Chapter 18: Another Four-Star Card

Stell City, much like Greenwood City, was located on the eastern continent of Soltes Planet No. 1, not far from Greenwood—about seven to eight hundred kilometers away, a seven or eight hour drive in an old-fashioned off-road vehicle. Han Feng couldn’t afford a hover shuttle; with the card system draining his resources, even if he had money, it would vanish in an instant. But if he were driving a maglev-powered hover shuttle, the trip would shrink to just two or three hours.

Blasting energetic music as he sped down Highway 31, Han Feng finally reached Stell City before nightfall. The city lay in the northern reaches, with distinct seasons. It was currently winter, and a recent snowfall had blanketed the city in white, turning everything into a silver world.

Because Stell City was located in a low-security star system rated at 0.3, the entire city was enclosed by towering walls. As the planetary capital, it boasted the strongest security force on the planet. Police guarded the city gates, preventing interstellar fugitives from entering.

To pass through the gates, facial recognition was required. Aside from fugitives, anyone could enter freely. Han Feng drove through the checkpoint without issue.

His off-road vehicle left deep tracks in the snow as he pulled up in front of a familiar hotel where he’d stayed before: the House Hotel.

“Hey, Bill, long time no see. I need a room,” Han Feng greeted the receptionist, following memories from his former self.

“Yo, Han Feng, it has been a while. How’ve you been lately?” Bill, a humanoid with blue skin, looked up and responded to Han Feng’s voice.

“Not bad—a least I’m still alive,” Han Feng knocked on the counter and asked, “So, got any rooms left?”

“You’re just in time. There’s one left,” Bill checked the records on his light-brain and replied.

“Business seems good tonight?” Han Feng remarked idly.

“It’s alright. Quite a few outsiders have arrived in the city recently,” Bill replied.

“A lot of outsiders? Did something happen?” Han Feng’s curiosity was piqued.

“That’s right, though I don’t know the details. They seem like refugees—most of them look terrified. Rumor has it a settlement was massacred overnight, every drop of blood vanished from the bodies, leaving only dried husks. People from nearby settlements got scared and fled,” Bill explained as he processed the check-in.

“Alright, thanks, Bill.” Han Feng accepted the room card, thanked him, and said, “You get back to work. I’ll go rest.”

“Sure thing. Good night!” Bill replied.

Han Feng glanced at his room number—421—then took the elevator upstairs. He tapped his card on the door lock, and it slid open automatically.

The room was spacious—over fifty square meters—with a double bed, writing desk, sofa, refrigerator, and bathroom, all fully equipped. Han Feng took a drink from the fridge, gulped down half the bottle, and then flopped onto the sofa, stretching his legs on the coffee table, settling into a comfortable position.

“All the blood missing from the bodies—there are a few possibilities. They ran into a blood clan and were drained dry overnight; or attacked by some kind of vampiric beast; or perhaps a sorcerer used some evil magic,” Han Feng mused as he sipped his drink, thinking over the incident Bill had mentioned. “But, for now, it’s none of my business. Tomorrow I need to deal with my own matters first.”

He opened his system panel and discovered that the fights with Wang Ye and Old Zhang had only leveled him up once, putting him at level 11. The higher the level, the more experience points were needed—he could already feel the slowdown.

He was only at level 11, yet defeating two D-rank superhumans had yielded just one level—stark contrast to the rapid progress before level 10. He could hardly imagine how much experience would be required to level up in the future.

His card panel had also risen a level, earning him another skill point, bringing his total idle skill points to twelve. Once he unlocked the Martial Arts skill tree tomorrow, these points would let him quickly master new skills.

He now had just over ten million starcoins in his account. Han Feng immediately spent nine million on diamonds, keeping a bit over a million as emergency funds—after all, surviving in the universe required money for everything.

With the diamonds in hand, he started drawing cards—9,000 diamonds, enough for nine ten-pulls. The odds of getting a hero or equipment card were high.

He went for the ten-pulls. Nine brilliant bursts of light flashed—ninety percent were useless one- or two-star trash, with a few three-star items and hero fragments mixed in.

The biggest surprise: in those nine pulls, he not only got a hero card, but a complete equipment card as well—both four-star cards!

Han Feng even thought he ought to buy a lottery ticket—maybe he’d hit the jackpot, achieve financial freedom, and reach the peak of life… That was a dream. With the card system draining his funds, he could forget about financial freedom!

The purple four-star hero card depicted a tall man with short golden hair, a lightning-shaped scar across his right eye, headphones on his ears, and sharp, chiseled features—exuding a striking, cool aura.

[Laxus Dolea (4-star)]

Level: 0
Strength: 320
Speed: 315
Constitution: 315
Psionics: 550

Skills:
1. Master of Lightning. Passive: Control over lightning energy.
2. Roar of the Thunder Dragon. Gathers the power of the Thunder Dragon in the mouth and releases a blast of lightning, destroying the target. Double damage to dragon-blooded enemies. (Activated at Intermediate Psionics.)
3. Thunder Dragon Halberd. Materializes the Thunder Dragon’s power into a polearm and hurls it at the target—a high-damage single-target skill, double damage to dragon-blooded enemies. (Activated at Intermediate Psionics.)
4. Thunder Dragon’s Maw. Channels the Thunder Dragon’s power into both fists, then strikes with full force. Double damage to dragon-blooded enemies. (Activated at Intermediate Psionics.)
5. Dragon Slayer’s Ultimate: Roaring Thunder. Concentrates all Thunder Dragon power into the palms, releasing it in a single touch. The enemy suffers not just paralysis and electrocution, but instant annihilation by super-high voltage, with double damage to dragon-blooded foes. (Activated at Advanced Psionics.)

Synergy:
Felid Justin – Strength +4%
Eva Green – Constitution +4%
Biguslo – Psionics +4%

Damn, talk about luck! It wasn’t a five-star card, but this was a character from “Fairy Tail”—an S-class wizard, Thunder Dragon Slayer, grandson of Makarov, the Fairy Tail Guild Master. Lightning was an exceptionally powerful offensive ability, ranking near the top among elemental talents and magic.

In his previous life’s games, Han Feng’s main account had awakened the lightning ability, so he was well-versed in its use. After dominating the leaderboards for a long time, other players had given him the nickname “Thunder God.”

To have drawn a hero card with his best ability—Han Feng was almost moved to tears, grinning foolishly as he slapped his thigh in joy.

But as he laughed, his smile faded. Embarrassingly, he realized that out of the five skills this new card granted, four were unusable. The only one available was a passive skill!