Chapter 29: How I Crashed the Casino (Part Three)

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"...Who are you calling monkey? I don't even know you," P said, genuinely offended.

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*...I shouldn't cause a scene here. I'll avoid him for now and snuff him out later,* Arthur thought, forcing his composure back.

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Arthur stood upright on the steps, holding Hanabi's phone securely in his left hand.

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"Oh—I am sorry... My mind was elsewhere!" Arthur said, his voice dripping with insincerity.

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"Okay, then hand over the phone," P said, looking down at Arthur from the landing.

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*How dare this monkey...* Arthur fumed internally.

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"I'm afraid I can't do that," Arthur replied smoothly. "This phone belongs to a friend of mine."

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P stared at him in silence.

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*STEP. STEP.*

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A couple, arms intertwined, brushed past P's right side as they made their way down the stairs.

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"...Friend...?" P repeated softly.

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"Perhaps you know her? I was actually making my way upstairs when I noticed her drop it..." Arthur explained.

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*STEP.*

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*STEP.*

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Arthur began ascending the stairs directly toward P.

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"So if you'll excuse me, I have to go find her," Arthur said, stopping just three steps below P.

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"...What's your friend's name?" P asked coldly.

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*STEP.*

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Arthur stepped onto the second stair below P, looking dead into his eyes.

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"Hanabi..."

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He shifted his weight to walk past P, planting his right foot on the upper floor while his left remained on the step behind him—

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*GRAB!*

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P's hand clamped down around Arthur's left forearm like a steel vice.

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"...Where does she live?" P asked, a menacing, pitch-black stare locking onto Arthur's eyes.

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*STEP. STEP.*

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A casino guest hurried past them down the stairs. Arthur’s eyes widened in sheer, skin-crawling horror as the reality set in.

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*...The— The Monkey... touched me...* Arthur thought, overcome with violent disgust.

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"Answer me," P commanded, his voice dropping an octave into a low rumble.

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Arthur tried to wrench his arm back, but P's grip was an absolute wall. He couldn't budge an inch.

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He yanked a third time with all his strength, barely freeing his arm from P's grasp.

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"Don't you *dare* touch me... you fool!" Arthur spat, stepping fully onto the upper floor and striding away into the crowd.

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P stood in total silence, his void-like eyes watching Arthur's back as the man walked off.

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*STEP. STEP.*

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*SPLANG.....!*

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The entire casino seemed to freeze as a loud, metallic ring echoed across the upper floor.

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*RWAN... RWAN...*

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*RWAN... RWAN...*

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A metal server tray was rolling across the polished floor.

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*RWAN... RWAN...*

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Arthur froze, his eyes wide with desperate shock. The surrounding crowd melted into a blur of muted murmurs around him.

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*MURMUR MURMUR...*

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The patrons whispered in hushed, terrified tones as the room fell quiet.

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*RWAN... RWAN...*

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The tray continued to spin out.

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*STEP. STEP.*

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As the blurry crowd parted, P was revealed standing a short distance behind Arthur... having just pelted the heavy metal tray directly into the back of Arthur's head.

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*STEP.*

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*STEP.*

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*SPLANG!*

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The tray finally fell flat against the floor.

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"Where do you think you're going?" P asked coldly.

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*STEP.*

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"You've still got to give me an answer," P said, giving a short tilt of his head to the right—a clear, universal sign: *Come on then.*

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Arthur exploded in pure rage.

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He whipped his left hand inside his suit jacket as he spun around, revealing the dark metallic sheen of a black pistol.

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*SHFF!*

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*CLICK!*

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P's instincts flared instantly as Arthur drew the weapon in a single fluid motion.

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*BANG...!*

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*PEW...!*

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A flash of fire erupted from the muzzle.

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In slow motion, the bullet cut through the air, heading straight for P's chest before the crowd could even react. P threw his body to the left in mid-air, dipping his frame just enough for the round to graze past his back and slam into the iron railing behind him.

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*SPANG!*

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*THUD!*

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P hit the floor, rolling smoothly behind the cover of a dining chair and a heavy round table.

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The entire floor immediately erupted into total pandemonium. People screamed, ducked, and trampled over one another, sprinting wildly for the exits.

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*STEP. STEP.*

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*BANG! BANG!*

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*BANG! BANG!*

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Arthur advanced down the corridor, firing rhythmically at P, who scrambled and rolled between tables and chairs on the upper level.

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However, the fleeing crowd kept cutting into Arthur's line of sight, blocking his shots.

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"Damn it...!" Arthur growled, frustrated.

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*BANG!*

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Arthur pulled the trigger again, but an Asian woman with dyed blonde hair ran straight into his line of fire.

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*SPLAT!*

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*THUD!*

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The woman collapsed lifeless to the carpet.

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Arthur didn't even blink, continuing his cold march forward.

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"YAAAH......!" a massive casino security guard bellowed, charging at Arthur from the side.

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*BANG!*

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Arthur put a bullet directly through the guard's forehead without breaking stride. As the body hit the floor, Arthur pivoted to face a second guard positioned near the staircase, who was raising his firearm to shoot.

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Arthur swayed his head and upper body back, effortlessly dodging three incoming rounds that whizzed past his nose in slow motion.

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As the fourth bullet zipped toward his face, Arthur caught the projectile clean between his front teeth. In the same breath, he snapped his head around and put a round through the guard's skull.

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*BANG!*

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The security guard collapsed, tumbling backward down the stairs.

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The stray rounds from the guard's gun hit two nearby guards, but a third managed to close the distance to Arthur.

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The guard threw a heavy right hook straight at Arthur's face. Arthur ducked inside the strike, grabbed the guard's wrist, twisted it brutally, and brought his boot down hard on the man's left kneecap, snapping the joint backward.

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"AARRHHHGG...!"

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The guard screamed in agony, reaching down for his shattered knee—

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*BANG...!*

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*SPLURT!*

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Arthur placed a round straight into the side of the guard's head, shoving the lifeless body to the ground.

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*THUD!*

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Terrified patrons continued scrambling for cover as Arthur scanned the wreckage for P.

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Suddenly—

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Arthur felt his feet leave the floor. Before he could process what was happening, he looked down to see two powerful arms wrapped tightly around his torso from behind.

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P had used the chaos to vanish and stalk directly behind him.

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*SLAM!*

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P executed a brutal German suplex, driving Arthur headfirst into the floorboards. But Arthur's reflexes were monstrous—he absorbed the impact, rolling off his shoulders and popping up onto one knee to raise his gun at P's face.

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P was already in motion. His left leg whipped out in a lightning-fast Taekwondo kick aimed straight at Arthur's gun hand.

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*CLI—*

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*TMPK!*

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P's kick struck with terrifying force, kicking the pistol cleanly out of Arthur's grip. He followed up instantly with a spinning back-kick toward Arthur's jaw, which Arthur barely managed to block with his left forearm.

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*CACK! CACK!*

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The gun bounced over the balcony edge, falling all the way to the casino floor below.

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Using the sheer momentum of P's kick against his arm, Arthur dropped his right hand to the floor, planted his weight, and executed a fluid backflip, resetting his distance before P's follow-up leg strike could connect.

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*TMP. TMP.*

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Breathing heavily, Arthur stepped back, casually brushing the dust off his suit jacket.

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P dropped his leg back, sliding his foot into a grounded, balanced fighting stance.

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"So you just kill innocent people in public, huh... Who sent you? Kalbē Mōṯ?" P asked, his eyes cold and assessing.

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Arthur glared back at him with pure, unadulterated lethal intent.

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"Have you ever eaten monkey soup before...?" Arthur asked menacingly, his voice smooth and terrifying.

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P stared back at him with a completely blank, deadpan expression.

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*What the f**k is this guy even talking about...?* P thought, trying and failing to make any sense of the line.

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*I am going to kill him so painfully...* Arthur thought, his icy blue eyes narrowing into slits. 199Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcUQiNtJt0

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