The Card Apprentice

Chen Mu furrowed his brow and exited the mysterious card—Bogner had returned. He had been gone since the day he took the money and departed with Lu Xiaoru. Chen Mu also really wanted to see what Bogner had accomplished. From what he saw, Bogner didn’t seem like a big talker.

Wei-ah just took a glimpse and retracted his gaze to pay attention again to what was being transferred to the fantasy card receiver. The fleshy dog was lying on him as always, even lazier after Wei-ah had taken him out that last time.

Bogner had brought 20 people.

Chen Mu’s gaze widened, and he could see at a glance how awesome those 20 were. None of them was ordinary, with their gazes sharp and the alacrity of some among them stunning.

“Where did you find so many aces?” Chen Mu asked with some curiosity.

“We put out the call in every city, and some I knew previously.” Bogner had changed his clothes and looked brand new. His beard had been completely shaved, leaving only the blue shadow. His hair had also been cut short, making him look a lot more spirited. That oppressive and imposing air he had shown in front of Chen Mu previously had disappeared without a trace. He had calmed quite a bit to become more like an ordinary middle-aged uncle.

Although Bogner wasn’t making much of it, Chen Mu knew how difficult it must have been. Those people would be considered aces in any city, and a few among them weren’t far off from Lu Xiaoru. It must have cost a fortune for the Central Island Firm to have snared her! Such an ace wasn’t someone who would be motivated simply by money. Although the rest weren’t quite up to that level, they were smart and sophisticated and were evidently experienced old card artisans.

Being able to find so many aces so quickly showed how awesome Bogner’s ways were. And, it was evident those 20 people rather admired Bogner, Lu Xiaoru being no exception.

“From now on, everyone’s job is to protect the boss.” Bogner turned about and raised his voice to announce that to them.

The gazes of those 20 abruptly focused on Chen Mu. The gazes were steady, and there was no talking. Since they were all veterans, Bogner didn’t need to say more. He then waved his hand. “I won’t waste anymore words. Get to work.”

None of the 20 had spoken, and no one asked what they should do. They calmly and efficiently divided into different activities. They moved quickly, some disappearing into the dark and some staying in front of the door, while some began to lay out strangely shaped little card appliances. Others started to search the entire building.

Suddenly, a fine energy fluctuation swept through. Chen Mu was startled.

Bogner had just caught the surprise in Chen Mu’s eyes and explained, “Don’t worry, this is a reconnaissance scan. We can learn about activities within a range of 2,000 meters. If there is anything out of the ordinary, we would immediately discover it. Indeed, theoretically the largest scope should be ten kilometers,” Bogner said, stroking his chin, “but the city environment is too complicated, and two kilometers is already pretty good. The power of its eagle eye is quite good.”

Their specialties were all different, and Chen Mu couldn’t help but feel intrigued.

Three of them stayed in place and didn’t move, gazing at Chen Mu. Bogner opened his mouth again. “These three are good at personal protection. One is a close-combat card artisan, and the other two are defensive specialists who are good at energy cloaks. They have provided personal protection for quite a few of the VIPs in the Ming Zheng District. If I didn’t already have a relationship with them, we really wouldn’t have been able to get them.”

“I don’t need personal bodyguards.” When he thought of having three guys always with him, Chen Mu felt uncomfortable all over.

The three didn’t seem to hear Chen Mu protesting them, and they maintained their expressions as they protected his perimeter.

Bogner rubbed the beard shadow on his thin chin and said indifferently, “Don’t worry about it; they are quite professional and won’t interfere with your work or private life.” Obviously, he didn’t think Chen Mu would have any private life.

Having been about to oppose it, Chen Mu thought about it and decided he’d put up with it. Judging from their actions, he knew they were extremely professional. That being the case, Chen Mu simply gave those matters over to Bogner.

He was just getting ready to continue his perceptual sensitivity training.

Suddenly, the apparatus on Bogner’s wrist lightly vibrated, and he gave a crooked smile that showed his dense, white teeth. “I didn’t think we would be in business quite so quickly.”

At the same time, the apparatuses on the wrists of the three at Chen Mu’s side vibrated simultaneously, and their expressions became alert. They remained silent and immediately closed the defensive perimeter. Chen Mu had attentively discovered that the cadence of the vibration must have been their agreed upon signal.

The crisis had come sooner than he’d imagined.

* * *

As the air whooshed past his ears, Hugo quickly reviewed his actions. He relied completely on the Beard’s ability with intelligence. Although they had some misgivings about what he was about to do, those above were lukewarm about facing the Central Island Firm again. It would be a great service if they could bring back such a card master to the organization.

Thinking about that, he couldn’t help but turn around again to look at Butchie beside him. He had already determined to himself that he would grab that mysterious card master and take him back, so Butchie’s wishes could be achieved as well. Early on and for the past few days, he astutely noticed Butchie longing for that 007 and the materials the Yang Clan Auction House would be able to get that Faya couldn’t. When the time came, he would be able to ask that card master to make a new 007, or an even better card.

If that didn’t come to pass, the credit from what they were about to do would be sufficient to let Butchie pick some outstanding card from within the organization. There were quite a few outstanding cards in the organization, but those cards wouldn’t be casually given out to just any member. Most of the time, they would be a kind of reward. The bigger the credit, the more outstanding the card one could get. That was their practice.

“There it is, up ahead. It’s that little five-story building,” said the young man leading the way as he pointed off to the distance.

Hugo was immediately alert and nodded. “You go back.” The young man quickly flew back; he would only be underfoot there with what was about to happen.

“How shall we proceed?” Butchie came over to ask.

Hugo said ponderously, “First, the lure, and never mind the price. Let’s see if we can convince him. It would be best for the two sides not to damage a good relationship. Maybe we could make some deal later.”

Butchie nodded, but then she asked, “And if the lure doesn’t work?”

“We’ll make our move!” Hugo said peremptorily. “First, tie up that female card artisan at his side, and I’ll be able to grab him.”

“Ok.” Butchie nodded, and she turned to face the five card artisans behind her to give the orders.

Focused on the five-story building in the distance, Hugo felt curious. He didn’t really know why Cao Dong had deliberately remained so low-key. If someone hadn’t pointed out that small building, he absolutely never would have guessed the one who had made the numbered series of cards, which had rocked the federation, would live in such an unremarkable building. The little building’s location was remote, and there were very few people in the vicinity.

However, just as Hugo was thinking that, he wasn’t thinking about how his actions would attract someone’s attention.

The night wind slowly built, blowing in a slight chill.

“Move!” Hugo said in a low shout.

The five flew directly at the small building at high speed. Hugo’s face then changed color as he felt a sudden surprise.

“Careful!”

Before the sound fell, he had already discovered he and the others were locked in!

It was hard to think of stopping the body while flying at high speed. The inertia of the flight would take them rushing straight in front of it.

The five barely stopped and were floating about 500 meters from the small building. Everyone’s face had turned white. That small building was unremarkable, and its contours started to blur as the night slowly deepened. The seven people looked as though they were pinned in midair, and nobody dared to move.

At least 15 beams of perception had them pinned, each with a different quality. But all of them incorporated the peculiarity of being murderous! No one doubted that if they were to advance one step, there would be firepower filling the skies and covering the earth to await them!

That unremarkable little building suddenly looked to everyone like a slanted-eyed cheetah poised for action, which could launch a deadly attack at any time!

Danger! An incredibly fierce and irrepressible sense of danger arose from the deepest reaches of everyone’s heart. Like Butchie, they couldn’t help but change their expressions. The steadiest was Hugo, who stood in midair like a javelin. His silvery half-mask glowed in a way that couldn’t be hidden, even in the night.

The intelligence was wrong! That was the first thought that flashed through Hugo’s mind. There were at least 15 card artisans inside that small building. There were still a few more awesome characters inside, whose faintly discernible energy fluctuations made him not dare to relax in the least! He had discovered something was wrong when he perceived a fine energy fluctuation. He knew they had intruded upon the adversary’s early warning perimeter.

What kind of person was Cao Dong, after all? How did he pull out so many aces? Only those truly large-scale teams, such as armies or huge teams of card artisans, would use such an early warning system. He never thought he would actually run into one there. Where did those aces come from?

Countless doubts were spinning around in his brain like lightning, and Hugo’s heart was unceasingly aghast beneath his steady-as-always appearance. He figured even if he were to draw in all the forces of Pomelo, success wouldn’t be more than a 50-50 proposition. And, if he didn’t want to draw attention, that would be impossible!

Their defensive power was really scary—more than ten aces hiding in a small five-story building! That also meant the adversary’s formation was tight. He really wanted to pulverize the building with an Aurora Beam. The coverage of his Aurora Beam could nearly blow away half of the small building, but he firmly restrained that impulse. There were seven on his side; the numbers on the other side were far better, not to mention they didn’t have the advantage anymore.

The faces of Hugo’s team became uglier and uglier!

The small building was utterly silent and pitch dark. But the ten or more beams of perception had them firmly locked in, and the danger they brought with them felt strong enough to make their hairs all frizzle.

The time went by second by second with no activity inside the small building. It seemed as though it were completely empty.