The Card Apprentice

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

In the blink of an eye, the cloud of mist had changed into dozens of small birds, which fluttered all around Xaiobo's body. That was undoubtedly quite a pleasing scene. The fifty or sixty little birds composed of white mist flew merrily around him like a dancing troupe of elves.

Even some of the team members who were in the middle of working couldn't stop themselves from putting down what they were doing to stare with their mouths open.

Xiaobo's exceptional perceptual acuity was being vividly played out, with the difficulty of controlling fifty or sixty little birds self-evident.

While people in the know look for how things are done, the people on the outside only see how great it looks. The cool and elegant pretty woman couldn't help clapping and oohing and awing, "Such amazing perceptual control! Mr. Xiao is an ace after all!"

Before the sound of her voice had dropped, all of the little birds scattered into thin air. They disappeared so completely that it was as though what they had just been watching were an illusion.

While Xiaobo was elated by the pretty woman's praises, he didn't change his expression when he made an extremely gracious slight bow, "Thank you very much for your appreciation!"

Seeing how things were, Bogner was also very pleased as he patted Xiaobo on the shoulder, "Very nice Little Xiao. Now go about your business."

Having just felt such elation, Xiaobo's heart now plummeted to the pits. Looking at Bogner's smiling face had given him a thrill. Then Xiaobo slinked away in resentment as though Bogner had cursed him.

"What do you think, sweet miss. Xiaobo isn't the only ace among us. There are some who are still more awesome." Bogner maintained his ever-earnest look. The card artisans who heard what he said did have some strange looks, though.

Xiaobo was certainly not the most awesome. There were the boss and Wei-ah who were more awesome, though they wouldn't be in the card artisan firm, and wouldn't be going out on the job with them.

The cool and elegant pretty woman's tone had become quite a bit more moderate, "I apologize for what I said earlier. We need a lot of defensive capability this time, and we plan to hire seven card artisan firms of about a hundred each for the period of a month."

"Seven card artisan firms?" Bogner looked as though something were on his mind.

"Yes. Given how shaky things have become lately, we need a powerful defensive capability. The commission has a certain amount of danger, so we do have certain requirements for the firms we choose. When we heard about the power of your esteemed firm, we quickly decide to take a look at you." The cool and elegant pretty woman said.

Bogner pretended to ask casually, "Oh. I wonder where you heard about our firm?"

"It was said that your esteemed firm was able to kill ten of the Dark Fog card artisans sent by the Downstream Alliance. I hadn't paid much attention to the news at the time, though I was quite surprised. Now seeing the gentleman's skills, I rather believe it." Her expression remained calm, as though she were telling the truth.

Bogner's heart skipped a beat, though he spoke casually, "I hadn't thought the news would have spread so fast. That's really quite surprising." If anyone were around who really knew him, they would certainly see the chill beneath Bogner's smiling face.

It really surprised Bogner that the matter of killing the Dark Fog card artisans under the Downstream Alliance had actually gotten out. The first thing he thought of was Qiao Fei, but he very quickly eliminated her. Bogner could see from Qiao Fei's performance that day that she wasn't the sort to do such a thing. The most important thing was that there wouldn't be any benefit for Qiao Fei or for the House of Qiao for her to behave that way.

Then who could it be, and what was their goal? Bogner turned over a few ideas in his mind within a few short seconds.

"Every card artisan firm will earn a hundred million Oudi for the job, with thirty percent in advance. But once you accept the commission, you can't get out of it in the middle. In addition, we will hold another fifty million as a reward for the firm which makes the most contribution." The cool and elegant pretty woman spoke earnestly.

A hundred million Oudi!

All the team members all around were stunned by the amount. When had they ever considered getting a hundred million in remuneration for any commission? Quite a few of their eyes turned directly red with desire.

Bogner didn't show much enthusiasm, however. On the contrary, his expression had become more serious. He had a lot of experience, and he knew the market very well. His counterpart offering such a high price told him that the commission wouldn't be so simple.

There were no free lunches under the sun!

He was more clear than anyone on that point, and had a more deeply engrained feeling. Previously . . .

He got suddenly caught up in some reminiscence, and several old scenes flashed past his eyes is his daze. Fighting. Endless fighting. The constant howling of monsters. Darkness. Fresh blood. Hopelessness. A picture of struggle. It was as though he had returned to those former years!

"Are you OK, sir?" The cool, elegant pretty woman couldn't help saying something when she saw how off Bogner looked.

Bogner quickly came out of it. His body was soaked in sweat form the trance just then. Having somewhat recovered, Bogner said, "It's nothing. Sorry."

The pretty woman only said 'Oh,' thinking that Bogner had been stunned by the hundred million Oudi remuneration.

"What does the gentleman think about it?" Her gaze had fallen onto Bogner.

Bogner shook his head, "I am sorry, but we won't be accepting the commission."

She was quite surprised, as her pretty eyes sized up Bogner. Unlike the big uncle just before who was looking at her so lustily, she had turned around to find a completely different person. Although his appearance hadn't changed, his temperament had a completely different feel from a moment ago.

He seemed somewhat spiritually depleted, as though he were harboring some grief. Of course, he had shown some faint firmness in what he had said, but it now looked as though there were nothing which would shake his determination.

"Might I be so bold as to inquire why you aren't accepting this commission? I believe that we are offering rather ample remuneration." The cool and elegant pretty woman couldn't help asking.

Bogner said while smilingly mocking himself, "The price did certainly get my attention, but. . ." He looked over the surrounding teammates, and said, "I'm more concerned about the lives of my teammates. We can always make more money, but once people die they don't ever come back."

Bogner's tone sank when he came to that last part, still harboring some nearly imperceptible grief.

The pretty woman looked puzzled, "That's all it is? Most card artisan commissions are dangerous. Isn't your firm going to take any of them?"

Her half sarcasm and half mocking didn't make Bogner angry, as he said steadily, "If I'm not mistaken, the difficulty of your job this time could be quite high, ha-ha. The generosity of what you are offering by spending seven hundred million Oudi in a single breath to hire seven card artisan firms, wouldn't be open to just any card artisan firm. But to be able to make my esteemed counterpart so nervous makes me think that your enemies wouldn't be so easy to deal with."

"And moreover," he firmly fixed his eyes on her beautiful face, and said a little mockingly, "If I'm not mistaken, you're really not so concerned with the power of the seven teams. Because the personnel of those seven teams are very simply nothing more than cannon fodder,"

The look on the pretty woman's face quite changed, and she started to look a little panicked, "Nonsense!" Her face immediately sank, "You blurt out such nonsense, but have you considered the consequences?"

Bogner smiled without explaining a thing, only saying lightly, "I'll send you off."

Just having returned to where he lived, Xi Ping heard about what has transpired with Bogner that day. Xiaobo was still outraged that he actually hadn't taken the hundred million Oudi which just showed up at the door.

Xi Ping shook his head after hearing all about it, "The old goat did the right thing this time. Pies falling from the sky never taste so good!"

After saying that, he buried himself back into the work he had on his hands.

His subordinate had sent him a fantasy card in which was all the information he had gathered relating to the purple fluorescent ore. Xi Ping just casually put the card aside, while he continued with the work he had on hand.

That work took five hours. When he finally finished it all, Xi Ping finally let out a long sigh. When he got up to get something to eat, he suddenly saw the fantasy card he had put on the table, and directly slid it into the card-play projector.

While he was snacking away, he was casually browsing through the material in the images.

Some of the technical language in front of him made him dizzy, and so he just skipped it over, more interested in the prices quoted toward the end. As a business person, he would doubtless be more sensitive to price.

"Oh my god!"

The shout of surprise was so loud that Bogner next door heard it perfectly clearly. The already rather upset Bogner couldn't help cursing, "What kind of dog shit did the old thief step on? Good grief, why can't I have such good luck?"

After saying that, he took a look at the listless teammates on the field, and roused himself upright, and then glared wide-eyed, and roared out so everyone could hear, "Show me some spirit! Everyone's training is increased by fifteen percent. If you don't complete it, ha-ha, I'll come fix you myself!"

The training field instantly became a scene of flurried activity.