"Hm?"
Shen Yu had been devoting all his attention to helping Bai Zuo focus on wrestling control of the Ghost Domain. He paused.
He spared a little energy to open the newly unlocked Anomaly Artifact.
"Information Cocoon? A B-rank Anomaly Artifact."
The artifact could only blur and alter people's perceptions. For example, everyone agreed that the moon was round. You could change that to say the moon was square, and under the artifact's influence, everyone would believe it was square.
However, since it was only a B-rank artifact, it had many limitations. First, its range was limited: it could only alter the perceptions of people in a small area. And the more facts it changed, the shorter the effect lasted.
Of course, even with those limitations, an Anomaly Artifact that could alter people's perceptions could be as powerful as a divine artifact if used well.
Bai Zuo's contracted anomaly was S-rank against humans. In practice, though, to bring out his full strength, he still needed to mark more Adaptive like Zhang Lin.
He lacked direct offensive abilities.
His only use was to control the battlefield after deploying his Ghost Domain. Capturing anomalies still required a more powerful Contract Anomalist to deal damage.
If Xu Zhou grew stronger, he could become a blade in Bai Zuo's hand.
The anomaly they had discovered on Anyang Island was stronger than Shen Yu had expected.
Bai Zuo could suppress it, but he couldn't capture it.
The longer the fight went on, the greater the price Bai Zuo had to pay to borrow the anomaly's power. His stamina and mental strength would eventually be drained, while the anomaly was using its own power and wouldn't tire as quickly.
Shen Yu checked his remaining Construction Points. "Forget it. You have to spend money to make money."
"I'll spend five thousand Construction Points first and see if I can draw a good card."
Hopefully, he'd get a character with powerful offensive abilities!
"System! Give me a ten-pull!"
"Ding! 5,000 Construction Points spent. Drawing Character Cards."
"Drawing Character Cards..."
"Ding! Congratulations! You drew a C-rank Employee Card—you have acquired a C-rank employee (talent: business)."
Hm? An Employee Card?
This was the first time Shen Yu had drawn one. He opened its description and discovered that Employee Cards were different from Character Cards.
Employees didn't need him to play their roles, but their abilities weren't especially strong. Most were elite humans with a particular talent.
This kind of card was a consolation prize, so you wouldn't spend a thousand Construction Points and get absolutely nothing.
He hadn't expected card draws to come with consolation prizes. Shen Yu's mind raced, flashing through all kinds of exploitative gacha games designed to make players grind and spend.
With a trembling hand, Shen Yu told the system to keep drawing. No way...
There was no way he'd go five-for-five without getting a single Character Card, right?
"Drawing Character Cards..."
"Ding! Congratulations! You drew an A-rank Employee Card—you have acquired an A-rank employee (talent: research)."
Shen Yu reassured himself that researchers were rare.
"Drawing Character Cards..."
"Ding! Congratulations! You drew an A-rank Employee Card—you have acquired an A-rank employee (talent: management)."
Well... he did need someone to help him manage Yi Gui Company. This card would be useful, at least.
"Drawing Character Cards..."
"Ding! Congratulations! You drew an E-rank Employee Card—you have acquired an E-rank employee (talent: cleaning)."
Uh... Shen Yu clutched his chest.
Did he need a cleaner?
He supposed he did, but cleaners only earned a few thousand yuan a month at most. He'd rather pay cash to hire ten of them than draw this card!
But he'd already drawn it. He couldn't ask the system to swallow it back.
The last card. Shen Yu held his breath, waiting for the system to reveal it.
"Drawing Character Cards..."
"Ding! Congratulations! You drew an S-rank Character Card—Flying Bird!"
"Nice!"
Shen Yu slapped the table and jumped up in excitement!
Another S-rank Character Card!
Was he unlucky? No!
He was so lucky he was practically glowing!
As for those Employee Cards from earlier? They'd obviously just been building pity!
Shen Yu eagerly opened the Character Card.
As before, its S-rank status was marked by a gleaming platinum frame. Unlike Bai Zuo's dark background, this card was bright and dazzling overall.
Blue-and-white sky and floating clouds formed the backdrop, framing the young man standing at the center. His white hair was dazzling, his eyes red, and his smile wild and carefree. The entire card seemed to shine.
He looked just like a swaggering, free-spirited, haughty bird!
"Character: Flying Bird"
"Rank: S"
"Identity: Contract Anomalist (expandable)"
"Personality: Chaotic troublemaker who loves a good time—and loves making trouble even more. Enjoys disguises and playing tricks on people."
"Abilities: Magic (Excellent), Animal Affinity (Perfect), Thievery (Excellent), Disguise (Perfect), locked!"
"Special Ability: Raging Wind (Perfect), locked!"
"Anomaly Artifact: Locked!"
"Contracted Anomaly: Nameless Bird (S). A disabled bird with countless feathers made of deformed, twisted white plumage. Despite its incomplete body, it can command extraordinary storms. Every flap of its wings can whip up a massive storm! Though its wings are twisted, it still gives a proud, clear chirp.
It is a little white bird with beautiful eyes like red gemstones.
Devouring storms can increase its strength. Once it accumulates enough, it can advance."
"Associated Characters: 5"
"Character Perfection: 0%"
"Use now?"
"Use now!"
Flying Bird's contracted anomaly could even control storms!
This was a powerful offensive card!
It had arrived just in time!
Shen Yu sent him straight to the area near Anyang Island.
The Character Card flashed brightly.
The white-haired young man appeared above Anyang Island, riding the wind with a bold grin.
As he moved, a clear, delicate chirping, like that of a fledgling, seemed to ring out.
The wind gently gathered around him, supporting his body and keeping him aloft.
It was so obedient, it might as well have been his pet.
He looked down at the enormous spider and gave an amused smile. "Look what I found. A nasty spider with a belly full of schemes."
"Chirp~" the Nameless Bird softly echoed.
"Hehe~ All right, then. Once that little spider can't hold on anymore and bows its haughty little head to beg me for help, I'll give him a hand."
"Chirp~"
Flying Bird was in position.
They now had powerful backup for this tough fight. At least Shen Yu no longer had to worry that Bai Zuo, Xu Zhou, and the others would fall in there.
On the ground.
Bai Zuo was still controlling his Ghost Domain, tearing at and devouring his opponent.
Ji Wu checked the time again. "Why hasn't the Aberration Association's support arrived yet?"
Xu Zhou asked, "How long does it usually take for support to arrive?"
"Anomalies have such bizarre abilities that even a few short minutes can put a Contract Anomalist at risk of death. To prevent that, support arrives within ten minutes of a report being filed."
Before you continue