WTNL Chapter 609

Lucky Cruise Ship
Chapter 609: Life or death game

Ding ding…

The entire second floor of the casino was dead silent. The only sound was the subtle clinking of ice against the walls of a glass.

In the darkness not far away, waiters watched hungrily.

The two sides confronted each other silently.

A suffocating atmosphere seemed to permeate the air.

Finally, Mesvis laughed. He raised his hand and placed his wine glass in the hand of a waiter beside him.

“Since you want to gamble with me so badly, then fine—I will gamble with you.”

Having received the answer he wanted, Wen Jianyan stepped back slightly.

“However, what I said earlier wasn’t just an excuse,” Mesvis raised his eyes, fixing his eerie gaze, dominated by enlarged pupils, on Wen Jianyan, and said slowly, “To gamble with me, there must be certain rules.”

Wen Jianyan remained impassive: “What rules?”

“Don’t be anxious.” Mesvis smiled slowly, a smile laced with a strangeness that chilled one to the bone. “You’ll know soon enough.”

As his voice fell, No. 3 stepped forward.

He turned sideways, extending a white-gloved hand with a polite smile:

“Before the game begins, please follow me.”

Wen Jianyan gave Mesvis a final glance, withdrew his gaze, and followed.

As a highly private luxury salon, the second floor of the casino naturally had independent, enclosed rest areas.

Led by No. 3, Wen Jianyan and his group entered one of the private rooms.

“Your game requires some preparation time,” No. 3 said. “Please rest here for a moment.”

With that, he turned and left, thoughtfully closing the door for them, leaving the group looking at each other in the room.

Wen Jianyan suddenly turned to Blond and asked out of the blue: “So, did you see it?”

Blond shook his head and said dejectedly: “No…”

“Alright,” Wen Jianyan narrowed his eyes, seemingly unsurprised. “It doesn’t matter. I understand.”

“Wait,” Chen Cheng frowned, his gaze shifting between Blond and Wen Jianyan. “What kind of charades are you two playing?”

See what, don’t see what…?

Pure riddlers!

Wen Jianyan glanced at him but didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he turned to Blond and Ma Qi:

“Check if there are any surveillance measures here.”

He hadn’t forgotten the screen full of surveillance footage outside.

Blond raised his eyes, pupils immersed in blood-red sclera, scanning the room inch by inch.

Soon, he withdrew his gaze and shook his head: “None.”

Ma Qi also closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she opened them to look at Wen Jianyan and nodded in agreement:

“Mhm, same here. I don’t sense any supernatural fluctuations!”

“Very good.”

It seemed the second floor of the casino had some privileges.

At least they wouldn’t be monitored.

“Come sit.”

Wen Jianyan walked straight behind the bar counter. He bent down and rummaged around, quickly producing several bottles of aged liquor.

“Brandy?”

He held up the bottle in his left hand.

“Or whiskey?” He shook the bottle in his right hand.

Chen Cheng rolled his eyes irritably: “…Whatever.”

Wen Jianyan put down the liquor, glanced at the ingredients behind the counter, and rubbed his chin: “Or some cocktails—I probably can’t make anything too complex, but simple ones should be fine.”

“President, you know how to mix drinks?” Ma Qi lay on the bar counter, watching Wen Jianyan’s familiar and flowing movements, her wide eyes full of admiration. “Cool.”

“Yeah.”

Wen Jianyan glanced at her with a faint smile and slid a glass over.

“Here, yours.”

“…No way, President,” staring at the orange juice in the glass, Ma Qi’s face fell. “You give them alcohol and give me orange juice???”

Wen Jianyan smilingly stuck a little umbrella into her drink: “Mhm mhm.”

“Hey!” Chen Cheng curled his fingers and knocked impatiently on the table. “Don’t change the subject. What exactly are you planning?”

After pouring himself a glass of whiskey as well, Wen Jianyan looked up at Chen Cheng:

“Remember the situation during the final battle with Carl Bell on Floor B7?”

Chen Cheng: “Of course.”

“I don’t,” Wen Jianyan shrugged. “After all, I wasn’t exactly ‘present.’ So, I only heard Blond’s retelling of the situation after everything ended.”

Everyone’s gaze focused on Wen Jianyan, listening quietly as he continued.

“He said he saw Carl Bell’s heart at that time.”

Wen Jianyan spoke slowly.

For those who witnessed the whole process, this was undeniable.

It was precisely because of Blond’s guidance that Qi Qian could land the final blow.

“This confirms something I’ve suspected from the beginning—the croupiers, waiters, and even the management of the Lucky Cruise are not complete NPCs, but mutated humans.”

Wen Ya took a sip of the strong liquor and frowned at the burn.

“So that’s it. That’s why you used this to kidnap them, because you knew sinking the ship would be harmful to them too.”

“Wait a minute.”

Seeming to realize something, Chen Mo paused slightly and turned to look at him. “So, what you just asked Blond to look for was Mesvis’s heart?”

“Mhm.” Wen Jianyan nodded.

“Blond told me that when Carl Bell was heavily injured and turned into countless black shadows, all Blond saw were blurry phantoms. It took him a long time to distinguish which one was Carl Bell’s main body among those phantoms. However, once Carl Bell completely turned into a mountain of flesh, his heart wasn’t that hard to find.”

Blond nodded: “That’s right.”

“And what I know is,” Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes, thoughtfully swirling the liquor in his glass, “during the time Carl Bell turned into a mountain of flesh, he was using his power—power exclusive to management.”

This was something Wen Jianyan witnessed with his own eyes—and only he had witnessed it.

After all, only he was brought into the “appraisal” process because he was protected by the barrier created by Wu Zhu’s power.

“So, I formed a hypothesis…” Wen Jianyan said. “Perhaps every manager has a heart. It’s just that it won’t show under normal circumstances. It only reveals itself when certain conditions are met—for example, when they are truly exercising their authority.”

Thus, before everything began, Wen Jianyan instructed Blond to use his talent to find Mesvis’s heart during their negotiation.

And Blond failed.

This precisely proved Wen Jianyan’s hypothesis.

“So, the purpose of betting with Mesvis is simply to lure him to the gambling table?”

Since Mesvis managed the casino, his power was naturally related to “gambling.”

And before the instance began, he had refused Wen Jianyan’s bet—”rules didn’t match.”

So, based on various clues, Wen Jianyan deduced…

As long as Mesvis personally got on the gambling table, under the rules, he would have to use his power.

“Bingo.”

Wen Jianyan smiled.

After speaking, he threw his head back and downed the strong liquor in one gulp.

“He wants my money.”

Wen Jianyan put the empty glass back on the bar counter with a clack. He narrowed his eyes slightly, a trace of fiery coldness flickering in his depths.

“—I want his life.”

In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:

[…Holy sh*t.]

[I knew it wasn’t simple that the anchor insisted on gambling with Mesvis. I didn’t expect the stakes to be this high. Impressive, impressive. The anchor never disappoints in this regard.]

[No, I was just lamenting how vicious Mesvis is, and then you turn around and pull this on me. Bro, you…]

[Heart like a scorpion!]

“But,” An Xin spoke slowly, “There is still a problem.”

“—The Vice President’s talent is currently on cooldown.”

It wasn’t the first time Qi Qian used his talent in the instance. Each time he used it, the cooldown time would increase accordingly, and the time it took for him to transform back from a paper figure would be longer.

And until now, Qi Qian hadn’t rejoined the team.

Only he could directly bear the cost of killing a manager with his physical body.

What kind of side effects would killing a manager as a non-challenger bring? The answer was currently unknown.

However, even Dan Zhu couldn’t bear it, so it would only be more difficult for them.

“I know.”

Wen Jianyan said slowly.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have a better solution either.”

“When the game reaches the final stage, whoever finds an opportunity kills.”

After Dan Zhu killed Eaton Ethan, she still had a long period of free movement—although she herself had mutated closer to a monster—but this at least indicated that the price was not immediate, nor was it impossible to transfer or delay.

Coming this far, everyone had their own trump cards to save their lives. Take Wen Jianyan for example; the [Holy Infant] item on him was enough to keep him safe for three minutes. Others would have similar items, though with different names and effects.

Who specifically made the move was no longer important. What mattered was seeing who would have the best opportunity at that time.

“After killing Mesvis, the rest of us will protect the life of the person who acted, regardless of the cost or resources.”

Wen Jianyan paused, then continued,

“In case… none of the items work, I have a final resort.”

He pressed his hand on the counter. When he withdrew his palm, two agate stones appeared on the counter.

One was larger, seemingly fused from two fragments, while the other was slightly smaller.

Placed on the counter, they glimmered with an eerie scarlet red under the light.

“You haven’t put the last fragment back together…?” Wen Ya was startled.

“Mhm.”

Wen Jianyan shrugged. “Otherwise, wouldn’t Mesvis know what we’re here for?”

Based on the previous conversation between Carl Bell and Figaro, it could be inferred that managers and challengers could likely sense each other. In that case, acquiring the challenger identity in advance wouldn’t benefit them much.

In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:

[Oh… no wonder. I was thinking earlier, since the anchor has the complete agate stones, he should be able to walk directly onto the second floor of the casino. Why wait for No. 3 to pick him up? So it was because of this!]

[So, if all methods fail,” Wen Jianyan said slowly, “we still have one final choice.]

A choice that, compared to death, wasn’t necessarily better.

That was to succeed Mesvis’s position and stay on this ship forever.

“As for whether to do so, it depends on individual choice.”

Everyone fell silent.

The topic was so heavy that even breathing became somewhat difficult.

In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:

[Although it’s cruel… the anchor is really awesome this time. This plan basically considers all possible outcomes and has countermeasures for all of them. I almost can’t imagine any accidents happening.]

[And looking at it this way, it doesn’t matter whether the anchor wins or loses the gamble, because he didn’t come to win from the start. Everything is a setup to kill Mesvis.]

[Spending eight billion to buy a chance to kill someone. This boldness commands awe.]

Knock knock knock.

There was a knock on the door of the private room.

No. 3 walked in with a smile: “Hello, the game is ready. We are just waiting for you.”

Before he walked in, Wen Jianyan had already retrieved the agate stones from the table, leaving no trace.

He smiled:

“Lead the way.”

Just stepping out of the room, everyone immediately felt…

Something seemed different.

There was something heavy and solemn in the air, pressing down on people until they couldn’t breathe. A faint, strange taste of rust could be tasted on the tongue. Even though nothing had started yet, the hairs on their bodies stood up involuntarily.

Ma Qi lagged a step behind, her face pale:

“So uncomfortable…”

Wen Jianyan looked up ahead.

In the center of the second floor, an empty space had been cleared at some point. The chilling waiters from before were gone, disappeared or re-hidden in the darkness. Replacing them were five core croupiers in uniform.

Seeming to sense their arrival, the croupiers turned their heads in unison, their gazes projecting onto them almost tangibly.

Wen Jianyan’s heart sank involuntarily.

In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:

[Holy sh*t, five croupiers?]

[What’s wrong?]

[There are ten core croupiers in total. Three were killed by Wen Jianyan’s team, and two were killed by other anchors. That means there are only five core croupiers left in this instance…]

[Damn, they’re all here?]

In the very center of the entire venue stood a long green table that seemed out of place, almost too narrow.

Mesvis sat at one end, while the seat at the other end was empty, obviously reserved for Wen Jianyan.

Only when Wen Jianyan got close did he clearly see what was placed on the table.

There were no fancy patterns, props, dice, or chips on the tabletop…

It could almost be said there was nothing.

Only in the dead center, placed squarely, was a shiny black, heavy-looking pistol.

“…”

Wen Jianyan’s pupils contracted slightly.

No introduction needed; he recognized instantly what game they were playing.

—Russian Roulette.

A terrifying game with zero skill, relying purely on luck.

A complete life-and-death match.

In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:

[…Holy sh*t.]

[I take back what I said earlier.]

[An accident really happened… and it’s this kind of fatal accident. Absolutely insane, I’m dumbfounded.]

Watching Wen Jianyan walking towards him, Mesvis smiled and extended his hand, pointing to the empty seat opposite:

“Please.”

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