"Everyone, please remain calm!"
The authoritative voice carried a touch of aloofness, along with a nearly imperceptible hint of warmth.
This highly penetrating voice quickly calmed the people in the audience.
They turned their heads toward the highest private room.
Before the transparent floor-to-ceiling window stood a tall, imposing figure, holding something like a microphone in his hand.
"That's... Prince Xiao Pu?! He's here too?"
Most of the audience came from the Balak Kingdom, and quite a few recognized the future heir of the kingdom.
Setting aside what ordinary citizens thought of this prince,
his status as one person beneath the king and above all others was enough to keep the audience from acting recklessly before him!
Lin Ziyi in the VIP seats also noticed him and was somewhat surprised!
He had not expected the major shareholder of Meow Meow Auction House to be here, much less that he was a prince of this kingdom!
No wonder his bearing was far superior to that of most nobles.
Then did that mean he had seen through Tushan Lingling's identity long ago?
He wondered whether the other man would expose the cheating between him and Tushan Lingling for the sake of these gambling addicts...
Xiao Pu swept an imposing gaze over the crowd below.
Only after seeing everyone quiet down did he curl his lips in satisfaction and speak again beneath their watchful eyes:
"The two contestants in the arena are both people I know.
"I can attest that their true strength is at the Soul Emperor level!"
At those words, the gambling addicts in the audience immediately revealed despairing expressions!
Even the prince, an official figure, had come forward to clarify the matter. What else could they possibly say?!
The ten Gold Soul Coins wagered by the vast majority of them had gone down the drain just like that. Countless families would be torn apart because of it!
After all, in the eyes of these gambling addicts, this had been a guaranteed win.
Yet they had never expected someone capable of ending Ye Zhiyuan's winning streak to actually emerge!
Sure enough, the ultimate result of gambling was always to lose everything!
Just as everyone lamented, Xiao Pu suddenly changed his tone:
"However... considering that over a thousand people placed bets on Ye Zhiyuan,
"and many of them wagered ten Gold Soul Coins or even their entire fortunes...
"It is an indisputable fact that everyone lost...
"But in order to reduce everyone's losses, I have decided to return half of every person's wager free of charge!"
At those words, thunderous cheers erupted from the audience!
The sound was hundreds, even thousands of times more intense than when they had been cursing the two people onstage earlier!
At that moment, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, "Long live His Highness!!"
That cry immediately spread like a plague, and the audience collectively chanted Prince Xiao Pu's honored name!
Watching the smiling Prince Xiao Pu, Lin Ziyi could not help clapping. Under Babitt's puzzled gaze, he remarked emotionally:
"As expected of His Highness. With just a few words, he killed two birds with one stone and reaped two benefits at once!
"Not only did he use this method to win over the hearts of ordinary people, he also conveniently did me a favor.
"This imperial art... he's learned it well."
Hearing the young man's words, Babitt, being a businessman himself, naturally understood what he meant.
"So His Highness didn't sell us out after all, and we can still make a huge profit?"
Lin Ziyi smiled bitterly and nodded.
He did not want to become involved with royalty or imperial family members, because that meant getting involved in politics!
But for the sake of his own goals, it would not hurt to interact a little with these "official" people.
Of course, that was only if it did not affect his own plans and pace. Otherwise, he would not take this so-called favor of theirs seriously.
"Let's go collect the money."
Lin Ziyi stood, patted Babitt's shoulder, and took the lead in leaving the VIP room.
The VIP reception room on the third floor.
Lin Ziyi rubbed Tushan Lingling's delicate ears, hidden by the Illusion Technique atop her head, and praised her with a smile:
"Thanks for the effort. I'll reward you with a good meal tonight!"
Tushan Lingling endured the sensitivity of her ears, blushed, and giggled as she affectionately rested her head against the young man's shoulder:
"It wasn't hard~ Lingling is already very happy just to complete Husband Brother's task~"
As the two chatted, the door suddenly opened.
A middle-aged man dressed in black, with an unshaven face and a crew cut, silently walked in.
The instant he saw the man, Lin Ziyi's heart jolted!
This man's appearance... why did he look so much like Master Yu Xiaogang?! Why was he here?
As Lin Ziyi looked at him, the middle-aged man looked back.
The two met each other's eyes for two seconds. Then the latter suddenly nodded at Lin Ziyi without saying anything, walked over to an empty sofa, and sat down.
He then took a notebook from his clothes and silently began recording something in it.
Lin Ziyi silently watched him, his emotions somewhat complicated.
Because of the original work, and because of Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong, Lin Ziyi held no goodwill toward this man at all!
When it came to love, he only knew how to run away, without the slightest sense of responsibility expected of a man.
When faced with his own poor talent, rather than striving to seek opportunities that could change his fate, he had instead studied those unreliable invincible theories...
But... Lin Ziyi had no way to criticize him to his face.
After all, he had never experienced the other man's circumstances and could not guarantee that, if he encountered the things the other man had encountered, he would definitely do better...
Therefore, Lin Ziyi's attitude toward this man was the same as his attitude toward Tang San. As long as the other man did not provoke him first, he would not deliberately torment him either!
A truly strong person would never take the initiative to bully the weak!
Besides, actively tormenting them did not seem likely to bring him any tangible benefits for the time being.
Instead, it would make enemies of him and Tang San, the Son of Destiny!
He would consider such matters only after his strength had become sufficiently powerful.
At this moment, aside from Lin Ziyi and his servant, as well as Babitt, Yu Xiaogang was the only other person in the room.
By the looks of it, the third person who had bet on Tushan Lingling back then had probably been this master!
He wondered what gave the other man the confidence to place his money on Little Fox.
It seemed that after studying his theories for decades, the man had indeed figured out something, more or less...
Before Lin Ziyi could think further, the door opened again.
The refined and gentle Xiao Pu entered with the expressionless Nuotian De accompanying him.
Lin Ziyi did not stand. He merely looked at the two calmly.
Already filled with displeasure, Nuotian De saw Lin Ziyi's attitude and could not help rebuking him angrily:
"You dare not stand and salute upon seeing His Highness?!"
Before Lin Ziyi could respond, Xiao Pu hurriedly shot Nuotian De a glare:
"Brother Tiande, wasn't it just a lost soul fight? Why such hostility?
"I already said I'd cover the money you lost!"
Since Xiao Pu had said so, Nuotian De could only forcibly suppress his displeasure and say no more.
Watching one play the good cop and the other the bad cop, Lin Ziyi laughed inwardly but did not expose them.
They wanted to establish an image of themselves as gentle and magnanimous before him...
But since he wanted to get money from them, he could only pretend to be the "man in the dark."
At that moment, Nuotian De took three transparent crystal cards from his clothes and tossed two of them to Lin Ziyi:
"These contain your principal and the chips you won.
"Our Great Soul Arena works with Spirit Hall throughout the Heaven Dou Empire.
"You can withdraw the Gold Soul Coins inside at any Spirit Hall branch in the Heaven Dou Empire."
Lin Ziyi steadily caught the two cards and saw the numbers "three thousand five hundred" and "five thousand" appear on their surfaces.
It seemed that the Great Soul Arena's one-to-one-hundred odds included the principal.
Just as he was about to hand the 5000 Gold Soul Coins card to Babitt beside him,
Babitt suddenly reached out and took the three-thousand-five-hundred card!
Before you continue