The Card Apprentice

When Chen Mu got back to the small building, he was stunned to find it unrecognizable.

He could hear Bogner shouting powerfully from the distance. “Give me some spirit, everyone! Aren’t you the best at making traps, Hertha? Bring out all the tricks you know; do you understand? All of them! Good grief, we really looked bad in front of the boss today! Give me some spirit, you all! We are the elite! Elite! Do you know what elite means? It’s bringing in more money than ordinary card artisans and doing more difficult things! How can we demand anything ordinary from ourselves…”

Bogner was taken aback when he suddenly saw Chen Mu, but he laughed. “You’ve returned, Boss!”

Chen Mu looked around inside the building, where in all dark corners of the floor, ceiling, and walls were some strange little things. Pointing them out, he asked with curiosity, “What are those?”

“Those are small traps—card appliance bombs. If touched, they will give a little bang of an explosion without too much power—just in the range of blowing off a leg. They’re called beehive kisses, and intruders just need to come close for them to shoot off a hot, fiery spray of an energy body that is hard to hide from. Once it touches you, ha ha…” Bogner was smiling darkly.

Looking at Bogner, who seemed like an entirely different person, Chen Mu was a little stunned. Could that be the way he really was?

“Did you buy the power cards, Boss?” Bogner cut Chen Mu’s daze short.

“Oh, yes. The auction house will send them over in a bit.”

“Good! I need to give this gang of bastards some good practice!” He was just about spitting the words out through gnashing teeth when his gaze suddenly hit Wei-ah, and his expression froze.

Wei-ah saw him without looking at him and sat straight down in front of the fantasy card receiver.

Chen Mu walked into his training room, and those three personal card artisans discreetly didn’t go in with him.

After some thought, Chen Mu contacted the fatty. The fatty seemed to be in a pretty good mood, as though he’d just completed something significant.

“What’s up? It’s rare for you to look for me twice in a day,” the fatty said, laughing.

Chen Mu got right to the point. “I would like to sell a folding Yanbo card.”

The fatty’s expression immediately became serious. “You want to sell it off?”

“Mmmm, I have two of them. I’ve thought about it and feel it would be profitable to sell one,” Chen Mu said with an earnest expression.

“How would you sell it?” The fatty’s expression was just as earnest since he knew the folding Yanbo card’s value.

“I won’t auction it,” Chen Mu said peremptorily. He’d taken to heart what the fatty had said to him that day. “You find a buyer. We should be able to name our price.”

The fatty said ponderously, “I see. It shouldn’t be too difficult to dispose of the folding Yanbo card, but it would be best if we didn’t let it get out. What about Jiao Si? He should be able to give a good price.”

Jiao Si? Chen Mu didn’t have any sense of him, so he simply said, “I don’t really understand that part of things. You should do as you see fit.”

The fatty didn’t refuse. “Ok. But I don’t want the profits from this card. We need to add to our agreement; if a card similar to the folding Yanbo card appears later, and I help you find a buyer, the profits all stay with you.”

Confused, Chen Mu asked, “Why? Haven’t we already settled on our agreement?”

The fatty shook his head. “My young brother still doesn’t know the chit chat about this. The value of this type of card already can’t be measured by money. Just by my seeking out a buyer, you will already have been of great assistance to me. The benefit to your big brother won’t be any less than yours, and my young brother needs to use money right now. Your older brother doesn’t have any way to guarantee your safety, and this is just the icing on the cake for me. Besides, the safer you are, the better it is for me.”

Chen Mu thought for a moment and felt that what the fatty had said was right. He accepted it without any sentiment.

The fatty really liked that about Chen Mu, and he laughed. “That’s right! When it comes to questions of safety, Bogner is the real expert.” Saying that, he showed a reflective expression. “He was so famous that year. Ai, let’s not talk about that. You’ll know later, young brother, just how much you gained by spending that money. If you need anything, just say so. Your big brother will find some way to help you to get it done.”

It was obvious from the fatty’s tone that Bogner had been brilliant. Then, Chen Mu suddenly thought of something and asked, “Has my big brother ever heard of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?”

“Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?” The fatty was taken aback. “How did my young brother come up with that?”

“I just heard it being talked about and don’t know what it is.” Chen Mu didn’t want anyone else to know what was wrong with him, so he glossed it over.

“Oh, I’ve actually heard something about that. It comes from the House of a Hundred Depths and is extremely rare. It’s said that it can prolong a person’s life, but that’s just a story. Nobody knows the truth. To tell the truth, I really don’t think anything can prolong a person’s life, and I think most of it is exaggeration.” The fatty suddenly hit himself upside the head and looked like something had dawned on him. “I know where my young brother heard of it. It was on a card receiver platform! Ha ha, the Federation Comprehensive Academy is a little short of capital just now, and they’ve even brought that stuff out. It looks like they are really after the Central Island Firm!”

Seeing Chen Mu’s puzzled expression, the fatty laughed and said, “Something like the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus can’t be obtained with money. In the entire federation, I’d guess only the Big Six could have it. For the Federation Comprehensive Academy to bring it out isn’t so unusual. The thing I don’t understand is why they would be so high-profile and want everyone to know about it.”

Chen Mu was foggy about what he’d heard, not knowing why the fatty had suddenly brought up the Federation Comprehensive Academy. Chen Mu hadn’t listened closely to what the fatty kept talking about, but he had still gotten some useful information.

First, the fatty’s auction house didn’t have any gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus and had no way to get any.

Second, those in the federation most likely to have it were the Big Six.

Third, the Federation Comprehensive Academy had brought along some gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus this time, and it seemed they were using it as a bargaining chip.

Thinking those through, Chen Mu suddenly said, “Would it be possible for me to trade the folding Yanbo card with the Big Six for the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?”

The fatty shook his head with certainty. “Impossible! You might not know this, but the federation doesn’t produce any gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Our relationship with the House of a Hundred Depths isn’t good, which is why the influx of gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus is so limited. The critical thing is its ability to prolong life. Any card making grand master could be made to serve you for a long time by using only a little bit of gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. Although the folding Yanbo card is precious, it wouldn’t be comparable to that.”

Chen Mu was speechless.

What the fatty had said was fair enough, and Chen Mu never considered himself shoulder-to-shoulder with a card making grand master. Although he did know something about Token Theory, he was a long way off when it came to understanding the composition of energy and the control of perception.

However, after the fatty had finished talking, Chen Mu ran right over to the platforms. Apparently, the news about the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus had already caused an uproar. After spending half the day on it, he finally understood what was going on.

The Federation Comprehensive Academy had wanted to move Ren Wenzhou, and among their bargaining chips was none other than the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus. There was all sorts of discussion about it on the platforms. Even ordinary citizens were obviously curious about the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, with everyone speculating if its efficacy was really as magical as it was said to be.

By that time, Pomelo was the focus of attention for the entire Heavenly Federation. There were the events with the Central Island Firm, the struggle for power among the Federation Comprehensive Academy, the Central Repository of the Classics, and Faya, and the final sudden appearance of the numbered series of cards. Those happenings all rocked the federation. Now, with the Federation Comprehensive Academy suddenly tossing in the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, little Pomelo was surging.

The Central Repository of the Classics quickly came up with a response. Everyone was surprised to find that the talks between Ren Wenzhou and the Central Repository of the Classics were suddenly becoming more frequent. Everyone knew the Central Repository of the Classics had thrown in some heavyweight bargaining chip, but neither Ren Wenzhou nor the Central Repository of the Classics were saying anything about it.

By comparison, Faya—which had been considered one of the big players in the struggle for power among the three—was being more low-key than expected. They seemed to be helplessly watching the Federation Comprehensive Academy and the Central Repository of the Classics fighting with one another. That also disappointed the crowds, who had been really interested to watch the show as the news played out.

* * *

A masked woman was sitting in front of Hugo, Butchie, and the Beard. The three of them had never heard of her. She had been wearing the tight mask all day, and none of her face was visible. Even though the identification she brought checked out, the cautious Hugo had still asked for verification from above. He had just gotten the boss-man’s response, verifying that the woman was definitely sent from above. The boss-man ordered them to strictly obey her orders.

“I believe there won’t be any problem with my identity.” The woman spoke rather playfully.

“I am very sorry. Please forgive me if there’s been any offense!” the Beard said. Hugo and Butchie were sitting properly to his side.

“Ha ha, it doesn’t matter. For you all to be so cautious is something I really appreciate.” From under the mask came a seductive, delicate laugh. “You may call me Madam. I’ve seen all of your information. Not bad! It’s all excellent, especially Master Hugo. I am honored to be able to get your help, and I hope our cooperation will be fruitful.” Her voice was smooth and sweet with a hint of languor. “I’ve heard you have already found the one who made the numbered series of cards?”

Seeing that Hugo hadn’t opened his mouth, the Beard broke the silence. “Indeed, Madam. We put together all the intelligence just yesterday and finally determined that the one who made the numbered series of cards must be the boss of the Heaven’s Wings, Cao Dong. We then took action, hoping not to alert the other powers, to take him back to the organization. We never thought we would fail.”

“Oh. I’ve already seen your report, though the specific situation still isn’t quite clear. Master Hugo’s battle strength is pretty excellent in the assessment of the organization.” The madam kept delicately laughing as she glanced around fluidly and looked gracefully at Hugo.

A look of annoyance shot through Butchie’s eyes, though she restrained herself. Hugo didn’t have any expression on his face as he sat there properly.

Seeing what was going on, the Beard rushed to say, “The situation was like this: According to our investigations, Cao Dong only had one high-level card artisan with him. So, we drew up the appropriate battle plan. We hadn’t thought so many aces would appear at his side that day. Being caught so off guard, we took quite a loss. Three of our comrades were killed in the attack.”

“Oh. How many did they have?” The madam was rather surprised.

Hugo suddenly opened his mouth. “They probably numbered about 16 to 20, all elite. They weren’t military, but their tactical teamwork was outstanding. Three of them were likely not at all beneath me.”

“Oh!” The madam was greatly moved. “Did you find out where they came from?”

The Beard smiled bitterly. “Not yet. Our adversary’s defenses are tight, and we can’t even penetrate their surroundings. Plus, they are really on alert, and the worst thing is that one of my subordinates has gone missing.”

“Missing?”

“Right. He has been with me for about five years and is highly effective at managing things. He was leading the way for Hugo and Butchie, and he was ordered to return because of the possibility for battle. I never thought he wouldn’t be back by now.” The Beard showed a lot of concern in what he was saying. “I don’t doubt he was grabbed by another power. If that’s how it is, I’m afraid the news has already spread.”

Laughter came from under the mask. “Interesting. If others find out about the one who made the numbered series of cards, what would they do about it?”

The Beard said ponderously, “If our adversaries’ power is strong enough, they would do the same as us. If it’s not, they might sell the information.”

“In other words, the last to make a move would be the powers with enough strength?” The madam hit the nail on the head.

“Right.” The Beard was certain.

“So, are there any powers stronger than us?”

The Beard’s eyes lit up. “You’re talking about the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy? If they know about that battle of ours, they probably won’t make a move.”

Another laugh came from beneath the mask. “Some of the powerful in this world trust themselves a little too much. Most of those are aces, and all of them are stubborn to the bone! I think we might be about to see a good show!”