The Card Apprentice

Chapter 346: Judgment

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

The man in charge at the Chilei card artisan service center, Lee Carville, was completely flushed in the face. He was panting heavily and had his tie loosened, as though it was affecting his somewhat erratic breathing.

He was a respected man in the Pascal District if one came to think of it. However, that’s all he was. On normal days, if a party of any importance was being held by any of the families, he might receive an invitation. But he was far from capable of inviting so many big figures with real authority.

Many of the VIPs present, like Qiao Fei, Mr. Stinger, and other such regional leaders, were people he usually couldn’t possibly be in contact with. Even so, on that day, those rarely seen VIPs were all gathered at his tiny card artisan service center. His reputation was greatly enhanced.

However, the VIPs were not the stars of the show that day. There were two stars: one was the Snowflake Card Artisan Team known throughout the federation, and the other was the previously unheard of Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, which had suddenly risen to the forefront. They were the real stars of that night’s show.

Other irrelevant card artisans had been persuaded into leaving. The Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm’s recruitment work had to be temporarily halted.

Gazing at the VIPs around him, he saw that not one of them showed impatience on their face. Even the most senior and the most experienced Mr. Stinger remained as calm as before. They were waiting for the real stars of the show to appear. Lee Carville stood tactfully at a distant corner. He didn’t try to get a share of the limelight just because he was the owner of the place. Nonetheless, his hospitality was thoughtful. All the sofas there were brought over ad hoc by his order.

The meeting room door was pushed open.

Clatter. Everyone couldn’t help but stand up. Their gazes converged on the swinging door.

Who will be the first to step out? Mobley? Or the leader of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm?

Just as their minds were still turning over the matter, two men walked out of the meeting room side by side. One of the men was about 30 or 40 years old, had piercing eyes and a composed expression, and gave an impression of authority. That was the leader of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, well-known in the federation, Mobley. The one walking beside him was a youth, a stranger to the crowd, and of about 20 years of age.

Apart from people like Qiao Fei, who was well-acquainted with Chen Mu, the rest were shocked. Since he could walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Mobley, the identity of the youth went without saying. They hadn’t had any prior dealings with Chen Mu. It was really difficult for them to imagine that the leader of the card artisan firm that had won the respect of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team was actually a mere youth of 20.

The youth was calm and collected. Despite having to face so many VIPs out of the blue, he showed no sign of nervousness, which rather impressed them. They couldn’t have known this was but a small occasion to Chen Mu. He had even had dealings with the most powerful man in the federation, Tang Hanpei. How could those VIPs make him nervous?

Though they didn’t know what was special about the youth, nor did they know what was formidable about the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm, those politically minded VIPs could immediately make an accurate judgment about the relationship between the two organizations from the two men’s walking out of the meeting at the same time.

Many had previously been skeptical about the capabilities of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. There had been no shortage of people who intended to take advantage of that convenient moment to do them harm when the firm was weak from the recent battle.

However, those who had witnessed the current scene with their own eyes banished the idea from their minds instantly. Everyone present understood that regardless of whether their victory had been opportunistic or whether their might was just superficial, nobody could stop them from rising. To still be targeting them at that time would be the height of stupidity. Putting aside the question of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm’s capabilities, if one were to inflame Mobley, escaping from slaughter would be impossible. To a federation-level card artisan firm, annihilating them was no harder than squashing an ant.

Amongst them, the gloomiest was Mr. Stinger of the First-Rate Business Association. He was the only one there who knew the purpose of Mobley and his men. The association had to keep its lips tightly sealed and not reveal the extracts of the purple fluorescent ore. However, in the present situation, Mobley had directly reached out to the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. The First-Rate Business Association couldn’t do much about it.

In that case, Mr. Stinger’s sales would undoubtedly decline sharply. In his heart, he was extremely resentful, but he just couldn’t let it show on his face. The party in question was the leader of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team, and he was but a mere regional head of a business association. The difference in status was indeed too large.

Mobley’s interaction with those people had nothing of the casual and familiar attitude with which he spoke to Chen Mu. Instead, he maintained a reserved, slight smile, neither too cold nor too faint.

That kind of occasion was rather dull and boring for Chen Mu. Thankfully, since there was an old fox like Xi Ping with him, he didn’t have to worry about any problems cropping up.

Qiao Fei was both surprised and glad. The surprise was that Chen Mu and Mobley knew each other, and their relations seemed to have more beneath the surface. She saw clearly that Mobley’s attitude toward Chen Mu was completely different from how he treated others.

What made her glad was the fact that the stronger her ally became, the more advantageous it would be for her. The only thing worrying her was the deal over the ten small strongholds. If Chen Mu suddenly went back on it, they would only require a short time to replace the House of Qiao’s current position with the help of the Snowflake Card Artisan Team. She wouldn’t even be able to put up any resistance. However, what reassured her a little was that Chen Mu had shown no sign of going back on his word.

Mobley obviously had no interest in those local powers and merely made their acquaintance out of courtesy. As to the invitations, he declined all politely, which disappointed a good deal of people. In spite of the disappointment, they didn’t pursue much. After all, in their eyes, that was normal.

Seeing that Mobley’s side was hard to crack, the important people promptly turned the focus of their attack on the newly risen Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm. Chen Mu couldn’t have been more vexed by those disingenuous courtesies and eventually left Xi Ping to handle all the socializing.

Lee Carville saw the situation and had a bright idea. In a low voice, he made an order for the occasion to be turned into a banquet. His men were quick in action; soon, all sorts of food and beverages were brought in. In the history of the Pascal District, the first banquet of that scale was actually held at a card artisan service center. That was also to become the proudest incident in Lee Carville’s life.

Mobley and Chen Mu sat in a corner. People continually cast envious glances their way, but they were tactful enough and did not approach to disturb the pair.

Mobley was sipping red wine, experiencing its variety of changes in his mouth, but his thoughts weren’t altogether quite there. This is a great mission accomplished. With enough extracts of purple fluorescent ore and that woman’s help, the Snowflake Card Artisan Team can definitely advance further!

The somewhat alluring figure of a woman floated into his mind. He cast a glance at Chen Mu from the corner of his eye. The face of the youth was also full of thought. Mobley felt no contempt toward him just because of his young age. On the contrary, he was full of praise for Chen Mu.

With the ability to build this estate at such a young age, he is good enough to be hailed a genius! Even he, who had always thought highly of himself, hadn’t had such achievements in his youth.

“What does Brother Chen have in mind for the future?” Cordiality was seeping from Mobley’s words.

Chen Mu was interrupted by Mobley’s question and woke abruptly from the depths of his thoughts.

“The future…” Chen Mu muttered as he drank some fruit juice. He didn’t like red wine. The only alcohol he moderately liked was Sapphire Cloud Running Water, but it wasn’t fancy enough to be present at that kind of occasion.

“Stay alive.” Chen Mu uttered the words softly.

Mobley was stunned. He didn’t expect to get those words from Chen Mu and took a good look at him. No matter which way you look, he doesn’t seem like a pessimist. Mobley couldn’t help but laugh. “Why? Why is little brother so pessimistic? Judging by your ability, you are definitely a man who will accomplish great things!”

Chen Mu didn’t know what to say and merely shook his head to indicate his objection.

As though he had just recalled something, Mobley hesitated a little and asked, “Perhaps little brother thinks the times have gone as bad as this state?” Being unaware that Chen Mu’s body had a lethal green thread in it, Mobley felt that was the only reason he could come up with.

“The times?” Chen Mu was stunned by Mobley’s words, and his attention immediately turned toward that phrase. Having given it some consideration, he said, “The times will certainly become more and more chaotic. This move of Faya’s is too vicious. Besides, they have already become a threat to the foundations of the Big Six. This isn’t a matter of grudges but a conflict between two institutions—two different directions of development. The war is unavoidable.”

Mobley was inwardly aghast. After some careful thought, however, he increasingly felt that what Chen Mu had said was accurate and indubitable. Grudges could be let go of, but if it was the conflict between two institutions and two directions of development, there was certainly no resolution possible.

He looked at Chen Mu in a daze and, for the moment, forgot to speak. The Chen Mu in front of him was a mystery; the more one got to know him, the more unfathomable it felt.

He couldn’t possibly have known that Chen Mu’s other identity was actually a card master. Card masters were more sensitive to such changes in institutions and technology. That’s why Chen Mu made that prediction.

Just realizing he forgot himself, Mobley forced out a laugh. “According to what you’ve said, the battle between the Big Six and Faya may just be a fight to the death. But no matter how strong Faya is, they might find it difficult to stand against the Big Six working together. Eventually, it may just end in defeat.”

He had had many dealings with the Big Six. Their might and vastness had been deeply rooted in his heart. He had also had plenty of business transactions with the Big Six and was emotionally inclined toward them, too.

“Only perhaps not so,” Chen Mu uttered softly. If the Big Six really could be of one mind and work together, then the power of Faya alone would naturally be insufficient to stand against them. However, he had firsthand experience as to how deep the conflict between the Big Six went and knew that was but a joke. Besides, Faya evidently had an extremely powerful man in control.

Not knowing what came across his mind, Mobley surprisingly did not rebut but sat silently, sipping wine. In an instant, both lost their interest in the conversation.

The banquet lasted four or five hours before it finally ended. It would be the talk of the town for a long time to come. Nevertheless, from the influence of that incident, the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm’s fame rose rapidly, and the recruitment, too, went unusually smoothly.

The intelligence gathered by Mobley’s men was placed in front of him. He glanced at the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm’s recruitment criteria and was unimpressed. Card artisans of that level had really no value in Mobley’s eyes and were far worse in capabilities as compared to his reserves.

What baffled him was that Chen Mu actually hired 5,000 ordinary card artisans in one go. He had basically swallowed up most of the available card artisans on the market. As a result of the Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm’s recruitment, the Pascal District’s card artisan hiring fees skyrocketed.

Has this guy got so much money that it’s burning his hands?

From the interaction in the past two days, Chen Mu was certainly a clear-headed leader. How could he make such a basic and stupid mistake? When it came to military affairs, Mobley was very experienced, but he couldn’t think of anything that would be able to turn those card artisans into a battle force.

Just as he was puzzling over the matter, he suddenly recalled the scene of the first encounter with Chen Mu. At that time, Chen Mu’s men had almost exclusively level-four perception. Yet it had been just such a group that successfully killed the flock of dingbirds, which even they didn’t dare to look down upon.

Perhaps this Snow Silkworm Card Artisan Firm has some secret means? Mobley’s expression grew serious.

Chen Mu was troubled at the moment. The card artisan recruitment was successful—5,000 card artisans, especially all the fifth level of perception or higher. With such a result, Chen Mu felt it was perfect. Those card artisans were in the period of probation. They would undergo a short training of about three months, which would phase out disqualified members. As to how many would remain after the elimination, not even he could decide that.

Regardless of how many would eventually be left, he imagined he would need to pay a phenomenal sum. However, that wasn’t the question he was concerned about. At present, he had an abundance in funds and enough capital to build an army of a decent size.

What bothered him were the card sets. The card artisans recruited were all at the fifth level of perception or above. The previous card sets were no longer suitable, and Chen Mu needed to design new and more powerful card sets. That wasn’t too difficult for him; he already had some plans in mind.

The real headache was the making of the card sets.

Heavens! More than 1,000 card sets! If it was to be the same as before, all to be made by him, when would the time of completion ever come?