The Card Apprentice

Chapter 244: Details and a Conjecture

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

Energy block Y09 was the toughest Chen Mu had encountered so far. If he wanted to take it down, he needed to use his perceptual tendrils to complete 16 recursive twists. He’d already tried it 522 times and still hadn’t taken it down.

Even given Chen Mu’s disposition, he still felt a little irritable. He also knew his current emotional state wouldn’t help with the training, so he directly exited the mysterious card.

He didn’t know where Wei-ah had run off to, and that brown fleshy dog was nowhere to be seen either. He imagined Wei-ah had taken it with him. Looking at the empty rooms, a feeling of desolation welled up in him. Chen Mu stood there for a few minutes before rushing into the bathroom to douse his face with cold water. His brain immediately cleared, and his restless heart also settled.

He didn’t have to take down energy block Y09 just then. In fact, there were many ways to build the model, and he absolutely could start with a different energy block and leave Y09 for later.

But he didn’t want to change his plans.

Chen Mu made a deep sigh, and his gaze resumed it steadiness. He re-entered the mysterious card.

On the one hand, he analyzed the information transmitted by the tips of the fine tendrils. On the other, he methodically controlled his perception. He still hadn’t succeeded. After making more than 500 attempts, he hadn’t even touched a single trick. He believed he hadn’t succeeded for no other reason than his insufficient diligence.

If 500 times wasn’t enough, then he’d do it 1,500 times!

* * *

The Beard was holding his red wine in both hands as he spoke eloquently. “This is the listing from the auction house. There are 11 of the numbered series of cards on it, among which is a four-star card. The requirements are on the top. I heard this listing was sent to quite a few big clients. The Yang Clan Auction House will be holding a closed auction this time, where each card can only be traded for materials. In the end, the overall value will be determined by how rare the materials are. It looks as though they will use the surmise of a card master to determine that; otherwise, they would never consider an exchange for materials.

“Although it will be a closed auction, the purchasing power of those participating shouldn’t be overlooked. But, since they require that materials be exchanged, that will cause a lot of pain for those who don’t have the special channels. According to the intelligence we’ve gathered, top-quality materials have strongly surged recently from the stimulus of this affair. I’m guessing the Big Six will likely attend.”

Butchie and Hugo were carefully listening. When it came to the analysis of intelligence, the two of them combined weren’t as good as the Beard.

“I’ve already transmitted this listing to the boss-man, who says we should play it by ear. He’s already sent people here to transport over 2 billion worth of materials.” After the Beard spoke, he looked at Butchie with some humor, “The boss-man also said Butchie’s situation is special. You’ll be allowed to use these materials to purchase one of the cards!”

“Yeah!” Butchie excitedly jumped up, red-faced. “I just found out what a great guy the boss-man is!”

Hugo’s look remained the same, but an indulgent look flashed past his eyes.

“You’ll have to consider which card you’ll choose.” The Beard raised his eyebrows as he made his suggestion.

“I don’t even need to think about it; I’ve already decided!” Butchie’s beautiful, crystalline eyes flashed.

“Oh? Which one?” The Beard and Hugo looked at each other and smiled in unison.

“This one!”

Butchie’s snow white, exquisite finger fell onto a number on the listing.

Card 013!

The two of them couldn’t help but smile again at each other. The Beard looked rather pleased with himself. “I’d guessed you would pick that one!”

The three kept talking and laughing for a while, when Butchie suddenly said, “Who would you say the card master really was who made this numbered series of cards?”

Getting to that issue, their expressions turned serious. The Beard said in a deep voice, “To tell the truth, that’s the issue everyone is concerned with. The recent trend with the numbered series of cards is something no one can stay away from. Looking at the cards he made, not one wasn’t top-notch. Moreover, the two four-star cards are the finest of the fine! Once the identity of such a card master becomes known, he’ll get quite a reputation. Until now, he’s remained mysterious. He would presumably have some misgivings about deliberately revealing himself.”

After a pause, the Beard looked as though he found something strange. “I’ve already investigated the ins and outs of the Yang Clan Auction House. This Yang An doesn’t really have much background, but he still surprises me.”

Butchie and Hugo were listening closely, and even Hugo felt surprised. Their curiosity had been piqued.

The Beard had a serious expression. “Yang An previously opened a small shop that showed no progress for the first two years. Then, it suddenly shot up during the third year to get more and more business until he opened this auction house. That period had a lot to do with his having a large quantity of rare items for sale. Since too much time has passed, we haven’t been able to get any concrete evidence. What seems certain, however, is that there must have been some big firm behind him, meaning he had formed a cooperative relationship one of them.

“We have no way to find out what that firm really holds sacred. But clearly the cooperative agreement between Yang An and his counterpart was somehow concluded for an unknown reason. Yang An is a sharp businessman with a lot of integrity. The business grew until it became the current Yang Clan Auction House. It would seem the connection between him and Jiao Si isn’t weak, but we still haven’t gotten any clues about that.”

It looked as though the Beard had a lot of respect for the boss of the Yang Clan Auction House, as his expression was full of praise. Although they still hadn’t found out all the specific details, they knew he wasn’t any ordinary person from the information they did have. Given the Beard’s ability with intelligence, to have come up short on the ins and outs showed how powerful Yang An was from a different angle.

Butchie was a little hesitant as she said, “Do you still remember when I told you about that card master?”

“The boss of Heaven’s Wings, Cao Dong?” The Beard responded quickly and then displayed some suspicion. “You wouldn’t be wondering if he’s that card master?” He then shook his head. “I don’t think that’s possible. Judging from the numbered series of cards that has appeared, the card master’s power is utterly extraordinary. I’ve already investigated; although Cao Dong’s fame has surged recently, that was only a fantasy card advertisement. While he might have outstanding power with regard to low-grade cards, that doesn’t show he’s just as outstanding with mid- and high-grade cards. We’ve also analyzed that fiery dragon card you were talking about. Although it has some rather unique aspects, it’s still far from the numbered series of cards.”

Hugo didn’t immediately refute Butchie, but he hoarsely asked a rhetorical question. “Why did you think of him?”

Butchie recalled, “I saw him at Ren Wenzhou’s banquet that day. If I’m not mistaken, the fatty also showed up to the banquet that day. I was wondering, with Cao Dong clearly able to make three-star fantasy cards, why would he waste his energy on fantasy card advertisements? Their profits would be far from those of a three-star fantasy card. What I found strange more recently is that apart from me, no one actually knew Cao Dong could make three-star fantasy cards. Don’t you feel that such a low-key style seems a lot like the card master who made the numbered series of cards?”

Seeing their expressions of deep thought, Butchie continued to talk about her doubts. “The cards Cao Dong made all have a letter “C” on the lower right corner. Although the numbered series of cards don’t have a letter “C” there, they do have the series number. I’ve closely looked at one of the numbered series of cards; the quality of the lines on the numbers on the lower right corner was identical to letter “C” on the fiery dragon card. Peanut Head already told me the quality of a line is because of using differing pen specifications. He also said every card master would have several pens he was especially good with. Comparing the fiery dragon card with that numbered series of cards, the lines used in the patterns on the cards were almost the same thickness. Don’t you find that a little coincidental?”

The Beard’s expression turned serious. “Send someone to investigate immediately!”

Those who got the restricted invitations had all done some rigorous investigation, and they all had plenty of channels. However, one or two of the media platforms were also resourceful and had actually gotten the listing. They put it up on their platforms at the first opportunity.

On that sketchy listing, there were rows of numbers that turned countless people’s eyes red. On top were the parameters of each of the 11 cards, from numbers 012 to 022. Every one of them left people drooling, but 013 was the most conspicuous.

That was the second four-star card in the numbered series of cards, and its parameters above the bar were filled in with the word “confidential,” which hooked in countless people’s curiosity. It was four-star, and it was confidential. That made people connect it with the Super 007. That card, like 013, had “confidential” written above it. They all clearly remembered 007 setting off that crazy surge, never thinking the Yang Clan Auction House would once again toss out such a bombshell before a few days were up.

Countless followers were discussing the card’s performance like crazy to find out what kind of card it really was and what was so extraordinary about it.

By that time, no one was happier than the platforms, who didn’t need to worry about not having any news. You only had to look at the variety of bizarre discussion on the various platforms to know how they were heating up the circulation of the craze.

The most depressed at the time were those who had huge sums of money but didn’t have anyone with materials. The auction house had clearly said it only wanted materials. The value on the black market for one of the invitations to attend the closed auction had already drawn someone who wanted to spend 2 million, but there wasn’t anyone selling.

Under the influence of that affair, the ordinary price for materials in every city in the federation surged by 15 percent within a day. That was also the first time in the history of the Heavenly Federation that the announcement of an auction house had created such a huge price fluctuation.

Everyone felt the anticipation and wanted to know if 013 could produce the same sensational effect as 007.

* * *

Across an entire three days, Chen Mu was devoting himself to a single energy block. After experiencing 1,611 failures, he finally had a breakthrough!

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