"Trash Tier" Deck

Sitting in the small boat and drifting with the current, Prince Liam felt a sense of ease he had never known before. Family, duty, etiquette, and self-cultivation were all left far behind; a thrill of indulgence welled up from the bottom of his heart, and the damp scent of the sea seemed to carry the very fragrance of "freedom."

This spontaneous journey had completely set Prince Liam's thoughts adrift, and his yearning for the stars and the sea had chased away the last lingering hesitations of a prince who usually looked before he leaped.

However, immersed as he was, Prince Liam did not forget his business. He looked down at Coral, who was still nodding off, and took out his card once again.

Unlike the last time, while the metallic luster remained, the card he held now shimmered with a faint golden light, especially the orange gem in the center, which glowed with a depth that was almost blinding.

Feeling the resonance between his spirit and the card, Prince Liam flipped his palm and pressed it against the sleeping Coral. The entire card instantly dissolved into motes of light, merging into Coral's body.

The poor little parrot was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt a surge of heat, and the whole person—or rather, the whole bird—shot into the air, flames erupting and wrapping around his entire body.

The attribute panel that Prince Liam had checked several times before also changed at this moment.

[Name: Pyros (Coral)]
[Status: Biological, Loyalty 90]
[Origin: Un'Goro Crater]
[Type: Minion, Elemental]
[Rarity: Legendary]
[Stats: Attack (2), Health (2), Mana Cost (2)]
[Ability: After death, consumes 6 Mana Crystals to reborn as a Phoenix with Attack (6) and Health (6).]

Watching his silly parrot turn into a phoenix, Prince Liam was speechless, though he couldn't help but look at this magical card with newfound respect.

"So he transformed? Is this a case of a wild chicken turning into a phoenix? Haha, Kael'thas, you didn't expect this, did you? I have a phoenix as a pet now, too."

Being on a boat, there was no way to test exactly what "Attack (2)" and "Health (2)" meant in terms of strength, but just looking at Coral's size—barely larger than an ordinary wild chicken—he knew this "Pyros" wasn't exactly a powerhouse. Even so, Prince Liam was quite satisfied with Coral's current appearance; although the stats looked like a five-trash-tier combatant, the look was certainly intimidating.

Most importantly, this phoenix, Pyros, possessed the ability to be reborn, and each time he was reborn, his power would increase significantly! Well... the fact that he had to die once or twice in every battle was a rather bizarre design.

Just as Prince Liam was observing Coral, the bird seemed to react; his flight suddenly stabilized, the flames around him dissipated rapidly, and he reverted to the appearance of a large red parrot. Only a translucent phantom remained floating behind Coral, rising and falling with his movements—the image of the phoenix Pyros.

Having reverted to his parrot form, the terrified little Coral dove into the boat, cursing incessantly, "Damn it, damn it, I was burned to death, burned to death..."

Prince Liam had never heard Coral speak before and had assumed the gem parrot was a non-talking species. Hearing Coral speak now—and using such uncivilized language—left him sweating profusely, feeling utterly speechless at this hooligan parrot.

Does this guy only talk when he's cursing? Or did the first transformation unlock some special talent? Prince Liam mused, watching Coral fuss about.

I just wonder if I can transform other things. If I could just brush up a few dozen Deathwing, I wouldn't have to do anything to rule over Azeroth...

Prince Liam fantasized, though he knew this ideal was far from realistic. Fortunately, he already had a bodyguard with some capability; he just needed to slowly accumulate and expand his strength, and the dream of dozens of Deathwing would eventually come true.

Once the novelty wore off, life at sea was not so interesting. After sailing for several days without seeing a soul, accompanied only by a parrot that knew nothing but profanity, Prince Liam began to feel bored.

So, Prince Liam steeled his heart and began his experiments using the Mana Crystals he had saved up over the past few days.

In his first two experiments, a Murloc Killer Crab was turned into "Sir Finley Mrrgglton"—a slimy murloc—and another was turned into "Patches the Pirate," a five-trash-tier beholder. Both experiments resulted in weaklings, and Prince Liam realized his luck was actually quite good; at least the first time, he had randomly rolled the high-potential Pyros.

Currently, Prince Liam was fishing with the "Nat Pagle" he had created in his third experiment. Unfortunately, this Nat Pagle was not generous; the 50% card-draw chance didn't trigger, leaving Prince Liam disappointed.

Of the legendary cards transformed in the three experiments, the combined attack and health did not exceed four points. Whether by coincidence or fate, Prince Liam's dream of leading an army of Deathwing to conquer the world had gone down the drain, postponed indefinitely.

It seemed that the only one truly useful was the "fake" phoenix, Pyros. His resurrection ability was extremely powerful; as long as he didn't encounter a true Hero-tier powerhouse, Coral should be able to hold his own.

After playing with the bird on the boat for over ten days, Prince Liam gained a preliminary understanding of this transformation ability.

First, the card's ability could only be applied to creatures meeting specific conditions (1-cost minions), and each person was limited to one; any more, and the host would be unable to bear the burden. Murloc Killer Crab, Murloc Tidecaller, Murloc Raider... well, there really weren't many materials for Liam to experiment with on the open sea. To his relief, these abilities could be retracted at any time. Don't ask why—"I was careless and transformed a murloc, and ended up almost having my hand bitten off by Queen Sharaz"—Prince Liam decided to keep that embarrassing story to himself forever.

Second, not only could Prince Liam permanently retract the ability to turn it back into a usable card, but the host granted the ability could also control the transformation freely. Amazingly, whether it was the "complete metamorphosis" into a true phoenix or the "incomplete metamorphosis" of the Pyros possession state, Coral could access Pyros's resurrection ability. Liam surmised that this possession ability didn't just increase combat power; it also carried over many of the target's abilities.

Finally, and most importantly, every time he used the golden card [Prince Liam], the "Ghost of Prince Liam" would appear behind him. Whenever the ghost appeared, his own strength would increase significantly, and he could feel an indescribable energy surging within his body. Presumably, this card also boosted his own strength, though he was currently too weak to notice a significant change.

Over these past few days, Prince Liam had retracted many cards from his test subjects. Out of curiosity, he had even used a [Nat Pagle] for an experiment. The damn fisherman disappointed him again; the 50% draw effect didn't yield a card, and during the 90 seconds (one turn) it lasted, it only contributed two "Spotted Yellowtail" to its master before disappearing under Prince Liam's wry gaze.

Now, Prince Liam only had five low-tier legendary cards left: [Patches the Pirate], [Sir Finley Mrrgglton], [Shifter Zerus], [Chameleos], and [Queen Sharaz]. Unfortunately, few could be considered true combat power. If he threw them all out at once in a fight, they probably wouldn't do much, and he would still have to rely on Coral to carry the load.

Prince Liam felt like a summoner carrying a bunch of "trash" summons, and the most annoying part was that these summons had time limits!

"Looks like I need to 'level up' as soon as possible, otherwise I can't even use such powerful cards."

Prince Liam looked at the distant horizon, where an island seemed to be revealing the "tip of the iceberg."