SOP CH1: Era of Brilliance

The elevator descended slowly, falling like a meteor into a sea of multicolored neon signs.

Through the glass, a massive metropolis of steel revealed itself. Countless steel rebars twisted and coiled in a spiral, dominating the earth like a giant snake. The further down they went, the more dazzling the neon lights became, merging into patches like cheap strings of glass diamonds. Acid rain poured down, washing crisscrossing ravines into the ground.

Two people stood in the elevator. The lighting outlined the figure of a potbellied man. He wore a gold-rimmed monocle and a green landscape kesi silk robe, his neck hidden within layers of fat. The outer robe woven onto his body required multiple artisans to change tens of thousands of shuttles and over a year of time to complete. Yet, this weaving art, once exclusively enjoyed by royalty, was now rampant among the upper crust of Spiral City, because time had become a commodity sold openly on the market.

The man played with a gold coin in his hand. The coin was tossed up and caught again, the embossed Penrose stairs engraved on it glinting brightly.

“Look here, young man, this is the bottom tier of Spiral City.”

When the elevator descended to a certain point, the man suddenly spoke to the person beside him.

“Filthy, backward, with incredibly stale air and year-round acid rain. Not even seedlings can survive, let alone people. Therefore, the people here are all scoundrels, bad seeds, gutter rats who cannot see the light of day.”

The person beside him remained silent, looking up at the sky outside the glass. A transparent membrane stretched across there, wrapping the lower district like a soap bubble. Passing through this membrane meant reaching a place the sunlight could no longer illuminate.

“However, there is one thing here that the upper tier lacks. Do you know what it is?”

The elevator glass gradually took on the eerie, vibrant colors of the neon lights. The twisted exterior walls of the buildings were plastered with advertisements: “Win a century with one minute’s principal!” and “‘Red Eye Roulette’ invites you. The billionaire’s seat is waiting for you.” The fat man licked his thick lips, revealing a greedy smile like a snarling porcupine.

“That is, entertainment.”

Countless bizarre and dazzling scenes flashed across the electronic screens. This was a casino where lifespan served as the betting chips.

In today’s society, time had become a circulating commodity and currency. Everyone lived in this Spiral City constructed of countless ring-shaped buildings. While the wealthy upper-class families could boast lifespans of a thousand years, the poor living at the bottom had to earn their next hour of life through grueling physical labor. Many people also took desperate risks, gambling their meager lifespans on the roulette wheel in an attempt to win a tomorrow.

The elevator came to a halt, and a bright red number jumped onto the display screen: “2026.” This was not the elevator’s floor number, but the year identifier.

The two stepped out of the elevator. Outside was a long, narrow, cramped alley. At the end of the alley stood the lower district’s most famous time-betting arena, “Red Eye Roulette.” Wires crisscrossed like spiderwebs, while various fabric patches woven with seaweed leaves and lozenge patterns spread overhead, catching the continuous acid rain. A group of emaciated lower-tier people huddled in the corner of the wall. Their skin was dotted with red spots, and strings of numbers blinked on their electronic collars. That was the countdown to their lifespans.

Hearing footsteps, the lower-tier people weakly raised their heads. When their gazes touched the Penrose stairs logo embroidered on the fat man’s chest, their eyes erupted with a green light like starving wolves.

Someone stood up shakily, shuffling over on stick-like legs, smiling ingratiatingly. “You two bosses, have mercy and spare us some time.”

The fat man’s gaze fell on his collar, which displayed the man’s remaining lifespan: 12 hours.

“While you are begging for time, you are also wasting my life. What benefit does sympathizing with you bring me?” the fat man asked, smiling with narrowed eyes.

“Are you two gentlemen looking to play a round in ‘Red Eye Roulette’? If you don’t mind, use my life as a chip. If you lose, I will pay with my own life, and you won’t suffer any loss.” The man rubbed his hands humbly. “If you win, I just hope you can reward me with the loose change from your winnings, just two or three hours of lifespan is fine.”

The fat man listened with a faint smile. At this moment, a woman with disheveled hair stepped forward, cradling a filthy swaddling cloth in her arms, with flies buzzing around her. She smiled sycophantically.

“Sir, do you take newborns here? The market price is three weeks of lifespan. I will sell it to you cheap, you can take it away for just one week of lifespan.”

The fat man remained noncommittal. To survive, the people at the bottom would resort to any means necessary. Right at this moment, a cold voice suddenly came from behind him.

“Step back.”

Before the fat man could react, a cold flash of light struck, tearing through the darkness of the alley in an instant. A file-axe chopped down fiercely, slicing open the thin cloth in the woman’s hands. Wrapped inside the cloth was not a newborn baby, but a dagger.

Seeing her assassination attempt exposed, the woman turned pale with fright. She then furrowed her brows fiercely, her eyes overflowing with hatred, and tightly gripped the dagger to stab at the fat man.

“Running dogs of the Time Entropy Group!” she roared. “You monopolized time-jump technology and trapped us in this cage! You came from other eras, stealing our sunlight, food, and clean water. Look at the lower tier. The time we earn from a day of hard labor isn’t even enough to let us live until the day after tomorrow!”

Many lower-tier people hated the upper class, and such assassinations were not uncommon. A moment of shock flashed across the fat man’s face, but just as the woman’s dagger was about to pierce his chest, the tip suddenly rusted rapidly, eventually shattering and turning into fine sand.

Everything that file-axe touched aged rapidly. When the fierce wind it whipped up hit the back of the woman’s hand, her skin shriveled and cracked in an instant. At the same time, space distorted, and a loud blast echoed in mid-air.

The woman cried out and fell backward, fainting from the impact of the explosion. The emaciated man nearby, like a frightened bird, turned and fled.

A figure stepped out of the darkness, gripping the long handle of the file-axe. He was tall, dressed in dark black cloth clothes with traditional frog buttons, and wore a black-based theatrical mask on his face. The red patterns on it resembled flames, burning silently in the dark. In the flickering neon light, his smoothly contoured jawline and skin as pale as paper were faintly visible. It was a young man with an unstoppable momentum, like an unsheathed short sword.

The fat man dusted himself off and sighed. “Truly worthy of being the Time Entropy Group’s most highly regarded cleaner. Not even the slightest killing intent can escape your eyes.”

He puffed out his belly and looked at the young man. “Right, ‘Quicksand’?”

The young man said nothing and started walking. He was the companion the fat man had gone to great lengths to hire, the Time Entropy Group’s chief time cleaner, “Quicksand.”

The megacorporation Time Entropy Group, which monopolized time-jump technology, had already taken control of the present world. Time cleaners were the cold, ruthless killing machines they cultivated. They were hyenas who would use any means necessary to protect the group’s interests, traveling through various timelines to ruthlessly eliminate all resisters.

“Being able to travel with you is a huge bargain for me. I don’t even need to hire guards. This time you have a company mission, you need to find someone in the year 2026, right?”

Faced with the fat man’s question, the young man called “Quicksand” remained silent. Gripping his long-handled file-axe, his figure walking through the dark alley resembled the grim reaper.

“Hey, Mr. Cleaner, I am a major client of the Time Entropy Group after all. I paid a heavy price for the chance to travel with you, so don’t be so disrespectful. At least give me an answer.”

The young man finally stopped walking. “Money.”

“What?”

“Voice services require an extra fee.” Quicksand glanced at him. The pupils visible behind the theatrical mask were an inorganic gray, mechanical and cold.

The fat man was dumbfounded, then gave an awkward smile. But seeing the young man show no sign of backing down, he realized the other party wasn’t just joking around.

So the fat man sighed and extended his wristband, a terminal embedded with a time chip. He opened transfer permissions to Quicksand’s account. With a soft “ding,” he looked down at his wristband again and found that his lifespan balance had decreased by one week.

“It costs that much? This is daylight robbery!” the fat man couldn’t help but cry out.

“Yes.”

“I just asked you to speak a few words, and you have the heart to murder your client for their money like this?”

Quicksand nodded. “My value is top-tier, and my service prices match my value.”

The fat man was left speechless by his indifferent boasting. Just then, Quicksand suddenly asked, “Mr. Bumblebee, is your stomach feeling better?”

In Spiral City, where there were no national distinctions, everyone went by aliases. The fat man’s alias was “Bumblebee,” and at this moment, he awkwardly recalled the reason behind Quicksand’s question. He was one of those upper-class people who loved coming down to the lower tier for fun, and the “Red Eye Roulette” betting arena was their playground.

The situation in the lower tier was volatile, making guards essential for travel. Although he had purchased the chance to travel with the Time Entropy Group’s chief time cleaner, he had been late for a comical reason. He had accidentally eaten a piece of cheesecake that had accelerated in spoilage due to chaotic time particles, wasting half an hour in the restroom. When the fat man saw the cleaner holding the file-axe at the elevator entrance, he trembled with fear, feeling as if he had been pierced by the other’s sharp gaze.

“Much, much better.”

Quicksand said, “If necessary, I can help massage your abdomen.”

The handle of the axe pressed against his belly. The fat man shivered and hurriedly said, “No need, no need.”

“If you experience any physical discomfort, please inform me promptly. As I just said, my services are top-tier,” Quicksand said mildly. “Also, be careful of rebel attacks. The woman who tried to assassinate you earlier might be one of them.”

A portion of the lower-tier population was dissatisfied with the Time Entropy Group’s rule, gathering here to form a rebel army that attacked wealthy people coming from the upper tier.

Bumblebee, however, paid it no mind, holding his belly and laughing. “With Mr. Quicksand here, any danger is nothing to worry about!”

The moment he spoke, a sharp wind swept past. The file-axe brushed against the fat man’s cheek and smashed heavily into the wall. A chilling killing intent spread out. The fat man’s knees went weak, and he nearly wet his pants.

The young man in black stared coldly at Bumblebee through the theatrical mask.

“I am also a dangerous individual who can take your life.”

The fat man broke out in a cold sweat. For that split second, he thought his soul was going to heaven. Quicksand effortlessly pulled the heavy file-axe from the wall and said:

“Here, do not trust or rely on anyone, myself included.”

The lower tier was utterly chaotic, with danger lurking everywhere. The fat man still felt lingering fear, knowing this was Quicksand’s warning to him. Quicksand was undoubtedly a top-tier hunter. Every movement was concise and powerful, designed solely to harvest human lives. This man was not his servant, but a vicious wolf capable of turning on him at any moment.

Once his panic settled slightly, the fat man wanted to continue their earlier topic and pry into the cleaner’s target here, but Quicksand’s mouth was like a locked box, impossible to pry a single sound out of.

The two walked through the colorful night. Quicksand’s gaze lingered on some graffiti on the wall. A highly flamboyant splash of gold resembled shattered sunlight, and against this background, white lines outlined a figure standing wildly with legs apart, holding a top hat in one hand and a playing card in the other: the Eight of Diamonds. Beneath it was a line of cursive English: “Have the world by its tail!”

“Sir, forgive me for speaking out of turn, but is he the person you are looking for in this era?” Bumblebee stopped in front of the graffiti. He no longer dared to slight this executioner-like young man, switching to respectful terms of address.

Quicksand looked up and focused on the graffiti, his eyes flashing. In his memory, the portrait on the wanted poster overlapped with the graffiti.

The fat man was already used to his silence and spoke on his own.

“The most cunning and dangerous fraudster of this era. With a flick of his wrist, he can turn the world upside down. Rumor has it that he stole a massive amount of time from the Time Entropy Group, totaling far more than several centuries. Mr. Cleaner, this is quite the big game.”

Quicksand turned his head, his gray pupils looking coldly at Bumblebee.

“You’ve seen him.”

Bumblebee wiped his sweat and smiled. “He is very famous in the lower tier. Although he comes and goes like a ghost, he can occasionally be seen at ‘Red Eye Roulette,’ where you can play a small game with him.”

“If we go to ‘Red Eye Roulette’ right now, can we see him?”

Bumblebee replied cautiously, “It depends on whether your time aligns with his. What do you need him for?”

Quicksand looked up at the graffiti on the wall. Bumblebee guessed correctly. He agreed to travel with him because he had a mission from the Time Entropy Group: to come to the year 2026 and eradicate a specific person.

That man was named “Diamonds,” a fraudster who had orchestrated many earth-shattering scams. He was a thorn in the side of the Time Entropy Group.

Quicksand said,

“I am going to deliver a letter to him. A death notice.”

Outside the doors of “Red Eye Roulette,” many lower-tier people sat dejectedly on metal benches. The skin on their bodies was wrinkled and aged like tree bark, which was the fate they fell into by using themselves as chips in the time-betting arena. Here, they mortgaged their lifespans and often lost in card games, becoming the lowest dregs of the bottom tier.

The two walked through the main doors decorated with twisted modern art lines. The walls tilted, and many glass boxes were embedded in them. Suspended inside were time fragments in the shapes of geometric paradoxes, emitting a rainbow luster like laser glass. Through the crystals, one could catch glimpses of countless parallel spacetimes.

A mechanical receptionist recognized the purple Penrose stairs logo embroidered on the fat man’s chest. This was the mark of highly powerful and wealthy upper-tier individuals, most of whom were managers of the Time Entropy Group. Quicksand, meanwhile, presented his time cleaner identification badge: a pocket watch engraved with a logo.

The two were led into a small room exuding a soft magnolia fragrance. Inside sat a cherry wood roulette wheel, and the room’s decor displayed a retro charm everywhere.

Bumblebee walked over. The mechanical receptionist pulled out antler chairs for them to sit and presented their exchanged chips. Quicksand stood to the side holding his file-axe. The fat man felt as if he were sitting on pins and needles, and hurriedly said,

“Please sit, Mr. Cleaner.”

“I am not here to play with you. Where is the fraudster?” Quicksand asked icily, his entire body’s muscles taut.

Bumblebee’s face broke out in a sweat. “Ah, how could it be such a coincidence that we’d meet him just by talking about it? Please sit down and relax for a while. I have already sent my subordinates to gather information in this era.” He seemed incredibly nervous. His fingers slipped, dropping the gold coin he was tossing onto the table. The coin rolled slowly and fell under the table, and Bumblebee hastily and awkwardly bent down to pick it up.

Quicksand stared at him for a long moment, then turned to leave. At this time, a magnetic and rich voice suddenly came from a corner of the room.

“Are you two looking for me?”

The two looked up and saw a robust man sitting in the corner. The beard on his chin was groomed into a heart shape, and his figure was like a small mountain. He wore a well-tailored white suit, with a top hat resting beside him. When the man stood up, the two were surprised to find he was over two meters tall and pieced together from various prosthetics. He had the thick arm of a silverback gorilla, a titanium prosthetic hand, and his footsteps rang with the sound of steel when they hit the floor. Set into his rugged face was a delicate, classically human prosthetic eye, which added a bit of feminine softness to his appearance.

Bumblebee stared in astonishment with wide eyes. The robust man gave a gentle smile. In stark contrast to his rough exterior, he was polite and courteous, just like a perfect gentleman.

“Dia… ‘Diamonds’…” the fat man couldn’t help but cry out in a low voice, tugging at Quicksand’s sleeve. “He is… the fraudster ‘Diamonds’!”

This was a face occasionally seen in the “Red Eye Roulette” betting arena, and Bumblebee had also crossed paths with him a few times. Rumor had it that he appeared in numerous top-tier games and rarely missed, once winning two centuries in a single minute.

Even with the title of “fraudster,” no one had ever been able to see through his scams. He also candidly stated that if anyone could expose his cheating techniques, he would offer up his entire fortune. Yet to this day, no one had been able to make him suffer a crushing defeat.

“Yes, it seems Mr. Bumblebee still remembers the few pleasant little games we’ve shared. But this is the first time I am meeting the gentleman beside you. Here is my business card, please kindly accept it.”

The burly gentleman said, smiling as he handed a business card to Quicksand. It was an Eight of Diamonds playing card, with his alias written on the back.

The diamond suit of playing cards representing wealth, paired with the number “8,” which resembled the structure of a Möbius strip. “Eight of Diamonds” was the alias the fraudster commonly used when walking through the lower tier.

The next moment, a fierce wind suddenly arrived. Quicksand abruptly stepped forward and, with the speed of a thunderbolt, swung the file-axe in his hand, chopping at the man before him!

The playing card was split in two. The sturdy gentleman took a step back, dodging his attack with calm composure.

The fat man was nearly scared out of his wits and cried, “Mr. Cleaner!”

The humanoid mechanical receptionist emitted a red light and a piercing alarm. The chaotic footsteps of guards could be heard coming from the distance.

The gentleman wasn’t panicked in the slightest. He smiled and said, “Sir, why be so rough with me upon our first meeting? Have we met before?”

“I have seen your face one-sidedly,” Quicksand said flatly, having noticed his extraordinary agility. “On a wanted poster.”

“Looking at the logo on your companion’s clothes, you must be a cleaner for the Time Entropy Group. It seems the group has some grievances against me. Although the environment here cannot compare to the upper tier, it is not a place where the group can strike recklessly. Making too much of a commotion will lead to interruptions by unappreciative guests.” The gentleman placed a hand over his chest and bowed deeply and politely. However, because of his massive size, he shoved all the tables and chairs aside the moment he bent over.

Bumblebee yelled, “Are you threatening us? Is this casino in league with the rebel army too?”

The gentleman laughed. “I never said such a thing. I just feel that rather than brandishing swords and spears, it would be better if we resolved our dispute in a more peaceful manner.”

He pulled over an antler chair and sat down. “Please sit, Mr. Cleaner. There is a roulette wheel right in front of us. Why don’t we use it to play a game? If you win, I will leave with you. But if you lose, I ask that you leave ‘Red Eye Roulette.'”

Betting one’s lifespan on the roulette wheel was a common act for desperadoes in the lower tier. Quicksand silently watched the robust gentleman. His hearing was exceptionally sharp, and at this moment, he could hear the rustling of footsteps in the corridors and alleys, as if a crowd had surrounded this betting arena. The newcomers might be the rebel army “Clepsydra” gathered in the lower tier, an army that treated the Time Entropy Group as its enemy. Although he was confident he could fight his way out alone, he also wanted to avoid trouble as much as possible, while taking the opportunity to witness this fraudster’s methods.

“I’m not playing,” Quicksand said coldly and stiffly. “You are a veteran, and I cannot beat you.”

“Mr. Cleaner is truly modest.”

“This isn’t modesty. Everyone has their specialty. Yours is deceiving people, and mine is hitting people.”

The gentleman laughed heartily. “It seems the prize money is not attractive enough to convince you to grace me with a game.” He snapped his fingers and unbuckled the wristwatch embedded with a time chip. The humanoid mechanical receptionist immediately stepped forward to take it. “How about this. Mr. Bumblebee over there can also be my opponent. I will not use any tricks in this round, and you two can inspect everything as you please.”

His pitch-black, profound pupils met Quicksand’s gaze, looking as though a pair of whirlpools were hidden within them. “You only need to toss the ball once to take the target’s life without shedding a single drop of blood and complete the mission assigned by the group. Isn’t that quite effortless?”

The fat man tugged at Quicksand’s sleeve and whispered with a guilty conscience, “Mr. Cleaner, this guy is definitely cheating. Why don’t you just arrest him directly?”

“I am a novice, and weren’t you coming here to have some fun anyway?” Quicksand grabbed his wrist instead. His five fingers felt cast from iron, making it impossible for Bumblebee to break free. “You go and test his limits.”

Bumblebee was almost forcefully pressed into the chair. Recalling his previous games with this robust gentleman, he didn’t know if the other party had been going easy on him, but overall he had won some and lost some. Perhaps he actually had a chance of winning this time. Quicksand stood to the side holding the file-axe, looking exactly like a door god. The fat man wiped his forehead with a handkerchief again and put up a false front.

“I… I’ll play with you, acting on behalf of Mr. Cleaner. If you cheat, we will handle it according to the rules and dismantle your prosthetics!”

“I can even give you my life, let alone a limb or two.” The gentleman beamed amiably. “The rules of the game are like this: we will place our bets separately and only toss the ball once. In the end, whoever wins the most time is the victor.”

“How much are we betting?”

“Ten years of lifespan.”

The fat man’s eyes trembled. Placing such a massive bet with complete composure right from the start proved the other party was indeed no ordinary person.

Quicksand silently consented with a look, but when the mechanical receptionist stepped forward to act as the dealer, he suddenly tapped his toe. The long-handled axe leaped like a carp and landed lightly in his hand. In an instant, the axe blade swept out and smashed the mechanical receptionist’s head to pieces.

The mechanical receptionist fell to the ground on impact and twitched continuously. The others were startled by this sudden turn of events. Quicksand gripped the axe handle, his killing intent fully revealed, and stated coldly, “This is a robot from your ‘Red Eye Roulette’, I cannot trust it.”

He walked briskly out of the room. The corridor was crowded with mechanical receptionists rushing over because of the commotion, emitting a blinding red light. Outside the main doors of “Red Eye Roulette,” Quicksand grabbed a skinny lower-tier person. It was the very man who had just offered his own lifespan as a chip to curry favor with Bumblebee. Quicksand told the man coldly,

“We are going to play a game, and you will toss the ball.”

The skinny man had no idea what was going on and stood shivering. The gentleman noted, “Mr. Cleaner, you are far more domineering than I imagined.”

The black-clad young man’s tone did not fluctuate. “I am even more domineering when I am about to take a person’s life.” He then added, “Let me inspect the underside of the table.” The gentleman replied, “Please go ahead.”

Quicksand carefully inspected it once. There was nothing unusual about the table, and the robust gentleman merely propped up his chin and smiled without a trace of panic. Quicksand suddenly demanded, “Let me look at the ball.”

The gentleman paused. Quicksand continued, “There isn’t a mechanism hidden inside the ball, is there? For instance, a built-in vibrator that can make it stop just by flicking a remote control button.”

“Haha, if there were such a mechanism, I would immediately offer you this arm of mine.”

The momentary panic in the gentleman’s eyes did not escape Quicksand’s gaze. This man’s appearance was indeed exactly the same as the portrait on the wanted poster, but could he really be the fraudster “Diamonds”? A trace of suspicion flashed through Quicksand’s mind. To meet his prey so easily, what if this was also a scam set up by Diamonds, and he was already trapped within it?

No matter what, he would know the other party’s true strength at a glance. He inspected the small ball. It had no wear and tear, and there would be no deviation when it rolled. He announced, “You can start.”

Under Quicksand’s oppressive presence, the skinny man obediently spun the roulette wheel clockwise and tossed the ball. Quicksand said, “Place your bets.”

The ball spun, looking as if it were fleeing in panic within the cage formed by the roulette wheel. Bumblebee pursed his thick lips, feeling incredibly anxious. He decided to adopt the James Bond betting strategy, dividing it into seven years, two years, and one year of lifespan, placing them respectively on high numbers, the six-line bet, and the zero slot. This way, there was a 67.57% probability of making a profit, and if successful, he would get a minimum return of seventeen years of lifespan. He quietly cast a sidelong glance at the robust gentleman, only to discover in astonishment that the gentleman had placed all his chips, ten years of lifespan, on the number 8.

“You are placing a straight-up bet?”

The gentleman smiled amiably. “Yes, ‘8’ is my favorite lucky number.”

The payout for a straight-up bet was 35 to 1, which was the highest return obtainable in a roulette game, but the chance of winning was only 2.67%. If this person actually won, he would win 350 years of time. Bumblebee gasped sharply. What kind of confidence made this fraudster make such an all-or-nothing decision?

“What a reckless bet. What kind of trick are you playing in the shadows?” Bumblebee’s expression turned somewhat ferocious.

The gentleman merely tapped the tabletop with his metallic fingertips and smiled faintly. “It’s not a trick. It’s just that compared to you, I am more willing to believe in the favor of Lady Luck.”

That unfounded confidence made Bumblebee deeply unsettled. The ball rolled three times and began to slow down. The red and black slots melted into a single color as they spun, then gradually became distinct again. It was only a few short seconds from start to finish, yet it felt maddeningly long.

Then, as if possessing some kind of magic, the small ball slowly came to a halt and rolled into the number ‘8’ slot.

A terrifying silence descended upon the room.

The fat man was struck like a bolt from the blue and abruptly stood up.

After a long time, he said in a trembling voice, “Eight?”

The gentleman smiled but did not speak. Bumblebee was almost choking on his words. “You… you won 350 years of time?”

“Impossible. This is impossible, you must be cheating!” Bumblebee lost his composure and reached out to grab the gentleman’s collar, but the other party nimbly dodged him. The gentleman chuckled. “Leaving aside whether this time can be cashed in or not, Mr. Bumblebee, I am the victor now. I must ask you two to please leave ‘Red Eye Roulette’.”

“No, a result like this is impossible. You tampered with the ball!”

“Mr. Cleaner has already inspected it.”

“When the ball was tossed, you must have calculated the landing spot using physics formulas. Is there a high-speed camera hidden in that prosthetic eye of yours?”

The gentleman took off his eye, showed it to them, and shook his head with a smile. “This is just an ordinary prosthetic eye.”

“This is a 2.67% probability.”

“Since it is not zero percent, it is not absolutely impossible. We are all desperate outlaws who have burned our bridges, chasing that minuscule possibility of seeing tomorrow on the roulette wheel.”

“You used some method to disguise the roulette wheel, didn’t you? Holographic projection? Nanobots? Could this roulette wheel be different from what I see, having a double zero slot in addition to the zero slot?”

“Sir, please calm down, what you are seeing is real.”

Bumblebee felt as if a piece of his soul was missing and slumped limply into his seat.

At this moment, the gentleman stood up, grabbed his top hat, and placed it on his head. He bowed to them courteously. “I have thoroughly enjoyed playing tonight, so you two, let us part ways here.”

The fat man was shocked to see him tossing a gold coin engraved with the Penrose stairs relief in his hand. He patted his pocket and immediately turned pale with fright.

“As for this identification badge you received from the Time Entropy Group, I will gladly accept it.”

It turned out the reason this gentleman set up the bet wasn’t to test their style of doing things, but to steal that gold coin when they were caught off guard.

Bumblebee instantly broke out in a heavy sweat. That gold coin contained an authentication chip that could open the elevators between the upper and lower tiers, and it was also his identification as a client of the Time Entropy Group. If this item fell into the hands of the lower-tier people, it would undoubtedly cause a massive amount of trouble. He scrambled frantically onto the table and shouted, “You little thief, wait, wait! Give it back to me!”

Despite his massive size, the gentleman’s movements were agile and flexible. He leaped up and flashed to the doorway in the blink of an eye. However, just then, a cold and clear voice rang out.

“Please wait, sir. You haven’t played a round with me yet.”

In a split second, the gentleman bent his upper body back ninety degrees, dodging a fierce attack. The file-axe howled like a wild beast, carving a deep gash into the wall. Quicksand stood beside him, his gaze as calm as an ancient well.

The skinny man acting as the dealer on the side was frightened once again and scrambled frantically outside on his hands and knees.

Within a mere few seconds, a fierce clash unfolded between Quicksand and the gentleman. The black-clad young man displayed astonishing explosive power, and the heavy long-axe flew as lightly as a butterfly in his grasp. Cold flashes of light intersected, leaving gorgeous silver arcs in the air. The gentleman dodged a few times before finally reaching out to forcefully block a strike. Quicksand realized that his strength was incredibly massive. The beastly and mechanical prosthetics granted him arm strength far beyond that of a human.

Just then, Quicksand suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark shadow smashing toward him from the corner of his eye. He took a step back, and the shadow crashed onto the floor. It was actually Bumblebee, thrown over by a mechanical receptionist.

“Mr. Cleaner, I am no match for you, so you needn’t see me out. If fate decrees it, we will meet again in the lower tier.” The gentleman smiled faintly, took the opportunity to exert strength in his legs, and dashed into the night.

The two were surrounded by a group of mechanical receptionists, unable to move a single step. Bumblebee cried out in pain, crawled up, and grabbed the hem of Quicksand’s pants, pleading pitifully, “Mr. Cleaner, I beg you to hurry and chase him! The machines in this betting arena are all on the fraudster’s side. If I don’t have that identification badge, I won’t be able to take the elevator back to the upper tier, nor will I be able to contact the group anymore.”

“Extra fee.” Quicksand looked down at him from above.

“How much?” Bumblebee had completely lost the arrogance from when they first met, and tears were welling up in his eyes.

“Give me a number you feel shows sincerity.”

Bumblebee gritted his teeth and, after a long moment, opened the account permissions on his wristband once more. There was another crisp “ding,” and when he looked down, he saw that Quicksand had deducted ten years from his lifespan account.

A figure swept through the corridor like a storm. Wherever he passed, the silver-white shells of countless mechanical receptionists were shattered by the massive impact. The black-clad young man brandished his long-handled axe, tearing a bloody path through the sky full of flying metal debris like a demon straight out of hell.

Bumblebee ran behind him, panting heavily. Twisted lines were painted on the slanted walls of “Red Eye Roulette,” looking like grotesque sheet music that no one would ever play. After rushing out the main doors, the lower-tier people slumped on the benches fled in terror in all directions because of the disturbance. Bumblebee noticed that Quicksand wasn’t running in the direction the robust gentleman had fled, but was instead sprinting into an alleyway.

“Mr. Cleaner, where are you going?”

“To chase the fraudster.”

“But he didn’t flee in this direction.”

Quicksand didn’t stop moving, turning his face slightly to look ruthlessly at Bumblebee with his gray eyes. “That is not the real fraudster. How could a prey renowned for lies appear in front of us openly and brightly?”

“Then, what should I do about my gold coin?”

“Chase him yourself.”

The fat man stomped his feet. “I paid for it!”

Quicksand replied, “There has to be a first come, first served order.”

The fat man was filled with indignation, knowing that his time was thrown down the drain. Until Quicksand caught the real fraudster, he wouldn’t get his gold coin back. But hindered by the gap in their martial strength, he could only shout, “Fine, fine, go handle your business first, and I will go recover my lost item. But afterward, I’m going to report some minor feedback to the group!”

Quicksand kept his eyes straight ahead. “Just file a complaint against me directly. I’m not afraid.”

Bumblebee ran furiously in the opposite direction. Quicksand, meanwhile, plunged headfirst into the ink-like night.

Inside the alleyway, wires intertwined like the roots of ancient trees, and the neon lights fell obediently into the puddles. Quicksand sprinted to the corner of the alley like the wind, spotting a frail figure in the dead end.

Quicksand tightened his grip on the long-handled axe and stepped forward.

Step by step, puddles shattered beneath his feet, disturbing the light and shadow. The figure turned its head. It was actually the emaciated man he had seen right after stepping out of the elevator and had just pulled into “Red Eye Roulette” to act as the dealer.

“Fraudster ‘Diamonds,’ nice to meet you,” Quicksand greeted. His eyes were as bright as a falcon’s, staring fixedly at the man.

The man’s expression was restless and uneasy, his back hunched as if crushed by the heavy burdens of life. He looked at Quicksand timidly and fearfully.

“How… how did you find out it was me?”

After a long time, he finally spoke in a trembling voice. This appearance bore no resemblance whatsoever to the legendary, all-powerful fraudster from the rumors.

Quicksand replied calmly, “There is no need to pretend. The first time I saw you, I already noticed you had a particular obsession with Bumblebee’s gold coin. Even though you concealed it extremely well, you still possess a sharp edge distinct from ordinary people.”

“After that game, I inspected the small ball and found that it was 0.3 grams heavier than the ball when I confirmed it earlier. I suspect you switched the ball when you tossed it. Was the replacement ball hidden in your sleeve?”

The man remained silent, rubbing his hands. A small ball rolled between his fingers. Sure enough, he was a veteran of the betting arena, cheating so smoothly that neither gods nor ghosts could detect it.

“When we first entered the room, the gold coin my companion was playing with accidentally dropped onto the table and slid off. That was also a mechanism you set up.” The black-clad young man calmly stated his deductions. “The room we were in was entirely tilted, wasn’t it? From what I could see, it was probably tilted by 15 degrees. Therefore, the ball’s final landing spot would definitely return to the ‘8’ slot.”

The man stayed silent for a long while before finally letting out a timid laugh.

“Mr. Cleaner, you are extremely smart. Handing over one’s life on the roulette wheel will never lead to a good end, but we lower-tier people only have this one path to walk.”

“The cheating method you described is correct, yet not entirely correct. The true answer is, that small room is a slice of time.”

“A slice of time?”

“Yes, the outcome of the roulette wheel there is fixed. It is a number rolled during a certain past match. The betting arena sliced and preserved the time when that specific result was achieved. The weight of the ball doesn’t matter at all. The games the guests play in that room are merely a reenactment of the past.”

The black-clad young man seemed unmoved by these words, merely letting a soft sigh slip from his lips. “I see.”

“In this current world, time is no longer fair to us either. We lower-tier people are just like this, forced to rely on lies to survive, sometimes deceived by time, and sometimes deceiving time. That being said, Mr. Cleaner, there is one more lie that is about to be revealed here.”

The skinny man seemed to hesitate for a split second.

“Actually, I am not the fraudster.”

Quicksand’s gray pupils widened slightly.

“I am merely the bait to lure you away. The real fraudster, you already met him right from the very beginning.”

Acid rain left mottled marks on the dilapidated walls. Fluorescent paint glowed in the dark alleys, and a fat man wearing a green landscape kesi silk robe ran through them, panting heavily.

The multicolored neon signs formed a labyrinth, and Bumblebee bumped around blindly within it like a headless fly. He stopped at a utility pole, holding his knees and gasping roughly. When he looked up again, he saw a figure standing not far away.

This was a deserted alleyway with no passersby. The gentleman who took his gold coin paced slowly toward him, his posture elegant beneath the glow of the streetlamp.

“Give, give it back to me,” Bumblebee demanded, out of breath.

The gentleman grinned, revealing his teeth. “Haha, you are truly a dedicated actor. But since there is no other audience around right now, you don’t need to perform anymore.”

He looked at the panting fat man before him and called out the other’s alias.

“Diamonds.”

The fat man slowly and leisurely straightened his body. Those two syllables were like an underworld code word. Suddenly, the aura enveloping his body changed dramatically. He caught the gold coin tossed by the gentleman and tucked it into his pocket. His arrogant, cowardly expression vanished completely.

“It wasn’t easy to trick the Time Entropy Group’s chief cleaner, so I wanted to play a little longer,” the fat man said. Pressing on his neck, a real-time voice changer the same color as his skin detached, and his voice reverted to the lazy, casual tone of a young man.

“How did you come by this ‘Bumblebee’ identity?” the gentleman asked.

“I scammed an upper-tier guy. I slightly adjusted the shelf life of his cheesecake, and while he was in the restroom dealing with his physiological problems, I took over his identity. It was just that simple.”

“Every time I have to cooperate with your games, it always makes me nervous,” the gentleman sighed, shaking his head. “Especially when I have to use your title. Oh right, what did you think of my performance earlier?”

The fat man blinked, his face gradually changing. His body was distributed with nanobots carrying color-changing units, allowing him to completely transform into another person’s appearance. One eye first returned to its original state, an eye as sly as a fox, observing everything with amusement.

“Your imitation was somewhat similar, yet not entirely alike. Brother Hearts, I don’t look as energetic as you portray me.”

“Haha, so, has this time’s objective been achieved?”

“Thanks to Brother Hearts’s help, it went very smoothly. Not only did we toy with the chief cleaner, but we also acquired a trophy.”

The fraudster disguised as the fat man giggled, pulled out a piece of bubblegum, and popped it into his mouth. As if performing magic, a platinum pocket watch engraved with the Penrose stairs appeared in his hand.

“The symbol of the time cleaners’ identity. With it, we can open the elevator leading to the upper tier and head to the nearest group branch. This trip was truly quite fruitful.”

When entering “Red Eye Roulette,” Quicksand had presented this pocket watch to the mechanical receptionist. And it was right at that moment that the fraudster disguised as Bumblebee set his sights on it.

Later, when the mechanical receptionist threw him, he used the few moments he was in contact with Quicksand’s body to secretly snatch this item away.

The gentleman laughed loudly. “Time cleaners are hounds that bite hard and won’t let go. You took his belonging, and he will definitely return the favor tenfold.”

“It doesn’t matter. Time cleaners only know how to play hunting games, and I’ve long been accustomed to it.”

“What is your impression of that cleaner?”

Diamonds pondered for a moment before finally letting out a frivolous laugh.

“To be tricked by a gimmick like this, when it comes down to it, he’s just brawn over brains.”

He stretched lazily. “Let Clubs Cat come pick us up. Tonight’s entertainment should be over.”

Right at this moment, the two suddenly heard the sound of metal scraping against the ground.

The sound came from the end of the dark alley, sharp and icy, feeling as though it could tear a person’s eardrums apart. The two shuddered and turned their heads.

They saw the Grim Reaper standing beneath the five-colored lights.

The night fog had risen, soft and gentle like sheer gauze. And the Reaper, holding the long-handled axe, walked toward them step by step.

Even though the bait had clearly lured him in the opposite direction, relying on his powerful leg strength, he had rushed here like a gust of wind. A hint of a tremble was in the gentleman’s voice. “Diamonds, our tail has been bitten.”

“Mr. Bumblebee.”

A frigid voice traveled over. The cleaner’s gray pupils stared at them like the ice of an abyss, chilling them to the bone.

“Is your stomach still uncomfortable? I can provide you with massage services,” Quicksand offered. This time, instead of the axe handle, he pointed the axe blade at the two people in front of him. His killing intent skyrocketed. “After all, my services are top-tier.”

He never expected that the companion who had been with him the entire way was actually the fraudster who had already swapped identities. Quicksand felt a long-lost sense of irritation. The other party’s acting skills were superb, not revealing even a single flaw.

He heard a soft chuckle, and then the fraudster turned around.

“No need. Can I unsubscribe from this service?”

The next moment, as the nanobots deactivated their color change, the bloated man’s figure gradually dissipated before his eyes. Quicksand caught a glimpse of a corner of the fraudster’s true appearance.

Beneath the chaotic neon signs, the person’s soft platinum-blonde hair was also stained with vibrant colors. Below his sly and frivolous eyes, a dazzlingly bright diamond-shaped red gemstone stud was affixed.

This was a delicate, handsome face that was excessively young, causing Quicksand to zone out for a split second. Behind the young man, Quicksand once again saw that flamboyant graffiti about the fraudster. Dressed in a white suit and holding a top hat, simply standing there made him look like a streak of bright light that would attract all the night’s flying insects to swarm toward him.

“Welcome to the year 2026. This is our Era of Brilliance.”

When Quicksand reacted, he realized a cold gun barrel was already aimed at his head. The fraudster had drawn a Mauser pistol from his waist, smiling mysteriously.

“Nice to meet you, stranger from the future.”