Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 350: Plans and Contingencies

Date- 27 Mar 2321

Time- 17:25

Location- Sky Blossom City, City Outskirts

“Grey Fur, the temporary long-distance teleportation array has been set up. Now, all it needs are coordinates. Will you input them, or should I” A old man with a long and lush white beard reported.

“I will enter the coordinates.” Said Grey Fur as he took the control stele from the old man and inputted the coordinates, ” Now that the temporary teleportation array is set up our escape route is secured. All that remains is to assassinate the target and complete the mission.” 

“If you don’t mind me asking, can you tell me where the coordinates lead to?” The 3rd team leader asked in suspicion. If Grey Fur had nothing to hide then he would have just narrated the Coordinates to the grey-bearded old man. 

“The coordinates led to a secured location where 30 different temporary long-distance teleportation arrays are built. Each teleportation array leads to a different location. Any other questions?” Grey Fur answered the 3rd team leader patiently.

The chances of all of them making it to the rendezvous point and escaping at the same time were nil. So, Grey Fur cleverly arrayed 30 different teleportation arrays each leading to different locations at the other end of the first escape teleportation array. 

This way each of them can access a teleportation array and destroy it without having to worry about being tracked or being left behind or be afraid about others destroying the teleportation array to avoid being traced. 

Since there are 30 teleportation arrays for each one of them, each one can destroy the teleportation array after they use it without worrying about small details like being traced or leaving a comrade behind.

“I thought the plan was to take the whole city hostage?” Flower thief could not help but ask. As he had simulated numerous ways to assassinate the target while the others negotiated with the southern emperor. 

“…” Gray Fur and Sniper gave the flower thief a stern glance. As they did not want the mission to escalate to the point of taking the whole city hostage. It would only happen during the worst-case scenario. 

Madam Web’s club is flourishing because its existence is well hidden. And today’s mission of ambushing the Southern Emperor to assassinate a high-profile target like the creator of the Silver milk powder stood against the club secrecy policy. Since madam web was the one to create this rule she could break it at her will and nobody dared to oppose her. 

The news of a squadron of 30 Card Emperor coming together to kill the creator of the Silver milk powder was already shocking and enough to alert the world leaders. Adding the blood of an entire city would be pushing their luck. 

Grey Fur never considered Killing the southern emperor not only because Heatsend royal family was fearsome but because he knew 30 Card Emperors may corner the Southern emperor but they could never kill or capture her, with her strength, she could easily escape with the target if not for her wanting to protect the city. 

“Yes, why are you not using the newbie’s plan?” One of the Card Emperors asked, clearly all of them want to avoid going to fight against the southern emperor and the raining alchemist if possible. 

Except for the few capable ones like Sniper, Grey Fur, and the team leaders most of the Card emperors present here were the bottom of the bottom in terms of strength. If they were capable they would not succumb to the lure of the Madame Web’s Club. Other than their numbers these Card Emperors have nothing to be confident about. Therefore most of them would choose to avoid going to fight against the southern emperor and the raining alchemist if possible. So for them taking the sky blossom city hostage and negotiating an exchange with the Southern emperor seemed a better option. 

“Yea, this plan sounds more passable than ambushing the southern emperor and the raining alchemist. Not to mention the Axe Emperor and Fire Fist Emperor from the Duskborn family. They might not be as strong as the southern emperor and the raining alchemist but they are also titled emperors. Their strength cannot be underestimated.” The leader of the 3rd team added. For him, any mission was better than the current suicide mission his team was allocated with. 

He did not care about the secrecy of the club like Grey Wolf and other team leaders after having tasted the bitter side of the club, the sweetness which made them loyal to it had vanished. After all, no amount of riches can equal his life. 

“*Sigh*… Fine, let’s settle this by voting.” Seeing the teams divide even before the mission began, Grey Fur let out a sigh in frustration. 

He knew it would not have come to this if not for Sniper compromising the situation. But still, Grey Fur chose to protect the sniper from scrutiny because he was a very useful teammate with his sniper skills which rank in the top 100 of the world ranking. If not for Sniper’s presence, he would not have gathered enough merits for his current position in the club. Sniper strength was very valuable and an integral part of his team so Grey fur did not mind covering for him. Madame Web can see all their memories but she would not care about such small incidents as long as they got the required results. 

“All those in favor of Newbie’s idea vote…” between covering for Sniper and pushing team3 to their deaths Grey Fur knew forcing these people to ambush the southern emperor would only lead to dissatisfaction between them so he chose to step back and let the masses decide even though their answer was obvious. 

“Team 2, we vote in favor of newbies Idea”

“Team 3, we vote in favor of newbies Idea”

“Team 4, we vote in favor of newbies Idea”

“Team 5, we vote in favor of newbies Idea”

“Team 6, we vote in favor of newbies Idea”

All the teams voted to take the entire Sky Blossom city as a hostage and negotiate an exchange with the southern emperor. 

Flower thief was in a daze as he heard everyone credit the plan to his name. It was clear what they were doing; they were pushing all the risk onto him. If the plan was successful there was nothing much to gain but if the plan was a failure then his name would be paraded to carry all the blame for the rest of them. 

Seeing that everyone else chose the same option Team 3 leader and its members rejoiced that they would no longer be used as decoys. But their joy was only short-lived. 

“According to the popular vote, we will proceed with the newbie’s plan. Team 3 will reach out to the southern emperor for negotiations while the rest of us will hide in the City.” Grey Fur announced. Hearing Grey Fur, the rejoicing Team3 suddenly turned cold. 

“What do you mean? Shouldn’t you be the one to lead the negotiations as you are the one leading this mission?” the 3rd Team’s leader argued. As negotiating with the southern emperor would be too much of a bargain. Who knows how that crazy woman will react? 

While team 3 worried about the trivial stuff, Grey Fur thought of all the ways this could go downhill, 

1. What if the Southern Emperor did not choose to exchange the creator of Silver milk powder for the people of the city?

Seeing how she stayed behind instead of escaping with the target it’s clear she cares about the safety of the people of Sky blossom city. But that was not enough, the question was, whether in her eyes the lives of millions in the City out-valued the life of the discoverer of silver milk powder. 

2. Did she invite any kind of reinforcement? This could also explain why she was confident enough to stay behind with the target. 

If this was the case then they should hurry with negotiations. Every delay would be equal to helping the enemy stall for time. 

3. Even if the negotiation was successful, how do they escape from here after killing the target? 

So the best option would be to use the target as a hostage as they escaped to the rendezvous point, where the temporary array was built for their escape. And after reaching the secondary secure location they could kill the target and each one of them could go their separate ways using their separate temporary teleportation array. 

4. What if the Southern emperor doesn’t care for the City and its people and went on a killing spree? 

This one was the least possible scenario but this is the reason why Grey Fur asked team 3 to lead the negotiations. The 3rd team might not be strong but they should buy enough time for the rest of them to reach the rendezvous point and escape through the teleportation array. 

Having thought of contingencies for all the plans and scenarios he can think of, Grey Fur decided it was time they launched the mission.