Lucky Cruise Ship
Chapter 611: Two chips
The smell of gunpowder and blood still lingered here, refusing to dissipate, making one almost taste the metallic bitterness in the air.
The chaotic scene from just now was gone, all traces cleaned up meticulously.
And all this happened in just a few minutes.
In comparison, it took Wen Jianyan much longer to recover.
His right ear was deafened by the gunshot, the buzzing unceasing, barely able to hear much sound. The burning sensation on his temple was still throbbing faintly. Even though he didn’t truly die, the visceral feeling of death hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
“If you need to, you can go back to the lounge and rest for a bit. I don’t mind,” Mesvis said understandingly.
Wen Jianyan downed the strong liquor handed over by the waiter in one gulp. A faint flush appeared on his pale cheekbones, finally making him look less deathly.
He placed the empty glass back on the tray, looked up at Mesvis sitting across the table, his voice still somewhat hoarse:
“No need.”
—”Continue.”
Mesvis smiled slowly. “Alright then.”
The pristine revolver was handed to him.
“As the number of rounds increases, our game will gradually add some new rules to keep it interesting,” Mesvis said unhurriedly while opening the cylinder. “First, there will no longer be just one bullet.”
Saying this, he reached into his jacket pocket and took out bullets.
One.
Two.
Two bullets were pressed into the cylinder.
Click-clack.
The cylinder spun, and the gun was loaded.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[…Two bullets?]
[No, bro, are you kidding??]
[The anchor hit the jackpot with a one-in-six chance just now, and now it’s directly one-in-three? You’re too damn cruel!!!]
“Of course, since the probability of death has increased, the firing rules will naturally change accordingly,” Mesvis smiled. “Starting from this round, we no longer have to point the gun only at ourselves. For example…”
As he spoke, Mesvis slowly turned the gun, the dark muzzle pointing at one of his own team members.
“…”
Feeling the muzzle at the center of his brow, No. 8’s pupils constricted slightly, but he still stood straight in place, not moving an inch.
Mesvis smiled and pulled the trigger lightly.
Click.
The revolver made a dry, empty sound.
“Oh my,” Mesvis clicked his tongue, seeming somewhat disappointed. “An empty chamber.”
Saying this, he placed the gun back on the table and pushed it towards Wen Jianyan.
The heavy black iron stopped in front of Wen Jianyan, and the opponent’s voice came from across the gambling table.
“Our game has three new rules.”
“First, you cannot shoot at members of the opposing camp.”
“Second, if an empty chamber is fired and the gun is not pointed at yourself, the turn passes to the other person. Otherwise, you can fire consecutively.”
“Finally, either a participant loses a chip, or all three bullets are used up. Otherwise, the round cannot end at will.”
Wen Jianyan slowly raised his eyes.
He looked at No. 8 not far away—the other’s baby face was still slightly pale.
He withdrew his gaze and looked at Mesvis opposite him: “The first rule, you said we cannot shoot at members of the opposing camp.”
Wen Jianyan’s voice was still hoarse, but his tone had calmed down.
“But, there’s no rule saying we can’t shoot at the opponent, is there?”
Seeing Wen Jianyan grasp the game’s implication so quickly, the arc of Mesvis’s lips gradually widened:
“Correct.”
Wen Jianyan lowered his eyes and picked up the revolver in front of him.
The gun barrel was still hot from the recent firing, pressing against his cold flesh, bringing an illusion close to pain.
He raised his eyes and glanced at the people behind him.
Once again, he aimed the muzzle at his temple.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[No, no, no, seriously?]
[Ahhh, a two-in-five chance. The anchor hit a one-in-six chance just now, isn’t he doomed this time!!!]
[Help! Help! Help!]
Finger pulling the trigger, Wen Jianyan squeezed his eyes shut.
A dry sound came to his ears.
Click.
Empty chamber.
Under the light, the young man’s face showed a bloodless white. His eyelashes fluttered gently, but the gun did not move away from his forehead.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[Wait, wait, wait, what are you doing!!]
[Ahhh anchor, what do you want to do?!!! Are you crazy!!!]
Seeming to anticipate Wen Jianyan’s next move, Mesvis slowly leaned his upper body forward, pressing against the edge of the gambling table. His upper lip curled, revealing his teeth, like a shark eager to taste more blood. His eerie eyes stared tightly at the other, seemingly unwilling to miss a single detail of the process.
Wen Jianyan looked up, meeting his gaze directly, and pressed his finger down.
He pulled the trigger again without hesitation.
Suddenly, everything seemed silent.
Click.
Another empty chamber.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[…Damn.]
[…Who understands? My heart stopped for five seconds just now.]
[But I more or less understand the anchor’s intention. This is probably indeed the best method right now…]
Now there were three chambers left, two of which were live rounds.
A two-thirds probability.
Wen Jianyan raised his eyes, looking straight at Mesvis sitting opposite.
Enough to take a gamble.
He raised his hand, pointing the muzzle directly at the center of the other’s brow.
Mesvis smiled, leaning back, his body language very relaxed, as if he wasn’t being pointed at by a gun right now.
The harsh light overhead was dazzling, and the tension was oppressive to the extreme, making breathing almost difficult.
Even though time flowed at the same speed, it felt stretched several times longer. That terrifying high pressure could almost completely destroy an ordinary person’s mind.
Wen Jianyan pulled the trigger.
In the next second, an almost heartbreakingly dry sound rang out.
Click.
It was another empty chamber.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[…]
[My vision went dark.]
[It’s over… it’s all over…]
[Ahhhhhh I really can’t take it anymore. What kind of luck does the anchor have? Last round was a one-shot kill, this time three empty shots in a row. And because his last shot wasn’t aimed at himself, the right to shoot goes back to Mesvis! —Damn it, there are only two live rounds left in the gun now!!!]
Just like that, the gun with only two live rounds left was passed back to Mesvis.
Mesvis picked up the pistol and revealed a smile:
“I appreciate your concession.”
…
A huge gunshot tore through the dead silence, echoing throughout the second floor of the casino.
On the gambling table, the blood-red chips on Wen Jianyan’s side seemed to be gnawed by some invisible force, disappearing bit by bit into the air.
He only had one last chip left.
While Mesvis still had three, not one missing.
Last time, it took Wen Jianyan about five minutes to wake up, but this time, it took him fifteen minutes.
His body was colder than last time.
His limbs became dull and numb, like rusted tools.
If before his life force was just noticeably eroded, this time, Wen Jianyan had a real sense of having one foot in the grave—the feeling of being alive was slipping through his fingers, and even the air he exhaled seemed to carry the chill of the tomb.
“You look terrible.”
Chen Mo examined him, his expression changing slightly.
An Xin gritted his teeth and nodded: “You can’t continue—you only have one life left, and Mesvis has three. The situation is too bad—say the word, and we end the gamble immediately. Survival comes first no matter what, we can discuss the rest later—”
Wen Jianyan’s gaze shifted slowly, fixing on Wen Ya. His lips moved, voice hoarse:
“…Come here.”
Wen Ya’s complexion was also shockingly poor.
But she still took a deep breath and leaned in close.
Wen Jianyan leaned over, whispering a few sentences.
After doing all this, Wen Jianyan waved away the others surrounding him and sat up unsteadily.
The light on the second floor of the casino was extremely bright, making his complexion look even more awful, like a dead person.
Wen Jianyan turned to the waiter: “Whiskey, two glasses, neat.”
The waiter turned and left, quickly returning to the table with two glasses of liquor.
Wen Jianyan steadied his somewhat trembling fingertips and downed two glasses in a row.
“Are you alright?” Mesvis asked hypocritically from across the table.
The young man raised his eyes, his vision seeming slightly unfocused. He pulled at the corners of his pale lips, revealing a smile, “Thanks for the concern, still alive.”
“Just don’t know if your previous proposal is still valid?”
Wen Jianyan looked at Mesvis.
“I need to rest for half an hour.”
“Of course,” Mesvis said.
Supported by his teammates, Wen Jianyan stood up unsteadily from the chair. Due to his poor condition, he had to put most of his weight on the person supporting him.
He turned his head, pale lips moving, spitting out two soundless words.
Do it.
In the next second, the false peace was torn apart forcefully.
The pitch-black Tang sword drew a sharp arc, kissing past like a breeze. In the next second, with a thud, a croupier’s head fell to the ground.
At the same time, the swamp created by Wen Ya appeared again on the second floor of the casino. The selected croupier didn’t even have time to utter a sound before being swallowed.
When it came to killing croupiers, Wen Jianyan’s team had abundant experience.
The higher-ranked the croupier, the harder to kill. Precisely because of this, they targeted lower-ranked croupiers. Under Chen Cheng and Wen Ya’s ruthless, almost exterminating methods, the opponents had almost no power to fight back.
In the blink of an eye, two croupiers were dead.
“What is the meaning of this?” The smile disappeared from Mesvis’s face. He stared at Wen Jianyan, his pitch-black pupils, occupying a large portion of his eyes, looking creepy under the light.
Supported by Blond, the young man turned sideways.
His expression was still pale, his light-colored eyes calm. He smiled gently, voice hoarse: “Now we’re even.”
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[Wait?]
[Why didn’t I keep up… what does he mean?]
[He means… Mesvis was cheating??? When? Why didn’t I notice??]
The cold expression on Mesvis’s face was removed like a mask, as if everything was just a performance. He slowly leaned back, shrugging very casually, as if the ones killed in front of him just now weren’t two of his croupiers, but two ants being crushed:
“Alright, fair enough.”
“See you in half an hour.”
Wen Jianyan smiled at him and turned around.
Supported by his teammates, Wen Jianyan returned to the lounge they had stayed in before the gamble started.
As soon as they entered, the strength that barely supported his movements was drained away. Like a puppet with its strings cut, Wen Jianyan collapsed onto the sofa, seemingly unable to move an inch.
“President, President, what happened just now?”
As soon as they entered, Ma Qi asked with a confused face, “Mesvis—Mesvis tampered with it?”
Although she was painfully suppressed by the high-density supernatural energy outside, as a reliable medium, if Mesvis really did something, she wouldn’t have noticed absolutely nothing.
“Mhm.” Wen Jianyan lifted his eyelids and said hoarsely, “He switched the cylinder.”
“…!”
Everyone was stunned.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[Holy sht, I just switched back to check. Although I didn’t see how Mesvis tampered with it, when he was loading the bullets, there was clearly an empty chamber between the two bullets. But do you remember the scene when the anchor fired the last shot?]
[Ah! Holy sht, I remember, the last two chambers were all live rounds!!!]
A revolver fires by rotating chamber by chamber. It’s impossible for there to be an empty chamber between live rounds at the start, but consecutive live rounds at the end.
In other words, unknowingly, Mesvis had swapped the entire cylinder.
“When… did you realize?” Chen Mo was stunned and asked.
“After he shot me.” Wen Jianyan looked up, pulling at the corners of his pale mouth, revealing a smile with no warmth.
However, this was enough for the action he took next.
In the casino of this instance, being caught cheating would incur a price—whether the party was a gambler, a croupier, or the casino manager.
Precisely because of this, Wen Jianyan’s counter-bite was within the rules, so Mesvis couldn’t do anything to him.
“So, you didn’t notice this at the beginning?” Chen Cheng seemed to realize something and frowned.
“Yes.”
Wen Jianyan seemed a bit tired. He lowered his eyes, rested for a few seconds, then spoke slowly, continuing,
“His cheating ability is very strong.”
At least slightly better than him.
After all, Wen Jianyan wasn’t a professional cheat. Compared to Mesvis, who had been on the cruise ship for who knows how long and operated the entire casino, he was still at a disadvantage in this aspect. That was why Wen Jianyan didn’t catch the moment he cheated.
However, his observation and memory were still functional under such high pressure, so much so that Wen Jianyan could still realize Mesvis’s tampering even after being shot a second time and having one foot in the grave.
Hearing this, everyone’s heart sank.
For them, the methods Wen Jianyan displayed at the gambling table were already ridiculously strong.
They were inferior to the opponent in luck, and everything might rely on Wen Jianyan’s ability in this aspect to turn the tables. They also pinned their hopes on this, but unexpectedly… Wen Jianyan was telling them now that Mesvis was better than him??
—How the hell were they supposed to play?
Just then, Kong Wei, who rarely spoke, said slowly: “…President.”
Several people turned to look.
“Just now in the second round, why didn’t you shoot at us?” Kong Wei asked.
This was indeed a question shared by all of them.
Leaving aside Kong Wei, who possessed absolute defense, the others also had their own life-saving means—since Ma Qi said it was just an ordinary revolver, they would be in almost no danger. After all, they could withstand attacks more dangerous than guns. Compared to Wen Jianyan, who would be genuinely bound by the rules, a small revolver posed little threat to them.
“First, if I shot an empty round at you,” Wen Jianyan said slowly, “the right to fire would return to the opponent.”
And Mesvis had personally changed the cylinder.
For him, the outcome wouldn’t change much.
“Second… that revolver probably isn’t as harmless as you imagine.”
“Remember the croupier pointed at by the gun?” Wen Jianyan seemed tired, speaking very slowly, voice low, but articulation clear as always. “No. 8.”
Others might not understand, but for Wen Jianyan, who had confronted and defeated this croupier multiple times, No. 8 was like an open book. He had long figured out the opponent’s expression habits completely, understanding what emotion any detail on his face might represent.
“When pointed at by that revolver, he was truly afraid.”
And croupiers were extremely hard to kill.
Being sniped by a talent was one thing, but being killed by an ordinary revolver was another matter entirely.
“Which means there must be something fishy about it.”
And based on the malice revealed by this instance previously, this possibility was likely greater than imagined, and Wen Jianyan dared not gamble on this possibility.
After all, he had two chips representing two lives to use, but the others didn’t.
Once his judgment was wrong, someone would immediately lose their life.
This was a risk he couldn’t afford to take.
“But… what kind of trick could it be?” Ma Qi showed a confused expression.
From her perspective, the room for tampering with the gun was pitifully small… Could it be that her level was too low to notice?
“Not sure.”
Wen Jianyan panted for breath. He shook his head and said in a calm but weak voice:
“However, we have a faster way to find out the answer.”
He regained some strength, bracing himself against the side of the sofa to sit up, looked up at Wen Ya, and said:
“Please.”
Wen Ya nodded. She closed her eyes, moved her finger, and the previously smooth ground turned into soft swamp again. In the next second, a figure was thrown out by some invisible force, stumbling and falling in front of everyone.
The figure raised his head, revealing a baby face still shaken by fear.
He looked around in panic, wearing the uniform exclusive to croupiers, now messy from the swamp just now. On his chest, a name tag was pinned crookedly, displaying a glaring red number.
—[No. 8]
__
Author’s Note:
The inspiration for the rules “can shoot at the opponent” and “empty chamber switches turn” comes from Buckshot Roulette, a very interesting little game. If you are interested, you can play it.
