The Card Apprentice

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

In the blink of an eye, the number of men in the group had decreased by a quarter and the remaining card artisans were daunted. The group, which hadn't been closely-packed, to begin with, immediately spread out further. Many card artisans had turned tail in their heart and secretly decided that, once the situation looked bad, they would retreat to the back.

Card artisans started firing at last, but as the sparse attacks hit the mountain peak, apart from the falling of some rocks, there was no effect.

Xiwente frowned. One side had a cover, one side was exposed to the firing of the other. This was very disadvantageous for them. The confrontation between the two sides had only been a few short seconds, but his heart was constantly sinking.

This is a very troublesome adversary!

In the blink of an eye, the adversary had already fired two rounds of attack. Such frequency could only be achieved by well-trained card artisans teams. None missed. The efficiency was astonishing. What made him feel worse was the fact that the adversary's attacks could actually pierce the energy cloaks of his card artisans with ease!

The capabilities of these card artisans could, indeed, only be regarded as ordinary to him. But the energy cloak cards they used were not lousier than the mainstream ones on the market. These energy cloaks couldn't be described as impenetrable, but it wasn't a simple task to pierce it so easily either.

Even his men weren't all capable of it, but the adversary managed it. This meant that they had at least more than 20 card artisans who weren't inferior to the card artisans under himself.

This and the intelligence they had received had huge differences. He threw a side glance at Wen Zuofu. Wen Zuofu's face was livid. He slapped Yi Song and let loose a torrent of abuse, "Are you a swine? What intelligence did you get me? Card artisans with level four perception?" Without completing his speech, he raised his hand and gave two more slaps, "You've got the eyes of a pig? Level four card artisans? You find me such powerful level four card artisans!"

Yi Song wished that he could cry, but had no tears, and disregarding the finger-marks on his face, "Boss, their card artisans' perception is really only level four! Are these people the helpers they brought in?"

Wen Zuofu's face relaxed a little, and at this moment Xiwente rushed to chip in, "Boss, this is highly probable. Master Yi Song's judgment has always been accurate. It is not likely that such mistakes are made." Yi Song was a man favored by the boss. Speaking up at this moment had great benefits for their mutual relations.

Sure enough, Yi Song gave Xiwente a glance of gratitude.

Having pondered over it for a moment, Wen Zuofu felt that it made sense too. Yi Song couldn't possibly have made a mistake in such a simple matter. He grunted, "Who knows from where did this bunch of trash bring in helpers. They think borrowing ten or 20 battle card artisans is enough to contend against me?"

Yi Song hurriedly continued, "Big brother, they can only have borrowed from the House of Qiao, but how many can the House of Qiao lend them? Ten or 20 at the most. As long as we double down on our efforts, finish off this ten or 20 men, they will be at our mercy."

Wen Zuofu turned towards Yi Song, "Don't worry about casualties. Finish them all off. Or let's just flatten this mountain with explosives!"

Xiwente grew serious, realizing that this time the boss was hell-bent on annihilating this group of people.

While the trio was having their conversation, the number of card artisans had decreased by yet another one third. The remaining 100 or so could hold out no longer, breaking loose in a rush. The fleeing card artisans only dared to draw close to the main troops after retreating far and wide.

Wen Zuofu cast his eyes upon these cowering card artisans and a cold light flashed in them. Yi Song, who had been by his side, felt his heart skip a beat, knowing that these card artisans would suffer a terrible fate after they returned.

So far into the battle, without having seen anyone from the adversary's side, their own side had lost 300 battle shuttle cars and over 300 card artisans. It was no wonder that the boss' anger was unappeasable. Had this happened to anyone else, not losing their wits in a fit of rage would be considered as having good self-restraint.

Xiwente saw this as well, but he couldn't care that much anymore. He believed that if even this tiny ravine couldn't be brought down, his own future would be awful too.

"Card artisans with explosive attacking capabilities, step forward," Xiwente ordered in a deep voice.

From amongst the battle card artisans, ten stepped forward, and from the ordinary card artisans, 130. Xiwente looked pleased. 138, this number was larger than his estimate.

130 card artisans were divided into five groups, each led by a battle card artisan. What they needed to do was very easy- wherever their own group's battle card artisan attacked, they attacked too with full strength.

Having settled all these, Xiwente deployed another five troops with exactly 100 card artisans in each. The command Xiwente had given them was simple: attack with full strength, seeking shelter permitted, but no falling back. Card artisans with explosive attacking capabilities were hidden by him in these five troops. They were the real main attackers.

Observing the changes at the adversary's camp, Jiang Liang knew they were about to launch a serious attack.

Seeing over 600 card artisans from the adversary's side rise up into the sky, he unconsciously leaned forward a little and swiftly ordered, "All units, prepare for battle."

600 odd card artisans seemed like a dark cloud just overhead. Though it was night time, the pressure was still unnerving.

Feigning carelessness, Jiang Liang cast a glance at the card artisans around him and relaxed a little. The subordinate card artisans, though each looked grim, had a steady gaze and showed no sign of panic. It seemed that the ordeal in the forest earlier had had remarkable effects.

The adversary's card artisans started drawing near. Meanwhile, Jiang Liang was carefully calculating the distance between the two sides.

When the adversary entered his own side's range of attack, he promptly ordered, "All units, attack!"

Nothing was held back in this round of attack. 80 odd energy shuttles, like 80 odd bolts pale cyan lightning, tore across the inky night sky, burying deep into that dark cloud.

Pew pew pew, these pale cyan lightning seemed not to have met any obstacle, piercing the dark cloud with ease and headed straight towards the horizon.

In the sky, 80 odd card artisans merely felt their body stiffen. They looked down at their body with disbelief. In the pale cyan light, the blossoming of flowers of blood made one palpitate.

As these brilliantly red flowers blossomed, the energy in those card artisans' bodies also seemed to have been all drawn out in an instant. The rush of the wind was in their ears and their mind was blank. They looked on helplessly as the ground got closer and closer to themselves until all consciousness was lost.

When he saw those 80 odd energy shuttles, Xiwente's expression changed completely!

Wen Zuofu's changed too!

Yi Song gaped, staring vacantly and murmuring like an idiot, "Impossible… Impossible…"

80 aces? Heavens, where did these aces come from?

There was a commotion among the card artisans in the sky. The adversary's powerful attack had terrified them. The battle card artisans mixed in with them saw that things were not going well and promptly took the lead to attack!

Deep red energy missiles, white energy orbs of light, dark green energy clouds…

Bang!

The crowd was conscious only of a flash. The dazzling explosion of light blinded the card artisans instantly and they subconsciously shut their eyes. As the roar of the explosion was heard, heated airwaves formed by the explosion swept towards the crowd mixed with gravel.

Jiang Liang merely felt that everything suddenly lit up. The brilliant light was so dazzling that it even stung his eyes.

The starfish fort was shaking. The entire mountain peak seemed to be shaking.

"Go on with the assault." Jiang Liang's expression had no change at all.

Having made that statement, he took a look at the starfish fort he was in. Cracks hadn't appeared on the ceiling and, from the bottom of his heart, he felt mildly relieved. Seems that the starfish fort Borna built is rather reliable.

When the crowd opened their eyes, they saw that, due to the explosion moments ago, some of the enemy's pillboxes had been exposed. The morale of the Downstream Alliance card artisans was greatly boosted and those who had explosion fantasy cards began their own assault one after another.

Thousands of energy bodies were flying across the sky. At this moment, the night was fatally vivid.

The sound of explosions was incessant, just as balls of light were lit up continually. Blasts from the explosions made it difficult for these card artisans to get any nearer, but even so, they still hurled wildly whatever energy body they could generate.

Xiwente pursed his lips. His fists were white from clenching and his eyes were bloodshot. In a short half a minute, though their assault was extremely violent, the number of casualties was so large that it chilled him. Only less than 200 card artisans were left in the sky then.

He had never experienced, no, he had never seen such a fierce battle. In less than half a minute, they had lost more than 400 card artisans and only less than 40 were left of those 100 over card artisans with explosion fantasy cards. Fortunately, only three of his men perished.

The only thing he rejoiced about was that the adversary's attack had an obvious decrease in strength.

Without any hesitation, he gritted his teeth, " All card artisans to reinforce at once!"

The remaining 600 card artisans each showed hesitance on their face. They were terror-stricken from watching the battle up ahead and wouldn't dare to approach.

A savage look was on Wen Zuofu's face, "Damn it, death to those who disobey!"

With no choice, these card artisans went up at last after much pushing and shoving.

The awful behavior of these card artisans made Xiwente's eyelid twitch, but he restrained his anger and turned to his own men, "You guys outflank them now. Be careful. Leave none out."

The 40 battle card artisans understood what he meant and quietly disappeared into the night.

On the other side of the ravine, 10 odd shadows flipped over the mountain peak. Chen Mu and Wei-ah were at the front and behind them followed Lu Xiaoru, bar-browed man and the others.

Their mission was to outflank the rear of the adversary.

The band stopped abruptly, hiding themselves underneath the snow heaps without a sound.

Chen Mu didn't expect that they would actually meet the group the adversary had sent for a sneak attack. What came next would undoubtedly be a tough fight!