Both installments are going up together today~
Chen Mu handed over the list he was holding.
Lan Feng took the list and glanced through it, her heartbeat suddenly quickening. Forcing down her excitement, she asked tentatively, "These are all advanced materials! Surely only an Advanced Card Maker would use them. Could you be an Advanced Card Maker, Mr. Chen?"
Could this fellow really be a big fish?
No wonder Lan Feng was so excited. The Advanced Card Makers in all of Dongshang Guard City could be counted on one hand, and within the club, only the Club President held that title. Even the supervisor was merely an Intermediate Card Maker.
Chen Mu was rather surprised. The materials on the list were all obscure, uncommon ones that even many shopkeepers specializing in materials could not identify in full. This woman actually recognized them? Her guess that he was an Advanced Card Maker, however, struck him as rather absurd.
"No." Chen Mu shook his head firmly, then asked, "Do you sell these materials here?"
Lan Feng grew even more enthusiastic and hurriedly said, "Let me ask for you first, so you won't have to check them one by one." Her heart was blossoming with delight. Whether or not Chen Mu was an Advanced Card Maker, one thing was certain: he was an exceptionally capable Card Crafter.
She activated the Communication Card on her wrist and soon had an answer. Chen Mu watched her, waiting for the result.
"I've just checked for you, and our club's stockroom happens to have all the materials you need. As a member of our advanced group, you're entitled to purchase them. However..." Lan Feng glanced at Chen Mu and continued quickly, "However, buying everything on this list requires eight hundred points, and you currently have only four hundred and fifty-three. In other words, you still need another three hundred and forty-seven."
Inwardly, Lan Feng marveled at the Club President's shrewdness! Because these materials were quite precious, she had specifically sought the Club President's opinion. Upon learning about Chen Mu, the Club President had shown an extraordinary interest in him. The Club President's current project happened to need another exceptionally capable Card Crafter.
Her voice, however, was full of regret. "You're still three hundred and forty-seven points short. If you just take on one or two major projects..."
Before she could finish, Chen Mu interrupted. "Three hundred and forty-seven points short? As long as I have eight hundred points, I can buy them?"
"Yes!" Lan Feng answered readily. "Once you have those three hundred and forty-seven points, you can buy them immediately, at any time. Of course, that only applies to today. If another member wants to buy them, we can't stop them."
How could earning three hundred and forty-seven points in a single day possibly be easy? She could hardly understand it herself. Did the Club President really need this person's help that badly? She had never seen a task worth more than two hundred points. Now the Club President had offered over three hundred in one breath, yet however she looked at it, the Club President hardly seemed generous!
Still, she believed he would jump into this pit without the slightest hesitation. Over three hundred points could not be gathered in a short time without participating in a major assignment like this. She had also confirmed that Chen Mu knew no one in the club, so he had nowhere to borrow them.
Unless he no longer wanted these materials!
With her eye for people, she was absolutely certain that this young man desperately wanted these particular materials!
"Oh," Chen Mu answered, then turned and walked away.
This completely unexpected move left Lan Feng rooted to the spot, her mind unable to catch up.
By the time she recovered, Chen Mu was already ten meters away.
"Mr. Chen! Mr. Chen!" She hurried after him and asked urgently, "Don't you want those materials anymore?"
"Why wouldn't I?" Chen Mu gave Lan Feng a puzzled look.
Lan Feng felt even more confused, her words becoming a little incoherent. "Then you... what are you...?"
"Earning points!" Without looking back, Chen Mu tossed out the answer as though it were perfectly obvious.
"Earning points..." Lan Feng was dumbfounded.
Chen Mu entered the hall and sat down before a light screen. Seeing the long string of requests for help displayed there, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Picking up the screen stylus, he began reading from the first entry.
The first... the second...
Now Chen Mu frowned in deep thought; now his stylus flew across the screen. He had entered a state of complete self-forgetfulness, utterly unaware of the remarkable expressions playing across Lan Feng's face behind him.
Meanwhile, the hall was as noisy as a teahouse, though everyone's face was lit with excitement. Every so often, someone activated their Communication Card.
"Old Wang! Get over to the club! Hurry!"
"What's going on? Why all the fuss?" The person on the other end sounded distinctly distracted.
"Heh heh, remember that fellow who swept up all those points a while ago?" The speaker gave a mysterious smile.
"Swept up points? Oh, you mean that freak who raked in over four hundred points in one day?" Old Wang immediately perked up, his voice growing several notches louder.
"That's the one! Good grief, he's back today! He's in the hall right now. Aren't you coming, Old Wang? That help request you posted last time about the loop structure has already been solved! Check it quickly and see whether the result is right. The rest of us are all waiting."
"What? I'm coming right now! I'll be there in a moment!" Old Wang hastily ended the call, immediately climbed into his Shuttlecraft, and sped toward the club.
Two hours passed, and Chen Mu had successfully solved twelve problems. In other words, he had already earned eighty-five points. Yet he showed no sign whatsoever of stopping.
He stared intently at the light screen, his mind working at full speed. None of the problems here were simple. Fortunately, his theoretical knowledge was quite solid, and he had extensive experience making Card Films. This time, however, he discovered that the most crucial factor was still his experience making those twelve cards.
Eleven of those twelve cards were low-level Illusion Cards, but the complexity and difficulty of those eleven were nothing short of mind-boggling.
To make those twelve cards, Chen Mu had poured in untold thought and overcome countless difficulties. All that thinking was proving useful today, and it was precisely what enabled him to answer other people's requests for help.
Low-level Illusion Cards meant one-star and two-star Illusion Cards. Although they were not particularly difficult to make, the knowledge involved was still profound. Moreover, as low-level Illusion Cards became increasingly widespread, they were developing toward ever greater precision and ever more specialized requirements. In this respect, Advanced Card Makers fell far short of these low-level Card Crafters.
Chen Mu's actions last time had drawn no attention at the time. Only afterward had people discovered, to their astonishment, that one person had swept up over four hundred points in a single day, solving dozens of requests for help. Nothing like it had ever happened since the club's founding.
Who could be so formidable? That was the first thought in everyone's mind.
Unfortunately, after that, the legendary Score Sweeper had suddenly vanished without a trace. Whoever he was, anyone capable of sweeping up four hundred points in one day was either a master or a genius, enough to earn the respect of everyone in the club.
When Chen Mu solved the third request for help, he had no idea that the person who had posted it was right there in the club. That Card Crafter received Chen Mu's solution immediately. Amid his delighted surprise, he discovered that the respondent was none other than the Score Sweeper named Chen Mu.
He had trembled all over with excitement. Once he finally calmed down, he hurried to spread the news. Unlike Chen Mu, he was a veteran member of three years, with countless acquaintances in the club.
Within moments, one person told ten, and ten told a hundred. The news spread not only throughout the hall; many Card Crafters at home also dropped what they were doing and hurried over.
Everyone began searching the hall to find out which person was the Score Sweeper.
Very soon, they fixed their sights on Chen Mu. For one thing, he looked unfamiliar, and not a single person could name him. For another, Lan Feng stood behind him like an attendant, and the shocked expression on her face was enough to reveal who he was.
Although everyone felt that approaching him like this would be a little presumptuous, a few bold, thick-skinned fellows still went over.
The moment those Card Crafters looked at the light screen in front of the young man, they seemed to turn to stone, standing utterly motionless. Anyone who knew them could tell they were engrossed.
Those who had not approached immediately felt as though hundreds upon thousands of claws were scratching at their hearts. The itch was unbearable, and they could not resist moving closer too.
More and more people gathered until, within moments, a large crowd surrounded Chen Mu from behind. Yet not a sound came from them. Every person held their tongue, staring in rapt absorption at the large light screen before the young man.
Lan Feng was the first to come to her senses. Seeing the situation, she could only smile bitterly to herself. With things like this, the Club President's carefully laid scheme had fallen through. According to her tally, Chen Mu had already earned nearly two hundred points. At this rate, never mind three hundred-he would earn more than four hundred with ease.
Looking at the Card Crafters behind her, their eyes glued to the screen, she could only step aside helplessly. She called the Club President's Communication Card and briefly explained the situation, murmuring the occasional acknowledgment. Her expression had already returned to normal.
According to a later tally, that day set a two-year record for the number of members visiting the club in a single day. Eventually, the crowd behind Chen Mu became so tightly packed that not even water could trickle through, and no one could squeeze inside. Late-arriving Card Crafters stamped their feet anxiously outside, while those who had previously posted requests rushed to the light screens to check whether their problems had been solved.
Other, cleverer Card Crafters hurried to post requests of their own, hoping to seize this chance to resolve questions that had troubled them for a long time. For a while, the number of help requests posted in the hall grew at a frantic pace, until their end was no longer visible.
The Card Crafters fortunate enough to have their problems solved paid out their promised points without hesitation, full of admiration.
Compared with last time, Chen Mu swept up points even faster. Almost everyone whose request he solved was present, so as soon as he answered and they confirmed its correctness, they transferred the points to him immediately.
Naturally, this made things extremely fast, but Chen Mu did not notice. In truth, he had no real sense of what three hundred or four hundred points meant. As he saw it, earning over four hundred last time had taken an entire day, so today would probably take about as long.
With that in mind, he paid no attention to his points and simply concentrated on thinking through his answers.
Looking at the impenetrable crowd, Lan Feng was dumbfounded. She had only stepped out long enough to report to the Club President, yet getting back inside was no longer so easy.
Just then, someone called from behind her, "Sister Lan... Sister Lan..."
Lan Feng turned and saw An Xiaoyou running toward her, panting.
Before Lan Feng could speak, An Xiaoyou asked impatiently, "Sister Lan, Chen Mu came today, right? Where is he? Where is he?"
Lan Feng gestured with her lips. "There. Inside."
The tightly packed crowd left An Xiaoyou dumbfounded. "How did all these people get here faster than me?" he muttered. Then, wearing the expression of a man marching nobly to his death, he gritted his teeth. "Damn it, I'm going all out!" With that, he began squeezing into the crowd.
Seeing this, Lan Feng hurried after An Xiaoyou. With someone clearing a path ahead, she would not be Lan Feng if she failed to take advantage of it.
After expending the strength of nine oxen and two tigers, and enduring countless dirty looks and angry glares, An Xiaoyou and Lan Feng finally squeezed inside.
Hundreds of people formed a dense, dark mass, yet they were astonishingly quiet. An Xiaoyou was so intimidated that he did not dare open his mouth. Good grief, if he angered all these older men, his days ahead would be miserable.
But once his gaze fell on the light screen, he could no longer tear it away.
Seeing Chen Mu's absorbed expression, Lan Feng felt great admiration. His ability aside, this degree of concentration alone was something few people could achieve. But after all this time... the physical and mental toll of several consecutive hours of intense thought was easy to imagine.
"Would you like something to eat?" Lan Feng leaned closer to Chen Mu and asked softly, with concern.
"You provide meals too?" Chen Mu asked reflexively, his eyes never leaving the light screen.
Lan Feng did not know whether to laugh or cry. She could only murmur an assent before asking, "What would you like to eat?" Hopefully he would not be too picky. Although the club's restaurant offered some high-end dishes, the selection was limited.
"Water and steamed buns." Chen Mu's eyes still did not leave the light screen.
For some reason, his answer made Lan Feng pause, a sudden sting rising in her nose. She gave a soft acknowledgment and stepped back beside An Xiaoyou.
Lan Feng smacked An Xiaoyou on the head. Startled out of his absorption, he was about to unleash a torrent of curses, but his reactions were quick. Seeing that it was Lan Feng, he immediately put on a smile. "What can I do for you, Sister Lan?"
Lan Feng gestured outward with her lips. "Go buy some steamed buns and water."
Looking at the dense crowd behind him, An Xiaoyou's face turned as bitter as a bitter melon. "You can't be serious, Sister Lan. Why not just kill me outright? Boo hoo, you'll never see your little Xiaoyou again..."
Lan Feng's slender brows shot up, her almond-shaped eyes widening. "Are you going or not?"
"Just look... this... this..." An Xiaoyou gazed longingly at the large light screen, unable to get his words out.
"If you get it done, I'll introduce you to Chen Mu. How about that?" Lan Feng dangled the bait.
An Xiaoyou's eyes lit up. "Really?" Then he thumped his less-than-muscular chest with grand confidence. "Don't worry, Sister Lan. Never mind steamed buns-even if one married a stuffed bun, I'd fetch you their son!" With that, he turned and charged through the crowd with unstoppable determination.
(End of chapter)