Who said this card is outrageous?

When he finished sorting through his spoils and came out of the basement, he saw a familiar figure in the living room.

"Anqi? What's she doing here?"

The moment this thought crossed Zhang Che's mind, the other person suddenly approached and grabbed his wrist.

She leaned closer to Zhang Che, whispered in his ear, and said, "People from the Federation have arrived. The chairman told me to take you there immediately."

After saying that, without waiting for Zhang Che's agreement, she took him away in front of Wang Xinran and the others, almost dragging him out the door.

The three of them were left staring at each other in the living room—it was so late at night, and Anqi had appeared at their door without a word, saying she needed to talk to Zhang Che.

Then, upon hearing that the latter was busy in the basement, he said, "No rush, I'll wait a bit."

Judging from how quickly the two of them left, they didn't seem to be in a hurry at all.

However, for someone like An Qi, whom Wang Xinran and the others usually look up to, to lose her composure like this, it was clearly a major event that they couldn't get involved in.

In the end, the three of them could only sit in the living room with worried expressions, without saying a word.

……

In a secret room on the second basement floor of the Adventurers' Guild in Hezhou City.

The secret room was much larger than the card-making room Zhang Che had used before, about 100 square meters in size, with a high ceiling and rune arrays embedded in all four walls to isolate energy fluctuations.

A huge magic circle is engraved in the center of the ground. A huge block of ice is placed on the magic circle in the very center of this secret room. The magic circle is continuously outputting energy to it, maintaining the stability and integrity of the ice layer.

Through the translucent ice, one could vaguely see a thin figure inside, motionless, as if time had stopped for that person.

Crimson energy chains extended from the magic circle, passing through the thick ice layer, adding an extra layer of restraint to those inside.

On one side of the room, Zhu Yunge was telling a muscular man everything she knew.

"...In short, by the time I arrived at the scene, everything was already over." Even though she had witnessed it firsthand, Zhu Yunge's expression still showed a hint of shock. "Of the three mid-level transcendents of the Eye of Truth, two were dead and one was injured. The only fifth-level transcendent was also frozen into an ice sculpture. In the end, it was that child who felt he couldn't handle it and handed it over to me."

"As for the other survivor, he is currently receiving treatment in another room and should wake up soon."

After listening to Zhu Yunge's story, the man paused for a while before finally focusing his attention back on the large block of ice.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Yunge explained that because she did not expect the Federation to send people over so quickly, she had been maintaining its frozen state.

It will probably take some time to melt it now.

Actually, it wouldn't be impossible to speed things up a bit, but considering that the masked man inside has been frozen for almost a day and a night, if the firepower is too intense and causes him some irreversible damage, it would ruin this hard-won survivor.

So we can only wait patiently.

The man's gaze lingered on the ice block for a long time before he slowly spoke: "So, a newly promoted fourth-tier card maker single-handedly took down an entire assault team from the Eye of Truth? Including a fifth-tier superhuman."

“Yes.” Zhu Yunge nodded. “I have already had the battlefield inspected, and it can be confirmed that no third-party forces were involved.”

The man was silent for a moment, then walked up to the ice sculpture and peered at the figure inside through the transparent ice.

He stretched out a hand and touched the ice, feeling the extreme cold it contained.

“These ices… are very special.” He ran his fingers lightly across the ice surface. “They are not simply condensations of elements, but have a very stable internal structure. They must have undergone some kind of precise energy reconstruction.”

There was something else the man didn't say: theoretically, this wasn't the kind of power that should appear in a mid-level transcendent being.

Could it be...?

However, the man quickly dismissed the thought as soon as it crossed his mind.

After all, this conclusion is too far-fetched. Compared to that, men are more inclined to believe that Zhang Che once obtained a portion of the power left behind by a high-ranking superhuman.

"It's unclear for now. I only know that he has a strong talent for card making, so he might have created some very powerful cards." Zhu Yunge didn't know what the man was thinking, so she could only guess.

But as for what exactly the card is, even if they asked, Zhang Che probably wouldn't tell them. After all, it's a trump card used to save his life, so how could he easily reveal it to others?

The man nodded, not dwelling on the matter. He turned around, his gaze returning to Zhu Yunge.

"What about the mind-stabilizing array? Have you found anything?"

"Not yet." Zhu Yunge shook her head, her expression somewhat regretful. "The city guards have already dispatched many people to carry out excavation operations near the battlefield, but so far they have only found some traces that may be related."

"The cave is still the most likely place to find information about the Mind-Stabilizing Array. However, its internal structure is severely damaged, with many parts collapsed, and it will take time to clean it up."

Zhu Yunge herself only knew the part that Zhang Che had told her before, and she had already told him everything the moment she met the man.

"Zhang Che..." the man repeated the name in a low voice, "Where is he now?"

"They should still be resting at home." Zhu Yunge glanced at the time. "They just fought such a tough battle last night, they need to catch their breath."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bell rang outside the secret room.

"President, Lady Anqi and Mr. Zhang Che have arrived," the guard outside announced.

Zhu Yunge and the man exchanged a glance.

"Let them in."

Chapter 213 Black and White

The door to the secret room was pushed open, and Zhang Che entered, led by An Qi.

Angie didn't stay; instead, she chose to leave directly.

Although she is the vice president of the Adventurers' Guild, she prefers the thrill of combat to dealing with these messy and trivial matters.

Zhang Che's gaze quickly swept across the scene in the secret chamber, but he was most concerned about the ice sculpture on the central magic circle, which had already melted a considerable portion of its contents.

At this moment, Zhu Yunge, who was standing next to the ice sculpture, saw Zhang Che enter, nodded to him, and then stepped aside, revealing a man in a dark green uniform behind her.

"Hello, Mr. Zhang Che." The man extended his hand. "Bai Tao, Senior Investigator, Federal Special Affairs Division."

Zhang Che quickly reached out and shook hands with him, replying somewhat reservedly, "Hello, Commissioner Bai."

The reason for this attitude is quite simple: this Commissioner Bai is emanating extraordinary power fluctuations that are several times stronger than those of Zhu Yunge.

Zhu Yunge is already considered a top-tier expert among fifth-tier fighters, so Bai Tao's strength is self-evident.

Sixth rank!

This was Zhang Che's first time meeting a sixth-tier superhuman, and considering the Federation that the other party represented, his attitude was perfectly normal.

Bai Tao nodded slightly, then released his hand, gesturing for Zhang Che to sit down.

In the corner of the secret room stood a simple table and chairs, with several documents on it.

The three of them sat down one by one.

“Mr. Zhang Che, Chairman Zhu has already told me about the situation last night.”

Bai Tao briefly recounted what Zhu Yunge had just told him, then stared into Zhang Che's eyes and asked, "Is there anything else you'd like to add?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he placed a small object on the table without anyone noticing. It was a recording device to ensure no information was missed.

Seeing this, Zhang Che did not reply immediately. Instead, he picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, and organized his thoughts.

Bai Tao's actions were clearly aimed at obtaining information about the Mind-Stabilizing Array, and as a firsthand witness, every word Zhang Che uttered would undoubtedly be considered important research material.

He needs to be more careful.

"When I was about fifty meters away from the cave, I suddenly felt my senses being cut off and I was unable to mobilize my mental energy."

"At that time, my mind was clear and my body could move freely, but my mental energy was like stagnant water."

Then came the details. Zhang Che recounted his experiences from the previous night in as much detail as possible, including how he forced Shen Ji to release the mind-stabilizing array.

"...I feel that the opening and closing of this formation is just a matter of a moment. If the people of the Eye of Truth really use it to ambush people, once they are not prepared in advance, they can only be slaughtered." Zhang Che added his speculation at the end.

After listening, Bai Tao didn't say anything, but just stood there silently for a few seconds.

Then he finally spoke.

“Mr. Zhang Che, you did a great job. The Federation has never had a definite record of the Mind-Stabilizing Array before. If you hadn’t discovered it in advance, and the Eye of Truth had set up such an array in other cities before launching an attack, the consequences would have been very difficult to predict.”

As he spoke, he turned off the recording and explained that the technology of this little device was not yet mature and the amount of content it could record was limited, so he wouldn't waste any more time.

After doing all that, Bai Tao changed the subject and looked at Zhang Che meaningfully: "But there's something I'm really curious about. As a newly promoted fourth-tier card maker, you must have paid a heavy price to defeat that fifth-tier transcendent being with the Eye of Truth, right?"

Bai Tao deliberately emphasized the phrase "at great cost".

Zhang Che was stunned for a moment, as if he hadn't reacted yet.

Seeing this, Bai Tao sighed inwardly and could only speak again: "You have made such a great contribution this time, the Federation will certainly not let someone who has made a contribution suffer in vain."

This time Zhang Che understood. His mind raced, and a serious expression appeared on his face.

"Indeed... the price was not small."

He sighed, his gaze falling on the teacup on the table, a hint of reminiscence on his face.

"I was able to freeze that fifth-tier transcendent being mainly due to the power of a piece of 'Frost Marrow'. I obtained it by chance when I was exploring a rift, but because it was so rare, I hadn't been willing to use it, intending to save it for a crucial moment..."

He paused, then lowered his voice even further: "This time, there was really no other way but to use it."

As he said these words, Zhang Che's face showed just the right amount of heartache.

Actually, Zhang Che only learned about the name "Cold Marrow" when he heard Fu Xing bragging about it. It was a high-level extraordinary material, but he knew nothing about it.

After listening, Bai Tao remained silent for a few seconds before nodding, indicating that he would report the matter truthfully.

The details don't matter; what matters is that Zhang Che can use this to obtain more compensation, and he happens to have that authority.

"Tell me," Bai Tao said, pulling out a blank form from who-knows-where and placing it in front of Zhang Che. "What do you want?"

Words are no proof; only written words can prove it.

This action alone caused Zhang Che's goodwill towards the Federation to rise rapidly.

Moreover, as mentioned before, the Eye of Truth is a notorious antisocial organization within the Federation, and each of its members has a bounty on their head.

These alone are enough for Zhang Che to indulge in a luxurious lifestyle, not to mention the matter of the Mind-Stabilizing Array.

However, he didn't rush to speak. Instead, he looked down at the blank form, carefully reviewed it in his mind, and then began to fill in the information he needed.

First and foremost, it must be a high-quality meditation method. The one he's currently using is already causing his mental energy recovery speed to fall behind his consumption.

The second item is card recipes, which is what Zhang Che needs most right now. However, considering the practicalities, Zhang Che indicated that he could accept any of the others, except for one water-attribute spear-type card, which was a strict requirement.

Next are some extraordinary materials for matching card recipes. After all, even a skilled cook can't cook without rice; having recipes without materials is definitely not enough.

Unlike lower-level extraordinary materials, which are almost everywhere, the production of mid-level extraordinary materials on Earth is not high. If we don't take this opportunity to take advantage of the Federation, who knows how much effort it would take to gather the materials needed to make cards on our own?

After all, what was a problem for Zhang Che was a trivial matter for the Federation, which had countless high-ranking extraordinary beings.