The Card Apprentice

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

"Besides, we've incorporated some supplementary measures in last year's April. These measures are managed by Captain Lucky Xi."

The former Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was reorganized into the Hunters, and some minor internal adjustments were made. Since Lu Xiaoru was responsible for the affairs in the Big Crack Base, the guarding team of the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team was now led by Lucky Xi. Hertha served as the deputy. Crow Feather and Happy Padding were also under their team. They were the first batch of card artisans under Chen Mu, and also the first to train with the Snow Pit Method; their strength had long been unprecedented. Even in Eastern Wei Base, their strength could rank in the top 100. Crow Feather and Happy Padding were both physically strong and were even more impressive after Card Insertion. And with their Power Gloves, their combat power was incredible.

Li Duhong loved finding the two to practice with and was highly satisfied after every practice. Lucky Xi wasn't visibly different after his Card Insertion. He was still wearing his thin-rimmed glasses and looked like a well-mannered man. He was like a civilian without any fighting capabilities. But nobody here would be deceived by this man's appearance. Lucky Xi outperformed the others and earned his rank as a captain; besides being brainy, his fighting skills were robust too. Unlike Crow Feather and Happy Padding's tough style, his battle style was sinister and diabolic; he was the most unpopular choice to train with.

Lucky Xi stood up, habitually pushing his glasses. He cleared his throat. "Last September, when the Hunters were out for training, they met some interesting creatures, and it caused us some trouble. Miss Sue Lochiro once told us to bring back some specimens for future research when we saw these interesting creatures. We caught some and brought them back."

Everyone glanced over to Sue Lochiro. In this team, Sue Lochiro had a unique position. As the head of the Medical Department, she was a core member, and her opinions were valued by everyone. Of course, there seemed to be a delicate relationship between her and her boss; everyone understood it without being told. As to whether the relationship really existed, no one knew. Nevertheless, she was a combination of beauty, wisdom, and kindness, and was loved by many people because of the countless card artisans she saved.

Knowing that everyone's attention was on her, Sue Lochiro took the initiative to explain. "This is a special insect. They have amazing reproductive capacity. The reproductive cycle is two weeks. When they are in symbiosis with a vine plant, their reproductive capacity will increase by about 20 times. And the enzymes they secrete can effectively promote the growth of this vine."

After a brief pause, she added. "The leaves of this vine can release complex neurotoxic gases, which are lethal." Everyone in the conference room gasped. Lucky Xi pushed up his glasses again and said softly. "This insect, which we named it as Sang's Sheath Worm, is not more than 30 centimeters long. It moves very fast, and its teeth bite with amazing force. They are aggressive and move in groups. Our experiment found that when their numbers exceeded 200, they could easily kill a twin hook beast. They're not picky eaters, they eat human flesh too."

Many in the conference room were spotted with a face of disgust. As if he hadn't seen their faces, Lucky Xi gave a gentle smile. "Given the nature of Sang's Sheath Worm, we immediately dropped Sang's Sheath Worm and the seeds of its symbiotic vines in the jungles bordering between the flourishing districts and the common residential district."

Lucky Xi sat down with a smile across his face, but in the eyes of many people, the smile on his face was cold. Jiang Liang looked around and continued with a straight face, "Three months ago, we conducted a special survey of these sites. So far, both the Sang's Sheath Worm and its symbiotic vine have grown well. Although it's impossible to form a permanent isolation zone without time, if the enemy tries to move between the residential districts, they'll pay the corresponding price."

On the wall of the conference room, a map of Heavenly Federation appeared. "So far, we've successfully implemented the measures; successfully cutting off the communications between the flourishing districts and the common residential district." Jiang Liang was poised, and his voice was forceful. "The highly explosive card appliance developed by the Department of Card Appliance can destroy the long shuttle car passage. The damaged passageway can't be repaired, so it can only be rebuilt. Mr. Borna's calculations say that the shortest car passage requires at least two years to rebuild.

"We have set up a large number of observation posts in the jungle near the borders. If the opposing party breaks in through the jungle, we'll be alerted immediately.""As a result of corresponding expectations, the expansion of the Wood Battalion and the Hunters went smoothly, and we've achieved all our objectives."

"These are the plans formulated by the General Staff Unit." Jiang Liang saluted the crowd and sat down. Warm applause echoed in the conference room. Those measures soothed their nerves. The fact that these plans were formulated two years ago was enough to show how much effort the General Staff Unit had spent. Bogner and Xi Ping looked at each other, both of them stood up with a solemn look, and the rest followed suit. "From now on, Eastern Wei Base is in a state of war!"

How was it possible for Eastern Wei Base to cover up its series of actions? The cut off between the flourishing districts and the common residential district caused immediate panic in Heavenly Federation. Nobody thought that Eastern Wei Base would dare to do so!

Such measures from Eastern Wei Base were quite extreme. The separation of the flourishing districts from the common residential district had different effects. Five flourishing districts were already in chaos, and when the connection with the common residential district had been cut off, the five flourishing districts were isolated, as if trapped in cages. There were several wild animals in the cage; only those who survived could get out of it. However, the common residential districts were much larger than the flourishing districts. Although they weren't as developed as the flourishing districts, there were no powerful forces within. All the twelve Army Corps was stationed within the flourishing districts. With the gentle push from Eastern Wei Base, everyone in the flourishing districts was pushed into the abyss of war.

Faya was the only likely enemy of Eastern Wei Base. However, Faya played a considerable part in the battles in flourishing districts. Most of its powers were in the flourishing districts. Now that the passageway had been cut off suddenly, their remaining strength in the common residential districts wasn't enough to fight against the Eastern Wei.

Eastern Wei's intention was clear.Sure enough, the following day, the two main forces of Eastern Wei began to take action efficiently. The Eastern Wei first announced that it would take over the whole Eastern Row District and it went smoothly. They had been operating in the Eastern Row District for two years, all opposition forces had long been eradicated by them.

Soon, all the forces in the five areas bordering Eastern Row District immediately announced their submission to the management of Eastern Wei. They voluntarily asked Eastern Wei to send someone to take over. The whole Heavenly Federation was attracted by a series of actions from Eastern Wei. Sanchez yelled at the top of his lungs, "Check your bags, check your meters, and assemble in three minutes!"

No one expected that Sanchez, who had studied nursing for a living, would one day become a team leader. Sanchez was limited by his aptitude and age, and his combat effectiveness was only average in Wood Battalion. However, his diligence and composed personality won him the title of a team leader. After the expansion of the Wood Battalion, there were twenty brigades; each brigade had 500 people, led by Sang Hanshui and commander Xiaobo.

Before Chen Mu entered the transit window, he left the card-making card appliance at the base. With enough cards, the expansion of the Wood Battalion was much easier and faster than that of the Hunters. In the past two years, the number of card artisans who joined Eastern Wei Base was astonishing, and only the strongest were selected into Wood Battalion.

Eastern Wei Base could financially support more professional fighters, but under the pressure of Bogner, the numbers of Wood Battalion was only 10,000. In addition, there were 2,000 young card artisans.

Ten thousand people were pitifully little in that chaotic era. Looking at the hundreds of thousands of troops in Desert Camp; 10,000 card artisans in Chen Mu's team were just a fraction of theirs. But no one would underestimate these 10,000 people. Neither Tang Hanpei nor Su Heiming!

The barrier to entry for Eastern Wei Base was quite high; those who were selected were the best among the experts. The most extraordinary team was the first team led by Rafael. It was said that among the 500 members of the first team, there were 122 card artisans in Grade Seven. The rest of the members were in Grade Six and were about to break through into Grade Seven.

One of the most important reasons was the publicity of the Snow Pit Method. The Snow Pit Method was created by Chen Mu. Many forces had been eyeing it for years. But the complete Snow Pit Method included a complete set of medical protection technology besides the skills created by Chen Mu. Medical protection technology was regularly updated and perfected by Sue Lochiro. Snow Pit Method was renowned for its power; one of the reasons why many were joining Chen Mu's team.

Sanchez was the captain of the fifteenth team. There weren't many Grade Seven card artisans in his team, but there were still 76 among them. In Wood Battalion, only Grade Seven card artisans could choose their cards freely. Nevertheless, there were still many card artisans who wanted Wood Battalion's cards. Wood Battalion's cards had excellent performance and were loved by their members.

Sanchez looked calm. He had been a captain for some time and was no longer timid. When the two leaders announced that the base was in a state of war, he knew that the order would come down soon. His family was the first group of residents to move into the base. Now the whole family was leading a very good life. As a simple person, he was devoted to the base.

He was confident of his team and the General Staff Unit. One of the most important reasons why he could be a captain was because of his excellent ability in tactical command. He was specially selected to serve and train in General Staff Unit for a period. He knew very well how powerful those in General Staff Unit led by Jiang Liang were.

Within a minute, the team had assembled. Their daily training was extremely strict and arduous and often practiced in actual combat. They were even ordered to wipe out violent organizations in remote places. The card artisans selected for the job had rich combat experience. In the past two years, they had matured into a tougher team after rigorous training and actual battles!

Five hundred people lined up in a neat squad. It was as silent as the grave; an indescribable murderous aura filled the air. Sanchez was extremely pleased.