Card maker? No, I'm a mechanic!

Without even bothering to put on shoes, Su Man jumped out of bed barefoot.

He then rushed to the worktable in two strides.

"I'm a good boss, I've put your food next to you, you can eat while you read."

"What's there to eat! This looks way better than any meal!"

Su Man pulled up a chair and sat down next to Jiang Zhe, resting her chin on her hands.

Her eyes were fixed on the carving knife in his hand.

"Hurry up!"

……

"Click, click."

As Jiang Zhe's carving knife fell again and again...

The hard stone tablet was also peeled away layer by layer under his precise deconstruction, revealing the secrets hidden within.

Although his movements appeared wide and sweeping, each strike was precisely aimed at the nodes where the runes flowed.

It did not damage its integrity in the slightest.

"Look closely, this is its energy storage structure."

Jiang Zhe carefully picked out a glowing rune crystal with tweezers.

"This structure allows the stone tablet to automatically absorb free energy from the surrounding environment without requiring active charging."

"It's like a solar panel with good strength."

A look of satisfaction flashed in Jiang Zhe's eyes; this thing was extremely helpful to his core plan.

With just a few improvements, the reactor's power supply problem can be perfectly solved.

As his thoughts raced, he continued his work, peeling off several small stone slabs engraved with intricate patterns from the stone tablet.

"This part is a jack-of-all-trades, the key to enhancing card effects, so we should save it for now..."

Finally, the only remaining illuminated area on the stone tablet was the central black circle, no bigger than a thumb.

"This is the main event."

Jiang Zhe narrowed his eyes, a look of anticipation curving his lips.

"It's time to retire your aura of mockery."

The next moment, he pulled out the floating cannon that he kept close to his body.

As the carving knife moved through his hand, his spiritual power surged forth like a tide, enveloping and dissolving the black circle that had been cut off.

And eventually it turned into a ball of pitch-black light.

Then, Jiang Zhe tentatively stuck the card in his hand onto it.

"Sizzle..."

At the very moment the two came into contact, a sudden change occurred.

The once quiet, silver-gray card suddenly trembled violently, like a shark that had smelled blood.

Jiang Zhe didn't even need to be distracted by guiding them.

It immediately unleashed a suction force, actively swallowing the black ball of light.

"really……"

Jiang Zhe raised an eyebrow. Although he had suspected it beforehand, he was still somewhat surprised when it actually happened.

"Is this the power of evolutionary traits?"

"No extra steps are needed. Just use your mental energy to dissolve the appropriate parts and bring them closer together."

As the ball of light was completely devoured, the patterns on the card underwent some subtle changes.

A faint black line had appeared within the originally smooth lines, as if...

"Buzz..."

The next moment, that familiar stream of information flooded into my mind again.

[Tier 2 Card: Floating Cannon (Improved Version)]

……

[New interference feature: Allows adjustment of specified emission fluctuations, and can disrupt biosensing and signal transmission to a certain extent.]

"It's done!"

Jiang Zhe snapped his fingers, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a wild grin.

With this, it would be like adding wings to a tiger for the floating cannons.

This makes it an all-around unit capable of fighting, controlling, and even conducting electronic warfare.

This would be a devastating weapon against any mechanical guards that might appear.

"How...how did they get inside?"

Su Man, who was standing to the side, was dumbfounded.

She knew Jiang Zhe could definitely upgrade the floating cannons, but why did it end up like this this time?

Shouldn't they be gesturing with a carving knife and soldering iron for ages?

"It's a new technology I've never seen before..."

After regaining her senses, Su Man nodded repeatedly.

"It's as easy as feeding a pet!"

"More or less."

Jiang Zhe put away the cards, in a great mood.

"Alright, stop standing there, the food will get cold if you don't eat it soon."

"Now that you're awake, it's time to get back to work after you've eaten your fill."

"Okay!"

Su Man stopped thinking about work exploitation and started taking big bites of her lunchbox, completely abandoning her usual ladylike image.

Now she feels full of energy.

As long as you follow this boss who has amazing skills and always has new projects to offer, life will be full of hope.

Let alone three thousand sheets, even thirty thousand... forget it, she'd be too tired to continue with three thousand sheets.

Seeing Su Man's energetic expression, Jiang Zhe couldn't help but smile with satisfaction, and then pulled over a piece of white paper from the side.

"However, it's time to consider the issue of protection."

He frowned slightly, deep in thought.

"Lead aprons or similar protective suits are too bulky and unsuitable for the dangerous environment of a historical site."

"And if it gets torn, we can't bring too many to replace because of space constraints."

"That means we need to add to the shield card that already covers the entire body."

Jiang Zhe drew a model of a spherical shield on a piece of paper.

"It's like those two guys' mobile tortoise shells, providing all-around protection and filtering, and in order to maintain it for a long time, the consumption of mental energy certainly can't be too great."

"Looks like I need to look at more options..."

……

The next day, at the martial arts arena of Tianlan Academy.

As the selection site for the core area quota, this place was packed with people early in the morning.

Not only students, but also family representatives who rarely come out, and spies from various workshops have all come.

After all, everyone wants a piece of the pie in this exploration, even if their own team loses.

Alternatively, one could exchange favors to get players from other factions to help collect certain items.

"Hey boss, who's that? So young and sitting at the professor's table?"

Among the crowd below the stage, a blond man dressed in fancy clothes was pointing at Jiang Zhe on the stage, looking displeased.

"We're crammed together like sardines, why does he get to sit there like a king, eating sunflower seeds?"

"Is he/she related to some professor?"

"Shut up."

Before he could finish speaking, the green-haired man's expression changed instantly, and he raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head.

"Don't drag me into your nonsense."

"That's Kang Cheol."

Green Hair lowered his voice, his tone carrying an undisguised sense of apprehension.

"He's the ruthless guy who dominated the exchange meeting, forcing both cities to back down!"

"Those two extra spots were all secured thanks to him!"

"Huh? He's that strong?"

The blond-haired man covered his head and looked at the young man on the stage who was casually eating sunflower seeds. His expression changed instantly.

"How is it? Does it have a decent sense of depth and layering?"

On the stage, Professor Lin asked with a smile.

"It's nothing special, just pretty standard stuff."

Jiang Zhe shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the group of students who were enthusiastically fighting each other in the training ground.

At that moment, a burly boy who had just defeated his opponent with a burning knife was enjoying the cheers from the audience with a smug look on his face.

"Um...that one."

Jiang Zhe pointed to the big guy, his tone indifferent.

"That one looks no good, just all show and no substance."

"If it weren't for the opponent's deliberate mistake, he would have been pierced through when his center was wide open."

"It's obvious that the opponent has been bribed; he'll be the first to run if things really get tough."

"Then let's kick it."

Professor Lin did not hesitate to mark the name that was so popular.

"Hey! Wait a minute!"

Seeing this, a teacher who was in charge of taking notes nearby became anxious and quickly lowered his voice.

"Professor, that's the second young master of the Zhao family. His family donated quite a bit this time..."

"What's wrong with donating money? Are you donating money to buy your life?"

Professor Lin didn't back down, glaring at him directly. "This is a trip to the core area, not a picnic!"

"Going in there like that is suicide; they might even drag others down with them!"

"If we die then, who will be responsible? You or me?"

"They have to kick him! No discussion!"