The Card Apprentice

Chapter 567: The Transit Windows

 

The size and depth of the cave were way beyond their expectations.

There was no sign of the cave’s terminus after 10 minutes of walking. Anxious, everyone was being exceptionally vigilant.

Suddenly, Chen Mu’s footsteps came to a halt. Besides him, almost all of the level seven card artisans stopped in their tracks synchronously, looking astonished with a tinge of joy.

There were waves of energy fluctuation! With no exception, all of them felt a distinctive waves of energy fluctuation!

Nobody had ever witnessed a transit window. However, all the narrations regarding the transit windows shared a similar fact, that the transit windows were able to emit waves of energy fluctuations. Despite the fair strength of the waves of energy fluctuations, it was constantly radiating as long as the transit window existed.

This was a rather strange wave of energy fluctuation, different from any other they had experienced before. Despite the fever amid the group, they were acting extra cautious. Intermittently, the members of the team could be heard breathing heavily out of anxiety.

Chen Mu, too, was excited by this.

The demonic woman was very familiar with the cave, but Chen Mu could still feel the excitement under her ghost-faced flower.

However, Chen Mu was puzzled when he saw that Wei-ah appeared to be very familiar with this place. The fat dog, on the other hand, stayed closely beside Wei-ah’s feet, growling on and off. Following behind him was Little Bu Mo, who seemed to be more curious than frightened.

As their exploration proceeded, the strength of the wave of energy fluctuation increased. Suddenly, realization struck Chen Mu. The reason that the transit window was not findable was because the wave of energy fluctuation was completely undetectable from outside of the cave.

Out of nowhere, a dim light appeared ahead, elevating the morale of the group.

The light glowed brighter and brighter as the group followed their track and made a turn. Suddenly, they were enlightened.

A massive and irregular light ball came into their sights. The ball of light was constantly fluttering, as if it had a life of its own. Everyone could not help but fear the eerie scene.

“This is it,” said the demonic woman confidently.

Slightly entranced, Wei-ah’s gaze was fixed at the ball of light.

Bogner appeared as though he was mumbling. He stared at the ball of light blankly, with his mixed feelings shown on his face and his eyes misted by tears.

A strange wave of energy fluctuation was emitted from the ball of light that seemed to be unceasingly wiggling.

Is this the legendary transit window?

The demonic woman was the first to squeeze herself into the light ball while Chen Mu and the others were yet hesitating. No one was able to identify the uncanny light ball. For a fraction of second when Chen Mu’s gaze unfocused, Wei-ah had entered into the light ball, bringing fat dog with him. Upon witnessing that, Chen Mu made a quick decision to promptly follow behind.

The moment Chen Mu entered the light ball, his vision was blurred. The scenery before him went through an abrupt change.

The sky above him was gray and murky and the ground beneath him was black. He was surrounded by depressing grey. Occasionally, eddies of air glided through the arid plain, leaving the grey dust whirling in the air. He was overwhelmed by grimness as he stepped on the borderless yet barren land.

Ash stratum! The name flashed through Chen Mu’s mind.

There were a few terms that were closely related to the transit windows, namely the ash stratum, wealth and danger. After going through the transit window, they would enter the ash stratum as the transit windows were connected by the ash stratum. The ash stratum was vast and majority of them were desolate and uninhabited. However, that did not imply scarceness. On the contrary, the ash stratum was believed to lead to wealth.

The ash stratum produced a large amount of rare resources, including many materials that were used in card making, especially the precious minerals. However, wealth came alongside danger. Humans had explored some of the ash stratums. According to their studies and observations, even if the ash stratum was not beset by wild beasts, it was considerably difficult to develop the ash stratum. The harsh environment was the first and foremost challenge humans faced. Consequently, the humans felt vulnerable and minuscule as they confronted the weird and unique weathers in the ash stratum.

One after another, their teammates exited the light ball.

When Bogner came out of the light ball, he appeared to be exceptionally upset.

“Boss!”

Bogner called Chen Mu aside. Noticing Bogner’s upset expression, Chen Mu asked, concerned, “Bogner, what’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?”

“Boss!” Bogner’s face was painted in hesitation, something that was rarely seen.

“What happened?” Chen Mu was put on his guard. Bogner is an old and experienced man. Did he notice something unusual?

“I think I’ve been here before,” Bogner said in a low voice.

Shocked, Chen Mu replied, “You’ve been here before?” Unable to believe, he pointed at the ground, indicating the place they were standing at, “This place?”

“Yes,” Bogner seemed to be very much bothered and agony could be seen in his eyes. “This place resembles the place we visited some 10 years ago,” he continued.

“About 10 years ago?” Chen Mu was reminded of Bogner’s another identity. Failing to suppress his emotions, Chen Mu asked, “You? The Black Hibiscus Card Artisan Team?”

“Yes.” Apparently, Bogner was not keen to talk about his past. He collected himself, “The place we went to looked a lot like this place. Nonetheless, I am unsure about it.”

Bogner’s statement caught Chen Mu’s attention. He knew that Bogner, despite his lackadaisical attitude, was a reliable and adept veteran. He would not voice his opinion without a certain level of confidence.

At this moment, the demonic woman looked at the sky. She then barged into their conversation and said, “We have to leave now.”

Chen Mu was undecided. In order to aid him, Bogner and company landed at this treacherous place. Therefore, he hated to see any of them getting hurt.

“What’s the issue?” Chen Mu asked.

He had little trust in the demonic woman due to her character. For him, their relationship was nothing more than a business one.

The demonic woman threw a glimpse at Chen Mu and said, “Sandstorm is common in this area. We need to find a surface crack as soon as possible.”

While he was contemplating, Wei-ah interfered, “She’s right.”

The moment Bogner heard that there was going to be a sandstorm, fear was written all over his face, as though he had been traumatized before.

Chen Mu shifted his attention to look at Wei-ah. Yet, Wei-ah remained expressionless. His gaze then returned to the demonic woman as he said, “Lead the way,” and then ordered the card artisans beside him, “Remember to leave marks.”

Five Spinulosa Disks flew into the sky and scattered in all directions. They would make a sketch of the topography of the surrounding areas and reconnoitre their enemies. The vast expanse of the location left their whereabouts exposed during critical situations. Wei-ah’s acknowledgement, together with Bogner’s expression, had given some significant merits to the demonic woman’s words. Even though they could not visualize the power of the sandstorm, they could tell that the sandstorm was not something be treated frivolously as they looked at the reaction of Bogner and Wei-ah.

The anxiety set in within the team.

Curious, Yangshan Fei stamped his foot on the ground, “Why is the ground black? This is the ash stratum? What a bore!”

Sue’s expression was hidden under the gold mask, completely disguising her feelings. However, their conversation had staggered her. The ash stratum of the transit windows were a highly confidential information guarded by the Heavenly Federation. It was impossible for any commoner to come across the information. But, after listening to the conversations, she could deduce that the demonic woman had been here. Besides, it seemed like both Wei-ah and Bogner had most probably visited this place too. She was terrified.

Her gaze fell on Chen Mu, yet she realized that she failed decipher him. When he announced the journey to the House of a Hundred Depths, she believed that Chen Mu and his team to travel via the transit window the connected the House of a Hundred Depths and the Heavenly Federation. Never would she have expected to see a new transit window.

A new transit window indicates infinite wealth! But Chen Mu wasn’t worried about bringing me and Yangshan Fei with him. Isn’t he afraid of leaking the secret?

Chen Mu, a fairly young man, has such a great achievement. There’s no way that he is a fool. Does he simply not care? Or does he have other agendas in his mind?

Sue could imagine the glory of Eastern Wei Base after today. With the transit window, they were able to get sufficient resources to trade with the House of a Hundred Depths on top of having a more advanced technology and powerful armor. Their future would be limitless. Even Tang Hanpei, the powerful man, was bogged down by the war, leaving no time for him to think about such a remote place.

However, once he finishes his metamorphosis, there would be one more contender in the world!

Awestruck, Sue stared at this exceptional young adult, her admiration toward him growing.

Little did she know that Chen Mu was not bothered at all. He carried too many secrets with him. The information regarding the transit windows was never a big deal to him. Furthermore, Qing Qing knew that it never feasible to expect her to keep a secret. In any case, as long as they maintained their strong military force, they did not have to worry about having people coveting.

He left Jiang Liang a lot of cards, more than enough to build a powerful team. It was mostly Jiang Liang who trained the Snow Silkworms Card Artisan Team, and Chen Mu thought that he was irreplaceable. Together with the support from the Moqi Clan’s Card Appliance technology, Chen Mu believed that other than the Big Six, nobody could take advantage of the Eastern Wei Base. As for the Big Six, they were struggling with problems of their own and would not have enough attention to spare on the Eastern Wei Base, not to mention their force.

Without any hesitation, the demonic woman led the way.

Her pace was speedy. As though this was merely her everyday route, there was no pause of indecisiveness.

The fleet was travelling at a high speed in the wasteland under the guidance of the demonic woman. Xi Ping prepared a large number of transport shuttles for the operation. These shuttles had all been modified and their performances had been greatly enhanced.

The wasteland was quiet and dull without any sign of life, except for the periodical sound of the wind, nothing was happening. No vegetation could be seen on the horizon and it was as flat as a knife grinder. Without the demonic woman’s shepherding, Chen Mu and the others would be lost in their ways as every choice path seemed very alike.

After flying for about two hours, they finally discovered a big surface crack.

The surface crack was strangely wide, with an average width of some 20 kilometres. Both sides of the surface crack were connected to steep cliffs. A surface crack as big as this could fit the entire group.

The demonic woman was the first to hop into the surface crack. Her move was nimble as she required no help from any tool. She landed on the uneven cliff face and leaped into the bottom of the surface crack.

Everybody proceeded to lower their altitude. Once they entered the big crack, they were swamped by the humid air and was immediately awakened by it.

There is water!

There’s probably water at the bottom of the surface crack!

Even if the fleet brought along a good supply of liquid along with card appliances that are used to collect water, they would still be helpless if there was completely no moisture in the air.

Suddenly, the Spinulosa Disks beeped in alarm!

The sandstorm had arrived!