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  The blade-like pen tip glided lightly over a pale grey card. Fine blue lines flowed smoothly from the pen tip. On the palm-sized card, faint blue lines continued to multiply, and gradually, an intricate mysterious pattern became increasingly perfect as the pen tip slid.

  Chen Mus eyes were fixed intently on the card, his breathing light and cautious, as if afraid of startling something. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that his right arm had not moved a single inch from start to finish, only his wrist was moving. His right wrist was as agile as a snake, soft and boneless. The pen tip lightly rotated, an elegant arc appeared on the card. Suddenly, the pen tip paused heavily, changing its previous lightness, followed by a sharp hook, the pen hook like a knife edge! The pattern on the card suddenly brightened, then quickly dimmed, returning to normal.

  Chen Mu casually placed it on top of a pile of cards on the table. His movements were smooth and natural, without any signs of hesitation. After completing this card, his face remained focused as before, he had only completed fifteen so far, with a difference of ten from todays task. What he was currently making was a one-star energy card, as the lowest-level energy card, it was currently the most widely used and also one of the cards with the largest consumption. At this moment, the room suddenly went dark.

  "Damn it, the energy is used up again!" Chen Mu muttered a few words, his left hand casually drew out an energy card from the stack of cards, and then lightly pressed it on his right wrist. The meter on his right wrist strap emitted a bright beam of light. With the help of the beam, Chen Mu carefully walked to the corner of the wall, as the room was really too cluttered, he didnt want to knock over anything. On the wall in the corner of the room, there was a square instrument panel, and below it was a card slot. Chen Mu inserted the energy card on his hand into the card slot of the instrument panel.

  As soon as the energy card was inserted into the slot, the room lit up again. The meter displayed a number of one hundred. I didnt expect the energy to be used up so quickly, it seems that todays task will have to add another one. Chen Mu returned to his desk and quickly immersed himself in work, all his livelihood depended on this piece of paper-like card. Since he learned how to make these energy cards three years ago, he had never stopped working for a day, with a workload of twenty-five cards per day.

  Chen Mus room was very small, less than forty square meters, with a half-old work desk placed inside. Except for the relatively clean work desk, the rest of the room was cluttered with piles of miscellaneous items everywhere. These miscellaneous items were also varied, including stacks of old books and scattered materials of all kinds.

  In this humble abode, Chen Mu had lived for three whole years. This was a relief house specially provided by the Federal Government, where one could move in with just 150 euros per month for a small room like this. For someone as poor as Chen Mu, there really wasnt anywhere cheaper than this place. Moreover, in his opinion, he was already doing quite well for himself; he had even seen families of four squeezed into rooms of the same size.

  At five oclock in the afternoon, Chen Mu finally completed todays work - twenty-five energy cards. He carefully counted the number of cards, counting twice in a row to ensure that there were no errors before carefully putting the energy cards into the card pack in his clothes.

  As I walked onto the street, the night color had gradually deepened. The mottled lights in the night sky were mesmerizing, and the fiery trails left behind by the occasional passing of rockets in the sky created a fleeting yet stunning trajectory. Chen Mu slightly tightened his outer garment, looked up at the sky, and felt the chill in the air growing thicker. Winter was approaching, it seemed. Without any extra thoughts to lament the passage of time, Chen Mu only thought that he would have to spend more money on heating again this winter.

  As he passed by the back door of Dong Wei Academy, Chen Mu had walked this road for three years. However, every time he saw those students entering and exiting in pairs, his heart would still rise with a strange emotion. After adjusting his mood, Chen Mu quickly walked towards a small shop beside the academy. The name of the shop was "Dong Wei Miscellaneous Goods Shop" - there were at least twenty similar shops with the same name around Dong Wei Academy. For three years, Chen Mu had visited this shop every day without fail, regardless of wind or rain. However, he didnt come here to buy things, but rather to sell them.

  As soon as he entered the door, the owner noticed and greeted: "Ah Mu has arrived!"

  "Ah, Uncle Hua." He replied to the shop owner. The shop owner, Uncle Hua, was a man in his fifties, with time leaving unmistakable marks on him. Fine wrinkles, half-white hair, and a pair of reading glasses perched on his nose.

  "This is todays goods." Chen Mu carefully took out the card package from his bosom, pulled out that stack of energy cards and handed them to the shop owner: "Twenty-five pieces."

  Huashu took the card from Chenmus hand, didnt even look at it and casually put it on the shelf, laughing and saying: "Fortunately, Amu delivers cards every day, otherwise my goods would be in short supply."

  Chen Mu smiled slightly, but didnt respond. He knew that Master Huas words were likely meant as a joke. A one-star energy card was the cheapest type of energy card, but it was also one of the cards with the largest consumption. Moreover, this place was located near the East Watch Academy, so how could they possibly only sell twenty-five energy cards in a day?

  Mr. Hua also knew Chen Mus temper and didnt waste words, directly asking: "Does Ah Mu need cash or a transfer?" "Transfer." Chen Mu replied succinctly, then handed over a pale green D card that had been prepared long ago to Mr. Hua. After settling the bill, Chen Mu bid farewell to Mr. Hua and was about to turn around and leave.

  Hua Shu suddenly stopped Chen Mu: "A Mu wait a minute."

  Chen Mu stopped in his tracks and turned around, looking at Hua Shu with a hint of surprise: "Is there something else, Uncle Hua?"

  Uncle Hua took out a yellowish paper from the drawer, smiling at Chen Mu: "Almost forgot something. This is a listeners certificate for a card-making training class, which was given by the distributor when I purchased goods yesterday. Its just a waste of paper if it stays with me, so take it, Ah Mu."

  Looking at the benevolent face of Uncle Hua, Chen Mus heart was moved. He knew how much help this old man had given him over the years, and if it werent for him, Chen Mu believed that his current life would also be unattainable.

  Three years ago, he had just learned to make energy cards and went around selling them, but few people asked about them, and no merchants were willing to buy them. The quantity required for a one-star energy card was very large, and merchants would rather purchase in bulk at once. Chen Mu could only make thirty cards a day, which was an insignificant amount for the merchants.

  Fortunately, he met Uncle Hua. Uncle Hua agreed to buy his energy cards, but the purchase price per card was one hundred and three Oudi, which is two Oudi lower than the wholesale price of energy cards on the market. Nevertheless, Chen Mu was still grateful to Uncle Hua.

  Four years ago, Chen Mu was still a homeless drifter. One day, he met a card maker, a dying card maker. He used his savings of five months to exchange for the card makers life, extending his lifespan by seven days. In those seven days, he learned a skill, that is, the production of one-star energy cards. After the card maker died, he didnt leave Chen Mu any inheritance, and Chen Mu buried him in the wilderness. Until now, he still doesnt know what the card makers name was, but his fate began to change from then on.

  He spent a year doing his best to do odd jobs, during which he did six different odd jobs. He was twelve years old that year. Also in this year, he finally had a small savings of 1,000 Odi. With these 1,000 Odi, he bought the materials needed to make energy cards. The card maker had once told him that the wholesale price of a one-star energy card on the market was 105 Odi, the uniform retail price was 110 Odi, and its cost required only 98 Odi.

  One-star energy cards are made by every card maker, but the difference in price is known to very few people, and even if they know, almost no one will take the initiative. One-star energy cards are one of the simplest cards, and they can already be mass-produced industrially. Even a master-level card maker can only make twenty or thirty energy cards a day, and the output is really small. Moreover, for card makers, the money earned from the difference is not even worth picking up if it falls on the ground. But for Chen Mu, this money is enough to fill his stomach.

  He first successfully produced eight, almost losing two hundred euros, but this gave him hope. However, what he didnt expect was that when selling energy cards, he encountered obstacles. The businessmen had no interest in the few energy cards in his hand. He ran for a whole day without eating, and at 8 pm, he entered Uncle Huas store. When he entered the store, his legs were shaking, and he was almost on the verge of fainting from not having eaten all day.

  The price of 103 Audi is lower than the wholesale price of 105, but Chen Mu feels himself surrounded by great joy. He sold all the energy cards in his hand, bought the cheapest food, and spent the rest of the money on raw materials for energy cards.

  After that, Chen Mus life finally stabilized.

  Twenty-five energy cards every day, he didnt stop for a single day.

  This past is three years. In these three years, he only made one kind of card - a one-star energy card. In the second year, he was already able to control the cost at ninety-seven Odi. Although it was just a difference of one Odi, but for him, it was a huge encouragement. While making energy cards, he spent all his time researching how to reduce costs.

  Finally, in the third year, he was able to control the cost of energy cards at 95 Odi per card, and he could make a profit of 8 Odi per card. His daily income stabilized at 200 Odi, which was an unimaginable number three years ago. An income of 6,000 Odi per month allowed him to live an ordinary life, but he still lived in the relief house that only cost 150 Odi per month.

  Chen Muos uncle, Huazhao, came back to his senses and smiled: "Thank you, Uncle!" He took the attendance certificate and carefully put it in the card package in his pocket.

  Training classes, especially those for card makers, are among the most popular types of training classes these days. They often come with extremely luxurious advertisements, such as this attendance certificate which claims "Dongwei Academy recognizes academic credentials" and "Senior Card Maker Dongwei Academys authoritative lecturer", but in reality, its unclear what exactly is being taught. The organization hosting this training class has only a slight connection to Dongwei Academy, which is that they have to pay a fee to Dongwei Academy each time, as the cost of maintaining this nominal "co-hosting" relationship.

  Chen Mu still decided to go and listen to what the training class was all about. Card making is one of the most profound studies, and for so many years, he had not given up on self-study, but with little effect. It wasnt until last year that he finally understood what was going on. His foundation was simply too poor, and after more than a decade of drifting, he had never received any cultural education.

  For a young man with no foundation, its naturally extremely difficult to self-study the profound and abstruse Card Creation. However, he didnt have any doubts about his own intelligence, and was able to learn how to create a one-star energy card in just one week relying solely on memory, earning him praise from that years Card Creator for his talent.

  After that, he put down this temporarily high goal for him and began to turn to the most basic theoretical learning. No matter how tired he was at work every day, he would take out time to learn these dry knowledge.

  After bidding farewell to Uncle Hua, Chen Mu walked south along a small alley. Today was Saturday and he still had work to do.

  After walking through two streets for about twenty minutes, he arrived at a second-hand waste card collection station.

  "Hey, buddy, Im here!" He greeted a tall and thin bald man named Xiao Hei. He was also the owner of this collection station. Every Saturday evening, Chen Mu would come here to work for three hours.

  Chen Mu nodded slightly, his face still somewhat wooden.

  Chen Mus expression was nothing new to Xiao Hei. When Chen Mu first came here asking for a part-time job, Xiao Hei had initially refused him. This recycling station had been run by one person since his fathers time, and when it was passed down to him, he continued to manage it alone.

  Hire someone? Xiao Hei cant afford to pay that salary.

  However, when Chen Mu said he didnt want any payment, Xiao Hei finally agreed. Of course, Chen Mu still got paid, usually in the form of a few old cards that he would take away as his wages. Sometimes, Chen Mu would even pick out a few unused energy cards from the pile of junk, and Xiao Hei calculated that every month, he saved a small fortune on this alone. But he couldnt help but feel curious about the taciturn Chen Mu - how did this guy know there was still residual energy left in these cards?

  However, since then, he smiled every time he saw Chen Mu.

  Chen Mu squatted down and began to sort the discarded old cards. There were many types of cards, including energy cards, item cards, simulated object cards, and even some rare plant cards and animal cards. However, all the cards here were useless, and Chen Mus task was to categorize them.

  The work is going very quickly, its clear that he is very familiar with this job.

  Chen Mu flipped his wrist and tossed a card to Xiao Hei: "Here, this card can still be used for a while." This two-star energy card had at least half of its energy left, and Chen Mu couldnt understand why the original owner would waste it like that. A two-star energy card had a capacity of 1,000, which meant there was still about 500 units of energy inside.

  "Hehe, thanks little Chen!" Xiao Hei looked at the two-star energy card in his hand and couldnt help but smile. He quickly ran to the energy meter, inserted the card, and when he saw the number "523" light up on it, Xiao Heis face scrunched up with joy.

  Chen Mu didnt care, he was single-mindedly searching. Although some useless mid-level cards would appear here, such as three-star or four-star cards, the probability of their appearance was still quite high. But to him, they had no value. What he was now interested in was only one-star energy cards.

  Three years of production experience have given him his own understanding of this most ordinary and low-level card. The method of making one-star energy cards is not just one, Chen Mu has already collected twelve different structures of one-star energy cards. These differently structured one-star energy cards gave Chen Mu a great deal of inspiration, it was because he borrowed some techniques from these cards that he successfully lowered the cost of producing one-star energy cards to ninety-five Odi. However, such good luck wont be there every day, so far, he has only collected twelve.

  But todays luck seems pretty good.

  Looking at this one-star energy card in his hand, judging from the surface texture, it is a new structure that Chen Mu has never encountered before.

  He put the energy card aside and continued to focus on searching. The number of one-star energy cards was too many, but Chen Mu didnt get tired of checking them one by one. His speed was extremely fast, almost as soon as his hand lightly touched these one-star energy cards, he could tell if it was what he wanted or not.

  All of this comes from his familiarity with the One-Star Energy Card. This familiarity has been left behind by three years of continuous production, and he can judge whether this card is a One-Star Energy Card or not just by feeling it without looking at it, whether it is a structure he has seen before. He is so familiar with them that every detail of theirs.

  The fingers sweeping across the edge of the card suddenly stopped.

  This card...

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