Gamblers Never Die Well

"... Do you need a larger knife?"

The Gray Serpent asked even more respectfully.

No wonder he was able to suppress his own snake lord and become the leader of the Previous Era.

This taste, Gray Serpent can only say is just right—just like how Mobius threw him into the disposal pool like trash back then.

"Or do you wish to inject her with Honkai Energy to maintain her life?"

"... Do I look like such a perverted person?" Mei keenly sensed the change in Gray Serpent's attitude.

"Of course not, Doctor, but I think this will allow you to make fuller use of your wisdom."

"Oh..."

Only when the gaze that seemed to want to throw him into the destruction pool shifted away did the Gray Serpent breathe a sigh of relief.

However, Mei's voice continued to ring out.

"You don't need to worry about it. You know that the Herrscher of a Thousand are my true 'old friends'—instead of wasting your time circling around me, you should think about how to wipe out the Herrscher of a Thousand in one fell swoop."

"Yes... as you wish, Doctor."

The Gray Serpent bowed slightly to Mei, then backed away from the laboratory while maintaining that posture.

"Calculate the area of Gray Serpent's psychological trauma," the Jackal said, looking at Gray Serpent with a hint of schadenfreude.

"... Believe it or not, if I had thrown you in Gray Serpent's spot just now, I could be attending your funeral tonight."

"I'll say it with a hint of sarcasm," Shiora said casually.

Although they achieved a moment of mutual understanding in their fear, the two were ultimately not on the same path.

"How can you be any better than me?" Clio was quite dissatisfied with Shiora's statement.

"Yes, I'm not much better than you." Shiora nodded, then clasped her hands together in a prayerful gesture. "But I believe Lord Liu Bai will not abandon his loyal subordinates."

"..."

Everyone was speechless at Shiora's shameless expression.

"... You can wear the Jackal mask."

Clio's lips twitched; she genuinely wanted to call Raven a "lackey."

But her strong will to survive stopped her from having that idea.

After all, these words, in a way, insulted Liu Bai.

Well... she might not actually go to the lab bench to criticize Mei, since Mei has never cared about the opinions of the majority—she is undoubtedly one of them, a so-called "tool," as long as she is honest and useful. What she says or thinks is not important to Mei.

But if she were to scold Liu Bai... then Clio thought that Shiora would really be able to come and eat at his table tonight.

... So there's this kind of preferential treatment when serving Lord Liu Bai?

Come to think of it, Gray Serpent did try to put her next to Liu Bai as a maid alongside Shiora before, but she refused...

"Sir, do you need a masseur? I've had the privilege of learning a little massage..."

"What kind of massage is this ghost doing?"

A disdainful voice rang out beside Clio.

"There may be a lot of work ahead; preparations will continue until 9 a. m. tomorrow."

"M, Dr. Mei? You've finished your experiment?" Clio turned his head, looking at Mei guiltily.

"Of course, it's just one-thousandth of Herrscher Core. How long are you planning to take?"

Mei raised her hand, revealing a somewhat dim core. There was little Honkai energy around the core, and it didn't feel as good as some high-concentration Honkai Crystal to Rita and the others.

The puppets behind them... of course, are dead.

"Come on, Kiana, use your Herrscher power to imbue this core. Although this core is definitely not as powerful as Benares', Benares is still seriously injured, so consider it an insurance policy."

"Huh... Eh? Me? Infiltrated?" Kiana looked bewildered.

"Okay, I shouldn't have expected an idiot to do anything." Mei sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Is Senior Sister here?"

"Shibao is watching Bei Bei Long up there," Liu Bai reminded him from the side. "And in some ways, Shibao is also an idiot."

"Tsk... How come those who should have come didn't, while a bunch of those who shouldn't have come showed up—of course, I'm not talking about you."

Mei glanced around, thought for a moment, and patted Clio on the shoulder.

"Go, bring the person down here."

Clio dared not refuse and could only nod. Fortunately, the elevator at Shencheng Pharmaceuticals was reliable, Shibao came down shortly afterward.

"Is there something you need, Junior Sister?" Shibao looked at Mei excitedly, but then his expression turned suspicious.

"Wait, could this be some kind of diversionary tactic?"

"... Obviously not."

Mei looked at the overly lively "Fu Hua" in front of her, rubbed her temples, and then directly threw the core to Shibao.

"Hey, hey, hey? What are you throwing? A rock?"

Shibao caught the core and stared at it with a blank stare. It took Shibao a while to figure out what it was.

"Wait... Oh, Herrscher Core, right? But why are you throwing it at me?"

"Didn't you want to give Benares to the Doctor as a mount? Just cover up the power on it and then stuff Benares inside."

In a sense, it's just about letting other Herrscher "devour" this core from the outside—of course, I don't really have any objections to them swallowing it and then spitting it out.

This method was chosen because Benares was seriously injured and might be vulnerable to other puppets taking advantage of his weakness; otherwise, it would have been better to just stuff him in and let him digest it himself.

If anyone present had to be identified as having an experience similar to "swallowing and then spitting out," it would only be Sirin.

Unfortunately, Sirin couldn't be online, and no one dared to let her be online. Kiana was also an idiot, so Mei had no choice but to settle for Shibao.

No matter what, this guy is a legitimate Herrscher.

However, Mei's decision caught Liu Bai's attention.

(... Aren't you afraid that the Shibao will discover your abnormality?)

(Don't worry, she's not that smart.)

Mei pushed up her glasses.

Could Shibao react in time? Impossible.

As long as no external force challenges Shibao's perception, Shibao firmly believes that he is "Fu Hua".

I, Fu Hua, can do anything!

What's wrong with immersing myself in the Herrscher Core? Besides, this is for my beloved Teacher Liu!

Nothing is impossible! Nothing is impossible!

This kind of stupid thinking is easy to understand.

However, to some extent, Liu Bai can also be considered the source of Shibao's power. Mei thinks that if Liu Bai were by his side, Shibao could suddenly unleash 30% of his strength.

"Like this?"

Shibao tilted its head, rubbed the core a few times, and then returned a core that emitted a slight glow.

"Almost there. Let's go, give it to Benares and make it Herrscher."

At this point, Liu Bai's plan became clear—give Benares a core and turn him back into Herrscher.

That's why the Herrscher of Domination suffered – after all, the Herrscher of Domination is easy to bully, and individual cores are weak, and their powers are just an extra...

Even if Benares becomes Herrscher, he will only be a "Judgment-class" Herrscher. The Core of a Thousand Laws is mainly responsible for supplying Honkai Energy to Bebe Dragon from the Imaginary Space. If the energy supply of other Herrscher Core is like the Three Gorges Dam, then a Core of a Thousand Laws is just a small water pipe or a faucet.

It's completely under control, so everyone feels at ease.

So no one objected to the plan—including Sirin.

As long as Benares can survive, and even gain human form and higher intelligence, mere strength... Sirin no longer cares.

If she could, Sirin would love for Benares to stay as far away from the battlefield as possible afterward.

Afterwards, the group arrived at the plaza, where Shibao tossed the Herrscher Core to Benares.

Benares, having had some time, naturally recognized the core that had been thrown at it.

Although somewhat puzzled as to why the core was so weak, driven by the instinct for survival, Benares struggled to lift its head without hesitation and used the simplest method to allow the core into its body—to devour it.

Then, under a burst of light, the dragon's body began to shrink rapidly. In just a few seconds, the light faded, and a lying figure appeared in front of everyone.

A beautiful white-haired, blue-eyed girl dressed in a revealing maid outfit.

"... Why a maid?"

Everyone looked at Liu Bai with strange expressions.

"Why are you looking at me? What does this have to do with me? I haven't even touched that core, okay?"

Liu Bai shouted that he was innocent, and after thinking about it, everyone agreed and looked away.

"... But speaking of which, why didn't anyone tell me that this was a female dragon?"

Mei's lips twitched.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, Benares slowly walked towards the Liu Bai doll in Rita's arms. He stopped in front of Rita, tilted his head in confusion, and softly parted his lips:

"...Owner?"

"???"

All eyes turned to Liu Bai again—you still say it has nothing to do with you?

However, Sirin, who hadn't been immersed in joy for long, suddenly lost her composure.

(I'm going to kill that man! I'll kill him and then give him my own life in return! Nobody can stop me!)

Chapter 134 Gamblers Will Never Meet a Good Death

"Kill this man! If I kill him, I'll just die right away! All the remaining power is yours!"

Sirin roared wildly within Kiana's consciousness.

Then...

Fu Hua hesitated for a moment before muting her.

Discussing killing her teacher in front of her like that is going too far!

... Although Fu Hua also felt that what her Teacher Liu had done was a bit unethical.

After all, it's someone else's dragon, and to turn it into your own right in front of everyone... isn't that a bit much?

Shouldn't we at least maintain some restraint?

In person... never mind, as long as my teacher is happy.

"... You bastard, lift the censorship for me!" Sirin said, looking aggrieved.

Fu Hua's silence wasn't to completely prevent her from speaking, but rather to prevent Kiana from hearing her voice.

"...Miss Sirin, I think you should calm down."

Even Fu Hua felt that these words were against her conscience.

"I'm trying to help you, okay!" Sirin glared angrily at Fu Hua. "Do you want to see Bella sleep with that man?"

Fu Hua remained silent.

"Heh..." Seeing Fu Hua's expression, Sirin showed an expression of not having expected it. "So shouldn't you stand with me on this matter?"

"... Don't bewitch me."

"Ha! Even a dignified immortal would bury their head in the sand?" Sirin laughed in exasperation.

Bewitching you? She's not trying to bewitch you!

At the same time, everyone's attention outside turned to Liu Bai.

However, because there was a silver-haired, emotionless dragon maid standing next to him, the gazes directed at him were relatively restrained.

"..."