121: Chapter 121 Substitute Test

One hour later.

At the entrance of Su Bai's mansion.

Lin Xiao opened the door.

After seeing the person standing at the door, her expression went through three stages of change.

Recognizing Wei Xiaoyu → Seeing the middle-aged muscular man behind Wei Xiaoyu who was two meters tall, with shoulders as wide as an armored vehicle, and a simple, honest smile on his face → Noticing the silver-white suitcase Wei Xiaoyu was holding.

"Su Bai." Lin Xiao called out to the house, "Someone is here to see you, carrying a suitcase, with an expression like they're here to break off an engagement."

"What engagement break-off?"

Su Bai poked his head out from the basement. His hair was messy, he had dark circles under his eyes from staying up late, and he was still holding a Card Creator pen in his right hand.

Kyubey was squatting on his shoulder.

Its tail was swinging leisurely back and forth.

"Su Bai!"

Wei Tianlong was the first to rush in. A pair of fan-sized hands grabbed Su Bai's shoulders and shook him vigorously, "I've heard so much about you! I heard from Old Wei! You slapped Xiaoyu twice!! Well slapped!! This girl has lacked discipline since she was little!! I've wanted to slap her for a long time, but Old Wei wouldn't let me!!"

"Uncle Tianlong!!!"

Wei Xiaoyu's face turned bright red.

Su Bai was shaken so hard that the Card Creator pen in his hand almost flew away.

"...Who are you?"

"Wei Tianlong! Old Wei's younger brother! Xiaoyu's uncle!" Wei Tianlong let go and patted Su Bai's back—with enough force to make Su Bai stumble forward two steps, "I heard you made a card for my Xiaoyu? The kind that makes the heart explode? Young man, you've got ideas! I like it!"

"...Are you here to praise me or scold me?"

"Both!" Wei Tianlong laughed heartily, "But let's get to business first! Xiaoyu, you tell him!"

Wei Xiaoyu took a deep breath.

She placed the suitcase on the coffee table.

Opened the lid.

The Titan Furnace Driver refracted a cold metallic luster under the living room lights.

"It was made by Shen Ye, a disciple of Venerable Qi Yuan." Wei Xiaoyu crossed her arms, returning to her arrogant demeanor, "Titan Furnace system core driver. Seven-card linkage, full heavy industrial armor route. No need to strike strange poses, no need to shout strange slogans, no need for the heart to explode."

She paused.

"And. Venerable Qi Yuan himself highly recommended it. He said in the letter—"

"What does he say I am?"

Su Bai tilted his head.

Wei Xiaoyu slapped the letter on the table.

Su Bai looked down at the letter.

Kyubey also looked down at the letter.

The living room was quiet for a few seconds.

"Idiot swindler." Su Bai read aloud.

"Charlatan." Su Bai continued reading.

"Disgrace to the Card Creator world." Su Bai flipped to the second page.

"Should have his Card Creator license revoked." Su Bai flipped to the third page.

"Expel from the Sanctuary. Never to set foot in the Card Creator world again."

He put down the letter.

There was a beat of silence.

"What else did Venerable Qi Yuan say?"

"He also said he recently met a peerless genius named Su Bai. A materials science genius only seen once in a millennium. A limitless future."

Kyubey's red eyes rolled slightly.

[Su Bai. Venerable Qi Yuan seems not to know that the person he is scolding and the person he is praising are the same person.]

"I can tell."

Su Bai returned the letter.

His expression didn't change at all.

"So you're here today to inform me—that you've changed cards. Right."

"It's not a notification," Wei Xiaoyu raised her chin, "It's an explanation. My dad said that since he promised you, I have to come and explain it myself. I chose this card purely because it's more normal. It has nothing to do with you personally."

After she finished speaking.

She subconsciously took half a step back.

The incident where she said the wrong thing and got slapped twice last time.

The muscle memory was still there.

But Su Bai didn't move.

He was just looking at that driver.

To be precise—he was using his Mental Power to scan its circuit structure.

A few seconds later.

He withdrew his Mental Power.

"This system is indeed well-made. The stability of the stellar-level collapse framework is very high, and the interface design for the seven-card linkage is also very clean. The skill level of that person named Shen Ye deserves this evaluation."

Wei Xiaoyu blinked.

She had prepared a whole bunch of words to refute Su Bai—about how ridiculous the heart explosion was, about how shameful striking poses was, about how normal girls wouldn't use that kind of thing. She had even rehearsed several rounds in her mind.

But Su Bai just said.

The opponent's card.

Was well-made.

"...Aren't you angry?" Wei Xiaoyu couldn't help but ask.

"Why would I be angry?"

Su Bai put the Card Creator pen back on the table, "You are a Magic Card Master, you have the right to choose better cards. This is your life—it's normal for you to decide for yourself."

Wei Xiaoyu choked up.

She subconsciously turned to look at Wei Tianlong.

Wei Tianlong was also looking at her. Those rough hands were crossed over his chest, and a meaningful smile hung on his rugged face.

"What's wrong, Xiaoyu? He's right."

"But he—"

"But what? Did you think he would beg you to use his card?"

Wei Xiaoyu opened her mouth.

She couldn't say anything.

Indeed.

That's exactly what she thought.

Since she was little, everyone had pampered her. Card Creators lined up to make cards for her, begging her to try them out. Even if she scolded them away, they would come back with better works next time.

She thought Su Bai would be the same.

But Su Bai didn't.

He didn't even say a single word to keep her.

"...Goodbye."

Wei Xiaoyu turned and walked toward the door.

After three steps.

She stopped.

"However."

Su Bai's voice came from behind.

"Before you go, there's something I want to confirm."

Wei Xiaoyu turned back.

Su Bai was bringing up a holographic projection screen.

On the screen was not a card blueprint.

But a diagram of human muscle anatomy.

"You said the JOJO pose is a strange posture."

"?"

"I want to educate you on the underlying logic of this posture."

Wei Xiaoyu thought she had misheard.

"The underlying logic of what?!"

"The extreme twist of the scapula and pelvis."

Su Bai's finger tapped on the hologram.

The scapula position.

Then it slid across the spine.

Stopping at the pelvis.

"The human joint structure is essentially a mechanical transmission chain composed of bones, ligaments, and tendons. In a normal upright state, the energy storage efficiency of this transmission chain is extremely low because the center of gravity line passes exactly through the rotation axis of all joints."

He zoomed in on the scapula area.

"But if you retract the scapula to the limit, while simultaneously twisting the pelvis forward to the limit—"

The skeletal model on the hologram began a dynamic demonstration.

The scapula retracted backward to the maximum extent.

The pelvis rotated forward in the opposite direction.

The spine presented an incredibly exaggerated S-shaped curve.

"This position."

Su Bai drew a line between the scapula and the pelvis.

"In biomechanics, it's called the elastic energy storage position. The elastic deformation of tendons and ligaments stores a large amount of potential energy. It's like a spring twisted to its limit."

He turned around.

Facing the stunned Wei Xiaoyu.

"You call this striking a strange pose."

"In my system."

"This is called the initial power storage for the Stand launch."

Wei Xiaoyu's brain completely crashed.

Not because she didn't understand these terms.

It was because Su Bai was too serious.

Too. Serious.

Every noun had a corresponding anatomical position label. Every mechanical concept had real-time calculations from the holographic simulation. Every deduction logic was so seamless that it felt like listening to a special report from a Sanctuary lecturer.

"Wait, wait a minute—"

"Let me add one more point."

Su Bai opened a second hologram.

This time it was a dynamic simulation of Stand combat.

"A Stand is essentially an invisible combat spirit manifested by Mental Power. It does not have a physiological structure and is not limited by physical mass. But its launch speed is constrained by the transmission efficiency of Mental Power—in other words, the instantaneous acceleration of a Stand depends on the peak density of Mental Power flowing through the user's nervous system per unit of time."

He clicked the simulation button.

The humanoid Stand on the hologram suddenly popped out from a static state.

The trajectory was a straight line.

The velocity curve was marked on the right.

"The Mental Power transmission density in a normal standing posture is about this value."

He pointed to the middle section of the velocity curve.

Then switched back to that extremely distorted skeletal diagram.

"But in the state of extreme twist of the scapula and pelvis—"

The potential energy storage bar on the skeletal model instantly filled up.

The Mental Power density curve soared directly to the top.

"The elastic recoil force of the joint ligaments will create an additional Mental Power acceleration window. The time is extremely short, about 0.03 seconds. But the Stand launch speed within this window is more than three times that of a normal standing posture."

Su Bai turned off the hologram.

Looking at Wei Xiaoyu.

"In other words."

"Striking this pose is not because I like it."

"It's because of the triple launch speed."

Wei Tianlong started clapping.

"Damn! Awesome!! I didn't understand a word, but it feels so reasonable!!"

Wei Xiaoyu glared at him fiercely.

Then turned back to Su Bai. Her lips moved, wanting to find a word of refutation.

But those terms were spinning wildly in her brain.

Scapula, pelvis, elastic energy storage position, ligament elastic recoil force, Mental Power acceleration window.

She felt she should refute every single word.

But put together.

She couldn't refute a single word.

It was a complete knowledge crush.

And it was harsher than the slap last time—last time it was just a face slap. This time it was rubbing her brain on the ground.

Kyubey jumped off Su Bai's shoulder.

Its tail swept across Wei Xiaoyu's wrist.

[Do you want to test it?]

Wei Xiaoyu looked down at Kyubey.

The red glass eyes reflected her stunned face.

[Strike the JOJO pose you think is most shameful. Then let Su Bai help you measure the Mental Power transmission density curve. See if the triple acceleration he just mentioned—is real. Or if he's just fooling you.]

"I—"

[Of course.] There was a subtle smile in Kyubey's mechanical voice, [If you don't dare to try—]

"Who doesn't dare!!!"

Wei Xiaoyu shouted subconsciously.

Then realized she had fallen into a trap.

Kyubey had already jumped to the side of the holographic projector.

Activated the Mental Power monitoring module.

Su Bai leaned against the wall. The Card Creator pen spun around his fingertips.

On his face was the same as always.

Indifference.

And.

That look that couldn't even be slapped away by two slaps.

Boredom.

Wei Xiaoyu stood in place.

Holding the silver-white driver from Qi Yuan in her hands.

In front of her was Su Bai's Mental Power monitor.

In her mind, it repeated over and over—the one proven by triple launch speed.

Extremely twisted.

So shameful it could dig out a three-bedroom apartment.

Posture.

She took a deep breath.

"If I'm going to try, I'll try."

The holographic monitoring interface lit up.