The Card Apprentice

It was indeed good news for everyone that Xiaobo had made his passage. Xiaobo was the number-three ace at the base, and he had a lot more battle experience than Chen Mu. On top of that was the Wheel, which Chen Mu had gone to such great lengths to make. Xiaobo’s power had gone far beyond that of card artisans at his same level. The snow pit method had pushed him to the tipping point in one fell swoop. Being shut up in the ravine, one could imagine his power was bound to surge after coming out from that seclusion.

“And the others?” Chen Mu asked, finding it a little strange. If Xiaobo had come out from seclusion, he ought to be connecting with him.

Bogner said helplessly, “He’s already gone off looking for you. We had him watch the card play recording of your battle with Jin Yin and Dang Han, and the guy just charged off, deciding to look for you on the spot.”

“Right. We couldn’t stop him,” Xi Ping said, laughing. “With this batch of card artisans constantly maturing, so long as we don’t incur some large-scale attack, there won’t likely be any problem at the base. And, he had long been worried about your safety, Boss. That battle with Jin Yin and Dang Han really scared everyone at the base.”

Xiaobo is coming to look for me? That news really surprised Chen Mu, as well as warmed him. He knew everyone was concerned for his safety.

Soon to arrive, Xiaobo would undoubtedly increase their strength another step. Furthermore, since he had just achieved a breakthrough, finding out how high Xiaobo’s power had gotten was rather worth looking forward to.

After finishing the call, Chen Mu started to research the fantasy card Caesar had given him. Although it was a one-star fantasy card with no power, if it were to get out, he was afraid countless people might bust heads for it.

Line after line of text appeared on the screen. Since he wasn’t a card master, Caesar hadn’t adopted any high-level imaging technologies but had only used the most primitive and simple style—text! Still, having seen countless brilliant and realistic card plays, Chen Mu was deeply attracted to the primitive text.

In the first part, Caesar just discoursed on how he had perfected the Materials Refinement Code. All of the things in that part were priceless jewels! Chen Mu was afraid that the Federation Comprehensive Academy, especially, would be willing to go to any expense to get the information in that section. After Caesar had perfected the Materials Refinement Code, no one else had. The Federation Comprehensive Academy had never stopped researching it, though they had never achieved any breakthroughs.

The contents of that section, which were the object of countless people’s dreams, unfortunately didn’t have much value for Chen Mu. Even though his perception was quite similar to the perception that came from drilling the Materials Refinement Code, the principles of the two were quite different. If it were Caesar, perhaps he could make a comparison between them, drawing on each of their strengths to make up for weaknesses. Chen Mu, on the other hand, had been able to practice according to the mysterious card without going wrong, though it had been a matter of luck.

He scanned the first section before jumping to the second section, which immediately gave his spirits a jolt. It was related to how to use perception. The Materials Refinement Code’s perception was completely different from other kinds of perception. Because of that, the way it was used was really offbeat. What was most valuable on it was Caesar’s innovative skill in deploying his perception.

Seeing that, Chen Mu became still more certain that was when Caesar had seen the battle between him and Jin Yin and Dang Han and had thought of looking for him. Caesar’s style of deploying perception was quite similar to the skill Chen Mu had realized in the midst of that battle. But, by comparison, what Chen Mu had realized was only an embryonic form; Caesar had summed up a perfected set of advanced skills! Right up until the end, quite a few parts of that section were so obscure that he still had no way to completely understand them just then. Some of the high-level skills required really powerful perception to back them up before they could be used.

If one were to say the battle with Jin Yin and Dang Han had opened a window for Chen Mu, that card of Caesar’s was tantamount to leading him down a wide-open road.

Mesmerized by his reading and thinking, Chen Mu once again lost track of time. He was then interrupted and awakened by the Thousand Kilometer calling.

There had already been a preliminary consensus in the negotiations between Xi Ping and his counterpart. The Luo family and the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm had officially formed an alliance. It had already been decided to sell all of the first-generation card sets, but what Chen Mu hadn’t expected was that the Luo family hadn’t brought up any further increase in the quantity of the first-generation card sets they would acquire. Chen Mu thought about it before quite understanding. Given the power of the Luo family, although they felt the first-generation card set was pretty good, it certainly couldn’t satisfy their needs. He was afraid the reason they had bought the first-generation card set was because they intended to research it. But the alliance still had plenty of benefit for Chen Mu and his side. That batch of first-generation card sets not only sold for a high price, but the Luo family also put in an order for a large batch of the purple fluorescent extract. According to the agreement, Chen Mu’s side could make use of the Luo Family Business Association’s sales network to sell the extract. At the same time, they could also get the Luo family’s intelligence support. For example, the Luo family would find some way to get the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus.

Chen Mu was perfectly satisfied with the results, of course.

He stayed in the training room continuously for more than ten days, only eating the most basic nutritional food to the point where his mouth lost all its taste. He firmly memorized all of the content on Caesar’s card before destroying it. The content he didn’t yet understand he would review slowly later on. But if he left that card on him and if it was lost, that would cause a lot of trouble.

Thinking of that, he smiled bitterly for a while. Many things in his card wallet couldn’t be leaked out. Of course, no matter what, he couldn’t lose the mysterious card. And, if things like the Cross-Section of Styles and its legacy were to get out, that would be just awful! Then, there were those sealed-up faceted crystals, which were also coveted things. Without Chen Mu having realized it, his standing had gotten quite a bit wealthier.

Pushing open the door, Chen Mu came out of the training room. All of the card artisans looked at him with curiosity. The White Commander being so enigmatic had become the hot topic over tea after meals. Everything about him was so mysterious that it was almost impossible for anyone to make any guesses. The Hit Man was so powerful, yet he was unusually respectful toward the White Commander. Moreover, the White Commander had remained alone in the training room without moving for more than ten days, which made people feel that he was still more mysterious.

Quite a few people had seen the White Commander give a card to the Hit Man. Now, everyone was looking greedily at that card in the Hit Man’s hands. They could clearly see how madly the Hit Man was practicing with it. Wow! That is surely a five-star card!

In their eyes, those four were no ordinary people. Starting from day one, the mysterious White Commander, the crazy Hit Man, the Black Ghost, and the Little Monkey had never shown their faces, almost as though they had disappeared.

Chen Mu slowly ate the big meal he had just called for and would raise his head from time to time to watch the card artisans in the midst of their practice.

The training plan Bogner had developed was extremely effective, after all. Objectively speaking, Sang Hanshui wasn’t as fit to be an instructor as Jiang Liang was. But that gang of card artisans was of a much higher quality than the ones Chen Mu had recruited, except for their sloppy discipline. Now straightened up, they looked entirely new. Sang Hanshui basically had nothing to manage other than to devote himself to adapting to the card he’d just gotten. However, because of how cold Chen Mu had been before, along with Sang Hanshui’s crazed attitude toward training plus the amazing power that card demonstrated, he scared those card artisans to death.

Tai-shu Ying was sitting beside Chen Mu, holding her chin. She didn’t understand how the White Commander could be so immersed in eating such ordinary food.

Tai-shu Ying opened her eyes wide and asked with an earnest look, “How long do they still have to train for, White Commander?”

Chen Mu had changed his mask a little, most importantly around the mouth, so he could eat things more comfortably. He didn’t lift his head and said casually, “It will probably be quite a while yet.”

“Quite a while means how long in the end?” Tai-shu Ying was obviously dissatisfied with Chen Mu’s casual response. Off to the side, Angie looked at Chen Mu with some concern. He really wanted to remind the young miss that she should pay attention to her attitude toward the White Commander.

“I can’t say.” Chen Mu had already started to pick up the napkin to wipe his mouth. Just at that time, a beautiful lady walked over toward them.

Tai-shu Ying just happened to see her and yelled out in some surprise, “Yikes! Sister Jia Jia, what are you doing here?”

Angie also greeted her. “How are you, Secretary Xu?” That stunningly beautiful woman in front of him was Tai-shu Cheng’s top secretary, Xu Jia, who had Tai-shu Cheng’s full trust and a great relationship with Tai-shu Ying.

Xu Jia first gave Angie a smiling nod and then rubbed Tai-shu Ying’s head. “I’ve heard little Ying has become quite capable lately!”

“Indeed!” Tai-shu Ying proudly lifted her head for the praise.

Chen Mu was looking at the girl, a little surprised. Tai-shu Ying was always bizarre, and her temperament was completely messed up. She was even arrogant toward Angie. In front of that woman, though, she became so well-behaved.

Xu Jia’s gaze fell onto Chen Mu, and she said politely with a slight smile, “The third young master will attend a banquet this evening and hopes you might accompany him.”

“A banquet?”

“Yes. It is being held by the first young master, and the second and third masters have both been invited to bring people. In addition, the next-generation leaders of all of the dynasties of Dongrui will attend.” Xu Jia had chosen her words carefully.

Chen Mu could do some guessing about the reason. After thinking about it a little, he nodded. “All right.”

Xu Jia glanced at Sang Hanshui, who was training like mad, and somewhat obscurely alerted Chen Mu. “There might be an entertainment program at the banquet, and the White Commander might wish to bring along his fine subordinates.”

Chen Mu became still clearer in his mind about what was going on, though he shook his head. “It will be fine if I go alone.”

Seeing how firm Chen Mu’s tone was, she wasted no more words and said with a slight smile, “The third master has prepared an X300 battle suit for you to wish you a happy evening.”

Chen Mu didn’t even know what an X300 battle suit was. But, seeing the envy in Angie’s face, he still knew the thing would be worth a fortune. He nodded to Xu Jia and said, “Thank for the third master’s kindness. Might I bother the miss to pass it along to my associate here? He’s the one in the midst of practice!”

Xu Jia looked surprised; the X300 battle suit was the limited-release, top-end battle suit produced by the biggest battle suit manufacturer, the Happy Shell Company. It had extremely outstanding protective qualities, though its high price meant even famous card artisans wouldn’t be able to buy it. The most critical thing was that it was a limited production and would basically never be seen on the market.

He gave it so easily to his subordinate, Xu Jia thought. It’s the X300!