The Card Apprentice

Chapter 175: Alfonso’s Kind Intentions

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

“What is it?” Chen Mu’s gaze had fallen onto a bizarrely shaped object in the corner. It was metallic and about eight or nine meters long. Its surface parts had corroded, some of them all the way through. It had two thin wings that looked like bird wings. Compared with its huge wings, the body was a lot smaller—long and narrow like a shuttle—with a beautiful, slightly curved shape.

“It’s a flying device generally used for short flights.” Unexpectedly, the one responding was the system.

“Flying device? Ha, I actually didn’t guess wrong!” Alfonso was nearly dancing in his excitement.

That sort of flying device looked very rudimentary, and Chen Mu was discouraged to compare it with the shuttle cars he’d seen.

Seeing Chen Mu’s interest flagging, Alfonso couldn’t help but laugh as he said, “Doesn’t the teacher want to leave the jungle? You should be able to depend on this flying device for that.”

Chen Mu’s heart warmed a bit, never having thought his hope to leave the jungle would be something Alfonso would remember. He smiled. “I’m afraid it wouldn’t make it out of the jungle with that gummy cloud layer in the sky.” Seeing Alfonso so eager, Chen Mu also didn’t want to deflate him, so he spoke rather tactfully. If he could get out of the jungle by flying, he would have done it a long time ago. He had more than one kind of jet stream card on hand! And, that stretch of jungle was so huge. That, combined with the existence of the gummy layer, killed the plan.

“Teacher needn’t worry,” Alfonso said to console him. “There is certainly a gummy cloud layer in the sky, but this device can fly through it. I’ve never seen a flying device shaped like this, but I believe it must have stunning thrust! If the power is sufficient, then I calculate the gummy cloud layer can’t trap it!”

Chen Mu considered the idea more carefully, wanting to see if what Alfonso said was correct. If there were sufficient power, a flying device shaped like that should be able to split open the gummy cloud layer. And, the gummy cloud layer had no corrosive effect on metal. Furthermore, energy wouldn’t be absorbed by the gummy cloud layer with the protection of the metal.

Chen Mu looked ahead brightly. “Can you restore it?”

“I won’t be able to restore it,” Alfonso said, shaking his head. “It has really corroded too much!”

Chen Mu went cold. If there was no way to restore it, then the flying device was just a pile of scrap metal.

He didn’t expect Alfonso to change the topic. “It shouldn’t be a problem for me to make a replica to try.”

That filled Chen Mu with joy, though it was followed by his thinking of another issue. He raised his face toward the air to say, “System, do you have a construction schematic for this flying device or materials about it?”

“Yes,” the system responded quickly.

Chen Mu and Alfonso looked at each other in excitement. Restraining the joy in his heart, Chen Mu asked, “Can I examine them now? If not, then what are the conditions?”

“You can’t,” The system answered without leaving any leeway for change. Though, it then explained, “Although it is classified as rudimentary technology, you would still require 15 contribution points.”

“What is my current contribution level?” Contribution level, more contribution levels. Chen Mu couldn’t help but remember his life in the Ning family base. There isn’t any free lunch these days!

“For repairing part of the supply system, you got five points, and one point for repairing the elevator, plus two for the air circulation system, which makes eight altogether.” The contribution level was not the same as the privileges Chen Mu had gotten 15 points for last time. That was the system’s evaluation of his ability to contribute to the restoration of the system, while the contribution level referred to what he had already contributed.

He was still short seven points, which wasn’t an insurmountable value. Chen Mu immediately said, “I’ll require a list of repairs.”

A screen immediately popped out in front of him, on which was a detailed listing of all the items that required repair and the conditions required to repair them. There was enough listed to make Chen Mu’s head spin. There was almost nothing in the base that was complete without any defects. Still, Chen Mu needed to find some items on the list he could repair, which would require patience.

* * *

Wei-ah was watching the youths in front of him without any expression as they were practicing his wrestling skills. Each of their faces was determined, and they practiced with all their might. Wei-ah really didn’t need to do any supervising; he knew there wasn’t a single lazy child in that crowd.

Although it had only been a little while, the youths had been making their every move to the letter of his instruction. The expressionless Wei-ah was inwardly stunned. He hadn’t thought Chen Mu’s exercise gymnastics were compatible with his skills or that they could have such huge effects. The speed of their progress really surprised him. Wei-ah still believed that although they looked like they were straining, those children he hadn’t considered suited to learn his skills would be lightning fast in their later progress—if they were able to endure the toughest period.

There were always things on Chen Mu’s body people couldn’t make out. Wei-ah had mostly understood the fighting style of the card artisan by then. As far as he could tell, it really was a little unreasonable to think a card artisan would ever use the skills from those exercise gymnastics.

The part that wasn’t suited was that Chen Mu’s body was still so small. It was a skill to hobble oneself, and in Wei-ah’s point of view, only those who could move about in the dark would ever learn.

No matter how he looked at it, there wasn’t any connection between Chen Mu and the dark. Plus, he was proficient at making cards. No wonder Chen Mu had told him he had studied too many different things. Among those youths there was no shortage of outstanding people, and the exercise gymnastics had greatly improved their physical conditioning. But, Wei-ah still felt some regret when he closely examined them. He always came to the same conclusion—Chen Mu’s physical conditioning was still the best!

Quite a few were stronger and more lithe than Chen Mu, and some excelled further in many other aspects. But, if one were to roll all those conditions together, the most excellent would still be Chen Mu. It was strange, but it was the plain truth.

It was really a pity! On the one hand, Wei-ah was full of regret, and on the other, he was curious about why he was even concerned. It was clearly not his style to brood about such things, though in truth, he really did seem to care about it.

* * *

That was the busiest Chen Mu had been recently, giving his all every day to advance the repair work. The base made extensive use of cards, which was also what he was the handiest with. As far as he could tell, the base was basically a huge card appliance. There wasn’t much of the repair work he could do, but the little he could do benefitted him greatly. If the unsophisticated theory hadn’t been put to practical use, it would have been very difficult for him to make any progress, particularly when it came to making cards.

One important reason there were so few awesome card masters was that most of the problems they faced were academic and not life questions. When it came to problems with living, they would only require money, not cards.

Still, for Chen Mu, everything there required privileges. If he wanted those, he would have to do a lot of the base repair work. And, he would encounter quite a few unforeseen issues during that process. He was encountering life issues, which all required cards to resolve.

Those issues never became abstruse or obscure, but instead there would be only one way to resolve them! That gave him no other choice than to think and make progress.

It was a good thing Chen Mu had enough patience and enjoyed the process. He had earned up to five contribution points by then, but he had never thought he would actually be able to make any modifications to the equipment on the base. Still, he hadn’t devised those modifications himself. They were the things he’d learned alongside Spanner at Eastern Wei Academy.

Having those five points greatly reduced the time before he could earn enough to see the material about the flying device. It would only cost him about five days before he had earned the 15 contribution points.

There was a rather huge amount of material and data regarding the flying device. Chen Mu hadn’t expected those surprisingly detailed schematics to so bedazzle him. He might as well have handed over the materials to Alfonso and continued his work.

Alfonso helped him in good faith suffused with camaraderie, and Chen Mu wasn’t slacking off either.

The more of the base he repaired, the better the children’s living environment became. The future lives of Alfonso and the rest would also be a lot better.

He could feel the sincerity in the concern Alfonso showed toward him, and he knew it was something precious! Chen Mu—who understood the ups and downs of human emotions—hoped he could help those who had really cared about him in return. He was all the more attentive in what he imparted to Li Duhong and the rest.

Of course, he hadn’t stopped his own training since he knew from experience that his strength would ensure his fate. Without Bo Wen and the wild beasts, and with things having settled down for Chen Mu in the secure underground base, he didn’t need to try to cover up his training anymore. Apart from his work, all the rest of his time was spent training; he focused on putting the life he had messed up for so long back in order.

One could only know how precious peace was after going through turmoil.

He sometimes even thought if he were to actually live in the base, it wouldn’t be so bad!

It looked as though he wasn’t really someone with a lot of ambition.

After two months, every day still seemed like an entirely new beginning for Chen Mu and the rest. They were learning constantly, and they had their rough training and their work. The ordinary, peaceful life had given them a new lease on life after the calamity. It made everyone feel completely comfortable.

But, just then, the situation in the federation was undergoing a new change.