Super Warriors: Battle with Cards

Chapter Twelve: Lei Zi

However, the speculation that such an advanced card would be made for a set of gymnastics made Chen Mu want to slap himself; it was simply too absurd!

Thinking back to those puppets that darkened when he completed the movements, Chen Mu recalled his speculation at the time. Could this just be the first step?

Yes! The first step! He remembered; the elderly voice had said, "The first step, please complete the following eighteen movements!" It seemed there were new mysteries ahead.

He had indeed been startled by this card; it took him so long to realize such a simple question. Chen Mu self-mockingly thought, only now did he sort out all his thoughts.

Chen Mu found his life goals again. One was to unravel the secrets of the card, and the other was to improve his illusion card skills. The completely incomprehensible illusion in this mysterious card greatly stimulated him. It wasn't realistic to try making a three-star illusion card in the short term, but he could make his illusion cards more lifelike, just like the illusion created by the mysterious card.

However, he still needed to continue making one-star energy cards every day; he was running quite a deficit during this time.

Chewing on hard bread, Chen Mu planned his future life.

Snap! A freshly baked plan was posted on the wall, and Chen Mu nodded in satisfaction.

Life remained unchanged for Chen Mu. The only thing that pleasantly surprised him was that his efficiency in making one-star energy cards had increased by almost half. Perhaps it was because he had learned how to use perception; now making one-star energy cards was surprisingly effortless. This gave him more time to focus on the other two things in his plan.

However, progress in the other two areas was relatively slow. Chen Mu could only do half of the eighteen movements, and these movements required considerable physical qualities—strength, flexibility, and reaction. But practicing these days had greatly improved his physical fitness, which was an unexpected gain.

Progress in illusion cards was minimal. Achieving a level where it was difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion was not easy. He could only continue to observe everything around him. Chen Mu wasn't in a hurry about this; he knew it was a slow accumulation process, and impatience wouldn't help.

With the one-star energy card he had made, Chen Mu went to Hua Shu's grocery store.

Hua Shu didn't look too good, but he was still happy to see Chen Mu. "Ah Mu, it's been a long time since I last saw you. What have you been busy with lately?" he asked, followed by a strong cough.

"Are you okay, Hua Shu?" Chen Mu expressed some concern; Hua Shu was one of the few people who genuinely cared about him.

Gasping for breath, Hua Shu forced a smile. "Don't worry, maybe I just caught a cold recently. Your Uncle Hua is still strong. What about you lately? I haven't seen you deliver energy cards lately, and I was worried something happened to you."

Looking at Hua Shu's pale face, Chen Mu felt a bit emotional but didn't know what to say.

Hua Shu finally stopped coughing, and his face went from pale to flushed. He smiled and said, "Ah Mu, you have to work hard. I've always wanted an illusion card advertisement, preferably with a blooming Qinglan flower, which is a specialty of our hometown." Hua Shu's eyes revealed a strong homesickness.

"Yeah," Chen Mu nodded vigorously.

Coming out of Hua Shu's grocery store, Chen Mu felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

"Woodhead." Chen Mu suddenly heard someone calling him and turned around to see a man dressed extremely flamboyantly running towards him.

It was Lei Zi, who had once wandered with Chen Mu. However, he was later adopted. He and Chen Mu had always had a good relationship, and he was Chen Mu's only friend. His adoptive parents were quite well-off, and they occasionally took care of Chen Mu. Until recently, his adoptive parents passed away in a car accident, and he had to interrupt his studies and return to a semi-wandering state. Chen Mu was cold and reserved, plus having a name with the character "Mu" (wood), Lei Zi simply called him Woodhead.

He was wearing a colorful shirt that was too big, making him look sloppy. His hair was extremely messy, with two large metal rings hanging from his ears, and he was dragging a pair of dirty slippers. This outfit startled Chen Mu.

He stopped and waited for Lei Zi to come over.

"Hey, I actually ran into you on the street. Did I see things, or has the world changed?" Lei Zi exaggerated.

"I'm here to sell energy cards." The two were very familiar with each other, and Chen Mu didn't want to waste words.

Lei Zi nodded knowingly; he knew Chen Mu very well. "I thought so. If you come out for a stroll, even the sun rises from the west. Oh, by the way, I found a job recently." Lei Zi's expression was mysterious.

"What job?" Chen Mu asked with some interest. Lei Zi's adoptive parents were extremely kind to him, always providing for his education, which had been Chen Mu's dream. But unexpectedly, tragedy struck, and Lei Zi's adoptive parents died in a car accident, cutting off all the economic sources at home, forcing him to interrupt his studies. Originally, Chen Mu wanted to sponsor Lei Zi's education, but he was refused by Lei Zi. This guy was unexpectedly stubborn in this regard. Chen Mu knew that people like them had a much stronger sense of self-esteem in this regard than ordinary people. If it were him, he would probably be the same as Lei Zi.

Lei Zi had been working hard to find a job. These days, Chen Mu had been immersed in the world of making illusion cards and unraveling the mystery of that mysterious card, with no time to spare for other things.

"I found a job at a small card film company, mainly doing some miscellaneous tasks related to scriptwriting."

"Card film?" Chen Mu knew what a card film was. Card film was created using dynamic images formed by illusion cards to express stories. The number of illusion cards used in a card film depended on the length of the content, generally ranging from twenty to fifty cards. Most of the characters and animals in card films were exaggerated to look extremely cute, and they were deeply loved by people.

Card films had appeared thirty years ago, but it wasn't until ten years ago that they began to gradually rise, becoming a burgeoning industry.