The Worst Mage Build Ever

Underground parking garage!

Russell had stayed in the Transformers world for twenty-four hours before successfully returning to the real world, appearing inside his flashy van.

Returning home in glory was like walking through the night in fine clothes!

That made perfect sense. What was the point of traveling between worlds if a transmigrator did not show off in the real world?

But Russell did not see it that way. There were opportunities to show off in any world, but he only had one real world. If he could not stop showing off even here, what difference was there between the real world and the worlds he traveled through?

If he wanted flowers, applause, and to be the center of attention, other worlds could satisfy him. In the real world, Russell wanted nothing. After returning home from his travels, he only wanted some peace and quiet.

His trip to the Transformers world had been both successful and regrettable. Twenty-four hours had not been nearly enough for him to sort through the AllSpark’s information. He had grown used to the world’s sheer malice toward him and had no complaints.

Besides, he had already gained a great deal. Combined with the future technology he had acquired from the I, Robot world, he could barely put together a branching tech tree.

"System, how many draws do I have left? Use them all!"

The Transformers world had triggered quite a few draws: two from Fake Superman, four from Optimus Prime and the other Autobots, one from Starscream, two from Skyfire, two from The Fallen, and two from Soundwave.

He had not used Soundwave’s two draws, while all the others had been turned into cards. Excluding the cards he had already used, the remaining cards were as follows:

Character Card: Optimus Prime, The Fallen—Incomplete

Skill Card: Car Repair, Cybertronian Auto Repair, Spatial Transfer

Item Card: Wrench

Ignoring the strange Skill Cards and Item Card, the two Character Cards were quite useful, especially The Fallen’s Character Card. Although he was a seriously injured patient lying in bed, his abilities were powerful and his combat strength was quite impressive.

This card was especially valuable against enormous enemies, particularly those that flew high above the ground!

Ding!

The Host had confirmed the draw. Five draws were in progress…

Five draws: two from Soundwave and three rewards for completing the World Quest.

The Host had received the following rewards.

Skill Card: Teleportation (Just as the name implied, you went biu and vanished, then biu and reappeared.)

Character Card: Third Gourd Brother (Indestructible Body; his butt was his weakness.)

Agility Attribute Point x1

Character Card: John Oldman (The Man from Earth)

Item Card: Cybertronian Jet Fighter (Other than being unable to transform, it was almost identical to Megatron.)

Russell: "…"

Why the hell had he drawn a Calabash Brother from the Transformers world?

And wasn’t he getting a few too many Teleportation skills?

What left him most speechless was the "Character Card: John Oldman." Judging by the description, this man came from Earth, which made him sound like a big shot. Russell eagerly searched for information about him. He really was a ruthless man with extremely powerful abilities.

Immortality!

But Character Cards had time limits. Could someone tell Russell what the point of immortality lasting ten minutes at most was?

The Cybertronian jet fighter was the same model as Megatron’s. This Item Card was pretty good, and Russell intended to send it to the Marvel Universe. Combined with the advanced technology he possessed, it could be used to develop Hydra spacecraft and begin his Marvel cosmic era.

"System, add the one Agility Attribute Point. Put all six Free Attribute Points from the quest reward into Strength!"

The system allocated the points according to his command, and Russell’s personal attribute panel quickly refreshed.

Host: Russell

Strength: 61 (34+27)

Agility: 71 (56+15)

Intelligence: 92 (73+19)

Wealth: 90100

The increase in his intelligence attribute came from the AllSpark’s information strengthening it during Russell’s final twenty-four hours in the Transformers world. His Wealth Points had decreased because maintaining Skyfire’s form had consumed some of them.

Russell glanced at his character attributes and frowned deeply. Strength 61, intelligence 92—how miserable. He had never seen such a garbage mage build.

"Reading makes one wise. The ancients truly did not deceive us!"

At first, intelligence had been the weakest of Russell’s three major attributes. Other than adding Free Attribute Points, he had not been able to think of any way to improve it. Later, after obtaining the Thunder Beast body refinement technique, intelligence had become the weak link holding him back, leaving him melancholy for a time.

Now things were better. As he saw more and broadened his horizons, his intelligence attribute shot upward. Meanwhile, speed, strength, and explosive power—the things a mage excelled at most—had become his weak points.

Russell felt deeply ashamed. If he met other mages in the future and went up to greet them, would they even acknowledge him?

After allocating his attribute points, Russell drove off. Avoiding the congested roads, he took a detour home.

Along the way, he sorted through his inventory.

He had not thought much of it at first, but as his strength improved, many cards had become rather useless. Some Character Cards and Item Cards were not even as strong as he was himself. Calling them trash cards would not have been an exaggeration.

Character Card: A-Fu (I am Black Tiger Hak Foo. Prepare to die!)

"This card… how should I put it? A weird guy who names every normal attack?" Russell did not have the courage to use A-Fu’s Character Card. Afraid that he might permanently gain the skill of talking trash after using it, he decisively tossed it into the recycle bin.

Character Card: Níðhöggr (The prelude to Ragnarok. It had little screen time and excelled at chewing trees.)

"I have to keep this. An SSR for the bottom of the box!"

Character Card: Wen Tailai (Heroine Luo’s husband)

With Russell’s current strength, just like Senior Brother, a straight punch could instantly kill the Thunderbolt Hand. Considering that Wen Tailai was a martial artist, Russell decided to use this card when he had the chance. He would draw upon the strengths of various schools to gain close-combat experience and strive to level up the permanent skill Close Combat Master once more.

Character Card: Schmidt (Red Skull)

Like Wen Tailai, he would use it when he found the chance to gain close-combat experience.

Character Card: Kalifa (You need a female secretary. If you do not have one, become a female secretary.)

"I’ll keep it… It’s my only female Character Card. It might come in handy someday if I accidentally wander into a women’s bathhouse."

Skill Card: High Dive Slash (Using gravitational acceleration to create a dreamlike leaping cleave.)

"Heh, did you think I’d use it together with Kalifa’s Character Card?" Russell gave a humorless chuckle and decisively tossed it into the recycle bin.

Skill Card: Universal Love (As everyone knew, Poseidon’s tastes had always been rather broad, though he was still somewhat lacking compared to his younger brother.)

"Sorry! Male by sex, women by preference! Other species are not accepted!"

Skill Card: Car Repair (Changing a windshield wiper was basically no challenge for you.)

Though it seemed to be a fairly useless card, Russell ultimately kept it. He was always traveling to worlds related to American TV dramas, so not knowing how to repair cars would not do.

Item Card: Band-Aid x3 (Powerful hemostasis, sterilization, and disinfection.)

"With Hui Tailang’s physique, Item Cards for healing were not very meaningful…" After pondering for a while, Russell still kept this type of card. If he encountered a Mana Deprivation Field again, such cards could save his life.

Next, Russell found the Item Cards for a flashlight and a wrench. They were trash cards with uses so obscure that even his wild imagination could not find a purpose for them, so he tossed them directly into the recycle bin.

His indecisiveness kicked in. After much deliberation, Russell deleted five cards, exchanging them for 500 Wealth Points. His personal attributes refreshed once again.

After returning home, he took a shower, changed clothes, and caught up on sleep until he woke naturally the next day. Then he had the system activate the World Anchor’s coordinates and arrived in the Marvel Universe. Thanks to the World Anchor’s ability, he could enter the Marvel Universe whenever he wished, without the ten-minute countdown that came with opening a new world. It was extremely convenient.

World events were always triggered when one least expected them. Russell had been traveling constantly lately and was mentally exhausted, so he came to the Marvel Universe to relax.

That might have sounded a little arrogant, but it was true. The current Marvel Universe had just finished World War II, and there was still a long blank period before the era when heroes emerged in droves.

No superheroes meant no supervillains, so his personal safety was guaranteed!

Speaking of supervillains, a certain person with no self-awareness had not realized at all that, as Hydra’s current leader, he was one of the leading villains on Earth.

Siberia Base!

Russell sat in his office and summoned Natasha, Bucky, and two successfully modified Winter Soldiers.

"World War II is over. The global situation will become much more stable from here on, and Hydra’s expansion plan can begin its second phase." Russell sat in his chair, crossed his legs, and propped them on the desk. An Electric Arc condensed in his palm, turning into a lifelike kitten that he casually began petting.

How could a BOSS be without a pet!

"Sir, do we have a second-phase plan?" Bucky asked with a dark expression.

He had never heard of any second-phase plan. Russell vanished every few days and would be gone for more than half a month at a time—sometimes even half a year. Worst of all, Russell had once promised to develop a spaceship, but he had not even managed to draw up the factory blueprints yet.

Without a spaceship, Bucky could not leave Earth for outer space. If he could not go into outer space, he could not find Steve, who had been transported away by the Tesseract. If he could not find Steve, what was the point of continuing to live aimlessly?

"Of course we do. Haven’t I mentioned it?" Russell exclaimed in surprise. Had he really never said anything?

Fine, he really had not! But that did not matter. Saying it now was the same thing!

"Although Siberia is vast, sparsely populated, and rich in minerals, its climate is too harsh. I plan to find a more comfortable place for a new headquarters. Most importantly, it needs to be hidden. Do you have any good suggestions?"

"The African savanna. It’s the most secluded place," Bucky said expressionlessly, his words filled with resentment.

Russell nodded. "It can go on the list. Natasha, what good ideas do you have?"

"BOSS, speaking of the African savanna, I have some intelligence to report to you." Natasha delivered her report with a serious expression. She only looked serious on the surface, though. Whenever Russell looked her way, she would casually moisten her alluring red lips.

You comrade, actually pulling this kind of stunt in the office. And you call yourself a Soviet!

Russell frowned deeply. During the time he had been away, discipline at the base had slipped, especially Natasha’s. He would need to give her some private ideological education later.

"What intelligence?"

"About Wakanda…"