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Chapter 81: “Just use your brother Shen Ti as a bargaining chip.”
“The emperor and the guard were the first to play all their cards, and the royalist group won.”
As the dealer’s voice fell, all the cards on the table disappeared.
“The game is over. All players must leave the table immediately. Delays will result in double the chip compensation to the casino.”
At this moment, Wu You and Nan Shan arrived and stopped not far from the gaming table. Wu You was about to call out to An Wujiu, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he was interrupted by a scream.
The dealer spoke calmly and coolly, but the end of the game was far from peaceful. After the cards on the table disappeared, An Wujiu saw with his own eyes a member of the Yellow Team who was watching the game suddenly lose a leg and fall to the ground with a thud. Blood gushed continuously from the severed stump, the dark red liquid flowing to the tip of his shoe.
An Wujiu had thought he would remain cold-blooded and indifferent, but when he saw Maguire angrily berating the teammate who had sacrificed himself for blocking his way, he still felt nauseated and sick to his stomach.
This was completely different from his former self.
In the past, he felt nothing. Everyone around him was not human; they could be categorized into two types: those who needed to be eliminated and those who could be used.
Watching the guy with the severed leg cry and hug Maguire, calling him “captain” and begging for “help,” An Wujiu’s expression remained unmoved.
But he thought of that rainy night in the red-light district and what Gabriel had said.
Having accepted someone’s request, of course, it must be completed.
The chip leaderboard on the big screen changed once again, with Shen Ti’s individual ranking skyrocketing from the bottom to within the top fifteen in a single battle.
On the overall leaderboard, both Maguire’s and Zhou Yijue’s teams had fallen back, while the red team led by An Wujiu had surpassed the second-place team by nearly 5000 chip points, a significant difference.
The scent of blood in this magnificent hall grew stronger, like an invisible, thick fog enveloping every survivor.
An Wujiu coldly watched this violent predator leave in anger, then turned his face to see that only Zhou Yijue remained standing alone by the gaming table, staring at him.
His usually half-squinted phoenix eyes were completely devoid of a smile at this moment, coldly sweeping over him and Amy.
“When did you two team up?”
An Wujiu immediately put on a look of complete innocence, his face clean, pure, and guileless.
“What are you talking about? I-I didn’t form an alliance with her.”
Seeing this beautiful face revert to an innocent blank slate, Zhou Yijue’s eyes were filled only with vigilance and suspicion.
“You think I’ll believe that?”
Shen Ti stood just a couple of steps away from An Wujiu, gazing at his profile.
“You don’t believe me?” An Wujiu pursed his lips and started walking toward him, “I… I have a strange illness that makes my personality change drastically, sometimes good, sometimes bad. I already had an episode at the gaming table, and I became very…”
“How to describe it…” As he spoke, he had already come to Zhou Yijue, his eyes clear and sincere, his pupils like black lakes, slightly shimmering, evoking pity.
Zhou Yijue said nothing and only frowned.
Who knew that An Wujiu would suddenly raise an eyebrow, his innocent expression instantly disappearing, leaving only a mocking smile and a mischievous aura.
“Just like now.”
Indeed.
Even though Zhou Yijue was on guard, An Wujiu’s instant switch still brought him some degree of shock.
An Wujiu casually put his hands in his pockets, leaned in closer to Zhou Yijue’s face, and spoke with a hint of laughter.
“Are you asking because you’re admitting you colluded with the dealer?”
Zhou Yijue remained unfazed, also smiling, “Didn’t you already guess that?”
“I did guess it.” An Wujiu glanced at Zhou Yijue and said, “But you guessed wrong.”
“Amy has nothing to do with me. She’s just a piece that you can’t quite control, just like Maguire. With a little trick, I could get that Emperor card from him.”
“Why did you break our alliance?” Zhou Yijue squinted slightly, “This was agreed upon.”
An Wujiu straightened up, staring into the eyes he had long despised, “You really think I would cooperate with you?”
“A guy who habitually schemes and betrays others isn’t worth me lowering my stance to form an alliance with.”
“What do you mean?” Zhou Yijue stared at him.
“What do you mean?” An Wujiu chuckled softly, as if extremely tired, and sighed, “You can’t really think I didn’t know that before you came to me, you already approached Maguire.”
He sneered, “How is it that the girl from our team disappeared at the exact time you sent someone to relay a message? Do you take me for a fool?”
The closer they were, the more oppressive the mischievous aura around An Wujiu became. His ink-black eyes seemed like bottomless abysses.
“Why not expose it directly?” Zhou Yijue stared at him.
An Wujiu, as if hearing a joke, laughed non-stop, “Why else?”
His laughter froze on his face, “Of course, because it’s fun.”
With that, An Wujiu brushed past Zhou Yijue’s shoulder and walked away in the opposite direction.
Nan Shan watched An Wujiu’s departing figure and couldn’t help but say, “Mr. An… really looks like a big villain.”
Wu You agreed, “You’re right.”
“But in his other state…” Nan Shan continued, “he is more upright than anyone.”
Wu You nodded again, “You’re right.”
This time, Shen Ti did not follow An Wujiu immediately. Instead, he stood in place, staring at Zhou Yijue’s slightly lowered face.
This guy was stranger than he had imagined.
After being humiliated by An Wujiu, his face showed no hatred, no anger, but even an eerie smile.
Especially when he raised his head, the excitement in his eyes was undeniable.
Shen Ti walked over and patted him on the shoulder, seemingly comforting.
But unexpectedly, what he said was entirely different.
“Stop staring at him.”
“One of my hobbies is gouging out people’s eyes.” He smiled, pointing to his own eyes, “These are ones I gouged from an Italian’s face. Nice, aren’t they?”
This time, Zhou Yijue’s face finally showed a ripple of emotion.
Nan Shan said to Wu You again, “Shen Ti looks much kinder.”
Wu You sneered, “You’re right, much kinder.”
An Wujiu planned to go to the exchange area alone.
He had a strong sixth sense. Walking in the bustling hall, where screams and gamblers’ shouts overlapped, he suddenly felt something was off.
So An Wujiu stopped and looked around.
He noticed that the group of Yellow Team guys who had been tailing him had disappeared.
While pondering this, a few people walked by, chatting about the warm-up game rewards.
“The winner of the warm-up game shouldn’t be the captain. They already have more chips than us, and now they want to use us as chips.”
“Yeah, each of them has five hundred more than us. I heard that the dealer NPC said the warm-up game reward is exactly five hundred.”
“Five hundred is already quite a lot…”
An Wujiu suddenly stopped in his tracks.
A reward of five hundred chip points.
He turned his head and looked behind him.
Sure enough, Shen Ti was walking towards him, teasing with a smile, “Do you have eyes on the back of your head?”
An Wujiu did not smile; his face looked grim. He stared at Shen Ti, staring until Shen Ti was beside him.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Ti raised his hand and placed it on An Wujiu’s head.
An Wujiu swatted his hand away, “What is your problem?”
“Why is your chip value zero?”
“So it really is zero.” Shen Ti heard this and wasn’t surprised. He smiled and put his arm around An Wujiu’s shoulder, “If I said I didn’t know either, would you believe me?”
An Wujiu was not easily fooled, but his intuition told him that perhaps Shen Ti, like himself, was also missing some memories.
Compared to him, his own value seemed too high, beyond the level of an ordinary person.
“Do you remember anything bad that happened to you?” An Wujiu skeptically glanced at him.
“Not just bad things, I don’t remember any good things happening to me either.” Shen Ti said, then suddenly wanted to correct himself, “No, that’s not right.”
“Matching with you in the altar is probably the only good thing.”
An Wujiu was taken aback.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say.
His heart rate sped up again.
“Enough of that.” He masked his fluster with a cold laugh. “A good thing is almost dying by my hand?”
Shen Ti didn’t find this remark harsh, and instead continued, “It’s not so bad, actually. We all die eventually.” His hand moved from An Wujiu’s shoulder to touch An Wujiu’s cheek.
“Dying by your hand is more meaningful.”
The cool texture of the leather glove on An Wujiu’s warm face sent a light, thin electric shock down his back.
His eardrums swelled slightly as he listened to Shen Ti but didn’t want to discuss such matters.
As if speaking of such things would make them come true.
“If you want to die, go die outside.” He turned his head away, avoiding Shen Ti’s restless hand.
This sounded a bit tsundere, making Shen Ti chuckle. “Where there’s an outside, there’s an inside. Where is the inside?”
An Wujiu smiled. “Of course, it’s the inside you’re thinking of. As deep inside as you want. Satisfied?”
Shen Ti was momentarily stunned. “I wasn’t thinking of that.”
“If you weren’t thinking of it, how did you know what I meant?” An Wujiu raised an eyebrow, pushing away Shen Ti’s hand. “Move.”
Shen Ti sighed, shoved his hands in his pockets, and followed An Wujiu.
After a few steps, he saw the numbers above An Wujiu’s head change, so he looked at his own.
His previous five hundred had now turned into four thousand five hundred.
Just then, others finished their games and found them, heading their way.
“Wait.” Shen Ti grabbed An Wujiu’s hand. “We seem to have misunderstood something.”
An Wujiu turned back, seeing Shen Ti’s gaze fixed on the chip value above his head, and suddenly realized something.
They had been tricked by Zhou Yijue’s words.
The yellow-haired guy Zhou Yijue sent kept mentioning that the reward chips after the game were free chips. With these rewards, they wouldn’t need to bet their teammates’ flesh and blood anymore.
But this was a lie. Even if they won, the chips would only add to their personal totals.
To enter a new game, they would still have to bet people.
An Wujiu’s face turned grim.
“Let’s check the exchange area. If we can exchange for points, maybe we can convert points back into chips.”
Just as he turned around, he saw the teammates he “led.”
Honestly, he found it troublesome. His overflowing goodwill always brought bigger burdens, but since it had come to this, he might as well make good use of everyone’s strengths and let them thrive in this casino.
“Wujiu.” Zhong Yirou pointed happily at the top of her head. “I won two thousand!”
An Wujiu smiled. “Impressive.”
Hearing this, Zhong Yirou let out a long “Ahhh.” “You’ve changed again?”
Chen-ge scrutinized An Wujiu.
Is this the other state he mentioned before?
He was about to speak when a person missing both arms walked by, leaning against the wall of the hall.
The person’s blood stained the beige relief walls of the hall. He retrieved many bandages and medicinal powders but had no hands to use for treatment.
Zhong Yirou walked over, crouched down, and bandaged his wounds.
An Wujiu watched coldly, then turned away. “Everyone, go gamble to your heart’s content. I’ve unlocked the captain’s privileges. Use whoever you want as a chip.”
Speaking such words in front of the bloody “lesson” made Chen-ge shiver.
“But—”
An Wujiu’s lips curled slightly. “If any of you enter the game without being fully confident and cause other team members to get hurt, the injured will participate in other games, and the one responsible for the injury will be used as the bet.”
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” An Wujiu smiled. “Very fair.”
After saying this, he intended to leave but was suddenly tugged by a small hand on his clothes.
“Ge.” Noah looked up, her face displaying a calmness beyond her years. “I want to gamble too.”
“No.” Yang Erci flatly rejected her idea. “Children are unpredictable.”
Toudou Sakura walked up to Noah, squatting down. “Noah, stay with me this time. I promise I won’t lose you again.”
Chen-ge and Nan Shan also thought it was inappropriate.
“Noah is too young. Although she is eligible to participate in the games, her bets would be very risky,” Nan Shan stated pragmatically and logically.
Chen-ge, still haunted by what had happened before, added, “It’s too dangerous. Noah should stay with us. If we hadn’t rescued her in time, who knows what might have happened.”
Everyone opposed her suggestion, while An Wujiu and Shen Ti quietly listened to the discussion.
When no one else spoke, An Wujiu turned to Shen Ti. “What do you think?”
Shen Ti yawned lazily. “Not my concern.”
An Wujiu finally looked at Noah. Her light brown eyes were clear, and he felt he saw a maturity beyond her age.
“Ge, I want to participate,” she insisted, gripping An Wujiu’s clothes. “I understand what danger is.”
She no longer remained silent, speaking more logically than many adults.
An Wujiu had long suspected that this little girl was extraordinary; otherwise, she wouldn’t have survived the games in the holy altar.
“If I stay with the others, I’ll just be a burden. They’ll have to spare at least one person to look after me, and one person can’t handle a whole team. So, the safest place is the most dangerous place.”
She raised her face to An Wujiu. “I’ve seen it. People at the gambling table can’t leave that area. If I enter the game, no one can take me away. As for the bet… I can bet on myself.”
Everyone was stunned by her words.
An Wujiu, however, smiled. He bent down, placing his hands on his knees, meeting Noah’s eyes.
“Very well, you’ve convinced me. Go gamble, and make sure to win some money for me.”
“As for the bet…” An Wujiu nodded toward Shen Ti. “Use your brother Shen Ti as the bet.”
Nan Shan couldn’t help but laugh, expecting Shen Ti to protest at such a blatant arrangement.
But Shen Ti, unlike most people, responded with, “Call me brother Shen Ti again.”
Wu You frowned, unsurprised.
An Wujiu ignored him, instructing Noah, “Bet everything on him.”
Zhong Yirou, having finished bandaging the injured man, walked over and saw everyone preparing to find an empty gambling table.
“You didn’t charge him?” An Wujiu teased.
“I’m not as greedy as you think,” Zhong Yirou pouted playfully. “A doctor should have a compassionate heart. I can do charity work too.”
“But…” she added, “That man told me something as compensation.”
Toudou Sakura immediately asked, “What did he say?”
Zhong Yirou frowned slightly. “He said it’s best not to go to the exchange area.”
Hearing this, An Wujiu glanced at the man, now walking away alone with an orange team band on his head.
“You all go find a gambling table first.”
An Wujiu sent them off, leaving only him and Shen Ti behind.
Shen Ti asked, “Still going?”
“Yes,” An Wujiu said, turning and heading towards the stairwell. He knew Shen Ti would follow, so he didn’t stop.
Several injured people were sitting on the stairs, resting. Even if they weren’t in the hall, as long as they were alive in this instance, they couldn’t avoid being used as bets. The steps were slick with blood, and in the dim light, An Wujiu felt he stepped on something.
Upon closer inspection, it was a person, dismembered and bloodied beyond recognition. Even though he accidentally stepped on him, there was no reaction.
He was likely already dead.
The reverse side of his headband wasn’t entirely soaked with blood. An Wujiu bent down and tugged at it, revealing it was yellow.
He was a member of Maguire’s team.
Straightening up, An Wujiu continued downward without looking directly at the body, reaching the first floor with Shen Ti. Following the signs, they arrived at a door.
The large door was painted with a depiction of Genesis. As An Wujiu stood in front of it, the door automatically opened.
Inside, the room was dazzlingly bright, but not from lights. It was filled with countless sparkling gold coins.
The coins were stored in a massive glass container with a large, vintage-looking device inside, reminiscent of a long-lost coin pusher machine. However, this machine was stationary. The countless coins weren’t moving or falling; they simply lay still in the coin pool. The height of the coins in the pool exceeded two meters, dazzling in their brilliance.
Shen Ti whistled.
“Now this looks like real gambling.”
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