Chapter Sixteen: Infinite Energy

[Mosaic Residual Energy]:
A new type of energy developed through the Cosmic Cube, capable of empowering tanks and firearms with astonishing destructive power—an infinite energy source that exists within the realm of concepts.
Blue item card.
Would you like to extract it?
The above was the card information revealed by the cube-shaped blue energy source.

"My god…" Kyle's face showed visible shock, his usually composed demeanor shaken; he hadn't expected to encounter a Marvel world artifact of such magnitude so soon.
The Cosmic Cube! A truly godlike item, it was the earliest vessel of the Space Stone to appear on Earth. And the Space Stone itself—one of the six Infinity Stones—was an artifact of cosmic scale.
"Naturally. During World War II, the Cosmic Cube was found by the German Chancellor, Hiedler, who then used it to develop limitless energy for the war effort."
Staring at the energy cube before him, Kyle could not help but break out in a cold sweat for himself and the American troops stationed in the temporary command area.
To this day, this energy had not yet been deployed on the front lines—it was clear the Germans had only just finished its development and had not put it to formal use.
Had this information gone unnoticed, should the Germans suddenly receive the boon of this new energy, the European front could well have been doomed!
But now, fortune had favored him.
With excitement, Kyle picked up one of the energy cubes. Each one could serve as a blue item card—such high-quality items were the perfect material for sacrificial draws!
"There must be more than twenty cubes in this crate."
Just as Kyle was about to begin drawing cards, a faint sound arose behind him. His expression shifted, but before he could react, something cold and metallic pressed against the back of his head.

"Don't move. One false move and I'll blow your head off." The man behind him spoke gruffly in German, and with a click, he disengaged the safety on his pistol.

He had been careless.
Kyle tensed, silently cursing himself. He hadn't expected to lower his guard while drawing cards, nor that the supposedly hidden basement was already occupied.

"Put the item back and raise your hands," the man commanded with authority.

"Don't shoot," Kyle replied, slowly placing the energy cube back in the crate and raising his hands high.

Though his life hung by a thread, Kyle remained calm, quickly considering his options.
The simplest solution would be to use forced transfer via stealth and escape the enemy base, but that was a last resort.

"Good. I didn't expect you to speak German. No wonder a rat like you managed to infiltrate my base," the man sneered, keeping his finger on the trigger, which made Kyle dismiss the idea of forced transfer.

"What did you come here to do?" the man pressed. This time, Kyle remained silent.

"Heh, I'll make you talk soon enough," the man scoffed, his pistol still pressed to the back of Kyle's head. With his free hand, he pulled out a radio: "This is Commander Leo. Send soldiers to the basement of Warehouse Two immediately—I've got an American rat down here…"

So this was the infamous Commander Leo, the one who had requisitioned supplies for girls, and apparently the highest ranking officer in this massive base.
Kyle stood motionless, hands held high, but at some point, a card had silently manifested between his fingers.

"Commander Leo."

Before the man finished his call, Kyle spoke coldly, "Do you know what we say back home?"

Commander Leo paused, set aside the radio, and asked icily, "What do you say?"
His pistol pressed so tightly to Kyle’s skull that any sudden move would see the trigger pulled.

Kyle replied softly, "We say—the villain dies from talking too much."

"Villain?"
Commander Leo frowned, not quite grasping the meaning—when, suddenly, a fierce dog emerged from the nearby shadows. Its savage fangs gleamed, and with a vicious bite, it sank its jaws into the wrist holding the gun.

[Ferocious Dog]: Summon a rabid and savage dog to fight for you.
Green creature card.

"AAAH!" Commander Leo howled in pain, collapsing as the dog—of a breed resembling a Tibetan mastiff—its eyes glowing a sinister green, tore a great chunk of flesh from his wrist, exposing the bone beneath.

"Tonight, I’m the protagonist; that makes you the villain," Kyle said with a faint smile, stroking the dog's shaggy fur.

"Please—don't kill me! Even if you do, you won't escape alive!" The iron-willed Commander Leo, now desperate to survive, pleaded for his life.

"Relax, I won't kill you," Kyle replied with a smile. Before Leo could feel relief, Kyle's next words drained the blood from his face: "But I despise having a gun pressed against my head—so, you can serve as dog food."

No sooner had the words left his mouth, the dog, seeming to grasp Kyle’s intent, leapt with a snarl and bit down hard on Leo’s throat.

Ignoring the man’s screams and the hellish sight of the dog devouring its victim, Kyle turned his attention back to extracting cards from the energy cubes in the basement.

Even at three seconds per extraction, it would take over a minute for more than twenty cubes. Meanwhile, with the commander’s radio call, German soldiers were surely converging on his position.

"In one minute, I need to destroy the base’s defense systems and break out of here. The time is tight!"
Kyle arched an eyebrow but did not slow his card extraction. Instead, he drew another creature card from his card space.

[Venomous Wasp Nest]: Summon a nest containing hundreds of wasps, all carrying deadly venom, capable of killing within half an hour. Rare green item card.
Current status: One-time summon, lasts half an hour. Use now?

"This is your time to shine," Kyle mused with meaning.

Meanwhile, in the mountain forest beside the massive base, more than a hundred American soldiers hid with tense faces. Sergeant Fury, their leader, could barely contain his anxiety, clenching his fists as he waited.

"Sir, the scheduled time for the assault is almost here. What do we do?" George asked, unable to hold back.

"Wait a little longer," Fury replied gravely, though he himself was unsure what he was waiting for.
Perhaps Kyle had never made it into the base at all and had already been killed.
Even if Kyle had infiltrated, how could one man alone destroy the defenses of a base held by a thousand soldiers and advanced equipment?

"We'll give it five more minutes. If there’s no sign from the base by then, we abort the assault and withdraw," Fury said, taking a deep breath. At that moment, a wave of exclamations swept through the soldiers beside him.

"Sir! There’s movement at the enemy’s main base!"