Chapter 235: Let's Gamble!

"Haa... Haa..."

Inside a black curtain, a gaunt man with barely a few strands of hair left on his head fought to regulate his breathing.

The crystal board before him displayed the current assets and cash of each faction.

Naturally, Luo Sheng held a massive lead.

Out of the 600 outer Regional Grids and 500 Bianliu County Regional Grids—1,100 in total—he alone occupied over 700.

And that was despite him spending the vast majority of his money to upgrade them.

Now, the Regional Grids under his control were almost entirely Third Level.

So far, no one had managed to cross his Third Level Regional Grids without leaving a toll behind.

Every step onto one demanded a toll of 15.

Furthermore, he still had over 200 yuan in cash.

Trailing him was Bi Jie.

Bi Jie had only risen to this position due to Luo Sheng's full support.

Otherwise, with the mob of stragglers under his command paying tolls for every grid they stepped on, he would have been eliminated long ago.

After him came Bai Qiu and Liu Ye, whose assets and cash were roughly similar.

Following them were the two West Street Artisans, who barely kept afloat by helping each other.

And last of all was himself—Shi Le, the master of Baile Manor.

The gaunt man took a deep breath. He never expected Bai Qiu to abandon their alliance so decisively, nor did he expect the human working under Luo Sheng to be so strong!

Having not witnessed it with his own eyes, he didn't know exactly what kind of strength that human possessed. But regardless, no one could touch him now!

Even a shadow with ninety percent of its strength couldn't touch him!

Liu Ye's pawn had challenged a Third Level Combat Grid, resulting in severe injuries.

As a result, Liu Ye had fallen behind Bi Jie.

Shi Le stared intently at the crystal board before him. Right now, he only had Baile Manor's fifty-plus grids left, and his cash on hand was nearly depleted.

Cash was the most important resource on the board right now. As for his fifty-plus grids, unless they were mortgaged, no single faction could swallow them all.

But even if he mortgaged them all, it would amount to a little over 100 yuan at most.

That would be completely wiped out by stepping on a Third Level grid a dozen times!

It was impossible to outlast those guys in a war of attrition!

If this situation continued, he would certainly be the next one eliminated.

The only good news was that Luo Sheng's pawn had once again landed on his Regional Grid.

And he still had one last card to turn the tables.

A special card that no one had used so far.

It was his only hope.

If Luo Sheng's pawn passed safely through his Regional Grid... the Crop Plains and Zhennan County up ahead had already been reduced to Yan Jing's territory.

The Regional Grids situated there now looked like death sentences, personally telling him he could not possibly survive the next round.

"No, I can't be reduced to the Third Tier!!!"

He muttered, sweat beading on his forehead.

Not long ago, he had sent people to gather information, only to learn that the commanders who lost had all been reduced to the Third Tier.

Third Tier!

What kind of joke was this?!

He had spent over forty years to finally climb to the Fourth Tier, and he had enjoyed it for less than ten years. Now they wanted him to regress to the Third Tier and lose everything he had?!

He, Shi Le, would absolutely never allow such a thing to happen!!!

"Begin rolling the Dice."

The prompt appeared on the crystal board.

It was Luo Sheng's turn to roll the Dice.

Shi Le tightly shut his eyes and brought his palms together. Streams of Weird Energy surged from his chest, transforming into Pai Gow tiles that rushed up toward the sky.

Commanders could not attack the active players, but he was not attacking Luo Sheng right now. Instead, he was using Weird Energy to communicate with the New Heaven, initiating a Gamble between himself and the New Heaven.

To fight for this final sliver of hope.

...

...

Thousands of miles away, high above the Lake, two golden curtains simultaneously noticed this scene.

The man in the Daoist robe, previously smiling and confident of victory, instantly furrowed his brows upon seeing this.

"Old dog! Your people here aren't following the rules!"

He angrily rebuked the golden curtain opposite him.

The deputy governor of East Lake Prefecture on the other side, however, wore the exact opposite expression.

Previously dejected, he immediately sat up upon seeing this. A sharp gleam burst from his eyes as he broke into loud laughter.

"Hahaha! Did the Prohibited Item forbid this kind of behavior? It didn't! So how is it not following the rules?"

The man in the Daoist robe angrily replied, "Don't think I don't know that any interaction with the New Heaven is strictly forbidden in Minhu! Under normal circumstances, if someone were caught doing this, their fate would be far from good!"

"Heh."

Hearing the Daoist-robed man's words, the deputy governor snorted and sneered.

"Special times, special measures."

"Bullshit!"

The Daoist-robed man cursed.

But the opposing deputy governor just laughed heartily, completely unbothered.

...

...

"Begin rolling the Dice."

Lin Estate.

Fei Yu sat on a small stool, staring intently at the spinning Dice in front of her.

Several rounds ago, Tiger and the Old Man had been dispatched by Luo Sheng to the Regional Grids, leaving her to be the one rolling the Dice.

According to her Young Master, they already possessed ninety percent of the Momentum of Victory. The reason this final ten percent hadn't been secured immediately was that her Young Master wanted to settle some matters from the past.

Seeing that the Dice was about to stop, Fei Yu glanced at the number. It was going to land on 44.

That wasn't right. If the Dice rolled this number, the Advisor would land on Baile Manor's Special Grid.

This kind of situation hadn't occurred when Mr. Huzi was rolling earlier.

Usually, he landed on a Combat Grid. Even when it was a Special Grid, it had never been one belonging to Baile Manor.

Suddenly, Fei Yu seemed to sense something. She looked up at the otherwise ordinary sky and nodded thoughtfully.

She raised her eyes and stole a glance toward her Young Master's room.

Then she lifted the small stool beneath her and quietly shuffled outward, putting a bit more distance between herself and her Young Master.

Only then did she reach out her hand, aiming it at the Dice.

She softly said, "Freeze."

The Dice, which was originally going to land on 44, immediately began to shake slightly, even showing a faint tendency to roll backward.

That was about right.

Fei Yu let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

...

...

Baile Manor.

Shi Le, whose expression had gradually been relaxing, suddenly opened his eyes. As if something were surging from his stomach to his throat, he drew a sharp breath and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, his momentum plummeting.

How was this possible?!

He stared blankly at his bloodstained hands.

Then, catching sight of the Dice about to settle, he quickly shut his eyes. Once again, Weird Energy skyrocketed from his body!

And this time, it was even more intense than before!!!

But soon, he opened his eyes again in disbelief and spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Fuck!"

He viciously wiped the corner of his mouth. This time, he finally saw it clearly.

There was someone backing the other side too!

He knew it—how could a mere Second Tier possibly reach this point?!

But he, Shi Le, was no pushover!!!

...

In the outside world, the observing crowd looked at the Dice above Yan Jing's head and grew confused.

"Why is the Dice spinning for so long this time?"

"I don't know. It's been about half a minute..."

"Yeah, there's a twenty-second time limit to roll the Dice, but it's been spinning for half a minute since it was tossed."

The crowd began to chatter.

Compared to the hostile confrontations at the very beginning of Stage B, the crowd had become quite amicable by this point.

For no other reason than the fact that a large portion of them had already become "funds" for the same faction.

After being traded back and forth, only seven factions remained in the end, so conflicts naturally decreased.

What was there to argue about? Who knew, they might be traded to the opposing side any day now.

What was there to fight over? They might drop dead in the very next second.

For those factions that had just gone bankrupt, the number of Players they took down with them was no small amount.

Even Chen Dalang's uncle had not been spared.

Only the captain of the Smoke Team from Wuqing had managed to avoid disaster; after being severely injured, he was swapped out by the Crop Plains.

After many members of the Longhe team were traded away by Bai Qiu, they had been used as pawns by quite a few factions, ending up dead or wounded.

Even the high school student had died, perishing on one of Yan Jing's Second Level Combat Grids.

In the end, the ones from that team who survived were actually the tennis girl and the calculator guy, both of whom Yan Jing had previously severely injured.

It was just that the two of them looked as though they had lost their souls, their expressions dull and their eyes devoid of life.

The crowd finally understood.

This Dungeon gave everyone two choices: 1. Be trash and survive on luck. 2. Be a pawn and seize the initiative, drastically increasing the risks.

Originally, these two choices offered fifty-fifty odds, but Yan Jing's existence had shattered that balance.

Now, stepping up as a pawn basically meant hovering on the edge of death.

The consensus was that it was better to be trash.

"It stopped! It stopped!"

Someone pointed at the Dice above Yan Jing's head and shouted, "It stopped! It's 44!"

Lin Estate.

Fei Yu struggled to her feet and walked toward Luo Sheng's room. But after just a few steps, she stumbled, collapsed to the ground, and fainted.

Inside the black curtain, Shi Le had now transformed into a monster in the truest sense of the word.

His neck supported a Pai Gow tile, his two arms were long playing cards, and his body consisted of two mahjong tiles.

As for his lower half, it was already gone.

He had wagered it to the New Heaven as an ante.

To secure this win, he had gambled everything he had. The two red dots on the tile face serving as his head were now bleeding two trails of bloody tears.

"I will win!!!"

His voice echoed within the curtain.

[Special Grid: Casino, Fourth Level]

[You have been feeling extremely lucky recently. You decide to visit the casino outside the city to try your luck, hoping to return fully loaded.]

[You may choose from the following options:]

[1. After entering the casino and seeing the crowd of despondent gamblers, you lose your nerve. Pay 30 yuan; nothing happens.]

[2. Engage in a Gamble with the casino boss. Win the Gamble to receive 30 yuan; lose the Gamble to pay 60 yuan.]

[3. Complete madness! Gamble one-third of your assets. If you win, the opponent will be immediately declared bankrupt! (Can be triggered at the Fourth Level.)]

Just as Yan Jing landed on Regional Grid No. 369...

A prompt lit up again on the light screen.

[Faction No. 7 has chosen the Mandatory Selection Card.]

[Faction No. 4 has been forced to make a selection.]

[Faction No. 4 has chosen Option 3.]

"Let's Gamble!!!"

As if a voice had echoed by his ear, Yan Jing stepped forward and looked at the wooden table in front of him.

On the table sat a deck of playing cards, a set of Pai Gow tiles, and two dice cups.

Sitting opposite him was a gaunt figure dressed in a long gown.

Standing beside the figure was Xu Qiao'er, who happened to be on this Regional Grid as well.

"Best two out of three."

Xu Qiao'er spoke. Her expression appeared as though she were no longer herself, but entirely identical to the shadow beside her.

Without a doubt, Shi Le on the opposite side had already activated the Commander's Power Liberation Card.

"The one who loses one-third of their family fortune may leave."

"Hahaha."

Yan Jing began to laugh. Taking advantage of the fact that the others hadn't arrived yet, a dense, pitch-black fog surfaced around him as he quickly swapped his identity, then swapped it back.

In the next instant, in the eyes of the arriving crowd, a beam of Weird Energy descended from the sky and landed on him.

His demeanor seemed to undergo a slight change as well.

Then, he sat down in the chair by the gambling table.

"Manor Master Shi, the County Magistrate asked me to ask you something."

Yan Jing looked at Shi Le's shadow opposite him and Xu Qiao'er beside it, chuckling lightly as he spoke.

"Back when his father died, was it a grand spectacle just like today?"