Chapter 51

It was Ling Feng's turn to be the dealer again.

At this point in the game, it was almost impossible to determine a winner. Everyone present could now discern the numbers on the dice, so as long as each player who was the dealer rolled three dice with the same number, they would win, turning it into an infinite loop where the dealer won every round.

But no one suggested changing the rules.

Gong Ting felt that if he proposed changing the rules, it would be admitting defeat; he had to beat Bai Xuechao at this game, just as Bai Xuechao had changed his dice right in front of him earlier.

Zhou Chenhao and Ling Feng, on the other hand, had just mastered the technique and naturally wouldn't let this opportunity go, at least wanting to win until it was Gong Ting's turn again. This way, the three of them would have each won 20 million game coins, and only Gong Ting would have no chance to win back the 60 million he had lost.

As for Bai Xuechao, not only did he not want to change the rules, he wanted to raise the stakes.

The white-haired boy rested his chin on one hand and proposed in a lighthearted tone, "Let's raise the stakes, shall we?"

As he spoke, he looked at Gong Ting sitting opposite him, a hint of a provocative smile in his gorgeous red eyes, as if asking Gong Ting if he dared.

He knew that Gong Ting would not refuse.

To possess such a special ability and revel in it, Gong Ting must also be a gambler.

Bai Xuechao could already see the fighting spirit in Gong Ting's eyes. The other party would not be content with being defeated in the sleight of hand he was proud of; he would definitely use sleight of hand to win it back. If he only won back 20 million game coins, it would just be winning it back; if he could win back more, it would be a complete-crushing, beautiful victory.

An opportunity to win beautifully was laid before him, why refuse?

Although there was a chance of losing, and once he lost he would lose even more game coins, how could he willingly admit defeat?

Of course, he had to take the gamble.

As expected, Gong Ting hesitated for only a short two seconds before asking, "How much do you want to raise it to?"

"Fifty million a round, how about that?" Bai Xuechao's eyes curved into crescents as he smiled, but the number he uttered made everyone jolt.

This was more than just double.

With the same one hundred million game coins, one could previously play at least five rounds. If it was changed to fifty million a round, one could lose everything in as fast as two rounds, making it easier to clear out one's game coins. Of course, the number of game coins one could get from winning a round was also substantial.

Although high returns brought high risks, everyone would hesitate at such a drastic increase.

But Bai Xuechao had his considerations. He believed Gong Ting would agree, because Gong Ting not only wanted to beat him but also had a more important mission.

Bai Xuechao had an advantage, which was that he could see the manga.

By reading the manga, he knew that the leader of the Apocalypse Society was interested in Zhou Chenhao's special ability, and later, based on intelligence, he also knew that Gong Ting was now a member of the Apocalypse Society. During the game just now, he hadn't wasted the time waiting for Zhou Chenhao and Ling Feng to make their choices, but was seizing every opportunity to ponder a question.

Why did Gong Ting capture Xia Xiaoxi?

Xiao 6 said the plot had deviated; Zhou Chenhao and Ling Feng didn't enter Dream Game City through their investigation, but received an invitation letter from the City Lord to rescue Xia Xiaoxi, but for now, it didn't seem to affect the subsequent plot.

Whether Xia Xiaoxi was captured or not, the plot could still move forward.

So the focus of the plot was Zhou Chenhao entering Dream Game City, a place that already belonged to the Apocalypse Society.

Combined with the Apocalypse Society leader's interest in Zhou Chenhao's special ability, the answer was obvious.

Getting Zhou Chenhao to enter Dream Game City was the Apocalypse Society's goal; Xia Xiaoxi's capture was merely a means to an end. Even if she hadn't been captured, according to the original plot outline, the protagonist group being able to investigate the special ability energy crystal in a place with such a complex web of powers like A Port and smoothly trace it to Dream Game City probably also had the Apocalypse Society pushing things behind the scenes.

The leader of the Apocalypse Society had instructed for Zhou Chenhao to enter Dream Game City, there must be some intention.

Perhaps they wanted to test Zhou Chenhao's nullification special ability, but this was highly unlikely, as playing games and special abilities seemed unrelated. If they really wanted to test Zhou Chenhao's special ability, arranging for someone to ambush Zhou Chenhao for a fight would be more useful than everyone sitting at a table playing games now.

Therefore, it was more likely that they wanted to use Dream Game City's special mechanism.

—Exchange.

What would happen to the exchanged items if they couldn't be redeemed? This question wasn't for the person who exchanged the items, but for the person who won the game coins.

Could the winner exchange for the items that the loser had exchanged?

After all, normally speaking, when the game ends, the winner should be able to use the game coins they've won to exchange for items, right?

If that was possible, then the potential of the "Dream Game City" special ability was far greater than imagined, even terrifyingly so.

This meant that, in theory, as long as the "City Lord" could win, he could get everything a player had. Because when a player exchanged for game coins, they could use "everything they owned" to exchange.

Assuming that what the leader of the Apocalypse Society wanted was Zhou Chenhao's special ability, Dream Game City was undoubtedly the best tool.

Continuing the speculation based on this idea.

Gong Ting's mission was likely to win all of Zhou Chenhao's game coins, taking possession of what Zhou Chenhao had used for the exchange—most likely his special ability. Even if Zhou Chenhao hadn't exchanged his special ability at the beginning, it didn't matter. As long as Zhou Chenhao lost until he had no game coins, he would eventually use other things to exchange.

From this, it could be deduced that no matter what, Gong Ting had to win all of Zhou Chenhao's game coins.

This was a mission from the leader of the Apocalypse Society.

Now, with the two goals of winning beautifully against Bai Xuechao and clearing out Zhou Chenhao's game coins occupying Gong Ting's mind, he had no reason to refuse Bai Xuechao's proposal to raise the stakes. He was so proud and confident in his sleight of hand that even when faced with risk, he would still take the gamble.

As long as Gong Ting was taken care of, Zhou Chenhao and Ling Feng wouldn't be a problem; they wouldn't refuse either.

The current situation was that both of them had mastered the way to win, so raising the stakes for each round was more advantageous for them, allowing them to quickly win back their game coins.

The dealer for this round was Ling Feng. 50 million game coins was just enough for him to participate in this round, and he would definitely roll three dice with the same number, which would mean 150 million game coins in his account.

He would not refuse.

Zhou Chenhao cared about his teammate. With Ling Feng having a chance to turn things around, he definitely wouldn't refuse.

After Bai Xuechao proposed 50 million a round, following a brief silence, Gong Ting was the first to speak.

"I agree." Gong Ting stared straight at Bai Xuechao, as if trying to find a trace of cowardice on his face. "A friendly reminder, the stakes can only be increased, not decreased. That is to say, if you regret it later, you can't decrease it, you can only keep, keep increasing—"

As he spoke, a delighted smile appeared on his face, and his tone became somewhat pathologically insane, as if he was lost in some wonderful memory, "Until, you lose everything."

This rule was like a quagmire; once you stepped in, you could only sink deeper, unable to extricate yourself, until the mud submerged you completely.

Hearing this, Bai Xuechao raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes slightly, not out of surprise, but perhaps out of pleasant surprise, "Having such a rule is quite to my liking."

This way, it would prevent Gong Ting from lowering the stakes if he saw the situation turning unfavorable.

The two reached a consensus.

Gong Ting glanced at Zhou Chenhao and Ling Feng, spreading his hands in a gesture of invitation, "And you two? Do you agree to raise the stakes?"

"Agreed."

The bet for each round was changed to 50 million game coins.

Ling Feng shook the dice cup. It took him a little while, but as expected, he rolled three of a kind and took the game coins from the other three players.

The large screen updated the game coins.

【City Lord: 463,333,334】

【Player A: 203,333,333】

【Player B: 143,333,332】

【Player C: 770,000,001】

Player A's game coins seemed to be on a roller coaster, shooting up rapidly after hitting rock bottom, instantly breaking through 200 million from less than 100 million.

The people downstairs who were occasionally watching the big screen gasped in amazement.

"They must have raised the stakes!"

"Oh my god, it's fifty million a round now, I'll probably never have that many game coins in my life…"

In the game room on the top floor.

Gong Ting watched as Bai Xuechao picked up the dice cup, skillfully sweeping the dice in one by one, then spinning the cup into the air and catching it, the dice rattling continuously. His heart pounded rapidly, heavily, as if it would burst from his chest. The blood flowing through his body roared, and his hearing was pushed to its absolute limit at this moment.

He listened to the sound of the dice hitting the walls of the cup and each other, his mind even visualizing their tumbling and moving inside the cup.

With a flick of his wrist, Bai Xuechao slammed the dice cup onto the table while slightly pulling it back, and the dice stopped after three rattling sounds.

The corners of Gong Ting's mouth uncontrollably turned up.

He heard it; Bai Xuechao had rolled three ones.

The side facing him now was a four, and the side pressed underneath was a six.

He was going to, right in front of Bai Xuechao, change Bai Xuechao's dice to one-one-six!

He would win.

He would definitely win!

The three of them made their choices on the small screens. Unlike Zhou Chenhao and Ling Feng who knew they would lose and randomly picked one, Gong Ting chose small.

"Let me open your dice cup." Gong Ting rose slightly, looking poised to strike. His green eyes curved into a foxy smile, and a fanatical emotion leaked from between his half-closed eyelids, giving him a strange, bestial quality. He lowered his voice and challenged, "Do you dare, Dongfang Bubai?"

Bai Xuechao couldn't help it, "Pfft."

Xiao 6: "Hahahahahaha!"

At the same time, Zhou Chenhao and Ling Feng turned their heads away, trying hard to suppress the corners of their mouths from turning up, doing their best not to ruin the atmosphere of Gong Ting's declaration of war. Ling Feng nearly bit through his molars to maintain his cool-guy image, while a choked laugh escaped Zhou Chenhao's throat.

Gong Ting's smile froze, and he glared at Bai Xuechao, "What are you laughing at?"

"Sorry, sorry." Bai Xuechao said apologetically without a hint of apology, waving his hand, a slight smile still lingering on his porcelain-doll-like, snow-white, beautiful face. "I wasn't laughing at you."

Xiao 6 was laughing so hard it was about to lose its breath, letting out a goose-like honk, "How did he manage to say your fake name out loud? Dongfang Bubai hahahahic!"

Bai Xuechao propped his elbow on the table, pursing his lips to suppress his smile, "You can open it."

The moment to redeem himself had come.

Gong Ting's heart began to pound violently again.

"Your dice are small, the numbers are—" He gripped the dice cup, the corners of his lips curling up, his breathing gradually quickening, his pupils contracting violently with excitement, "One-one-six."

As his voice fell, he lifted the dice cup while cheating with extreme stealth and speed.

He considered that he had done his absolute best; even if someone were staring at his hand, they wouldn't have noticed him cheating.

"Clatter." The dice fell onto the table.

The moment the sound was heard, Gong Ting's eyes widened in shock, his pupils trembling nonstop, an expression of disbelief on his face.

He stared deadly at the white-haired boy before him, his mind a complete blank.

This person… this person's dice—

Bai Xuechao grabbed his wrist. Beneath his frost-white, thick eyelashes, those eyes, more brilliant than rubies, reflected the bright lights, a contemptuous smile in their depths.

—deceived his hearing and stacked them in a vertical row!

How is that possible!

Bai Xuechao's voice, as clear and cool as a mountain spring, sounded out, his tone slow and low, "You cheated."

Caught red-handed.

Gong Ting was still immersed in his own failure, muttering, "How is that possible…"

Zhou Chenhao and Ling Feng were still out of the loop, not having seen Gong Ting cheat at all.

"My dice were stacked just now, like this." Bai Xuechao explained to them, covering the dice again and shaking them.

The dice cup was lifted slightly at the edge, the dice rattling inside. At a certain moment, the sound suddenly stopped, and only then did Bai Xuechao stop.

This is how it should be!

Stacked dice don't make a sound when shaken!

Gong Ting thought to himself, his gaze fixed on Bai Xuechao as he lifted the dice cup.

The three dice were stacked vertically, the side with the number four facing him, and the die on top had the number one facing up, exactly the same as what Bai Xuechao had rolled earlier. To be able to control the numbers on the sides so precisely to be exactly the same, one could easily imagine the difficulty was extremely high.

Zhou Chenhao, playing the part of a supportive audience, exclaimed in admiration, "Ooh—!"

A coin sound effect played from the large screen, which meant that "Dream Game City" also recognized Gong Ting's cheating and began to update the players' game coin counts.

Because Gong Ting was caught cheating by Bai Xuechao in this round, Gong Ting was fined double the amount of game coins, to be split evenly among the players present. Since 100 million game coins couldn't be divided perfectly, Bai Xuechao, as the player who caught the cheater, received 1 extra game coin.

【City Lord: 363,333,334】

【Player A: 236,666,666】

【Player B: 176,666,665】

【Player C: 803,333,335】

The round started over, with Bai Xuechao still as the dealer.

Gong Ting watched Bai Xuechao shake the dice, somewhat crestfallen. The game coins he lost could be won back. He now desperately wanted to know how Bai Xuechao had deceived his hearing just now, but his pride wouldn't allow him to ask.

To ask would mean admitting defeat.

How could he possibly admit defeat.

His mind raced, constantly replaying every one of Bai Xuechao's previous actions and details. When Bai Xuechao finished shaking and placed the dice cup on the table, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he figured out the truth of how Bai Xuechao had deceived his hearing and stacked the dice—

The instant Bai Xuechao slammed the dice cup onto the table, he had stacked the three dice together!

Could that really be done?

After the shock, what filled Gong Ting's heart was more of an eagerness to try. He wanted to use this move too, to use the opponent's own trick against him, to defeat him!

It might not work? It didn't matter, he wanted to bet on the success rate!

Isn't that the joy of gambling?

Bai Xuechao rolled three of a kind and won the round.

【City Lord: 313,333,334】

【Player A: 186,666,666】

【Player B: 126,666,665】

【Player C: 953,333,335】

Next, it was Zhou Chenhao's turn to be the dealer.

Gong Ting's fingertips tapped ceaselessly on the table, waiting somewhat anxiously for this round to end quickly so that it would be his turn to be the dealer, allowing him to try the same trick on Bai Xuechao.

Zhou Chenhao successfully rolled three of a kind and won the round.

【City Lord: 263,333,334】

【Player A: 136,666,666】

【Player B: 276,666,665】

【Player C: 903,333,335】

Zhou Chenhao was about to "get back on his feet." He was still short by about twenty million to redeem the special ability he had exchanged, but just redeeming his own special ability wasn't enough; he still hadn't won Gong Ting's game coins to rescue Xia Xiaoxi.

On the other side, Gong Ting excitedly picked up the dice cup.

He couldn't wait to see the expression on Bai Xuechao's face when he was defeated by the same trick; it would surely be magnificent.

However, Zhou Chenhao's words shattered his anticipation, leaving him looking astonished.

"I request to change the game." Zhou Chenhao said, "I've lost three times as the dealer. According to the rules, I can propose to change the game, right?"

As long as one lost three times as the dealer, they would gain the right to change the game rules, or even change the game entirely. Even if someone lost three times as the dealer but later won, like Zhou Chenhao, the right to change the game remained and could be exercised at any time.

Previously, Gong Ting had asked Ling Feng if he wanted to change the game rules. Ling Feng didn't, so Gong Ting hadn't asked him or Zhou Chenhao again.

But now, Zhou Chenhao was proposing to change the game.

Just as Gong Ting was about to win back his pride against Bai Xuechao with the dice, and was just about to act on it.

Gong Ting felt like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat, and his heart felt like a cat was scratching it. The fingers holding the dice cup couldn't help but tighten, their tips turning white.

He really wanted to refuse, but even he had to abide by the rules of Dream Game City. Even if he wanted to modify the rules, he had to make sure the game room was empty.

Gong Ting's voice was a bit hoarse as he replied, "…Yes."

Zhou Chenhao's brown eyes curved into arcs as he beamed with a cheerful smile, saying happily, "Great, then let's switch to cards. How about Fight the Landlord?"

After he said that, the three of them fell into a collective silence.

Gong Ting felt his blood pressure rising.

Ling Feng facepalmed and said, somewhat speechlessly, "Fight the Landlord is a three-player game!"

Bai Xuechao's face was expressionless.

How should I put it? Somehow, such a ridiculous suggestion seemed normal coming from Zhou Chenhao.

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