Chapter 99: 17 Cards Can You Second ?
"Deal!"
As Cao Hua's voice fell.
The 300-jin fat Bunny-Girl Ghost flushed with coy shyness and began dealing the cards.
One had to admit—even though Cao Hua possessed no abilities whatsoever.
His passive skill nad 【Middle-Aged Man's Unique Charm】
was an absolute death sentence against a middle-aged female ghost starved of affection.
And so, under the fat Bunny-Girl Ghost's under-the-table manipulation, the outco seed set in stone before the ga had even begun.
Cao Hua's hand:
Rocket 4 Aces 4 Kings 4 Queens 4 Jacks A 2 A 3
This was an absolute Heavenly Hand!
Apart from that spare 3, every card was a bomb!
Cao Hua glanced at his hand, a smug grin of 'all according to plan' at the corners of his mouth.
He turned to Zhou Xing at his side—the other had both hands pressed against his forehead, apparently preparing to unleash so kind of technique.
"Ah Xing, stand down."
"In a situation like this, there's no need to bring out your special powers."
Cao Hua straightened his leather jacket and pointed at Jiang Nan with supre confidence.
"Give him a one-hand handicap—I can take this pretty boy down on my own."
"This round, I'll make him lose so thoroughly he won't have a word to say!"
Zhou Xing glanced at the fat Bunny-Girl Ghost and imdiately nodded.
"Got it, Inspector Cao!"
He looked over at Jiang Nan, gaze laced with mockery.
With his own dealer in place, the other party had very little room to maneuver.
Even if you were unbeatable at Russian Roulette, against an absolute Heavenly Hand, winning was simply impossible!
And on top of that—
there was him!
As for Piano, watching this familiar scene unfold, she suddenly felt as though long-dead mories were coming back to attack her.
'This scene… why does it feel so familiar?'
'Back when we played the Joker card, those 2 idiots were just this confident too…'
Thinking of it, Piano covered her mouth and smiled.
So what if you've rigged the ga?
In the face of Master's luck, all skill and probability were nothing but smoke.
She hadn't forgotten—even under those impossibly complex, heaven-defying circumstances, Jiang Nan had still won.
Against a re ga of Fight the Landlord, what could possibly stop him?
……
The ga begins.
"Ahem."
Cao Hua cleared his throat and led off first.
His plan: shed that 1 useless card first, then bomb his way to victory all the way to the end!
Finish off with the 【2】.
Slap!
A single 【3】 drifted lightly onto the table.
"One 3."
Cao Hua nudged his sunglasses and looked at Jiang Nan with a grin.
By all logic, Jiang Nan should either pass, or play a slightly larger card to counter.
However.
The next second.
Slap!!
Jiang Nan, expression perfectly blank, drew out a single 【2】 and slamd it down on top of that 【3】!
A 2.
"……"
The entire room fell silent.
And then.
"Pfft—hahahahaha!!"
Cao Hua burst out laughing, doubling over, tears nearly streaming down his face.
"Oh, co on! Kid, do you even know how to play Fight the Landlord?"
He jabbed a finger at the 2, mocking relentlessly.
"I play a 3, and you imdiately throw down your highest 2?!"
"What kind of strategy is that—a suicide strategy?!"
After all, the Big Joker and Little Joker were both in Cao Hua's hand.
And Zhou Xing was laughing too—the other 2 twos were in his hand.
By playing the 2, Jiang Nan no longer had any card large enough to suppress Cao Hua!
This was nothing short of courting death!
Even Piano couldn't help but feel a twinge of unease watching this.
As a professional gambler, she naturally understood exactly what the 2 were laughing at.
Jiang Nan's move was undeniably throwing away his hand—who opens their very first play by tossing out their trump card?
Unless—
Unless the cards remaining in his hand could all be played in a single move!
'Could it be…?'
Cao Hua seed to have arrived at the sa thought, but he glanced at the thick stack of cards still in Jiang Nan's hand.
Setting aside that 2, Jiang Nan still held a full 16 cards!
Cao Hua pushed up his sunglasses, arrogance plain on his face as he pointed at Jiang Nan:
"Kid, don't tell you're actually thinking… you plan to finish off in 1 shot with 17 cards?"
"Hahahahaha!!"
Cao Hua roared with laughter.
"17 cards and you think you can finish off?!"
"If you can actually take down with 17 cards—"
"I'll eat these sunglasses right here on the spot!!"
At his side, Zhou Xing—never one to miss a chance to fan the flas—jumped up onto his chair and bellowed.
"That's right! I'm raising the stakes!"
"If you can pull it off—I'll yank my underwear off and eat them right here!"
The crowd of prisoner spectators behind them were swept up by the energy and began making increasingly wild boasts.
"I'll eat the table!!"
"I'll eat the ceiling fan!!"
"I'll eat that fat Bunny-Girl Ghost!!"
……
The fat ghost glanced over at him and smiled coyly.
Jeers, catcalls, and taunts closed in around Jiang Nan from every direction.
And yet.
Jiang Nan, standing at the center of that storm.
Remained as unhurried and composed as ever.
He slowly raised his hand.
Whoosh!
A sticky note flew out and landed squarely on Cao Hua's forehead—right in the middle of his laughter.
【Still playing?】
【If not, concede—don't waste my ti.】
"……"
Cao Hua's laughter cut off instantly.
He tore the note from his forehead, expression darkening, fury rising in his eyes.
"Fine! You bloody little punk!"
"Since you're so determined to die, let's keep going!!"
Cao Hua waved his hand and looked at Zhou Xing.
The other nodded and said: "Pass!"
Cao Hua followed imdiately.
"Pass!"
He was calculating inwardly.
'Once you're done with this round, just watch how I blow you to pieces with my Rocket and 4 bombs. I'll personally crush every last bit of that arrogance!'
The 2 crossed their arms, settled back, and struck a 'let's enjoy the show' pose.
But.
The next second.
The expressions on their faces froze completely.
Jiang Nan slowly rose from his seat, the remaining 16 cards gripped in his hand.
3-3…
4-4…
5-5…
6-6…
7-7…
8-8…
9-9…
10-10…
Crash!!
Jiang Nan swept every single card onto the table in one go!
"Ga! Over!"
Eight-Chain Pairs!!
Crash!!
Cao Hua: "???"
Zhou Xing: "???"
Audience: "???"
Fat Bunny-Girl Ghost: "???"
Cao Hua stared at the unbroken chain of consecutive pairs laid out across the table.
Then looked at the Rocket and 4 bombs still warm in his own hand.
His mind went buzz—a blank white void.
'Lost…'
'He'd lost?'
'Without even getting a single chance to play?!'
A single 2 to open, lure out the passes, then a Chain Pairs one-shot clear?!
And that hand—
3-3-4-4-5-5-6-6-7-7-8-8-9-9-10-10?
What the hell kind of luck was this?!
17 cards total, 1 single 2, and every remaining card a consecutive pair?!
The odds of drawing this were lower than being struck by lightning!
'Is this… even a hand a human being could draw?!'
Jiang Nan straightened his collar and casually scooped up the 2,000 Ghost Coins from the table.
Then pointed at the sunglasses on Cao Hua's face—then pointed at Zhou Xing's crotch.
Whoosh!
A sticky note dropped.
【Eat up while it's hot.】
【I'm watching.】
……
Faced with that humiliating sticky note, the 2 clenched their fists and ground their teeth.
Then…
Honored their promises.
Crunch! Crunch!
The sound of chewing echoed through the room.
One had to say—this Hong Kong gambling duo were truly hard n.
Watching themselves lose at lightning speed with no room left to wriggle out.
The 2 exchanged a glance, and actually made good on their word right then and there!
Cao Hua removed his sunglasses, eyes glistening.
He ground the sunglass fra between his teeth with sheer willpower, chewed through it and swallowed—the corners of his mouth sliced open and bleeding.
Zhou Xing beside him was even more extre.
He reached into his waistband and yanked out his yellowed underwear on the spot!
"Ugh…"
Piano nearly threw up watching.
But Zhou Xing was a man of principle—lose, and you own it!
Eyes shut, wearing the expression of soone going bravely to their death, he stuffed the underwear into his mouth—didn't even chew—and swallowed it whole!
Nearly choked himself to death in the process!
At the sa ti.
The crowd of prisoner spectators behind them, each caught up in that sa spirit of honoring bets, stepped up to the mark.
Crack!
One prisoner threw his arms around the solid wooden table beside him and began gnawing away, splinters flying.
Another prisoner climbed up to the ceiling.
He clamped his teeth onto the spinning fan blades and refused to let go even as his mouth was torn to shreds.
And in the corner, there was one more prisoner.
The look in his eyes as he stared at the fat Bunny-Girl Ghost flickered—bright, then dim—as he kept swallowing.
But not because he wanted to eat her!
It was because—
she seed to have taken a liking to him!!
"Ah Zhen! What are you doing?!"
Still mid-sunglasses-chew, Cao Hua's eyes flew wide open.
Because right then, the fat Bunny-Girl Ghost—who had always been utterly devoted to him.
No longer had eyes for that greasy middle-aged man!
She was staring fixedly at the powerfully built, young and vigorous prisoner who had just sworn—
"I'm gonna eat that fat Bunny-Girl Ghost!"
The fat Bunny-Girl Ghost twisted her barrel waist, coy and bashful.
In a hospital where looks and stamina were everything, the mightiest age had t the mightiest her!
The fat Bunny-Girl Ghost's heart turned on a di!
After all, Cao Hua had his charms—but that was ancient history.
How could he compare to the robust young man right in front of her?
Boom!
She licked her lips, reached out an arm thicker than a human thigh, and snatched the prisoner by the ankle!
"No!! Please, no!!"
The prisoner was scared out of his wits, hands clawing at the floor, nails snapping off.
"Help!! Sobody help!!"
"I'm still young!! I'm not ready to be a kept man yet!! This kind of fortune is way more than I can handle!!"
But.
In the face of absolute power, his struggle ant nothing.
Zip!
He was rcilessly dragged out into the dark corridor beyond the door.
A few seconds later.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
From beyond the door ca a series of pile-driver-like impacts, and the prisoner's screams grew progressively fainter.
"Noooooo!!!!!"
Cao Hua sank to his knees, hands tearing at his own hair, howling in complete breakdown.
"Why!! Why?!"
"Ah Zhen!! Why did you betray ?!"
"Can our love really not withstand a pair of muscles?!"
Cao Hua completely fell apart.
Because this didn't just an he'd lost his "beloved"—more critically—
He'd lost his greatest asset!
Without the under-the-table manipulation of an official dealer.
This middle-aged man with no abilities whatsoever was nothing but garbage in this people-eating, bone-sucking hospital!
"Inspector Cao! Pull yourself together!"
At this point, Zhou Xing—half a pair of underwear still dangling from his mouth—patted him on the shoulder in consolation.
"Won are like clothes—lose one, find another!"
"You still have ! Our golden duo isn't finished yet!"
Then.
Zhou Xing turned, eyes locked hard on the man sitting across from him, leisurely watching the whole spectacle.
Slap!
He pulled out nearly every last coin he had on him.
A full 1,500 Ghost Coins, slamd heavily onto the table!
"Again!!"
"Round 2… will definitely be ours!!"
Faced with this last-ditch gamble.
Jiang Nan simply smiled faintly and pushed the 2,000 Ghost Coins he'd just won straight to the center of the table—untouched.
Whoosh!
A sticky note was plastered onto the chip mountain.
【Why not?】
Seeing this, Cao Hua—grief and fury fused into pure gambling fire—reached for his last stash of private savings too.
1,500 Ghost Coins!
Crash!
Total prize pool: 5,000 Ghost Coins!
The high-stakes round was underway!
But… it wasn't All-In.
Piano, standing behind Jiang Nan, picked up on this.
She watched those 2 seemingly shattered figures across the table and laughed coldly to herself.
'Those 2 cunning old foxes…'
'The reason they're putting on this broken, impulsive display is to deliberately make Master lose his head and drop his guard, isn't it?'
Not that it mattered.
As far as she was concerned, this was nothing but ants trying to shake a great tree.
Against Master's luck, any sche was utterly powerless.
"Begin."
Jiang Nan tapped the table.
Hummmmm!!
A new round comnced.
Black mist swirled at the center of the table, and the Slot Machine materialized once again.
3 icons began to spin.
Seconds later.
Ding!
The display froze.
It was a cube.
【Dice】!
Bunny-Bunny
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