58: Chapter 58 Ninth-Rank Kyubey, Even the Supreme One Must Become a Magical Girl

Su Bai thought he had misheard.

Ten thousand. Rainbow Card. Putting these two words together had an effect comparable to pouring ice water into boiling oil—it didn't just explode the pot, it exploded the brain.

"...Huh?"

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan crossed her arms, her military boots crunching loudly on the shattered glass.

"Ten thousand cards, all allocated to the 3rd Army Group, with at least one per company."

She said this in a very flat tone, as if she were talking about adding a dish to the cafeteria menu today.

Director He Jin sprang up from the corner, his glasses crooked on the bridge of his nose.

"Deputy Commander Xiao! Ten thousand Rainbow Cards?! The total number of Rainbow Cards in our entire military doesn't even exceed one hundred! You're asking for—"

"One hundred times."

"Exactly! One hundred times—"

"Isn't that even better?"

Director He Jin opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. He then turned to look at Li Qingyue—only to find that she had no intention of refuting it at all.

Li Qingyue stood by the window, her bare feet resting on the windowsill, her long silver-white hair shimmering with a cold light in the twilight. Her crimson eyes were looking neither at Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan nor at Director He Jin.

They were looking at Su Bai.

"Su Bai. Is the mass production plan you discussed with the Lins earlier real?"

Su Bai nodded.

"Mass production is feasible; I calculated it with Chairman Lin before. By utilizing the Lins Chamber of Commerce supply chain, sourcing White Feathers of Corpse Vultures directly from northern warehouses, getting Deep Sea Blood Demon Gel from fixed hunting groups, and using a dedicated line for Shadow Silkworm Silk from southern breeding bases, the bulk procurement cost can be compressed to seven hundred to nine hundred thousand per card."

She said this in a very flat tone, as if she were repeating a technical plan that had already been verified.

The reception room was silent for a full three seconds.

Then, Director He Jin was the first to speak.

"Wait—mass production? Mass-producing Rainbow Cards? Is the mass production you're talking about the same as what I understand? Assembly lines? Bulk shipments?"

At this moment, he was completely bewildered.

Such an awesome card... can actually be mass-produced? It can really be mass-produced!?

"Pretty much. The core circuit uses template replication, and the production process for the physical Kyubey can be broken down into standardized procedures, such as material proportioning, life circuit construction, card encapsulation, and so on. One line requires roughly one Card Creator capable of drawing causal chains and Spatial Circuits for quality control, while other basic procedures can be completed by technicians."

"One Card Creator for quality control? Then what about the production line—"

"It can be built immediately."

It wasn't Su Bai who said this. It was Chairman Lin. He had just been slammed against the wall by Li Chengyuan's Mental Power impact, leaving a tear in the back of his suit and dried blood still hanging from the corner of his mouth. But that didn't stop him from standing up from the corner, adjusting his tie, and adding in the calm tone he usually reserved for quoting prices in business:

"The first dedicated Kyubey Card production line for the Lins Chamber of Commerce. The location is the No. 3 Material Processing Plant in the western suburbs of Jinghai City. The sterile magic workshop renovation has already been completed, and the first batch of technicians will be easy to recruit. It is expected—"

He paused. He looked at Su Bai, confirming with a look.

"—the first batch of one hundred cards can be delivered within two weeks."

Director He Jin took off his glasses, wiped them with his cuff, and put them back on. Then he looked at the risk report in his hand that read "Rainbow Cards Cannot Be Mass-Produced," and the corners of his mouth twitched twice.

"So—my report was wrong from the very first page?"

"You weren't."

This time it was Li Qingyue who spoke. She jumped down from the windowsill, her bare feet landing on the floor without making a sound.

"Director He Jin, what you wrote in your report was 'High-Grade Rainbow Cards Cannot Be Mass-Produced.' That is correct. The causal complexity of high-grade Rainbow Cards cannot be replicated by templates. But first-grade... the causal chain of first-grade Kyubey Cards is simple enough, and Su Bai has standardized its core circuit. This is the first time in the entire history of card creation."

She paused. Her crimson eyes turned to Su Bai.

"This is also why I said he should join the Sanctuary. Not because he can make an SSS-grade card, but because he turned the circuit of an SSS-grade card into something that can be mass-produced."

Director He Jin fell silent. Then he tore off the "Cannot Be Mass-Produced" page, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his pocket.

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan smiled. It wasn't the malicious, fun-loving smile from before, the one that suggested "I want to watch all the men in the army turn into little girls"—it was a more direct, purer smile, the kind a professional soldier only shows when confirming that a certain weapon truly exists and can be delivered in bulk.

"Good. Mass production confirmed. Then I won't be polite—ten thousand cards. How long until delivery?"

"The first batch of one hundred cards will take about two weeks. The rest—depends on the progress of the production line expansion on the Lins' side. However, Deputy Commander Xiao—"

Su Bai paused. "Mass production is one thing. But what about you yourself?"

"Me myself?"

"Don't you plan on transforming?"

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't I just say it? Let the whole army transform. The whole army of course includes myself. After all, I heard that even Li Qingyue's eighth-grade puppets can transform; this is all benefit and no harm to me."

"Wait." Li Qingyue spoke up. "Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan. You cannot use a first-grade card to transform."

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan's fingers stopped in mid-air. "Why?"

"Because you are ninth-grade."

Li Qingyue walked up to her. There was a height difference of more than half a head between the two—the silver-haired, crimson-eyed loli looked up at the amber-eyed older woman. But their auras were equal.

"The causal law carrying capacity of a first-grade Kyubey Card is limited. Third or fourth-grade soldiers can jump one and a half to two grades. Eighth-grade ones jump half a grade. You are a mid-ninth-grade; using a first-grade card will likely only take you from mid-ninth to high-ninth, and it might not even be enough. This is an inevitable result of material limitations."

She paused. "If you want to break through to the tenth grade, that is completely impossible."

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan fell silent. Not because she was convinced—but because she was doing the math. Above the ninth grade, every half-grade represents decades of bitter cultivation. One card in exchange for thirty years. This deal wasn't a loss.

But it was indeed not enough.

"In that case, it is indeed a bit subtle, but if..." Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan hadn't finished speaking when Su Bai's voice cut in from the side.

"What if it were a ninth-grade one?" Three words. The air in the reception room seemed to have been hit by a pause button.

What? Ninth-grade? A ninth-grade Magical Girl?

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan was the first to react. "—What?"

"A ninth-grade Kyubey Card." Su Bai pointed to the dark pink magic card in her hand, "I'm making the first-grade version right now because I'm only second-grade, but if the person making the card is ninth-grade—" She looked at Li Qingyue. "—using ninth-grade materials, drawing twelve-axis or even higher-dimensional circuits, the causal law carrying capacity could be raised to hundreds of times that of the first-grade."