Chapter 149: Alfonso
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Life is always wonderful. Ever since he’d had that mysterious card, Chen Mu didn’t know how many times he had that feeling. Before he had the mysterious card, what he more often felt was the helplessness and hards.h.i.+p of life. But his circ.u.mstances underwent a stark change after getting the card. Before that change, he wouldn’t have dared to imagine ever being able to think of himself able to become a card master who had an “A” level of contribution points at such a high-grade base. He had always a.s.sumed that he would make one-star power cards for his whole life, and if he were lucky, maybe he would become an ordinary low-level card master.
That mysterious card was like an invisible big hand which had pushed his fate onto a different path. He didn’t know if that path was better or worse than the one before. Judging from appearances, he was a lot more glamorous, and had gotten a lot of things he wouldn’t have dared to think about before, such as knowledge, or power. But at the same time, he had lost many things that he had cherished.
But it had never seemed that he had any choice.
Like then, where once again he had no choice.
Chen Mu sized up the village with a lot of curiosity. It was different from the wood and thatch houses that he’d imagined. In his eyes, the village had a lot more of a distinctive style. You didn’t see the tall buildings of a city, and no house exceeded thirty meters. The roofs were like an upside down round s.h.i.+eld, and on top of them were some spikes sticking up, which were as thick as a person.
Chen Mu’s eyes lit up when he found that those spikes were card appliances! He squinted to examine them closely. The card appliances weren’t very high-grade, and he could basically understand them. Beneath the roof of every house there would be a device for providing energy. An energy cover would take shape between the spikes, protecting the entire house.
That was enough to surprise Chen Mu. Most of the houses were bigger than twenty meters, and if you wanted to cover them completely you would need an energy cover with a radius of up to more than twenty meters. A standard spherical energy cover with a radius of over twenty meters would need a shocking amount of energy. That was the biggest energy cover that Chen Mu had ever seen. While Eastern Shang-Wei City or Amay City might have them, he would have had no way to see something like those security facilities at that level of defense.
And Chen Mu guessed that those energy covers would also have offensive card appliances underneath.
“The little village is simple and crude, no? Could it be that Mr. Chen has also researched card-matters?” The voice of the old man came from behind him, and when he turned around he saw the old man’s gaze staring at him brightly.
Without waiting for Chen Mu to start talking, Li Duhong couldn’t help interrupting, “He’s awesome!” Then he started his vivid description, boasting about how Chen Mu had modified Cheng Ying’s card. It was as though he had done it himself. All those around were listening with great interest, and even the tough guys lost some of the hostility in their eyes, replaced by a little respect. Only then did Chen Mu discover that although Li Duhong was small, he could really talk.
“Oh.” The old man’s eyes lit up, as he said with a lot of interest, “This village is a rustic place, and we have very limited experience. To be able to encounter such an expert as Mr. Chen is a rare opportunity. We must exchange some ideas. Go and get Alfonso, Wei-ah.”
“OK.” Wei-ah gave an unfl.u.s.tered response, as he turned around and ran into the village. He was fast and disappeared within the village over a few rises and falls. Both Bo Wen and Cheng Ying showed their reactions in their faces, not ever having seen such skillful agility. If that man had been dodging at full speed, Bo Wen didn’t think that he would ever get a good shot at him. He felt a strong misgiving, not knowing whether the power in that village was at the level of Wei-ah, and he moved closer to Li Duhong. If it weren’t for the people surrounding him, he would have kidnapped the old man.
That move of Bo Wen immediately drew the glares of those around the old man, while the old man himself remained calm-looking, not minding a thing, only smiling at Chen Mu.
Chen Mu said discreetly, “My knowledge is shallow, and I don’t understand very much. I’ve never heard of those ‘card-matters’ that you talk about.”
The old man waved his hand, and said without concern, “We have very little interaction with the outside world, having very little chance. You must enlighten me, Mr. Chen. This use of ‘card-matters’ is only the slang in the village. Ha ha, what does it matter what you call something?”
Chen Mu looked at the old man in surprise, never having thought that an old man hidden away in such a little village would have such an open mind. Chen Mu had seen quite a few card masters who had never been able to get there.
Just then, Wei-ah showed up in front of them leading along a thin middle-aged man. The cheeks on the middle-aged man’s face were sunken, and he had a dull stare, as though he were pondering some problem. Chen Mu was very familiar with that look, which he had seen on quite a few engrossed card masters, and even he himself would be like that from time to time.
“Alfonso.”
The middle-aged man was taken aback, and his eyes soon cleared up as he lost all that blankness he’d just shown, and then said respectfully, “Were you looking for me, elder?”
“Ha Ha, Alfonso, I’ve long told you not to stay inside all day. You won’t get anywhere shut-up making cards. You should get out and walk more, since your body is withering away.” That last thing he said had a note of concern and dissatisfaction.
Alfonso smiled warmly, “Don’t worry, although I’m not quite up to that dumb ox Wei-ah, I still have some muscle left.”
Wei-ah was silent, as though he had heard something unrelated to him, while the rest of those around the old man seemed about to laugh.
“Come on Alfonso, Wei-ah could squash you with one hand if you want the comparison.” One of them couldn’t help interjecting.
Alfonso wasn’t mad, as he laughingly said, “Wei-ah is great, but he still can’t get into my house.” He had a look of satisfaction as he spoke. Wei-ah was still standing expressionless and indifferent.
“Apart from holing up like a turtle, what can you do?” The one who said that wasn’t quite convinced. Alfonso’s house was the safest place in the village. No-one could break into it, as it was surrounded by an arrangement of countless mechanisms. Up until then, no-one had succeeded to break in. Alfonso was like a turtle, and that tightly laid-out house made it like a turtle sh.e.l.l. Whenever someone would mock him, they would always say the same thing.
While the others were laughing at his turtle sh.e.l.l, not only wasn’t he mad, it seemed to make him happy.
“Alright, let’s not fool around in front of our guests.” The old man called it off, and they all immediately stopped the foolishness.
“Alfonso, these guests have come from outside. Mr. Chen here is rather well-studied in card-matters. Aren’t you always saying that you don’t have enough interchange with outsiders? Why don’t you host him for a while?” The old man said.
“Him?” Alfonso looked at Chen Mu skeptically, and a little indifferently, since how could a furry-headed kid be called well-studied. He guessed he only knew a few basics. Even though he didn’t know anything about their background, since the village chief had said something, he didn’t have anything to say about it.
Seeing Alfonso’s expression, the old man couldn’t help smiling. He understood Alfonso all too well, and as soon as he saw that expression he knew that Alfonso wouldn’t be likely to think much of Chen Mu. He sighed to himself that there really wasn’t enough interchange with the outside in the village. They really didn’t know how big the world was, since to them the world wasn’t any more than the village and the few dozen kilometers around it.
“How about this.” The old man took a look at Chen Mu with an expression that he wanted a consultation, “There are quite a few housing models in Alfonso’s house, and you can try out each of them, to see which of them has the best defensive power and the best counterattack power. How about it?”
The old man saw that Chen Mu hadn’t been moved, and he smiled mildly, as the wrinkles on his face stretched, “Of course we can’t let Mr. Chen work in vain. If he does good work, then the grudge between us will be written off, what do you think?”
Chen Mu raised his eyelids about to speak when Bo Wen suddenly cut him off to say quietly, “Agree!”
“Can we trust him?” Chen Mu looked at Bo Wen as though he’d gone strange, since that guy was never so easy with others.
“The better you do, the more we can trust him.” Bo Wen tossed out the phrase.
Chen Mu was pondering the ambiguity of what Bo Wen had said, as if there were something on his mind.
The old man was smilingly watching the mutterings of the two of them and didn’t say anything. Alfonso was looking at Chen Mu in amazement, never having thought that the clan elder would actually place such importance on that furry-headed youth. He couldn’t help sizing up Chen Mu another time, but still saw nothing special about him.
Li Duhong then said laughingly, “Uncle Oscar, Uncle Bullet, why don’t we make a little bet. Nothing ever happens here, and it will be really boring without a bet! I just happen to have two nice knives, the two I won from Uncle Alfonso the last time.
The two people next to the old man looked at each other, each finding the fire in the others’ eyes. Everyone in the village knew about what had happened the last time when Li Duhong had won those two nice knives from Alfonso’s place. And although that kid was something of a brat, he was always solid, and wouldn’t walk away from a bet. Although Alfonso wasn’t a bad guy, getting something nice out of his hands wasn’t very easy.
“What kind of bet? If we’re going to bet, then we’re betting that Alfonso will win.” Bullet spoke first, since Alfonso was considered to be the best in the village at making card-matter things, and there still hadn’t been anyone who could break into that little house of his. Not only that, but the safety and defense of the entire village had all been laid out by him.
“No problem.” Li Duhong laughed, and then said very steadily, “Then I’ll bet that Mr. Chen will win. But the two of you have to lay your bets on the table.”
“What are you thinking? The one asking that time was Oscar, looking a little cautious.