45: Chapter 44 Transactions

Sun Po looked at the staff member's odd expression, with doubts in his heart.

Could there be something wrong with this artificial creation card-ization project?

Or was there something wrong with Professor Bai?

But seeing that the other party did not want to talk more, he did not pursue the matter further.

Suddenly, the commotion outside the room grew louder, to the point that even Sun Po could hear it clearly.

"You surnamed Bai!! Return my brother's life!!"

Hearing this cry, Professor Bai, who was already staggering, stumbled further and hurriedly left with his face covered.

Yet Sun Po vaguely saw a little boy holding a funeral portrait outside the door,

draped in medals all over, crying out:

"You surnamed Bai!! Why don't you just go die!! If my brother died in battle, I, Zhang Xiaofei, would have no complaints at all,

but you turned him into that neither-human-nor-ghost appearance, wandering around the secret realm!!"

"He trusted you so much! Yet he died with eternal regret!!"

"How do you still have the face to live on?!"

Although Sun Po did not particularly want to gossip, the gossip was practically served right to his face.

His eyes stared straight at that staff member.

This person also had a loose mouth. Seeing that Professor Bai had gradually walked far away, he quietly said:

"Sigh, just a few months ago, Professor Bai was at the height of his popularity, once hailed by people as the greatest cardology expert of this century.

Unfortunately, his artificial creation card-ization ran into some problems."

"Oh? What do you mean?"

The staff member looked around to make sure no one was nearby and whispered:

"You know, before the Cataclysm, our Yanhuang Ancient Country was the largest country in the world.

To this day, our technological productivity is still far ahead."

Sun Po nodded.

Indeed, Yanhuang Ancient Country's productivity had been extremely developed since ancient times, always serving as the world's industrial center.

Although the current Yanhuang Ancient Country ranked in the top two among the five major powers,

if not for that bizarre Cataclysm, perhaps there would no longer be five major powers in this world."

He continued speaking:

"Professor Bai believed that since only cards could inflict damage on secret realm creatures, and card-making sequences were elusive,

why not make use of our rich technological heritage,

allowing it to be card-ified? Doing so would definitely benefit the people and the country."

Sun Po nodded.

Professor Bai's train of thought was indeed unique, and he keenly grasped the most powerful strength of Yanhuang Ancient Country.

That's right, it was the hundreds of millions of living beings with thousands of years of infrastructure-building experience.

Firearms, rocket-propelled grenades, all kinds of missiles, and even nuclear bombs—

as long as they could decipher the mysterious cards and completely card-ify these things,

Sun Po couldn't think of any secret realm that could stop Yanhuang Ancient Country.

The staff member lowered his voice, carefully observed his surroundings, and said:

"Professor Bai was once thought to have succeeded.

In the laboratory, military soldiers successfully crafted their own firearm cards under Professor Bai's guidance.

At that time, the entire official sector was thrilled, the military and civilians up and down were inspired, and even state news reported this major breakthrough.

Right on the eve of the Gaokao, the military and Professor Bai organized the first secret realm exploration activity using firearm cards.

They organized a team of a hundred people and entered a long-open public secret realm.

Then, a terrifying thing happened.

The moment this high-profile team of a hundred people entered the secret realm,

their bodies burst open, exploding into bloody mist.

If it were just like that, it wouldn't make the families furious; after all, what revolution comes without sacrifices?

What made people the most furious was that the bloody mist rapidly gathered again, turning into ugly, deformed monsters, and began frantically attacking the accompanying recorders.

A full hundred official Card Makers died just like that inexplicably,

or rather, worse than death, transforming into monsters wandering in the secret realm.

Now this project has been suspended, and the official attitude towards Professor Bai is also very subtle."

...

At this point, Sun Po had basically figured out the whole story of this gossip.

An experimental accident.

But this was merely a small episode. Sun Po's subsequent main quest remained entering the secret realm.

Just as the two of them were about to leave, someone suddenly called out to them.

"Student Sun, please stay."

Sun Po turned his head to look and saw a middle-aged man with a square face, looking quite dignified.

"I am President Chen Wang of the Gaoping City Card Association. I've invited Student Sun before."

Chen Wang shook hands with Sun Po,

and said:

"Professor Bai is my mentor. An elder is visiting, and Student Sun has been neglected. Please come to my office for a chat."

Sun Po and Liu Jianren exchanged glances and then agreed, after all, they had been mentally prepared before coming.

Chen Wang's office was in a typical military style—hard-boiled, concise, and practical.

After waiting for the secretary to set out the tea and exchanging a few pleasantries, Chen Wang said:

"I won't beat around the bush either. We want to ask if Student Sun Po can provide the card-making sequences for [Changyou] and [Red Flood Dragon]? Conditions are all negotiable."

Hearing this, Sun Po was also speechless in his heart.

Was it that he did not want to provide them? It was that he could not provide them!

Others might not know, but Sun Po knew very well,

his own [Changyou] was made by loading the skeleton of Changyou onto [Spirit Monkey],

but even he himself could not guarantee success every time.

As for Liu Jianren's [Red Flood Dragon], could anyone compare to someone blessed with such dogshit luck?

He himself had no idea about the card-making sequences for these two cards at all.

Therefore, as soon as this proposal was spoken, it was rejected by Sun Po.

But since he came today, he wasn't entirely unprepared.

Last night, he thought of an idea with about a sixty to seventy percent chance of success.

He was going to make a deal with the president of the Card Association.

Just as Chen Wang was feeling somewhat disappointed, Sun Po mentioned:

"However, my exclusive talent is somewhat special, and can enhance the combat power of certain cards."

"And during the match, I noticed that President Chen's [Heavenly Soldier] was one of them."

Because he had not dealt with official authorities before, he intentionally downplayed his own exclusive talent.

He was indeed worried about being directly seized and used as a tool.

Hearing this, Chen Wang raised his eyelids, growing interested:

"How much enhancement?"

Sun Po said:

"Not much, just able to awaken a true name."

This light sentence was like a thunderclap on flat ground. Chen Wang gasped in exclamation upon hearing it:

"Really?!"

This was also because Sun Po was unclear about the concept of awakening a true name for a [Heavenly Soldier].

Everyone knew that the [Warrior]-advanced [Heavenly Soldier] and [Heavenly General] could not awaken true names.

But many people did not know that a very few [Heavenly Soldiers] and [Heavenly Generals] in the military also had true names.

This situation was called "Ascension" in the military.

The [Heavenly Soldier] sequence after Ascension was far more powerful than ordinary [true name card]s; after all, it was a rare [deity card].

Compared to the [Heavenly Soldier] before Ascension, they could be said to be completely two different cards.

More importantly, the [Heavenly Soldier] and [Heavenly General] after Ascension

could learn more advanced secret methods and possess more secret treasures, far surpassing ordinary [Heavenly Soldiers] and [Heavenly Generals] in strength.

But to achieve Ascension, one must first undergo "Weapon Dissolution".

The so-called "Weapon Dissolution" was the failure of the physical body,

which meant the destruction of the card itself.

But if it were only like this, that would be fine.

What "Weapon Dissolution" required was the disintegration of the Card Maker's physical body and the collapse of the spiritual space,

destroying all places where cards could anchor and draw power.

If there was a true name, one could smoothly complete the Ascension and have a boundless future in the military from then on.

If there was no true name and the card itself was destroyed, then it was true destruction.

Therefore, those high-ranking bigshots in the military were all powerhouses possessing Ascended [Heavenly Generals], and every one of them had the experience of seeking life from death.

Every new recruit would yearn for it while listening to the legends of their superiors.

"If my [Heavenly Soldier] had a true name, how great would that be?"

"Perhaps there really is one? Perhaps even if I am plunged into a desperate situation, I can awaken a true name to save my life?"

Such a mentality also inspired the soldiers of Yanhuang Ancient Country to fight bravely, daring to battle and daring to die.

Chen Wang was also one of those yearned new recruits back then, but though he fell deep into dangerous situations many times, he never faced a desperate dead end, and thus retired safely without mishap.

In midnight dreams, he had more than once thought: If back then, he had been a bit more valiant and forced himself to be a bit more ruthless, would he also be radiating brilliance today?

But ultimately, a wife, children, and a warm brick bed eroded the ambition of those years.

Now, it was also quite good.

But right today, after retiring for many years and suffering a severe decline in combat power, someone suddenly came to tell him:

"I can help you awaken a true name?!"