Card Apprentice Daily Log

Chapter 2686: Karl Masters

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Southern Region, Blossom District, Sky Blossom City, TSR Guild Headquarters

”Look who it is—my prodigal subordinates. You finally decided to show your faces? I was starting to think you’d never leave your cozy nests in Freedom City,” I remarked, glancing at Henricks and his captains.

Even Sansa had been quicker than them to check on me.

That said, I couldn’t really blame them. They had been isolated in the Lil’ Red Storm Realm, and as a result, information circulation and response time there were severely delayed—nothing like those who had been right beside me in Sky Blossom City, listening firsthand to the declarations of the various royal families and governments.

They were too ashamed to speak, hovering there with their heads hung low.

Shaking my head, I said, ”This won’t do. Talk to Diana. Secure office space in one of these towers and establish your base here. Connect with my other forces and build a proper communication and command bridge between Freedom City and the card world. Otherwise, our people will be dying here while you sit back and enjoy—I don’t know—omelets in your cozy nests back in Freedom City?”

I paused, looking at the shocked lock on Blair and Jax’s face, then added flatly, ”Yes, Blair. I know you were enjoying omelets while the royal families and the central government were busy declaring me a world terrorist.”

”How did you know?” Blair blurted out in astonishment. Jax followed immediately. ”Wait—were you watching us?”

”Yes,” I snapped. ”While the entire world was branding me a terrorist, I apparently had the time to sit back and watch you steal sanddragon eggs, turn them into omelets, and eat to your hearts’ content. Do you really think I have nothing better to do?”

My voice thundered through the space as I glared at Blair and Jax. Somewhere along the way, the two of them had lost their edge—grown indulgent, complacent, and far too comfortable with everything that had happened. Their cause that drove them was now gone and now there were mere employees. And that was something I would not tolerate. However, I was too busy to play with their nanny. Once Ned returns, he will handle them for me.

”I knew it. You really can keep tabs on everyone through the VR-Universe,” Luna exclaimed, her excitement barely contained—and, beneath it, a trace of admiration. After all, I had managed to implement it across all five regions with surprisingly little resistance. Also, arm it against them, without them knowing.

”If I were you, I’d go hide in that big lab of yours back in Freedom City,” I warned her. ”Your grandmother should be arriving any minute now.”

I knew full well that if Field Marshal Lorn caught her, even I didn’t want to imagine what would happen. Luna had committed the one sin Field Marshal Lorn despised above all others—she had betrayed her family. She had betrayed her people.

Come to think of it, I wouldn’t be surprised if Lorn tried to kill Luna outright, treating her as nothing more than a sin-spawn, better dead than alive. I wasn’t kidding. Colleen tried to convince her sister-in-law not to take drastic measures, yet the Field Marshal ended up removing Luna’s name from their ancestry and adding her name to the most wanted list.

”Yeah, but where is she though?” Luna asked, completely unfazed by my warning. ”I thought she’d come for me by now.”

That, right there, was another ticking psycho. Fortunately, her obsession leaned more toward unraveling the mysteries of the Myriad Realms than toward people.

”She’s in seclusion,” I answered honestly. ”Training to break past the card world’s limits.”

Dalie, despite being a newborn celestial, possessed an exceptionally high realm limit due to the celestial whose core had been used to create her. As a result, card demigods could break through to the next realm in here, pushing further along the path toward transcendence.

It was going to be the selling point for real estate in Freedom City. The demigods of all five regions would line up to buy property there. With that in place, I was never worried about convincing card apprentices to migrate to the Lil’ Red Storm Realm.

There was also a reason I was being so forthcoming with the Freedom Fighters’ captains. Now that we were preparing to face the combined might of five regions and the Masters, I had to give them something—some hope to cling to. Otherwise, they would lose their footing entirely and spiral before the real battle even began. They weren’t my calamity daughter gems, who would follow me blindly, without question.

Then I turned my attention to Henricks. I was certain he had a lot to say. After all, he had witnessed Sansa enter and level my Celestial Rule Domain like it was her backyard, and then there was Kiren, along with the Western Princess, they had clearly spared no horrid detail when informing him of her arrival. The expression on Cam and Ollie’s faces made it obvious.

”Please forgive me, boss,” Henricks said, bowing deeply. ”We were detected by the central capital’s authorities. I know we should have withdrawn immediately, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave without Ned. Things spiraled out of control, and I couldn’t make it back in time.”

He held his head low while his voice was heavy with guilt. For failing to return... for not being there when the entire sky felt like it was crashing down on us.

”Don’t fret over it. I understand,” I said generously, then added, ”I’ve spoken with Sansa. She’s agreed to release Ned and Baylor.”

Henricks and his captains didn’t look relieved. Instead, their expressions hardened. But none dared to complain except Luna, who stepped forward instead. ”Are we joining hands with Sansa?”

”Nah. She’s just a means to an end,” I replied, then continued, ”Go prepare yourselves. We’ll soon be facing Karl Masters, Gideon Grim, the Emissary of Light, and their forces.”