The Card Apprentice

“You really won’t go with us?” Bogner was watching Xiao Liqian—the younger generation of his old friend. The hardships for a woman to be holding up such a base were easy to imagine.

Xiao Liqian shook her head. Her smiling face remained light but sincere. “This is the only thing my uncle left, and I can’t abandon it. I don’t have great ambitions, and I only want to run the Hughes Chamber of Commerce well. You don’t have to worry about me, Uncle. I’m pretty awesome!”

It was just like Hughes for her not to have ambitions. Seeing her serious face brought up the image of that middle-aged man to Bogner. Things remained while people changed. He was the only one left now.

His partner that year… Thinking about it, his heart ached. His face remained calm, however, as he took out some cards and gave them to Xiao Liqian. “The boss wanted me to give these to you. Use them to recruit a few aces. Take care.”

She took the cards and smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Uncle, and thank the boss.” After some hesitation, she then said to Bogner, “Look out for Xiaobo if you can, Uncle. He’s always taken good care of me, and he really isn’t a bad fellow.”

Bogner laughed. “You can relax while he’s on my watch, ha ha!”

The two of them waved goodbye. After turning around, Bogner sneered to himself. “That bastard Xiaobo has never looked very pleasing to me. Humph, he’s finally fallen into my hands…”

Xiao Liqian didn’t return to the base until they’d gone far away. When she looked more closely at the five cards in her hand, she inadvertently saw the number “24” on one card’s corner.

She was immediately taken aback, as though her brain were struck by lightning. She had suddenly remembered the set of cards that had made such a sensation a while before, and she rushed to flip through the other few cards. Astonishingly, in the lower right corner of each of the cards was a serial number!

The workers in the Hughes Chamber of Commerce then heard the sound of joyful shrieking coming from the office of the president!

* * *

Bogner returned to the troops and glimpsed the listless Xiaobo with his head drooping. He walked over to Xi Ping. Half emotional and half in praise, he said in a low voice, “You are really tough, Old Xi!”

Xi Ping’s expression didn’t change, and he kept looking straight ahead. “Well, we’re just helping the boss resolve some troubles. Rather than allowing this guy to become an unstable factor on the team, we might as well keep him honest. And, with Wei-ah around, we won’t be wasting any resources.”

His gaze fell onto little Yang Bo, who was being held by Lu Xiaoru, and he softened his gaze.

“Also, don’t underestimate me. Hmph, nothing that’s fallen into my hands has ever turned upside down. A level-five card artisan at last, ha ha.” Bogner was unconsciously rubbing the dark stubble on his chin.

“It’s only insurance. We shouldn’t be too suspicious.” Xi Ping retracted his gaze as he spoke languidly.

Bogner grinned. “That’s just it. Now that you mention it, we really did take in quite a lot this time. I never thought this gang of bandits would have so much loot in their pockets. Too bad we didn’t have more time, or we could have squeezed them dry!”

“Didn’t I say Miss Sue was a gem?”

“Maybe every time we get somewhere, we should set up ‘free’ clinics?”

“No, no, what we should do…”

* * *

They finally arrived at the Heavenly Drum Village District after three months of trudging.

“Please show your transit pass.” The card artisan at the checkpoint was looking at the line of people in a state of alert, and he gave a look to his comrade. His comrade immediately understood and ordered the other card artisans to be on guard.

There were more than 500 in the team, and they all looked pretty miserable. The clothes on their bodies were utterly threadbare. By all accounts, they looked more like refugees, but they gave off a really menacing feeling.

Quite a few people from the ordinary residential districts were gathered in the vicinity of the checkpoint. With the situation being so shaky recently, the number of people wanting to enter the five flourishing districts had surged. But all of the five flourishing districts were blocking the entry of people from the ordinary residential districts.

They showed a lot of contempt as they gazed at that raggedy team. If they weren’t dignitaries with status who wanted to enter the five flourishing districts, they were the rich from wealthy families. The vicinity of the checkpoint was covered with endless luxurious tents, as could be seen from the ones nearby. The place was full of singing and dancing every night. Those wealthy people had brought their salon parties with them.

“That gang of beggars wants to enter the Heavenly Drum Village District? Ha ha, they want to go begging in there?”

“Who knows, maybe they’re thinking of enriching the profession in the Heavenly Drum Village District!”

* * *

What made all those wealthy people stare with their mouths hanging open was that the card artisans at the checkpoint unbelievably let them in!

“Oh, what did I just see? Good lord! That gang of beggars actually entered! They actually entered!”

“Look, gentlemen; what kind of unfair treatment have we been getting? Those beggars, who are like caterpillars, were let through so easily. What about us? We upper-crust elite have been blocked at the checkpoint. We won’t stand for it!”

The wealthy people immediately raised a hubbub and finally elected a certain Mr. York to represent them with the card artisans at the checkpoint. Mr. York was an old man of 60-something with a lot of rich political experience.

“My honored eminences, I venture to inquire why they,” Mr. York was pointing at the team that hadn’t quite disappeared, “were allowed to enter, while we,” he pointed to himself and behind him to ask, “have been blocked here for so long?”

The card artisan at the checkpoint glanced at Mr. York. “They have a transit pass. Do you?”

“They have a transit pass?” Mr. York had never thought that would be the reason. He stammered, “They… That gang of beggars could get transit passes?”

“Watch what you say, Mister!” The checkpoint card artisan’s expression went cold. “They had a transit pass to the capital as citizens of the most noble flourishing district. What you said might be considered provocative to our people from the flourishing districts.”

Seeing Mr. York’s pallid face, the card artisan snorted coldly, “Beggars? Ignorant people will remain ignorant. That team of ‘beggars’ would be enough to crush all of you! There is no rubbish in our flourishing districts, dear sir!”

After he spoke, the card artisan turned around and left.

* * *

“Is this really Bartleman Village?” Bogner was mumbling to himself as he looked ahead.

Far off in the distance, a huge city appeared in front of everyone. The city was established on a boundless plain, so it was still a long way away from them. Still, they were able to see how magnificent it was.

“This city must be at least five times bigger than Pomelo and at least ten times as affluent.” Xi Ping’s voice was full of excitement. For an astute businessman, a bustling city meant boundless business opportunities and boundless wealth.

“This is still called a village?” Xiaobo had clearly been stunned by the so-called small village of Bartleman in front of his eyes.

Droves of card artisans whizzed past overhead from time to time. The speed of the card artisans’ flight would sometimes alarm the crowd below, especially Xiaobo. He was the most genuine card artisan among them, so he felt it more powerfully. Seeing his face turn white and then green was quite interesting.

“So many card artisans!” Bogner no longer knew how many times he’d had that feeling.

There really were a lot of card artisans. The closer they got to Bartleman Village, the more obvious that became. Getting a little closer to the city, it became like a bustling street, with countless card artisans going back and forth and all looking very rushed. It felt like those high-volume trading ports where countless ships would be coming and going. The most they saw at once were more than 1,000 card artisans flying in midair, as thick as a swarm of hornets. Chen Mu and the rest were all drawing in breaths of cold air.

Up until then, only Wei-ah’s expression hadn’t changed. Even Chen Mu looked a little unnatural.

It wasn’t like the Outer Reaches outside the city. Instead, there was a sea of flowers and parks, with rivers flowing through them as though they were the link stringing it all together. The air was filled with the refreshing scent of flowers. There were expanses of light yellow, fiery red, and dull blue as though some great master had painted it freehand. The first time seeing such wonderful scenery at such a grand scale shocked everyone. The few women, like Sue Lochiro and Ru Qiu, had stars in their eyes.

Bartleman Village was part of the region without ice and snow, which was located at the edge of the Heavenly Drum Village District. Three quarters of the district was icy and snowy, and only a quarter wasn’t.

In the area without snow and ice, not many cities like Bartleman had been established in the plains. There were several small-scale villages, however.

That city didn’t have a city gate, and it didn’t have a wall. In the same way, they couldn’t see an energy cover.

Chen Mu and his party cautiously entered the city. That raggedy team drew quite a few people’s attention, but they all just did a double-take and didn’t show that they found them strange.

Chen Mu quickly discovered the special characteristic of the card artisans there; they were always rushing. No matter what their strength was, there was no calm or leisure on their faces. That was completely different from the high-level card artisans he’d seen in Pomelo or Eastern Shang-Wei City.

Everyone was truly shocked when they entered the city. None among the profusion of buildings was less than a 100-story skyscraper. With them so densely piled up, you wouldn’t feel so good if you were passing underneath them.

Above them were numerous high-speed shuttle cards whizzing by. The surging flow of cars startled everyone. When they raised their heads to look, they really couldn’t even see the sky. What they could see was the bottom of car after shuttle car.

Fortunately, what calmed people down was that the car travel area and the pedestrian area were separated by a layer of transparent energy covering. Otherwise, it would doubtlessly be scary if a shuttle car were to suddenly fall.

Above the car travel area was a free-flight zone, which was the card artisans’ world. Out of considerations for safety, the car travel area and the flight zone were also separated by an energy cover.

There was brisk music playing in the pedestrian zone, and the sound of flowing water could be heard gurgling underfoot, which calmed the mind and spirit. There was a lighted, colorful fountain and an energy bridge with variable colors. Fireflies dragging specks of the early dawn would sometimes gather and disperse in groups of three or five.

Everything there was such a novelty that it was just like a fairy tale.