Chapter 107: The Hongn Banquet before the big brawl
Following Silk-Stocking Desperado's footsteps, Guan Ming had just stepped into the 2nd floor Card Players' Association area.
A foul stench, a mixture of all kinds of slls, hit him head-on.
"Cough, cough..."
Guan Ming covered his nose, brows tightly knitted as he took in the scene before him.
This place was practically a lawless, sinful slum!
In the vast hall, people of all skin colors were sprawled about in every direction!
Asians, white people, and black people were nearly split in equal thirds.
Among them were forr inmates, fallen prison guards, and ordinary people from all walks of life before the crossing.
But under the crushing weight of despair, status had long since lost all aning.
In the corners of the corridors, many n and won were engaged in the most primal of acts in full view of everyone, letting out hollow, numb gasps.
Those around them turned a blind eye—even several n in prison guard uniforms had mingled in among them, eyes vacant and unfocused.
This was no hospital safe zone. It was plainly a carnival counting down the final monts of life!
"Little brother..."
Just then, an Eagle Nation rune soldier staggered over.
She grabbed the hem of Guan Ming's clothes and pulled open her outer garnt, baring herself.
"Want a round? Only 5 Ghost Coins!"
Guan Ming instinctively shook her off, waving his hands in refusal.
"I don't have money!"
The woman seed unconvinced. She clung to him shalessly and pressed closer.
She even mid a sniffing gesture, baring a mouth full of rotting teeth.
"No money? A bit of 'that' works too!"
"I'll take anything! Please..."
Guan Ming understood perfectly well what she was referring to.
As a forr mber of the Criminal Investigation Unit, what he despised most in life were junkies like her.
"Get lost!!"
His expression darkened. He shoved her aside directly and quickened his steps to catch up with Silk-Stocking Desperado ahead.
"Big sis..."
Guan Ming couldn't hold it in any longer. He lowered his voice and asked, "This place is a total cesspool—don't the people in charge here do anything about it?"
Silk-Stocking Desperado stopped in her tracks, turned her head, and smiled.
"Do sothing? And what exactly would they do, little brother?"
She gestured toward the people lost in their stupor.
"For them, the mont they arrived in this godforsaken place, they stopped seeing any hope at all."
"Live for today, enjoy for today."
"That's the reality for ordinary people in this hospital. They'll all go mad sooner or later."
"Whether you fight to the death or let yourself sink into the gutter—that's just the choice they've made for themselves."
"The Card Players' Association boss provides this vast stretch of living space, shielded from Cursed Creatures."
"In a post-apocalyptic world, that already counts as an act of charity."
"Then where do they get that stuff from?"
Guan Ming was puzzled again.
"Heh, don't forget where we are, little brother."
"Once you step outside Huaxia's door, plenty of countries have no laws against that sort of thing."
"And besides... as far as hospitals are concerned, the Gundam Parts of junkies like that are actually worth more."
With that, Silk-Stocking Desperado turned and pushed open a fire exit door leading upstairs.
"That's right... otherwise foreign dicine wouldn't be so advanced, would it."
"After all, out on the streets... there are endless test subjects to be found."
Guan Ming stood frozen for a mont.
Then he tilted his head upward and, to his shock, realized for the first ti—
Floors 2 through 6 above had been knocked through and opened up entirely!
As they climbed the stairs, the surrounding environnt underwent a complete transformation.
The stench dissipated, replaced by the scent of incense.
The noise and madness faded away, and in their place ca tightly disciplined security.
Row upon row of guards dressed in prison guard uniforms from various nations, ard with firearms, watched every person who passed through.
It was exactly like the contrast between the Lower City and the Upper City.
......
Before long, they arrived at the core zone on the 6th floor.
The décor here rivaled a top-tier luxury casino from before the apocalypse.
And seated at the head of an enormous oval card table was the Card Players' Association's Number 1.
Chen Daozi.
Standing at his side was Cao Hua, who had just had his fake finger reattached and was wearing a fresh pair of sunglasses.
To the right of the long table sat the Bath Emperor.
It sat with arms folded across its chest, while Ye Desheng, wearing a gold mask, stood at its side like a butler.
"Oh~quite a full house."
Silk-Stocking Desperado showed not the slightest hint of nerves. She pulled out a chair casually and sat down.
Guan Ming stood tensely behind her.
"Now that everyone—human and ghost alike—is present."
Chen Daozi placed both hands on the table, fingers interlocked.
"Let's first talk about the 'variable' that appeared out of nowhere. Inspector Cao."
Cao Hua gave a nod and stepped forward, relaying in full detail how the Joker had perford Body Seizure on Zhou Xing in the 2nd floor corridor—and explaining the Joker's terrifying dual abilities, Thousand-Face Demon Lord and Cycle Future, to everyone present.
The mont those words landed.
Both the Bath Emperor and Silk-Stocking Desperado's expressions turned extrely ugly.
That woman Tiffany was already enough of a headache.
They had originally thought that with the Revolver God winning away her disciple Piano, her faction's strength would be significantly weakened.
And now...
Another Joker had appeared—the Arashin-kai's 6th Seat?!
Though they weren't sure whether "seat number" was an absolute indicator of strength, any monster ranked above the Gambler was absolutely not to be underestimated!
Especially with those dual abilities—Body Seizure and temporal reversion—there was simply no guarding against them!
"So..."
Silk-Stocking Desperado sat up straight and looked toward Chen Daozi.
"You called us here because you want to form an alliance?"
"First, we join forces to deal with them. That's it, right?"
"Exactly."
Chen Daozi gave a clap of his hands and acknowledged it openly.
"The Arashin-kai is far too powerful, and they act like madn."
"In the high-stakes ga at 8 in the morning, we can completely work together to set a trap and eliminate them first."
"After that, we each rely on our own abilities to compete for the Hospital Director's position. There's no need to slaughter each other right from the start."
Hearing this proposal.
The Bath Emperor at his side had black mist churning at its neck, which rapidly condensed in mid-air into a line of text.
【What about that pretty boy? Why wasn't he invited?】
Clearly, it still harbored a grudge against Jiang Nan for stealing its woman—but it was wary of his strength all the sa.
Chen Daozi answered plainly.
"He and I don't get along well. He's an extrely arrogant fellow, so I didn't invite him."
"Besides, having soone like him—who knows nothing—out in the open drawing fire will work in our favor."
"The Gambler and the Joker in the high-stakes ga shouldn't be able to detect that we 3 parties have already reached a covert agreent."
At those words.
Silk-Stocking Desperado nodded thoughtfully, then stood up.
"Not a bad idea. I agree to the alliance."
"Let's leave it at that for now—it's almost 8, and I still need to go touch up my makeup."
"Little brother, we're leaving."
Guan Ming heard this and imdiately nodded, turning to follow her out.
After all, Guo Shuai on the 19th floor was actually on the sa side as that "Revolver God." They naturally needed to go back and discuss things.
The Bath Emperor clearly had no major objection to the plan either.
It made an "OK" gesture with black mist, then stood up, also preparing to leave.
However.
The very next second, just as they had taken 2 steps forward.
Crash!
Dozens of inmate guards poured out from hidden doors, ard with all manner of firearms, sealing off every route of escape!
"Hmm?"
Silk-Stocking Desperado halted, rolled her neck, and looked toward Chen Daozi.
"What's the aning of this?"
The Bath Emperor felt offended as well.
Black mist brimming with fury poured endlessly from its neck, as if it could go berserk at any mont!
But Chen Daozi remained seated at the head of the table, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"My apologies, both of you."
"To prevent anyone from playing both sides and leaking information."
"I can only ask you to remain here temporarily—until the high-stakes ga officially begins."
"Furthermore..."
Chen Daozi's true intentions were now laid bare.
"I also hope that before we cooperate, we can all truly 'be open with one another.'"
"In order for us to better deal with the Arashin-kai and the Revolver God..."
"Both of you—shouldn't it be ti to show your cards?"
The aning was crystal clear.
This was a Hongn Banquet!
Not only were they not permitted to leave, they were being forced to lay out their abilities!
No cards on the table—and nobody was walking out that door today!
"Heh..."
Silk-Stocking Desperado spread her hands and let out a cold laugh.
"Now that really is quite a spectacular Hongn Banquet~"
"But... are you certain you can withstand the fury of the 2 of us?"
"Chen Daozi."
Before her words had even finished.
The Bath Emperor—the most hot-tempered of them all—had completely snapped!
As the ruler of floors 11 through 18, how could it possibly swallow this humiliation?!
It acted imdiately, proving its ability through action!
Boom!!
Rampaging black mist erupted in all directions!
It enveloped the heads of those gun-wielding prison guards!
The next second!
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
All the inmate guards shrouded in black mist had no ti to fire a single shot!
Their heads swelled and exploded from a sudden, instantaneous rush of blood to the skull!!
Blood and brain matter splattered across the floor!
More than a dozen headless corpses collapsed in unison.
Then.
That terrifying mass of black mist spiraled through the air and lunged straight at Chen Daozi—
Determined to take his life!
This was the Bath Emperor's ability: Wrath!
It could forcibly channel the most extre fury into an opponent's body!
Affecting their emotions—and even physically, at a bodily level, causing the target's head to literally "explode with rage"!
But faced with this lethal lunge.
Chen Daozi simply smiled faintly.
"Withstand wrath, you say?"
"So that's your ability."
"Straightforward. Brutal."
"But..."
Chen Daozi ripped open his jacket, revealing a vest underneath.
Around the vest's waist hung a belt bristling with 8 daggers!
"But before the 200 days I've accumulated into these blades of mine..."
"It's simply not enough!!"
He drew 1 dagger!
Boom!
A sharp and terrifying aura erupted instantly from that dagger, flooding the entire room!
"Go!"
Whoosh!!
The dagger left his hand!
Streaking like a flash of light!
Thud!
The dagger pierced straight through that mass of black mist in an instant—and with undiminished montum, pinned the Bath Emperor's palm to the wall!
"Aaargh!!"
The Bath Emperor let out a shriek of agony, its aura thrown into violent disarray!
"Your ability may carry great weight in gambling matches."
Chen Daozi toyed with his fingers, eyes cold as he regarded the Bath Emperor pinned in place.
"But before my S-Grade ability, Accumulation of Ten Thousand Days, you're nothing but a clay chicken and a tile dog."
This was his trump card!
An ability reminiscent of the Sword-Storing techniques found in fantasy novels!
Each day, he could forcibly inject a specific "number of days" as energy into a chosen object.
Dramatically enhancing that object's effect or power in a particular direction—and it ca with a built-in anti-magic effect!
Up to this point, from the mont he crossed into this hospital and scraped by day after day, he had accumulated a full 3,333 days' worth of reserves!
And each of the 8 daggers at his waist had been generously infused with 200 days of temporal power—without exception!
The force released in a single strike was enough to kill a Grade A Cursed Creature instantly!
As for the Bath Emperor...
Through back-channel deals with other ghosts, he had long since learned part of its ability and classification—it was a Grade S Cursed Creature!
Even so, as long as a vital point was struck, it would suffer severe wounds!
But the one weakness of this ability was...
Once an enhanced object left his hand and activated, the temporal power within it would dissipate.
In other words—a one-ti consumable.
Chen Daozi gazed at the dagger pinning the Bath Emperor's hand, watching it rapidly crumble to dust.
A pang of heartache hit him—that was 200 days of his life.
But it was unavoidable.
To overawe the assembled forces and seize absolute dominance within the alliance, this show of force had to be made!
After witnessing Chen Daozi's move.
Though the Bath Emperor was consud with humiliation, it weighed its options and had no choice but to reluctantly sit back down.
Its trump card had been exposed. If the fight continued, the remaining 7 flying daggers would be more than enough to slice it into ghost ribbons.
At this mont.
The full weight of pressure in the room shifted instantly onto Silk-Stocking Desperado.
Chen Daozi smiled faintly.
Once again, he drew 1 of the daggers from his waist—each infused with 200 days of temporal power—and twirled it between his fingertips.
"Friend, don't make this difficult for ."
"The Bath Emperor and I have both revealed our abilities."
"Now... it's your turn."
In an instant.
Guan Ming, Ye Desheng, Cao Hua—even the Bath Emperor—all turned in unison to stare at Silk-Stocking Desperado.
They were all intensely curious. This woman, a newcor who had sohow run rampant on the 19th floor—with a record of 77 wins and 1 loss—just what terrifying ability was she hiding?
Faced with Chen Daozi's blatant threat.
Silk-Stocking Desperado showed not the slightest panic. Instead, she flashed a charming smile.
"Since everyone has been so sincere in showing their hand~"
"I can hardly be left out, can I~"
With that.
She suddenly raised her right hand, fingers splayed wide, aid squarely at Chen Daozi seated at the head of the table!
"Hmm?!"
Chen Daozi's pupils contracted sharply at the sight!
'What is she doing? Has she been cornered into lashing out? Is she trying to force her way through?!'
He imdiately reversed his grip on the 200-day dagger, ready to hurl it at a mont's notice and deliver a fatal blow!
However...
At that very instant.
Chen Daozi's palm suddenly felt empty.
To his horror, he realized...
He could no longer feel the dagger's presence in his hand at all!
He looked down—his hand was completely empty!
And what made his scalp prickle with shock even more...
When he raised his head again, that dagger—which he had been gripping tightly—
Was now, at so unknown mont, held in Silk-Stocking Desperado's hand!!
Not a single person had seen how she had taken it!
Silk-Stocking Desperado twirled the dagger between her fingers.
She tilted her head slightly toward Guan Ming—who had long since been left gaping in disbelief—and said softly.
"Do you rember what I told you, little brother?"
"I'm just a desperado."
Then.
She turned her head, flipped the dynamic entirely in her favor, and pointed the blade at Chen Daozi's throat.
"I only know how to plunder."
"I only know how to kill."
"I only know how to win."
"This—is my ability."
"Plunder!"
Bunny-Bunny
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