Card maker? No, I'm a mechanic!

"Uncle Li, I have a question I'd like to ask you."

Jiang Zhe cut to the chase and asked directly, knowing that Old Li wasn't fond of polite talk.

"Oh?"

Old Li poured two glasses of water, then handed one to Jiang Zhe, gesturing for him to sit down.

"What problem could you possibly have? You punched a troll to pieces."

His tone was somewhat teasing, but his eyes were very serious.

He had definitely never seen that card before.

It's not just a matter of a card; it's about the special technology used to make or modify those cards.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Zhe gave a wry smile and then explained his predicament.

"Uncle Li, my arm armor is powerful enough, but it wastes too much energy every time I activate it."

"I want to recycle that energy, but I can't find a suitable card loop."

He continued, "Is there a card that can store and convert energy, and also output it reliably?"

Upon hearing this, Old Li's hand, which was holding a water glass, froze in mid-air.

First came surprise, followed by a long period of contemplation.

After an unknown amount of time, he raised his head and carefully examined Jiang Zhe, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Recycle energy...reuse? Your idea is dangerous."

Old Li's voice was a little hoarse, "This kind of modification technique is no longer within the scope of a level one card master."

"Even among my group of level-two card masters, very few people tried it."

"Why?" Jiang Zhe asked, puzzled.

"Because waste energy is too unstable, forcibly recycling it can easily cause a second startup."

"It's like you're lighting a candle and releasing the smoke, except you're using your mental power to manipulate it all."

"This matter requires extreme care; failure could even affect the card maker's mental strength."

As he spoke, Old Li shook his head and pointed to his hand.

"I was injured by a thunderstorm that restarted when I was trying to recycle the waste energy from the thunderstorm card."

"That's why I can't control my mental energy now, and I can't even recover naturally."

Is that how it is?

Jiang Zhe understood, but he wasn't overly worried.

The card makers in this world are indeed perhaps helpless when it comes to restarting.

But that also means they don't fully understand the underlying logic of card games.

If it works, keep it; if it doesn't, change it.

With such continuous attempts, if the energy is not controlled properly, then one can only suffer in silence.

But he's different; he understands exactly how the card's 'circuit diagram' works.

What is a second startup?

In Jiang Zhe's view, it was just a design flaw or a wrong concept that caused the energy to go berserk because it could not be restrained.

Like the smoke from a lit candle?

That's because the smoke still contains combustible particles, and it will ignite once the ignition point is reached again.

"Uncle Li, I think I understand what you're saying."

Jiang Zhe's eyes hardened once again.

"If I capture the energy before it is fully activated and force it to follow the path I set."

"Does that mean there won't be any issues with restarting?"

"Capture...force execution?" Old Li frowned, seemingly not quite understanding.

"What exactly do you want, kid?"

"I need a card that can precisely control airflow, and then I need to modify the loops within it into a vortex-like structure."

Jiang Zhe took out the One-Punch Man movie from his pocket and pointed to the exhaust pipe.

"When energy bursts forth, the resulting fluctuations impact this structure and cause it to rotate, generating negative pressure."

"Then the energy is drawn back and reused through the pressure difference."

What?

Upon hearing this, Old Li's face was filled with doubt and disbelief.

"Controlling airflow... vortex structure..."

He kept repeating Jiang Zhe's words, and his expression gradually became fanatical.

"...Wind Bomb Card?"

Old Li suddenly slapped his thigh, his voice trembling with excitement.

"I almost forgot about this, this card is a perfect match."

"Wind Bomb Card? What kind of card is that?" Jiang Zhe asked curiously.

"It's normal that you haven't seen it before," Old Li waved his hand. "That thing is a proper level 2 card, and most people can't afford it."

"However, it doesn't consume much mental energy."

"Because the wind isn't strong, you can only dry yourself off after showering."

"So only people with money at home would buy a card that is completely useless in combat or most daily life situations."

"And those without capital are most likely to have never even heard of it."

As he spoke, Old Li pulled a dusty box out from under the bed.

"These are some of my old cards. I sold the valuable ones a long time ago, but I doubt I can sell these Wind Blast cards."

"Take a look, maybe it's still intact inside."

Jiang Zhe's eyes lit up, and he quickly moved closer.

The cards in the box were all from who-knows-how-many years ago, and most of them were already badly damaged.

He carefully searched through the cards, afraid of damaging a "grandfather card" that was older than him.

Finally, at the very bottom of the box, he found a card that was relatively well-preserved.

The card features a distorted stream of air, though it looks somewhat abstract.

But after considering the characteristics that Lao Li had just mentioned, he still managed to recognize it with difficulty.

"Found it!"

Jiang Zhe picked up the card with some excitement. Remembering what Lao Li had said about the low mental energy consumption, he couldn't wait to try it out.

"call……"

In the blink of an eye, a tiny whirlwind condensed in his palm and then quickly dissipated.

The whirlwind wasn't very strong; it was only enough to blow away some dust.

But Jiang Zhe also felt a dizzying sensation, and his legs went weak, almost causing him to kneel on the ground.

What's going on... Didn't he just type a little bit?

"You little brat!"

Old Li, who was standing nearby, quickly helped Jiang Zhe up, and his expression also became serious.

"You actually forced the activation of the level 2 card? Are you out of your mind?"

Old Li couldn't help but curse when he saw Jiang Zhe's suddenly pale face.

"You really don't know your own limitations. I meant that it consumes less mental energy."

"But that applies only to level two card masters!"

"Your current mental energy reserves are at most level one; forcibly activating a level two card is like throwing an egg against a rock!"

Jiang Zhe shook his head; he had indeed underestimated the difference between the levels.

He just didn't expect that the Wind Bullet card, which deals sustained damage, would continuously drain his mental energy.

Although only a trace was initially inputted, the remaining spiritual energy was completely absorbed.

"Looks like I can't afford to neglect my own strength either..."

Seeing that he could speak, Old Li seemed to have recovered his senses and suppressed his anger, sighing.

"You're too impatient. Do you think card ranks are just randomly assigned?"

"If your mental strength is insufficient, it is insufficient. Forcing it will only harm you."

Jiang Zhe recovered and stood up straight, thinking to himself that he had been too greedy.

No matter how good his software skills are, it's all for nothing if his hardware can't keep up.

Fortunately, what he was going to do was not to directly drive the card, but to disassemble it and use it as a spare part.

"Uncle Li...this card."

"I have a way to use it."

Looking at Jiang Zhe's confident demeanor, Old Li couldn't help but fall silent for a moment.

This is the passion that time has worn down.

"Take it, kid. This card is completely useless to me anyway."

"But you have to be careful. If your cards are ruined, they're ruined, but if your mental energy is destroyed, your life is over."

"Don't worry, Uncle Li, I know what I'm doing." Jiang Zhe grinned, clutching the cold card tightly.

After saying goodbye, he disappeared into the gradually falling night behind him.