Marvel: Hunter-Chapter 342: Shield

Shouldn’t the bank’s handling fee for withdrawing money be just a fraction? Five million—who can bear that? It’s too exaggerated...

Five million. In the past, Blaine could have bought countless skills and pieces of equipment with that amount. Just thinking about it now made him feel dizzy, with an urge to bash his head against something.

[This plan is the optimal version calculated by the system through big data analysis.]

[The exchange of 0.1-level star cores does not incur any fees.]

[For star cores above level two, including level two, a handling fee of approximately 10% of the exchange amount is charged.]

[The specific amount is determined by the system.]

"It’s ten percent, and you still take the initiative."

"In the end, how much you charge is entirely up to you..."

Blaine could still accept what the system said earlier, but if he hadn’t heard the last two sentences, he might actually have believed it.

[This solution is conducive to the host completing tasks more efficiently.]

[And seeking out star cores to increase strength.]

[Appropriately increasing charges.]

[Can help the host establish good financial management habits.]

Good financial management habits, my ass. To Blaine, someone who casually spent hundreds of billions at a time, these words were pure nonsense.

These sudden words from System felt like they said nothing at all—just empty consolation. Just like the exchange rate between star cores and rice knives: when it changes and by how much is entirely under the system’s control.

If Blaine weren’t at a stage where he urgently needed to improve his strength—and where that improvement required massive amounts of rice knives—he wouldn’t be enduring this so quietly.

There was no helping it. Blaine needed too much money and had no choice but to rely on the system to exchange it. The power and authority were in the system’s hands, so Blaine could only comply.

Poor Blaine felt like he had turned into a wage laborer at this moment. The star cores he earned through hard work would ultimately be squeezed and exploited by his boss—the system.

"Hey, forget it. How can someone walk the rivers and lakes without getting stabbed?"

"As long as I can exchange them for rice knives, I’ll let bygones be bygones and won’t bother with the villain’s faults."

"Well, system, upgrade the energy shield."

[[Energy Shield] is currently at Lv.1. Upgrading to Lv.2 requires 10 billion. Yes/No?]

"I’ll be damned. You’re really ruthless."

Even after being cheated out of such a massive handling fee, Blaine still found it hard to accept such blatant extortion.

But since things had already come to this, he stopped caring and went with the flow.

After successfully upgrading the energy shield, Blaine’s eyes lit up. The 10 billion was well spent.

Not only did the shield expand to a five-meter radius around Blaine, it could even withstand black hole gravity and wormhole shear forces. That alone was exciting enough. At the very least, the next time Blaine used a space wormhole to travel, he wouldn’t be dizzy like last time, unable to see clearly for ages.

More importantly, once the energy shield was activated, it could withstand the energy output of dozens of fixed stars. One had to know that Thor, whose body had already ascended to godhood, could barely endure the energy of a burning fixed star—and that was with Thor’s power fully unleashed.

Now, as long as Blaine activated the energy shield, he could withstand such energy with ease. How could that not be worth it?

"Resisting the power of dozens of fixed stars..."

"Translated into enemy terms..."

"Wouldn’t that mean I could tank Dormammu’s attacks several times..."

"Oh shit, it looks like I struck gold."

And that wasn’t all. When Blaine saw the Lv.3 energy shield, he was even more tempted.

Lv.3 not only provided defense but could also be released outward, imprisoning the opponent within it.

If time stop still didn’t work on a boss at Dormammu’s level, then the energy shield could be tried instead—on the condition that Dormammu’s body was small enough to be contained within it.

Moreover, the energy shield had no time limit. It was only related to Blaine’s spiritual power. As long as his mental power held out, Dormammu could be imprisoned indefinitely.

What was even more outrageous was that, due to the extreme solidity of the energy shield, Blaine could even throw it out as a weapon.

"If you carve magic circles on it..."

"Wouldn’t this be a super weapon?"

The time-stop white mask was invisible—it could be sensed but not touched—so it could only exist as a skill. The energy shield, however, was visible and tangible, a real existence, which naturally made it suitable for inscribing magic arrays upon.

"Damn, this energy shield is huge."

"How many magic circles could be carved onto it?"

"Just imagining throwing out a five-meter-diameter shield,"

"Covered entirely in carved magic arrays,"

"Flame meteors, thousand-mile freezes,"

"Explosions, control—everything stacked on it,"

"Tsk..."

"Just thinking about that scene is exhilarating."

Although he hadn’t upgraded to that stage yet, it didn’t stop Blaine from imagining it in advance. Moderate daydreaming could regulate the endocrine system and relieve anxiety.

That’s right—purely to ease his mood. After all, Blaine had just spent so much in one go, and imagining this made his mood brighten instantly, didn’t it?

Of course, all of this could only be achieved once the energy shield was upgraded to the corresponding level.

Even so, it was worth it. After all, a single skill that combined practicality, defense, and offense was money well spent.

This energy shield was truly bought at the right time and for the right purpose...

As for its other applications, Blaine would slowly explore them when he had the chance in the future.

For now, the most important thing was to obtain the tenth-level star core as soon as possible, so the huge weight hanging over Blaine’s heart could finally be lifted.

"Let’s go. No more delay."

As soon as he spoke, Blaine’s body vanished from the spot. In an instant movement, he appeared underground. He activated the energy shield to isolate the surrounding soil, then continued descending smoothly.

With his mental power probing and confirming the location, Blaine rushed forward. After ten seconds, he finally felt the increasingly intense heat waves.

Deep beneath the center of Sakaar lay a sea of magma. Fortunately, with the energy shield active, Blaine walked straight through it.

The next moment, a dazzling white light—tinged with yellow, and streaked with red within the yellow—shone directly upon Blaine.

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