Xicheng Crisis

Returning home to the distant barks of Old Huang, Tang Jian felt his mood lift considerably. He touched the gold chain and cash neatly tucked away in his backpack, then the combat pet card in his pocket, a small smile playing on his lips.

He opened the gate to his yard, feigning a casual glance back, but saw no one. He let out a slight sigh of relief.

"Looks like it really was Teacher Sun. She's so dedicated, she should be able to handle some unnecessary trouble for a newcomer like me, right?"

Tang Jian mused, feeling much more at ease.

Indeed, Sun Yiying was no longer following Tang Jian. Instead, she had used special means to frighten the mosquitoes once more, thoroughly terrifying them. They no longer dared to harbor any thoughts of revenge against Tang Jian and fled back to their nests in a panic.

Tang Jian walked into his house and found his parents watching TV.

"Didn't you say you had a get-together today? Why are you back so early?" Tang Lin, sitting on the old sofa, glanced at his son, somewhat surprised.

Usually, he would ride his small electric scooter to pick up Tang Jian from school, but recently Tang Jian had been saying he didn't need to be picked up, citing enhanced training, and that he would just run back on his own.

"Oh, we met early today, so everyone just dispersed." Tang Jian picked up the water kettle on the table, poured himself a glass of water, and drank it, casually saying this without mentioning anything about his encounter with the mosquitoes that evening.

He didn't want his parents to worry if they knew about such things, so it was best not to say anything at all.

"It's good you came back early, Xiao Jian. Things haven't been very peaceful lately. How about your dad picks you up starting tomorrow?" Chen Lianrong brought over a plate of cherry tomatoes and placed them on the coffee table, gesturing for Tang Jian to eat them, her voice filled with worry.

"What's wrong?" Tang Jian picked up a cherry tomato and ate it, feeling a bit strange.

"Brother, our homeroom teacher even reminded us today, don't you know? It's those lunatics from the Old Kingdom Organization causing trouble again. A few kids went missing after school near Nan City Second Elementary today, and a police officer was injured by a madman who suddenly appeared." Tang Yueyue walked down from upstairs, her small face looking tense.

"What?" Tang Jian was startled.

"Yueyue, you don't need to pay attention to these things. It's safe enough if you all just stay quietly at school and don't run around." Tang Lin looked at Tang Yueyue with some displeasure and seriousness.

He was concerned that Tang Yueyue's words might affect Tang Jian's mood, especially since his son had an important assessment tomorrow, which he had already learned about from Teacher Sun Yiying.

Tang Jian's performance at school had been getting better and better recently. Sun Yiying had spoken with Tang Lin more than once, saying that Tang Jian had extremely high talent in Card Cultivation, which rekindled some of Tang Lin's old hopes. He had high expectations for Tang Jian.

He had once tried his best but couldn't become a Card Cultivator, but now his son had this hope and talent, which greatly encouraged Tang Lin.

Tang Yueyue pouted, feeling a bit wronged by Tang Lin's words.

Just then, the TV began to broadcast some news reports. The channel had already been tuned to the Xicheng channel.

It was today's news, and some news footage showed the streets near Nan City Second Elementary.

In the footage, it was clearly late afternoon, near dusk. Many people's exclamations and panicked shouts spread through the screen. Then, in the blurry image, a terrifying monster, like a black spider, was seen rushing out from a street corner. It seemed someone was even thrown far away.

This image flashed by in an instant, and soon a group of people in special forces uniforms appeared in the frame. Card Cultivators appeared at the chaotic scene.

Tang Jian even saw the exquisite meter in the hand of a Card Cultivator in special forces uniform light up. Immediately, the person became incredibly swollen and tall, with bulging muscles, quickly engaging with the black spider. Soon after, the black spider was crushed and beaten to death.

The footage quickly disappeared here, transitioning to the news anchor explaining at an extremely fast pace.

His parents' expressions were slightly worried and agitated, and his sister Tang Yueyue was also staring intently at the news anchor on the TV screen.

"Xicheng residents, please rest assured. Under the organized encirclement and suppression by our hero Card Master, Lord He Yan, the appearing Old Kingdom Organization members, including the evil monsters they summoned, have all been killed. For the next period, we will…"

"Phew, thank goodness. What kind of madman was that? The Old Kingdom Organization members are truly terrifying, they can even summon such a huge spider." Tang Yueyue breathed a sigh of relief, patting her small chest, upon hearing the anchor say that everything was fine in the end.

"Alright, you two, pay attention. Although things are fine for now, you both need to be careful tonight. Xiao Jian, how about I still pick you up tomorrow night?" Tang Lin looked at Tang Jian and smiled.

"No need, Dad. I'll come back with my classmates. Besides, after the Interstellar Tower tomorrow, those of us who pass might have to train in one place for a long time, so we won't have time to come back," Tang Jian said.

"Hehehe, sounds like you're very confident. That's good. Dad wishes you immediate success tomorrow." Tang Lin smiled and nodded.

"Asking Old Ma for this kind of thing is useless, you need to spend money!" Tang Jian muttered inwardly before turning to go upstairs.

Tang Lin watched Tang Jian's retreating back with a smile, his eyes full of anticipation.

He knew that Tang Jian's Life Force and Card Energy now far exceeded his own. His son had grown up, and there was indeed no need to worry too much.

Tang Jian returned upstairs, his mood slightly heavy.

Only after seeing the news broadcast did he recall a somewhat distant memory.

At this time in his previous life, members of the Old Kingdom Organization had indeed appeared in Xicheng. Although these lunatics were later dealt with by the Federation, they did cause a period of panic in Xicheng at the time.

According to later analyses by some experts and news reports, these lunatics from the Old Kingdom Organization specifically targeted small counties like Xicheng, which had poor public security and weak defense forces, to abduct young children from the county.

At that time, it wasn't just Xicheng that experienced such incidents; many similar small counties had lunatics from the Old Kingdom Organization appearing, leading to many young children going missing.

According to statistics, about thirty children went missing in Xicheng that year. Tang Jian even vaguely recalled that the hero Card Master He Yan, who was just shown on the TV news, had died in the line of duty in a battle back then.

However, now, the other party was still alive and well.

"Should I anonymously warn this hero?" This thought flashed through Tang Jian's mind, but he quickly extinguished it.

He was just a high school student now. Not to mention whether he could even contact He Yan, even if he did, and told them to be careful not to die, would that prevent them from dying?

They would probably call him crazy, and he might even make an enemy, being targeted by a Card Master.

Tang Jian lay on the bed, exhausted. He was too weak to do anything about the situation now; he could only let things unfold.

Anyway, no one in his family had been harmed in his previous life. He'd just remind his sister to be careful tomorrow, and then he wouldn't have to worry so much.

Thinking this, Tang Jian pulled the Poison Mosquito battle pet Card from his pouch and examined it.

The Card was thick and sturdy. Its white surface wasn't made of the Minar bark typically used for Energy Cards, but rather from the tanned bone of a curved blue toad. The lifelike, terrifying Poison Mosquito on the Card's surface looked as if it were about to break free and fly off.

The inky lines forming the Poison Mosquito were fluid and aesthetically pleasing, full of artistry.

Judging by Tang Jian's past skill as a Three-Star Card Crafter, he could tell at a glance that the Card Maker who created this battle pet Card was likely at the level of a One-Star Card Maker, producing this Card with effortless skill.

This unexpectedly acquired battle pet Card would further enhance his combat abilities.

However, unlike a mechanical Card like the Sleeve Arrow, this type of battle pet Card consumed a great deal of Card Energy with each activation. With Tang Jian's current Card Energy, he estimated he could only summon the Poison Mosquito once before his Card Energy was completely depleted.

Yet, Tang Jian glanced at the energy value in his Attribute Template, and a sly grin spread across his face.

With a cheat that allowed him to restore Card Energy at any time, summoning this kind of battle pet seemed incredibly overpowered.

When an enemy struggled to eliminate one Poison Mosquito, only to suddenly discover another, or even two, appear—how frustrating would that be?

However, the Poison Mosquito Card, as a pet Card, also belonged to the category of combinable and evolvable Cards. When the Poison Mosquito Card was combined with the auxiliary aura Card—the Blood-sucking Card—it could form the Blood-sucking Poison Mosquito Card.

Tang Jian remembered several other complementary Card combination schemes:

Blood-sucking Poison Mosquito Card + One-Shot Kill Card = Semi-Mechanical Blood Mosquito Card

Semi-Mechanical Blood Mosquito Card + Gigantification Card = Giant Blood Mosquito Card

Giant Blood Mosquito Card + Zombie Card = Vampire