The Card Apprentice

It really surprised Chen Mu that the wild beasts in the Heavenly Drum Village District could produce and use energy. In his understanding, the wild beasts depended on their tough muscles in their struggles with humans. The twin-hooked beast he’d encountered before had hide so armor-like and a body so tough that even a high-level card artisan would be in a lot of trouble if they encountered one. For the dingbird to be able to use energy meant they were a lot more dangerous.

“What other wild beasts can use energy?” Chen Mu suddenly opened his mouth to ask.

“Use energy? Lots of wild beasts!” Brenton was taken aback. That was the first time that youth had spoken to him. He had the impression that the youth almost never opened his mouth. The man beside him holding the fleshy dog never spoke either.

A look of concern flashed through Chen Mu’s eyes. The danger index of the Heavenly Drum Village District had just soared in his mind. It was the first wild beast attack they’d encountered since entering the district. They’d previously thought the Heavenly Drum Village District would be Heaven on Earth, but it now looked like its dangers far exceeded those of the ordinary residential districts. At least in the ordinary residential districts, Chen Mu had never encountered such powerful creatures.

No one was looking very good, including Bogner and Xiaobo. They had buried the teammate who had been sacrificed. Although they were used to life and death, everyone still couldn’t avoid feeling low. Under Brenton’s guidance, they’d discarded all the valuable things they’d taken from the bodies of the dingbirds. It was too bad every bit of the dingbirds’ skin was blown to a pulp and didn’t have much value. Chen Mu and the rest simply didn’t remove them, but Brenton stood by with endless regret.

During their subsequent travels, Chen Mu took the initiative to chat with Brenton. Bogner, Xi Ping, and the rest couldn’t help but look surprised. The boss had always been such a taciturn and reserved person in their minds.

What Chen Mu was thinking was actually quite simple; that flock of dingbirds had made him realize the danger. It was just that feeling of danger that had made him start taking control of his adaptation to the new environment. Chen Mu had always been an extremely adaptable person. It was part of the survival strategy for someone who had experienced the life of a street punk. It was instinctual.

Most of the time, he just kept those instincts hidden. On top of his already indifferent nature, the series of encounters later in his life had made him still more wary.

But the battle with the dingbirds had made him suddenly smell something extremely dangerous with his perception. That perception of danger was so fierce it went beyond anything he’d ever felt in the jungle. Even Chen Mu himself hadn’t realized the big change in his behavior, which was really nothing more than his being stimulated by his sense of danger. He had unconsciously adjusted.

“Do you know why the dingbird can use energy, Brenton?” Chen Mu asked as he walked over to Brenton’s side.

Brenton shook his head. “I don’t know, either. There are a lot of wild beasts that can use energy, like the snow bear, whose energy shield is extremely tough. Fantasy cards with a destructive value any lower than 1,500 basically have no way to nab one. There’s also the spotted moon fox. They can emit wavy blades. Beasts who can use energy like that bring a very high price; if you succeed in hunting one down, you could make a lot of money.”

To say it could emit wavy blades really shocked Chen Mu. Bogner, Xiaobo, and the rest alongside him were also shocked. The bodies of wild beasts had always been a lot stronger than humans. It would be terrifying if they could emit wavy blades too!

Of course, when speaking of body strength, Chen Mu had naturally made an exception of Wei-ah when speaking about humans.

“Oh, they must be very hard to hunt down!” Chen Mu continued.

“Mmmm.” Brenton nodded. “Of course. They’re all quite powerful. There are only a few teams composed of battle card artisans who can succeed in that regard. Ordinary teams of card artisans would only dare to hunt down some comparatively weak creatures. But the situation we had today encountering the dingbirds is actually unusual. They’re only likely to be seen in places where there are few humans. Our luck was really terrible! That was not normal!”

What Brenton said really got Chen Mu’s attention. “You mean dingbirds rarely show up here?”

“Very seldom. Dingbirds are a ferocious species of bird that live at an elevation above 4,000 meters. Where we are right now is only 500 meters above sea level. Moreover, as you can see, there are no tall mountains around here.” Brenton really couldn’t understand it.

Bogner saw Chen Mu looking at him and nodded so slightly it was undetectable. If Brenton wasn’t mistaken, the appearance of that flock of dingbirds was rather strange. Although they still didn’t know the reason, what Chen Mu said reminded Bogner that there could be some issues there.

The order was quietly passed down to be on high alert, and everyone immediately assumed an alert posture. As always, the non-combatant personnel were protected in the middle. There was nothing disorderly about the whole team’s formation. Having traveled so long in the jungle, they had practiced that maneuver so much that they couldn’t be any more familiar with it.

“There’s a group of people getting closer to us!” Xiaobo’s face shifted. The Wheel had a pretty strong detection capability.

Without the need for orders, everyone immediately prepared for battle. Indeed, there was a cluster of dark dots in the distance coming closer at a shocking speed. Everyone’s hearts plunged. The speed of that gang of card artisans was so fast it wasn’t at all inferior to the dingbirds they had just encountered.

Whether Chen Mu or Xiaobo, they were both clear that if a card artisan’s speed compared favorably with the dingbirds’, that would be terrifying. If an entire gang of card artisans were like that, just thinking about it would turn a person’s scalp numb.

In the blink of an eye, the gang of card artisans appeared in front of everyone. They were floating in midair, looking down on them.

* * *

Mobley was watching the group below him with a little bit of surprise. The strength of those card artisans naturally hadn’t made much of an impression on him, but they demonstrated a tactical discipline he inwardly praised. That showed what an excellent leader they had.

The sharp-eyed Mobley quickly discovered the signs of a recent battle on them.

“May I ask who the leader is? I’m the head of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, Mobley.”

“The great Mobley from the Snowflake Card Artisan Team!” Brenton seemed like he had been struck by lightning. His expression had gone slack, and he was mumbling to himself.

From Brenton’s reaction, Chen Mu judged that Mobley must be some extremely famous person. He still remembered when those people first saw Jiao Si. Tang Hanpei’s expression was the same as Brenton’s.

“How are you, Mobley, sir? I am the leader of this team.” Chen Mu had a calm expression as he spoke. It needn’t be said that he had never heard that name. Even if he had, he wouldn’t have had much of a reaction. Could Mobley be any more famous than Tang Hanpei? Having seen Tang Hanpei’s style, and although Mobley was rather intimidating, he wasn’t quite up to Tang Hanpei in Chen Mu’s eyes.

“We have been chasing a flock of dingbirds. I wonder if you have discovered any sign of them, sir. If you have, I wonder if I might see a report, thank you!” Mobley’s gaze was fixed on Chen Mu. The leader of the other team was younger than he could have expected. But he couldn’t help but appreciate the calm expression he wore.

Chen Mu’s expression went a little cool. The batch of card artisans in front of him were the cause of that disaster! No wonder the dingbirds, which lived among the mountains, had shown up there. When he thought about one of his teammates having just been killed and one wounded because of the people in front of him, Chen Mu was naturally not in a good mood.

“Eh, you’re a little late, sir. We just encountered them.” Chen Mu spoke lightly.

Mobley relaxed. He had seen that those people had just been through a battle, so of course he had been guessing in that direction. He hadn’t thought his guess would have hit the mark like that.

“Might you report in which direction they escaped, sir? We would very much appreciate it.” Mobley had an earnest expression.

Chen Mu was unmoved and said lightly, “We killed them.”

“What?” One of the team members from the Snowflake Card Artisan Team shifted his expression. “You actually killed them after we chased them for such a long time?”

All of the members of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team were staring at Chen Mu and his team unhappily.

“Shut your mouth!” Mobley frowned and yelled at the one who had spoken. His prestige on the team was unmatched, and the one he’d yelled at obediently closed his mouth.

“Those under me aren’t always so sensible. I hope you don’t mind, sir. We would like to receive the dingbird wing skin from your hands for ten percent above the market price. What do you think, sir?” He felt that killing several dozen dingbirds was unlikely for such a team.

Chen Mu shook his head. That movement immediately made all the members of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team show their displeasure. Mobley was much more reserved, though he couldn’t help an increased note of compulsion. “Oh, would it be some inconvenience to you, sir?”

“We didn’t want the dingbird skin. It’s still there. If you need it, you may get it yourselves.” Chen Mu pointed to where they had just battled.

Mobley was taken aback, and he fixed his gaze on Chen Mu, inwardly finding it strange. The dingbird’s wing skin was the most valuable part of its body. How could anyone abandon it? Still, under his extremely oppressive gaze, Chen Mu maintained his calm and cool.

Mobley then rushed to salute, holding his fist. “Thank you very much, sir. We bid you farewell.” He then led his team flying off to where Chen Mu had just pointed.

Mobley and the rest quickly arrived at where Chen Mu and his team had just battled with the flock of dingbirds. All he could see were the corpses of dingbirds on the ground.

When they could see the corpses clearly, they all drew in breaths of cold air.