bookbashuk Chapter 73 The Gamble
Chapter 73 The Gamble
Swordfish Bar.
"Everyone heard it just now. To thank me, you're going to treat me to your special cured meat." A burly man with blue tattoos on his head sat next to a young man dressed in Rune attire, his arm around the young man's as he laughed heartily.
"When did I say such a thing?" The young man's face flushed red, and his voice trembled slightly with anger.
"Just now, didn't you all?" The burly man tightened his grip and looked around. The surrounding sailors chuckled in unison, some even whistling.
"I...I..." The young man from Rune realized he had been scammed and was too nervous to speak.
The young man gritted his teeth, then finally bowed his head in dejection: "...Fine, I'll pay."
On someone else's turf, the young man had no choice but to accept his fate.
……
Lorne saw this scene as soon as he arrived at the bar.
Forced buying and selling—that was the first word that came to his mind.
This is what it would be like without a market supervision bureau.
That small plate of cured meat was lucky to have 2 sous, and it was 5 pounds... The sea was even darker than he had imagined.
Before even reaching Bayam, Lorne had already witnessed the survival rules at sea: outsiders are lambs to the slaughter.
The Vilan is currently resupplying in a nearby port, and Lorne took the opportunity to disembark and explore the local customs and culture at sea, but he never expected to witness such a scene.
This bar is a total rip-off... Lorne, also an outsider, didn't want to linger any longer.
"Huh, why are so many people gathered together?"
He had just left the bar when he saw a group of people gathered around a bulletin board.
"Is there any notification?"
"Make way." Lorne clutched his satchel, while Rachel's claws were already hooking onto his shirt through the fabric. When he finally squeezed to the front, he discovered that the notice nailed to the metal plate wasn't the kind he had imagined.
"Steel"... "Claws"... "Flames"...
Portraits bearing monetary amounts appeared before Lorne's eyes. The figures in the portraits were either ferocious or sinister, and the monetary figures gleamed a blinding red in the sunlight.
The amounts on the portraits range from tens of pounds to thousands of pounds.
"Oh, it's an arrest warrant!" Lorne exclaimed in realization.
"With such a high bounty, they must all be extraordinary individuals. It seems the proportion of extraordinary individuals at sea is indeed significantly higher than on land."
……
The crisp sound of dice clashing, the trembling of coins rolling, and the suppressed, sudden burst of cheers.
Lorne stopped in front of the door. He shouldn't have been interested in this kind of place, but having just come from that shady bar, he was unwittingly pushed through the crowd into the oak door carved with anchor chain patterns.
The moment he pushed open the door, the smell of tobacco, sweat, and alcohol wafted towards him, and more than twenty oily faces turned to him at the same time.
A casino? I never expected to end up in a place like this... Lorne, who came out of the shady bar, never expected to find himself in a casino.
This famous tertiary industry was something Lorne had never seen before, either before or now.
Casinos are illegal in Loen; they can only be attached to bars as individual rooms.
But in the kingdom’s vast overseas colonies, it was not only legal, but also a pillar industry.
Today he experienced firsthand just how common casinos are at sea; you can run into one just by strolling around.
……
"A new face?" someone muttered as Lorne entered.
Lorne surveyed the casino environment, and instead of heading to the bustling roulette tables, he chose a two-player table in a corner. This was where the fewest gamblers were.
Across the two-person card table sat a man who appeared to be around thirty years old, with yellowish eyebrows, bright deep blue eyes, and a not particularly striking profile.
He seemed to be in a good mood, with a big smile on his face, indicating that he had a very fruitful day.
Whether it was just his imagination or not, Lorne felt that the man's expression was somewhat unnatural, as if he was putting on an act.
And...it looks somewhat familiar.
"A bet?" Lorne muttered to himself, his fingers unconsciously rubbing his satchel. Rachel stirred slightly inside, her claws hooking onto his shirt.
"Want to play a couple of rounds?" The dealer, a tall, thin middle-aged man, looked at Lorne and enthusiastically recommended.
"What rules?" Lorne suddenly became interested.
"The simplest kind, just comparing sizes."
Comparing sizes... is indeed quite simple. Compared to games with various permutations and combinations that require calculating patterns, comparing sizes really feels more like a gamble.
"One pound per game," the dealer added.
Forget it, money shouldn't be wasted like this... Hearing the dealer's words, Lorne clicked his tongue inwardly and instinctively wanted to refuse. He was already unlucky, and he couldn't play this kind of game.
Just as Lorne was about to politely decline, the man opposite her laughed loudly, "The first round is on me! You don't have to pay if you lose."
Upon hearing this, Lorne was not particularly pleased; instead, he immediately became alert.
"It can't be one of those common scams where they give you a free game to lower your guard, then collude with the dealer to make you keep losing."
This feigned generosity is very similar to what people often call a "fishing trap".
Lorne lowered his head and pondered for a few seconds, then looked up and sized up the other person.
He himself is an extraordinary being, and with the observational abilities brought by the "machine" and his status as an extraordinary being, it shouldn't be difficult for him to escape unscathed.
Moreover, since we're already here, we should just leave if we incur losses... Lorne set this rule for himself.
"Let's play a game then." Lorne pulled out a chair and sat down.
"Okay." The dealer nodded.
He first divided the deck in two, holding one half in each hand. With a gentle flick of his thumb, the cards unfolded like a fan, their edges so neat they looked measured. With a flick of his wrist, the two stacks of cards fell side by side.
Then, he cut the cards with one hand, his thumb pressing against one side of the deck, and with a gentle push from his index and middle fingers, the deck split in two like flowing water, then steadily stacked back in its original position. The whole process was smooth and fluid, without a single unnecessary movement.
There were no hidden cards or any markings... Lorne kept a close eye on the dealer's movements the whole time; his "machine" ability allowed him to observe details very carefully.
"Please," the dealer said.
The man opposite him drew a card first, and when he opened it—the Queen of Spades. His lips moved slightly, but he didn't reveal his expression.
When it was Lorne's turn, he didn't hesitate too much and chose to follow his instincts, picking out a King of Hearts.
Lorne wins the first game.
"Damn it, my winning streak is over." The man's face was full of frustration and disappointment, but he didn't say anything more. He looked at Lorne with a provocative look in his eyes.
"continue."
Lorne nodded, intending to see what tricks the other side was up to.
……
After a while, the man, who had already lost several pounds, couldn't take it anymore.
His previous winning streak seemed to have vanished suddenly. Lorne, however, inexplicably won every single game. The man's smile gradually froze, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"You bastard, are you cheating?"
Lorne looked completely innocent and spread his hands.
"No, don't talk nonsense! I was just playing around."
"You think you can win five games in a row just by playing casually?" The man sneered, slamming his hand on the table and standing up abruptly. "One last game, 10 pounds."
"No, I refuse." Lorne calmly pushed back his chair. He hadn't expected his luck to be so good today and decided to quit while he was ahead.
"You don't dare!" the other party provocatively asked.
"Yeah, I wouldn't dare," Lorne nodded in agreement without much hesitation.