Card maker? No, I'm a mechanic!

Meanwhile, inside a makeshift shelter built with scrap metal sheets.

"Cough cough..."

Zhang Yuan couldn't help but cough, and the tool in his hand almost broke the core rune of the puppet.

Taking a deep breath, he had to forcefully mobilize his mental energy to steady his trembling fingertips.

Only then could he barely manage to push the somewhat loose rune, which was about to fall out, back in.

"Damn, the power in the core area is too much..."

Putting down his tools, Zhang Yuan rubbed his head in frustration.

"It's only the afternoon of the third day, but I already feel like I'm almost at my limit."

He couldn't help but complain.

"I've been to the Triangle Ruins before, and back then I would stay for four or five days before I started to feel a little nauseous."

"But now things are really bad. In just three days, my strength has probably decreased by 30%."

"Even repairing puppets requires forcibly using mental power to stabilize their movements."

He clenched his fist, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.

"If this continues, I'll probably have to leave on my back on the fifth day."

"Where is it too big? Everyone's constitution is different; you're just too weak."

Meanwhile, Li Kai was sitting cross-legged on a metal plate.

He kept fiddling with a piece of armor that had been removed from the guard.

Although he also looked exhausted, he was in much better condition than Zhang Yuan.

A glint of light flashed in his eyes, and his body tensed as if he could unleash astonishing power at any moment.

"If you can't even withstand these minor side effects, how can you become stronger?"

"Of course you're fine, you're just an animal."

Zhang Yuan rolled his eyes, too lazy to argue with him.

"Speaking of which... where did Jiang Zhe go?"

He took a bottle of water out of his bag, took a sip, and his gaze unconsciously drifted toward the dimness in the distance.

"It's been almost four days. Judging from his performance, even in danger, there should have been some activity."

"We even saw those two unlucky guys from Whitestone City last night, didn't we?"

"They were being chased all over the place by two lizards, screaming like pigs being slaughtered."

Zhang Yuan shook his head. "Besides, I've never seen the one from Ironforge City either. Could it be that the two of them teamed up?"

"Or are you injured?"

"Or perhaps..."

A bad thought suddenly popped into his mind.

If Jiang Zhe were to collapse here, it wouldn't be a good thing for the academy.

"Who knows?"

Li Kai sneered and suddenly exerted force in his hand, actually squeezing a fingerprint into the armor plate.

"They might be surrounded by those lizards too."

"It's better if he's dead, then it'll save me the trouble of looking at him."

He silently added a sentence in his mind.

The sensation within my body became clearer and clearer, that inexplicable guidance... was right ahead.

If I could get rid of the hidden danger in my body, I might even gain greater power!

"Alright, enough with the nonsense."

Li Kai stood up, dusted off his backside, and a hint of longing flashed in his eyes.

"Have you rested enough? Let's go then."

After saying that, he didn't wait for Zhang Yuan's response and strode out of the shelter.

"Ugh... what a reckless fool."

Zhang Yuan sighed. Although he was reluctant, he could only resign himself to his fate, pack his things, and follow.

After all, although these past two days have been dangerous, it has to be said.

Following Li Kai has indeed yielded many benefits.

Not only did they collect a lot of rare materials, they even managed to get a fairly complete blueprint.

"Fortune favors the bold."

……

Soon, the two of them walked one after the other through a huge ruin.

The area is filled with collapsed metal walls and pipes, and the terrain is extremely complex.

Something's not right.

After walking a distance, Zhang Queyuan suddenly stopped.

Then he grabbed Li Kai in front of him and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Look over there!"

Li Kai looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a pile of ruins not far away.

A huge puppet, almost the size of a small truck, was sitting there quietly.

"It's a truck!"

He narrowed his eyes and quickly recognized this troublesome puppet.

This thing doesn't have any ranged attack methods, and its combat methods aren't particularly sophisticated either.

However, its alarming numbers perfectly compensate for this shortcoming.

The terrifying impact speed and the frontal armor that almost ignored most attacks were a nightmare.

Zhang Yuan's level 2 offensive puppet was defeated because it couldn't dodge in time.

As a result, it crashed into a pile of scrap metal.

"Don't disturb him, let's go around him."

Zhang Yuan frowned. "This thing is tough and thick-skinned; it's difficult to fight and doesn't do much good."

"Um."

Li Kai nodded. Although it wasn't that he couldn't win, he really didn't want to waste his energy while traveling.

The two carefully huddled close to the base of the wall, preparing to sneak past silently.

However, just as they had taken a few steps...

"Buzz..."

The truck, which had been quiet, suddenly seemed to have grown eyes on its rear end.

Without any warning, the massive vehicle suddenly drifted off course.

Then, the car was pointed directly at the location where the two were hiding.

"Boom!"

Before they could react, the truck charged straight at them like a cannonball with unparalleled momentum.

"Holy crap? How did he find out?" Zhang Yuan's expression changed instantly.

However, the two were experienced veterans after all, and although they were panicked, their physical reactions were not slow at all.

Given enough distance, avoiding such a straight-on collision isn't too difficult.

"Bang!"

The next moment, the truck crashed violently into the wall behind the two men.

Debris flew everywhere, and the entire wall collapsed instantly.

Taking advantage of the moment when it was stiff and frozen after hitting the wall, a fierce glint flashed in Li Kai's eyes.

He clenched his fists tightly, and a layer of dark, hard shell suddenly appeared beneath his otherwise normal skin, causing it to bulge.

"Let's do it!"

He leaped high into the air, and his heavy fist, encased in a hard shell, slammed down with a whistling sound.

"boom!"

A twisting sound rang out, and a section of the truck's fragile side cover was dented by the impact.

Seeing this, Zhang Yuan didn't think much and directly threw the little puppet that he had just repaired away.

At the same time, a flash of light appeared in his hand, and the card was instantly activated.

"Sizzle... Boom!"

With a burst of sparks and lightning, the truck finally came to a stop with a screeching sound.

"Phew... all done."

The two men were panting heavily, but neither showed the slightest joy at their victory.

"No, we have to go right now!"

Li Kai's face turned ashen. He didn't even glance at the paralyzed puppet before turning and running away.

"It should be here soon!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yuan quickly regained his composure and hurriedly followed.

The painful lessons learned in the past two days have taught them one thing: the puppets are everywhere here.

Aside from ambushing and instantly killing, as long as it's a direct firefight and someone sees it, it will be killed.

The other puppets around them would then rush to their aid at an irrational speed, like sharks smelling blood.

"Buzz..."

As if to confirm his words, a faint sound of air being torn apart could be heard in the distance.

"run!"