Chapter 20: New System Functions: Card Disassembly and Enhancement

The Nine Council, initially formed by nine influential individuals in their respective fields, was established as a mutual aid organization but was initiated by Hydra.

In modern times, the organization only had five members left, and with the addition of Warren, there were now six.

However, looking closely, the influence represented by these six individuals was terrifying.

The military, the government, oil and transportation, shipbuilding, pharmaceutical control, and now Warren's addition from the pharmaceutical industry.

Whether it was implementing the principle of "mutual aid" or engaging in exchange of interests, they were helping Warren expand into the military-industrial complex.

With the addition of the military-industrial complex, the power of this organization had become extraordinary.

After joining the Nine Council, Warren promised to share the Self-Healing Elixir with them as soon as it was developed.

As people grew older, they became afraid of death, and William Locksen was already too old, so he was particularly eager for the Self-Healing Elixir to be developed quickly.

"I can wait for another two years."

The others didn't have the same urgent need for the Self-Healing Elixir as William Locksen, but who wouldn't want something that could extend their lifespan?

...

Leaving Locksen's mansion, Warren returned to his own home.

"I didn't expect them to have data on Wolverine."

The reason William Locksen knew that the Self-Healing Elixir could prolong life was because he obtained a file containing information about Wolverine, Logan.

Logan, the Wolverine, had lived from the First World War to the present day without aging. Locksen obtained this information from another William.

William Stryker.

William Stryker died in the events of X-Men 2, and it had been over a month since X-Men 3.

He was a mutant hater who conducted many experiments on mutants, and he provided the Adamantium alloy bones to Wolverine. Therefore, he naturally had information about Wolverine.

Locksen didn't know where he got this information from, but it was incomplete, so he gave it as a gift to Warren, who was relatively knowledgeable, hoping it would be helpful for the development of the Self-Healing Elixir.

Although it was a good thing, it was not useful for the development of the Self-Healing Elixir.

The Worthington Laboratory focused on gene targeting technology, while the information obtained from William Stryker was about cruel mutant modifications and the transplantation of mutant abilities, and it was incomplete.

Transplanting mutant abilities?

"How many hot potatoes am I going to handle?"

The new gene targeting technology developed by the Worthington Laboratory over more than a decade was already a Pandora's box. Warren didn't dare to release it, otherwise, anyone could extract genes, which would be a disaster for the world.

Now there was another part of the mutant ability transplantation and modification technology, even if it was incomplete, it was still a dangerous thing.

"Never mind, I have many debts."

He would take care of these dangerous technologies. If they failed... then he would run away!

"System, I want to draw cards."

With a balance of over 10,000 gold coins, it was meant for drawing rare cards.

Epic cards were too expensive, and without opening a gold mine, if he acquired too much gold through large-scale acquisitions, the government would intervene. So it was better to open a gold mine in Africa.

After all, Warren had already exposed this matter, and everyone understood that he needed to absorb gold. It would be understandable if the gold mine produced nothing.

There was no need to hide the fact of spending money. Just come up with a reason. After all, why not let me spend money if I earned it with my own abilities?

"Rare cards, ten consecutive draws."

Drawing ten cards in a row would be so cool!

The rare cards glowed and burst out in a dazzling display.

Most of them were white, a few were blue, and there were three or five purple cards... and that was it.

"What the heck! Not a single gold card?"

Out of a hundred and ten cards, not a single gold card appeared. The probability was truly disappointing.

[Card collection has reached the limit. New functions added: 'Card Disassembly Machine' and 'Card Enhancement Device'.]

[Card Disassembly Machine: Disassemble cards to obtain a certain amount of 'Dust of Truth'.]

[Card Enhancement Device: Used to enhance cards and increase their level, requires a certain amount of 'Dust of Truth'.]

The card collection had reached a limit of 99 and the system had updated with two new functions.

"Card levels can be upgraded? That's not bad."

After all, some cards were not very useful, so sacrificing them to enhance useful cards was better.

"Let's start with the purple cards."

He obtained five purple cards and seventeen blue cards. The rest were all white cards.

Purple Rare Card [Red Queen]: An artificial intelligence and physical host from the world of Resident Evil. Use with caution, as it carries a virus.

"You..."

Warren was speechless when he saw the description of the Red Queen. Of course, he was happy to obtain an artificial intelligence, but what did it mean by "caution, as it carries a virus"?

Would the T-virus be released when he used it?

Well, thank you very much. Drawing a card and getting two things!

"I will establish a containment facility sooner or later."

Gene targeting technology, mutant ability transplantation and modification technology, and now the T-virus. If the Marvel Earth was destroyed one day, it would undoubtedly be Warren's fault.

The second card was the purple Rare Card [T-Virus Solution].

"Damn!"

A thousand words condensed into a refined character.

You actually gave me the zombie virus solution too. Do you think this world is not chaotic enough?

Purple Rare Card [Forced Teleportation]: Eliminate your own inertia and perform a forced teleportation, one of the most popular skills in Dungeon Fighter Online.

Purple Rare Card [Mirror Image]: Leave behind an attack-less illusion in place and enter stealth mode yourself.

"Finally, there are some useful skills!"

The last purple Rare Card was an equipment card.

Purple Rare Card [Ice Pulse Magic Bow]: A magical longbow that condenses ice arrows when the string is pulled.

"But I'm a fire-based user."

The powers bestowed upon Warren by the Ascension gave him the attributes of stars and flames. The first power he fused with, "Explosion," was also similar to the attribute of fire. Although the Ice Pulse Magic Bow was excellent, it wasn't suitable for him.

Forced Teleportation and Mirror Image were good; he could use them. The rest of the cards were stored in the card collection.

Warren also went through the seventeen blue cards one by one, but most of them were useless... or rather, he didn't need them.

[Intermediate Mana Recovery Potion][Excellent Rune Staff][Batmobile][Flash's Heat Resistant Armor][Chakra Metal Ninja Sword]...

They were all good, but he didn't need them.

For example, weapons. Blue Rare-grade weapons didn't have any weapon skills, while the Ice Pulse Magic Bow at least had the "Infinite Arrows" effect.

Instead of using them, Warren could easily purchase some gold and create a weapon himself, one that suited him.

Warren was satisfied with only three out of the seventeen blue cards, especially because he obtained the one he desired the most: Mind Control.

[Mind Control]: Implant your own ideas into the target's mind, subtly influencing their thoughts. The longer the duration, the stronger the effect.

Since it was a blue card, its effect wasn't overpowering. It could only subtly influence others and couldn't directly change their thoughts.

However, with the recent system updates introducing the Card Disassembly Machine and Card Enhancement Device, Warren planned to dismantle the unused cards and use the Dust of Truth obtained to upgrade Mind Control.

After all, Mind Control could play a significant role in the future.

Left with two more blue cards that Warren was interested in, they were "Charged Strike" and "Bullet Time."

[Charged Strike]: Accumulate power to enhance your next attack.

[Bullet Time]: Greatly improve your reaction speed.

Warren was currently more inclined towards skill-based cards, although, of course, it might be different for epic cards.

"Now, let's see how much Dust of Truth I can obtain by dismantling these cards and how much is required to upgrade card levels."

He randomly selected ten blue cards to dismantle, tossing them into the newly updated Card Disassembly Machine.

Bang, bang, bang...

The cards were shattered one after another, and the shiny blue powder fluttered and scattered.

[You have obtained 'Blue Rare Dust of Truth' x 14.]

Then he placed Mind Control into the Card Enhancement Device.

[Enhancing Blue Rare 'Mind Control' → Purple Rare 'Mind Control.' Requires consuming 10 'Blue Rare Dust of Truth.' Are you sure?]

Confirm.

The blue powder gathered towards the Mind Control card placed in the Card Enhancement Device, and the blue gem embedded in the center of the card absorbed the powder, emitting a glow.

After the glow faded, the blue gem on the card had transformed into a purple one.

Purple Rare Card [Mind Domination].

"It worked!"

Dismantling ten blue cards provided enough Dust of Truth to upgrade one purple card.

"Maybe I can upgrade Mind Domination to a gold card."

After all, this ability was crucial, extremely crucial.