161: 10 billion growth

"Daily natural Growth: 1,048,576 Health Points."

This number swirled in Lin Yu's mind, giving him a long-lost sense of dizziness, similar to when he first successfully constructed the Ghost Card loop.

It looked good.

This data indeed looked much better.

But it wasn't enough.

A follower who could grow a million HP every day was very strong.

But he… he might not just have one!

What if it was an army?

An army composed of countless followers, each growing a million HP every day.

That would be a truly unstoppable tide.

Lin Yu's thoughts accelerated wildly, and a new, even grander plan instantly formed in his mind.

He reached out his hand and gave an order to the Vampire Bat on his shoulder, which was still curiously observing him with its small red eyes.

"Recycle."

The bat's body transformed into a streak of blood-red light, re-converging into his palm, turning back into the grayish-white card.

"[Card: Vampire Bat]"

"[Quality: White · Common]"

"[Type: Follower Card]"

"[Attributes: Health 10, Attack 2]"

"[Traits: Flight, Lifesteal, Nocturnal]"

"[Note: Too much noise will wake it up.]"

Something was wrong!

Lin Yu checked the card's attributes.

Then, the trace of fanaticism on his face froze.

It was gone.

Everything was gone.

The Growth status, which had just successfully stacked with a million layers of effects, was completely erased with the act of recycling.

This card had reverted to its original state, a junk card with only ten Health Points.

The card system seemed to have a fundamental reset logic.

Once a follower was recycled into card form, all statuses attached to it would be cleared.

And his Growth status, although its effect was permanent, the status itself didn't seem to be recognized by the system as part of the card.

A bit of a pity.

Lin Yu casually tossed the Waste Card aside.

The grand blueprint of building a Growth army was shattered in the face of reality.

However, it was only a bit of a pity.

Lin Yu was never someone who would be defeated by a single failure.

If this path was blocked, he would take another.

He believed that he would definitely find a way to fully duplicate followers, including their statuses.

Perhaps it was a more advanced Card Creation technique, or some special rule-based card.

There would always be a way.

Nothing was impossible in this world!

The Ghost Card duplication module gave him enough confidence.

If even such an 'electricity meter reversing' deck could be formed, what else couldn't?

But now... his gaze returned to the Growth card he had personally created, which was practically useless.

Who said a card could only be used once?

And who stipulated that a follower could only gain the Growth status once?

The card's description was clear:

"Target a friendly follower unit, granting it the 'Growth' status permanently."

It said "gain."

Not "replace."

A thought, both utterly insane and perfectly logical, exploded in his mind.

If he couldn't increase the number of followers,

Then he would raise their quality to an incomprehensible level!

The fatigue Lin Yu felt from creating a new card was completely dispelled by a burning passion.

He once again summoned the poor, clueless Vampire Bat.

Then, his hands became a blur of motion.

"[Your next card effect will repeat twice]"

Ghost Card copy.

Ghost Card multiply.

Two became four, four became eight... the tedious yet spectacular card loop, which had played out countless times in the Insect Dwelling, started once more.

This time, his goal was incredibly clear.

Five seconds.

In just five seconds, the 1,048,576x amplification was completed again.

A card containing a million Growth effects appeared in his hand.

"Use."

The green light once again merged into the Vampire Bat's body.

"[Your follower 'Vampire Bat' gains 'Growth' status]"

"['Growth' status stacking...]"

"['Growth' x1,048,576]"

"[Status stacking complete]"

Again!

"['Growth' status stacking...]"

"['Growth' x1,048,576]"

"[Status stacking complete]"

"[Current 'Growth' status total layers: 2,097,152]"

"[Current Health Cap daily natural Growth: 2,097,152 points]"

It worked!

It could stack!

Lin Yu didn't stop.

His movements were even faster than before.

His hands blurred through the air, countless cards fluttering around him, forming a dazzling torrent of light.

Five seconds later.

The third million-fold Growth card was completed.

Use.

"[Current Health Cap daily natural Growth: 3,145,728 points]"

The fourth.

The fifth... He became an emotionless machine.

A machine that frantically stacked statuses on his pet at a frequency of once every five seconds.

One minute was twelve times.

One hour was seven hundred and twenty times.

In the room, there was only the faint whooshing sound of cards flipping.

Lin Yu worked tirelessly, completely immersed in this extreme stacking operation.

He forgot the time.

He forgot everything outside.

In his world, there was only the small bat, looking bewildered, perched on his shoulder, and the string of numbers on it, constantly skyrocketing.

Ten hours.

Twenty hours.

When Lin Yu finally stopped, his eyes were bloodshot, and his entire being exuded a sense of exhaustion, as if he was on the verge of sudden death.

But he was extremely excited.

He had operated continuously for a full twenty hours.

Adding that to the previous three days, he was already at his limit.

But... it should be enough, right?

Seven hundred and twenty times an hour.

Twenty hours was fourteen thousand four hundred times.

Fourteen thousand four hundred million-fold Growth.

"[Current 'Growth' status total layers: 15,099,494,400]"

"[Current Health Cap daily natural Growth: 15,099,494,400 points]"

Lin Yu looked at the string of numbers, so long it almost made his eyes blur.

Over fifteen billion.

This palm-sized little bat, starting today, could naturally grow over fifteen billion Health Points every day without doing anything.

Now this was right.

This was more like it.

This was worthy of being Lin Yu's follower.

He extended a finger and gently touched the furry head of the small bat.

The little creature seemed to enjoy the petting, rubbing its head against his fingertip.

It had no idea what terrifying life force was now brewing within its body.