The Card Apprentice

“All of the materials related to Caesar have been transmitted to you. Everything related to Caesar belongs in the highest level of internal security, Master Tang. I apologize for not getting your agreement before reporting up.”

Tang Hanpei shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. It’s your professional duty. I’ll take a look at the materials now.” Once his voice fell, the professor clearly breathed a sigh of relief.

Tang Hanpei then concentrated on looking through all the materials related to Caesar. There were a lot more than he had imagined. Fortunately, he had more than ten hours, which would be enough to get through them.

The Federation Comprehensive Academy had expended a lot of material and manpower to research Caesar, especially regarding the Materials Refinement Code. As a legacy that had already been preserved for many years by the school, no one had shown interest in it before Caesar. It was so obscure that probably only a few of the managers knew about it.

Caesar ended up proving that the legacy wasn’t weak; they had been practicing it incorrectly. If any legacy weren’t sufficiently powerful, it would simply be discarded. However, if a legacy were sufficiently powerful but hadn’t brought all its power into play just because of wrong methods, that would be intolerable.

Moreover, if someone were to see with their own eyes how that legacy could achieve the topmost levels in the Heavenly Federation, then why would anyone at the Federation Comprehensive Academy continue to leave it buried in a pile of papers with dust and cobwebs as its companions?

During Caesar’s crazed years, he had driven the Federation Comprehensive Academy to a new high, only then to propel it with his own hands into becoming something everyone opposed. He himself became the greatest enemy of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, or even of all the Big Six!

That affair caused the Federation Comprehensive Academy to suffer its greatest humiliation. The current president of the Federation Comprehensive Academy, Pavchek, swore he would kill Caesar, deploying all of the academy’s power to research Caesar and the Materials Refinement Code.

What Tang Hanpei was then browsing through was just that study report. When Caesar was at the school, he hadn’t left behind even a single note regarding the Materials Refinement Code. That put him as second place on the “Listing of the Most Regrettable Events in the History of the Federation Comprehensive Academy.” That showed how deeply they held their grievances about the matter.

Those research reports were basically academic analyses of the Materials Refinement Code, and they also included some of the Federation Comprehensive Academy card artisans’ feelings about fighting with Caesar. Even President Pavchek wrote three related reports. An ace like Pavchek would have sharp and meticulous perception while fighting, which would often be more intuitive at certain times than the analytical instruments, and even more accurate.

The perception that came from practicing the Materials Refinement Code had peculiar characteristics. When scanned, it was completely different from any other perception. Among the discussions, Pavchek’s was the most detailed. His most commonly used word was “extremely uncomfortable.” Before Caesar had made a name for himself, Pavchek had already gotten that sense when he dealt with him. The Materials Refinement Code had an exclusive power, especially when confronting other perceptions—it would display hostility.

That word not only appeared in Pavchek’s reports, but all of the card artisans who had fought with Caesar used the same word in the reports they submitted.

Pavchek mentioned a bold conjecture in his discussion: Caesar had quite possibly been influenced by the Materials Refinement Code before he gradually and unconsciously developed hostility toward the rest of the card artisans. Over the long term, that had slowly formed into what later became his strange temperament. Even Tang Hanpei wondered if Pavchek’s conjecture might just be the truth.

Another important difference between the Materials Refinement Code and ordinary perception was that it was composed of fine, silk-like tentacles, unlike the mistiness of ordinary perception. That was also why he wondered if Cao Dong practiced the Materials Refinement Code. At his first look at Chen Mu, he had detected that Chen Mu’s perception was distributed in filaments. He had only ever heard of that kind of phenomenon appearing after practicing the Materials Refinement Code.

But, after looking at Pavchek’s report, he felt it wasn’t the same. He had chatted for such a long time with Cao Dong and absolutely never detected any hostility in his counterpart’s perception. He believed if Cao Dong were really practicing the Materials Refinement Code, there would have been no reason for him not to have detected it. With just a look, he could discover the form of any adversary’s perception, so how would he not detect an adversary’s perception rejecting his own?

Could it be that it was only similar? The more he looked at it, the more Tang Hanpei felt that was the greatest possibility. All of the reports had mentioned that later on, Caesar was half insane a quarter of the time and that his violent temper seemed to be directly related to the Materials Refinement Code.

In the same way, Tang Hanpei had found none of that on Cao Dong. On the contrary, his biggest impression of Cao Dong was that the youth was cool and calm beyond his years.

The more Tang Hanpei read, the more fascinated he became. But over the course of time, he was placing most of his interest on Caesar. The life of that legendary person was full of fantastic splendor, which dazzled Tang Hanpei. He wished he could have been born 30 years earlier to have gotten a glimpse of that legendary person’s style!

Tang Hanpei became convinced that Cao Dong wasn’t practicing the Materials Refinement Code. Although Cao Dong was young, the strength of his perception was already stunning and not the least bit weaker than that of a young ace like Zu Ning. If he were practicing the Materials Refinement Code, its side effects certainly could not be hidden.

The apparatus on his wrist sounded again, awakening Tang Hanpei from the pile of reports. He looked at the number and saw it was the president! When he took the call, a blue-eyed man with an eagle-like nose appeared on the screen. That was none other than Pavchek, the president of the Federation Comprehensive Academy.

“President!” Tang Hanpei respectfully asked after him.

“I’ve heard you found some information regarding Caesar, Hanpei.” Pavchek had raised his head to say that.

Tang Hanpei than gave a detailed explanation of the situation of running into Cao Dong and at the same time told about his own perceptions. Pavchek listened seriously and didn’t interrupt until Tang Hanpei finished.

After hearing the whole story, Pavchek thoughtfully said, “If it’s really the way you say it is, it certainly doesn’t quite resemble the Materials Refinement Code, though it’s still too early to reach any conclusions.” He then grunted as his gaze went gloomy. “Don’t underestimate the ability of that crazy Caesar. If anyone could improve upon the Materials Refinement Code, it would certainly be him.”

Seeing that Tang Hanpei was thinking, Pavchek said, “Don’t pay too much attention to this. I’ll find someone else to take responsibility. What you need to do now is to get the Central Island Firm. Their technology would be of great assistance to our further development.”

“Yes, sir!” Tang Hanpei bowed to the order.

Pavchek’s image disappeared from the screen, and Tang Hanpei had lost interest in looking at those materials. He sat calmly in the chair. There was only a single soul in the dark room.

* * *

Hammond was extremely far from Weiwen City. They hadn’t dwelled in Weiwen City. Under Jiao Si’s escort, the Federation Comprehensive Academy hadn’t made any commotion, and the whole process had gone surprisingly smoothly.

Jiao Si then finally parted with Chen Mu and his people. He was a core person at the Origins Academy, after all; if he weren’t keeping watch over the academy during those tumultuous times, many would panic.

Jiao Si saluted Chen Mu solemnly. “I’m turning Ru Qiu over to Mr. Cao. I hope you will help me watch over her. Jiao Si will be eternally grateful!”

Ru Qiu was chewing on her lip, and her eyes were growing misty. She forced herself to stay calm. Jiao Si turned back around to lightly rub her head while softly instructing her, “Take good care of yourself, Little Qiu, and remember that your health is the most important thing. It’s frigid in the Heavenly Drum Village District, and you must take care to keep warm.”

Ru Qiu couldn’t hold herself back. She sank into Jiao Si’s embrace, where only sobbing could be heard.

The Origins Academy professors and students were showing their impatience in the distance. They didn’t understand at all why the president was so willing to let Ru Qiu leave them to go still farther away with a stranger. If it wasn’t for the president to have always been the most doting on Ru Qiu, those guys would certainly have tried to oppose it.

Jiao Si then led the students away. There had been no casualties among the students during that expedition, which was what made him the happiest. Those students were all educated by him alone, and his feelings for them were far beyond the ordinary feelings between a president and his students.

“We’ll be going as well,” Chen Mu said.

A majestic several hundred people would draw attention no matter where. From early on, people’s gazes would occasionally move in their direction. President Jiao Si was just too famous, on top of which the influence of his presentation of Cards 007 and 013 had been broadcast far and wide. So many people would recognize him at a glance. They were afraid of his name, so no one would dare make any trouble.

Seeing Jiao Si leaving, the people’s thinking became animated. They weren’t up to Jiao Si’s level, so for that gang to have been able to get Jiao Si to escort them meant they had to have good relations. Some thought they must be people with identity and position, so why not make friends?

Someone came up in front of them. “Please slow down, everyone. I am the president of the Simon Group from Hammond…”

Chen Mu handed the matter over to Xi Ping, saying in a low voice, “You go take care of it, but be quick. We need to leave here right away.” He knew the local mobsters weren’t going to want to make unhappy fuss with them.

Getting his orders, Xi Ping immediately walked away from the troops and chatted with the man. After a short while, he returned holding a pile of name cards in his hand. Smiling, he said, “Let’s go, Boss. It’s all fixed.”

The troops started moving again.

“Where should we go, Bogner, to get to the Heavenly Drum Village District?” Chen Mu asked.