The Card Apprentice

The closely approaching card artisan’s body suddenly disseminated a light glow. His entire body was enshrouded in a glowing halo, which accented the fine adornments on his clothes.

A powerful sense of danger surged up in Chen Mu. He couldn’t make any move just then, so he exerted a powerful force to his feet while applying the strongest self-control to reverse the direction of his jet stream card.

Pa!

Unable to take such a sudden reversal of energy, the big mudfish card burst apart. Even the apparatus on Chen Mu’s wrist was blown to smithereens. He had no time to mourn the big mudfish card after the utterly unprepared-for change in direction. His body sustained huge forces in that instant.

It was harder to take than being underwater, with all the blood vessels in his body nearly splitting open and everything going dizzy in front of his eyes. There was no time for any careful perceptual understanding; the powerful sense of danger seemed to dwell in his mind like an oppressive black cloud. It was so oppressive he couldn’t breathe.

The sense of danger grew stronger, and the energy fluctuations from that card artisan’s body were as though a meteor had been thrown into a pot of boiling oil. By then, the energy fluctuations being emitted were even stronger than the Aurora Beam that Chen Mu had seen Hugo emit.

The smell of destruction pervaded everything. Suddenly, a tiny, cross-shaped mark showed up on the back of that only remaining card artisan. It had been released by the bar-browed man, who was lurking in the dark.

That time, however, the usually glowing cross seemed to have lost its effectiveness. The glow being emitted from his adversary’s body far exceeded the glow from the cross. Soon, the cross impressed on his back could barely be seen by the naked eye.

The bar-browed man couldn’t believe what he had witnessed! Unlike others, he didn’t need to discern it with his naked eyes. His cross was certainly imprinted on the back of the adversary, but it had utterly no effect.

Chen Mu was fleeing!

That was the first time in the entire battle that Chen Mu was in such a terrible situation. He hadn’t been so miserable even when he was attacked by those five card artisans.

Within three seconds, Chen Mu had put 15 meters between himself and his adversary, but that sense of danger was still looming in his mind with absolutely no sign of dissipating. His mind was blown. He didn’t dare to be the least bit lax or even to turn his head as he bolted desperately away! His intuition had always been completely accurate, and it was especially powerful that time.

Before he could think clearly, however, there was a sudden upheaval.

The only thing everyone felt was a flash before their eyes that burned so brightly it seemed like broad daylight. Where the other card artisan had been was now only a spherical, incandescent energy ball five meters in diameter. There was only pure energy; the flesh and blood of the card artisan had been turned to ashes by the destructive energy of the ball.

The perception of danger still hadn’t dissipated; on the contrary, Chen Mu felt only terror at the approaching disaster. The breath being emitted from that incandescent ball of energy was simply terrifying. The fine rippling on its surface was like the constantly changing rainbow ripples of a soap bubble under the sun. The ball was also constantly expanding.

He just bolted! Provoked by that devastating breath, Chen Mu was running at a speed far beyond what he normally demonstrated in his daily training. He was like a bolt of black lightning as he shot forward.

Thirty meters! Fifty meters!

If Chen Mu turned around then, he would certainly see a sight so unforgettable he would remember it for his whole life. But he didn’t dare turn around. He suddenly saw a depression ahead of him, which filled him with joy. Like a fish out of water, he leaped into the depression.

That was just when an explosion shook the earth.

Now expanded to the size of a small mountain, the incandescent energy sphere suddenly exploded. The pure and plentiful energy kept flowing until it had finally destroyed the fragile balance.

Lying in the pit, Chen Mu could only feel something scraping hard across his back, which burned with incredible pain. He couldn’t help but shout in agony, but he gritted his teeth and held still with his face firmly pressed against the ground. It was as though he had become a fish having its scales scraped off on a chopping board. The pain penetrated to his bones.

After a full ten seconds, the tempest finally dissipated. Only when there was no more commotion outside did Chen Mu crawl out with great difficulty. When his gaze fell to where the explosion had just happened, he drew in a breath of cold air.

Smoke curled up from a huge hole that was 20 meters in diameter and completely charred inside. Even though he was quite distant from it, waves of heat still flowed toward him. Chen Mu looked at the pit, dumbfounded. Who could have thought a card artisan would reach such a terrifying extreme that he would blow himself up on the verge of death?

Wei-ah fell in beside Chen Mu and restored him from his shock.

“You’re wounded.” Wei-ah was just calmly stating the facts.

“Huh?” Chen Mu was taken aback, but he then felt the waves of pain on his back like a tide. He wanted to rub his back. Before he could reach it, however, the pain turned everything black, and he lost consciousness.

There were wounds criss-crossing his back. Blood was flowing everywhere and soaking his clothes to a dreadful extent.

It was dark. Endlessly dark. He was running. Running like crazy. Then, it looked like there was a light ahead.

A crowd of children surrounded the two boys. The two boys were back-to-back, their faces fierce. Someone shouted out to start the melee…

There was a dying, middle-aged man with disheveled hair and dry lips, whose face had turned white. He was watching the child in front of him and stretching out his twig-like fingers while drawing on the ground with great difficulty…

An old man was coughing incessantly as he gave a lesson audit voucher to a youth…

Two youths were in fierce discussion, brimming with hope and idealism, and there were thick drafts piled in front of them…

* * *

Chen Mu opened his eyes, and the dreams disappeared. A sigh inexplicably came from the bottom of his heart. But he quickly retracted his feelings, not being a very sentimental person.

He was entirely naked, and apart from his head, his whole body was immersed in liquid. There was an occasional bout of itching from his back.

It was a therapeutic instrument!

Looking through the glass on the device, he saw Sue Lochiro. She was lying on the table, asleep. When he saw that, Chen Mu felt a stream of warmth through his heart. She was certainly exhausted to have crawled onto the table to sleep. He calmly remained in the therapeutic machine without making a sound, not wanting to disturb Sue Lochiro’s rest.

After a moment, she stood shakily, her face full of exhaustion. Her normally carefully combed hair was unusually messy. Still sleepy, she unconsciously walked over to the therapeutic machine, wanting to see how Chen Mu was doing.

Her gaze penetrated the glass and made contact with Chen Mu’s gaze.

“Ah!” She shouted in surprise, but as soon as the sound came out, she knew something was wrong. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand. After a few seconds, she finally dropped her hand. With both surprise and joy, she said, “You’ve come around, Boss! When did you wake up? Why didn’t you wake me up?”

There was plenty of annoyance in her voice. Chen Mu smiled and didn’t say anything.

“When they brought you back, Boss, I was scared to death! Now, you’re better, and it looks like nothing’s wrong!” Sue Lochiro was patting her chest and looking glad. She thought of something and rushed over to look at the data beside the machine. Her expression finally relaxed. “Mmmm, everything’s fine. You’ll be completely recovered after a few days, Boss.”

She lifted her gorgeous eyes and hesitated, but she couldn’t resist saying, “Such a dangerous affair…” She wanted to say something, but she seemed to realize what she could say would be too simple. She didn’t finish the sentence.

Feeling Sue Lochiro’s concern, Chen Mu’s heart was warmed. He smiled and said to comfort her, “It’s nothing. This was an accident. Oh, right; how are things outside?” He really wanted to know what had developed while he was unconscious.

Sue Lochiro shook her head. “I don’t really know. I’ll call over Jiang Liang for you.” She opened her communications apparatus and called Jiang Liang over.

“The boss is looking for you, Jiang Liang.” She spoke simply.

No one was pickier than she was about Chen Mu’s attitude in the entire base. She was also quite intimate with Lu Xiaoru and Ru Qiu, but she spoke bluntly with everyone else. Her position on the team made her aloof. No card artisan hadn’t been treated by her, and no one would dare be disrespectful toward her. Moreover, Xi Ping had confirmed himself that she was the boss’s woman. Even the two big bosses, Xi Ping and Bogner, were always quite earnest in front of Sue Lochiro, so how would anyone else let loose in front of her?

Jiang Liang arrived quickly. When he saw Chen Mu, a look of joy flashed through his eyes. But the look quickly faded as he went back to his usual silent, expressionless posture of being at attention.

“Boss!” He snapped his salute.

“How’s the situation?” Chen Mu was very direct.

Chen Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief during Jiang Liang’s report. The Downstream Alliance had been defeated. Qiao Fei herself had led her team to seize the Downstream Alliance during their retreat, and Wen Zuofu was killed on the field. It was said that Qiao Fei herself was the one who made the move.

“Qiao Fei and her troops have already come over quite a few times during the last few days. All 35 small forts of the Downstream Alliance have been captured. Qiao Fei and her team have decided to divide them with us. She hopes to discuss with you about how to do so. Their warehouses have already been sealed, and all the materials have been inventoried. Their idea is to each take half. Such a huge matter is not something we would dare to decide on our own, so Qiao Fei and the rest are awaiting your decision. Manager Xi Ping and Xiaobo have already returned to the ravine. Do you need to see them?”

Chen Mu put on a strange expression. “Not in my condition.”

Jiang Liang’s expression didn’t change, though he did crack a quick look of some ridicule. Chen Mu was completely naked, which was certainly a little strange. He immediately thought of Sue Lochiro to his side, and it looked like the rumors weren’t all just empty talk.

Chen Mu pondered for a moment before saying, “I agree with Qiao Fei’s proposal. Tell Xi Ping he will be responsible for the division of the supplies. As far as dividing up the small forts, we’ll discuss it when I’m better.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Ok, his wounds are still not healed, and he needs to rest some more. Is there anything that can’t wait?” Seeing that Chen Mu didn’t have any notion of stopping, Sue Lochiro had an unhappy expression as she stared at Jiang Liang with some reproach.

Chen Mu sneered when he heard that. Jiang Liang was discreet, rushing to ask if Chen Mu had any further orders before he quickly left.

Only Sue Lochiro and Chen Mu were left in the room, and the atmosphere turned a little awkward.