Ch30 – The ultimate winner will be *me*

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Under the dome, the white-haired young man slid his hands into his pockets, walking over from a distance to ascend the golden stairs once more.

Everyone was shocked by Zong Jiu’s turnaround. 

[What the, why has this newcomer returned? Man, youngsters these days, they don’t listen to advice.
Must he really insist on going up to the gambling table to lose 50,000 chips? Wouldn’t it be more delish to convert them into survival points?]

[Ikr, after he exits the stage, let alone 50,000, the 90,000ish that he hard-earned from the A-rank table would be washed down the drain… goddamnit, it’s not even mine, why do I care so much!]

 

 

[The newbies these days have great ambition but little talent.
I was actually impressed when I watched him shoot the poker card before, but he’s really going to make a fool of himself if he steps up to the table with these bigshots.]

[My second-hand embarrassment is acting up again.] 

Let alone the viewers in the bullet chat, the trainees on the scene also showed looks of disbelief as they whispered to each other.

 

“What a long trip to the washroom.
The purple dealer had clearly said that they would start in five minutes if he didn’t turn up, but I never expected that he would make it right in the nick of time.

“Hey, do you guys think that this C-rank is trying to leave an impression on those big guys, so that when the time comes…”

“Who knows; anyway, now that he’s back, he’ll either claim glory or bite the dust with ninety thousand less.”

 

“Yeah, better go big or go home.”

Zong Jiu turned a deaf ear to these comments.

Wearing a meaningful smile on his face, he didn’t hide, nor did he flinch away.
Instead, he arched an eyebrow at the starting player of the gambling table in provocation, unhurriedly taking the seat pulled out by the attendant.

Interesting. 

This posture was wholly different from before.
This was obviously the bearing of someone confident of success.

So, what exactly had changed?

The Devil smiled, a cold, treacherous glint of light swimming in his bottomless eyes.

He clapped, smiling.
“Since everyone’s here, let’s begin.” 

“Yes, sir.”

The dealer bowed respectfully to him and began to make preparations.

Both the casino and bullet chat were pin-drop silent as they anxiously, expectantly watched the game unfold.

Two cards were individually dealt in a clockwise fashion, which the ten players immediately pressed down under their knuckles upon receiving. 

Zong Jiu sat at the seat with the least status, directly across from the Devil on the most prominent seat, like polar extremities of light and dark.

This time when the cards were dealt, Zong Jiu wasn’t in a hurry to change his cards.

 

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He followed everyone else, affecting airs as he looked down to look at his opening hand.

Although Zong Jiu had redeemed the right of agility in his hands for three days, his hands were currently only at the peak level that they were when he was a leading card magician.
If he could earn more chips from Las Vegas, he might as well try to further enhance his hands with the system, surpassing his former peak. 

There was only one dealer dressed in purple in the entirety of Las Vegas.
When he was at the A-rank gambling table, the dealer already seemed aware of his change of cards, and if he wasn’t careful, a higher-ranked dealer might have other trumps too.
So, treading lightly, Zong Jiu decided to bide his time for now.

Generally speaking, it was enough to swap cards at the very last second before showing the hands, and it wouldn’t hurt to wait for the five community cards to be revealed first.

This time, Zong Jiu had no intention of showing mercy.
He intended to not only get the best deal, but also to secure a beautiful win.

In any case, the seeds of animosity between them had already budded. 

When he thought of the three pieces of information he had divined earlier, Zong Jiu couldn’t help but sneer in his mind.

The other party had bullied him black and blue, how could he stand it? It would be a grievous insult to his name if he didn’t return the favour.

“The cards have been dealt.
The first round of betting will now commence.”

Perhaps because this was only the first round of betting, everyone went in with the mind of sounding the waters, tacitly intending to keep the bets from soaring too high. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection.
If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

According to the rules, the person with the big blind would have priority, but the Devil waved a hand, interested in letting the person on his left begin the bid, so he would be the grand finale.

Rb bcf bypfmafv.

Po atfs kfgf gjcxfv ys atf cewyfg bo mtlqr lc atflg qbrrfrrlbc, Rb.
1 kbeiv cb vbeya yf ja atf nfgs abq.
Po tf kjr atf olgra ab gjlrf, jcv tjqqlis rfa vbkc j ofk tecvgfv atberjcv mtlqr, tf kbeivc’a tjnf jcsbcf ab qijs klat ja atf ajyif.
Xblcu ijra kbeiv mbcnfgrfis ulnf atfw j mtjcmf.

The chips were raised in turn, and Zong Jiu reported 10,000 when it came to his.
At the very end, No.
1 lazily tossed out a 50,000 bet. 

The dealer froze the chips, and opened the first three community cards.

Eight of hearts; ace of spades; jack of spades.

These cards…

The white-haired young man narrowed his eyes, an ill premonition flitting through his heart. 

Perhaps due to them not being professional gamblers, everyone at the gambling table leaked various micro-expressions when the cards were opened.
Zong Jiu quickly scanned the table and had a rough gauge of the situation.

Just as the crowd watched with bated breaths, preparing to enter the second round of betting, the dealer in purple suddenly raised her hand, signalling for a pause in the game.

 

She walked up to an A-rank trainee, her voice cordial.
“Sir, please raise your left hand.”

The A-rank who got called out stiffened. 

His gaze darted and as he drew his hand back, putting on a tough front.
“What are you doing?!”

Without the dealer having to speak, the man at the most prominent seat lifted a finger.

To his horror, the A-rank found that he suddenly could no longer control his left arm, as if something absolute pulled him, yanking his hand from the dark green table surface into the air.

Two cards rustled down from his open sleeve, flying under the table. 

And throughout all of this, the owner of the cards was fixed in place, only able to watch this scene with wide eyes.

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Woah—

This turnaround caused the entire casino to erupt.

“Getting caught cheating red-handed, this is practically social death…” 

“This A-rank sure is gutsy, actually daring to cheat at the middlemost gambling table with so many eyes on him.
That purple dealer can’t be messed with either; she’s the only dealer dressed in purple in the entire casino.”

“It’s one thing to be caught cheating, but it’s a whole other thing not to confess when the dealer called him out and having No.
1 knock the nail in his coffin. Sooo awkward.”

“It’s not actually that bad; after all, cheating in Las Vegas doesn’t amount to a death sentence, simply that he would be deducted a whole lot of chips.
It’s threefold, if I recall correctly? Good lord, a full 150,000 chips, this A-rank probably can’t afford it, right?”

The endless chattering was interspersed with unrelenting ridicule, instantly embarrassing the A-rank trainee. 

The system passed its verdict.

[A-rank trainee Wei Zhenghao was caught cheating.
Three times the previous bet will be deducted, effective immediately.]

The balance on the platinum gold card flashed scarlet, leaping to negative digits.

Under the golden chandelier, No.
1’s tone was icy.
“I don’t like ants who insist on showing off in public when they don’t have the ability.” 

The man’s finger fell back down to the table, and that A-rank was thrown straight out of the central gambling pool, landing like a broken sack on the smooth golden floor of the hall.

No one saw how the Devil had struck.

 

Neither had Van Zhuo, seated beside him.

He stroked the cold hilt of his sabre thoughtfully, his brows tightly furrowed. 

The dealer, dressed in purple, put away the A-rank’s cards and returned to the gambling table.

“We will now commence the second round of betting.”

Maybe because the spirit of exploration had faded away with only nine people left at the table, the betting this round was much more intense than the previous.

As the only C-rank at the gambling table, the white-haired young man drew a significant amount of attention.
Everyone was guessing how long he would last at the table, and whether he would be washed out at this round. 

The Exorcist laughed.
“Old Ghost, since you played 40,000, then I shall play 50,000.
Anyway, we’re just here to play around; it’s meaningless to set the bet too high.”

The Exorcist had pulled Black-Robed Azan here with him just to join in the fun, so they didn’t care whether they won or lost.
What’s more, it was easy to draw enmity when raising the bid rashly.

He was able to rise to his present status of No.
5 without the backing of any guild, yet still maintained good relations with every guild.
He himself was an expert at being swiss, and the Exorcist would usually dole out favours where he could.

Aside from the S-ranks, there were also A-ranks and a C-rank at the table.
Everyone had started as newcomers themselves, and knew how difficult the road was.
Since the outcome didn’t matter to him, there was no need to deliberately coax up the stakes at this time and boorishly boot people from the table. 

Be honourable in your dealings and you would pave the way for your future encounters.

Zong Jiu gave the Exorcist a friendly smile.

It was at this moment that he heard a warm voice coming out of the blue from beside him.

The golden-haired Holy Son pushed the chips before him, saying lightly. 

“100,000.”

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The crowd roared.

[Ah… the Holy Son is seated right before the white-haired C-rank.
If he raises it to 100,000, wouldn’t that C-rank be forced to raise the bet even higher than 100,000?]

[That’s indeed the case.
Problem is, this C-rank just barely has 90,000 that he got from the A-rank table, much less enough for 100,000.
Wait, wait.
Doesn’t that mean he has to abandon the game?] 

[I can’t understand why the Holy Son would do this… Speaking of, sisters, don’t you feel that he seemed to have changed a lot.
He even smiled when he watched He Jianlan die in the mental Asylum before, I think that he became a little weird after becoming a trainee.]

[Weird +1]

 

After this comment came up on the bullet chat, many voices instantly appeared saying otherwise.

[Upstairs, please don’t casually fling mud onto someone else.
I saw the live broadcast in the mental asylum too, the Holy Son was too busy to save He Jianlan, but the way you said it makes it sound as if the Holy Son had deliberately killed him.
At that time, He Jianlan got caught by a ghost, and didn’t the Holy Son immediately take out the priest’s staff to help him afterwards.] 

[Yeah, if it weren’t an invincible entity, the Holy Son surely could have saved him.]

[All these newbies only know how to talk nonsense.
We veterans are all aware of how great Messiah is.
This man often helped us out loads when we were still noobs, the nonsense that you’re spouting really makes me uncomfortable.
Furthermore, this is the middlemost gambling table, he only has to give up 50,000 to fold.
It’s kinder than letting him continue to bet down a bottomless pit and find out that he lost completely when showing the hands with no takebacks.]

[Mhm, mhm.
The Holy Son is clearly helping this C-rank, but you guys insist on misunderstanding him.
I’m truly at a loss for words.]

Zong Jiu looked to the right at Messiah. 

As always, he wore a smile as warm as a spring breeze, his azure eyes curved, the blue of a clear blue sky without gloom after rain.

“My apologies.
It’s my decision to step in.”

When he saw the white-haired young man look over, he explained softly, “It’s still the second round, and I’m afraid that the bet would be raised above hundred thousand in the third round.
It would be wisest to choose to abandon the cards now; don’t be lured by the prize pool into raising the stakes beyond your capacity.”

“It is already very outstanding, young brother, for a C-rank to get ninety-thousand chips.” 

There was worry tinged in Messiah’s voice, as if he were genuinely concerned for him.

If Zong Jiu were really to mark Messiah as a good samaritan, he probably wouldn’t be able to find any fault in this explanation.

But the problem was—

Zong Jiu was crystal clear that there was a big problem with Messiah.
After all, that he had achieved an S-rank rating in the first instance must have had some relation with how he had ferreted out Sheng Yu and Messiah as moles. 

The Holy Son was definitely not as perfect as he appeared to be on the surface.

He looked as if he was simply being considerate for others, but in reality, it was all about making gains for himself; he was outrageously heartless, and blacker than anyone else on the inside.

It was a pity that the tarot cards could only be used thrice before needing to wait another twelve hours, or Zong Jiu would definitely have divined if there was any secret connection between Messiah and No.
1.

The white-haired young man looked away from him, passing his platinum gold card to the dealer.
“100,000.” 

He turned his head back, meeting the astonishment showing on Messiah’s face and affecting a mock smile.
“I thank the Holy Son for your kindness.
But I have confidence in myself.”

“…You never know, I could be the winner in the end.”

 

And with this audacious statement, let alone the surrounding spectators, even the people at the gambling table all turned to look at him.

Van Zhuo clasped his hands together, dark red eyes growing profound. 

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The Exorcist praised his spirit, seeming to appreciate his courage.

Black-Robed Azan stayed as still as a rock, turning a scrutinising gaze onto him.

No.
10 and the other A-ranks, conversely, showed a variety of expressions, one of which even scoffed openly at him, as if sneering at his overconfidence.

“Bravo, I commend you for your courage in making such a statement.” 

The Devil slowly applauded him, his dark golden eyes staring unabashedly at the white-haired young man opposite him without the slightest intention of concealing his deep interest.

Messiah startled, immediately wearing a soft smile again.
“It seems like I’ve done something unnecessary.
Please forgive me, young brother.”

With a superficial smile, Zong Jiu waved a hand to show that he didn’t take it to heart.

The second round of betting concluded.
The dealer opened the fourth community card. 

King of spades.

Zong Jiu’s left hand immediately clenched.

He sensed that his worst premonition had come true.

In Texas Hold’em, one of the premier card combinations was called the royal flush. 

The royal flush was a five-card hand of any suit; ace, king, queen, jack, ten, and had a ridiculously low probability of occurring.
It was precisely because of the extremely slim odds of it appearing that it not appearing was an indicator of Lady Luck’s favour.

It stood above all poker hands.
As long as it appeared, it signified the ascension of an emperor and the end of the round.

Now, king of spades, ace of spades, and jack of spades had appeared amongst the community cards.

Zong Jiu only needed to change his cards into a ten of spades and a queen of spades to get the perfect royal flush. 

But now…

Zong Jiu guessed that No.
1’s cards were probably these two as well.

 

His intuition told him that no matter what opening hand No.
1 received, it would be these two cards ultimately put down on the gambling table at the final showdown.
For there wasn’t any hand bigger than the royal flush, not to mention that the happenstance of a same-suit ace, king, jack appearing in the community cards inevitably forced him to make such a guess.

And as everyone knew, it was impossible for two identical cards to appear at a gambling table. 

If it did, it would be a sign that someone had cheated.

The white-haired young man raised his eyes.

Upon sensing Zong Jiu’s gaze, from across the gambling table, No.
1 languidly pulled at his tie, shooting him a dangerous, ambiguous smile.

Even if pigs could fly, Zong Jiu would never believe that the appearance of these three cards was purely coincidence. 

Although he couldn’t catch it with the naked eye, the Devil must have utilised some unknown advanced technique to cheat.

Recalling this guy’s other hidden identity, Zong Jiu felt that this wasn’t beyond reason.

So, now, the problem Zong Jiu faced was—

The two of them might have cheated together.