Chapter 74: That’s easy. We won’t be the Emperor; we’ll be the revolutionaries instead.
“Condition?” Blond was unprepared. Zhou Yijue hadn’t mentioned beforehand that these people would make demands. He felt a bit at a loss for a moment and could only ask, “What condition?”
The man in front of him was tall and handsome. Although he was smiling and looked very decent, there was always a subtle sense of oppressive coldness in his expression, which was only being masked by a gentle smile.
For some reason, looking at his face, especially those lake-green pupils, Blond felt dizzy, as if those eyes had multiplied into countless pairs, everywhere in the air, under the lights, on the floor, on the walls, staring straight at him, like the eyes of a predator fixed on its prey.
A chilling sensation crawled up his spine, and the handsome face in front of him seemed to be shrouded in darkness, with only those eyes haunting him in the dark.
No, something was wrong. He felt like he had drunk the punishment drink before.
It was all an illusion, just an illusion.
Blond tried to suppress the dizziness and bewitchment, shook his head, and asked with lowered eyes, “You want us to help you find that child together, right?”
It must be that.
Unexpectedly, Shen Ti lazily shook his head and, with a pleasant tone, said something very cruel, “I don’t care about any child. I hate small creatures the most. If they think they can blackmail us like this, they are too naive.”
These words sent a shiver down Chen Ge’s spine as he stood by, feeling a bit confused for a moment. Just a moment ago, it was clearly An Wujiu who was speaking, how did it become Shen Ti now?
But this Shen Ti must also be a formidable character. Every time he met Shen Ti’s eyes, he felt extremely uncomfortable, but he couldn’t describe why.
Shen Ti stared at the increasingly timid Blond, pursed his dry lips, and forced out a smile.
“It’s actually quite simple.” His green pupils were like whirlpools that could suck people in, but Blond avoided looking, so Shen Ti reached out, grabbed his chin, and forced him to look at himself.
“In a game of five people, our team needs to send in two.”
“Two?” Blond licked his lips nervously.
Zhou Yijue had instructed him that the game required the Red Team to send in one person, but now it had become two.
He immediately tried to remedy the situation, attempting to change Shen Ti’s mind, “If… if it’s two people, how can we end up on the same team? Only the King and Jocker can…”
Shen Ti’s soft laughter interrupted his words, and the crystal-clear red coral earrings swayed in the lamplight.
He let go of Blond’s chin and leaned in close to whisper in his ear, “That’s easy. We won’t be the Emperor; we’ll be the revolutionaries instead. Isn’t that fine?”
An Wujiu stared at Shen Ti’s every move, feeling as if his heart sank a few inches, weighing heavily in his chest, seeing how intimate he was even with a messenger.
“Do you understand?” Shen Ti raised an eyebrow, hands in his trench coat pockets, dismissing him, “Go tell your team leader, I’ll be waiting for your reply.”
The other person nodded twice after listening and then quickly left as if being chased by some danger. An Wujiu found it strange; he felt that this person had changed since Shen Ti started talking to him.
“He seems quite afraid of you,” An Wujiu said to Shen Ti after Blond left.
Facing An Wujiu, Shen Ti returned to his joking demeanor and said, “Really? What does he has to be afraid of? It’s just his guilty conscience.”
Chen Ge hurriedly asked again, “Team Leader, should we hurry up and rescue the child now?”
“Of course, we should rescue her.” An Wujiu’s expression remained as calm as ever, extremely composed, “but we can’t let them know that we’re in a rush to rescue her.”
Toudou Sakura frowned beside them, scanning the hall. At first glance, everything seemed normal, but upon closer inspection, she noticed that many pairs of eyes in the hall seemed to be watching them, intentionally or unintentionally.
“How should we proceed?” Chen Ge asked.
An Wujiu glanced around, then said in a low voice, “There’s nowhere to hide in the hall. The first floor is the exchange area, with people coming and going; they won’t hide someone there. The most likely place is the nine private rooms on the third floor. Chen Ge, you stay here and gamble.”
After finishing his analysis, he looked at Chen Ge and continued, “You mentioned that you’ve helped others set up schemes in the casino before, so you should understand, right?”
Chen Ge nodded, “I’m familiar, especially with Texas Hold’em.”
“Then go gamble; bet on me.” An Wujiu’s tone was decisive.
“This…” Chen Ge looked hesitant.
“If you’re worried, bet less in the first round.” An Wujiu said earnestly, looking at Chen Ge, “I’m entrusting this task to you. If you can win us some extra chips, it would be even better.”
Chen Ge suddenly felt the weight on his shoulders, but the trust and respect in An Wujiu’s eyes filled him with an unprecedented warmth.
“I’ll do my best.”
As Chen Ge left, An Wujiu turned his face, but before he could speak, Toudou Sakura spoke up, “I’ll go find him.” She raised her hand and tightened her twin ponytails.
“You’ve been targeted,” An Wujiu’s eyes were fixed on her, but he was well aware of the surroundings, “There are five people in the hall watching us. You can’t leave yet.”
He calmly stated his conjecture, “If I’m not mistaken, Maguire now has all the team’s chips in hand and is threatening them to obey him. Two people have taken Noah and are watching her, while the rest are keeping an eye on us. If we attempt a rescue, they might strike directly.”
Toudou Sakura frowned, “Strike?”
“That’s right,” An Wujiu voiced his thoughts, “In the holy altar, any rule not explicitly stated can be exploited. Maguire is a ruthless person. If we openly attempt to rescue Noah, it might provoke him to kill her because he knows we would be devastated if we saw our youngest teammate die.”
Toudou Sakura understood. An Wujiu’s strategy was to appear indifferent. The more indifferent they seemed, the more likely the enemy would think they had only taken an inconsequential pawn.
“So, do we just do nothing?” she asked.
“We do,” An Wujiu replied, lowering his head to open his game panel. As expected, the messaging function between players was disabled on this airship.
He informed Toudou Sakura, “Some of our teammates still don’t know that Noah has been kidnapped. We need to inform them first, but directly telling them could be risky. If Maguire and his group find out beforehand, Noah will be in danger.”
“What should we do then?”
An Wujiu glanced at Shen Ti.
“So when Shen Ti agreed to the gambling, the plan was to trap Maguire at the gambling table. Since he wants to play, we’ll play along with him.”
“But…” Toudou Sakura glanced between the two and said, “Then why did he ask you to join? If you go, who will help us come up with a plan to rescue Noah?”
As soon as she said this, Toudou Sakura suddenly understood.
“I get it. You want to completely lower his guard!” Her face lit up with realization. “Yeah, catch the leader first. He thinks you’re the backbone of our team. If even you’re trapped in the gambling, there’s no way we have time to rescue a kid.”
An Wujiu smirked, and Shen Ti, seeing his smile, surprisingly felt a hint of relief.
“I understand, I understand.” Todo Sakura looked at An Wujiu again, “When do we make our move?”
An Wujiu answered her, but not quite. “Push me.”
“What?” Toudou Sakura was a bit confused, not understanding his meaning.
“Push me.” An Wujiu repeated the same words.
Toudou Sakura didn’t know what An Wujiu was up to, but she felt the eyes around them were getting tighter. She had no choice but to obey. She extended her hand and pushed An Wujiu forcefully.
An Wujiu was pushed back a bit by her, then he gestured for her to continue. Toudou Sakura complied, adding some acting, “Why won’t you save her? She’s just a child!”
Shen Ti almost laughed, thinking this act was a bit too much.
Finally, with a soft word to Toudou Sakura, An Wujiu turned and left.
His departure seemed to carry a hint of genuine anger, and Shen Ti simply followed him without a word exchanged between them.
On the railing of the third floor, one person leaned against it above them, while another stood beside him.
“You go tell the boss; it seems like there’s a disagreement among the Red Team members. That Japanese girl seems to be upset.”
“Got it.”
Classical symphony music filled the hall, contrasting sharply with the extravagant decor. The activity in the hall didn’t quite match the elegant atmosphere—people crowded around the gambling tables, and the sounds of intense gaming and enthusiastic betting filled the air. An Wujiu and Shen Ti made their way to the “Bao Huang’s” gambling table.
Zhou Yijue was already leaning against the table as if he were waiting for them.
“Hello,” he greeted.
Shen Ti raised an eyebrow. “Captain Zhou, did you agree to my request?”
Zhou Yijue smiled, his phoenix eyes curving slightly, giving off a friendly vibe.
“Gambling is supposed to be a fun activity. Adding one more person isn’t a big request. As long as everyone is happy.”
His expression seemed confident, as if he were already certain they could bypass the identity cards with his supposed methods, allowing the three of them to join forces as revolutionaries.
But he didn’t seem inclined to elaborate, and An Wujiu didn’t press further.
He would find out eventually.
Zhou Yijue pressed the red button on the side of the gambling table, which was the player recruitment button. After pressing it, other players who wanted to join could come in directly.
“Take a seat,” he said to the two of them.
The chairs at this gambling table were equally luxurious, with fully padded red velvet backs and exquisite gold-trimmed legs, complementing the gold edges of the table.
This table didn’t look like one for gambling; it resembled more of a negotiation table.
An Wujiu sat beside Shen Ti, his right-hand seat empty for a moment but soon filled by a person—not Maguire, but a glamorous woman with short hair clad in fur, around thirty years old, emanating a strong perfume scent.
“Perfect timing,” she said, lifting her eyelashes with her fingers, her smile radiant. “Hello, I’m Amy.”
Zhou Yijue smiled at her, his gaze lifting slightly. “Nice to see you again.”
The newcomer was Maguire.
He sat dominantly between Shen Ti and Zhou Yijue, his expression calm, showing no signs of any involvement in kidnapping other players’ teammates.
Maguire held a lit cigarette in his hand, taking a deep drag before blowing out an oval smoke ring. He then blew another puff of smoke in An Wujiu’s direction, the smoke ring dissipating halfway.
Grinning, Maguire said, “What an honor to be at the same table as such a beauty.”
He seemed to be addressing Amy, but his eyes were fixed firmly on An Wujiu.
Such a cold beauty, one couldn’t guess who he’d smile for.
How attractive it would be to see him lost in tears on the bed.
As he was lost in thought, a loud bang startled Maguire, causing him to jerk his hand, almost dropping the cigarette he held between his fingers. Frowning, he glanced at the source of the noise, which was Shen Ti, seated on his right. Shen Ti had slammed his hand on the table, still pressing down with his palm.
Shen Ti raised his head, smiling sarcastically at Maguire, “Such a big bug; it’s annoying.”
The smile on his face almost seemed to blatantly convey, “You should be thankful I didn’t slap you.”
“A bug?” Amy looked alarmed. “Did you kill it?”
Shen Ti shrugged. “No, but it’ll be dead soon enough.”
After saying that, Shen Ti turned his face toward An Wujiu, leaned over, and removed his glove, showing his hand to him. “Look, my hand is all red.”
Shen Ti almost brought his hand to An Wujiu’s face, who had to grab it and inspect it, lowering his voice as he said, “It’s not too bad.”
Shen Ti immediately sat up straight, pretending to be strong, “It’ll be okay, don’t worry.”
An Wujiu: “…”
Seeing this, Maguire felt a surge of frustration but had no outlet for it. He forcefully stubbed out his cigarette on the table until it was completely extinguished.
Zhou Yijue leaned back in his seat, hands clasped together. “Let’s begin.”
Others agreed, and the dealer, an NPC wearing a platinum suit and a gorgeous mask, quickly approached the table to deal the cards. It seemed impossible for the dealer to cheat according to any player’s wishes.
An Wujiu frowned slightly.
Could it be… Zhou Yijue had bribed the dealer?
The dealer took out four new decks of standard playing cards, picked up one deck, and slid it across the table, revealing each card’s suit perfectly.
An Wujiu immediately spotted the marked jokers, conspicuous but seemingly normal.
The dealer took out the marked jokers, showing them to everyone. Then, from his front pocket, he took out a pen, bent down, and drew a symbol in the center of each joker.
It was a symbol resembling the sun.
The two marked jokers were shown to the players again. The dealer lightly shook his fingers, placing the cards back into the deck and starting to shuffle the cards.
The dealer’s shuffling was expert, using dovetail shuffles, riffle shuffles, and a series of dazzling flourishes. It was impossible to pinpoint the marked jokers now.
Instinctively, An Wujiu glanced at Shen Ti on his left.
To his surprise, he noticed Shen Ti’s hands moving in sync under the table. His movements were almost perfectly synchronized.
He had learned so fast.
Chapter 74: That’s easy. We won’t be the Emperor; we’ll be the revolutionaries instead.
“Condition?” Blond was unprepared. Zhou Yijue hadn’t mentioned beforehand that these people would make demands. He felt a bit at a loss for a moment and could only ask, “What condition?”
The man in front of him was tall and handsome. Although he was smiling and looked very decent, there was always a subtle sense of oppressive coldness in his expression, which was only being masked by a gentle smile.
For some reason, looking at his face, especially those lake-green pupils, Blond felt dizzy, as if those eyes had multiplied into countless pairs, everywhere in the air, under the lights, on the floor, on the walls, staring straight at him, like the eyes of a predator fixed on its prey.
A chilling sensation crawled up his spine, and the handsome face in front of him seemed to be shrouded in darkness, with only those eyes haunting him in the dark.
No, something was wrong. He felt like he had drunk the punishment drink before.
It was all an illusion, just an illusion.
Blond tried to suppress the dizziness and bewitchment, shook his head, and asked with lowered eyes, “You want us to help you find that child together, right?”
It must be that.
Unexpectedly, Shen Ti lazily shook his head and, with a pleasant tone, said something very cruel, “I don’t care about any child. I hate small creatures the most. If they think they can blackmail us like this, they are too naive.”
These words sent a shiver down Chen Ge’s spine as he stood by, feeling a bit confused for a moment. Just a moment ago, it was clearly An Wujiu who was speaking, how did it become Shen Ti now?
But this Shen Ti must also be a formidable character. Every time he met Shen Ti’s eyes, he felt extremely uncomfortable, but he couldn’t describe why.
Shen Ti stared at the increasingly timid Blond, pursed his dry lips, and forced out a smile.
“It’s actually quite simple.” His green pupils were like whirlpools that could suck people in, but Blond avoided looking, so Shen Ti reached out, grabbed his chin, and forced him to look at himself.
“In a game of five people, our team needs to send in two.”
“Two?” Blond licked his lips nervously.
Zhou Yijue had instructed him that the game required the Red Team to send in one person, but now it had become two.
He immediately tried to remedy the situation, attempting to change Shen Ti’s mind, “If… if it’s two people, how can we end up on the same team? Only the King and Jocker can…”
Shen Ti’s soft laughter interrupted his words, and the crystal-clear red coral earrings swayed in the lamplight.
He let go of Blond’s chin and leaned in close to whisper in his ear, “That’s easy. We won’t be the Emperor; we’ll be the revolutionaries instead. Isn’t that fine?”
An Wujiu stared at Shen Ti’s every move, feeling as if his heart sank a few inches, weighing heavily in his chest, seeing how intimate he was even with a messenger.
“Do you understand?” Shen Ti raised an eyebrow, hands in his trench coat pockets, dismissing him, “Go tell your team leader, I’ll be waiting for your reply.”
The other person nodded twice after listening and then quickly left as if being chased by some danger. An Wujiu found it strange; he felt that this person had changed since Shen Ti started talking to him.
“He seems quite afraid of you,” An Wujiu said to Shen Ti after Blond left.
Facing An Wujiu, Shen Ti returned to his joking demeanor and said, “Really? What does he has to be afraid of? It’s just his guilty conscience.”
Chen Ge hurriedly asked again, “Team Leader, should we hurry up and rescue the child now?”
“Of course, we should rescue her.” An Wujiu’s expression remained as calm as ever, extremely composed, “but we can’t let them know that we’re in a rush to rescue her.”
Toudou Sakura frowned beside them, scanning the hall. At first glance, everything seemed normal, but upon closer inspection, she noticed that many pairs of eyes in the hall seemed to be watching them, intentionally or unintentionally.
“How should we proceed?” Chen Ge asked.
An Wujiu glanced around, then said in a low voice, “There’s nowhere to hide in the hall. The first floor is the exchange area, with people coming and going; they won’t hide someone there. The most likely place is the nine private rooms on the third floor. Chen Ge, you stay here and gamble.”
After finishing his analysis, he looked at Chen Ge and continued, “You mentioned that you’ve helped others set up schemes in the casino before, so you should understand, right?”
Chen Ge nodded, “I’m familiar, especially with Texas Hold’em.”
“Then go gamble; bet on me.” An Wujiu’s tone was decisive.
“This…” Chen Ge looked hesitant.
“If you’re worried, bet less in the first round.” An Wujiu said earnestly, looking at Chen Ge, “I’m entrusting this task to you. If you can win us some extra chips, it would be even better.”
Chen Ge suddenly felt the weight on his shoulders, but the trust and respect in An Wujiu’s eyes filled him with an unprecedented warmth.
“I’ll do my best.”
As Chen Ge left, An Wujiu turned his face, but before he could speak, Toudou Sakura spoke up, “I’ll go find him.” She raised her hand and tightened her twin ponytails.
“You’ve been targeted,” An Wujiu’s eyes were fixed on her, but he was well aware of the surroundings, “There are five people in the hall watching us. You can’t leave yet.”
He calmly stated his conjecture, “If I’m not mistaken, Maguire now has all the team’s chips in hand and is threatening them to obey him. Two people have taken Noah and are watching her, while the rest are keeping an eye on us. If we attempt a rescue, they might strike directly.”
Toudou Sakura frowned, “Strike?”
“That’s right,” An Wujiu voiced his thoughts, “In the holy altar, any rule not explicitly stated can be exploited. Maguire is a ruthless person. If we openly attempt to rescue Noah, it might provoke him to kill her because he knows we would be devastated if we saw our youngest teammate die.”
Toudou Sakura understood. An Wujiu’s strategy was to appear indifferent. The more indifferent they seemed, the more likely the enemy would think they had only taken an inconsequential pawn.
“So, do we just do nothing?” she asked.
“We do,” An Wujiu replied, lowering his head to open his game panel. As expected, the messaging function between players was disabled on this airship.
He informed Toudou Sakura, “Some of our teammates still don’t know that Noah has been kidnapped. We need to inform them first, but directly telling them could be risky. If Maguire and his group find out beforehand, Noah will be in danger.”
“What should we do then?”
An Wujiu glanced at Shen Ti.
“So when Shen Ti agreed to the gambling, the plan was to trap Maguire at the gambling table. Since he wants to play, we’ll play along with him.”
“But…” Toudou Sakura glanced between the two and said, “Then why did he ask you to join? If you go, who will help us come up with a plan to rescue Noah?”
As soon as she said this, Toudou Sakura suddenly understood.
“I get it. You want to completely lower his guard!” Her face lit up with realization. “Yeah, catch the leader first. He thinks you’re the backbone of our team. If even you’re trapped in the gambling, there’s no way we have time to rescue a kid.”
An Wujiu smirked, and Shen Ti, seeing his smile, surprisingly felt a hint of relief.
“I understand, I understand.” Todo Sakura looked at An Wujiu again, “When do we make our move?”
An Wujiu answered her, but not quite. “Push me.”
“What?” Toudou Sakura was a bit confused, not understanding his meaning.
“Push me.” An Wujiu repeated the same words.
Toudou Sakura didn’t know what An Wujiu was up to, but she felt the eyes around them were getting tighter. She had no choice but to obey. She extended her hand and pushed An Wujiu forcefully.
An Wujiu was pushed back a bit by her, then he gestured for her to continue. Toudou Sakura complied, adding some acting, “Why won’t you save her? She’s just a child!”
Shen Ti almost laughed, thinking this act was a bit too much.
Finally, with a soft word to Toudou Sakura, An Wujiu turned and left.
His departure seemed to carry a hint of genuine anger, and Shen Ti simply followed him without a word exchanged between them.
On the railing of the third floor, one person leaned against it above them, while another stood beside him.
“You go tell the boss; it seems like there’s a disagreement among the Red Team members. That Japanese girl seems to be upset.”
“Got it.”
Classical symphony music filled the hall, contrasting sharply with the extravagant decor. The activity in the hall didn’t quite match the elegant atmosphere—people crowded around the gambling tables, and the sounds of intense gaming and enthusiastic betting filled the air. An Wujiu and Shen Ti made their way to the “Bao Huang’s” gambling table.
Zhou Yijue was already leaning against the table as if he were waiting for them.
“Hello,” he greeted.
Shen Ti raised an eyebrow. “Captain Zhou, did you agree to my request?”
Zhou Yijue smiled, his phoenix eyes curving slightly, giving off a friendly vibe.
“Gambling is supposed to be a fun activity. Adding one more person isn’t a big request. As long as everyone is happy.”
His expression seemed confident, as if he were already certain they could bypass the identity cards with his supposed methods, allowing the three of them to join forces as revolutionaries.
But he didn’t seem inclined to elaborate, and An Wujiu didn’t press further.
He would find out eventually.
Zhou Yijue pressed the red button on the side of the gambling table, which was the player recruitment button. After pressing it, other players who wanted to join could come in directly.
“Take a seat,” he said to the two of them.
The chairs at this gambling table were equally luxurious, with fully padded red velvet backs and exquisite gold-trimmed legs, complementing the gold edges of the table.
This table didn’t look like one for gambling; it resembled more of a negotiation table.
An Wujiu sat beside Shen Ti, his right-hand seat empty for a moment but soon filled by a person—not Maguire, but a glamorous woman with short hair clad in fur, around thirty years old, emanating a strong perfume scent.
“Perfect timing,” she said, lifting her eyelashes with her fingers, her smile radiant. “Hello, I’m Amy.”
Zhou Yijue smiled at her, his gaze lifting slightly. “Nice to see you again.”
The newcomer was Maguire.
He sat dominantly between Shen Ti and Zhou Yijue, his expression calm, showing no signs of any involvement in kidnapping other players’ teammates.
Maguire held a lit cigarette in his hand, taking a deep drag before blowing out an oval smoke ring. He then blew another puff of smoke in An Wujiu’s direction, the smoke ring dissipating halfway.
Grinning, Maguire said, “What an honor to be at the same table as such a beauty.”
He seemed to be addressing Amy, but his eyes were fixed firmly on An Wujiu.
Such a cold beauty, one couldn’t guess who he’d smile for.
How attractive it would be to see him lost in tears on the bed.
As he was lost in thought, a loud bang startled Maguire, causing him to jerk his hand, almost dropping the cigarette he held between his fingers. Frowning, he glanced at the source of the noise, which was Shen Ti, seated on his right. Shen Ti had slammed his hand on the table, still pressing down with his palm.
Shen Ti raised his head, smiling sarcastically at Maguire, “Such a big bug; it’s annoying.”
The smile on his face almost seemed to blatantly convey, “You should be thankful I didn’t slap you.”
“A bug?” Amy looked alarmed. “Did you kill it?”
Shen Ti shrugged. “No, but it’ll be dead soon enough.”
After saying that, Shen Ti turned his face toward An Wujiu, leaned over, and removed his glove, showing his hand to him. “Look, my hand is all red.”
Shen Ti almost brought his hand to An Wujiu’s face, who had to grab it and inspect it, lowering his voice as he said, “It’s not too bad.”
Shen Ti immediately sat up straight, pretending to be strong, “It’ll be okay, don’t worry.”
An Wujiu: “…”
Seeing this, Maguire felt a surge of frustration but had no outlet for it. He forcefully stubbed out his cigarette on the table until it was completely extinguished.
Zhou Yijue leaned back in his seat, hands clasped together. “Let’s begin.”
Others agreed, and the dealer, an NPC wearing a platinum suit and a gorgeous mask, quickly approached the table to deal the cards. It seemed impossible for the dealer to cheat according to any player’s wishes.
An Wujiu frowned slightly.
Could it be… Zhou Yijue had bribed the dealer?
The dealer took out four new decks of standard playing cards, picked up one deck, and slid it across the table, revealing each card’s suit perfectly.
An Wujiu immediately spotted the marked jokers, conspicuous but seemingly normal.
The dealer took out the marked jokers, showing them to everyone. Then, from his front pocket, he took out a pen, bent down, and drew a symbol in the center of each joker.
It was a symbol resembling the sun.
The two marked jokers were shown to the players again. The dealer lightly shook his fingers, placing the cards back into the deck and starting to shuffle the cards.
The dealer’s shuffling was expert, using dovetail shuffles, riffle shuffles, and a series of dazzling flourishes. It was impossible to pinpoint the marked jokers now.
Instinctively, An Wujiu glanced at Shen Ti on his left.
To his surprise, he noticed Shen Ti’s hands moving in sync under the table. His movements were almost perfectly synchronized.
He had learned so fast.
