Chapter 48. Trying It Out

"..."

In the antique shop.

Ryan gritted his teeth to end the use of the [Broken Cursed Seal].

As the black seal that had spread out from his body gradually retreated into his arm, Ryan felt the cold, evil intent gradually recede from his body and subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, feeling somewhat uneasy.

The power that the [Broken Cursed Seal] brought to the table was undoubtedly powerful.

Ryan could feel the significant increase in both speed and power as the curse seal's power spread through his body. Judging from that, Ryan's punch, along with the curse seal's power boost, was as strong as his previous full power strike with Mighty Steel Leg, not to mention the change in speed.

Just looking down at the black seal symbols on his arm, Ryan's expression was somewhat helpless.

At this point, he finally understood why the word 'broken' was added to the evaluation of the system. Not only because of [Mizuki]'s role in the process of obtaining the seal itself, but also the side effect of this power. It could only be called 'broken'.

It seems that the power of this [Broken Cursed Seal] must only be used as a last resort.

Thinking of the cold, evil feeling that had accompanied his use of the seal's power, Ryan immediately relegated the ability to a reserve position that he wouldn't easily use.

'It's best never to use this ability.'

With his back to the system, Ryan didn't feel the need to hold on to power with a huge side effect like the curse seal, and a more suitable card would naturally come along when the points were enough anyway.

Inside the antique shop.

Once the chakra in his body had recovered, Ryan then used the [Three Body Techniques] skill to create a clone in the shop.

The clone that appeared and Ryan looked at each other and gently nodded.

This feeling, no matter how many times he saw it, felt novel.

Ryan looked at his identical clone, who appeared in the antique shop, and silently sighed. But he didn't stop there. He then activated the transforming ability from the [Three Body Techniques] again.

Only a 'bang' was heard, and after the white fog had gone away, the clone standing opposite Ryan had changed into Ah Xing's form.

'Then, I'm going to try and see if what I think can be done can really be done.'

Looking at the familiar face in a red sweatshirt opposite him, Ryan subconsciously took a deep breath. He then turned his eyes back to the data panel of the system, opened the cards in the card column, and found [D-level card -- Fifth Brother Ah Xing].

For the next step, Ryan didn't use [Ah Xing]'s card to swap out the [Mizuki] character card he had on him, as he had done in the past.

Instead, he aimed this card directly at the clone who had turned into Ah Xing's form in front of him, and ordered the clone to use it.

As the order fell, Ryan subconsciously held his breath. His eyes were unblinking as he stared at the D-level card in the system.

The idea of using clones in combination with cards also came to Ryan earlier after trying out Mizuki's ability.

To be honest, he had no idea whether this approach would work or not. After all, a clone wasn't a shadow clone; it was theoretically a projection that disappeared when touched, no, it disappeared automatically without being touched.

If Ryan succeeded, he wouldn't have to risk his life by running around to get reputation points like he did when he went to Harlem to look for Luke Cage, not to mention that both Peng Lai and The Brotherhood, as he called them, would have other new characters. With Ryan holding it together in disguise alone, it was only a matter of time before there would be a flaw or even someone seeing through it.

After all, an organisation where only one character appeared at a time, from head to toe, was a huge breach in itself.

Failure would leave Ryan to continue to work a little harder and continue to collect points on his own.

Fortunately, the expected failure didn't happen. With Ryan's order, the [Ah Xing] character card in the system started to flash with a faint light. After flickering for a few seconds, it then turned into a white light and entered the body of the clone in front of him.

'It worked!'

The thought flashed subconsciously through his mind. Ryan then saw the clone across the room blink at him. This was followed by a feeling of sudden confusion in his mind as if a part of his brain had suddenly split and his senses were suddenly multiplied. It was a strange feeling, completely different from when he had used the [Three Body Techniques] clone before, but Ryan could still feel that he could control the clone in front of him. He manipulated his movements, gave orders, and could even disable the clone with a single thought.

Shaking his head, feeling the stirring sensations in his head return, Ryan looked towards Ah Xing, who was across from him.

Without waiting for him to say anything, Ah Xing nodded with an understanding look, "Don't worry, leave it to me."

"..."

In the antique shop, Ryan watched Ah Xing's back as he pushed his way out the door.

There was a brief moment of silence before he withdrew himself, feeling the amount of chakra in his body and feeling that he could still conjure up another clone.

　　...

"Sir."

Tony Stark's Mansion, basement.

"What's wrong, Jarvis?"

"Didn't I tell you not to disturb me while I'm working? "

At the sudden voice of the A.I butler Tony Stark stopped what he was doing, subconsciously raised his eyebrows and looked up to ask.

"I know, Sir. But the Phantom Thief has reappeared."

Throwing away the unknown part he was holding, Tony then raised his hand and swiped away the virtual design of what looked like a weapon in front of him, "Show me where Phantom Thief is. What's he up to, and all relevant information."

"Yes, Sir."

At Tony's command, Jarvis presented all the information about the Phantom Thief's activities on the virtual screen in front of him. This included the time of the crime, the process and, most importantly, the contents of the newest letter.

Notice: Riding on the blessing of carnations, the gentleman steals the hope of the dead and the blue diamond of bad luck in one moment. -- Phantom Thief Kid

Tony looked at the content of the letter displayed on the virtual screen for a few seconds in silence and then suddenly said, "Jarvis, do a search for news reports on the Ocean Star for me."

"Yes, Sir."

A few seconds later, on the screen, all the reports on the Ocean Star from the modern era appeared one after another. With a wave of his finger, he deleted some of the reports that were too old, and finally, Tony's eyes settled on a report from 2 months ago.

'Daily Bugle.' -- the most precious blue diamond ever created, 'Hope', will be exhibited in the New York Museum in early May.

"Well, Mr Thief... I found you!"

Looking at the report on the screen, Tony subconsciously curled the corners of his lips.

However, before the smile could spread, Jarvis spoke up and doused it with cold water, "Although you have done a remarkable job of deciphering the contents of Phantom Thief's letter, Sir. I regret to inform you that Phantom Thief's case is over, and the NYPD has already received the diamond that Phantom Thief stole one hour ago."

"..."

This subsequent follow-up from Jarvis caused the confident expression on Tony's face to collapse.

"Jarvis."

"Yes, Sir."

"Shut up."

"Yes, Sir. "