The Card Apprentice

Moon Frost Island.

“We haven’t yet found any trace of Caesar, Master.” A card artisan reported with a bow.

Jia Yingxia gave out a cold groan, “That old guy is remaining surprisingly composed. Others are even calling him out by name for a challenge, and he’s paying them no mind. Humph, Cang Lan has a pretty big appetite, which is something that even I don’t quite get. What about the four troops from the underword? And have you found out where the Wood Brigade came from?”

“It’s still not clear. It’s strange that those inside still haven’t delivered any valuable intelligence by this time.” The card artisan hesitated before saying, “I wonder if they’ve already been found out by Cang Lan.”

Jia Yingxia pressed her hand to her forehead and sighed, “The situation is getting more complicated with this guy from the underworld not wanting to be left out. We have to speed up. How long before Ah Yue gets here.”

“Sister Yue should arrive in about three days.”

“There are powerfully enemies abroad, along with incessant internal issues.” Jia Yingxia was a little distracted and was muttering to herself after a moment.

* * *

Compared to the previous stretch, the current situation of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm was so comfortable that it felt like paradise. As the most dazzling star of the time, they would get a warm reception from all sides no matter where they went, as with their current encampment, which was provided by a business association for free.

Bogner was nearly about to rub his chin raw, his face so full of worry, “Where has the boss gotten to? We haven’t had the least bit of news until now.”

That was everyone’s most nettlesome issue recently; not being able to stay in touch with the boss. When Chen Mu was with the Tai-shu household, although they couldn’t keep in touch then either, at least they knew he was there. While now, it seemed that the boss had led off some troops and suddenly disappeared.

Xi Ping said in a low voice, “Let’s first advance to Thousand Lakes. Doesn’t the boss want to go there?”

Jiang Liang added, “Don’t we have a cooperative arrangement with the Luo’s of Thousand Lakes? Couldn’t we search for him through them?”

“That won’t work!” Bogner and Xi Ping both answered at the same time.

Bogner explained, “If our relationship to the boss is exposed now, it would be terribly dangerous! The Luo Family is still not worthy of our trust.”

“That’s right!” Xi Ping approved, “The situation with the boss’s identity is very delicate just now and we have to remain vigilant.”

The two of them looked at one another, and Bogner said in a low voice, “So let’s advance toward Thousand Lakes, and make some fanfare along the way. That way the boss would get some news of us. If we still don’t see the boss when we get to Thousand Lakes, then we’ll just set up camp there, and wait until the boss gets there!”

After speaking, his gaze turned toward everyone.

Xi Ping gave a strong nod, “I agree.”

Jiang Liang straightened up to say, “I agree.”

Sue Lochiro nodded as well, “I agree.”

Ru Qiu raised her hand and said sharply, “I agree.”

* * *

The Wood Battalion was about to set up camp, with excitement from their huge victory still showing on everyone’s faces. That was of course apart from the first army being a little unhappy.

Chen Mu was looking at the report in his hands and couldn’t help his bitter smile. The final accounting of casualties had come out, and there were a hundred and twenty card artisans who had died, with a hundred and ninety-one injured.

That battle couldn’t be considered perfect. Most of the credit really belonged to Wei-ah.

When they counted how many people Wei-ah had killed the night before, everyone freaked out.

Over five hundred!

Those five hundred people weren’t just civilians, but were seasoned card artisans averaging above grade six, who even had Yan Yu, the tenth on the Black Line Star Listing, among them.

Whether they were ordinary card artisans or grade-seven card artisans, everyone in the Wood Brigade was gazing at Wei-ah as though they were looking at some prehistoric beast! The wooden mask on Wei-ah’s face gave out some bone piercing chill and murderousness in everyone’s eyes. And even if that pair of dull eyes didn’t look right at you but just swept over you, you could still hear your heart pound as it suddenly started to race.

For a card artisan to achieve five hundred as a lifetime achievement was enough to be proud of. But to kill five hundred in a single evening . . .

Where card artisans had never dared to get within five meters of Wei-ah, now there was nothing alive in the space within fifteen meters around Wei-ah. Of course, that was apart from Chen Mu and Little Bu Mo.

Even little Bu Mo who remained by Wei-ah’s side and still wore the cute little monkey mask seemed to be exuding fierce violence.

Still, along with the terror came a deep pride! What other team would have such a terrifying ace? Who among those card artisans famous in the Federation would have someone who could slaughter five hundred seasoned card artisans averaging over grade six in a single night?

Chen Mu wasn’t concerning himself with all of that since he needed to consider too many other matters. As he saw it, that battle had been essential. The tactical code was done for, since to be able to memorize them was perfectly useful in training, but it didn’t make one a qualified soldier. Only the baptism of going through war could make those card artisans into true soldiers.

That battle had been fought bitterly, with their opponent’s strength far beyond what they had imagined. But they were still able to grasp victory in the end. And to be able to defeat the first army of the underworld, the Cang Jiang Military , filled all the Wood Battalion with confidence. He remembered what Bogner had said, that a troop’s sense of honor was established on endless victories.

He could clearly feel the transformation of the card artisans under him.

Each brigade was now organized to discuss the gains and losses during that battle, and Chen Mu didn’t interfere. He just had each of the brigades pass along a final report of their discussions. Of course, as a matter of convention, the brigade with the best report would be rewarded.

Once Chen Mu dropped that enticement, each of the brigades cheered! Ever since the matter of all the squads’ makeovers last time, everyone was full of anticipation about Chen Mu’s prizes. Anything from his hands was going to be something good!

“We found out that it was the North Facing Island’s Cang Lan who gave the orders. We also found out who the spy was that was lying in wait among the troops.” A hint of menace flashed through Sang Hanshui’s triangular eyes, “The ones coming this time aren’t just the Cang Jiang Military Force. There is also the Guard Battalion, the Jinzhai Tribe and the Blued Steel Regiment! The leader of the Guard Battalion is Yu Jiaran, number four on the Black Line Star Listing. The head of the Jinzhai, Shi, is number seven on the Black Line Star Listing. The leader of the Blued Steel Regiment is Meng Chen, the eighth on the Black Line Star Listing!”

There was the sound of a concerted intake of cold air in the room.

Chen Mu was also stunned, not having thought that the enemy would be so powerful. With such a luxuriant lineup, even the hegemon of the Heavenly Drum Village District, Moon Frost Island, wouldn’t want to casually go out to hit them.

That shocking news made everyone fall silent.

There was too much disparity in the power of the two sides!

There were too many elements of luck for them to have been able to defeat the Cang Jiang Military Force. If it weren’t for the rain and lightening suddenly arriving, Wei-ah would absolutely not have had any way to create such losses for their adversary, and Yan Yu woudn’t have died. If they had faced the undamaged force of the Cang Jiang Military Force, the Wood Battalion would have had a lot larger probability of losing than winning.

Unlike the lightly-equipped Cang Jiang Military Force, the other three troops were a lot better equipped. Moreover, the three troops were hand in hand, and once one of them became entangled, the other two would immediately close in. That would put the Wood Battalion into a state of eternal damnation.

That news hit Chen Mu very hard! He drew in a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

By that time, being flustered wasn’t going to solve anything, other than to make him more passive. He closed his eyes and made a great effort to regulate his breathing. He needed to be calm.

After half an hour, he opened his eyes back up, and only a deep chill remained in his eyes.

He had long since discovered that if others were to find out about the things that he possessed, then trouble would surely ensue. But he had never imagined that the adversary would come on so quickly, and moreover once they did that they would deploy such power!

“What is their current position?” Chen Mu’s voice was very steady.

Hearing that calm voice, the panic in the rest of them also eased. It seemed that no matter when, the big guy would always have some way.

Their trust in Chen Mu didn’t come out of nowhere but was established on a series of impressive military accomplishments.

Previously, everyone had assumed that Chen Mu was dead for sure given the pursuit team from the Federation Comprehensive Academy, but none were left alive from that team. The Cang Jiang Military Force, the first army of the underworld, in addition to having Yan Yu, the number ten on the Black Line Star Listing, made it difficult to escape annihilation as the outcome.

Those two battles which both seemed without any chance to win could even be called miracles, and established Chen Mu’s unparalleled authority in everyone’s eyes.

Sang Hanshui rushed to say, “The four troops set out at the same time, though the Cang Jiang Military Force was the lightly equipped rapid advance troop, while the other three troops should be about two days behind them.”

Chen Mu opened the mapping fantasy card. The Spinulosa Disk could automatically turn its probes into a one-star fantasy card. There was a three dimensional very clear map in front of him, which gave Chen Mu an intuitive feeling.

“Are the three troops now combined or separated?” Chen Mu asked.

“Separated.” Sang Hanshui’s interrogative work was perfectly in place, and he rushed to say, “The original four teams took four different directions to approach us. It’s said that Cang Lan and Yan Yu made a bet, and then Yan Yu went lightly equipped in advance hoping to be able to capture us within fifteen days.”

“Do you know the route that the Cang Jiang Military Force took?” Chen Mu continued on to ask.

“Mmmm, they went along the route through the town of Yuhua, the city of Seven Stars, and the Dawn Canyon.”

“And the other three troops?”

“I don’t know about that.” Sang Hanshui shook his head.

Chen Mu knew that intelligence like that wasn’t something that ordinary card artisans would know anything about. Too bad all the leaders of their adversary were already killed in battle.

There was a strange flash in his calm eyes as Chen Mu slowly began to speak.

“Our current advantage is that the adversary still doesn’t know that the Cang Jiang Military Force has already been wiped out by us. That is something that we can use! Our other advantage is that we have we have the most accurate maps of the area and the Spinulosa Disk.”

Everyone was quietly listening to Chen Mu’s analysis. His voice wasn’t loud, though it was perfectly strong.

“The four troops would be locking us in from all directions. The adversary’s leadership ability shouldn’t be doubted, though the teams will be kept at an appropriate separation, and they won’t be likely to give us any space through which to break out. The Cang Jiang Military Force’s original light advance shouldn’t be considered flawed, since the adversary would absolutely never imagine that we could wipe out the Cang Jiang Military Force. But now with the Cang Jiang Military Force annihilated, their trap is showing its flaw. There is likely to be a gap among the three armies!”

Chen Mu spoke coldly, “Therefore, we need only to follow the Cang Jiang Military Force’s original route in reverse, and we can then break out of the encirclement!”

Everyone was stunned. That plan of Chen Mu’s was really too bold!

Xiaobo hesitated a moment, and then said, “Could we enter the forest? After all, we have the Spinulosa Disk and the Communications card, and we could get away from them through the forest.” Although no one else spoke up, they were clearly rather moved by that idea of Xiaobo’s.

Chen Mu shook his head, “There isn’t any large-scale forest in this area, with so many towns and cities all over. That’s not good for us. If I haven’t guessed wrong, they will certainly have set a trap there! If they are really that powerful, then this area is certainly within their realm, and they don’t have any reason not to set out forces to block us to our front. Only toward their rear might they be careless with their guard. Since no one is likely to believe that we could break through four armies.”

“And so now. . .” Sang Hanshui said.

Chen Mu’s expression became serious, “I’m ordering all of the troops to immediately begin to clean up the battlefield and bury all the corpses. But you’ll have to leave some sign of the battle, and in addition, you’ll have to place some tracks of our flight toward the northeast.”

“Yes, sir!” Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo took the orders strictly.

Sang Hanshui and Xiaobo immediately organized all of the troops to begin the work of cleanup. Apart from the wounded, everyone went hard to work. Even those grade-seven card artisans beside Chen Mu went forward to help.

Everyone knew that it was the crucial moment for the survival of the Wood Battalion.

Having defeated such a famous and prominent army as the Cang Jiang Military Force, the Wood Battalion’s troops were full of drive. None of them planned to give up like that, even if the enemy was that much stronger than them. Having just created a miracle, their martial spirit had reached a peak.

Only Chen Mu remained in the room, staring at the three-dimensional map as he analyzed the plans over and over in his mind.

Had his judgements been correct? There wasn’t much basis for them in his mind, and the determined look just then had only been a put-on. He knew that was the only way that he could give the rest of them confidence, and calm them down. At that time, if he were to be flustered that would mean the true dead-end!

Not having gone through any systematic education, he didn’t even know if his plans were basically correct or not. Moreover, among them there were too many indeterminate factors. Every variable could directly affect their situation.

The huge pressure made him feel exhausted, both physically and mentally. He had a kind of urge to lay down in bed, and not think of anything or take care of anything.

Standing up, he took off his mask, and kept splashing his face with ice water.

The icy cold bone-penetrating chill made him abruptly a lot more clear-headed, and he couldn’t help smiling as he looked at the haggard young face reflected back from the water.

He wiped away the water and put his mask back on, sitting back in front of the map.

There was still a drop of water on his eyelashes, which also made his eyes look more cold and clear!

He couldn’t just rely on calculation to conclude whether that plan was actually right or not. Only after implementation would he know the results. He didn’t question his judgements any further, but started to bury his head, having to prepare as many alternatives as possible.

Since he couldn’t avoid them, then let them come!