Honestly, Ling Ke had no idea whether the single-draw price of 280 was set because he happened to be in the HI3 world.
"Then... if I'd transmigrated into the Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, or Zenless Zone Zero worlds instead, would it drop to 160 per draw?"
After grumbling about that internally, he decided it didn't matter.
"Whatever. This world's got plenty of people. Points won't be a problem."
Mm. A very cold-blooded thought.
But the current him could only think this way.
After all, he'd already become the 「World-Destroying Player」.
Since he chose this path, he wasn't going to half-ass it.
Even if he was a villain — an antagonist — he'd be the best one.
Right now——
"The system has no pity mechanic, so there's no reason to hoard."
"Hit 280, draw. Draw early, use early, maximize value."
With that thought, Ling Ke operated the system interface directly through his mind.
Before long——
[Game Character Template: Billy] [Origin: Zenless Zone Zero] [Character Traits: Level Mechanism, HP Mechanism, Infinite Stamina, Equipment Indestructible, Infinite Ammunition, Physical Attribute, Strong Attack Attribute, Character Switching...] [Game Skills: Normal Attack — Full Firepower, Dodge — Close Call Close Call, Dash Attack — Star-Glow-Sanction, Dodge Counter — Fair Duel...] [Background Talent: Firepower-Type High-Intelligence Tactical Unit for Area Suppression...] [Related Info: Full name — Billy Kid. A robot with free will. Obsessed with a tokusatsu show called 「Starlight Knights」...]
"Heh. I don't need knight's honor."
"As long as it can fight. As long as it can kill."
After reading through the new template's details, Ling Ke let out a cold laugh.
Right then——
[Prompt: Game Character Templates 「Anby」 and 「Billy」 originate from the same game and both possess the 「Character Switching」 trait. Maximum team size: three. They can form a squad and unlock additional operational capacity.]
Good news.
While the 999 puppets had been slaughtering their way through the base, Ling Ke's main body hadn't been idle — he'd been systematically exploring every detail of the Player One System's mechanics.
What he'd found was that under normal circumstances, switching Game Character Templates could only be done inside the 「Respawn Room」... meaning inside the Theater of Domination.
Standard game logic. Nothing surprising.
But if the templates themselves had the 「Character Switching」 trait, then multiple templates could be loaded simultaneously and freely swapped outside — following the original game's rules.
For example: in the future, if Ling Ke drew several templates from Genshin Impact, they could form a five-person team at most.
And since both 「Anby」 and 「Billy」 were Zenless Zone Zero templates, they could form a three-person squad at most.
On that basis, whenever the 999 Domination Puppets were operating outside the Theater of Domination, any of them could freely become 「Anby」 or 「Billy」 at any time.
And the 「Assist Attack」 that came with multi-character teaming was now available too.
That was exactly what the system meant by "unlock additional operational capacity."
Before this, when 「Domination Puppet · Anby」 faced close-range attacks, her only option was to dodge. Now she could go clang-clang-clang with 「iron fighting」.
And unlike Genshin Impact, where character switching had a cooldown — Ling Ke remembered that Zenless Zone Zero allowed completely CD-free switching.
Which meant——
"Close combat with 「Anby」, ranged with 「Billy」, rapid switching back and forth — most people would have a very hard time adapting to a combat style where the rhythm, the moveset, and the attack range keep changing without warning."
Ling Ke smiled with satisfaction. "Even ignoring the invincibility frames on 「iron fighting」, that alone qualifies as a lethal first-encounter kill for any enemy."
With that, he immediately followed the system prompt and activated the 「Billy」 template alongside 「Anby」, forming a squad.
Instantly, every Domination Puppet received the new combat upgrade in sync.
Just then——
"Hm?"
Inside the Theater of Domination, Ling Ke's expression went briefly blank.
Then a smile spread across his face — completely unhinged.
"Well, well. Already bumped into an 「acquaintance」."
"Lucky me."
Yes.
At that very moment, somewhere in a West Asia Branch corridor, one 「Domination Puppet · Anby」 had been intercepted by three girls.
They were members of the Silver Lotus Squad.
And one of them happened to be the unit's captain — Edelweiss Even.
Through the puppet's eyes, Ling Ke could see: the woman was holding a pair of ring blades, standing at the front with her chest out, expression dripping with arrogance.
On the surface alone, "heroic and valiant" would've been a fair description.
But anyone who knew what she was really like...
"Surrender, intruder. You're not my match."
"That face is pretty cute, though. I'd really rather not damage it."
Through the real-time sensory link, Ling Ke heard every word.
He smiled.
He'd almost forgotten — Edelweiss's sexual orientation... well, let's just say it was very much in line with this world's mainstream.
But unlike that certain broad-minded yuri boss he remembered.
She... liked it rough.
She didn't care whether the other party was willing.
In fact, what she enjoyed most was "conquering" girls who fought back.
In secret, she'd already come to see the squad she led as her own personal harem.
Right now, she'd clearly taken a liking to "Anby" as well.
Unfortunately——
"Buzz!"
Ling Ke transmitted an instruction remotely.
Immediately, throughout the corridor where the 「Domination Puppet · Anby」 stood, Space Gates opened in every direction.
In a matter of seconds, a full 100 reinforcement Domination Puppets appeared one after another.
All of them wore Anby's face, gripped black blades, and within moments had completely surrounded the Silver Lotus Squad's three-woman team.
!!!
Including Edelweiss, all three members of the Silver Lotus Squad froze — stunned by the sheer absurdity of what they were seeing, eyes blown wide.
Cold sweat poured down immediately after.
"This... teleportation?"
"Isn't the Herrscher of the Void at Anti-Entropy's Salt Lake Base?"
"Who the hell are you!?"
The Silver Lotus Squad's earlier posture of guaranteed victory had completely evaporated.
All three were shouting questions now — fierce on the outside, crumbling on the inside.
And the thing was...
"The intelligence relay in this West Asia Branch base is laughably slow."
Ling Ke, alone inside the Theater of Domination, felt a flicker of contempt. "I've already killed over two hundred people and these three still don't know that there's more than one 'Anby.'"
Honestly, if this were a real war, the intelligence officers responsible would've been lined up and shot.
Then——
"Main body — the base control room has been taken."
"Huh."
Listening to the report through the quantum-entangled link, Ling Ke blinked.
Right.
From the moment the first 「Anby」 replaced him in the underground prison and started breaking out — ran into the spec-ops squad — to now, at most ten minutes had passed.
In that sliver of time, the control room had already fallen... which meant the assault had started long before the breakout even registered.
No wonder the base's intelligence relay had gone to shit.
Of course, if the higher-ups weren't a bunch of useless eaters, there would've been time to react.
But the situation spoke for itself...
"In the end, it was still people occupying seats they had no business sitting in and no qualifications to hold."
Ling Ke sneered, then turned his attention back to the Silver Lotus Squad.
He issued the order directly:
"Kill the two beside her. Leave Edelweiss."
A beat. Then he added: "Oh, right."
"For the 「banquet」 meal, you only need hands and a mouth... chop off the legs. Can't have her running around."
"Received!" ×100