The Card Apprentice

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Mose hadn't noticed the beam of light that had shot from the bar-browed man's eyes, though he had already completely calmed down. Although the backgrounds of Cao Dong and the other weren't clear, they were doubtlessly two guys not to be provoked. He quickly remembered Cleo had run into the two of them in the jungle, and he couldn't help but regret that he had ignored that point. He should have paid attention to that before. People able to go deep into the jungle wouldn't be any mediocre operators.

"Did anyone discover you?" Mose suddenly asked.

The redhead shook his head and said with a very firm tone, "No one. We covered our tracks very well."

Mose nodded. "Good, then. Put that aside for a few days while you recover. Don't go out." He was calculating to himself that if the three of them stayed hidden, then his father wouldn't find out he had three such strong card artisans under him. Cao Dong and the other naturally wouldn't think of him, although their moves had given a chill to the young master of the Lewin Clan. He had hoped to resolve it sooner, not wanting to string it out. He hadn't thought his adversary's power would be so strong.

His face turned white thinking about what would happen if it ever dawned on his adversary that he'd done it.

* * *

Chen Mu and Wei-ah walked out of the building.

Before then, Chen Mu had never heard of Pomelo; since he was there now, he naturally wanted to become acquainted with it. What had happened the night before had also reminded him it wasn't safe there. So, he just brought Wei-ah along on his casual stroll.

Wei-ah seemed indifferent to his surroundings, while Chen Mu was always interested.

Pomelo was one of the three biggest cities of the Ming Zheng District, best known for its hot springs. There were some 300 large and small hot springs in several scenic spots near the city, making it a well-known holiday spot in the federation. It was well-developed economically and had a strong business climate.

There were two ordinary residential districts between the Ming Zheng District and the Eastern Reaches. Chen Mu was astonished to learn of that, though it quickly calmed him; with the Eastern Reaches far enough away, he would be beyond the reach of the Eastern Nings. Without quite knowing what the reason was, he quickly felt more carefree.

The Nings had been a thorn in Chen Mu's heart all along.

All sorts of exquisite goods were arranged in the floor-length display windows, which filled Chen Mu with lots of feelings. It was likely his living in the jungle that aroused such feelings from such ordinary things. But, Chen Mu wasn't a moody person. He quickly returned to normal.

Pomelo was quite a bit larger than Eastern Shang-Wei City and was a lot more bustling. That was clear from how many shuttle cars were visible in the skies. Although ordinary shuttle cars weren't too expensive, the costs were steep when energy card consumption was included. Generally speaking, it was the residents with healthy financial circumstances who would purchase shuttle cars. Quite a few large goods-transport shuttle cars could be seen apart from the ordinary ones. The freight cars were many times the size of ordinary shuttle cars, though they were a lot slower. That sort of freight shuttle car was rarely seen in Eastern Shang-Wei City since their cost was so steep.

The 22 ordinary residential districts were scattered among 22 oases in the Heavenly Federation. Commerce among them wasn't very convenient, especially when considering they were divided by large swaths of jungle. Compared with the five flourishing districts, their living conditions were a lot lower in all regards. The five flourishing districts were interconnected, with each having an area roughly equivalent to three ordinary residential districts. Residents of the five flourishing districts didn't have to concern themselves about attacks from wild beasts, and they enjoyed the best benefits. Quite a few people dreamed their entire lives about being able to move into one of those districts. The capital of the array of flourishing districts, Ming Zhong City, was the economic and political center of the entire federation.

Compared with the Eastern Reaches, the geography of the Ming Zheng District was quite superior. The cities there mostly neighbored one another, making commerce among them a lot more convenient. The beasts from the surrounding jungles had been pretty well-curbed given that the Ming Zheng District had been developed early on. The government would regularly organize groups of professional card artisans to sweep the jungles in the vicinity to mitigate the likelihood of being overrun by beasts.

So, Chen Mu was somewhat surprised when he saw how prosperous the district was.

There were clearly a lot more people on the streets than in Eastern Shang-Wei City, and the number of fantasy card advertisements had reached an outrageous point. He would sometimes want to pass through the fantasy card advertisements, though he didn't understand why they were so similar to the ones in Eastern Shang-Wei City in one respect; most of the advertisements there were also of beautiful women. Especially the larger establishments, which all used beautiful women for their advertisements. The same woman might be seen lots of times. That puzzled him a little since he still didn't have the concept of a star in his life.

But, to his professional eye, most of the advertisements would be considered quite ordinary.

Wei-ah suddenly stopped and lifted his head, his gaze falling onto a large building.

Chen Mu was startled and also stopped to follow Wei-ah's gaze.

There was a large, vertical screen dozens of meters across in front of the building, though what was being emitted from it wasn't any fantasy card advertisement, but a battle.

One of the combatants was a woman in white with a chill quality, while the other was a man with a cool expression.

"This battle is certainly one of the highest-impact battles in recent years. It hasn't only caused an uproar in the realm of card artisans but will have a far-reaching impact on the political landscape of the federation. Research about it has surged. Each side of the battle would be called a heavyweight; one side is an unknown ace from Moon Frost Island, and the other is one of the Gemini twins from Desert Camp, though unfortunately, he was assassinated on his way back to school…"

Chen Mu was watching with a professional eye without ignoring the rather confusing commentary. How awesome! His eyes were glued to the screen so as not to miss a single detail. That was certainly the highest-level battle he'd ever seen, with the power of each contestant far beyond any card artisan he had ever seen. What he hadn't understood previously at all, he now only half understood, though he certainly was no longer any kind of ignorant rookie. Given his rather ample battle experience, he could appreciate many of the fine points.

The speed of the woman was like lightning, and Chen Mu surmised that she must certainly have had a very high-level jet stream card. What had elicited the most praise were her directional changes, which were agile and graceful and without warning. The man's blows all had shocking momentum. The card he was using was pretty amazing as well, like a net of ever-transforming electrical starbursts that were impossible to defend against.

Chen Mu had simply never seen such cards as the two were using, though he could tell at a glance how high-grade they were. They weren't comparable at all to those three or four-star cards that could be had on the market.

The battle lasted about ten minutes, and it was pretty rare as far as battles among card artisans were concerned. Chen Mu watched, intoxicated, without being aware of the passage of time. It was a pleasure for him to watch such a battle.

Chen Mu finally came back to his senses when he saw the guy defeated by the advantage taken by his slightly weaker opponent.

The people on the street who had gathered in front of the screen started to scatter, though some hung back in heated discussion. Then, the content on the screen changed to a kind of medicine advertisement, and Chen Mu reluctantly left with Wei-ah.

While Chen Mu was still feeling the aftereffects of that battle, Wei-ah commented out of the blue, "You fall quite a bit behind them."

Chen Mu nearly stumbled as cold sweat poured off him. Wei-ah had shamed him by making a comparison to those two aces.

Seeming to suddenly like jabbing at Chen Mu, Wei-ah said seriously, "They are about the same age you are."

"They are, they are," Chen Mu responded in some bafflement. Who were they? Moon Frost Island and Desert Camp were among the Big Six Academies. How could such an ordinary person as he compare with aces from the Big Six? They could stick out their little finger, and that would be enough to pinch him to death. The two sides were nowhere near the same level. No, they were as different as Heaven was from Earth. Any among that kind of ace would be admired by millions and worshipped as idols by countless people.

But, Chen Mu knew himself rather well; it had to be said that he was very adaptable and didn't have any great aspirations. Even though he might see such incredible people, that didn't make him feel deficient in his heart.

Chen Mu didn't have that much interest in becoming some ace, but he was quite interested in making money. Living and research both required the support of money. While the 5 million Oudi he had on hand wasn't paltry, if he were to go out to buy card supplies, it would be a pitifully small quantity. One of Chen Mu's two remaining ideas was to crack the puzzle of the mysterious card, while the other was to live out his life in peace.

To tell the truth, Chen Mu hadn't put a lot of hope on Heaven's Wings from the start. Although, those 25 people had solid accomplishment, and it would be a shame to get rid of them. But, for Chen Mu, Heaven's Wings was just an experiment, and he wouldn't dare to put all his hopes on it. If he wanted to make money, he would depend on something else.

Lifting his head to look at the shop in front of him, Chen Mu lifted his feet to enter with Wei-ah right behind him.

It was a card shop of a sort that could be seen all over Pomelo. Chen Mu had already walked past at least 30 along the way. That one wasn't the best or the worst among them.

"Good day. Might I ask if there is something I can do for you?" A rather pretty, professionally dressed woman walked over in front of them and spoke with a light smile.

Chen Mu took a look around, checking carefully what cards were for sale while keeping his refined understanding to himself. The ones in the case weren't the highest quality, with their crafting just ordinary. There weren't any outstanding cards, and such cards naturally didn't mean anything to him.