The Card Apprentice

Chen Mu studied the card in front of him. It was simplistic in style and not too fancy, and the entire surface of the card appliance had no decorative designs. He didn’t spend much time appreciating its appearance. He only cared about its ease of use.

The most effort spent in making a card appliance was its core—the card! The Child was his own design, albeit there were still many things about it he didn’t understand. However, since he knew how it would be used, making a complementary card appliance for it wasn’t much of a problem for Chen Mu.

He carefully retrieved the Child from his card bag. The success in making the Child had mostly been due to coincidences during the process. Even Chen Mu couldn’t guarantee he could successfully make another one. He at least wouldn’t dare to brag until he had enough information to back up his theory. The successful production of the Bomb had given Chen Mu a chance to experience the great power of the Child! Though it couldn’t make a new card for its user, if the user had an idea, it could help optimize the idea.

The Child was inserted into the card slot of the box at the bottom of the card appliance. Qiu Shanyu couldn’t take her eyes off of it lest she miss any details.

In the middle of the flower composed of six diamond-shaped metal petals, a beam of light suddenly projected out from it. The light gradually spread out like the blossoming of a flower. After half a minute, the whole room was covered in the light.

A look of bemusement spread across Qiu Shanyu’s face. So far, she was still unable to comprehend what she saw. However, it seemed like the card appliance couldn’t be used in battles. She was a bit relieved; the battle card appliance was the most fundamental piece of Faya. Faya would no longer have the upper hand if the design was exposed.

Suddenly, something changed. In the radiance of light, small silver lights like those of fireflies could be seen rising gradually. Being immersed in it was like being in a starry sky, and even such a cold woman as Qiu Shanyu couldn’t help but feel awed. Human beings had always had a feeling of love and awe toward the starry night, wondering what it had in store for them.

In addition to the rise of the small silver lights, there were also many strange geometric structures. In a short period of time, the whole room was covered in different kinds of silver spots and geometric structures, as countless silver lines swam among them.

Qiu Shanyu was stupefied. She had never seen such a strange and confusing sight and still didn’t understand the use of the card appliance. However, such a mystical phenomenon was enough for her to tell that the latter wasn’t ordinary at all!

Chen Mu was quite satisfied. He gave it the name Computation Box, which was of great significance to him. He had too many things to calculate. For each energy composition, he could actually recalculate them for optimization. With the Computation Box, the quality of the cards he made would likely improve significantly.

His first calculation was on the composition of a one-star power card. In the card system, the power card was always one of the most basic and important cards, and it was also the most accessible to the essence of the composition. Chen Mu had always felt proud of his successful creation of countless one-star power cards. As his strength had continued to increase, the power cards he required had become even more advanced. It was already difficult for him to get his hands on a five-star power card. As for the six-star power card, it was simply impossible to buy using the usual sources.

Apparently, there was another issue. Although the Computation Box was user-friendly, its energy consumption was terrifying. A four-star power card could only operate it for five hours, but that thought had never crossed Chen Mu’s mind before he had made it. As for some complex energy compositions, they required dozens or sometimes even hundreds of hours to calculate and optimize. Four-star power cards were simply insufficient.

Five-star power cards could only support it for 25 hours. In other words, the Computation Box could only calculate and optimize some simple energy compositions at the moment. As for energy compositions that were too complicated, it was best for Chen Mu to surrender his thoughts.

The Computation Box was much less efficient compared to when Chen Mu himself used the Child. It had only taken 40 minutes for him to optimize the Bomb with the use of the Child last time. However, if he had used the Computation Box, it would have taken him two hours. Nevertheless, the Computation Box still excited him. How many types of energy compositions were there? Although there was no specific number, one could safely assume there were hundreds of thousands of them. For Chen Mu alone to optimize such a large number of energy compositions, he would have to spend his whole life committed to that task.

Although the Computation Box was inefficient and consumed a great deal of energy, it didn’t require Chen Mu to maneuver. The Computation Box could record the optimized energy composition on a one-star power card, and that would become content for him to relearn and master.

* * *

Dongrui Training Center, the best card artisan training center in Dongrui, had been closed down for quite some time. The place had been provided to the Yuzi Military Force for free by its owner, the Luo family of Dongrui. The training center, however, had not become deserted because of that, as there were many card artisans coming from different places every day. Due to that, the Yuzi Military Force had set up a department solely to deal with those matters.

The Yuzi Military Force was extremely strict when it came to recruiting soldiers. Even so, people would still be signing up endlessly. Various forces in Dongrui were envious of the success of Yuzi Legion, as the provision of salary of the latter was much lower than theirs. However, the card artisans who were willing to sign up were so many more!

The 50th floor of the Dongrui Training Center was the headquarters of the Yuzi Military Force.

“Any news?” an old man in a purple robe asked. He had snow-white hair but not one wrinkle on his face, and his skin was as smooth as a baby’s.

“No. No one can make out the design plan by the boss,” a young man about 25 years old with glasses answered. As if he were recovering from a severe illness, his face turned a shade paler.

The old man shook his head with pity. “Just as I thought. How can these people work it out when even Star Academy failed to do so? It’s just a small part of the design of the Power Gloves. I must have been delusional. Perhaps only Faya can do it in the Heavenly Federation.”

He adjusted his glasses with his pale and thin fingers. The young man’s voice sounded breathless, but he slowly said, “Although I hate to admit it, Faya’s card appliance manufacturing ability is indeed the strongest. But…”

“But?” The old man looked up with surprise.

The young man spoke slowly in a feeble tone. “Well, we have received some news from a store. The store’s sales manager and chief card master are both hardcore advocates of the lady. According to them, the store was recently visited by a card master whom they suspect was the creator of the numbered series of cards.”

“The numbered series of cards?” The old man was even more surprised, but he continued disapprovingly, “Although the people gave a lot of credit to this guy, he’s made no five-star cards so far. Yet they call him a grand master? That’s ridiculous!”

“His level of card making is still unknown,” the young man said in an unhurried manner. “But, according to them, the card master seems to be able to understand the design of the Power Gloves.”

“Huh?” The old man’s disapproving look disappeared. His eyes widened as he asked with doubt, “Can he really understand?”

“They can’t be sure, but it was said that the card master had his eyes set on the design for quite some time now. He even questioned where the design came from. There was also another card artisan who had the same intentions. He was said to have an aperture on his back. Moreover, this card master went to their store recently and bought a lot of materials for making cards.”

“We have to find this card master immediately!” the old man insisted firmly. “Whether he knows or not, we still have to find him! Err… Keep this matter from Yumin for the time being.”

“Understood.” The young man nodded.

“How have you been doing recently?” the old man asked with concern. “Yumin has been worried about your health. I heard she came to Dongrui this time because there’s gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus at the Tai-shu household. Yumin hopes to ask the Tai-shus for the fungus in order to cure your disease.”

“I’m sorry to let the boss worry about me. I’m fine and can still serve her for another couple of years. With that, I’m already satisfied.” The young man smiled. Even though he was ill, his pale face still showed his handsome features. He then changed the subject. “Was it really Qiao Yuan who launched an attack on Faya?”

The old man said seriously, “Well, it shouldn’t be wrong. I don’t know whom the master behind Qiao Yuan is, but to be able to seize the people from Fang Shi tells me he’s no ordinary person.”

“Where did Qiao Yuan come from? To have a master of that level is no ordinary power. Why do they want to kidnap the Madam from Faya?” The young man frowned slightly, which complemented his pale face to touch one’s heart of compassion.

The old man shook his head with a puzzled look. “From the traces of the scene, the master is a cardless sect ace! I’m not surprised a cardless sect ace is backing Qiao Yuan, but I can’t figure out the level of this cardless sect ace that could go against Fang Shi. Even Desert Camp couldn’t take him down.”

The young man playfully said, “Dongrui has been quite unpredictable lately.” He adjusted his glasses once again as he squinted. “But I was wondering if the White Commander might actually be Qiao Yuan.”

“The White Commander?” The old man was stunned but immediately laughed. “Zhi Hao, it’s rare that you come up with something so delusional!”

The young man was taken aback. “Do you know whom the White Commander is?”

“Well, Yumin said the White Commander should have claimed the legacy of Caesar, so he can’t be Qiao Yuan,” the old man explained.

“Caesar?” Zhi Hao was slightly shocked. “Caesar the Killing God?”

“Yeah!” The old man seemed to have recalled something and casually said, “It’s him. He should still be alive… I’ve heard from Yumin that he also has a descendant to pass on his legacy to. It sounds crazy to me, as well. If someone else had said that to me, I wouldn’t have believed it. Since Yumin said so, though, it shouldn’t be wrong.

There was a trace of doubt in Zhi Hao’s eyes, but he didn’t press on further. Smiling, he said, “I shall excuse myself first, for it’s time to prepare the boss for the birthday party of Rong Ming’s daughter.”