My Stubborn Soul Card Follower

Shen Sui was supposed to continue searching for suitable individuals to infiltrate World No. 8 and clear up some trouble.

But the thought of strengthening his deck made him put those minor tasks aside.

On the Dawn Continent, Alice was still walking through Roland City under the identity of Adoma.

Standing at the level of a bishop, she finally saw the so-called upper echelons of the Church's life that she had never seen before.

It was even more disgusting than she had imagined.

The prosperity of the upper class in Roland City was in stark contrast to the world Alice had heard about in the Twilight Legion.

Alice even felt that the disparity between the upper and lower classes of the Roland Empire was even greater than that between the Spiritual World and the Dawn Continent.

At least, those adorable spiritual creatures did not give Alice a sense of alienation.

Alice was not immersed in the opulent life of nobility but was even more clear-headed.

Along the way, Alice was no longer the rash little girl from before. She knew very well that even if she set fire to Roland City, it wouldn't change the structure of the Roland Empire.

Thus, Alice restrained her urge to burn everything down here and decided to act later when given the chance.

She began using Adoma's identity to gather a series of plans Roland Empire had against the Twilight Legion.

Was the rebellion in South Roland significant?

On the surface, it seemed like a big deal.

But in reality, the Twilight Legion was merely a topic of conversation among the nobles of Roland City, and aside from those with assets in South Roland who kept urging the empire to quell the rebellion, no one truly cared about the Twilight Legion.

In their eyes, these commoners who had never experienced the affluent lifestyle could be easily bribed with some gold coins, just like before.

[Alice decided that Adoma's identity should not be easily lost.]

[She wanted to keep this persona.]

[When the Twilight Legion approached the gates of Roland City, she intended to sit among the nobles and priests, witnessing their fear and panic firsthand.]

When Shen Sui read this part, he thought Alice would reveal a new form of Adoma, but that did not happen, leaving him slightly disappointed.

With this in mind, Shen Sui clicked on the screen and sent a message to Alice.

["Making puppets?" Alice asked curiously, "What's the point?"]

["Previously, you made more functional puppets," you explained to Alice, "Since you can't find the breakthrough you're looking for right now, why not make some puppets? It might give you some inspiration."]

[You taught Alice the skills for creating combat-type puppets.]

[Ding! You obtained a Spell Card: Simple Puppet Making.]

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Card Name: [Simple Puppet Making]

Type: Spell Card

Star Level: 7 stars

Effect: During the primary phases, once per turn, reveal a Puppet Follower Card from your deck, graveyard, or banished zone that can be normally summoned. Place it in the Follower Area, and it is treated as the revealed Puppet Follower.

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Shen Sui was not surprised by the appearance of this Spell Card.

This can be considered a reinforcement for the Puppet axis. It's a Spell Card that replicates Puppet Follower Cards; the replicated follower has the same effects and spirit value as the revealed follower, treated as the same follower.

The cost of 7 stars is actually not expensive.

Even though the Puppet Follower Cards Shen Sui currently holds are mostly 5-star, as Alice's level increases, she will inevitably be able to create even stronger puppets. By then, a 7-cost Spell Card replicating a follower with more than ten stars' power would definitely be worthwhile.

But Shen Sui's current goal was not something a single Spell Card could satisfy.

The dialogue with Zhang Fang already made him sense the taste of the Forbidden Card List.

Although it's been less than three months since the last card ban, not yet reaching the six-month cooldown period, Shen Sui always needed to be prepared for a significant ban.

Even without the sanctions of the Forbidden Card List, Shen Sui also needed to make some subtle adjustments to his deck.

The deck for Life Card Duels has a limit of forty cards, and Shen Sui already has countless Life Cards. Many cards used in the initial duels have been replaced and stored in the deck, waiting for the right moment to be used as counter cards.

[Alice began attempting to create offensive-type puppets.]

Offensive-type puppets are considered combat units under the Summoner profession in Dawn Link.

These puppets are mainly focused on melee combat, compensating for the mage's lack of melee ability.

Except...

[Alice successfully completed the puppet creation.]

[Alice demonstrated her proud creation to you.]

[Under Alice's control, the puppet charged into a cavern filled with Demon Eye Spiders.]

[The puppet initiated a self-destruct.]

[Boom!]

[The destructive power was astonishing, and its effects were outstanding.]

[Ding! You obtained a Follower Card: Self-destructive Puppet.]

[Ding! You obtained a Spell Card: Puppet Bomb.]

...

["Isn't it amazing?" Alice happily raised her head, expecting your praise.]

Shen Sui fell silent after reading this part.

Wait.... I wanted you to make offensive puppets, not smart bombs!

["If the goal was to make bombs.... why not just make them directly," you gently reminded.]

[Alice blinked her eyes and seriously said, "It's different! I added a little magic to it."]

[Alice incorporated silence and burning effects into the magical process of the self-destructive puppet. Enemies affected by the explosion would temporarily be in a state of silence and burning.]

["Aren't you... have you ever considered the cost of making such a puppet?" you said again.]

Puppets, being the most versatile and potential-packed magic weapons, come at a very high production cost, using extremely precious materials. This is why Shen Sui asked Qishala if Dragon Island could provide the materials, fearing that Alice would consume too much material while practicing puppet making.

["Hmm... it is indeed a bit expensive," Alice nodded in agreement. The puppet that just self-destructed cost a full ten thousand demon crystals.]

["But it doesn't matter," Alice put her hands on her hips, having already thought of a strategy, "I'll just reimburse it later."]

Reimbursement?

Shen Sui was stunned.

[Alice took out a church reimbursement slip and quickly filled out the reimbursement slip for this puppet creation.]

[She had learned a lot in Roland City.]

[Taking advantage of the church's resources for reimbursement was one of them.]

[Not long ago, under the guidance of Count Karlvan, Alice completed a reimbursement slip for eight hundred and fifty thousand demon crystals.]

[Mainly for travel expenses to Elm City and medical expenses for combat injuries.]

[Plus, compensation for the Thunder Knight who died in battle.]

Seeing this, Shen Sui's mouth twitched slightly.

Alice's nature had changed for the worse, she had become unscrupulous.

Though they were enemies, that was compensation for the deceased after all.

And the wool comes from the sheep's back, taking advantage of the church like this will only make them more exploitative of the common people, right?

[Alice handed all the demon crystals she reimbursed over to the Twilight Legion to sustain their daily expenses.]

[Of course, she would also keep a little for her magical training, naturally including the cost of puppet making.]

[Ding! You obtained a Spell Card: Expense Reimbursement]

Shen Sui took a look, yet another excellent Refund Card.

[Alice inquired again about the materials for making your body.]

[She planned to get some materials from the church again.]

Whoa.

Is there really nothing she can't handle?

Alice didn't really need Shen Sui to provide any puppet-making materials.

The materials for the self-destructing puppet just now were found in the warehouse of the Master of Thunder's Church by her.

Actually, this already showed the corruption inside the Master of Thunder's Church.

Such a massive organization supposedly shouldn't have such a huge loophole.

Yet now, Alice just easily acquired a large number of demon crystals and precious magic materials from the church with a stamped reimbursement slip, and no one even bothered to verify its authenticity.

[The stamp of the Master of Thunder's Church was blessed by the Master of Thunder, so the followers of Thunder wouldn't question the master's authority.]

[However, they probably didn't expect that this stamp was carved by Alice herself.]

[Ding! You obtained a Spell Card: Forgery]

"Alice... she'll really do anything," said Qishala, sitting beside Shen Sui, watching Alice's actions with admiration, "this behavior basically implies slapping the Master of Thunder in the face. This stamp is endorsed by Gods."

"Uh, thinking about it that way, it kind of makes sense." After Qishala's remark, Shen Sui wasn't surprised anymore.

Slapping the Master of Thunder in the face? Get struck by divine punishment?

Alice had already thought countless times in her mind of taking down the Master of Thunder, would she fear this?

She naturally feared nothing and nobody, let alone having a grudge against her enemies like this.

Under the vast reserves of magical materials from the Master of Thunder's Church, Alice had managed to complete most of her puppet-making training in seven days.

She also provided Shen Sui with a batch of Puppet Follower Card enhancements.

Due to Alice's rank, most of these Puppet Follower Cards were still at the level of rank six or seven.

Shen Sui's deck had reached its limit, except for a few Follower Cards that were substituted, Shen Sui didn't add these Follower Cards to his deck.

Card imprinting shouldn't be too rapid.

Otherwise, others wouldn't be able to keep up with the bans.

Shen Sui felt that he was still too forgiving.

Meanwhile, Shen Sui finally got his wish as Alice unlocked a brand new form.

[Ding! Your Soul Card Follower acquired a new form: Puppet Master Alice]

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Card Name: [Puppet Master Alice]

Category: Follower Card

Star Level: 8 stars

Effect: You need to detach the same number of stacked materials from this Follower Card as the number of Followers on the opponent's field to declare an attack with this follower.

① If this follower successfully appears through form transformation, you may stack all "Puppet" Follower Cards from the banished zone under this card, and this follower's Spirit Value increases by X; (X = stacked materials * 1500)

② When this follower loses stacked materials, it must activate, and until the end of the turn, all opponents' follower effects are negated.

③ Once per turn, during your turn, you can activate one of the following effects:

〇 Select and stack a "Puppet" Follower Card from the deck under this Follower Card;

〇 Choose a stacked material from this follower to add to your hand.

Spirit Value: 3500

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