The Card Apprentice

Cleo related simply what he’d just found out about what had happened from start to finish at Heaven’s Wings.

“How could that be?” The bodyguard was stunned.

Cleo thought for a bit and said with a lowered voice, “Don’t worry; how could a card artisan understand working in fantasy card advertising? We’ll just calmly watch things change.” His expression had turned abruptly cold, even seeming a little mocking. “I’m guessing my beloved older brother won’t be able to take it much longer. He’s always been mystified by his own power and might actually think power can solve all problems.”

When quitting time finally came, all the remaining workers left in a flurry after Chen Mu nodded. They needed some time to digest what had happened that day, and they also needed some time to adjust to the new boss’s style. But, a good piece of news for them was that their salaries would remain the same as before. That had calmed some of the employees who’d been considering jumping jobs.

Although the new boss was somewhat horrific, quite a few of them believed it wouldn’t be that bad to work under him. They could hop jobs when the time came, though finding a new job as good as the one they had wouldn’t be so simple. So, they might as well stay a while to see how it went. If it didn’t turn out so well, then it wouldn’t be too late to consider leaving.

People were leaving a deserted building, which was a good metaphor for Heaven’s Wings. The 25 remaining people, which made 27 with Chen Mu and Wei-ah, was a pretty small number for an 11-story building. After the work day, only Chen Mu and Wei-ah were left in such a large space.

But, Chen Mu liked it since he and Wei-ah wouldn’t have to go out to rent an apartment and could keep living in the building. He could even turn the upper floors into a card making studio. Once he thought of that, he couldn’t help but be excited. When he was in the village, he had always been eager for a modern card making studio instead of a basic, crude card studio with nothing in it.

But, there was still a lot to do before that.

Chen Mu took out a silvery piece of metal about the size of a box of matches that looked like standard silver bullion, its six sides shining like a mirror. Toward the top was painted a red six-petal flower.

Chen Mu put the piece of silver on the table and pressed gently on the flower.

Zi!

The chunk of silver metal automatically opened as though a fresh flower had blossomed. Inside of it were enough parts to make a person’s vision blurry as they activated and spread out on the table with astonishing speed. In an instant, a communications array appeared in front of Chen Mu and Wei-ah, with the antenna in its middle the thickest and tallest part, shaped like a tree having many branches. It was hard to imagine how a thing the size of a match box could become the size of a washbasin after it had all opened up. It was the small-scale signal transmitter. Along with the thousand-kilometer card, it could achieve ultra-long-distance communications.

Chen Mu carefully manipulated the signal transmitter. Although he had used it a few times, if he were to break it there, it wouldn’t be so easy to fix. It would be very hard to find such an accomplished metal artisan as Alfonso in the federation.

Activating the thousand-kilometer card, the image of Alfonso’s face appeared very clearly in front of Chen Mu. Alfonso was very excited to see him. “Is it you, Teacher? Where are you now? Didn’t you run into any trouble along the way?”

“It’s me. Wei-ah and I are both fine. We’ve already come out from the jungle and are now in Pomelo.”

Chen Mu described the situation along the way and asked about the situation at the base.

Wei-ah suddenly gave him a gesture. Chen Mu was stunned and quietly broke the connection with Alfonso, pressing on top of the apparatus so the basin-sized transmitter would quickly retract to its former appearance as a chunk of metal.

“Someone has stolen in.” Wei-ah’s voice was a little fleeting in the dark.

Chen Mu was startled, immediately turning off the lights and quickly hiding in a corner.

It was already night by then, and the whole building had been pitch dark except for the top floor. Once Chen Mu turned out the lights, the building was completely plunged into darkness.

“How many?” Chen Mu asked quietly. Although he didn’t know where Wei-ah was, he knew Wei-ah could hear him.

A barely audible voice came from not far away. “Three.” Although Wei-ah was close by, he still couldn’t determine his position.

“They’ve entered.” That time, Wei-ah’s voice came from someplace else.

* * *

Main entry to the Heaven’s Wings building.

“It looks like our little rats have found us out,” a red-haired card artisan said with a demonic laugh. Within the instant they had arrived, the lights at the top of the building had suddenly gone out. That meant their target had discovered them.

“What difference does it make?” one of his other comrades asked indifferently. She was a female card artisan! She wore skin-tight, incredibly short leather shorts and had snow-white, long legs to make a person drool. On top was the same skin-tight, black leather, which very clearly outlined her slim waist and her breasts so plump they looked like they would explode. Her lips, dripping with scarlet, were bright and seductive in the dark.

Beside her stood another grim-looking man. His face was like a standard rectangle. He had very unique eyebrows, all one piece, looking like a straight line drawn with a ruler.

The redhead laughed. “Someone looks like he wants to play. It’s been a while since I’ve had any action, and my craving has become unbearable!” His tongue was lightly licking his lips while his two pupils displayed a kind of crazed battle lust.

“You are such a vile jerk!” The woman card artisan looked at him in disgust.

“That really hurts for you to say such a thing, Anna. Oh, your boobs look a lot bigger than before. It looks like your little white boy has been doing a standout job, ha, ha!” The redhead let out an unrestrained laugh, which also contained a hint of madness.

Anna didn’t get angry as she said coldly, “What? You’re jealous of what he can do! Well, waste can only ever be waste!”

“You!” The redhead’s face went dark.

“Shut your mouths!” That time the bar-browed man next to Anna had opened his mouth. His voice was cold and had a gravity like never before. “Do your work, and be careful. Our adversary isn’t weak.” He lifted his face and gazed at the top of the building.

The two of them were both apprehensive; if their senior said their adversary wasn’t weak, this would certainly be a very bitter battle. The two of them hardened their looks and immediately activated the apparatus on their wrists.

The three of them had already fought together at least 20 times without being defeated once. Their combined battle strength was powerful, and they had an incredible rapport.

They formed into a triangle with the redhead in front. It was just as Anna had said; he was nuts, and once he went mad, no one could stop him. He had a natural-born desire to fight in his bones, and that longing went so far as to be perverted. That made him the most suited to be the point. When the three of them went into action, the one in front was always the crazy one.

Nothing was visible in the pitch dark of the building. The three of them were feeling their way along, not using the illumination card, since that would only turn them into targets for the enemy.

They had a rich experience carrying out their tasks and had encountered every kind of situation. There wasn’t anything special about the situation then facing them.

They carefully and cautiously pressed upward. Behind the one leading them, who was indeed crazy, Anna was moving along with the bar-browed man.

“Yi!” Anna suddenly gave out a sound of alarm.

“What’s up?” the redhead asked in a low voice, slowing his feet.

Anna said in alarm, “I can’t determine their position.”

The redhead was stunned. “What happened?” Apart from having a decent fighting ability, the reason Anna had become the most important among the three was her mastery of the probe card. Anna’s probe card was one of the so-called “ripple” probe cards. The ripple wasn’t a standard probe card that could be purchased just anywhere. She had bought it for a high price from a famous card master. It was said that she didn’t hesitate to put her sex appeal on the altar for the card. And, three days after she had gotten the card, she killed the card master.

The ripple was an extremely powerful probe card, which had been proven in countless battles. Anna had all sorts of skills with the ripple, even being able to detect a mosquito within 100 meters. And, within a scope of 500 meters, no one could evade her detection.

Even the senior guy among them, who was an unfathomable card artisan in their estimations, had no way to evade Anna’s detection within the scope of 500 meters.

But, they had encountered some guy who could evade Anna’s detection! If one were to say they had just taken their enemy lightly, they wouldn’t dare to underestimate their target in the slightest anymore. The redhead even had a vague premonition that the battle that day would be the toughest of his life.

They had already gotten to the fifth floor by then. They had utterly no advantage in the dark without Anna’s ripple card.

But, no matter whether it was the redhead or Anna, they both remained full of confidence. Even without the ripple card, they still had rich experience fighting in the dark and were naturally unafraid. They couldn’t even see the fingers on their hands in any direction, though the three of them remained steady, not being flustered in the least.

Then, the bar-browed man stopped abruptly without any warning.