The Card Apprentice

As usual, Andre patrolled the streets. Behind him, all the men held their heads up high, looking around, with a satisfied look on their faces. Andre was composed, and there was no sign of joy on his hardened face—as if nothing had happened.

Pedestrians along the road looked at Andre with more fear than ever before. The streets of Fort Mendelssohn were more barren and deserted than it used to be, many stores were closed.

In the past few days, the news about that day spread like wildfire.

Andre’s betrayal ended the battle with a single blow. Many people scolded him for being ungrateful, but more people thanked him. So far, there had been no massacre that people were most worried about.

None sympathized with Sir Elmo’s death. He almost brought the entire city down to hell with him because of his stupidity.

The houses of all the local aristocrats were shut tight, and the notorious man and woman duo had taken over Fort Mendelssohn. No one had any objection; even the city guards chose to surrender in the first instant. It wasn’t a disgrace to surrender to the strong. The two commanders died on the spot, the city guards without leaders lost their will to put up a fight.

The battle was short, but the horrifying conduct and presence of Chen Mu and Zara were deeply rooted in the hearts of those people; they didn’t have any intention to defy them. In that way, Chen Mu and Zara became the rulers of the city in an instant.

For those who lived in Fort Mendelssohn, they didn’t really care who the ruler was. But the new ruler was infamous for their brutality. Those working for them were trembling in fear and afraid that any slight inadvertent action would provoke those two demons. However, after two days, their tensed nerves loosened up a little.

Andre was quite indifferent to the public’s panic. He made many discoveries in his contacts with that man and woman for the past few days. In his opinion, the two leaders weren’t as brutal as rumored. On the contrary, they were clear-minded and quick-witted. He thought they had outstanding temperaments, although he had never seen their faces.

Among the two, the man was the decision-maker. Looking at his confidence and composed demeanor during his command, Andre couldn’t connect him with those vicious villains. Instead, the man felt like a prince in a large clan. And it was clear that the new owner of Fort Mendelssohn had considerable experience in management, much more than Sir Elmo, who only indulged in sensual pleasures.

Andre was somewhat confused, and suddenly lost his directions in life.

In the room, Chen Mu and Zara were in a discussion.

“You want to deal with The Dark Tribe? Tell me about them,” Chen Mu calmly replied. He had long anticipated that when they were out of Hundred Depths, Zara would choose to revenge.

Zara’s eyes turned teary when she talked about The Dark Tribe. But she tried to keep herself calm, “The Dark Tribe used to live in Black Abyss, where the environment was dangerous, and the resources were poor. Most importantly, there was no geothermal heat, and it was always cold and dark. The population of The Dark Tribe had been very scarce, and we hadn’t paid much attention to it. Unexpectedly, that generation of The Dark Tribe had a great master, Hedrat!”

“Hedrat!” Chen Mu repeated his name.

“My brother died by his hands. My brother was the ace in our tribe. In the whole of Hundred Depths, he could rank in the top ten.” Zara was all teary and choked in her emotions.

Chen Mu gasped. If he could rank in the top ten of one city, he was undoubtedly an ace. Judging from Zara’s words, his brother was stronger than her then. Zara and Qing Qing were top-notch in Heavenly Federation. Under careful calculation, her brother should be at least on par with Jiao Si or Jia Yingxia. And if Hedrat could kill her brother; his strength should be on par with Caesar or Tang Hanpei.

Thinking of that, Chen Mu asked, “Comparing your strength now with your brother’s then, what’s the difference?”

With a bit of hesitation, Zara answered, “Should be similar.”

She took a look at Chen Mu. “I can’t handle him by myself. But if we were to attack him together, it’s possible.”

Chen Mu didn’t answer her. He pondered and asked, “How many of them do they have? How many aces do they have?”

“The number of their entire tribe is about 200,000, but their number of flexster wasn’t much, only about 2,000. These 2,000 people are elite, and the average standard of their flexster is on par with the two commanders we killed that day. In addition, there are five commanders under Hedrat who can pose a threat to us. They are also aces who can enter the top 50 in House of a Hundred Depths.”

Chen Mu was shocked! He now somewhat understood how Zara’s tribe was wiped out. From his comparison, the two commanders whom they killed that day were equivalent to Grade Seven card artisans. Imagine a team of 2,000 people consisting entirely of Grade Seven card artisans, plus five commanders ranked top 50 in Heavenly Federation, all under the command of Tang Hanpei, the strongest in Heavenly Federation. Such a luxurious lineup, wherever they went, they were invincible!

Are they going to deal with such a powerful force with just the two of them?

* * *

Sanchez was the first to fly out of the door. He took a look upwards; Hupa City, like any other border city, was prosperous. There were tall buildings everywhere. From time to time, card artisans were seen flying in the sky. None of these card artisans passing by had a second look at this small convoy, which could be seen everywhere in Hupa City.

In every carriage, the captain repeatedly emphasized,

“Check your meters and your card wallet carefully!”

“Keep your spirits up and get ready to assemble!”

“Keep a close distance later. Whoever dares to create troubles, I won’t spare them when I go back!”

Outside the car, Sanchez’s expression was cold but full of fanaticism deep in his eyes. He took a deep breath, calmed his excitement a little, and gestured with his right hand.

Flushed!

Doors of twenty transport shuttle opened up in an instant. The loud voice of each team captain resonated at the same time.

“Quick, quick, quick! Move faster!”

“Continue! Do not stop!”

“Find your appointed location and get ready to assemble!”

Card artisans from the shuttle came out in an orderly fashion. Their movements were neat and agile; well-trained.

Sanchez watched the team gathered with a cold gaze; there wasn’t any of his usual generosity.

Thirty seconds later, all members assembled. A few scattered outposts were in battle mode. Other card artisans passing by upon seeing these card artisans with a murderous aura became shocked and ran away immediately.

“Do you remember your mission?” Sanchez wore a serious expression.

Seeing their boss’s serious attitude, every team captain didn’t dare to hesitate a second, and they replied in unison, “Yes!”

“Good!” A spark of coldness flared in his eyes. “Act according to plan.”

“Yes!”

As soon as his voice fell, the card artisans gathering in the sky quickly divided into three groups and flew in all directions.

The General Staff Unit formulated the ambush plan; it was very detailed. Every captain became familiar with the three-dimensional sketch of Hupa City. They would never lose their direction no matter where they were in the city.

Hupa City’s long-distance shuttle train was destroyed, which also threw Hupa City into chaos. Various forces fought continuously. Sanchez flew toward his target as planned, and several fights could be seen along the way.

Those card artisans, who were in their fights, were very nervous when they noticed someone approaching. Their faces revealed vigilance. But when they saw Sanchez and his group merely flew past them, they were relieved.

Those fellows in the General Staff Unit were awesome! Sanchez truly admired them. The chaotic situation allowed those local forces to engage in their own battles and availed themselves of the chance to seize power.

The plan formulated by General Staff Unit was simple. It was to throw Hupa City into greater chaos with the least effort, forcing the inhabitants of these border cities to migrate outwards, and creating an empty zone on the borders.

Sanchez’s team was targeting Municipal Warehouse. According to the investigation of the Intelligence Department, Municipal Warehouse was controlled by one of the biggest forces in the area; it had a surprising volume of goods and materials. If they could obtain that warehouse, their supply problem wouldn’t only be resolved, but also forced the opposing party into a problematic situation. That greatest force was also the main enemy of Sanchez’s brigade in this battle. However, there was a strong protective barrier for that warehouse. Hence, Sanchez brought the strongest team of 300 members.

The Municipal warehouse was far away but within sight. The protection of the warehouse was under strict scrutiny, and some card artisans were patrolling in the sky, to keep a lookout for dangers. The Intelligence Department spent a lot of energy coming with a detailed map of the distribution of the warehouse’s hidden guards; the map was imprinted in Sanchez’s mind.

Three hundred people were divided into five groups, quietly hiding in different locations.

Sanchez didn’t attack straight away but waited patiently. Beside him, two card artisans started using their telecommunication cards. Strangely, both were using ordinary telecommunication cards. Surprisingly, the screen in front of them was merely each other’s faces. They stared nervously at the telecommunication screen in front of them, without a bit of laxity.

All of a sudden, the telecommunication screen on their hands suddenly fluctuated, and the image on the screen became blurry. Buzz, Buzz, Buzz. A series of static sound rang, and the human figures on their screen were getting vague. After more than ten seconds, there was nothing on their screens.

“Report, Captain! The interference device was put into operation successfully!”

The two men were excited. The goal of the other team had been accomplished. The interference device was a kind of card appliance which could interfere with the telecommunication card. It was an enhanced version of a card appliance made by Chen Mu. Chen Mu used this card to exterminate spies in Wood Battalion. For their operation, the General Staff Unit specially asked the Department of Card Appliance for help, and finally obtained that card appliance.

They had experimented with the card appliance. It interfered with most of the telecommunication cards on the market, but their “thousand-kilometer card” wasn’t affected at all. The importance of communication on the battlefield was self-evident, especially in a surprise attack; to paralyze the enemy’s communication was equivalent to half the battle won. The rest of the team was in high spirits.

“Attack!” Sanchez had no hesitation whatsoever as he commanded through his “thousand-kilometer card”.