The Card Apprentice

The chief uncle’s expression suddenly changed while he was in high-speed flight, as did everyone else’s. His face went swiftly dark as he signaled for the ranks to speed up.

Just then, the masked man’s eyes flashed, and Butchie’s expression changed. The rest of the card artisans were shocked too. Without anything needing to be said, all of them sped up, and the entire platoon silently flew toward the energy fluctuations.

Wei-ah suddenly raised his head as his gaze went out the window.

While Chen Mu was transmitting the data to the system, he stopped what he was doing and looked out the window in some alarm.

What powerful energy fluctuations! They could likely only come from a large-scale battle. Who would dare so brazenly to do battle in the city? Chen Mu furrowed his brow. The bout of fluctuation was quite close—not more than 2,000 meters away.

After elevating his perception, his discernment became more accurate. Previously, he would still have been able to perceive it, though certainly without such clarity.

Two thousand meters wasn’t anything more distant than the blink of an eye for a card artisan. As far as a large-scale melee was concerned, it wouldn’t be any distance at all.

If a real large-scale card artisan battle had developed, and if he was within the range of fire, that would be quite hazardous. The bout of energy fluctuation was really powerful, and he could imagine what kind of terrifying firepower that implied. He was afraid the entire Heaven’s Wings building would be leveled when it came.

But, what made him feel uncertain was that very few people would dare to open fire in a city. There were tall buildings all over the place, and there were a lot of pedestrians, most of whom were ordinary residents who had no way to protect themselves. Once a firefight developed in the city, it could create a large number of civilian casualties. There wasn’t any ruler who wanted to see such a situation, whether it was a ruler in name only or the actual rulers. They always hoped for good order in their precincts to facilitate their development and the accumulation of wealth.

Therefore, in cities there would generally be a prohibition against card artisans battling. Few would ever challenge such prohibitions, whether the card artisans were strong or weak. During that time while martial power was distinctly important, there were still some other things, such as reputation, that couldn’t be ignored either. Aces were generally rather protective of their public image.

But, Chen Mu wasn’t concerned about such things. Under conditions where there wasn’t any threat, Chen Mu could usually be considered an ordinary, peaceful gentleman. But, he couldn’t remain unperturbed that time. The energy fluctuations in the air had heated up at a startling rate, and he had already sensed their danger.

That place wasn’t safe!

There was already no sign of Wei-ah. Chen Mu had always had perfect confidence in Wei-ah’s ability to defend himself. He wouldn’t have half a chance against Wei-ah as he was then. Even if he were to pull away from Wei-ah, any tailless shuttle he might emit would still have no way to hit him. Wei-ah was like a beast with an innate fighting instinct, always good at taking advantage of whatever conditions he could. He didn’t have any perception, but Wei-ah’s ability to detect danger was still more powerful than Chen Mu’s. He couldn’t fly, but his high-speed sprinting wasn’t even half a point inferior to Chen Mu’s all-out flight.

He didn’t know where such a freak had ever popped up from, but Wei-ah’s very existence subverted everything Chen Mu knew about humanity.

As he listened attentively, there was no noise from downstairs, which Chen Mu found a little strange. Could those guys have also felt the danger? After a while, he realized it was Sunday; there were no employees at work.

As he was just about to close the communications array, the communications card transmitted the system’s voice. “If you shut down, the transmission will terminate. Do you want to shut down?”

Chen Mu didn’t say anything. He had transmitted nearly half by then, and if it were to fail he would have to start all over the next time.

“Can I pause temporarily?” Chen Mu asked.

“Yes, not more than three hours.”

Three hours should be enough for him to get away from the battlefield. It was a good thing the communications array wasn’t large; Chen Mu could simply pick it up in one hand.

Opening the window and taking a look to see there was no one around, he slid down the building’s side. He was like a lively gecko, sticking to the outer wall of the building while following the dark, winding shadow all the way. The big mud fish card had inconceivable agility, which made Chen Mu’s movements still more weird and erratic.

He shrank into a secluded corner, which was entirely hidden in the shadows. Without looking carefully, there was no way to discover Chen Mu hiding there. He slowed his breathing and carefully regulated the frequency of the spiral perceptual spring within his body, approaching the “golden frequency” of the breath control method. That was the stealth technique he had groped for and the one he had used to evade the probing of Anna’s ripple card, after which his sneak attack had succeeded. Such a technique didn’t have the side effects of breath control, though its results weren’t nearly as good. Not only did it not have the characteristic calm of the state of breath control, the stealth wasn’t as perfect.

But, as far as Chen Mu was then concerned, it was sufficient. It didn’t have any side effects, so he could use it whenever he wanted.

There were dozens of card artisans floating toward confrontation. The density of the air along with the substantial energy fluctuations meant there was about to be an attack. No matter where one might run off to by then, it wouldn’t be any different than to seek death. Chen Mu could only stay hidden.

Then, Chen Mu witnessed a spectacular scene.

Glowing blades covered Heaven and Earth, and light beams and energy bombs whistled like rain drops toward where the three were flying. The high-speed flying wavy blades cut through the air with a shrill howl, and the fine, straight, glowing beams left eye-piercing traces. Those were then mixed up with the energy bombs’ low whirring. It was like a symphony reaching its crescendo without any prelude.

In addition to those three most common attack methods, there were quite a few more bizarre energy attacks. The light from those even exceeded the sun, with everything a flash of white, and even the shadows in Chen Mu’s corner were driven away; his body was immediately exposed. Just then, while no one was paying any attention to him and while they were all intimidated by the attacks, including Chen Mu himself…

Hong, hong, hong!

When the energy bombs detonated on the ground, or on the houses, or on the buildings, a blaze of fire would bloom. The shock wave formed by the stream of noise from the violent explosions carried along countless stones, which scattered all around with shocking speed.

Chen Mu was stunned, never having thought anyone would dare to attack so unscrupulously within the city. Compared to the scene in front of him, what he had seen before with Bo Wen or in Eastern Shang-Wei City would only be considered child’s play.

He kept being surprised, though his reaction was very quick as he activated the bipolar thunderball car with the greatest dispatch. That was the most powerful energy cloak he had just then. Five small thunderballs merrily twirled around his body by themselves.

Peng, peng, peng!

In the space of a blink, he had blocked two wavy blades and an energy bomb. The Heaven’s Wings building under his feet was a mess, having taken three energy bombs in that instant! Those energy bombs had detonated on the outer glass. The protective glass was shattered. Within a few brief seconds, the Heaven’s Wings building had become unrecognizable. The high-temperature blasts formed by the explosion of the energy bombs nearly blew Chen Mu down. Although he wasn’t injured, Chen Mu’s face and head were blown with ash.

Hugo’s expression was dark and frozen, and his already terrifying face was now outrageously hideous as he watched the flames formed by the explosions in front of him.

On the other hand, his voice remained calm. “Old Bing and Bea have died.” It was as though he were reciting facts with his uniquely piercing voice. Yet, all those who were along with him, including Butchie, knew Hugo was furious! They were too!

Meanwhile, in a different direction…

“I’ll go first, and you follow.” The chief uncle tossed out that phrase as he sped up. He had already seen the battle off in the distance while those huge explosions had long since gotten there. He could imagine what sort of battle had been waged! He had just lost his connection with Howie, which made him burn with anxiety.

* * *

Chen Mu hoped nothing had happened with Wei-ah! He was somewhat worried about him. An ace like Wei-ah wasn’t afraid of targeted attacks. What they feared most were chaotic battles. The disorderly attacks within chaotic battles were more fatal as far as they were concerned. No one could control them; it was all fate.

Very soon, Chen Mu didn’t have any time to be concerned about Wei-ah since the firepower had become still more fierce. Could those guys want to destroy Pomelo? Chen Mu promptly fled, unable to deal with anything more. He discovered with a hurried glance that one of the three who were the target of the attacks was impressively still alive. Chen Mu wouldn’t have had the strength himself to escape under such strong firepower. Although that person had a defeated look, he was indeed still alive.

The one alive was Howie, and the reason he was still alive was that “steel helmet” card of his. Before then, he hadn’t liked the steel helmet since he felt it had an ugly name; he never thought it would save his life.

The steel helmet was a card given to him by his father and was said to have a long heritage. It was an energy shielding card, but it was diametrically different compared to the ordinary energy cloaking cards. Its most special feature was its outstanding protective ability. It had experienced every means of attack, none of which had ever shaken it up. But, it had a very critical weakness. Like its name, once it was activated, it was like wearing an extremely heavy steel helmet, and movements could become extremely slow.

Contemporary card artisan battles were very fast-paced, and maintaining high-speed flight was the most basic requirement. There wouldn’t be any question about death once the speed slowed. Ordinarily, he really couldn’t use the steel helmet. But, because it was something left to him by his father, he still kept in in his apparatus.

He hadn’t thought it would be so crucial to saving him.

Maybe it was the spirit of his father in the heavens! The thought flashed through Howie’s mind.

But, that firepower had been too fierce, and even the indestructible steel helmet had collapsed in an instant. What made him feel still more hopeless was that the steel helmet card in his apparatus had already broken into pieces. He had no way to use it again.

He was completely relying on his outstanding flying ability to dodge, and his body had already gotten more bloody gashes within a few seconds. Stuck in a dangerous situation, he actually calmed down and struggled to brace himself. He knew no one would save him then; if he wanted to live, he would have to depend on himself.

That was when the chief uncle and Hugo arrived.

The chief uncle saw Howie covered in blood and having difficulty bracing himself. His eyes went red, and without any hesitation, five blue lines came from his raised hand. Each of the five threads was the thickness of a finger and about two meters long, looking like five blue snakes.

Chen Mu didn’t neglect to look back at the situation he was fleeing. When he saw those five blue lines, he immediately recognized the card the chief uncle was using, which was the blue polar snake line card.

Previously, while in Eastern Shang-Wei City, the one who had been after him had used it. Afterward, Chen Mu had specifically looked at materials about the blue polar snake line. That kind of card had been well-received by high-grade card artisans. It had an unusual special feature. When it was used, it produced extremely small energy waves.

It was very similar to the tailless shuttle card in Chen Mu’s hands. But, the waves produced by the tailless shuttle were still finer than those of the blue polar snake line and were harder to detect. Chen Mu had killed a professional card artisan that day in close quarters by virtue of the tailless shuttle. Whenever he thought about that, he couldn’t help but be amazed by his boldness.

An ignorant person is fearless. What a correct statement that was. As he was now, he would never be so bold as to do such a thing.

The blue polar snake line card was a three-star card and just happened to be within the scope of Chen Mu’s research.

From the angle of a card master, Chen Mu didn’t actually think the blue polar snake line had anything too superb about it. Its power from the energy composition formed at the start wasn’t great, and it required the card artisan to optimize its energy composition. If the blue polar snake line card was used well, it would require the one using it to have very powerful perceptual control ability.

The blue polar snake line card being deployed by that middle-aged man in the air was being used very well. Once the five blue light beams left the chief uncle’s control, they looked more like five blue snakes that had smelled something, or like five winding, blue bolts of lightning shooting out.

Their speed was dizzying.

Pu, pu, pu! The three light beams sank into the chests of the three who had been attacking Howie. They looked stunned, not having understood at all where the blows came from. Having lost control, the three fell headlong from the sky, smashing onto a building in a bloody mess.

Two more blue beams burst into two starbursts, annihilating into the air.

Machida stared at the chief uncle with a strange demonic flush on his face while his black windbreaker rippled in the wind. Wavy blades were hovering about his fingers, and he gave out a nervous chuckle. Those wavy blades were exquisite and elegant, shaped like butterflies, whose graceful and smooth curves were like works of art. They were entirely a delicate white rendered translucent and sparkling like crystal. That was the manifestation of highly materialized energy.

The chief uncle’s expression had turned serious. Experience had taught him the gaunt one in front of him wouldn’t be so good to deal with.

Hugo and his large group arrived and saw Howie being attacked. Howie looked miserable with his entire body covered in wounds, and his flight was long since without the calm and fluidity he’d had at the start. His mind was blank by then, and he was in a state of unconscious combat.

He was pitifully unaware anyone was staring at him.

The fiery battle scene immediately excited those guys, who were so full of fight. They still recognized Howie, though he was covered in blood.

So, it was that damned guy!

He didn’t know what had happened, but Howie experienced a brief moment of clarity. He saw Hugo’s unique half-masked face and shivered as his mind cleared. Once he made contact with the hateful looks of Hugo and his men, he reacted very quickly, immediately pointing to Kai and his crew, who were shouting as they rushed to Hugo. “Those two were killed by them!”

Once he said that, the scene became chaotic.

Without any hesitation, Kai attacked! He only then understood that those two who had just been killed near him weren’t in the same gang with the little punks who wouldn’t be a match for a cockroach.

But, he was also a decisive person; even though he still had a grudge, he thought more about how little difference it would make. On the contrary, at such a critical moment, any hesitation could cause the whole team to fall into someplace without hope of reprieve.

Hugo made his moves at about the same time as Kai. Once he did, it really rocked things.

He leaned forward with the top part of his body, both arms circling in front of his chest. The silvery mask flashed before it faded.

Hong!

A bright white, glowing beam about five meters in diameter was so dazzling in the midst of the battlefield, it was as though the sun were breaking through the clouds.

There was a deafening sound. After a brief blindness, there appeared a deep, black hole maybe ten meters across behind Kai with blue smoke swirling up from it.

The stout beam directly obliterated five card artisans. The most terrifying thing was that half of the body of one of them just vanished, with blood spurting out like a fountain. Still floating and not having yet reacted, he didn’t understand what had happened until the pain arrived.

The sharp screams nearly split the sky open, and even those like Kai were unable to watch. Peng. He fell to the ground, and the screaming came to a sudden halt.

Lu Xiaoru was patting her pounding chest, though no one was paying attention to her alluring action that time. She had only just missed being wiped out by that terrifying beam, luckily jumping fast. Otherwise…

Hugo’s action caused quiet on the field for a short while, but in the heat of the action just then, what remained of everyone’s reason had disappeared.

With reddened eyes, Kai looked like a raging lion with an oval shaped energy bomb slowly taking shape in his empty right hand.

The energy bomb didn’t attract any attention, not looking any different from an ordinary energy bomb, though Kai had quite a serious look on his face.

With a flash in his eyes, Kai raised his hand and threw the energy bomb toward Hugo! Its flight was extremely fast, but it strangely wasn’t making any sound.

Still, that unremarkable energy bomb caused Hugo’s expression to change as he burst out, “Dodge fast!” As the shout died, he dodged to the side as quickly as he could.

His warning had come a little too late.

The bomb exploded in the midst of the card artisans Hugo had brought along, and it was more violent than the one that had just occurred. Maybe explosion was not an appropriate term to describe it. In fact, it didn’t make any sound. That energy bomb was like a bright white starburst bubble that suddenly expanded. Six card artisans who couldn’t escape were swallowed up by the expanding white light.

Then, while everyone was still dazed, the suddenly growing white ball popped, transforming into innumerable fine, white bursting fragments.

It burst apart like snowflakes spewing everywhere, floating down from above the field, making that hell on earth look strangely beautiful.

It had really turned chaotic!

Butchie was chasing Howie, with the strikes from her hand sharply different. She had a very unusual way of striking, ceaselessly emitting tadpole-like energy bodies, which would spontaneously chase after Howie no matter how he dodged. Those tadpole energy bodies were each different, with some able to enter Howie’s flesh and some gathering together into a large body and suddenly blowing apart.

“Howie!” a girl was crying out. At almost the same time, Butchie was beating a quick retreat.

Attacks from more than 20 card artisans came at the same time, and she couldn’t dare hold fast against their vanguard. The place she had just occupied was drowned by countless energy bodies.

That was also when the chief uncle and his support forces arrived. The arrival of 20 card artisans didn’t actually trigger the end of the battle; on the contrary, the battle scene became still more chaotic. Everyone’s eyes were deadly red, and they didn’t need to determine who their enemy was anymore.

So long as they didn’t recognize someone, that was an enemy!

Lu Xiaoru stood in the ruins with her red evening gown already destroyed, revealing her snow-white flesh. She stood with her sexy, full, long legs spread open, greedily gasping for breath. The battle above her had really gotten too fierce. She had just nearly missed dying there. Taking a look at the glaring, wide-eyed Kai in midair, as well as at Machida, who was fighting miserably with the chief uncle, she was mocking silently that this old babe wasn’t going to play with those two idiots.

The perils of that day’s situation had far outpaced any battle she had ever encountered. In such a melee where anyone’s battle power was extremely limited, nobody’s power made any difference.

She had indeed gotten many benefits from the Central Island Firm, but she wouldn’t be so happy if she were to lose her life that way.

In order to control the card artisans, the Central Island Firm controlled all of their families, giving them the best life and the best services. But, Ren Wenzhou and his people hadn’t realized Lu Xiaoru’s so-called family was nothing more than an ordinary family she had bribed. In order to foil any investigations, she had already spent five or six years cultivating her feelings among the family. And, no one would ever imagine she had quite a few families on hand like that one.

So, she could walk away without any concern at all.

She suddenly stopped. What was that? Something in her bag seemed to be vibrating.

She rummaged through her fanny pack. It was the signal ball! It was vibrating endlessly, and the red light was flashing.

Lu Xiaoru’s face suddenly looked ecstatic.

She had never thought the old babe she was would ever get so lucky! Lu Xiaoru held the signal ball in her hand while she looked all around with her gorgeous eyes. For the signal ball to respond would demonstrate that the objective was within 50 meters of her. Once she thought about the possibility of catching that man and finding the so-called equipment, and then going back for the reward… It would have to be an astronomical number! The firm had been very clear on that, and they had never lied.

Her mind heated up.

In fact, Chen Mu was only six meters from her.