Super Warriors: Battle with Cards

Section 2: Mysterious Card

Chen Mu's heart stirred, and his fingers skillfully pulled out a one-star energy card, placing it in front of himself for careful examination.

From the surface texture, this one-star energy card appeared ordinary, using the widely used Barks structure, which was the most common. However, Chen Mu still sensed something unusual about this card.

Weight—this card was slightly heavier than the average one-star energy card. Having produced tens of thousands of one-star energy cards, Chen Mu was intimately familiar with their weight. Regardless of the structure used, as long as it was a one-star energy card, its weight would not exceed a certain range.

Clearly, this card's weight fell outside of that range.

Closing his eyes, Chen Mu's index finger and thumb gently traced the surface of the one-star energy card, carefully feeling its slightly raised texture.

The texture was shallow and weak, giving off a sense of emptiness... this feeling... Chen Mu frowned as he tried to recall this vaguely familiar sensation.

It dawned on him... Chen Mu's eyes suddenly brightened—as if it were imprinted on a relatively shallow material!

But that didn't seem right. Chen Mu couldn't help but feel greater puzzlement. Judging by the sensation, this one-star energy card's material was extremely hard, with a thick texture. According to the usual rules, the engraved texture on it should have been more distinct.

How could it give off such a feeling? It's really strange!

After reexamining the energy card in his hand, Chen Mu still couldn't find the reason behind this peculiar phenomenon. There were no errors in the texture, and judging from the smooth and elegant strokes, it was definitely of master-level quality. Even though he had been making one-star energy cards for three years, he couldn't produce such beautiful lines.

This further intrigued Chen Mu. Master-level one-star energy cards—the concept itself was somewhat strange. Which card-making master would bother making one-star energy cards? If the card in his hand were a five-star energy card, it would make more sense.

Pondering, Chen Mu placed this somewhat strange card alongside the newly discovered one-star energy card with a new structure.

Finally done with his work, Chen Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

He had been completely absorbed in his work, and now he felt a bit tired.

"I'll take these two cards." Chen Mu held up the two one-star energy cards to Xiao Hei.

"No problem, no problem," Xiao Hei said with a smile, having made quite a haul today. Chen Mu had helped him find five partially used energy cards, and his mouth was practically crooked from smiling.

In Xiao Hei's mind, Chen Mu was quite peculiar. Judging from his attire, it was clear he came from a poor family. People from such backgrounds wouldn't miss any opportunity to save money. To them, the unused portions of these energy cards were a considerable sum of money! Chen Mu, however, didn't seem to care much about these partially used energy cards. Instead, he showed great interest in the one-star energy cards, especially the depleted ones.

Of course, Xiao Hei only thought about this in his own mind. He even welcomed it. If Chen Mu were normal, these unused energy cards in his hands wouldn't end up with him. They were all money!

While basking in the self-admiration of his foresight, he sent Chen Mu off with a smiling face.

Back at home, it was already 10 o'clock at night. After hastily eating something, Chen Mu couldn't wait to take out the two energy cards he had obtained today for further study.

The first one-star energy card immediately caught Chen Mu's attention.

It featured a structure he had never seen before, intricate patterns composed of light blue lines covering the entire surface. The card was the size of a poker card, with a slightly flexible material and a smooth surface. However, upon careful touch, one could feel the raised patterns.

To ordinary people, such complex patterns might induce dizziness and confusion, not knowing where to start.

But Chen Mu's eyes lit up. Over the past three years, he had faced similar patterns every day. Although the structure was different from what he was used to, the complexity was comparable. Those twelve new structures had provided him with a lot of experience.

To analyze the structure of a card, one must find its starting point—the point where the first stroke was made. Then, following the lines, it would be easier to understand.

Although one-star energy cards were complex, they were the simplest among all cards. However, even with this simplicity, it took Chen Mu three hours to fully understand each stroke. But to replicate the same one-star energy card, he would need a lot of practice. However, he abandoned this idea because extensive practice meant a lot of consumption. At least until now, although he had some savings, it was not enough for such extravagance.

However, this card provided him with another inspiration. Since he couldn't break through in terms of structure, why not try materials?

With this thought in mind, Chen Mu became interested in the material of this experimental card. Although it was a waste product, it was undoubtedly the work of a master, far surpassing his own knowledge in all aspects. It was because of this willingness to learn that Chen Mu decided to carefully study the three-layered material bonded together.

Carefully peeling off the layer of film that had started to peel, Chen Mu couldn't help but sigh. No matter how sturdy the material, under the erosion of time, its former glory could not be maintained.

Once the surface film was completely removed, Chen Mu suddenly froze, staring at the card, as if struck by lightning, dumbfounded!

The black card surface, like the night, was covered with thousands of silver threads as thin as hair, forming a dense network across the entire card. It seemed chaotic, but any random small section revealed graceful arcs, rigorous structures, and incredibly nested complexities.

Although the silver threads were as thin as hair and hard to discern with the naked eye, they resembled the capillaries of the human body, giving the illusion of silver liquid flowing slowly.

What is this? A card?

Chen Mu unconsciously muttered to himself, his brain completely falling into a semi-stagnant state.

Ten minutes passed before he snapped out of this daze. He stared at the card blankly, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

His speculation had completely deviated from reality. What failed experiment? This was clearly a card disguised after processing. With his limited knowledge, Chen Mu naturally didn't recognize what kind of card it was. In fact, the complexity of this card far exceeded Chen Mu's understanding. Such fine lines, such exquisite craftsmanship, were all things he had never seen before, not even thought of.

While he had seen some advanced cards at the collection station, they were all discarded items. But such complexity and refinement were beyond his experience.

What kind of card is this? Chen Mu's curiosity soared to unprecedented heights.