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Chapter 73: “Form an alliance? How?”
Not long after, a new area was divided on the right side of the large screen, and a few lines of text and numbers appeared on the originally blank display screen.
It was the chip leaderboard of the teams.
Each team had its respective flag color as a symbol, along with the names of the members in each team, followed by their total chip count.
Just as he calculated, An Wujiu’s team was currently in first place.
However, despite seeing their ranking, An Wujiu couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease and even anxiety.
He wanted to save everyone, and to do that, he had to take first place.
He knew that the chances of taking first place were very low.
“There’s something I need to mention in advance; just consider it as a precautionary measure.”
For some inexplicable tacit understanding, as soon as An Wujiu spoke, Shen Ti knew what he was going to say.
An Wujiu looked at the others with a serious expression. “I have a strange illness. At some unforeseeable moment, I might suddenly become very strange, like a completely different person with a very bad temper.”
For those who had known An Wujiu for a long time, this was already familiar, but for Toudou Sakura, Noah, and Chen-ge, this illness was quite novel.
“What would you be like? How bad could it get?” Toudou Sakura seemed quite interested, so she kept asking, “Why would this happen? Will you still remember us then? Would you lie or kill people?”
“I’m not sure.” An Wujiu only answered the last question, being honest, “Because, at that time, I couldn’t control myself. But I will remember everyone, just wanted to let you know in advance so you won’t be surprised.”
“Then wouldn’t Wujiu-ge be like two different people?” Noah looked up with innocence in her eyes.
“No, not really,” An Wujiu gently touched her head, “Even if I turn bad, it’s still me. I will remember you all and do my best with everyone. We must take first place this time, no matter what.”
It was rare for him to be so determined, which made Shen Ti feel a bit distressed.
It always felt like An Wujiu was carrying everyone’s lives on his shoulders.
“Anyway, let’s all go and understand the rules of the various gambling tables first.”
Upon hearing An Wujiu’s words, everyone agreed. They dispersed to different gambling tables to observe.
Zhong Yirou was good at gambling, but Yang Erci had never dealt with these before, so it gave her a chance to teach Yang Erci.
“In fact, gambling often relies on luck, but occasionally, there are some tricks that can improve your luck a little.”
Yang Erci looked at her, “Tricks?”
“Exactly,” Zhong Yirou smiled, “Cheating isn’t really that sophisticated. It’s just that many people like to learn it, but everyone has a sense of luck, which won’t work well in a big casino. Actually, psychological suggestions and misdirections are easier and have no risk of being caught.”
Yang Erci nodded knowingly. After the two stood in front of a gambling table, she suddenly asked, “How do you know so much? Have you worked in a casino before?”
Zhong Yirou raised an eyebrow and said, “I just worked part-time.”
Shen Ti and An Wujiu walked together, bypassing the table where Maguire was and heading straight to the farthest gambling table.
There were a total of five participants at this table, all looking very nervous.
An Wujiu stood about a meter away from the gambling table, silently observing them. Besides the two of them, there were also several other people standing here, some with chips, and some waiting to replace the next round of players.
On the gambling table, numbers floated behind each person, indicating the chips they had bet in this round. Like Maguire’s winnings from before, it was also five hundred.
An Wujiu looked at him, then suddenly turned his head to face Shen Ti.
He just gazed silently, not saying a word, which made Shen Ti feel uncomfortable, so he raised an eyebrow at him.
The two of them already had an understanding without needing to ask each other’s meaning. An Wujiu noticed and didn’t hide it, directly asking, “Why are your chips so low?”
Normally, it shouldn’t be like this. Shen Ti had a rare physique and appearance, which typically translated to a high value in terms of beauty being a valuable asset. Moreover, he was even the winner of the warm-up match, so he should have received additional chips as a reward for guessing correctly. How could it be so few?
Could it be… like Chen-ge, he also owes an astronomical amount of debt?
But he had never mentioned having any debts, and he seemed like someone who lived a solitary life, not greedy or seeking profit. He didn’t seem like someone lacking money.
Upon hearing An Wujiu’s question, Shen Ti just shrugged, showing no emotion and appearing indifferent. “I don’t know.”
“Really?” An Wujiu looked skeptical.
“Really.” Shen Ti nodded. He thought for a moment, considering a possible reason. “Aren’t these chips exchanged for someone’s life value? Perhaps it’s because my will to survive is too low, so my corresponding survival value is also very low.”
“That reason could be considered somewhat reasonable,” An Wujiu’s expression was serious, his eyes shining. “But I don’t accept it.”
If someone else had said this, it might have seemed a bit overbearing and unreasonable to dictate whether others accepted their low will to survive.
But when An Wujiu said it, it added a touch of sincerity, earnestness, and concern. Shen Ti didn’t find him unreasonable at all; instead, he found him cute.
“Got it,” Shen Ti placed his hand on An Wujiu’s shoulder. “Let me think if there’s any other reason.”
“Okay,” An Wujiu replied.
Initially, the shoulder gesture was somewhat forced by Shen Ti, but now, with An Wujiu’s arm on his shoulder, An Wujiu surprisingly felt at ease.
It was strange. What if he wasn’t there one day?
At the thought of this, An Wujiu’s emotions actually fluctuated a bit. Most of the time, he remained frighteningly calm, almost to the point of being uninteresting, as the rabbit had once remarked. But the possibility of Shen Ti disappearing still shook him.
If such a day truly came, he would probably find it hard to retain his last shreds of rationality.
“You didn’t lose a single round in the warm-up dice game?” Shen Ti, who hadn’t been in the same group as him during the warm-up match, had always been curious, so he asked, “You seemed to be in good shape.”
“I lost one round,” An Wujiu confessed truthfully, then added, recalling something, “but it was because they cheated. They both colluded against me.”
The way he said it was like a child who felt wronged, complaining to him, yet his tone was very serious, with a cute contrast.
“Is that so,” Shen Ti spoke with a faint smile, “You drank the punishment drink and didn’t have any reaction? I saw them all getting dizzy from it.”
“A little bit,” An Wujiu looked at the excited and nervous players at the gambling table, thinking back to himself in the private room, “I felt like I saw many, many tentacles reaching out to me, like they were about to envelop me. Everything in the entire space felt like oil painting pigments, all mixed together like fluid. But it only lasted for a moment, not very long, and it didn’t affect my thinking.”
Shen Ti noticed that this drink seemed to have much less control over An Wujiu compared to others.
Was An Wujiu really different physiologically? Or had he truly been modified?
Both he and An Wujiu had many mysteries surrounding them, still shrouded in thick fog.
In some ways, they were really alike.
For example, both of them were missing a part of themselves.
He told An Wujiu about drinking champagne downstairs, describing the champagne tower in vivid detail, even tempting someone like An Wujiu, who didn’t drink alcohol, a bit.
“Ace of clubs.”
The people at the table were playing cards, while about 3 meters above the gambling table, the game rules were explained with accompanying demonstration animations. It was a game where players needed to get rid of all their cards first, and they were divided into teams, combining identity and playing cards. The team that got rid of all their cards first would win.
They hadn’t been at this table for long, but there had already been several instances of celebratory music in the hall. Of three occasions, two were from Maguire, and the remaining one was from Zhou Yijue.
Behind each cheerful and melodic celebratory tune, there were screams and cries coming from the defeated players, whose living chips were being harvested.
The pristine and shiny floor tiles were being stained with more and more blood.
With the speed at which they were acquiring chips, An Wujiu speculated that they must have chosen relatively short and fast-paced gambling games, such as dice, poker card comparison, and Russian roulette. Otherwise, it wouldn’t end so quickly.
Just because of these two games, Maguire had earned 1500 chips, moving him up in his personal ranking and changing the team ranking as well, climbing one spot to fourth place. At this moment, third place belonged to Zhou Yijue.
The situation was changing rapidly, and the fate of everyone in the casino was constantly shifting.
An Wujiu was gazing at the screen when suddenly a blond man approached him. He was thin with sunken cheeks, and his expression carried a mix of fear and flattery.
The man greeted him and asked, “Aren’t you planning to participate in the gambling?”
An Wujiu turned to face him, calmly giving him a glance.
“What’s the matter?”
He saw the man’s name and the purple headband on his forehead.
This was one of Zhou Yijue’s team members.
The man got straight to the point, “Well, our captain wants me to invite you. He asked whether your team would be willing to gamble with us? If we lose, we are willing to compensate double the chips.”
Double.
“If we agree and we lose, we will also have to pay you double the chips,” An Wujiu understood their implied meaning very well and said it directly.
Shen Ti crossed his arms, his attitude clear, and smiled, “That’s not a very tempting offer.”
The blond man chuckled awkwardly and hastily repeated the words Zhou Yijue had taught him just now, “Of course, there’s more to it. Our captain is currently comparing bets, and he can’t come over personally, so he entrusted me to come and discuss with you. You’ve seen it yourself, Maguire’s team is rising rapidly, and they might soon surpass both our teams. At this point, our two teams should form an alliance, at least to seize the chips they’ve won from other teams. We need to take them down before they target us.”
“An alliance?” With many people around, An Wujiu led him to a secluded spot and asked, “How do you propose we form one?”
The blond man saw an opportunity and immediately responded, “It’s simple. We set up a game together, participated in a multiplayer gambling session, and invited Maguire to join. When he takes the bait, our two sides collaborate to win his chips.”
Shen Ti chuckled lightly, as if he had heard something amusing, “Gambling involves both winning and losing, and positions are relative. You’re suggesting our two teams collaborate to win his chips? How exactly do we win?”
This was something Zhou Yijue had anticipated. He had said that the people here would definitely question it this way.
The blond man recited the prepared answer obediently, as instructed by Zhou Yijue, “Just like the game you two just witnessed, Bao Huang.”
An Wujiu immediately understood.
That game allowed people from different teams to be on the same side, effectively tying their interests together.
“If you haven’t played Bao Huang before, it’s a game that requires five players and four decks of cards. It divides players into two teams.”
The blond man pointed to the demonstration animation on the gambling table and explained slightly, “You see, the people at the table play their cards in order. If someone draws the special-marked King and the special-marked Joker, they automatically become part of the same team. The King becomes the Emperor, and the Joker becomes the Emperor’s bodyguard. The remaining three become the revolutionaries, with two against three.”
The game requires players to play their cards in order, similar to typical card games, where higher cards beat lower ones and higher suits beat lower ones. The order in which players play all their cards determines the outcome, with the team that finishes first winning.
For the Royalists to win, one player must be the first to play all their cards across the board, taking the lead, while the other player must be in second or third place but cannot be the last to finish.
This means [Royal, Royal, Revolution, Revolution, Revolution], [Royal, Revolution, Royal, Revolution, Revolution], and [Royal, Revolution, Revolution, Royal, Revolution]; these three orders.
If a Revolutionary player achieves the first finish and the Royalists do not secure second or third place, these scenarios are considered victories for the Revolutionaries.
Any other outcomes are considered draws.
An Wujiu turned his face, looking directly into the blond man’s eyes. His gaze wasn’t sharp, but it somehow exuded pressure.
“So, you mean, we would be on the same team, and we would defeat the opposing team?”
The blond man looked slightly anxious but nodded immediately.
After resolving one issue, An Wujiu asked, “But how can you be sure that we’ll definitely be on the same team?”
The blond man chuckled and said, “Ah, you don’t need to worry about that. It’s all on our captain.”
As he finished speaking, An Wujiu fell into thought. The plan sounded tempting, but in reality, it had many loopholes. Even if they could guarantee being on the same team, there was no certainty about winning or how to win. Especially facing someone like Maguire, who was skilled at cheating, made the game’s outcome even more unpredictable.
He turned his head and glanced at the other gambling tables. Almost all of them had dealers present. If the shuffling and dealing were entirely controlled by the dealer rather than the players, the chances of Maguire cheating would be greatly reduced.
Dealer…
An Wujiu suddenly realized what the blond man meant by “It’s all on Zhou Yijue.”
The blond man had spilled all the beans, but he hadn’t made a direct decision yet. He just smiled obsequiously and said, “The captain asked me to tell you that although your team has people with extremely high chip values like you, there are also people with very low chip values. Even if you want to protect them, the outcome is unpredictable. Everyone is just a chip on the table, and you can’t just stand by and watch.”
Zhou Yijue was a clever man, knowing how to use others to manipulate him.
An Wujiu was well aware that even if they stayed out of the games, being overtaken was just a matter of time. Eventually, only one person would survive. However, if they participated in the gambling and the high-value chip holders on their team were injured, or worse, even those with low chip values would be forced to participate.
The blond man continued to coax persuasively, “If you can win some chips in advance, then even if you lose in the later games, you’ll have extra chips to offset the losses. You won’t have to worry about others dying as chips because you’ll have enough chips on hand to participate in the games, right?”
Shen Ti didn’t particularly mind. He was actually quite eager to gamble against the cheater An Wujiu mentioned.
However, deep down, he knew An Wujiu was different from him. In his mind, all humans were the same—neither close nor distant. They were all just creatures, entitled to the right to survive and subject to the probability of death at any moment. While this mindset might carry a hint of condescension towards humanity, Shen Ti couldn’t deny that this was who he was. Except for An Wujiu.
An Wujiu was the complete opposite. For him, every person he encountered was important. He always did his utmost to protect each of his companions, even hoping that adversaries could lay down their weapons. Though his kindness bordered on naivety, he would always devise strategies to achieve his goals.
He couldn’t and wouldn’t treat everyone’s lives as mere playthings.
With these thoughts in mind, Shen Ti decided against being reckless.
“Since An Wujiu wants to protect them, then they’ll protect An Wujiu.”
The three of them stood there, still undecided on their course of action, when suddenly their teammates, Chen-ge and Toudou Sakura, rushed over, their faces filled with panic. Before they could explain what had happened, An Wujiu immediately sensed that something was wrong.
“What’s going on?” An Wujiu hurried over to them, asking.
Chen-ge was panting heavily, his face covered in sweat, while Toudou Sakura looked pale. “Noah, Noah seems to have been abducted by them.”
An Wujiu frowned. “By who?”
“It seems to be the members of the Yellow Team. They were wearing yellow headbands. I chased after them, but they disappeared. When I found other members of their team, they… they all denied it.” Chen-ge looked distraught. “It’s all my fault. Noah was standing right beside us, and she didn’t go anywhere.”
“The Yellow Team…” An Wujiu’s expression turned cold in an instant.
The blond man also caught up to them, approaching them with an air of feigned shock and concern. “Yellow? Isn’t that Maguire’s team? Could it be… they’re using the little girl to threaten you guys!”
An Wujiu remained silent, his eyes narrowing.
Shen Ti, unusually calm, spoke up. “I agree to join.”
A smirk formed at the corner of Shen Ti’s mouth. “But… I have a condition.”
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