Miracle Card Shop: All My Cards Can Be Actualize

There's a saying that when trouble strikes, it strikes hard and without warning. This was true here as well; the likelihood of this particular event was incredibly low, so low, in fact, that even Nexus Prime, a super A.I., hadn't factored it into its calculations when working with Albert and Cao Cao on security detail.

Not even master strategists like Guo Jia or Odysseus could have foreseen it. But in Daniel's case, the full blessing of "Ladies' Man Luck" from Asmodeus amplified even the tiniest probability into reality.

—

In the Starry Abyss, The Keeper examined the fiery-red thread in his hand, frowning deeply. This thread had, unbeknownst to him, slipped into the Starry Abyss, the wellspring of all magic. He had taken time to prepare and contain any potential harm it might cause to the sources, but even minor damage—even a superficial scratch, like marring a car's paint—is still damage.

This disturbance would briefly disrupt magic in the world, especially where the thread connected. It would only be a split second in which all magic would appear to vanish before it resumed.

Having done all he could to mitigate the damage, The Keeper's expression darkened as he decided to sever it. With one swift motion, he tore the thread apart.

In that instant, like a single grain of sand falling into the intricate gears of a grand machine, the whole system paused briefly before resuming its relentless motion. There was no lasting damage, but that fleeting pause sent ripples felt by anyone powerful enough to sense it. It also triggered a chain reaction, an impossible-to-prevent disruption in various locations on Earth.

And one of those affected places was right in the heart of New Atlantis, directly in front of a certain convenience store.

—

"Kyah!" The woman exclaims as she falls.

"Oh! I'm sorry, my bad, my bad!" Daniel apologizes instinctively. But his trained instincts tell him he hadn't bumped into her that hard, and he's almost certain she saw him but didn't bother avoiding him. Nevertheless, he reaches out to help her up.

It's important to note that Daniel is paranoid to an extreme degree. He's so wary, in fact, that he considers having a space station equipped with a god-slaying cannon as a sensible backup home—just in case of a global catastrophe, like a planet-killing asteroid striking Earth.

He also has multiple enchantments active on his body at all times, enhancing his defense, reflexes, and combat abilities, all so he can't be taken by surprise. But… at this moment, none of his preparations mattered.

In that split second of magical disruption, Daniel's defenses and enchantments vanished entirely. As he reached for the woman's hand, a sharp pain shot through his palm. For that brief moment, he was as vulnerable as any ordinary human. The source of the pain was a small ring on her finger—a concealed injection needle containing a potent sedative, strong enough to knock out a gorilla.

A wave of exhaustion and intense sleepiness hit him—something was wrong. He couldn't feel his usual strength flowing through his body, and he collapsed, falling forward against the woman's chest.

By the time his powers and enchantments returned, it was too late. He had already succumbed to overwhelming fatigue.

The woman, Susan, looked down at him with a satisfied smile, as though everything had gone precisely according to her plan. Her triumphant expression as if everything falling into place and according to her plan was the last thing he saw before darkness overtook him.

"Uh… ma'am, is everything alright?" a convenience store clerk asked, noticing Daniel's sudden collapse against the woman. Concerned, he stepped outside to check, unsure of what had just happened.

"My husband seems to have had a bit too much to drink. Could you help me get him to my car over there?" The woman pointed to her vehicle parked not far from the convenience store.

"Of course, ma'am. I'll help." The store employee carefully hoisted Daniel up, who seemed completely unconscious, and, seeing no other option, decided to carry him on his back to the woman's car.

Initially, the staff member felt something was off; he recognized Daniel as a regular customer, someone who never drank. He didn't even smell of alcohol. But he knew better than to meddle in the affairs of a couple, so he brushed off his doubts and focused on helping.

When he noticed the luxury car parked nearby, the staff dismissed his suspicions. It was the kind of high-end vehicle he couldn't dream of affording, even after a lifetime of work. Surely, the owner of such a car wouldn't drug a man just to haul him home, right? No, that only happened in third-rate soap operas that target the women market.

He chuckled to himself, helping settle Daniel into the car and bidding the woman farewell.

"Ah, I'd love to have a caring wife like that too," he mused dreamily before deciding to let the matter go. He still had a long shift ahead before he could clock out.

— A Few Seconds Before the Mana Blip —

Envy was in her room, peacefully reading a mix of fictional books and ancient tomes under the artificial space she had crafted to resemble the Lake of Avalon. She sat beneath a gazebo of her own creation, enjoying a quiet tea.

In an instant, everything suddenly ceased to exist. The entire space collapsed, and she sensed all the mana within her body vanish. The artificial world faded, snapping her back to the reality of her regular room. The British tea on the table beside her was about to topple, but the table—and the space—restabilized as if nothing had happened.

Envy frowned, glancing down at her book and surroundings. She then checked her clock and frowned again. Standing up, she dispelled the space entirely, returning to her cozy room in Daniel's house.

"Nexus Prime, please compare the time on this clock with your internal clock," Envy requested of the Super A.I. as she held the magic clock in her hand.

[Lady Envy, the magic clock in your hand is behind my internal clock by 24 milliseconds,] the A.I. replied.

Hearing this, Envy's frown deepened. She knew her magic clock ran in perfect sync with Nexus Prime's standard clock. It was impossible for it to lag behind by even a millisecond—she had crafted it herself, and she wouldn't make such an amateur mistake.

"So... magic really did cease to exist for 24 milliseconds before it returned to normal," Envy muttered, heading out of her room. She needed to confirm this anomaly with her former colleague.

Envy stepped out onto the rooftop and began reaching out to her old colleague-turned-enemy, Golden Scale, who still resided in the Hightower. After a brief wait, a shadowed figure appeared in her magical sight—the familiar, hooded silhouette of Golden Scale.

"You're contacting me because magic ceased to exist for a split second, correct?" Golden Scale guessed her purpose immediately.

"That's right. Did anything unusual happen on your end? Did you do something, Golden Scale?" Envy asked, her tone edged with menace.

"Envy, it seems that your time with that upstart has finally dulled your mind. You, of all people, should know I'd be the last person on earth wishing for magic to cease. Magic sustains me… you know this." Golden Scale paused, then continued.

"I should be the one asking you, Envy. Is your husband experimenting with mana, or doing something that could erase it, leaving us mages powerless so he can use his weapons to eliminate us?" Golden Scale questioned her, his voice laced with suspicion.

"That…" Envy hesitated; it wasn't entirely out of the question. Daniel's paranoia was notorious, not only among his confidants and close allies but also to some of his enemies.

"I'll check on him and ensure he hasn't done anything reckless. We can't let that thing on the moon break free, after all," Envy replied.

Golden Scale nodded. "Yes… that thing on the moon is a nasty enigma. I'm not even sure what it is, but I know it somehow feeds off the knowledge of its true name. None of the ancient tomes contain any clue about its true name or nature."

"It's just a theory, and don't you dare investigate it further, Golden Scale. I'm warning you—though we may be enemies, you wouldn't want to doom the entire world. As long as it remains unknown, and as long as we avoid uncovering its name or nature, we should be safe," Envy warned sternly, the threat clear in her tone. She would not hesitate to destroy the Hightower herself if Golden Scale attempted to research that thing on the moon.

"Don't worry about that. You check on your damn husband; I'll investigate on my end to see if someone did anything reckless recently. We can exchange information after a few days of investigation," Golden Scale proposed.

"Deal." Envy nodded, cutting off the communication spell.

She sighed, feeling the weight of the encounter, and headed back into the house to find Daniel. But after fifteen minutes of searching, she came up empty-handed. "Where did that man go? sigh… He's making me worry again," Envy muttered, exasperated. She took another weary sigh before beginning to contact Daniel's confidantes, including Odysseus, Cao Cao and Albert.

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