The Card Apprentice

Chapter 445: Coincidence? Guess?

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

The storm on Tai-shu Zheng’s party was not over yet. The top management of the Tai-shu family was surely flared up; it had turned out that the three most probable heirs of the Tai-shu household were being targeted. That malignant event had cause Dongrui to tense up right away. The guards division command was the first to take action by commencing an extensive investigation in Dongrui. Up to 16 guests had been injured at the party, and two among them had been killed. Everyone in Dongrui was on high alert, as none of them could tell whether such an incident could happen to them.

Of course, the one people were discussing delightedly after the disturbance was the White Commander, who was under Tai-shu Cheng. The mysterious White Commander had not only defeated Ba Luojia directly, but it had also been his courageous act that had saved Tai-shu Zheng and three others. The juiciest gossip from the party being spread around like butter was that he had killed four card artisan assassins in the blink of an eye.

“White Commander, this is a gift from the second young master.” Xu Jia had already recovered from the fear of that disturbance. She was in her work outfit, looking bright and capable.

Chen Mu felt a slight headache as he looked at the mountainous pile of presents behind him. Since he had saved the three young masters of the Tai-shu family, he had been receiving gifts for the past several days. First, Tai-shu Yong had personally sent people to bring him a large pile of presents to express his gratitude for saving his three sons. Then, Tai-shu Cheng had personally paid a visit to Chen Mu’s floor with a load of presents, which had stunned the card artisans who were training. Right after Tai-shu Cheng had left, Tai-shu Zheng had sent Huo Jiang to deliver more presents. The most dumbfounding thing was that the presents had been from every elder in the Tai-shu family. Chen Mu had received so many gifts that he’d had no choice but to get a separate room just to keep them all.

The card artisans who were training were amazed. Oh, boy! The White Commander is famous, all right! His courageous acts from that night were the main topic of discussion throughout the city. Overnight, he seemed to have become the most prominent person in Dongrui. People’s eyes, full of envy, were glued to the inconspicuous black and white bracelet, which had been worn by Miss Tan Yumin for three years. It was said that someone had offered to pay a sky-high price on the black market to buy that bracelet. They even heard that in the end, the issue regarding the ownership of the bracelet seemed to once again have proven the ability of the White Commander. The three out of the top four candidates had all abstained at the same time, handing the bracelet over to him. Later, in a gathering, Luo Qing, the elite of the young generation of the Luo family, had confessed to her sisters that she hadn’t been the opponent of the White Commander.

The strength of the White Commander pumped them with morale. Each of the card artisans was now standing tall, and their faces were glowing with pride. Having the chance to work under such a hero was something to be proud of. The only thing they regretted was that they had never seen the White Commander fight before.

When he stopped thinking about the mountainous pile of presents, Chen Mu said to Xu Jia, “Miss Xu, please help me thank the second young master.”

“Sure,” Xu Jia said with a dazzling smile. She then changed her tone and said pathetically, “I wonder if I have the honor to ask the White Commander to dine with me. But I am not as rich as the third young master or his father, so I can only treat you to a simple meal.”

Chen Mu subconsciously wanted to reject the invitation. However, when he saw the eagerness in Xu Jia’s eyes, he mumbled, “It’s my pleasure! But... let’s have it here, in the restaurant in this building.”

“Sure! Let’s meet tonight at 6:30. Be there, or be square!” After seeing Chen Mu nod his head, Xu Jia turned and left on quick, joyful feet.

Chen Mu suddenly noticed Tai-shu Ying staring at the presents clingingly. With wry amusement, he said, “Go pick; take anything you like.” Tai-shu Ying cheered and leaped at the presents.

Sang Hanshui didn’t have much of a reaction. He seemed to have anticipated it and wasn’t too surprised. In his eyes, Qiao Yuan was in the top 50 on the Black-Line Star Listing! His ranking hadn’t changed recently. However, the guesses about him also hadn’t been confirmed. Qiao Yuan’s background couldn’t be discovered with the ability of the Black-Line Star Listing. Thus, Qiao Yuan had become even more mysterious in the public’s eyes.

Seeing the card artisans being somewhat absent-minded, Sang Hanshui immediately thundered, “Focus up, everyone! Whoever dares to desert, hmm hmph!”

All of the card artisans roused themselves again in a moment. They’d had their fair share of cruelty from the Hit Man those past few days.

Chen Mu thought for a moment and then walked toward the basic body training room, where little Bu Mo was practicing.

In the training room, Bu Mo was sweating profusely, and his eyes were full of anger. Wei-ah came to greet Chen Mu after seeing him walk over.

“How’s little Bu Mo’s progress?” Chen Mu asked after both of them walked to the corner of the room.

“Not bad. He’s made rapid progress,” Wei-ah said.

Chen Mu was a bit surprised. Basically, Wei-ah had never given him such a high compliment. The best he’d ever gotten from Wei-ah was generally “it’s okay” or “not bad.”

“Seems like Bu Mo has talent.” Chen Mu was slightly excited. He’d taken a great liking to that little boy who didn’t talk much. He suddenly changed the topic. “Have you found out the details of those people?”

“Mmmm. It was Faya,” Wei-ah answered firmly. He took a glance at Chen Mu. “The lady you bit came as well.”

Wei-ah had hidden in the dark while Chen Mu had accompanied Tai-shu Cheng to the party. Nonetheless, he hadn’t taken any action, instead secretly following the escaped card artisans out the back to find out the mastermind behind them.

“Faya? Her?” Chen Mu was stunned. He hadn’t expected it to be Faya. In hindsight, though, the style of the incident was quite consistent with Faya’s usual style. Chen Mu was brought up short again when he heard from Wei-ah that the lady he had bitten before had also been there. The juicy lips and that snow-white chin suddenly crossed his mind.

What am I thinking? Chen Mu was taken aback and said with a wry smile, “Don’t tell me they traced me to here. How efficient!”

Wei-ah shook his head and said, “I don’t think they’ve discovered you.”

They didn’t discover me? They weren’t coming for me? Wei-ah’s words sent Chen Mu’s brain into overdrive once again. Recalling the situation that day, he soon agreed with Wei-ah’s judgment. The targets of the card artisan assassins had been the three young masters from the Tai-shu household; it hadn’t been Chen Mu.

“Seems like I must fight to the last gasp with this lady,” Chen Mu said jokingly. In his heart, he was wondering why that lady would want to lay her hands on the three young Tai-shu masters. The Tai-shu family was considered a declining family in Dongrui, but Faya obviously had a motive. What was it worth Faya’s attention to covet? Chen Mu was wracking his brain, and his heart suddenly leapt. Could Faya have been coming for the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus?

The more he thought of it, the more he was convinced by it! Other than the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus, he couldn’t think of anything else that could provoke Faya to take such a big move. It was the only possibility!

Gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus... If Faya really came for it, what is it for? Could it be... Chen Mu’s breath started to quicken! A name flitted through his mind—the demonic woman!

Could the demonic woman still be alive? Could some important person from Faya also have had a green thread planted in their body by the demonic woman? Is that why Faya personally came to Dongrui to plot for the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus? Is that why the attack on the party happened? No wonder they want the three young masters from the Tai-shu household alive.

All of the loose fragments in his mind seemed to make sense after he pieced them together. Demonic woman... That nightmarish name, and the face that would stop the clock, was deeply imprinted in Chen Mu’s brain.

After taking a deep breath, Chen Mu made a decision promptly. “Wei-ah, let’s check them out tonight.”

“Sure.” Wei-ah’s reply was clear-cut.

It was difficult for Chen Mu to concentrate after returning to his own training room. The prediction was too shocking for him! His emotions involuntary went up and down each time he thought the demonic woman might still be alive. Sue Lochiro had said the effect of the gold-mottled liquid-soft fungus on the green thread was yet to be confirmed. Nonetheless, there was a way to solve the green thread at the root, which was to find the demonic woman and to make her pull the green thread out by herself! However, the demonic woman had disappeared completely after her fight with Qing Qing.

The reason Chen Mu wished to check on Faya’s details was to see whether he could get the information related to the demonic woman. His hunger for news of her was far beyond his fear of Faya! Of course, support from Wei-ah was one of the reasons for him to take such a move confidently.

Chen Mu quickly realized his condition of thinking randomly was awful. He started to draw his attention back consciously. He then simply pondered over the fight at the party.

That had been his first time using Caesar’s techniques. However, the result of the battle had been far beyond his imagination. Marveling at the intense power of Caesar’s skill, he reflected on those battles and summarized them.

Caesar’s application of perception was really fascinating. After the last breakthrough, his perceptual power had just broken through level six. In terms of perceptual power, he couldn’t even compete with Jiang Shan and Luo Qing, not to mention Sang Hanshui. Although Sang Hanshui’s capabilities were average, his perceptual power was outstandingly deep. Chen Mu estimated that he was just one step away from level-seven perception.

Perceptual power that had just broken through level six was considered weak among experts. However, his combat power was much higher compared to those expert card artisans.

Chen Mu could explore his own world to form a black and white perception world made of the alternative lines. To develop such a strong intuition, though, he’d needed Caesar’s field of expertise.

Intuition was a wonderful thing, and people would frequently fail to explain it. Chen Mu wouldn’t be surprised if he could use the skill just one or two times. However, it would be amazing if he could have the intuition in his heart on each of the moves from the opponent! Once he got into that state, it was like his spirit was stripped. Being without excitement or emotions, it was as if he could predict every move of the opponent in advance.

Caesar had named that state State Zero. The Materials Refinement Code and State Zero were the most essential contents on the card Caesar had given him.

Suddenly, he thought of the breath control method. State Zero was similar to breath control in many ways; it was emotionless and absolutely calm and sensible. Nonetheless, there was a significant difference between the two. While in the state of breath control, Chen Mu felt like he was the token card with the strong computational capability of the Child. He could comprehend all of the factors and could get the best outcome in a short time. But he could get the answer directly without calculation under State Zero.

That was also the strength of State Zero; intuition could always enable one to move a step ahead! That small step was not to be underestimated. In the hands of an expert player, one step was the critical difference between life and death. The lightning-fast battle at the banquet was the best example. The powerful State Zero meant powerful intuition.

Is this really intuitive? Chen Mu felt confused. In his heart, he felt something wasn’t right. However, based on everything at the moment, it seemed like that could only be classified as intuition. But he couldn’t explain his feeling.

Sure enough, he didn’t have enough understanding of perception! Chen Mu smiled bitterly to himself. He doubted the problem could possibly involve some elementary content of perception. Obviously, the problem was too deep for Chen Mu at that moment.

All of the details of that battle were engraved in his mind. He had some revelations in his heart after verifying them repeatedly. Entering and maintaining State Zero required a complex perception operation, and the State Zero Chen Mu could perform at the moment was incomplete. The complexity of the perception operation under the complete State Zero could make one’s hair stand on end. It was impossible with Chen Mu’s current perceptual control.

Caesar had most likely taken that factor into consideration. That was why he had divided State Zero into three phases. The lowest stage, currently mastered by Chen Mu, was the simplest version of State Zero, and it also had the lowest requirement for perception. According to Caesar’s description, that was the version he had been using before reaching age 30. It was also the initial version he’d created. Only when his perception had improved significantly had he created the following two stages.

In comparison with breath control, the greatest advantage of State Zero was that it had no side effects. Chen Mu thought that was also the reason the Night of the Cross was an unpopular genre. Caesar, on the other hand, had managed to become the popular side. Breath control was powerful, but its natural defects had caused it to have significant limitations in practice.

That had proven Caesar’s strength from another angle. That strength wasn’t only in combat power; what was most important was his intelligence. Caesar, who had discovered the right ways to train with the Materials Refinement Code and had created State Zero, undoubtedly had a wiser head compared to the founder of the Night of the Cross.

However, in Chen Mu’s heart, the strongest person was neither Caesar, who had originally created State Zero, nor Wei-ah, who was unfathomable. It wasn’t the demonic woman, who was mysterious and strange, nor was it Tang Hanpei, who was the top ace in the federation. It was the creator of the mysterious card in his card pouch!

Chen Mu had no idea who the creator of that card was. In his heart, though, that unknown creator was the most powerful person! That creator had brought such a tremendous change to his fate! To Chen Mu, that unknown creator was the wise man who could conquer all and would forever be the strongest person!