Card maker? No, I'm a mechanic!

"No, that's not right."

Jiang Zhe narrowed his eyes, his gaze refocusing on the area behind the metal sphere.

Unlike the fixed nozzles of ordinary engines.

The nozzle of this thing is tightly fitted with a ring of tiny, precise deflecting blades.

"Multi-axis thrust vectoring..."

Jiang Zhe's heart skipped a beat.

This means that the engine can not only provide thrust, but also change the direction of thrust by deflecting the blades.

It can perform maneuvers such as changing direction and even flying backwards, even at high speeds.

Instead of requiring cumbersome turns and U-turns like a regular engine.

"A vectoring nozzle...that's good stuff!"

Jiang Zhe suppressed his excitement and then calmly observed the reactions of the people around him.

"Tch, ten thousand? You're crazy for money."

A burly man in a leather jacket in the front row chuckled and then waved his hand dismissively.

"Five thousand? If it's five thousand, I'll just consider it a bit of fun."

"I'm sorry, sir, the starting price for this auction will not be lowered."

Although the auctioneer was somewhat embarrassed by what he heard, he still maintained his professional ethics.

"Then you can keep it rusty."

As he spoke, the burly man sat back down, cursing under his breath, while the others watched with amusement.

Seeing that his share was probably gone again, the auctioneer could only sigh helplessly and raise his gavel to announce that the item had failed to sell.

"Ten thousand."

Just then, a lazy voice suddenly rang out from the corner.

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man in cheap work clothes raising his hand.

"I just happen to need some material to practice with, so I'll take this."

Jiang Zhe looked completely casual, as if he had just bought some junk on a whim.

"Ten thousand times once, ten thousand times twice..."

The auctioneer was overjoyed and spoke at a rapid pace, like a machine gun, as if afraid the man would change his mind.

"13,000 times, sold!"

"Bang!"

The hammer fell, and the dust settled.

Those around him cast strange glances at him, as if they were looking at a sucker who hadn't yet been beaten down by society.

After all, there are plenty of materials available at the street stalls for practice.

Only Su Man couldn't help but tug at Jiang Zhe's sleeve with some confusion.

"Did you notice anything about this? Could it be some kind of treasure?"

You'll find out when you get back.

Jiang Zhe smiled mysteriously and didn't explain directly. He then pulled Su Man to the backstage to pay and pick up the goods.

But as he passed through another area, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye.

It's that Manager Wang.

At this moment, he was directing several people to move a rather strange machine, and he was no longer as glamorous as before.

Jiang Zhe made a mental note of it, but did not linger. Instead, he quickly left the black market with Su Man.

……

When I returned to the lab, it was already late at night.

The heavy metal door closed, keeping out the chill of the night.

After placing the dusty metal ball on the worktable, Jiang Zhe took out other materials that he had prepared beforehand.

"It's probably all there."

He calmed himself down, and his gaze became more focused than ever before.

"Suman, turn the temperature down."

"it is good."

Although Su Man was full of questions, after seeing Jiang Zhe's posture,

She knew this wasn't the time to ask questions, so she simply did as she was told and switched to assistant mode.

"Buzz..."

Jiang Zhe closed his eyes, and a massive surge of spiritual power erupted, instantly enveloping the metal sphere.

However, this step is not card making, but repair.

He then used his mental energy to transform into several tiny probes, which precisely pierced every crevice on the surface of the metal sphere.

It then vibrated rapidly, instantly stripping away the oil that had accumulated over many years.

Immediately afterwards, the mental energy continued to penetrate deeper.

"Click".

With a crisp sound, a ring of grayish-black dust was shaken off the metal ball and fell onto the table.

What's even more surprising is that Jiang Zhe's micro-management skills have been improved.

Those lines that originally looked like scratches.

They gradually connected and formed a series of intricate and complex miniature rune arrays.

"this……"

Upon seeing this, Su Man's eyes widened in surprise.

Looking at the brand-new metal sphere in front of her, she could hardly believe that it was the same broken piece of junk from before.

Jiang Zhe took a deep breath and then took out a blank card and placed it in the center of the worktable.

Now comes the real highlight.

The next second, an invisible surge of mental energy erupted once more.

"Buzz..."

The materials on the table, which had been stationary, seemed to be drawn by an invisible force and began to float up.

"Merge!"

Jiang Zhe clenched his hands loosely, as if weaving an invisible net.

Under his control, the materials gradually melted into clusters of light of various colors.

However, at this moment, a sudden change occurred.

"Sizzle!!"

Just then, the dark blue light representing the biological fire control core was about to touch the silver-gray light representing the mechanical engine.

A strong rejection reaction suddenly erupted!

The two spheres of energy trembled violently, even causing Jiang Zhe's mental energy to fluctuate slightly.

"Rejection reaction?"

Su Man's heart tightened, and she instinctively stepped forward, asking, "Do you need me to add the fusion fluid?"

If something goes wrong during card making, it's usually because there's not enough fusion fluid. This is pretty much common knowledge in card making.

"No need, it's normal."

But Jiang Zhe didn't even lift his eyelids, his expression remaining calm.

"Neural signals and electronic signals are simply not equivalent; I'll build a bridge between them."

He flicked his fingers rapidly, and the spiritual energy that had been enveloping the material quickly changed.

It transformed directly into countless fine probes, piercing together the still twitching energy.

This is no longer card making; it's practically surgical modification!

"Buzz..."

As the first connection of energy was successfully established, the violent repulsive force instantly weakened by one point.

Then came the second thread, the third thread...

Under Jiang Zhe's terrifying micro-management, the originally conflicting light clusters began to resonate in a strange way.

It was like successfully taming two wild horses and harnessing them to the same chariot.

"call……"

As the ball of light gradually stabilized, Su Man realized that her palms were covered in sweat.

Only a madman would dare to do something like this, relying solely on some kind of technical operation without using a fusion fluid.

……

As the last loop closed, Jiang Zhe abruptly withdrew his mental energy.

The whole process was smooth and effortless, without any unnecessary movements, as if he had already rehearsed the image in his mind a thousand times.

"boom!"

The next moment, a dazzling silver-blue light burst forth.

As the light faded, a brand new card slowly fell to the ground.

It has a cold, metallic sheen and a complex spherical mechanical structure engraved on its surface.

Surrounding it were several streamlined light patterns, which seemed ready to burst out of the card at any moment and soar into the sky.

But just as Jiang Zhe reached out to take the card...

"Buzz!"

A familiar yet unfamiliar stream of information unexpectedly rushed into his mind once again.

[Tier 2 Card: Floating Cannon (Prototype)]

[Type: Summon/Mechanical Creature]

[Effect 1: Target acquisition, enabling fully automatic target acquisition, evasion, and tactical coordination without guidance.]

[Effect 2: Loading. Standardized card slots are provided on the side of the fuselage. Other attack cards need to be loaded as ammunition for output.]

[Growth Trait: This card has evolution potential and can be upgraded by replacing its core components or consuming similar mechanical relics.]

……

"evolution?!"

Jiang Zhe's pupils suddenly contracted, and his heart began to pound uncontrollably.