The Card Apprentice

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

Only Wei-ah and the others remained beside Chen Mu.

"You don't find this a little slow?" Wei-ah obviously thought doing things that way was inefficient.

Sang Hanshui was considering taking off to leave some distance between them. He thought it might be better if he didn't listen to them talking about such a dangerous topic. But Wei-ah gave him a look, and his foot froze where it was on his way out the door.

Chen Mu said rather helplessly, "I haven't thought up anything good for the time being. We don't even know where the stuff is. Otherwise, we might still consider something like stealing it. We don't currently have a way to connect with Tai-shu Yong. Moreover, I don't believe Tai-shu Cheng even knows about it."

He could tell Tai-shu Cheng clearly didn't have a very high position in the Tai-shu household. Such precious things as the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus would certainly be kept secret.

Sang Hanshui was a little hesitant off to the side, but he still gave his opinion through gritted teeth. "Why don't we just kidnap Tai-shu Cheng? He might not have any standing, but he is the son of Tai-shu Yong, after all. Considering there's no way to get the thing you want from Tai-shu Yong by simply taking it, it shouldn't be a problem to get to see Tai-shu Yong."

"Kidnap…" Chen Mu was considering Sang Hanshui's suggestion to himself. Sang Hanshui's suggestion would undoubtedly be more efficient and more feasible, but it would also be easy to mess things up. Such an old clan as the Tai-shu family would always care mostly for face, and that sort of extreme behavior would be a provocation from their point of view.

Since they had already arrived at Dongrui and had made contact with the Tai-shus, he thought he should be a little more patient. It would be best not to make such a fierce move if they weren't certain it would work. Thinking of that, he couldn't help but lower his head to look at the lush green tattoo on his wrist. It hadn't obviously changed over those last few days, which made Chen Mu feel a little safer. But what Sang Hanshui had said did give him some inspiration, and a plan was taking shape in his head.

Seeing that Chen Mu was pondering, Wei-ah led little Bu Mo to the training room. The strength training room there had some equipment that was quite advanced, which made little Bu Mo rather excited. He was full of wonder about the equipment he'd never seen before.

Sang Hanshui stayed dutifully by Chen Mu's side. Compared to Wei-ah, Chen Mu was so much more peaceful.

There were 12 card artisans who completed the 50 sets of training. None of the rest had finished, so they didn't have any dinner. Moreover, in order to prevent them from going out to buy food themselves, they were required to pass the night in the training room.

The card artisans who didn't complete the sets looked longingly a those 12 card artisans, who were eating such rich food so happily. That was the first time they had ever been treated that way, though they didn't dare to say anything about what they were angry about, with Ma Hu being their best example. It was said that Ma Hu was still unconscious and hadn't come around yet. That also made those card artisans feel pretty uptight.

They had given Chen Mu and his gang nicknames. They called Chen Mu the White Commander, and Sang Hanshui was called the Hit Man. Wei-ah was the Black Ghost, with little Bu Mo being called the Little Monkey.

Arnaldo was one of the card artisans who had completed the job. Just having eaten his fill, he was in the midst of chatting in low voices with his comrades.

"That White Commander is plenty ruthless. I'm afraid we won't be having such a good time from now on," Arnaldo said on behalf of the rest.

His colleague Rafael also muttered, "Who knows where that White Commander came from? Then, there's that Hit Man, who is certainly an ace! Ma Hu really crumpled under his attack."

"Indeed. I never thought we would be so anxious every day. That really makes me miss the way it was, with nothing we had to do every day to get our salaries. To be dropped into hell straight out of heaven has happened too fast. I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better just to quit and to be done with it," Arnaldo said, distraught.

Rafael gave Arnaldo a look. "You're nuts in the head. Leave now? Hmph! If you want to quit now, you'll certainly regret it later!"

"What do you mean?" Arnaldo hurried to ask, seeing Rafael being so certain in what he said.

"What do you think about the White Commander?" Rafael asked in return.

Arnaldo shook his head. "I don't know, though he's plenty ruthless! The Hit Man is also really powerful!"

"The Hit Man is powerful!" Rafael nodded in deep thought. "I feel only Connelly, who is with the old man, might be able to eke out a win. The rest of them, like the one under the eldest, Huo Jiang, or Ba Luojia, under the second son, might almost be on par with him."

Arnaldo was rather convinced by Rafael's judgment, and he said with some surprise, "Is the Hit Man really that good?"

"Ma Hu does have some goods, though he's pretty stupid." Rafael smiled coldly. "Moreover, the White Commander hasn't made any moves, and the Black Ghost and the Little Monkey haven't either. Only the devil knows what kind of power they have. But we do know the Hit Man is pretty convinced by the White Commander. I feel he must have some hidden goods."

Hearing that, Arnaldo disagreed a little. "Maybe they have good hearts, or maybe the White Commander was kind to the Hit Man once. There are too many possibilities."

"I don't believe someone who can be so hot and ruthless doesn't have some power!" Rafael said to himself. "Furthermore, even if it were only the Hit Man alone, that would be enough to turn around the number-three son. Those three have been oppressed so ruthlessly these last few years. Why? Because they have no aces under them! Of course, the third son is number one when it comes to making money. But think about it; is our Tai-shu household lacking for money right now? No! What we need most are aces! That's also what the old man has been the most displeased with his three sons about these last few years."

Arnaldo's mouth was hanging open, and he couldn't say anything for a long time.

Giving his good friend a quick glance, Rafael continued on. "Now, not only does the third son have an ace by his side, but I'm watching the White Commander getting things done like a thunderous wind. He's a very capable person. The third son turning around is within reach. Wouldn't it be a great loss to quit at such a time?"

"You're right! Why didn't I think of that?" Arnaldo looked upset, but it was hard to hide his excitement. As things were now, he had nothing apart from pulling down a pretty good salary. He had the strength to belong to the gang of card artisans that was pretty good, having completed the 50 sets of the Class B, Level 115 training.

Who didn't want to have a good future? What Rafael had said suddenly made everything clear to Arnaldo, and he could see some light in front of him. The reason for that wasn't something only Rafael could imagine clearly. While his previous life had surely been quite comfortable, there was nothing good about it for their futures.

The 12 card artisans who had survived sat in groups of two or three, discussing in low voices. Having been able to complete the training, they had never gotten so much from their normal training. But they were card artisans who were rather demanding of themselves. A powerful leader was what they had been long hoping for.

The card artisans who hadn't been able to complete the training were on the floor, worn-out and as flaccid as mud. Meanwhile, Tai-shu Ying was on one side, smiling like a demon and feeling perfectly satisfied with the day's work.

Jiang Ling had already contacted her family, and she would spend the night with Tai-shu Ying. The two households had always been close, and that sort of thing was quite familiar to them. Jiang Ling's father only gave her a couple of words of instruction.

Both Jiang Ling and Tai-shu Ying were curious about how Chen Mu would bring those card artisans under control going forward. Chen Mu had just been given the new nickname of the White Commander, which they found interesting. The two of them weren't so afraid of Chen Mu, and Tai-shu Ying had already nearly become a diehard fan of him.

"Are we going to just leave them like this, White Commander?" Tai-shu Ying's question made the few card artisans nearby nearly cry. They felt that their whole bodies were exhausted. They couldn't even lift a finger they were so weak. It was only those 12 card artisans who couldn't help a shift in their expressions when they heard what she said.

"They'll have 30 minutes to rest." Chen Mu's response made Tai-shu Ying abruptly excited, and she rolled up her sleeves, ready to go. Jiang Ling's gorgeous eyes were fluid as they showed her curiosity. Angie was looking at those card artisans in sympathy.

Hearing what Chen Mu said, the faces on some of the card artisans who were still eating shifted, and they hurried up, not wanting to overeat. Just after eating, a person's blood would be concentrated on the digestive system; by that time, their reactions would be slowed, and their attention would be hard to focus.

"Fantastic! I'll keep time!" Tai-shu Ying cheered. Who knew where she got a watch from, but she pretended to look at it.

After half an hour, she called out, "Time's up!" She wasn't loud, but no one dared not to move, no matter how sore or weak they felt. All of the card artisans obediently lined up with the greatest speed. Those who hadn't eaten were shaking at their calves.

Chen Mu didn't watch them but asked Angie, "Where is the high-stimulus simulation training room?"

The card artisans' expressions changed dramatically, and their movements became surprisingly consistent, those 12 being no exception.

The high-stimulus simulation training room was also called the forced training room. It was a kind of high-level technology that was extremely expensive. Card artisans both loved and hated it. They loved it because the level of simulation was very high, and the training results were outstanding. They hated it because the level of simulation was so high that when the energy bodies hit one's body while training inside, although they wouldn't leave any scars, the feeling of pain was not lessened in the least.

Tai-shu Ying was the first to respond, tilting her head in wonder. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Just at that time, a card artisan plopped to the ground. His eyes were tightly closed and his face pallid, like his life was hanging on the line.

Chen Mu took a look and calmly said to Sang Hanshui, "Take his apparatus away, and toss him off the building."

Once he said that, everyone was dumbfounded. They were then on the 31st floor, and if someone were thrown off the building… All of the card artisans swallowed hard in unison, and the one who had just fallen into a coma jumped up with a bang as though a spring had been put under his rear. He looked at Chen Mu in terror, his face already drained of blood.

Chen Mu only took a look and resumed walking ahead. After that, all of the card artisans were very diligent.

Outside the high-stimulus simulation training room was a gang of card artisans staring helplessly at Chen Mu in shocked alarm. Chen Mu had set the high-stimulus simulation training room to 100 percent. That would mean that if they were hit by an energy body inside, the pain would be no different from the real thing. Sometimes the pain alone would knock a person out. Normally, the high-stimulus simulation training room would be set at 50 percent. Only a few people would dare to set it at 70 percent. But it was now at 100 percent!

My god, we might as well be dead! Their mouths were shivering, their legs were trembling, and their eyes were full of tears. They looked like frightened white rabbits as they gazed into the high-stimulus simulation training room, which was more terrifying than a wolf's mouth.