The Card Apprentice

Chapter 271: A Melee (I)

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

Pomelo turned chaotic. The battle between the Central Repository of the Classics and the Federation Comprehensive Academy had caused panic. Citizens were frantically running everywhere, and the thunderous sounds of explosions were mixed up with weeping, screaming, moaning…

Pomelo had been turned into Hell on Earth in the blink of an eye.

The two sides weren’t at all reticent or circumspect in making their moves, and the power they brought to bear would be enough to destroy Pomelo. The sky had already become the scene of a wild battle among card artisans. By that time, any semblance of order had been destroyed. The two sides had melded together in the melee, leaving the card artisans to fight only for themselves in groups of three or five.

Every kind of energy body cut through the sky and fell like rain onto the residential district below. Ball after ball of dazzling fire kept blooming, and the explosions were endless. The whole of Pomelo was unrecognizable before two hours were up.

Whistling sounds from the high-speed energy bodies could be heard overhead from time to time. Every time one went by, everyone panicked below.

Looking down from the sky, one could see energy canopies lighting up one after another like inverted crystal bowls. They could have even been called rather eye-catching during that melee. They were all the powerful in Pomelo, with strong family backgrounds, whose defenses would naturally be rather outstanding. The energy canopies had been purchased at great expense.

But one of them would be broken apart from time to time, and wild screaming could be heard from those under them. While the energy canopies’ defensive power was impressive, the melee wasn’t being fought by ordinary card artisans. The card artisans who came from the Big Six were at least one or two notches more powerful than those from outside!

The large-scale energy canopies had no way to completely block the blows of those elite card artisans. Once they started rippling, the outcome could only be miserable.

Nothing drew people’s attention in the whole battle scene more than Mi Xiaqing. He had handily taken down three of the Federation Comprehensive Academy card artisans by himself. Those three were the top aces among their reinforcements. Ning Zu’s grave wounds still hadn’t healed, though his skills remained a lot better than those of an ordinary card artisan. He was weathering the melee rather well.

People were swarming toward the outskirts. By that time, those ferocious wild beasts didn’t seem as scary as the card artisans. They were all thinking that no matter how, they had to get out of the battle first. They could return to the city when the fighting was winding down.

The flow of people rolled along with mournful cries all over. Their expressions were panicked, with many of them holding back tears.

Compelled by hopelessness, many among the more than 500,000 people of Pomelo brought into play a lot more strength than they normally could. They struggled mightily trying to find some way to survive.

* * *

Chen Mu, Bogner and Jiao Si were standing in front of the window, gazing outside. The three of them didn’t look good as they watched the dark crowd of people in the distance. Their scalps went numb looking at the swarm of approaching ants.

With no hesitation, Bogner gave a steely-faced order to prepare for battle. “Warriors, immediately take your positions in the Starfish Fort, and prepare to fight!”

There was the pounding of dense footsteps inside the building, and everyone looked nervous as they flew toward their battle stations. When they got to the Starfish Fort they had practiced in every day and saw the situation outside, their faces turned white. Those rookies had never seen such a scene.

It was Jiao Si’s style to be decisive, and he ordered the card artisans beside him with no hesitation. “Hang on, and listen to Mr. Bogner’s command.”

“Yes, sir!” The card artisans’ response was prompt, showing how well-trained they were.

Bogner thanked Jiao Si warmly; apart from the 20 card artisans he had, the rest were all novices who had never experienced battle. The card artisans next to Jiao Si would provide a lot of power.

Jiao Si waved his hand with a serious expression. “We’re now all in the same boat. Once those people strike the base, the result will be hard to contemplate.”

All three of their hearts were heavy. It was hard for Chen Mu to take when he saw those panicked, hopeless people outside. He was a grassroots person who felt a lot of sympathy for ordinary people.

All the passageways in the base had been sealed. Unless someone attacked, there shouldn’t be any problem.

His gaze fell onto the broad lawns outside. Chen Mu had wanted to say someone should go warn them. There were countless devices in the grass that could kill someone on touch. But when his gaze fell onto the crazed and panicked faces of the crowd, he knew a warning at that time would be useless. Those people had already completely lost their reason.

Looking again at Bogner and Jiao Si, Chen Mu found out how soft he was. Their faces were as steady as mountains and not the least bit flustered.

The tide of people finally touched the verge of the lawn.

Hong, hong, hong!

There was a string of explosions as several balls of fire lit up, knocking ten people down. While the crowd in front held back, the force transmitted from those behind pressed them relentlessly forward.

The souls left the bodies of those people in their panic, but the force transmitted from behind was too powerful. They couldn’t stop.

Hong, hong, hong!

There was another string of explosions as line after line of the crowd fell. Chen Mu couldn’t quite watch those pawns. They were all innocent, and they died there so miserably.

Bogner’s and Jiao Si’s expressions hadn’t changed.

By then, the people in front wouldn’t dare to advance. They pressed desperately back, making a chaotic scene. But fortunately, the speed of the flow of people had finally slowed.

Chen Mu breathed an involuntary sigh of relief. Although that had all been for self-defense, it was always good to be able to kill one fewer person. It wasn’t that he was some kind of really good person, but he did hope the senseless killing could decrease a little.

Something suddenly changed.

Several dozen card artisans flew out from the flow of people toward the base. They were high-level card artisans, and as soon as they ascended, they fired off the first wave of attack from all their hands. Moving in such a coordinated fashion showed the specialized training they had undergone.

“Sure enough!” Bogner coldly squeezed out those two words from between his teeth, not seeming to have been surprised by the situation. He stood firmly and didn’t give any orders.

The reaction of those with Chen Mu was much faster than his counterpart had imagined.

Just when those card artisans had fired off their first wave of attack, nine of them were hit and fell from the sky.

Such a sharp attack had flustered the rest of the card artisans. Their adversary seized onto that to send two more card artisans falling headlong.

“Your division is really well-trained!” Jiao Si couldn’t help his look of praise as he called out to Chen Mu.

Chen Mu smiled. “That was all Bogner’s doing.” Then, in a spark of time, the essential difference in the fighting quality of the two sides was reflected. Chen Mu thought about what he would do if he were in the place of advancing an attack. After thinking for a while, he couldn’t find a way to counterattack. Bogner’s defenses were incredibly dense, and Chen Mu quietly admired him.

Expressing his deep agreement, Jiao Si said, “Mr. Bogner is the most outstandingly talented commander I have ever seen! Mr. Cao really has a good eye!”

Thinking of the scene when the fatty had brought Bogner along, he suddenly felt the comedy of it all. Human life is really wonderful!

From where they were, they had a panoramic view. Since the protective glass was one-way, their adversary had no way to find their position. They could also lift some firing holes in front of them to make it more convenient for their card artisans to advance their attack.

The card artisans scattered in panic. They started to dance around in flight to minimize their possibility of being hit as much as possible.

“What are they doing?” Chen Mu pointed to the card artisans jumping around in midair. They had almost completely given up the attack while they desperately dodged.

With no change to his expression, Bogner said, “They are feinting to draw our fire. Our adversary certainly still has some tricks left.”

Then, just about when he finished speaking, he could see several people pressing toward the front of the troops. Judging from their movements, they were card artisans. They could be seen starting to scan the card appliances in the grass. They were using just one type of wavy blade card, and dozens of wavy blades then formed a line. They flew close to the ground like a giant scythe.

Hong, hong, hong! There was a dense string of explosions, which caused quite a few helpless gulps. Given the density of those card appliance devices, even the card artisans whose job it was to sweep them clean couldn’t help but slightly change their expressions. Still, they had cleared away a perfectly straight path.

Bogner’s gaze fell onto the roiling crowds as he said with no expression, “There are some aces sitting tight.”

Those troops quickly swept clear a 20-meter-wide road.

However, all those people who had been surging forward before now didn’t dare take a step. They had been scared off by the string of explosions, which sounded like firecrackers. No matter how much they were urged on by the card artisans, not one of them dared to go forward.

It became clear that there was some commander unexpectedly hiding among the crowd. Chen Mu also saw that their adversary’s attacks briefly paused.

From that, Chen Mu knew his adversary had been planning to use the crowd as their advance scouts. In that way, not only could they avoid any losses, but they could also remain well-concealed. Then, when they mounted an attack, they could achieve their goal of surprise.

How fierce! Chen Mu’s heart went cold.

By the time of that little pause, however, there were only a lonely six card artisans remaining in midair.

There was a sudden, powerful energy fluctuation from somewhere among the crowd.

That felt abruptly familiar to Chen Mu.

“Hugo!” Chen Mu blurted out unconsciously. “It’s Faya!”

The energy fluctuations were exactly the same as when Hugo had used the Aurora Beam the last time. Chen Mu was highly sensitive to energy fluctuations and could detect the slightest change. Hugo had made a deep impression on him.

The Aurora Beam he had seen Hugo emit before had enough power to nearly destroy the whole place. If they were actually hit by that Aurora Beam, Chen Mu wondered if the base could withstand such a blow.

Where were those energy fluctuations coming from?

Sweeping over the crowd, Chen Mu’s gaze suddenly stopped.