59: Chapter 59 Human Combat Power Doubling Plan

Li Qingyue's pupils suddenly constricted.

Not shock. It was mental calculation.

A 9th-tier Supreme's Mental Power was directly simulating the entire system in her mind—from Seven-Axis to twelve-axis Space Folding, from the grudge crystals of 4th-tier Phantom Demons to 9th-tier Nightmare Lords, from the 2.05 million cost to 1.5 billion. The magic capacity limit of every circuit was being reconstructed in her mind with terrifying efficiency.

A few seconds later.

She took a deep breath.

"Combat power doubled."

Four words.

"A 9th-tier powerhouse. Full stats—magic output, physical combat power, reaction speed, survival ability—at least doubled."

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan was shocked: "—One hundred percent? Including the magic pool that has already reached its limit?"

"Including it."

"Including Mental Power?"

"Including it."

For real!?

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan stared at Li Qingyue for a full three seconds. Confirming she wasn't joking—everyone who knew Li Qingyue knew she never joked, especially in her professional field.

Then Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan turned around, this time her tone was extremely formal:

"Su Bai. Deputy Commander of the 3rd Army Group, Xiao Hongyan—formally proposes a strategic-level cooperation invitation to you."

At this moment, she had completely lost that casual feeling from before; this was an equal, formal, and sincere invitation from a 9th-tier Deputy Commander.

"As long as you can create a 9th-tier Kyubey Card, the military will provide the materials, the military will provide the budget, the military will provide everything you need; you set the conditions. I have only one requirement—"

She held up a finger.

"The first one. Give it to me."

Silence.

Lin Weiwei stood in the corner, feeling as if the sky had collapsed.

If a 1st-tier Rainbow Card could be said to be astonishing, then if a 9th-tier Rainbow Card were born... I'm afraid the entire world's landscape would change!

Is this Kyubey Card actually this powerful?

"Su Bai."

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan did not withdraw her hand.

"I went to the battlefield at twenty, injured countless times. Until reaching the 9th-tier, I've been stuck at the 9th-tier intermediate level for many years. It's not that I don't want to advance, it's that there's no way to advance. As a Deputy Commander, I must guard the territory. Once I die, everyone behind me will be trampled, so I dare not take risks. But if what you say is true..."

She said in a low voice: "Set any conditions you want."

Su Bai paused for a beat. Although he didn't have a real sense of Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan's words, it didn't stop him from admiring her quite a bit.

While pondering, she turned to look at Li Qingyue.

"Master, I'll provide the framework for the 9th-tier version. You draw the circuits."

"I can do that."

Li Qingyue answered very crisply. So crisply that Su Bai was stunned for a moment.

"—Aren't you going to tell me not to be too arrogant or something?"

"Your Seven-Axis Circuit has already proven yourself. The twelve-axis is a realm I haven't touched, but your framework can push it up. However, the materials..."

She paused.

"9th-tier Nightmare Lord grudge crystals. There are no more than five left in the world."

"9th-tier Abyssal Dream-Weaving Spider Emperor silk. The Spider Emperor has been extinct for three hundred years. We can only find existing stock."

"9th-tier formless spirit sand essence. Three million per gram. We need at least fifty grams."

Director He Jin mentally calculated on the side weakly.

"Three million times fifty... 150 million. Just for this item."

"There are more expensive ones." Li Qingyue put down her hand, "Conservatively estimated—one card. 1.5 billion."

Director He Jin's hand shook, and his pen flew out.

Lin Weiwei gasped from the corner. As the eldest daughter of the Lin family, she had seen quite a few Card Creator budgets—Su Bai's 1st-tier version cost 2.05 million, and she already thought that was crazy. Now there was the word "billion" in front of this number. 1.5 billion. Enough to buy half of the Lins Chamber of Commerce's northern warehouse.

But she didn't make a sound. Because she saw Chairman Lin's eyes—they were glowing. Not with fear. It was the kind of light that only appears when a businessman smells an unprecedented business opportunity.

"1.5 billion for one? And that's not counting R&D costs! Deputy Commander Xiao, 1.5 billion is enough to equip a division!"

"The combat attrition rate for equipping a division is 37 percent."

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan's voice was very calm.

"Those who survive still need to be paid for. Medical expenses for the wounded, pensions for those who retire, training costs for new recruits. A division burns through about 3 billion a year. And one 9th-tier Kyubey Card—"

She held up her finger.

"1.5 billion for a one-time investment, combat power doubled."

"But that is—"

"That is a second life."

Director He Jin shut up. He was the logistics director. He knew every number Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan mentioned better than anyone else.

Then Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan suddenly thought of a question.

"1.5 billion each—how many can you make?"

Su Bai and Li Qingyue looked at each other.

"Theoretically." Su Bai said, "As many as there are materials for. The core framework is standardized—after Master draws the first one, the subsequent copying speed will be much faster, the same logic as mass-producing the 1st-tier."

"The difference is." Li Qingyue added, "Each 9th-tier version requires me to personally carve the causal chain. The production line cannot copy 9th-tier causal law circuits. But as long as you gather enough materials, I can guarantee the quality of every single one."

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan fell silent.

It was longer than any silence before.

Then she spoke. Her voice was very soft. But Director He Jin noticed—when Deputy Commander Xiao said this, the knuckles of the hand gripping the hilt of her military saber were turning white.

"Su Bai, Li Qingyue, do you know what this means?"

She raised her head. What was burning in her amber pupils—it was no longer fanaticism. It was something deeper, harder to describe. An expression that only someone who had been on the front line for eleven years and had seen too many people fall would show when confirming that "many fewer people can die in the future."

"It means—the human camp's 9th-tier combat power. Doubled across the board."

"Not just the 9th-tier."

Su Bai corrected.

"The 1st-tier mass-produced version covers 3rd to 6th-tier soldiers. The 9th-tier version covers high-end combat power of 7th-tier and above. If we make 3rd-tier and 5th-tier versions in between—"

"It means the whole line is doubled."

Li Qingyue finished for her.

Silence. More thorough than when the Shadow Demon was suppressed. Longer than when Su Bai transformed.

Then Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan bent down and picked up the pen Director He Jin had dropped. She turned to the last page of the risk report. She wrote a line of words.

[Recommended warning level: Hundred-star. Unprecedented.]

She closed the report and shoved it into Director He Jin's arms.

"Director He. This report of yours—you probably won't ever finish writing it."

Director He Jin looked down at the line of words. Hundred-star warning, the highest level in the military warning system—where is the highest? It has never been used. Because there has never been an event worthy of a hundred-star warning.

"... I should have asked for sick leave when I came."

He muttered.

No one paid attention to him.

Because Li Qingyue was already tearing open a spatial rift. Slender fingers reached out from the dark blue sleeves, and the golden light of the universal balance flowed between her fingers. A narrow, pale golden gap silently split open in the air.

"Su Bai. Come with me."

"Where to?"

"My Card Creator room."

Li Qingyue's voice returned to being cold. But Su Bai noticed—the hand she used to tear space, her fingertips were slightly trembling. Not nervousness. It was excitement. It was the feeling of a scholar who had been trapped in her own theoretical bottleneck for many years, suddenly being handed a brand-new map.

"The design of the 9th-tier Kyubey—let's start now."

"Wait." Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan took a step forward, "Now? Then what about me?"

"You go back to the barracks. The mass-produced version design draft will be sent to you tomorrow morning."

Li Qingyue paused. She turned back and looked at Su Bai. A very, very faint arc appeared on that porcelain doll-like little face.

"As for the 9th-tier version—"

"—It belongs to me."

Su Bai lifted the hem of her Magical Girl dress and walked toward the spatial rift. She walked two steps and stopped.

"Master."

"Speak."

"Do you have any food in your Card Creator room? Today, I was first startled by the Shadow Demon, then had a cooperation invitation from Deputy Commander Xiao smashed into my face, and just now I was glared at by you several times—I'm so hungry now I could eat the raw blood and essence of an Iron-Armored Bull."

There was a beat of silence from the other side of the spatial rift.

"... I will have someone send snacks."

"Alrighty."

Su Bai looked back at Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan.

"Deputy Commander Xiao. The mass-produced design draft will be sent to you tomorrow morning. Don't forget to send over your Mental Power rating and psychological assessment report—after the 9th-tier version is completed, you will be the first tester."

"I am already looking forward to it."

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan crossed her arms. The corners of her mouth curved into a subtle arc.

"A 9th-tier Supreme wearing a Magical Girl dress to fight. I only imagined it in my dreams before."

"Didn't you dream of yourself wearing it?"

"I look good in everything. I don't need dreams to verify it."

Then Su Bai turned sideways and squeezed into the spatial rift.

Just as she was halfway in, a voice sounded from behind.

"Su Bai! Wait—"

It was Lin Weiwei. She took a step forward.

"The design ideas for the mass-produced version—that standardized template of the Seven-Axis Circuit—you promised to let me participate in quality control. And my thesis—"

"List me as the second author on the thesis, and for quality control, you can coordinate with Uncle Lin; the design draft will be sent tomorrow."

"Okay!!"

Lin Weiwei's answer was at least half an octave higher than usual. Then she realized her loss of composure, cleared her throat, and regained her usual composure. But the tips of her ears were still red.

Chairman Lin stood next to his daughter—no, Lin Xiao was there too. She hadn't spoken just now, leaning against the wall, the Ice Bow Card already put back into the card bag. Her expression was much calmer than Lin Weiwei's, but the moment Su Bai made eye contact with her, Lin Xiao mouthed two words.

[Good—luck—]

Su Bai nodded at her.

Then she lifted her skirt and squeezed sideways into the pale golden rift. The rift closed silently behind her. As if it had never existed.

The reception room went quiet.

Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan stood in place, watching the spatial rift that had already disappeared. The soles of her military boots ground twice on the broken glass.

Then she suddenly laughed.

She turned around. Walked toward the door.

"Director He Jin."

"... Yes."

"Go back and convene the General Staff for a meeting. Topic—[9th-tier Rainbow Card Mass Deployment Plan: Feasibility Assessment and Budget Draft]. Also, help me register at the Quartermaster's Office."

"Register for what?"

"Customized combat suits for 9th-tier Magical Girls. They need to be fireproof."

Director He Jin stumbled. Then he pushed up his glasses and added a line to the last page of the report.

[Once the 9th-tier Kyubey Card is successfully developed, the combat power comparison between the human camp and the Abyss will tilt irreversibly. This tilt—is our advantage. An absolute advantage.]

After writing, he closed the report. He followed Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Outside the window. Night had completely fallen. The thousands of lights of Jinghai City spread out into a warm sea of light in the distance. And somewhere above this sea of light—under the dome of the Truth Sanctuary, the lights of the 9th-tier Card Creator room were about to turn on for a 2nd-tier disciple for the first time.

Director He Jin walked at the back, taking his phone out of his pocket. The military's internal forum. Today's top trending post:

Deputy Commander Xiao's flight permit this afternoon—destination Jinghai Academy. What made her ignore even the warnings from the Military Discipline Department? Requesting front-line battle reports》

Director He Jin glanced at Deputy Commander Xiao Hongyan's back.

Then he turned the phone over. Screen face down. Put it in his pocket.

Those who were asking for battle reports on the forum probably couldn't even imagine it in their dreams.

The battle report was not one.

It was two.

The 1st-tier mass-produced version. The 9th-tier mythical version.

And that cat that made all of this possible—was squatting on the shoulder of a 2nd-tier Card Creator, using those red glass eyes to size up the 9th-tier Supreme's Card Creator room.

It tilted its head.