High Stakes Gamble

"Gulp."

Lu Mingxuan swallowed in shock.

Up to this point, the bets placed by the three players in this round had already exceeded the total of all previous games.

On the gambling table, chips were piled up like a mountain. A quick glance suggested there were no less than sixty thousand.

What shocked Lu Mingxuan even more was that since the start of this game, Lin Sizhi had already bet nearly seventy thousand chips.

These were chips he had carried with him from the beginning.

Where did he get so many chips??

Even more terrifying was that this game was still not over. All three had already put too many chips on the table. Under such circumstances, no one would fold before the cards were revealed.

If they didn't see the outcome, they would die with regrets.

Time ticked by second by second.

Lu Xinyi looked at the chips in front of her and, in the last second of the countdown, pushed forward a stack of chips worth 2,000 points each.

"Raise, 20,000!"

By now, the mountain of chips in front of Lu Xinyi was almost completely gone.

Previously, Lu Xinyi had obtained 36,000 chips through bloodletting, won 32,000 chips in her game with Jiang He and the others, and then won approximately 13,000 chips in her match against Lin Sizhi.

But in this round, she had already bet 43,000 points.

Lu Mingxuan was a little worried. He had already folded in this round, so he couldn't influence it.

However, looking at Lu Xinyi's expression, she hadn't lost her mind.

The reason she raised by 20,000 was because this was her estimate of Lin Sizhi's maximum possible chip limit.

Even if she risked her life with bloodletting and luckily won a few rounds against the Chip Exchange Machine, she could only get this many chips at most.

At this moment, if Lin Sizhi's remaining chips were less than 20,000, the cards would be revealed.

If Lin Sizhi's remaining chips were more than 20,000, it would mean something beyond reason had happened, and she would have to consider whether to fold and cut her losses.

Lu Mingxuan turned to look at Lin Sizhi, and his heart suddenly sank.

Because Lin Sizhi actually took out another 20,000 chips from his pocket.

Not only him, but Qin Yao also took out 20,000 from her pocket.

"Raise."

"Raise."

Lu Xinyi seemed to have instantly lost all her strength, her entire body freezing.

She looked at her remaining chips, only 38,000 points left.

Lu Mingxuan opened his mouth, but hesitated to speak.

If it were him, he would continue raising at this point. After all, he had already bet over sixty thousand chips; there was no reason to stop now.

However, in the last second of the countdown, Lu Xinyi squeezed out two words through gritted teeth.

"Fold."

Lin Sizhi looked surprised, "Oh?"

He smiled, "Not bad, a rational choice."

He took out another 2,000-point chip from his pocket. "Raise."

Lu Xinyi then stared at Qin Yao.

Because she knew that after she folded, Qin Yao had no reason to continue raising. As long as Qin Yao chose to call, the cards would definitely be revealed.

At that time, she would be able to see what Lin Sizhi's hand was.

Even if she was bluffed by a weak hand, she would accept the loss gracefully.

And Qin Yao would definitely call, because the chips on the table had already piled up to over a hundred thousand!

Whoever won would take all the chips.

In the game with Jiang He, Lu Xinyi already knew that Community No. 17, unlike them, was not a tightly knit organization. While they called it cooperation, in reality, everyone was fighting for themselves.

Therefore, facing over a hundred thousand chips, it was highly probable that Qin Yao would choose to reveal her cards and take a gamble.

However, Qin Yao simply threw her hand onto the table.

"Fold."

"Clatter."

The mechanical arm moved, sweeping all the piled-up chips towards Lin Sizhi.

Lu Xinyi's heart sank completely; her desire to see the hole cards was also dashed.

The mechanical arm collected all the poker cards and discarded them into the recycling slot within the gambling table, then took out a new deck of cards and continued the shuffling and dealing process.

Lu Mingxuan looked at the chips in front of him.

Since he didn't participate in the previous divine battle, most of his chips were preserved, and he still had over 40,000 left.

He was starting to understand why Lu Xinyi had folded.

If Lu Xinyi hadn't folded and had instead bet all her remaining 38,000 points, she would have been immediately eliminated with zero chips if she lost.

With only Lu Mingxuan left, the chances of winning the remaining two rounds would be significantly reduced, and he would be forced to exit after losing the ante.

Lu Xinyi kept her final 38,000 chips. If she got a good hand, she could cooperate with Lu Mingxuan to recover as much as possible.

After all, at the gambling table, heaven and hell were just a thought away.

Besides this, there was another point: Lu Xinyi had judged that Qin Yao would definitely call and reveal her hand.

So even if Lu Xinyi folded, she could still see Lin Sizhi's hand.

It was just that Lu Xinyi hadn't expected Qin Yao to so readily give up chips worth as much as 100,000, to the point where she didn't even see Lin Sizhi's hand.

It was hard to say whether this decision was right or wrong, because what Lin Sizhi held might indeed have been a very big hand.

Lu Mingxuan looked at Lu Xinyi. She was lowering her head, lost in thought.

Looking at Lin Sizhi again, even though he had gained so many chips, he still had no particular expression. He didn't even stack his chips like others; they were just piled messily in front of him.

"There are two more rounds, we still have a chance to win it back," Lu Mingxuan comforted her.

The mechanical arm had dealt the cards, but Lin Sizhi didn't turn them over to look.

He glanced at the countdown timer on the big screen: "You don't seem to have grasped the current situation yet.

"The most important thing for you now isn't thinking about winning, but about how to quickly hand over the rest of your chips to us."

Lu Mingxuan's eye twitched: "Talking such trash is meaningless."

Lin Sizhi shook his head: "No, this isn't trash talk, it's a reminder.

"Lu Xinyi, if you're truly smart, you should know what I'm talking about by now.

"Of course, if you're fools, I don't mind wasting time with you."

Lu Xinyi slowly raised her head, her eyes becoming more confused.

She already had many questions she couldn't figure out, and now, after hearing Lin Sizhi's "trash talk," she was even more bewildered.

"Raise the bet."

Lin Sizhi was the dealer. This time, he waited until the countdown was nearing its end before slowly tossing in a 1,000 chip.

Suddenly, Lu Xinyi seemed to recall something. Her gaze swept past Lin Sizhi towards the lounge area for players from Community No. 17. Jiang He and Su Xiucen had originally been sitting on the sofa there.

However, at some point, both of them had disappeared.

At this moment, the questions that had been bothering Lu Xinyi instantly connected, resounding like thunder in her mind!

The game wasn't over, and Jiang He and Su Xiucen had nowhere else to go. The only explanation was that they had re-entered the booths of the chip exchange area.

Where did Lin Sizhi and Qin Yao's chips come from?

They could only have won them from the Chip Exchange Machine.

Qin Yao originally had only 8,000 chips left, but in this game, she had almost infinite chips, just like Lin Sizhi. This could only be because, during the brief interval between the two games, she had entered the chip exchange area again.

The problem that had been troubling Lu Xinyi suddenly had an answer.

"The Chip Exchange Machine has a problem!

"Lin Sizhi found some kind of loophole in the Chip Exchange Machine, which is why he got so many chips!"

Lu Xinyi quickly looked at the big screen. The countdown showed 17 minutes remaining.

"So much time has passed!"

Lu Xinyi was shocked because before this round started, there were still 46 minutes left.

A six-player game, according to normal progress, should end in about 15 minutes.

But now, nearly half an hour had passed, and the gamble had only reached its eighth round.

This was not only because the previous big gamble, with its repeated deliberation and betting, had consumed a lot of time, but also because Lin Sizhi had been deliberately stalling for time from the very beginning.

Thinking back now, many times when it was his turn, he would almost always take the full minute to think, which significantly increased the time spent on this game.

"Was this also within your plan?" Lu Xinyi's heart sank.

She had originally planned to spend the last half hour researching the Chip Exchange Machine, but now only fifteen minutes remained.

Qin Yao had already chosen to raise the bet, still only adding one thousand to Lin Sizhi's chips.

Lu Xinyi immediately said: "Fold!"

She then looked at Lu Mingxuan: "You fold too!"

Lu Mingxuan was stunned because he had a Pair, and his hand was quite decent.

But Lu Xinyi's attitude was firm: "Fold, now."

Lu Mingxuan, not understanding why, still chose to fold.

Lu Xinyi then waved to the other two players from Community No. 3 sitting in the lounge area.

"There might be a loophole in the Chip Exchange Machine that allows for acquiring a large number of chips. Go and try it immediately!"

The two were a bit shocked but didn't ask further, quickly entering the booth.

Lu Xinyi looked at the big screen again, her mind racing.

"If everything goes smoothly, the gamble will be over within a minute, leaving me 15 minutes to find the loophole in the Chip Exchange Machine..."

She had already guessed what this loophole likely was.

Since the odds weren't in her favor, the only way to consistently and significantly win chips from the Chip Exchange Machine was through one possibility.

That was, when she got a strong hand, she could earn chips limitlessly through some method.

In 10 minutes, no, if she was lucky, it would only take 5 minutes to multiply the chips in her hand several times over.

However, when the one-minute countdown on the big screen ended, Lin Sizhi leisurely picked up another 2000 chip and placed it in the betting area.

"Raise."

"You..." Lu Xinyi froze.

She suddenly realized they were back to the original problem: as long as Lin Sizhi and Qin Yao continued to slowly raise their bets, they could easily run out of time.

If Lu Xinyi had bet all her chips in the previous round and lost, she would have been free.

She could have gone to the Chip Exchange Machine, sold 200ml of blood, and used the known loophole to earn a large sum of chips.

But now, these remaining thirty thousand-plus chips had become her stumbling block.

Because the game rules were crystal clear: after a multiplayer gambling table starts, you either complete ten rounds or run out of chips; otherwise, you cannot leave.

Lin Sizhi glanced at the countdown on the big screen: "There isn't much time left. Shall we discuss the ransom?"