23: A million increase!

An indescribable sense of comfort rose from the depths of his soul.

Lin Yu could clearly “see” that his spiritual origin, which had become fragile due to extreme Card Transformation, was rapidly being reinforced by a warm golden current. Meanwhile, the pool representing his total mental power expanded slightly upwards under the effect of the blue potion.

It seems Life Serum can not only remove toxins but even restore one's origin!

Mental Power: 47

It's done!

One Clarity Potion brought a full 2 points of mental power growth.

Lin Yu didn't pause, taking out two more cards from his storage ring and activating them.

Again, two syringes.

He expressionlessly jabbed the needles into the previous injection sites.

Second injection.

Mental Power: 49

Third time.

Mental Power: 51

...Tenth time.

Mental Power: 65

Inside the cold metal bunker, only the faint sound of syringes being activated and the dull thud of liquid being pushed into veins echoed repeatedly.

Lin Yu's movements were mechanical and precise, like a tireless robot.

His expression remained unchanged from start to finish, but within him, the most precise and efficient calculations were being made.

Each potion meant a 2-point increase in mental power.

And every point of mental power increase meant an increase in the maximum number of Multiplication Cards he could control simultaneously.

This was the cornerstone of all his future plans.

When he used the twenty-eighth Clarity Potion, he stopped.

Mental Power: 99

Just one point shy of one hundred.

This was an important threshold.

According to information circulating in the black market, any attribute potion, after forcefully raising a user's basic attribute to 100 points, would see its effects significantly diminish.

He took out the twenty-ninth potion and injected it.

Indeed.

The cool sensation was noticeably much weaker.

Mental Power: 100

This time, it only increased by 1 point.

The potency was halved.

Lin Yu was not surprised by this.

He looked at his storage ring.

Of the 256 potions, twenty-nine had been consumed, leaving two hundred twenty-seven.

At a growth rate of 1 point per potion, the remaining potions could only provide a little over two hundred more points of mental power at most.

Not enough.

Far from enough.

His goal was the theoretical limit achievable with this potion—500 points.

Moreover, as his mental power increased, he would need more Life Serum to neutralize the increasingly strong potion resistance and ensure his body remained unharmed.

It was time to increase efficiency.

Lin Yu sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.

His consciousness sank deep into his mind.

There, a Ghost Card with a clown face and a card imprinted with “x2” floated quietly.

Ghost Card!

Multiplication Card!

His current mental power was 100 points.

Based on his experience accumulated over the past five years, 100 points of mental power was enough to support him in maintaining 12 Multiplication Cards simultaneously!

Excluding the two cards used as starting capital, he could perform a full ten multiplications!

Two to the power of ten.

One thousand twenty-four!

“Om—”

Lin Yu's temples throbbed, and a mental pressure far greater than before descended.

The Ghost Card activated, duplicating the Multiplication Card.

The Multiplication Card activated, continuously doubling the number of Ghost Cards that could be duplicated.

This was an exponential, insane growth!

In just a few seconds.

The cycle stopped.

Lin Yu's face paled for an instant but quickly returned to normal under the residual effects of the Life Serum in his body.

He looked at his storage ring.

The cards, which had originally dwindled to just over two hundred, now numbered... Clarity Potion · Standard Edition x 1251.

Life Serum Standard Edition x 1251.

A single operation had replenished his inventory to an entirely new magnitude.

This was efficiency!

Lin Yu showed no joy; he was merely a ruthless executor.

New “ammunition” was loaded.

He picked up the syringe again.

Thirtieth injection.

Mental Power: 101

Thirty-first.

Mental Power: 102

...Hundredth time.

Mental Power: 171

Time lost its meaning in the absolute silence of the bunker.

Lin Yu was completely immersed in this monotonous cycle.

Inject, feel, then inject again.

His body had grown numb to the pain of the needle pricks, yet his mind became more exhilarated and clear with each increase.

This was a positive feedback loop.

The stronger his mental power, the more precise his control over his body, and the higher his efficiency in absorbing the potion's effects.

When the potions in the ring were once again depleted, Lin Yu's mental power had already broken through the 300 mark.

He activated the Ghost Card Amplification Cycle again.

This time, the number of Multiplication Cards he could maintain simultaneously had reached 16!

Number of multiplications, 14 times!

Two to the power of fourteen... sixteen thousand three hundred eighty-four!

Massive quantities of potions instantly filled a corner of the storage ring, blue and golden light interweaving.

Lin Yu didn't even glance at them, continuing his path of enhancement.

Three hundred points... four hundred points... four hundred fifty points... As his mental power approached five hundred, the growth once again slowed.

From 0.8 points per potion, to 0.5 points, then to 0.1 points... The potential of Clarity Potion was being squeezed to its limit by him.

Lin Yu didn't even frown.

As long as there was still growth, even if it was just 0.01, he would continue.

Because he possessed almost infinite resources.

He could disregard cost, disregard consumption.

This was the most terrifying aspect of the Ghost Card Amplification Cycle!

After an unknown amount of time.

When Lin Yu injected another Clarity Potion, the feeling of mental power growth completely disappeared.

His mental power value steadily stopped at an integer.

Mental Power: 500

Reached the peak.

The maximum potential of this potion, valued at two hundred thousand in the black market, had been completely exploited by him.

Lin Yu roughly estimated.

To reach this limit, he had consumed a total of over two thousand Clarity Potions and an equivalent amount of Life Serum.

If converted to market price, this was a terrifying expenditure exceeding four hundred million.

And all he had paid was some mental power and time.

Lin Yu slowly stood up.

He felt the unprecedentedly vast mental power within him.

If his mental power before was a small pond, now it was a bottomless lake.

500 points of mental power.

This meant that the number of Multiplication Cards he could maintain simultaneously was... 22!

Excluding the two activation cards.

The number of Multiplication Cards he could use consecutively was a full twenty!

Lin Yu's breathing hitched for an instant.

A number automatically appeared in his mind.

Two to the power of twenty.

One million forty-eight thousand five hundred seventy-six.

An amplification of over one million times!