The Card Apprentice

Chapter 348: The Transformation (I)

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

When Ru Qiu saw the appearance of the boss, she instantly had a scare. The boss looked haggard, and his eyes were bloodshot. But it was just those burnt-out eyes that were shining with excitement and a certain strange light.

“Boss,” Ru Qiu called out demurely. Until that moment, everything still felt somewhat unreal to her. In the past, she had never imagined she would one day part with the principal and teachers to follow a stranger to a strange place for studying.

In the time spent living there, however, she had been unconsciously integrated into that organization. She had seen with her own eyes how they had traversed the forest and how they were surviving in an environment as awful as the Heavenly Drum Village District. Similarly, she had also witnessed how that plain-looking youth had led everyone to where they were that day.

Toward Chen Mu, she was full of heartfelt respect and admiration. The respect was for his calmness and power, and the admiration was for his incomparably rich knowledge and creativity. In the time spent with Chen Mu, she improved swiftly.

What she came into contact with presently was far more than what she had been studying at school. Apart from card making, there were usually many other tasks she had to do, and Chen Mu never really considered the fact that she was just a card master. Those seemingly normal and trivial tasks not only widened Ru Qiu’s horizon but also washed away her frailty.

As for card making, her progress had been so phenomenal that she herself had hardly thought of it! That was because, among everyone under Chen Mu, the only one who could make cards and assist him was Ru Qiu.

Can we be making some card again this time? As the thought sprang up, she was instantly glad at heart and couldn’t wait to begin. Every time she assisted Chen Mu with card making, she could always come across a wealth of new and uncommon knowledge. Out of that quirky knowledge, she couldn’t understand the content of more than 90 percent of it, but just that remaining ten percent was enough to benefit her substantially. As for the incomprehensible 90 percent, she would try to remember with her means, keeping it for herself to slowly chew on in the future.

Many methods completely contradicted the knowledge she had been taught in the past, but their practical application was so good that she was astonished every time. Nothing could excite her more than that!

As expected, Chen Mu tossed her a list of materials. With just one glance, Ru Qiu’s eyes were quickly wide open.

“Boss, what are we making? How are there so many materials?”

Ru Qiu could hardly be blamed for the exclamation, as the list in her hands enumerated 176 materials and the methods for their preparation. Under usual circumstances, one card involving the use of 20 or 30 materials was a routine thing. Slightly complex cards might reach 50 or 60. But that was a card involving the use of 176 materials! Not only had she never seen it before, but she had never even heard of it.

The more materials required by a card implied greater uncertainty in the process of making it. The inadequate processing of any of the materials could result in a complete failure.

“Yeah, 176. This is the initial plan. You should prepare them accordingly first. The plan may change halfway,” Chen Mu said.

Ru Qiu was speechless! The list in her hands was but an experimental plan the boss casually tinkered with. On one hand, she admired the boss for being able to design such a complicated card. On the other hand, the boss had so irresponsibly tossed her a plan that wasn’t yet finalized.

That was the processing of 176 materials! Moreover, the methods of preparation indicated on the list made the veins sticking out on her forehead twitch. It was an extremely shocking workload! Ru Qiu estimated she would need at least a week to complete that task.

A week’s worth of work was no more than a yet-to-be finalized plan. No wonder Ru Qiu felt like she was being driven mad.

“Oh, by the way, you have three days’ time.” Chen Mu turned and left when he had finished.

Three days…

Ru Qiu, who had felt so free that she was bored, had some urge to faint right away. How could so much work be done within three days? Just when she wanted to protest to the boss, she raised her head and found that the boss’s figure could no longer be seen.

* * *

Xi Ping was hosting Ah Zhe. It had been precisely the negotiation between the two that had decided the final terms and conditions of the collaboration. Therefore, the two were naturally quite familiar.

“Old Xi, you guys are really buzzing with activity!” Ah Zhe said, full of smiles. His body was well-proportioned, and his face was handsome. Whenever they passed by medical card artisans, some of them made eyes at him every now and then.

As he chatted, he was secretly paying attention to everything in the ravine. He noticed Xiaobo, who had been by Xi Ping’s side. That’s an ace, he remarked to himself. But he wasn’t too surprised. After all, the Snowflake Card Artisan Team had a good number of card artisans at that level.

He was there under the order of the leader to observe the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. However, on the surface, he looked completely leisurely and was just roaming around.

Xi Ping laughed. “Compared to you guys, we can hardly be worth mentioning.”

Ah Zhe pointed at Xi Ping and said with a scoffing smile, “Old Xi, what you’ve just said is false enough. Our leader has been singing praises about your tough discipline and made me very curious at heart.” He seemed to have had a sudden fancy and abruptly said, “Perhaps we can have a look at your training to let me broaden my horizon.”

Xi Ping showed some signs of embarrassment. “Rarely have you made a request, brother. By right, it goes without saying that I shouldn’t refuse. But the boss personally ordered that observation of training is to be prohibited. Even I do not have the authority.”

“How about you ask your boss for instructions?” Having finished the question, Ah Zhe spoke again with some hinting. “Heh heh, maybe we can even exchange some pointers. The training of our Snowflake Card Artisan Team is still pretty good.”

What he hinted at was, Do you have to be on that much guard against me? What do we not have at the Snowflake Card Artisan Team? Can our training methods possibly lose out to yours?

Xi Ping’s face showed even more obvious signs of a bitter smile. “Brother, you’ve come here at the wrong time. Our boss has been staying in the laboratory all the time lately and has already ordered that we are not to disturb him.”

A trace of displeasure flashed across Ah Zhe’s eyes, but he quickly laughed. “Ha ha! Seems like I’m down on my luck today.” His gaze unexpectedly fell on the mountain peak that had been almost half cut off. His eyes focused instantly, and he exclaimed, “That must be the mark left by that battle. How unbelievable! I can imagine how intense it must have been!”

When he heard those words, Xi Ping seemed to have returned to that night and couldn’t resist lamenting, “Yes, too intense!”

At that moment, Ru Qiu came running with gasping breath. “Uncle Xi! Uncle Xi!”

“What’s the matter, Little Qiu?” Xi Ping asked as he saw Ru Qiu’s anxious manner. He looked rather favorably on that little girl who could endure hardship and was motivated. Then again, it seemed that among the women around the boss, not one was delicate and pampered.

“Uncle Xi, a few of the materials I need are not found in the warehouse.” Ru Qiu, without even a glance at Ah Zhe, answered Xi Ping quickly.

Xi Ping internally relaxed and said with a laugh, “Don’t worry. You give uncle a list of the few that aren’t in the warehouse, and uncle will get them for you in a few days.”

“That won’t do! Uncle Xi, the boss wants them in three days!” Ru Qiu was so desperate she was close to tears.

“The boss?” The smile on Xi Ping’s face vanished at once, and he said with all seriousness, “Give me the names of the missing materials. I’ll get down to it straight away.” At first, he thought it was just experimental materials Ru Qiu wanted. Only then did he find out it was actually the boss who needed them. He didn’t dare to put off items wanted by the boss. Besides, he could roughly guess what the boss was doing.

At that instant, Ah Zhe suddenly butted in. “Heh heh, is your boss a decathlon athlete? Is he also a card master perchance?”

Ru Qiu didn’t answer. Her IQ was high enough that it didn’t lose out to Chen Mu’s in any way. She wouldn’t make such a simple mistake about what could be spoken and what couldn’t be.

Xi Ping laughed. “Our boss usually likes to tinker with some card making stuff. It’s a habit of some sort.”

Xi Ping’s words were spoken with finesse. He had neither affirmed nor objected as to whether Chen Mu was a card master, but he created a misconception that Chen Mu was merely playing around out of interest.

Ah Zhe returned to the camp. Mobley saw him return and laughed. “How was it? Did you have fun?”

“Not too bad.” Ah Zhe shrugged. In the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, only he could speak to Mobley like that, except for that woman, of course.

When Mobley heard Ah Zhe’s remark, some interest was aroused at once. “Oh, found anything interesting?” If Ah Zhe could be made to say “not too bad,” then he must have gained something. If there had been nothing, or nothing worthy in his eyes, given Ah Zhe’s mischievous personality, he would have just said “boring.”

Having sat down and arranged his chain of thought, Ah Zhe began solemnly, “Their organizational discipline is the best I have ever seen. Even we can’t match them in that regard.”

“Yes, they are stronger than us in that way,” Mobley admitted calmly. He had seen that troop before, and that point had left a rather deep impression.

“They have a group of about 15 medical card artisans and their own construction card artisans. Oh, their Valley Nest base was built to exceptional standards. I even saw the marks of their previous battle. The whole mountain peak was almost half cut off. Seems like their victory against the Downstream Alliance was due to their own capabilities.” Ah Zhe was swiftly classifying the information revealed by what he had seen that day.

Mobley nodded stolidly. “It appears they place a great emphasis on nurturing support card artisans. They definitely do have power. They managed to slaughter such a large flock of dingbirds. That can’t be done without solid power.”

Hesitating for a moment, Ah Zhe said, “Their leader may well be a card master.”

“A card master?” Mobley finally revealed his surprise. “A card master for real? That’s a rather odd combination.”

“I’m not sure, either.” Ah Zhe spread his hands and lay down on the sofa lazily.

Mobley nodded with sudden realization. “Hmm, very likely. No wonder they can obtain the extracts of purple fluorescent ore.”

Ah Zhe abruptly said, “By the way, I almost forgot about it. It seems the quantity on our list is a little too large and may take quite a long time.”

Mobley laughed bitterly. “Let it be longer, then. Apart from this place, such a huge amount of extract can’t be bought even if you have the money.” It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered other means, but the quantity he needed was really too great. The moment other business associations heard of it, they could only shake their heads helplessly.

“I’m tired; I will doze off for a bit first.” Ah Zhe’s voice was heavy with sleep. In a moment, the sound of snoring was as loud as thunder.

Mobley showed some trace of a bitter smile once more, except his eyes were filled with resolution. He believed he could definitely succeed! Suddenly, not knowing what came across his mind, the slender silhouette of a woman was faintly invertedly reflected in the depths of his pupils.

Mobley’s expression immediately became somewhat complicated.

* * *

Wei-ah glanced at the fat dog in the corner. It was still asleep and had been so for five days. Though the fat dog was fond of sleep, sleeping for five consecutive days was still a rare situation. Nonetheless, its breathing and heartbeat were no different from ordinary days. Otherwise, Wei-ah would have taken it to the doctor long ago.

Wei-ah withdrew his gaze and returned to staring vacantly.

Recently, in his mind, some very fragmented clips had occasionally surfaced. It was a peculiar feeling. Though those bits and pieces of clips made him feel distant and confused, they always made him feel a hint of familiarity as well.

However, the fragmented clips and peculiar feeling were strangely slippery, always flashing by in his mind accidentally. Yet, when he wanted to capture them, no matter how hard he tried, he would be empty-handed.

He knew they ought to be his memories—his recollections of the past. What was it like, exactly? Who am I? Where did I come from? What happened that caused this memory loss of mine?

Countless questions floated around in his mind. In the darkness, Wei-ah’s stone-carved face showed a trace of some rare fluctuation.