Where Did My Huge Pile of Materials Go?

Although Lu Su could not figure out why he had merely come with Jin Ping to broaden his horizons, only to end up having to fight.

Since he was already here, a single Gold Grade Demon presumably would not take much effort. Perhaps he could even earn a little extra on the side.

"Quick battle, quick finish."

Thinking that he still had work in the morning, Lu Su let out a soft breath and prepared to have Zoro and the others end the battle quickly.

It was only one Demon, after all. It should not be that troublesome, right?

On the viewing platform, Jin Ping and the other two Master Card Masters stood together, while lower-ranking Card Masters like Gu Wu quietly stood behind them.

Skin Peeler still wore the same calm and composed expression as before. With a faint smile, she asked, "President Jin, where did you find such a promising seedling? The strength of those cards…"

Jin Ping gave a sinister chuckle and asked meaningfully, "As long as you abandon those so-called principles, doesn’t the Indo-American Federation have plenty of promising seedlings for you to choose from?"

As allies, Jin Ping naturally understood the brown-skinned woman beside him. Though she appeared friendly on the surface, who knew what kind of Devil hid beneath that approachable face.

Ridiculous persistence.

He sneered inwardly.

After hearing Jin Ping’s words, Skin Peeler’s smile did not change, but the atmosphere instantly fell to freezing point. The Card Masters behind her did not even dare breathe loudly.

"Heh, those White Ghosts and mongrels?"

"They think they deserve it?"

Skin Peeler watched Lu Su below as she continued, "Do you really think I do not know what they were planning back then?"

"Scalps for bounties."

"They only cooperated with us because they had no other choice."

At this moment, Chris said somewhat unhappily, "Hey, Skin Peeler, you just insulted me too."

Skin Peeler turned to Chris, a trace of apology appearing on her face. "Sorry, I was not talking about you."

Seeing this, Chris did not intend to provoke this crazy woman. Instead, he said to Jin Ping with a hint of mockery, "Old Dog Jin, you must have already told that kid down there the information, right?"

"Otherwise, why would you release this monster?"

Yet Jin Ping revealed a strange smile. "No, I did not tell him anything."

"If I told him, could it still count as a test?"

Chris froze, then shook his head. "You’re insane."

"With talent like that, you are not afraid he will just die?"

"Or…"

Are you that confident in him?

The exquisitely carved little boy did not ask that final question. He merely looked regretfully at the young man below.

But which one of the people present was not a lunatic?

Compared to the two lunatics beside him—one obsessed with power to the point of madness, the other an extreme nationalist—he simply was not as crazy.

Not to mention that the monster who enjoyed eating the internal organs of its own kind had not even arrived.

Jin Ping did not care about Chris’s opinion.

He merely watched Lu Su below in silence, thinking with a trace of malice, Let me see what you can do.

At this moment, aside from wanting to put the young man below in his place, Jin Ping also harbored a vague, indescribable wariness.

But when he thought of how Lu Su had already signed the contract, the old man could not help finding his own thoughts amusing.

As for whether Lu Su could advance to Master Card Master and escape his control…

Throughout all these years of the Spirit Summoning Society, there had always been one and only one Master Card Master: him.

In the arena, as Armament Haki gradually spread across Zoro’s hands, the battle officially began.

As the long-range support, Frieren was the first to act. A pitch-black beam instantly pierced through the body of the Demon floating in midair.

However, the unknown Demon named "None" in the appraisal information merely lowered its head and blankly looked at the massive hole in its body, showing no other reaction.

Zoro watched None with a grave expression. Though he did not know why the other party had not counterattacked, he had already approached None under the cover of Little Spider and Frieren.

As the black longsword in Zoro’s hand swept through None’s body, Lu Su could not help feeling puzzled. "What is this?"

"A punching bag?"

He felt that it should not be this simple. Otherwise, that Master Card Master who looked like a little boy would not have specifically mentioned this test.

Just as Lu Su was thinking this, a piercing shriek suddenly rang out.

"Ah!"

The sharp sound nearly ruptured their eardrums.

Lu Su covered his ears in discomfort and stared intently at None in the distance.

In his eyes, Zoro, who was closest to the shriek, was the first to be affected.

The Green-haired Swordsman blankly stared at None before him.

The next moment—

"Clang."

Three longswords fell to the ground in succession. Then Zoro hugged his knees and sat motionless where he was.

"??"

The sudden change left Lu Su at a loss. "What?"

In his perception, Zoro was in good condition and clearly had not been injured, yet he had already lost the will to fight.

Frieren was the next to be affected.

The white-haired elf’s reaction was even more outrageous than Zoro’s.

She directly fell asleep while leaning on her Staff.

Lu Su was about to wake her when an inexplicable wave of exhaustion suddenly flooded his heart.

His entire body slumped into an orz pose as he muttered, "So tired."

"Don’t want to go to work."

Seeing that every creature in the arena seemed to have lost its will to fight, None slowly floated toward Lu Su.

Meanwhile, Jin Ping watched the scene below with great interest. "Come, let me see…"

Beside him, Chris hesitated before speaking. "Hey, aren’t you going down there to interfere?"

"No matter what, this test subject is still somewhat unstable."

"I say we should use an easier one. Anyway, Old Dog Jin, your judgment definitely cannot be wrong."

However, Jin Ping simply ignored him.

Seeing this, Chris stopped trying to persuade him. He merely shook his head slightly and looked sympathetically at the youth below.

Skin Peeler only watched the scene before her with a smile, saying nothing.

Just as everyone present harbored different thoughts, a terrifying hiss suddenly interrupted them.

But while it was a hiss to their ears, it was heavenly music to Lu Su’s.

"Damn it."

"What did you do to Lu Su and the others?"

"Take my Meteor Crash!"

The one speaking was Little Spider. For some reason, she had not been affected.

As for the so-called Meteor Crash…

She had made up the name herself. In reality, it was just a headbutt.

Why?

Mainly because Little Spider had seen Zoro announce a long skill name every time he attacked, and it had even effectively boosted the power of his moves. It had made her itch with envy.

If that Marimo could do it, then Spider-girl could too!

But clearly, she did not possess Zoro’s talent for naming things.

Though the name sounded very much like a move used by some spaceship-flying big brother against a bald monster, in the end, it was simply an ordinary headbutt.

Boom!

As None was sent flying by Little Spider’s headbutt, Lu Su and the other two regained their senses.

Seeing this, Chris’s expression collapsed. The corner of his eye twitched as he looked at Jin Ping beside him. "…Whatever makes you happy."

And here he had believed that Old Dog had not leaked any information.

There was already a card specifically designed to counter it, and he called that not leaking information?

If he believed Old Dog again next time, he would eat a ton of shit.

Hearing Chris’s words, Jin Ping’s expression remained unchanged. He merely felt a little regretful. I did not expect such a coincidence…

As one of the few Card Masters present who understood the Trait of the Demon below, he knew that once the young man below possessed a suitable countermeasure, that Demon could no longer cause much trouble.

And the subsequent developments unfolded exactly as Jin Ping expected.

Once Zoro and Frieren returned to normal, None quickly lost its ability to resist.

Lu Su also realized roughly what had happened.

The fact that only Little Spider had been unaffected made it far too easy to guess.

The Heretical Void effect granted by Little Spider’s Dominator · Patience allowed her to be immune to soul damage at Gold Grade and below.

Judging from the description alone, it was clearly an unquestionable top-tier effect at Gold Grade.

That was close.

None’s unknown ability was clearly among the very strongest at Gold Grade.

If not for Little Spider, Lu Su really might have suffered a crushing defeat today.

Jin Ping.

The image of the Hook-nosed Elder flashed through Lu Su’s mind. Without a doubt, this was not a normal test. Lu Su did not believe an ordinary Gold Grade Card Master could survive against None.

At this moment, he was utterly certain that the Hook-nosed Elder had begun to fear him.

But there was nothing he could do. His advancement speed had simply been too fast, and he had only joined the Spirit Summoning Society in the beginning because of pressure from Gu Wu.

Tsk. Looks like I need to ask exactly what something is about beforehand in the future.

Lu Su did not want to lose his life without even knowing why. What if Jin Ping suddenly decided to eliminate the roots one day?

He felt that old bastard was genuinely capable of doing that.

But when he considered that the Spirit Summoning Society had invested quite a bit in him, he figured that at the very least, his life would not be in danger before Jin Ping initiated the plan he had been hiding all along. That calmed Lu Su down somewhat.

While his thoughts were in turmoil, the battle in the arena had already reached its end.

"Thud."

As Zoro slowly sheathed his swords, None, which had been floating in midair, instantly dispersed. Immediately afterward, a humanoid body fell out from within it.

Seeing this, Lu Su immediately stepped forward to collect the materials. However, he then discovered in shock that there were no materials at all.

"How is that possible?"

Lu Su stood frozen in place.

Little Spider had clearly appraised None as dropping a material called Void Soul.

Only after carefully examining the corpse on the ground did he realize that it was not the corpse of a Demon at all. Instead, it looked like… a human?

Lu Su immediately thought of the Demonized Card Master he had encountered in his first secret realm during third year high school.

The two were extremely similar, except materials had dropped that time.

Just as Lu Su was filled with doubt, a hoarse voice sounded beside his ear. "Stop looking. There will not be any materials."

It was Jin Ping.

Lu Su calmly responded, "President."

At this moment, he really wanted to ask what exactly was going on, but it seemed the other party had no intention of explaining.

Jin Ping continued, "Let’s go. The test is complete."

After saying that, he spoke no more. He turned and led Lu Su back to the viewing platform.

Only Gu Wu remained on the viewing platform now. Chris and Skin Peeler had left as soon as Lu Su passed the test.

Though the youth’s cards had impressed them somewhat, that was all.

At the end of the day, he was merely a Gold Grade Card Master.

Moreover, even if they wanted to recruit him, they could not do so in front of Jin Ping. No one wanted to provoke that old lunatic.

Especially since they were still allies.

Seeing that only their own group remained, Jin Ping was not surprised. He merely waved for Lu Su and Gu Wu to follow.

Today’s objective of informing the others about Antarctica had been achieved. It was time to return.

As for the test?

It was merely a test. If he failed, he could go die. If he passed, there would be no reward whatsoever.

However, after leaving the Castle, Lu Su suddenly looked at the bustling crowd on the street and said, "President, I have some Gold Grade materials that I want to exchange."

"There should be a place for that here, right?"