Card maker? No, I'm a mechanic!

This place is dangerous to begin with; the energy in the discarded card is extremely unstable, and you could get injured if you're not careful.

To improve efficiency, the throughput of the processing station will inevitably increase significantly.

Doesn't that mean a sharp increase in the accident rate?

Labor dispatch workers are not considered human beings.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhe sighed helplessly.

"Looks like I need to hurry. I have to pass the Level 1 truck driver exam and get off the truck before something really happens."

But before that, he still needs to get through this period safely.

If one of the summoning cards goes out of control and a troll or something pops up, his small body can't handle it.

Having made up his mind, Jiang Zhe lost all interest in picking up trash.

Before Old Wang came to inspect, he moved like a nimble badger.

They easily slipped into an abandoned container in the corner of Zone C.

This is his secret base, and also his makeshift workshop.

In a space of only a few square meters, there were all sorts of props that seemed completely out of place with magic.

Tweezers, a magnifying glass, and even a hand-rubbed carving knife.

"Come on, let Master Jiang treat you."

As he spoke, he placed the Iron Fist card on the worktable.

While other card players might need to burn incense and pray to the Machine Soul before repairing cards.

But from his perspective as a professional mechanic, the pattern on the card looked exactly like a water pipe diagram.

"It's blocked here, the wires are too thin and the energy can't flow... Is this designer out of their mind?"

"Just for the sake of aesthetics, do they really have to make the energy coil into a Chinese knot here?"

Jiang Zhe held up a magnifying glass and complained, then picked up a carving knife.

Although he didn't possess immense mental power, his logic was quite simple.

If the water pipe is blocked, unclog it; if the road is too long, repair it.

With just a few swift cuts, the originally ornate patterns were broken in several places.

If any other card maker saw this, they would definitely scream, "The energy flow has been interrupted!"

But under Jiang Zhe's manipulation, the energy flowed like a flood finding an outlet.

It goes straight down to the fist along the new straight line he drew.

"My arthritis is cured, now it's time to modify the engine."

He stretched and then carefully took out the fireball card fragment from a box beside him.

Without needing to use his mental energy to work with the fusion fluid, he simply and carefully peeled the core off the fragment.

It was like a patch, stuck on the spot representing the Iron Fist's elbow.

"However, we still need a one-way valve."

As he spoke, Jiang Zhe used a carving knife to draw a funnel-shaped structure at the joint.

The principle is simple: it only goes out and never comes in.

The energy from the fireball explosion should only propel it backward, rather than causing injury to the arm.

This is the simplest principle of a rocket launcher.

"And this..."

He then took out that hardened card that could only be used to rub off dirt.

Although the texture of this thing is completely off, its skin-keratinizing effect is somewhat useful.

"Putting it inside the glove acts as a buffer layer; otherwise, I wouldn't know if the enemy was dead after a punch, but my hand would definitely break first."

Soon, after some repairs, a brand new card with an extremely bizarre art style was born.

The once pristine white card surface is now covered with various patches.

The texture is distorted, and some parts are even glued together.

"This is so ugly... Now I'm really unhappy."

Even Jiang Zhe himself couldn't help but complain.

"It's okay, it doesn't matter if it's ugly or not, as long as it can move."

He wiped his sweat, looked at the three-in-one stitched card in his hand, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay, I've already thought of a name... I'll call it 'One-Punch Man Limited Edition'."

"Anyway, it's my original work, so I have the right to name it."

As he spoke, Jiang Zhe couldn't wait to see how well this thing worked in practice.

He held the card between two fingers and his mental energy stirred slightly.

"Snap!"

A sound of gears turning rang out.

A pair of arm armor made of dark red metal and various hydraulic rods was awkwardly fastened to his right arm.

The arm armor looked extremely bulky, with a motorcycle exhaust pipe even hanging from the elbow.

"Ahem... We definitely won't pass the environmental protection test."

Jiang Zhe was choked by the exhaust fumes from the exhaust pipe, but he could still clearly feel the violent vibrations inside the arm armor.

Completely different from the docile and dashing cards in the original owner's memories, this was purely the roar of industrial machinery.

Although it was undeniably ugly, its heavy weight still filled him with uncontrollable joy.

That's true romance for men!

Just as he was about to light the fire and throw a punch to test his skills.

"boom!!"

A sudden roaring sound came from the main entrance of the processing station.

Immediately following were the warning sounds of the car reversing and a loud thud of a heavy object hitting the ground.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhe's expression changed, and he quickly deactivated the card and put it in his pocket.

"That noise... is it a heavy truck hauling scrap?"

He glanced at the broken bell hanging to the side and frowned.

"It's only 1 p.m.? Don't we usually haul goods at midnight?"

Although he had doubts in his heart at this moment, he certainly dared not be negligent.

After all, in this completely enclosed processing station, if the supervisor finds a reason to punish you, there is absolutely no way to reason with them.

He quickly straightened his filthy work clothes, then pushed open the shipping container and mingled into the crowd gathering towards the main entrance.

At this moment, the open space in Zone C was already in a state of chaos.

Several heavy trucks were parked to the side, their cargo beds slowly rising and continuously dumping tons of waste.

Before the waste materials even hit the ground, a visible cloud of colored smoke filled the air.

This is an extremely high concentration of residual spiritual energy.

"Cough cough cough... This taste is way too strong!"

An elderly man with gray hair next to him couldn't help but cough, muttering curses under his breath.

"That damn old Wang, he's really obsessed with money!"

Jiang Zhe recognized the old man; everyone called him Old Li.

He is the most senior processor at this processing station; he was reportedly a Level 2 card maker before.

However, due to an accident, his foundation was damaged and he lost all hope of advancement, which is why he ended up here.

"Uncle Li, what's going on?" Jiang Zhe leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "Why are they unloading the goods in the middle of the day?"

"What else could it be? They're rushing to be reincarnated!"

Old Li spat angrily and pointed at the heavy trucks.

"In the past, we would bring them over in the middle of the night to air out overnight to dissipate their energy. Although it was still dangerous for us to work the next morning, at least we were less likely to be blown up."

"Now look what's happened! They've just gotten rid of those useless cards, and they're already bringing them back before they've even cooled down!"

"Making us poor wretches to directly demolish things—isn't that just risking our lives to meet some damn quota?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhe's heart sank.

You should know that this kind of useless card is like a dud bullet with the fuse removed.

Although everything seems fine now, if the collision causes the energy circuit to resonate...

"Sizzle!"

Just then, a burst of purple lightning suddenly erupted from a pile of waste not far away, startling several young men who were moving the waste, who jumped away with screams.

"You all better watch out! That's a useless lightning-type card, don't touch it with your shovels!"

Old Wang, the foreman, stood far away, holding a megaphone and shouting something from time to time.

"Hurry up! The next batch of goods is already on its way. Anyone who dawdles won't be eating tonight!"

Looking at Lao Wang's face, Jiang Zhe subconsciously touched the One-Punch Man card in his pocket.

Old Li is right, this place is getting more and more dangerous.

This high-intensity work, coupled with this extremely unstable waste material...

It's probably only a matter of time before something bad happens.

"Let's go, Xiao Jiang."