The Card Apprentice

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

Walking into the room where the 20 card masters were, Chen Mu was taken aback. He saw countless energy cards piled on a table and randomly picked one up. Four-star! He picked up another one. It's a four-star! Four-star! Four-star…

All the cards on the table were four-star power cards! He thought again about how he had doubted whether they had the ability to make four-star power cards. He felt immediately embarrassed.

Those guys really had professional spirit! Chen Mu praised them to himself, never having seen such diligent high-grade card masters. Looking at the small mountain of four-star power cards on the table, he could imagine how efficient and hard-working those card masters were!

They also completely subverted any impression Chen Mu had in his mind about card masters. Not one of them lifted their head when Chen Mu entered. All of them had their heads buried in their work. Their eyes were red and puffy. At a glance, he knew that was from staying up all night.

Chen Mu stood for a while, and still not one of them paid him any attention. They were really absorbed, with sluggish expressions and rather mechanical movements. Their speed, however, hadn't slacked in the least.

Seeing that, Chen Mu could only speak up. "Please stop for a bit, everyone."

What Chen Mu said broke through the calm in the room, and the card masters from the Origins Academy all looked up. They all had the same dazed and dull expression, which really affected Chen Mu. He knew how easily that expression would form after such repetitive work.

Those were some really fine comrades!

After a full ten minutes, they came back to themselves. The lead card master looked at Chen Mu, and his face abruptly darkened as he said without any courtesy, "What are you doing here?" The guy then raised his head and pointed to the four-star power cards on the table. He proudly asked, "Is that enough four-star power cards?"

There were at least 400 on the table, which was enough to make a person's eyes start jumping.

After thinking it over and doing some serious calculation, Chen Mu said honestly, "It's not enough." More than 400 four-star power cards looked like a lot, but the troops had expanded to 400; when you divided it out, of course it was insufficient. Moreover, they would have to stockpile some battle reserves. Chen Mu had always thought the more, the better.

The veins were bulging on the forehead of the one acting as the lead card master. But when he thought of the instructions of their past president, he forcibly swallowed the curses he'd been about to let loose. His face turned even darker, and he said with extreme dissatisfaction, "What are you doing here, then?"

"Put aside the power cards for a while. You need to do a different sort of work," Chen Mu responded.

Everyone in the card making studio breathed a sigh of relief. Making four-star power cards for those past few days had nearly driven them crazy! In their eyes, that sort of unskilled, mechanical card making was a living torture to their nerves. They had been pampered for a long time and had never done such work. If that gang hadn't been riled up, they most likely would have slacked off.

To now hear they didn't need to make four-star power cards was as though they had each been relieved of a heavy burden. Good lord, to finally get out of that sea of misery! Quite a few of them felt their noses itch, having worked day and night against how riled they were. Such concentration without enough rest had made nearly all of them lose weight.

Each of them, including the lead card master, had only one thing on their mind. If they weren't going to make four-star power cards, then what did he want them to do?

"Ok," the lead card master responded, which was refreshing to Chen Mu. Their professional spirit was impeccable.

* * *

Training Field No. 9 on the seventh floor was a large-scale training field, which could hold about 700 people training at the same time. It was also the biggest one on the base. Since there had been so few of them, it was the first time it had been opened.

Of course, that was only with regard to those 405 card artisans. Bogner had shut all the passageways to the seventh floor, so no one could interrupt them. He was all angles with a sharp gaze. The huge training field was utterly silent as the group looked at the security chief in awe.

Probably no one had realized the so-called security chief was an identity Bogner had just randomly applied to himself. Still, even if some did know, they weren't any less in awe. They saw with their own eyes how obedient those 20 aces were in front of Bogner—as docile as lambs.

Their calculation was simple; if even such aces didn't dare to be the least bit lax, then such rookies as they were certainly weren't going to put on any airs. Moreover, there were two card artisans standing right behind Bogner! They were true aces who could wipe out a huge chunk of them with a casual extension of their pinky.

"Starting today, you will be undergoing the most basic training." Bogner had no expression on his face as he swept them with his stern gaze, which no one dared to return.

"The training is simple. You won't be hurt, and you won't die. It's very safe." He bared his snow-white teeth, and a chill came through is smiling face.

It was quickly etched into their minds what it meant that there wouldn't be any casualties. They would repeat the most basic exercises over and over, about which Bogner was picky to the extreme. And, it was a regimented training; if just one person wasn't in sync, they would have to do it all over again.

The card artisans complained across the days, though they only dared to complain while hidden off to the side during their breaks. Once the training started, no one slacked off in the least.

Of the two behind the one in charge, one was good at the reconnaissance scanning card. No little movement in the training room would escape his perception. Although the other card artisan looked small and crude, the powerful muscles on his body made him look like a small mountain. People felt afraid of the ruthlessness of his gaze.

After one lazy guy was pulled out, he took off three layers of his skin. Mournful screaming floated through the entire training ground, turning the rest of their faces ashen. Their hearts tightened to hear the terrible wailing of that offending card artisan.

Given that precedent, the rest of them naturally became a lot more honest. But they quickly found that as long as they trained diligently, it didn't matter what they said during the breaks. The boss-man wouldn't pay any attention to them.

"Damn! Every day the same thing!" someone couldn't help but complain.

"Who knew? I actually feel pretty good to get so much money with no desperation. That's a good deal!" a more honest person said.

"Yeah, money is hard to earn these days! Where would we ever get such a high salary? So what if we suffer a little?" another one added.

"I'm not afraid to suffer, but gosh! If we keep training like this, I'm going to go nuts! This is a slow torture by small cuts!"

Once that was said, quite a few of them immediately showed their agreement.

A sudden sound of cold laughter came though. "What do you all know? The leader is using high-level military training. Hrmph. The guy in charge is no simple person! Our boss is still more unfathomable."

"Military training methods? Don't joke, my brother. If the military is using these useless training methods, their weaponry blows," someone else retorted.

The one who'd spoken before rolled his eyes. "Don't put down what you don't understand. This is standard, regimented training every new military recruit has to go through." Seeing that everyone was still looking at him skeptically, he said something with a cold smile. "I've been through five years of the military. Anyhow, I'm advising each of you that you should train well. You'll know when the time comes—these things can save your life."

He idly watched for everyone's response and then turned to leave.

Bogner had earlier noticed that card artisan, who was called Jiang Liang. His movements were exemplary, and Bogner knew on first sight he had been in the military.

What those rookie card artisans were doing was the most basic military training. Newly enlisted soldiers specifically had to undergo such regimented training. It would cultivate the soldiers' organizational discipline and group identity consciousness, with its most prominent characteristic being boredom.

The Heavenly Federation's military was strictly selective, and only those card artisans with power or potential could enlist. The military had the highest concentration of the elite in the federation. An ordinary soldier was generally an ace.

The federation military had excellent benefits and enjoyed a high reputation and a high position in society. Inside the military, there was a perfect training regime; the resources were beyond compare to the outside world. Once enlisted, few would be discharged. Only old card artisans who had reached retirement age were likely to choose a discharge.

Jiang Liang looked to be only about 24. A soldier of that age wasn't likely to leave the troops by any account. Moreover, given his enlistment qualifications, as long as he still had the strength, he would certainly be warmly solicited by any card artisan firm. Why would he be mixed up with them?

Bogner had someone bring Jiang Liang to him.

"Have you been in the military?"

"Yes, sir, Commander!" Jiang Liang stood ramrod straight with his chest sticking out and his eyes straight ahead.

"How many years?"

"Reporting, sir! Five years!"

A look of surprise flashed through Bogner's eyes. Although five years wasn't a lot of experience in the army, he'd still become a veteran. He knew the regulations of the federation military. They had always valued their veterans and treated them well. Jiang Liang wasn't older than 24 that year, with five years of service already. That meant he hadn't yet turned 20 when he had enlisted.

To have enlisted when not yet 20 indicated that the person who'd admitted him had a pretty high evaluation of his potential.