Lucky Cruise Ship
Chapter 612: Poor No. 8 was manipulated by him
“Guest, may I ask what is going on?”
The moment of confusion seemed to pass in an instant. In the blink of an eye, No. 8 returned to his usual appearance, a formulaic smile habitually rising on his face.
“If you need to rest, I won’t disturb you—”
Saying this, No. 8 stood up, ready to leave. Without thinking, Chen Mo and the others behind him blocked his path.
Although they didn’t know Wen Jianyan’s purpose in catching this croupier, this guy must be useful no matter what.
Seeing the people blocking his way, No. 8’s face darkened slightly, a gloomy look flashing in his eyes. On that baby face of indeterminate age, a trace of violence unique to monsters appeared—even though they had dealt with each other more than once, he was not human after all, and even a core croupier. Naturally, he couldn’t just let himself be slaughtered.
“Guest, I suggest you think about this more. I admit, you successfully killed one of my colleagues just now, but that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want this time.”
No. 8 continued with a smile.
“—Especially since my master is not far away.”
Chen Cheng possessed a high-burst talent that traded damage to himself for attacks, and he had experience killing a croupier with his own hands. For him, killing an unguarded, lower-ranking croupier wasn’t difficult.
Wen Ya was different. If her goal was to kill a croupier, the likelihood of failure would be high. However, the unique point was that the task Wen Jianyan gave her wasn’t to kill a croupier—
But to take one away by surprise while Chen Cheng attracted all the firepower.
It could be said that Wen Ya and Chen Cheng’s success largely depended on surprise attacks.
And this time, a surprise attack obviously wouldn’t work.
In other words, killing No. 8 wasn’t hard, but killing him silently here wasn’t simple—especially with Mesvis not far away.
This time, Mesvis probably wouldn’t be as easy to talk to as before.
The spacious, enclosed private room fell into dead silence. A tense atmosphere, ready to collapse at a touch, brewed in the air. The two sides were in a stalemate—Chen Mo and the others were figuring out how to silence him quickly and silently, while No. 8 was also prepared to drag people to hell with him before dying.
“Hey.”
A weak voice came from behind, breaking the tense atmosphere in the room.
Everyone turned their heads to look in the direction of the voice.
The young man leaned listlessly against the armrest, struggling to sit on the sofa. His face was pale, with almost no vitality left, making one suspect he wasn’t far from death.
“Why so tense?”
Wen Jianyan looked at Chen Mo and the others: “Don’t block the way. If he wants to leave, let him leave.”
…This?
Several people were stunned, exchanging surprised glances.
After a brief hesitation, they obeyed Wen Jianyan’s order and stepped aside.
However, No. 8 didn’t rush out the door. Instead, he hesitated.
He stood in place, staring tightly at Wen Jianyan not far away, looking even more nervous than when he was surrounded just now, as if facing a formidable enemy.
“…What do you want to do?”
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[This scene… feels a bit familiar somehow.]
[Mhm…]
[Not planning anything.]
Wen Jianyan propped up his face, still looking half-dead.
“I think Mesvis probably already knows that you were the one who revealed the names of those three core croupiers, right?”
Compared to finger tricks for cheating in gambling, Wen Jianyan was actually better at psychological games—although they had only gambled two rounds, he had already faintly perceived Mesvis’s character traits.
This was an extremely arrogant, tyrannical enemy who sought revenge for the smallest grievance.
Rather than simply defeating someone, he preferred to toy with his opponents, like a cat playing with a mouse, only showing mercy by biting their throat when they were on their last breath.
The shot fired at No. 8 had no bullet, but No. 8’s fear was definitely not fake.
Wen Jianyan could responsibly guarantee this.
That is to say, in the gamble just now, Mesvis was toying not only with him sitting across the gambling table but also with his incompetent subordinate who dared to leak important information.
If No. 8 hadn’t been taken away by them, Wen Jianyan had reason to believe that in the subsequent gambles, whenever it came time to shoot someone other than himself, Mesvis would choose No. 8—not to kill him, but to enjoy the pleasure brought by the other’s desperate struggle near death.
Being regarded as an enemy by such a person was naturally terrifying, but similarly, they couldn’t suppress their desire to control and sadism under public scrutiny.
It was almost like a disease, a behavioral pattern written into their DNA.
No. 8 gritted his teeth and looked at Wen Jianyan, expression tense, saying nothing.
He was truly afraid of this guy now.
It seemed that no matter how he reacted, the other party always had the ability to get the answer he wanted, to get the thing he wanted—this ability was so terrifying that No. 8 would rather answer nothing.
But for Wen Jianyan, this was already a big “YES”.
“I wasn’t joking just now. You can indeed walk out this door freely,”
Wen Jianyan raised his eyes, his gaze lightly sweeping over No. 8.
“—And return unscathed after everyone thinks you were ‘killed’.”
On his bloodless face, a faint smile appeared:
“I believe you can definitely convince your master that although you stayed in a room without surveillance with us for so long, you still didn’t leak any information.”
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[…]
[Okay. You are truly venomous.]
As Wen Jianyan spoke, No. 8’s complexion became worse and worse, almost competing with Wen Jianyan, who had half a foot in the coffin.
After a long time, he slowly squeezed a sentence out through his teeth:
“I will never tell you any news about Mesvis.”
No. 8 wasn’t lying.
He gave Wen Jianyan information about the three croupiers before mainly because he carelessly agreed to his bet, and after losing, he was forced by the instance rules to fulfill the contract.
But now, without rule constraints, although he couldn’t leave here without hesitation like just now, relying solely on this to make him betray Mesvis was almost impossible—he knew the worst outcome here was just being killed, but what Mesvis could do to him was far more terrifying than that.
Unexpectedly, Wen Jianyan gave a short chuckle: “Why do you think I would ask about Mesvis?”
“…”
This time, not only No. 8 but even the others were stunned.
Huh? Is it not?
The life-and-death gamble between the two had reached the most critical point. Mesvis’s three chips hadn’t moved, while Wen Jianyan only had one left. Once his last chip was lost, death awaited him.
In such a desperate situation, kidnapping one of Mesvis’s subordinates wasn’t to extract information to turn the tables?
“The questions I want to ask have nothing to do with Mesvis, or even this gamble.”
Wen Jianyan raised his eyes to look at No. 8 standing not far away. Although his face was so pale, his eyes burned like cold stars, dazzlingly bright.
No. 8’s heart trembled involuntarily, almost feeling an urge to retreat.
“First, what was your identity when you were human?”
“Second, how did you become a croupier?”
“Third, where did this cruise ship come from, and where will it return to?”
Three questions, each more core than the last, each sharper than the last.
Even though the young man’s tone was the same as usual, appearing even gentler due to weakness, it didn’t reduce its oppressiveness in the slightest.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[…Holy sh*t.]
[Who remembers, last time after the anchor finished gambling with No. 8, he asked a very meaningful question, ‘Do you think he looks like an NPC’…]
[Damn, could it be that he has been paving the way for today since then?!]
[I’m more shocked that a normal person, close to death, can still execute a plan so firmly instead of seeking a way to survive? What level of big-picture thinking is this? Respect.]
“…” No. 8 stared fixedly at Wen Jianyan, his eyes flickering frantically.
Indeed, these questions were unrelated to the ongoing bet and wouldn’t betray Mesvis. However, for him, answering them was no less difficult than other questions.
Even… might cost a greater price.
Seeming to see through No. 8’s fear, Wen Jianyan said: “I don’t mind telling you our plan—next, we prepare to kill Mesvis.”
No. 8’s pupils constricted slightly, completely unexpected that Wen Jianyan would be so candid.
“And after killing him, we will thoroughly destroy this cruise ship.” Wen Jianyan’s voice was very soft, even appearing somewhat weary, but the impact of the information in his words was enough to shake the mind of anyone who heard it.
“Do you really want to stay on this cruise ship forever, acting as its hound?”
The young man propped his chin, looking up at him, his gaze seeming able to penetrate hearts.
Croupiers weren’t without the possibility of cooperation.
To some extent…
They might hate this cruise ship that bound them forever just as much.
Otherwise, Lucy wouldn’t have wavered at the last moment, or even been persuaded.
No. 8’s gaze wavered even more violently. He stared dead at Wen Jianyan, as if trying to find something more solid, more reliable beneath the frail human skin not far away.
Wen Jianyan waited for him.
He had plenty of patience.
Finally, after an unknown amount of time, No. 8 spoke, his voice extremely harsh.
“…If you really can kill Mesvis.”
“Then, yes.”
A smile spilled from Wen Jianyan’s lips: “Fair enough.”
He blinked: “Happy cooperation.”
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[He actually got him, holy sh*t.]
[But I’m more curious about, since the anchor’s arrangement for No. 8 in his plan is related to the core of the instance and he doesn’t plan to change his mind, how does he plan to deal with the upcoming Russian Roulette?]
Clearly, the others in the team had the same question.
“Then regarding the upcoming gamble, what plan do you have?” Wen Ya frowned slightly and asked.
Wen Jianyan looked at No. 8: “Be a good boy and mix me a drink.”
No. 8: “…”
Hadn’t he just agreed to cooperate not long ago? Why was this guy starting to order people around already?!
Wen Jianyan put on a pitiful face:
“I’m still a customer, after all.”
No. 8: “…………”
He turned around with a gloomy face, swallowing his anger, and went to the bar.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[.]
“Poor No. 8 is being played in the palm of his hand.]
[…How many times has this been since the instance started? This is the first time I’ve pitied an NPC so much, who understands!!]
After sending No. 8 away, Wen Jianyan turned to look at Blond: “During our previous gambling process, did Mesvis’s body undergo any changes?”
“Yes.” Blond recalled and nodded. “During your gamble, he did indeed look… more and more like Carl Bell back then, but to a very low degree. I still couldn’t locate his heart.”
This confirmed Wen Jianyan’s initial guess.
Betting with people was in itself fulfilling Mesvis’s authority as a manager. In this process, he would unconsciously become closer and closer to his original state—which was Carl Bell turning into a mountain of flesh back then.
Their direction was right, but the speed wasn’t enough.
Obviously, just winning wasn’t impactful enough on Mesvis. Only losing could make him expose the location of his heart.
The constraint of three chips wasn’t just for Wen Jianyan, but useful for both parties in the gamble.
Once Mesvis was weakened to a certain extent, he would get his wish.
Wen Jianyan nodded and said to Blond: “When you start locating his heart, cough once. When the heart forms vaguely, cough twice. Once you cough three times, just like we said before—act immediately.”
Everyone nodded.
“Besides that… there’s one more thing I think you need to know.”
Blond hesitated, his face not looking very good.
“What?” Wen Jianyan asked.
“The ship has started moving again,” Blond gritted his teeth and said.
He had observed this a long time ago, but the gamble was ongoing at the time, so he didn’t have a chance to tell Wen Jianyan this discovery.
“Did someone violate the rules?” Chen Mo frowned. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something and was slightly stunned. “Or could it be…”
He turned abruptly to look at Wen Jianyan: “Check your point balance.”
Wen Jianyan opened the backend and glanced at it.
“You guessed right; only a third left.” Seeing the drastically shrunk numbers, his eyes darkened—no one wouldn’t feel intense heartache at such a high cost.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[Ah?]
[Ah??]
[Wait, ah???]
[Holy sht Mesvis, this btch!! Points!! So many points!! My heart is dead.]
But Wen Jianyan just sighed, seemingly accepting the situation instantly: “Our initial bet was like this—I staked my entire net worth. Losing my life is just an additional cost inherent to the game of Russian Roulette. I just really didn’t expect it to be settled per round.”
“Since it’s come to this, regret is useless.”
Wen Jianyan shook his head.
He was long used to it. It seemed he was destined not to keep anything; what came to hand would slip away sooner or later.
He got lucky once, but ended up opening his eyes to a deed of sale for the Nightmare Livestream.
“It’s about time.”
Wen Jianyan looked at Chen Mo: “Give me a hand.”
Supported by the other, he stood up unsteadily, his complexion still terribly poor—this brief rest clearly wasn’t of much use to him.
Before leaving the private room, he passed the bar, reached out to grab the unfinished cocktail from No. 8’s hand, raised his head, and drank it all.
Wen Jianyan shoved the empty glass back into No. 8’s suspended hand:
“Thanks, it was delicious.”
He smiled and blinked, “Mix me a drink again next time.”
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[…]
[Damn it, even at a time like this, he can still release charm so easily. Can the anchor restrain himself a bit!!!]
[So hateful, my heart beat fast again disappointingly… damn liar!]
It wasn’t until Wen Jianyan sat back at the gambling table that the group finally remembered—interrupted by the bombshell news brought by Blond, they had momentarily forgotten to ask how Wen Jianyan planned to win next.
“Rested enough?”
Mesvis smiled.
“Yes,” Wen Jianyan smiled, although his complexion contradicted his words completely. “Thanks for your care.”
“In that case, let’s begin.”
Mesvis said.
Wen Jianyan: “I think it’s more appropriate for me to load the bullets this round.”
Mesvis sneered and shrugged indifferently: “Sure.”
He placed the revolver and ammo on the table, and a croupier brought them to Wen Jianyan.
Perhaps due to the significant loss of stamina and vitality, Wen Jianyan’s fingers were no longer as nimble as before. He could only press the bullets into the cylinder one by one, very slowly.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[Quick quick quick, did you record it?]
[Recorded, recorded!!]
[Hurry, slow down frame by frame. I must see if the anchor pulled any tricks and how he did it!]
Loading complete, the revolver spun rapidly with a click-clack, then snapped shut with a click.
In the “Integrity First” livestream room chat:
[…I finished watching the replay.]
[Huh? What’s the situation? He seems to have really done nothing.]
[Tch, think about it, it’s impossible. Mesvis is watching opposite him. With his eyesight, if the anchor did anything, he wouldn’t let it pass—not to mention the anchor’s speed was so slow. There’s no chance to cheat no matter how you think about it.]
[No, bro, are you really not planning to cheat at all?!]
Since Mesvis fired first last round, this time, the person firing first switched to Wen Jianyan.
He weighed the heavy iron block in his hand, opened the safety, and raised his hand—
Pointing the muzzle straight at Mesvis sitting opposite.
Now, not only the livestream room but everyone present secretly gasped.
They really didn’t expect Wen Jianyan to dare aim at the opponent with the first shot.
Remember, one of the rules of this game was: if it’s an empty chamber, switch people.
Once Wen Jianyan missed Mesvis with the first shot, he would face a two-in-five chance of being hit.
And with Wen Jianyan’s luck…
Two-in-five was already terrifying.
Mesvis looked at the barrel aimed directly at the center of his brow, expression calm.
Wen Jianyan smiled at him.
Then pressed down, pulling the trigger.
“Bang!!!”
In the next second, a huge gunshot resounded throughout the floor.
The aftershock spread to everyone’s heart.
Mesvis, sitting across the gambling table, looked somewhat terrifying. In the center of his brow, a bloodless hole was squirming as if alive, growing back together bit by bit. His face, so similar to a human’s, became slightly weird at this moment—the whole scene looked so eerie and strange that just looking at it made one’s scalp numb.
In just a few seconds, the wound on Mesvis’s forehead had disappeared, almost making one suspect if the gunshot just now existed only in imagination.
However, on the table, one of the three chips in front of Mesvis slowly disappeared.
That’s right, Wen Jianyan did hit him.
Mesvis was hit for the first time.
“Cough.”
Blond’s suppressed cough came from behind.
Wen Jianyan looked up at Mesvis sitting opposite. His face was as pale and weak as ever, almost impossible to discern any clues from his expression.
“Thank goodness. It seems a person can’t be unlucky forever…”
He smiled, raised his eyes, and placed the still-hot barrel back on the tray.
“—Alright, let’s start the next round.”
