Chapter 30: Unexpected

Four-colored light, shining with white, blue, purple, and gold, a deck of cards floated in front of Warren, waiting for him to examine them.

The golden light flashed twice, causing a smirk to appear on his face.

This time, he washed his hands before drawing the cards.

The Mutant Bonus Mission was almost complete, so he decided to reward himself with a rare hundred-card draw.

As for drawing epic cards, he had to wait until the gold mine issue was settled. He was currently negotiating the purchase of a mine, and a gold mine with an estimated reserve of seventeen tons was almost finalized. The total price was cheaper than buying gold directly, but he would need to mine it himself.

Warren usually started by looking at the higher-level cards first, but this time he changed the order and looked at the lower-level cards first.

Most of the 110 cards were white cards, and they were mostly useless. Warren sifted through them and chose to throw them into the disassembly machine.

What were these? They were completely useless and were all things that could be made now. Even if he could exchange them for money, it would be strange for Warren to sell these miscellaneous little things with his identity.

So he simply disassembled all of them.

Out of the 19 blue cards, two good items came out: the "Green Magic Skateboard" and the "Neural Connection Device."

Both of these items were good things that could be analyzed and turned into profits in a short period of time, so Warren decided to keep them, and he disassembled the rest.

Three purple cards yielded the "Hair Control," which he also disassembled because there was no need to control his hair even if it turned into steel wires.

There was a "Magic Four Arms" card, which he also disassembled. Having so many wings was already enough, but growing an extra pair of hands would be too much, and they were even magic arms, so he disassembled them.

There was a "Tactical Goggles" card, which was a good item that he decided to keep as a technological reserve.

Next were the highlights, two gold cards!

The golden rare card, "Dangerous Wanderer."

"Meow, meow, meow?"

He actually drew the Gundam from "Pacific Rim"!

But this thing wasn't very useful, it was only effective against large targets like monsters. It couldn't compare to missiles, so he might as well get another Black Cat Mecha.

The golden rare card, "Radiant Shield of Light": Creates an energy wall to block attacks and pushes forward, causing light and fire attribute damage to enemies it collides with, and explodes upon reaching the maximum distance or controlling it to explode.

"Perfect for my skills."

This was actually the skill of the Archangel Lady from Dungeon Fighter Online (DNF). Warren could also use light and fire attributes, so it gave him another magical attack method.

Taking stock of the gains, the Green Magic Skateboard and the Neural Connection Device were both very useful and money-making tools.

The Tactical Goggles were a definite military-grade technology and also a good thing to have.

The Radiant Shield of Light was the only magical skill card, and it matched his attributes perfectly.

As for the Dangerous Wanderer...

"Disassemble!"

What use did a huge robot that required two people to operate have? There were no big monsters on Earth, and even if there were, that was the domain of missiles, not Gundam.

The golden dust of truth.

Warren tried to use the card enhancer and put the purple card "Mind Control" into it. Two upgrade options appeared:

Golden Rare Dust of Truth

Purple Rare Dust of Truth *10 (insufficient)

As expected, one Golden Dust of Truth was enough to upgrade the Mind Control card to a gold card.

"Then let's upgrade."

The golden powder merged into the card, powerful energy converged, and the purple gem was rendered golden. The patterns and text on the card also changed accordingly.

Golden Rare Card: "Twisted Belief": Implants one's own image into the target, causing them to fall into a fanatical worship state. The longer the time, the stronger the effect. Using this ability requires physical contact and its effectiveness is reduced or ineffective against individuals with strong willpower or who are guarded.

"Upgrading to a gold card doesn't seem to make it particularly powerful, but it's still not bad... I wonder if it has any effect when used on someone who's already unconscious."

If someone is unconscious, they definitely wouldn't have strong willpower or be guarded.

"Tony Stark is coming back soon. Take the opportunity in the next couple of days to secure Obadia's shares."

－－－－－－

The Green Magic Skateboard was a personal flying device, a proper piece of advanced technology.

The Neural Connection Device was a black technology that could interpret brainwaves. With it, one could operate electronic devices with their consciousness. It was also a proper piece of black technology.

The Tactical Goggles could identify and lock onto targets. With them, even a mediocre fighter could shoot accurately, rivaling auto-aim.

These three pieces of equipment were stored as technological reserves. Due to their importance, Warren had the Red Queen research them herself. After all, Harry, whom he trusted, was currently working on creating his personal health assistant, Baymax. Once he finished making Baymax, Warren would give him new tasks.

But when Warren went to see the Baymax that Harry had made... how should he put it? It was hard to describe.

He simply wasn't the protagonist, not even a supporting character. He was just an ordinary person. Expecting him to produce a finished Baymax like the geniuses in a matter of minutes was unrealistic. It would take time.

On the other hand, during this time, the Red Queen had learned a lot of knowledge and had the potential to surpass Harry and become Warren's top assistant.

...

Originally, today was planned to specifically deal with Obadia's affairs and test the power of the new ability, "Twisted Belief." However, a Wakandan delivery arrived, and it even brought a prince from the other side. Out of respect, Warren personally went to meet him.

At this time, T'Challa was not yet the Black Panther. He had just graduated from school and was preparing to participate in social events everywhere to prepare for taking over his father's position as the prince.

No choice, the Prince of Wakanda chose Worthington as his training ground, and Warren needed to accompany him because he would purchase Vibranium from them in the future.

Young Black Panther seemed a bit reluctant, but it wasn't directed at Warren; he just didn't like this kind of occasion.

Sorry, it's not like Black Widow, right?

But Warren followed his planned itinerary and visited Worthington's factories, learning how the entire enterprise operated and accumulating experience for his own life.

Damn, why did I have to bring a kid along?

After visiting the last location, T'Challa seemed impatient to bid farewell to Warren. It was obvious that this young prince, who was still somewhat immature, had his own places to go and didn't want to listen to his father's command to accompany Warren to learn about "how big enterprises operate," such a boring topic.

Fine, Warren also wanted to leave. Perfect timing.

On the way back, Warren contemplated a question: should he finish dealing with Obadia today and test the new ability "Twisted Belief," or should he leave it for tomorrow?

Screech!

The driver abruptly hit the brakes, bringing Warren back to reality.

"Mike, what's wrong?" Warren asked, slightly annoyed.

"B-b-boss, there's a monster up ahead!" Mike stammered in fear.

"A monster? A mutant? What's so surprising about that?" Warren opened the car door, preparing to get out and investigate.

Swoosh!

A piece of metal instantly sliced off half of the car door that he had just opened.

Gulp~

Warren swallowed a mouthful of saliva, grateful for his danger perception ability, as it had saved his hand from being severed.

Steelization.

Damn it, if it weren't for his danger perception, he would have lost his hand.

"Which son of a bitch..."

Boom!

A black shadow flew quickly from above Warren's head and crashed into a nearby building.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The sound of heavy pounding echoed as the smoke dispersed, and Warren could finally see what that thing was.

It was a big green guy.

The green behemoth turned around, his bloodshot eyes locking onto Warren. He tossed aside the wreckage in his hand, and his heavy and rapid breathing indicated his displeasure.

"Oh my God!"

Hey, Asgard, can you help me get Thor? Earth needs his assistance.

Damn it, why do I always run into the Hulk when passing by?

Maybe I shouldn't have met that Wakandan prince.

The people around were either hiding in their cars or fleeing in fear. Warren, standing there with his steelized skin activated, was particularly conspicuous.

"Roar!"

With an angry roar, the Hulk threw a punch, and the ground instantly sank into a large pit. He then grabbed a piece of rubble and hurled it toward Warren.

"You!"

No time for cursing, he needed to protect himself from the enraged Hulk first.

Bullet Time!

The flow of the entire world suddenly slowed down, and the rubble thrown by the Hulk also decelerated. Warren could even see the distorted boundaries of the air flowing.

His first instinct was to dodge, but...

Damn it, Mike was right behind him. Judging by the trajectory, that rubble would hit Mike for sure.

"Explosion!"

Warren raised both hands, and a fiery and explosive energy gathered in his palms.

Mike stuck his head out and saw a huge shadow hurtling towards him. He completely froze.

But then, a bright light dissipated the shadow.

Boom!

The falling rubble resounded, and in the dissipating smoke, a figure stood tall.

Warren glanced at the wreckage, realizing that it was just a lamppost that he had casually snapped in half. He then looked at the terrified onlookers around him, and let out a sigh.

Boom!

Another explosion of flames hit the Hulk, but it was like scratching an itch, unable to break through his green skin.

Suddenly hit by flames, the Hulk raised his hands to protect himself and glared angrily at the person who dared to attack him.

This guy was like a powder keg that exploded with a touch. Warren was well aware of this, which was why he did what he did.

Energy converged for the third time, even though he was uneasy in his heart and unwilling to admit defeat. Warren smiled and said, "Hey big guy, if we're going to fight, let's go to a dance studio."

Boom!

The flames that caused no substantial damage to the Hulk hit his face once again.

"Roar!"

With an angry roar, the Hulk launched a giant fist towards Warren.