The Nightmare Gambling Game
The reason Yi Chen chose to participate in the gambling game initiated by Catherine actually had both an overt and a hidden motive.
On the surface,
Yi Chen already knew that the meat mixed with Nightmare Substance had long since entered the market and been consumed directly by countless gentlemen. At least 50% of Zion's citizens had been subjected to "Idea Implantation."
Once Catherine was pushed into a corner, she would only need to snap her fingers, and Zion would descend into chaos overnight. The entire city would be filled with strange laughter, while every gentleman who had failed to break through their limits would wear a smiling face and run wild.
To preserve Zion and the brains and lives of every citizen,
Yi Chen had only one path available to him: playing the game with Catherine.
As long as he could win the game, then according to the "Soul Contract" the two had signed, Catherine would extract the thoughts from every citizen's mind, clear the Nightmare influence throughout Zion, and withdraw completely.
But there was one extremely important problem here.
Even though Yi Chen possessed a unique "Black Mad Brain," and might not be much worse than Catherine when it came to implanting thoughts—in some aspects, he might even be superior—
the game's main arena was Nightmare, Catherine's territory.
Trying to win on someone else's turf against an existence of unknown strength, possibly far above Yi Chen's level, could be said to have a very low probability of success.
Moreover, if Catherine was sinister and cunning, using strange Nightmare rules and methods, his chances of victory might even be reduced to zero.
If he could not win the game, there was no point talking about saving the citizens. By then, Yi Chen himself would become