The Card Apprentice

Chapter 310: Give Up or Not

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Bogner shrugged. “Who knows? I don’t know why this guy thought he could mess with the boss. The poor guy. He’s dead for sure!”

Xiao Liqian didn’t look like she quite believed that. “He’s Xiaobo, and he won’t die so easily.”

Bogner laughed. Although Xi Ping didn’t change his expression, what flashed through his eyes showed he wasn’t so sure about that either. Even Zu Ning had died at his boss’s hands. If the boss were to say who else he’d killed, they would certainly not be surprised.

Xiao Liqian noted their reactions, which really surprised that sharp woman. Wasn’t their boss a card master? Could he be so awesome as a card artisan?

Xiaobo dashed madly through the great hall, afraid to slow in the slightest as he was chased by that nut. Not only that, but he was in a panic having to dodge the energy shuttles that could appear at any time.

You chase, I run

In the sky or on the ground

Chickens fly when dogs jump

The perception of both was extremely keen. Xiaobo’s real battle experience was a lot richer, though Chen Mu’s style of fighting was undoubtedly more unusual. The most unfortunate were the card artisans in the great hall; Xiaobo drilled right into the crowd when he was looking for cover.

The results at the outset weren’t bad; at least Chen Mu hadn’t just haphazardly let loose his tailless shuttles. Still, Xiaobo wasn’t quite thrilled when he discovered Chen Mu had actually increased his speed on the ground.

Good lord, that guy was already as nimble as a mudfish in the sky. On the ground, he was simply like a ghost. Xiaobo had discovered that the distance between them wasn’t increasing and may actually have been decreasing a little. That was when he suddenly remembered how stunning that guy’s burst strength was.

With the body and burst strength of the cardless sects, multiple changes of direction in midair, an incomparably refined perceptual acuity, and sharp energy shuttles beyond compare… what… what kind of freak was that?

What kind of bad luck was he having that day? He had run into such a nightmare! But when he thought it over, he was the one who had actually taken the initiative to lure in that freak.

Oh, the injustice! The iniquity! I’ve done it to myself! Endless regrets flew into Xiaobo’s mind. Seeing the gazes of the card artisans out of the corner of his eye overwhelmed him with grief. The image he’d been keeping up for so long had been completely destroyed! What most made him want to spit blood was that it had been destroyed by his own hands.

Xiaobo suddenly felt sluggish, and his face turned white. The blasted power card! It was all used up.

Xiaobo had a mind to crash to death hitting the wall. Staying in the jungle for half a year and going through countless battles, he had long since consumed all the power cards he had on him, with only that last one left. So, he had rushed back to the base to replenish, but he was now even feeling embarrassed about that.

Xiaobo was suppressing tears when he suddenly noticed that the guy behind him had also gone sluggish.

Ha! Now we’ll play it out together! Given the unexpected reprieve, Xiaobo looked pleased and burst into a smile.

The card in Chen Mu’s apparatus had already been used for a long time, and the Wheel had consumed a large amount of energy. When you added to that his crazed release of the tailless shuttles, the power card had been completely used up. He was so focused on the pursuit that he hadn’t paid attention to the power card until his foot got heavy and reminded him.

Chasing to that point, Chen Mu’s rage had been nearly vented. He was about to just quit. However, he hadn’t thought that as soon as he raised his head, he would see the satisfied expression on Xiaobo’s face.

As though a scoop of hot oil had been poured onto the blaze, the rage that had just been quelled in his breast suddenly blew back up to the surface. Without saying another thing, Chen Mu shot nimbly up with sufficient power to his feet. He was like a tiger coming down a mountain as he pounced toward Xiaobo.

When Xiaobo saw Chen Mu pouncing toward him, he was scared right out of his wits. He suddenly remembered his adversary had the body of the cardless sects!

Without a jet stream card, Xiaobo wasn’t much better than an ordinary person. Just as he turned to run, a huge force was suddenly transmitted through his hips, sending his whole body flying.

“Whoooooooa!” Before he even fell back to the ground, Chen Mu’s fists were raining down on him crazily. Xiaobo’s miserable screams suddenly changed their complexion.

“Aiiiiyoooooo!” Those few low sobs seemed to have come moaning from the bottom of his lungs, and the final sound went squealing off in a spiraling climax!

Many of the jungle card artisans hadn’t run into a woman for several years, with the shortest having been at least half a year. Everyone’s eyes were suddenly red as they looked at Xiaobo in midair. In their eyes, Xiaobo flying across the sky outlined a magnificently sexy curve. In the large hall, there was the sound of everyone gulping in unison. However, the scream of a stuck pig suddenly crushed everyone’s fantasies. The sound of everyone sighing in unison then filled the great hall, with quite a few of their eyes not being able to hold back a flood of lament.

It had been a long time since Chen Mu had fought with his fists! Even that time at Eastern Wei Academy with Copper, he had used a wooden stool. The feel of punching flesh with his fists made the violent qi in Chen Mu’s heart achieve its best cathartic release.

Suddenly, Chen Mu felt as though he’d returned to the life of a street punk. Although he had been small, fighting had been his daily bread. The most miserable time was when he had just arrived at a strange place alone and was beaten by six older street punks. It had taken a whole three months to heal, though the price his adversaries paid was a lot more miserable than his. It was said that two of them were so severely beaten they didn’t make it through the winter.

Ever since then, he had grabbed the right of begging in that area. Although the others didn’t look so happy, no one would dare make a move against him. It was also at that time that he ran into Copper. In order to resist the other street punks, those two street punks, who didn’t know one another before, became good friends. Copper’s ability with words enabled their take to immediately grow, though their conflicts with that gang of street punks got still more severe.

A fight every three days and a big fight every five—that was the situation right up until Copper was adopted, and Chen Mu ran into that card master who was on his last breath. Those memories of childhood were suddenly so fresh that Chen Mu seemed to have returned there.

Pounding his fists on flesh, the blood in his bones suddenly burst out. By that time in his life, Chen Mu no longer bared his teeth in a grin but maintained his ever-stone-cold face. The bright look of blood in his eyes formed something that made an even more powerful impact.

Xiao Liqian covered her small mouth, not able to believe the scene in front of her eyes. Was that crazed and bloodthirsty guy who acted like a hoodlum really the ever-calm youth she had seen that day? And, that guy who had been beaten like a pig and was wailing so loudly—was that really the invincible Xiaobo from the base? Was it that she couldn’t keep up with it, or had the world changed too fast?

A chill arose in Bogner’s heart as he watched, and he saw the card artisans nearby also shaking. He said, “If anyone doesn’t want to train seriously after this, I’ll have the boss himself train you.”

The card artisans all shivered.

Xiaobo finally landed from midair with a thump. Before he could even take a breath, there was suddenly a load on his back.

Shhhh… The sound of cold air being sucked in was as concerted as if it had been commanded, and everyone’s expression was also surprisingly consistent. They all had looks of disbelief, and their eyeballs were nearly falling out of their sockets.

Chen Mu had actually sat on Xiaobo’s back!

The big hall was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Once he saw that detestable face, Chen Mu abruptly became furious. He raised his fists and went into a fit of pounding. Xiaobo’s grief-stricken voice echoed in the abnormally quiet great hall, so even the hearts of all those listening were drawn together.

Pitiful, tsk tsk, truly pitiful!

“Big brother… Big brother! Don’t hit my face! I beg you not to hit my face!”

All those who still had sympathy for Xiaobo turned thoroughly stony.

Xiaobo’s pleas for mercy reminded Chen Mu again of his former days, when he never stopped his pummeling. He unconsciously shouted, “Do you give up or not? Give up or not?” As he was yelling, he was pummeling faster and faster, his punches as dense as rain. Finally, there was a low roar from Chen Mu’s hideous face, with his eyes red and blue veins popping out on his forehead. “Give up or not?”

When street punks fought, that was how they would end things.

The crowd, which had just turned to stone, all looked at one another.

“I give! I give! I give up, big brother. I really do! From the bottom of my heart to my whole body, I give up and can’t give up any more!” Xiaobo kept talking lest he speak too slowly and remain on the receiving end of more punches.

Chen Mu was gasping for breath. That bout of fisticuffs had rather exhausted him. But his face remained ferocious, and he pressed Xiaobo’s head to the ground with his left hand. According to the practice when he was little, he didn’t say anything cruel that time to apologize for his victory.

“Who are you?”

“I’m Xiaobo, big brother. You can call me Little Bo!” Xiaobo wanted to pile on the flattery but couldn’t do anything about his face being deformed by being squeezed to the floor. It was unspeakably weird.

“Xiaobo?” Chen Mu was taken aback and said furiously, “That’s who I’ve been fighting!”

Without saying anything more, he lifted his fists and started pummeling like mad again until Xiaobo’s eyes and nose were running like crazy. Chen Mu immediately felt a lot better as he kept on pounding. He asked again in his habitual way, “Give up or not?”

“I really give up, big brother! I really do! Really!” Saying that, Xiaobo was already sobbing, with tears flowing down his face.

Chen Mu asked viciously, “Say it! Who are you going to hang out with?”

The tears quickly disappeared from Xiaobo’s eyes as he said in an extremely flattering way, “Big brother! From now on, Little Bo is going to hang out with you! If you want Little Bo’s body, Little Bo will dedicate his body! If you want Little Bo’s mind, Little Bo has only you in his mind!”

Bogner’s teeth were chattering as he pointed at Xiaobo and asked Xiao Liqian with a sluggish expression, “Is he… Is he really the ace you were talking about?”

Xiao Liqian was also flustered. “He’s a little bit different, and I haven’t quite figured it out!”

Chen Mu clapped the dust off his hands and came off Xiaobo’s body with a calm look. He had reverted to his normal, harmless appearance by then. That time, however, everyone’s gazes at him were completely different from before. Wherever he went, the people would unconsciously make way. People’s gazes at him were perfectly complicated, with some admiration, some fear, some puzzlement…

What kind of person was he that could ride Xiaobo and hit him like a pig? Quite of few of them were secretly guessing Chen Mu’s identity. Such a person could never be someone unknown in the Heavenly Federation.

Thinking of the way Chen Mu had just been so vicious, they were desperately searching their minds about what sort of fearful, famous person would take the bait of that culprit in front of them.

By the time Chen Mu walked over to Bogner, he had completely restored his calm. “Make everyone scatter.”

“Yes, sir.” Bogner hurriedly gave the order, and they all reacted quite a few times faster than normal.

Chen Mu waved over Xiaobo, who had just crawled up. “Come over here.”

Xiaobo walked quietly over to Chen Mu. He bowed in salute to Bogner once he came over and then said to curry favor, “How are you, big brother?” Then, he bowed to Xi Ping. “How are you, big brother?” He also bowed to Xiao Liqian. “How are you, big sister?”

The three of them looked at one another, not knowing what to say.

By that time, Xiaobo looked appalling. His whole face was completely transformed, with black and blue all over. His body also looked like it had just gone through a bold struggle that ended in the violence of submission.

“Miss Sue? Please ask her to come over for a bit,” Chen Mu said.

Bogner rushed out to invite Sue Lochiro over. She had seen the vicious battle with her own eyes. Oddly enough, she wasn’t at all afraid of Chen Mu’s ferocity in the end.

Once she saw him, she couldn’t help but smile. “You were so awesome just now!”

Chen Mu’s face showed a rarely seen blush, though he immediately returned to normal.

When Sue Lochiro appeared, Xiaobo couldn’t take his eyes off her. His gaze lingered, and his mouth hung open with saliva about to drip onto his clothes.

Without showing anything by his face or tone, Xi Ping said with a low voice into Xiaobo’s ear, “It’s the boss’s woman; think about it.”

Xiaobo abruptly shivered, and his gaze immediately restored its calm. He scrambled over to Sue Lochiro, calling to heaven and saying, “Big sister, your beauty is like a goddess fallen to Earth! You are like a bright moon whose radiance sprinkles over everything. Oh, you are electric, you are bright, you are…” Seeing everyone becoming gradually less happy out of the corner of his eye, he hurried up. “No wonder only such a wise and amazingly martial person as my big brother could match the noble and elegant goddess that you are!”

Although Xi Ping had previously tried to keep his voice low, everyone was too close, and even Sue Lochiro had heard it. Her face had quickly turned red, showing the special modesty of a young girl. She wanted to retort, but she didn’t know what to say, not seeming to want to refute it.

Xiao Liqian was looking back and forth at the two of them as though something were weird.

Chen Mu took a look at the bashful Sue Lochiro, and his heart suddenly seemed to have been touched by something. But it turned out that so long as Chen Mu wasn’t enraged, his emotional control was still pretty strong. He said with his normal expression, “Could you help him a little by treating him, Miss Sue?”

“Mmmm.” Sue Lochiro gave a sound of assent that was too weak to hear before activating her apparatus.

For such a high-level medical card artisan as Sue Lochiro, that sort of bruising was a piece of cake. She casually restored Xiaobo’s pig-like face to normal. Once Xiaobo saw that his face had returned to its former look, he was overjoyed. With a solemn expression, he took off a spare red cord from his wrist and tied his hair back up, intoxicated with himself.

Chen Mu spoke to Bogner and Xi Ping. “Get ready. We’re going to leave after a few days.”

Bogner nodded. “We can leave at any time.” He glanced at Xiaobo.

Chen Mu turned to Xiaobo and said, “Will you be coming with us or remaining at the base? If you’re coming with us, how would you like to be treated?”

Xiaobo muttered bitterly in a low voice, “Can I stay at this place? My reputation is destroyed.” Hearing that, Sue Lochiro spat out a laugh.

Xiaobo raised his eyes to look at Chen Mu. He cocked his head and thought about it for a while before saying, “Do you want to attract me? You could. I’ve already told Miss Xiao my conditions; I would serve someone for three years if they can pull out a card I can stand.”

“Take a look at this card.” Chen Mu took the Wheel out of his apparatus and gave it to Xiaobo.

Xiaobo took the Wheel and stuck it into his apparatus, but his face turned red. “Who can lend me a power card?”

Xi Ping took one from his own apparatus and gave it to Xiaobo. Bogner looked around. Seeing Wei-ah not far away, he quickly relaxed. Wei-ah was unstoppable at such close range.

As Xiaobo inserted the power card into his apparatus, his expression got gradually serious. By then, he was like a different person from the slimy, boastful, and dissolute type he had been.

“Yikes!” There was some joy in Xiaobo’s shock.

Xiao Liqian was looking at the pleasantly surprised Xiaobo and feeling a lot of conflict. Xiaobo was one of the base’s few aces, and the profits he produced by himself were quite a bit larger than the value several hundred ordinary jungle card artisans could produce. It was only the existence of those aces that had made it possible to get those rare materials, which was where the Hughes Chamber of Commerce got its reputation.

But if Xiaobo was successfully attracted by Chen Mu, that would mean she could get a nice reward. The Hughes Chamber of Commerce hadn’t been able to get any card that could move Xiaobo and would never be able to attract him. Even if Chen Mu didn’t pull him into his hands that day, there would certainly be some second troop for an ace like him, or some third troop would show up. If that were to happen, she might possibly get nothing.

Looking at it that way, to be taken away by Chen Mu was actually the best result. Thinking it through, Xiao Liqian gave out a long sigh, and her mood got a lot better. As she worried less about gains and losses, Xiao Liqian’s powerful curiosity immediately surged after being so low to the ground.

Hearing just a few isolated phrases from what Uncle Bogner and Xi Ping had revealed in their speech, that boss of theirs should be one awesome card master without a doubt! But having gained first-hand knowledge that day about how aggressive Chen Mu was, she became curious about the card such an aggressive person would make. His ability to make Xiaobo so pleasantly surprised really itched at her mind.

The look of surprise on Xiaobo’s face became stronger and stronger. The longer they waited, the more curious the crowd became. Even Chen Mu was utterly curious about what kind of power that card he had made would play out in Xiaobo’s hands. In the process of the contest with Xiaobo, he had discovered that Xiaobo’s perceptual acuity was quite a bit stronger than his own.

Given how high the Wheel’s demands on perceptual acuity were, Chen Mu didn’t think he could give it to anyone else to use, apart from Xiaobo in front of him. He didn’t know when it might happen if he wanted to get to the level of being able to play out the Wheel. The later his perception improved, the harder it would be. Having used up so much precious material, along with his own mental power, it would be a complete waste to put the card he had made into his card wallet. A better card couldn’t turn into fighting strength by itself, and he would have made it in vain.

Chen Mu pondered it a spell before deciding. He hadn’t previously thought Xiaobo would be such a personality, which made him momentarily hesitate. But his counterpart’s power had really moved him. Xiaobo’s control of perception had gotten to the point of perfection, and he had shown his creativity in many regards.

For example, there was the electric net before, which had nearly killed Chen Mu. He had never thought energy could actually be used like that in what could be called a cunning trick. If such a card artisan joined the ranks of his team, its fighting power would immediately be upgraded by a chunk. The cruelty of the Heavenly Drum Village environment and the many aces over there would make it a good thing to add a bit of strength.

Xiaobo had suddenly discovered something. Several dozen streams of fine but bright amber light were swirling around his body, tracing it at high speed. His whole body was then enshrouded in amber streams of light, which made Xiaobo look abnormally mysterious. The glowing streams gradually gathered into an amber glowing wheel, which slowly moved around Xiaobo.

Then, the amber wheel suddenly shredded into a ball of glowing haze while still keeping Xiaobo enshrouded within it. The amber glowing mist started to fade, returning to the white mist that normally surrounded Xiaobo in a faintly discernible state.

Chen Mu marveled at his ability to discover so many transformations within such a short time. It looked like that card was certainly suited to Xiaobo.

Those several transformations made the onlookers continuously marvel. The number of the card’s transformations gave them a glimpse into its power. Still, Xiaobo’s explorations hadn’t stopped. What appeared next were the fist-sized glowing halos Chen Mu had previously emitted.

Chen Mu was stirred and said to Lucky Xi, “Take a shot at this glowing halo.”

Lucky Xi didn’t quite understand, though he didn’t hesitate to raise his hand, where there were now several silvery threads. Not far from the glowing halo, the silver threads were abruptly and powerfully sucked in. Lucky Xi’s expression changed as he saw it happen.

The second time, Lucky Xi released more than 24 of the silvery tendrils, which was the limit of what he could release. He didn’t shoot the silver threads toward the glowing halos that time, but he sent them to enshroud Xiaobo’s body.

Surprisingly, those silvery tendrils were all sucked in by the glowing halo, which was like a black hole, not letting go of a single one.

The amber glowing halo then turned silver and was suffused with a powerful silvery glow. A fine electrical sparking was also audible. The glowing halo seemed to have the ability to suck in energy, as Chen Mu mulled it over.

Unlike the way Chen Mu was used to thinking about problems from an academic angle, everyone else’s feelings were more direct. It could suck in someone else’s energy? They couldn’t believe what they were hearing!

Before they could react, the glowing halo suddenly lit up as a thumb-sized silver beam shot out from it. Silver threads were passing through all the gaps among everyone and shooting toward a chair.

Zap! An electric snake danced chaotically, and the chair was turned to ashes in an instant!

Everyone sucked in a breath of cold air in concert! What… What was that? To be able to absorb the enemy’s attack and then release it? Those on the field were all sharp; of course they knew what that meant! It meant you would always remain in an undefeated position. That card was really too powerful!

Everyone’s face then turned complex; there was envy, there was reverence, there was the surprise as though they had seen someone from outer space, and there was also concern. What those like Bogner were concerned about was that if that card were truly given to Xiaobo, it would bring some hidden trouble to his troops’ own security.

Xiao Liqian was utterly dumbstruck. Any idiot would know its value, and she was already admiring Chen Mu to the point of bowing down to him. Of course, she didn’t need to say anything about Chen Mu’s card making ability, considering he’d been able to make that card. He also had the ability to pull out that sort of card just to attract a card artisan. That kind of appeal far exceeded what an ordinary person could do.

From Xiao Liqian’s point of view, Xiaobo was doubtlessly an ace. But, if it had been her, she would never have used such a precious card to attract him. It could attract a still higher-level card artisan! She believed no card artisan could resist that card’s deadly temptation! Even if it were a card artisan from the Big Six, they would put their life on the line for it.

A card making grand master! He was absolutely a grand master! Xiao Liqian’s gaze as she looked at Chen Mu was full of stars, and she couldn’t help but think about the advice Bogner had been giving her those last couple of days.

Bogner had suggested that she go with them to the Heavenly Drum Village District to advance herself. She previously hadn’t been attracted by the suggestion, but she couldn’t keep her heart from pounding with excitement at that moment.

Moreover, the card wasn’t finished with its surprises. Everyone suddenly felt a heavy weight on their bodies like they were made of lead. The couldn’t even lift their arms. Even Chen Mu couldn’t help but change his expression when that happened!

Gravity! It could actually change the gravity!

Everyone’s gazes at the apparatus on Xiaobo’s wrist were as if they were looking at something terrifying, which filled them with unfathomable fear. Apart from Chen Mu and Bogner, no one was paying attention to Xiaobo’s pallid face.

Chen Mu slowed inwardly. It looked like that load was also quite heavy on Xiaobo. Trying some moves, it seemed like the gravity had increased about three times. An ordinary card artisan might be able to carry a load of 200 kilos on their back. For Chen Mu and Wei-ah, while that kind of gravity might have some influence on their speed, it wouldn’t have as much influence as for ordinary card artisans.

It looked like the Wheel was truly a perfect match for Xiaobo!