The healing ability of the Orbs can also repair damage to mechanical bodies; perhaps calling it a 'Repair Protocol' would be more accurate than 'Healing.']
It was an item Luca couldn't use himself.
Of course, that wasn't absolute.
Luca naturally had no intention of modifying himself into a mechanical lifeform or pursuing some kind of "mechanical ascension," but...
Omnic Mind? I wonder if I can use the Mind Stone to simulate one and brute-force the usage?
Since the item hadn't been synthesized yet, Luca could only guess.
But even if he couldn't use it, he could just toss it to Mini-Vision.
What really caught Luca's eye was the healing technology contained within, or rather, the dual repair method for both flesh and machine.
And that miraculous ability flagged by the System as "immune to damage."
I hope the repair effect is potent. Or if I can reverse-engineer the technology, I could try applying it directly to the Boxer Gundam...
Thinking about giving his Gundam a combo of "Invincibility + Self-Repair," Luca wouldn't mind slapping a necklace of giant floating prayer beads around the Gundam's neck.