The Card Apprentice

Sue Lochiro remained calmly behind Lu Xiaoru. The scene in front of her made her feel exhausted from the furthest reaches of her heart. If, and only if, there weren’t so much fighting in the world, things would be a lot better! But she couldn’t actually claim to be ignorant of how naive her desires were and how caught up in the fighting the world was.

But she still felt truly exhausted! She had never felt so tired, even during those past few days when she had been shuttling among the civilians in order to treat the wounded. That had wiped her perception clean.

It was strange that she didn’t feel any fear. Sue Lochiro smiled bitterly; that would probably be considered progress. She had to get rid of those distractions!

Any delicacy had rapidly disappeared from her face. In its place was the special strength of the medical card artisan, her powerful professionalism. She was capable and settled by then. Since she had decided to join that team, she wasn’t going to be a drag on her comrades! She quietly activated the apparatus on her wrist.

Fighting? That wasn’t for her. But she had some pride just the same: her medicine! Once the conflict had erupted, if someone were injured, she would be able to control her comrades’ injuries within a short time. If they weren’t too messed up, the wounded could even retain a certain battle power.

During that stretch, when swords were drawn and bows bent, she still displayed her cool demeanor. What sort of life had she been living? Those thoughts flashed through her mind like a shooting star, and her expression turned focused as she went into her role. No one paid attention to the girl in the corner, whose eyes were ever-brightening.

“Please restrain yourselves, everyone.” The young card artisan maintained his emotionless expression. “You are surrounded. There is a second group of reinforcements stationed outside. There are 150 card artisans under the direct command of the Federation Comprehensive Academy.”

Bogner gave a slight sneer, not paying that any mind. “What does that mean? A threat? Ha!” There was no lightness in his eyes. If anyone were paying attention, they would have been astounded to discover that his eyes were just like a wolf’s in the jungle.

“I am only humbly stating the facts.” The card artisan maintained his emotionless expression, but his speech was suddenly cut short by a cold groan.

“Really? Is 100-some card artisans a lot?” Jiao Si’s face was grim, his gaze gloomy and frightening. He then became oppressively fired up.

Once the card artisan met Jiao Si’s gaze, his body started to tremble subtly. He said in an uncomfortable tone, “I am only humbly following orders, President Jiao Si.”

“Following orders? Whose orders are you following? Tang Hanpei’s?” Jiao Si’s tone was extremely cold.

The air around seemed to have congealed from the chill. Such a powerhouse as Jiao Si becoming angered even terrified Chen Mu.

There were already drops of cold sweat seeping from the card artisan’s forehead as he forced himself to remain calm. “Do you wish to start a battle between our two schools, President Jiao Si?”

Afterward, a bright red folding wavy blade swiftly shot toward the card artisan. He was astonished and put out his energy cloak in a flurry. The folding wavy blade exploded apart before reaching the energy cloak.

Hong!

Like an inflated ball, the card artisan was bounced right against the wall, from which he limply slid down. Jiao Si saw the card artisan without looking at him.

“Hrmph! Such a big player would dare to be so impudent in front of me?” He turned to face the rest of the card artisans, saying in a low shout, “You all listen well. If anyone else wants to mouth off to me, don’t blame me for not being so nice!”

The card artisans had long since been scared stiff, and no one dared to make a sound. If Jiao Si were truly angered, nearly half of the card artisans stationed there would be dead. The blame would come from above, and that wasn’t a responsibility they could bear.

They then took a look at those card artisans positioned so well, none of them looking easy to deal with!

“Let’s go!” Jiao Si sneered proudly. “I would like to see who dares to stop me.”

The card artisans from the Origins Academy had wild gazes as they looked worshipfully at their president. What was a strong man? Jiao Si was using his own actions to make that definition!

That was how Jiao Si led everyone: swaggering out of the Federation Comprehensive Academy station. The Federation Comprehensive Academy card artisans along their way were as silent as trembling cicadas.

* * *

Half an hour later, Tang Hanpei was looking at the pallid face of his own subordinate on the screen, carefully listening to every detail of his report.

Jiao Si had brazenly made his move on behalf of that Mr. Cao, not hesitating to brave even the risk of his turning against him. What was really unexpected for Tang Hanpei was that in his estimation of such a wily guy as Jiao Si, the greatest likelihood was that the two wouldn’t help one another.

So, why had he done it?

Up until then, he hadn’t been able to think through why Jiao Si would be so concerned about Cao Dong. Was it because he was the card master who’d made the numbered series of cards? Impossible! On one side was the card master who’d made the numbered series of cards, and on the other side was the Federation Comprehensive Academy. A glance would show who was the heavyweight and who was the lightweight. Jiao Si would never make such a low-level error—unless Cao Dong had something on him that Jiao Si was more concerned about.

But if he did, what could it be?

Tang Hanpei suddenly remembered what he’d felt upon first seeing Cao Dong. Could it be…

Looking at his subordinate, who had just been hit hard, Tang Hanpei said with concern, “Get some rest, and recuperate! Your health is important. You’ll have to leave everything else alone.”

That card artisan still showed no emotion in his expression, though he couldn’t hide a flash of feeling deep in his eyes. “Yes, sir, master! And, will the plan be implemented?”

“It will!” Tang Hanpei issued the orders without hesitating. “Pay close attention to where this line of people goes, and report it to me when the time comes.”

“Yes, sir!”

Once the card artisan had closed his apparatus, Tang Hanpei turned around to the 150 card artisans standing in ranks behind him. That was the power of the card artisans directly reporting to the Federation Comprehensive Academy!

“Get aboard!”

The entire troop started to silently step onto the train, right onto the carriage where Chen Mu and the rest had been sitting. Only the sound of boots on the floor could be heard, no one daring to open their mouths.

Closing his apparatus, Tang Hanpei fell into deep thought for a moment, still not grasping the main points. He called another number. A mild-mannered student wearing large, black-framed glasses appeared on the screen. The thick lenses nearly covered his entire face.

“The plan is about to begin, Chengyan. I reckon they’ll arrive in about 20 hours.”

The student pushed up the thick glasses from the bridge of his nose. “Have you really decided to do this, Big Brother Tang? Even if you win, that gang from the school might take the opportunity to make trouble, and your situation might become dangerous.”

That mild-looking man was Song Chengyan, the youthful genius of tactics! His tone was full of concern. As the one who’d formulated the entire plan, no one was clearer than he was about what its result would be.

Tang Hanpei smiled mildly. “Don’t worry, Chengyan; I know the score. You calculate the time to make our move, and I’ll give the orders.”

Although he didn’t know why Big Brother Tang had insisted on that plan, Song Chengyan believed he certainly had his reasons. The youth’s expression turned firm, and his gaze turned sharp. He calmly said, “I reckon the Central Repository of the Classics’ transit route can be traversed within 20 hours. We can be conservative at 18 hours, which is 20 percent beyond their highest speed. Our people will get there after 12 hours, meaning there are six hours left over. We’ll give them four hours to rest, so they can increase their fighting strength a little. The best time to make our move starts now, and we should start our 16 hours on time!” Saying so much in a single breath, Song Chengyan couldn’t help but wheeze a little, and there were fine beads of sweat seeping from his brow.

Tang Hanpei stood up with a prance and said with a nervous expression, “It’s nothing, Chengyan. You don’t need to think about anything now, so get some rest! I’ll find out after 16 hours. Leave the rest to me. Get going now!” He closed his apparatus after he said that.

He stood alone and dazed in the dark room. Who knew what he was thinking? After a few minutes, he seemed to have returned to his spirits and made another call on his apparatus.

“Is this the information management department? I am Tang Hanpei. I would like to request that all the news about Caesar that year be transferred to me immediately!”

The professor on the screen was taken aback, and there was a big change to his expression. “Caesar? The Caesar who practiced the Materials Refinement Code?”

“Right!”

“I’ll get right on it!” The professor looked panicked as he stumbled into the resource room.

Looking at the screen, Tang Hanpei became expressionless for a while.

At his first look at Cao Dong, he had found what was peculiar about the youth’s perception, which was surprisingly similar to someone who’d practiced features of the Materials Refinement Code.

There had been no trace of Caesar, who was the most famous personage who’d practiced perception with those properties that year.

As far as the Federation Comprehensive Academy was concerned, Caesar was like an old scar no one dared to remove. During the flourishing of his terrible name 30 years before, it had swept the Heavenly Federation. The scholars of the Federation Comprehensive Academy had a complicated complex about Caesar.

Not one of the scholars who later practiced the Materials Refinement Code achieved half of Caesar’s heights. From that alone, it was clear how startling had been his splendid fall.

Quite a few detested him, but others worshipped him. Tang Hanpei was one of those who worshipped him. He had a deep admiration for such an ace from another age. Still, he didn’t approve of quite a few of Caesar’s methods.

If Cao Dong practiced the Materials Refinement Code, there was only one possibility—he was Caesar’s student. If that conjecture were true, it would doubtlessly be a disaster as far as the Federation Comprehensive Academy was concerned! The depth of the enmity between the Federation Comprehensive Academy and Caesar had no way to be resolved.

He wasn’t afraid of anyone, including Caesar—never mind a card artisan who might have been Caesar’s student. If it were ordinary times, and if he knew where Caesar was, he would challenge him with no hesitation.

But it was the right time! The opportunity of his adversary’s appearance was really too deadly. The chill in Tang Hanpei’s heart thickened.

Just then, the professor’s face turned pallid as he appeared on the screen, huffing and puffing.