Kyber Crystal

Before opening it, Mercer had guessed that the "Otherworld Card Collection Branch" would involve traveling to other worlds to collect things.

But he had never imagined that the worlds he could visit would actually be from other anime series!

The card before him came from the world of Naruto, and what he needed to collect was not the Nine-Tails, but the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Although he had already prepared himself for something like this, actually seeing it still left him a little awestruck.

Still, having already transmigrated into the Marvel Universe, Mercer did not stay surprised for long.

After examining the card in his hand, Mercer looked up at the tree before him and reached out to pluck another.

Before his palm even touched the card, a sound like the tolling of a massive bell echoed through his mind. Mercer felt as though his brain were half flour and half water, shaken into paste.

An overwhelming wave of dizziness flooded his brain, leaving him dazed.

"What's going on? What was that?"

Only after taking a good while to recover did Mercer voice his surprise.

His body was far beyond that of an ordinary person now. Normally, even a kick to the head from an enhanced human like Captain America would not have made him feel like this.

Yet merely reaching out to pluck another card had nearly made him pass out.

"Is this a protective mechanism? Is it stopping me from taking too many cards at once, or making me collect them one at a time?"

Mercer kept his eyes on the other cards, took a few deep breaths, and reached for one farther up.

DONG!

The sensation of a heavy blow flooded his brain again, far more intense than before.

It took Mercer a full five minutes to recover, confirming his suspicion.

"Sure enough, the system wants me to work through them one at a time. Taking them all at once is impossible."

He rubbed his temples. The dizziness was worse than downing several bottles of hard liquor.

Looking at the Kurama card in his hand, Mercer had no choice but to collect the Nine-Tails' chakra listed on it first.

"The world of Naruto, huh? I wonder what it'll be like. I'm looking forward to it."

Fortunately, the Blacklight Virus had strengthened Mercer's body. Despite everything he had done that night, he felt no physical discomfort.

"How do I use this thing?"

Mercer turned the card over in his hands, puzzled. Nothing else had happened since it appeared.

He tried thrusting it forward like the other cards. This time, a beam of light shot out of it, and several lines of text appeared before him.

[Card name: Nine-Tails' chakra]

[Status: Inactive]

[Activation requirement: Register the Nine-Tails' chakra]

[Teleportation destination: Konoha-Nine-Tails' Attack]

The lines were reflected in Mercer's eyes as he read every word carefully, repeating them under his breath.

The last line was underlined, much like a hyperlink in a Word document that led to another page. This had to be the button for teleporting to another world.

"The Nine-Tails' Attack... Isn't that when Obito returned to Konoha to cause trouble? If that's the timing, getting some of the Nine-Tails' chakra might not be a problem."

After thinking it over, Mercer made up his mind.

Once his current affairs were settled, he would head to the world of Naruto to collect chakra.

Mercer closed his eyes and quietly felt the changes within his body.

He wanted to know what stage his Blacklight Virus had reached.

As his awareness sank deeper, Mercer sensed the Blacklight Virus inside him.

The Blacklight Virus was now black with traces of gray mixed in. Quite a bit of gray remained, though it was stretched into fine threads.

The gray writhed, trying to swell and merge with the surrounding gray threads, only to be swiftly swallowed by the Blacklight Virus around it.

"There's still a little undigested Abomination's Blood left. Oh well, it can serve as a snack for the Blacklight Virus."

The Blacklight Armor formed over his body, and Mercer examined it.

If the Blacklight Virus had not turned into this armor, he should have gained weapons like a blade or the Whipfist by now.

But because all of it had gone into forming the Blacklight Armor, he had not acquired those weapons.

"Oh well. The Blacklight Armor is ridiculously tough, too. It might do a better job of keeping me alive when I visit other worlds."

Mercer sat on the couch, making the Blacklight Virus repeatedly change shape over his hand while he pondered.

The Blacklight Virus evolved by absorbing living organisms, but he could hardly infect an entire city of humans for evolutionary resources like in the game.

In that world, the Blacklight Virus might have been difficult to eradicate. Here in the Marvel Universe, though, ordinary Blacklight Creatures probably would not cause much of a stir.

Instead, it would backfire and make Mercer public enemy number one.

"Looks like my only option is to absorb powerful villains. Maybe I could also try absorbing energy entities."

The mention of energy immediately gave Mercer an idea.

The Infinity Stones!

As the most powerful objects in Marvel that he could access on Earth, the Infinity Stones were the obvious choice.

But before that, he needed to make some preparations.

After all, he had no idea what would happen if he absorbed energy from the Infinity Stones.

The Blacklight Virus was only supposed to absorb biological energy, constantly mutating and evolving.

Other forms of energy, however, were mystical powers whose very nature was hard to explain.

That thought made Mercer hesitate.

If the Blacklight Virus could not absorb that kind of energy, touching it might annihilate him in an instant, like a mosquito hitting an electric flyswatter. That would be a serious problem.

"If only I had some kind of energy I could try absorbing..."

As that thought crossed his mind, Mercer suddenly paused.

A faint light flickered in his palm, and the Dark Saber appeared in his hand.

"The core inside the Dark Saber-the Kyber Crystal-is an energy source that constantly gives off energy. Maybe I could try absorbing that!"

It was a rather wild idea. After all, neither Star Wars nor Prototype had any precedent for absorbing energy like this, much less the energy of a Kyber Crystal.

If Mercer did it, he would be the first!

Holding the Dark Saber's hilt, Mercer hesitated. He did not know whether it would work, but he knew this was the only path available to him now.

"To hell with it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If I don't even dare try this, how am I supposed to get stronger?"

Having steeled himself, Mercer took several deep breaths, gripped the hilt with both hands, and activated the blade.

With the blade active, it would be easier for Mercer to locate the Kyber Crystal inside the hilt.

The next second, blacklight matter surged from Mercer's palms and wrapped around the hilt.

Fine strands of blacklight matter slipped through the Dark Saber's tiny seams and spread until they filled every bit of space inside the hilt.

At the center of the hilt, Mercer sensed a dark crystal suspended within it, its power being continuously drawn out.

This was the Kyber Crystal inside the Dark Saber!