Card Making: My Card Game Starts with the White Dragon

Zhou Hao turned around and saw two middle-aged men standing behind him.

He was dressed in a suit and tie, with a clean-cut and refined appearance, and with gold-rimmed glasses and a slicked-back hairstyle, looking every bit the successful boss.

He was a man with rough skin, plain looks, wearing a rather retro-style coarse cloth short jacket, with his trouser legs rolled up, and a copper pipe in his mouth—a perfect image of an old farmer from the fields.

Ma Ling'er buried her face in the arms of the refined middle-aged man: "Dad, why did you come here?"

The middle-aged man affectionately stroked his daughter's head and said with a smile, "I missed my daughter. I also wanted to check on your investment targets."

Zhou Hao recognized both of them, as they were both frequent guests on television.

One is Ma Huateng, the founder and chairman of Shenzhen Penguin Company, and the other is Guo Chen, a well-known hero in the city and the president of the Shanhaiguan Card Players Association.

"As expected, Ma Ling'er really is Ma Huateng's daughter."

Zhou Hao wasn't too surprised by this. He had already guessed it when Ma Ling'er mentioned that the armor was developed by her family when they were underwater, and now he was completely certain.

Ma Huateng looked at Zhou Hao, took out a few material cards from his pocket, and said to Zhou Hao with a smile, "Zhou Hao, come and sign for them. This journey hasn't been easy."

Zhou Hao was a little confused. Had his material gotten stuck?

Did Ma Huateng personally deliver it from Shenzhen?

Zhou Hao stepped forward, took the material cards, and looked at them. They were indeed the ones he wanted.

He didn't know what to say, so he simply replied, "Thank you."

Ma Huateng laughed and said, "Meeting customer needs is what we should do."

I've seen your previous investments. My daughter has good judgment, and as her father, I'd like to invest as well.

Zhou Hao perked up instantly upon hearing the word "investment".

Even the penguin of its past life had an impeccable reputation in investment.

"Is today some kind of lucky day? The material cards arrived early, and even a master-level figure is eager to give me something?"

Zhou Hao quickly calmed himself down and asked:

"I wonder what Master Ma is planning to invest in? And what kind of return are you hoping to get?"

Guo Chen, the president of the Shanhai City Card Players Association, tapped his pipe and spoke up:

"What else can he invest in? He's just giving away those worthless Thunder Shards everywhere."

Let's see what kind of promising [Mech] cards they can come up with so we can copy them.

As he spoke, Guo Chen stepped forward and patted Zhou Hao on the shoulder, saying:

"Xiao Zhou, don't worry."

That old rascal always tries to gamble, no matter what.

He sent me so many fragments, I've received them all...

"Ahem!"

Ma Huateng seemed a little embarrassed and cleared his throat to interrupt:

"The material card I'm going to give you is called [Fragment of the Spark Source]."

These material cards are essential core materials for every [Mechanical] card.

Moreover, it can only be produced in the [Mechanical City] secret realm in Shenzhen.

That's how Ling'er acquired the [Crimson Flame-21] ability.

Zhou Hao even thought he had misheard.

What the heck?

The spark?

Fragments?

The Cybertron one?

Seeing that Zhou Hao didn't react, Ma Huateng assumed he still had some concerns, so he explained:

"To forge a new path, we must pool our wisdom and efforts."

I don't expect anything in return from you.

I only hope that the seed I planted today will blossom and bear fruit in the future.

If it even grows into a towering tree, that would be my good fortune.

As he spoke, Ma Huateng stuffed a material card emitting a purple light into Zhou Hao's hand.

"If you have any questions about the mechanical-type cards, just ask Ling'er..."

"Alright, Old Ma, go over there and catch up with your daughter!"

Your thing is like building a road out of thin air; it's impossible to explain it in a short time.

"It's not too late to talk about it when the child is about to enter the [Mechanical City] secret realm."

Guo Chen stepped forward to interrupt Ma Huateng. He had been young once too and knew the appeal of this thing to young people.

If this guy surnamed Ma leads Zhou Hao astray in his card-making ideas and he ends up diving headfirst into the path of mechanical cards, then Principal Zhu will probably have to fight Ma Huateng to the death.

Guo Chen tapped his copper pipe and said, "Principal Zhu and I have high expectations for you."

Don't easily change your card-making approach; even the advice of us old-timers isn't always entirely correct.

Zhou Hao wholeheartedly agreed. Card makers are a profession that requires the most imagination and creativity. If one blindly follows authority, it will be difficult to go far in the card-making industry.

"However, it's still worth listening to some of their experience in card production. You should be making [Field Cards] next, right?"

Guo Chen, as expected of the association's president, spoke with a touch of official jargon, using both foreshadowing and twists.

Zhou Hao nodded and said frankly, "Yes, I would also like to ask Chairman Guo for some guidance."

Guo Chen waved his hand: "It's not really about giving pointers. You've managed to recreate the concept of the dragon, so I don't have much more to offer in terms of card-making strategies."

However, I do have some experience in making [Field Cards].

I just looked at your [Field Card] main material with Lao Ma, and noticed that it also has a companion special material card?

He knew that Guo Chen was referring to the [Heart Sea] (blue), and that material card was indeed from the same source as the [Ruined Fuxian Royal City] (purple), so it wouldn't be wrong to say that they were born together.

Zhou Hao nodded and said, "I plan to use that material card to create the next summon card."

Guo Chen was about to say something, but then, as if remembering something, he called out to Ma Huateng and his daughter, who were catching up on old times, on the other side:

"Hey, girl from the Ma family, come here too."

Ma Ling'er, who was suddenly summoned, was clearly taken aback, but Ma Huateng smiled and urged his daughter:

"Go quickly, you don't get to get private tutoring from a top-tier card maker every day."

Ma Ling'er then hurried over, ready to hear Chairman Guo's insightful opinion.

"Ahem, I, a country bumpkin, have come up with something useful in the creation of [Field Cards] that might be of some help to you two."

As he spoke, Guo Chen took out a vintage-looking red leather notebook from the pocket of his short jacket and handed it to Zhou Hao.

"This notebook contains some of my insights on card making, so I'm giving it to you. Take a look at it before you start making cards; it will be helpful."

After saying that, Guo Chen turned to Ma Ling'er and said, "Ma family girl, you can take a picture of the 'Spirit of the Field' mental circuit on page 168 to study, but you can't leak it."

Ma Huateng chuckled and said, "Old Guo, so generous? You wouldn't give this to me when the capital wanted it back then, how come you're willing to give it to my daughter today?"

Guo Chen took a drag of his cigarette and said, "Although your broken piece isn't worth much, my own kid from Shanhai City accepted your gift. As an adult, I can't just pretend I didn't see it, can I?"

Ma Huateng shrugged helplessly: "Are you really afraid I'll steal your precious little darling away? What happened to the grand strategic alliance we agreed on building deep in the mountains? Are you this wary of me?"

Guo Chen glanced at Ma Huateng and said slowly, "It's not deep mountains, it's mountains deep."

Besides, why are you bringing up something that's not even close to happening in front of the younger generation?

As he spoke, Guo Chen pulled Ma Huateng away.

"No, my daughter and I haven't finished talking yet, why are you kicking me out?"

"Family visits are prohibited during military training. Get out of here now!!"

"When did this rule come about?"

"I just added you. Don't rush back to Shenzhen yet. Let's go for a quick look around [West Sea] before we leave..."

Zhou Hao watched as a card-making master and a card-making king shoved each other out of his sight.

He looked down at the [Fragment of the Spark Source] in his hand and the curled-edge notebook, and a warm feeling rose in his heart.

"Although this world is shrouded in the shadow of the old land, people seem to get along quite well with each other."

……