The Gamble Begins

"The president is indeed the president; he never does business at a loss..."

Ruan Ruan was stunned for Ruan Ruan when she heard about the price Xiao Xiao paid for this high-stakes gamble.

Then she refused Xiao Xiao's request to borrow points from her.

The main reason was that she felt there was a high chance that Xiao Xiao would fail, and if he failed, the points that had been lent out would definitely not be recovered. In addition, Xiao Xiao was one of the few people in Black Gate City Ruan Ruan felt she could not get her money back from.

"Am I, a dignified president of the conference, really incapable of borrowing thirteen points?"

Xiao Xiao was quite surprised.

He originally had twelve points left. He could have borrowed just one point to help Butcher upgrade, but since he was going to gamble with his life, he decided to freeze the points. Of course, no one would know if he secretly used a few, but he was a person of status and had to maintain his dignity. So, at this moment, he preferred to borrow points from others.

But Ruan Ruan rejected him, so who should he turn to?

After thinking for a moment, his gaze sharpened, and he began searching for Little Four.

On the other hand, with this earth-shattering gamble agreed upon, the situation in Black Gate City has become much clearer.

After finishing his three meals, Lin Bo came out with a burp and assigned tasks to his team members. "We can assemble that weapon now."

"So fast?"

The team members, who had just finished their meal and were enjoying the upscale atmosphere of Black Gate City, were all taken aback.

"In the original plan, if we couldn't directly convince the guild master of Black Gate City to hand over the Mysterious Guidepost, wouldn't we also have to be prepared to have in-depth discussions with Black Gate City about the spiritual and the life, and to persuade them on a physical level? We might even have to be prepared for the consequences if they insisted on taking the weapon back to Dante and bearing the reputation of refusing to help someone in distress?"

"Your previous attempts to persuade them Mingming failed, so how come you've managed to reach an agreement so smoothly now?"

"..."

"Hehe, wisdom determines everything..."

Lin Bo, feigning professionalism, tossed two ice cubes into the red wine in front of him, then took a sip, swaying his head as if enjoying it immensely, and sneered, "Black Gate City is truly decadent these days, indulging in such expensive red wine every day..."

The man in the plaid shirt next to him and the man carrying the huge cannon looked at him with disbelief.

"Is this wine expensive? It tastes so sour..."

"..."

Lin Bo sneered, glancing at the team members around him, gently swirling his wine glass in his hand, and said, "That's how truly good things are. Because of their inherent value, they won't necessarily cater too much to your taste buds. Just like Black Gate City right now, the fact that they dared to make demands of our Dante Organization shows that they won't obediently hand over what we want..."

"And we need to be patient."

"Expensive red wine requires tasting to appreciate its aroma..."

"Black Gate City also requires us to use some wisdom to successfully resolve such a thorny situation."

"..."

As he spoke, he took a sip, nodded in satisfaction, and said calmly, "Everyone has their own expertise. I know you've never been very satisfied with me as your leader, and you always blame me for tricking you into the least promising school of Dante Organization. But let's look at the facts. Although the initial test we did fail, as the leader, how could I only have this one skill?"

"Heh, I only used a little bit of my wit, and I made them not only willingly hand over their travel permits, but even..."

"... and it can also help us secure a large sum of extra points as funding!"

"..."

The team members listened with utmost respect and quickly raised their glasses to toast Lin Bo: "We've relied on you the whole time, Captain..."

I don't know why, but this red wine that was so hard to drink just now suddenly tastes delicious...

The waiter next to them, watching these elegant people savoring their red wine, couldn't help but wonder:

"Did we take the wrong one and give them the real one instead?"

"..."

"..."

After Lin Bo gave the order, these Dante Organization's reinforcements quickly left the bar that had made them feel so uncomfortable after tasting the expensive red wine that symbolized decadence. They then went to find a suitable place to assemble the mysterious weapon they had brought. As a courtesy, they even handed over some of the weapon's specific parameters to Xiao Qi in advance.

[A+ Grade Forbidden Weapon: Cannon of Hot Blood]

[Attack Range: Entire City]

[Attack duration: 30 seconds/attack]

[Ability Description:???]

[Side effects:???]

[...]

Xiao Qi, who had received the information, also found it a bit strange, but after a little thought, he understood the Dante Organization's intention: they still did not fully trust Black Gate City, so they were unwilling to hand over the characteristics and core secrets of this forbidden weapon to Black Gate City.

This is to prevent leaks.

After all, once the core secrets of many forbidden weapons are leaked, people will easily avoid them or prepare for restraint and countermeasures.

It is also dangerous to allow other organizations to assemble such dangerous and unknown things in Black Gate City.

But since this is Dante Organization, and with Yang Jia as a guarantor, there's no need to worry.

After glancing at the information, he put his phone in his pocket, strode out the back door, and went straight to the shadowy alleyway entrance. He found Little Four, who was squatting on the ground picking up cigarette butts, and said, "Something's up. Do you have any twenty points to lend me?"

"Thud..."

Little Four was completely stunned, and the cigarette butt fell out of his wide-open mouth.

"I know you don't usually like to spend money..."

Xiao Qi quickly added, "But you should still have some points, right?"

"Twenty points are enough."

"It's not that I didn't have any, really, it's just that I made a huge gamble with Dante Organization, and I've put all my savings into it..."

"..."

Little Four listened blankly to Xiao Qi's words for a long time before he reacted. He quickly picked up the still-burning cigarette butt and said:

"Don't talk about lending it or not, Brother Xiao, if you want to use it, just ask me for it..."

"Besides, what can twenty points even cover?"

"Should I just transfer two thousand to you?"

"..."

"?"

Xiao Xiao was startled by Little Four's hearty manner. He had been standing next to him, but instinctively squatted down.

"You have so many points?"

"..."

"Yes..."

Little Four kindly rummaged through the trash and pulled out another longer cigarette butt, handing it to Xiao Xiao and saying, "I've saved up over eight thousand now."

"Take whatever you want."

"..."

Xiao Xiao was shocked. "So many?"

"Isn't this normal?"

Little Four looked puzzled and said, "I had saved up some points before. During the Black Gate Mist Incident, I hid and wasn't robbed. Later, when I went for the third stage of enhancement, Boss Yang helped me out and didn't use my points. So I saved all my points, planning to exchange them for the Ghost Princess at the Taboo Museum after I've saved up 78,000..."

Xiao Xiao then understood.

This is the inevitable path for every stranger after reaching the third stage of enhancement.

Having completed the first three stages of enhancement, the elements that can help them continue to improve vertically are few and far between, and they are expensive. Even with points, it is not guaranteed that they can find the corresponding Enhancement Element. For Ruan Ruan, Ruan Ruan is currently at the third stage of the Strong Soul Enhancement, but she has no idea how to complete the fourth stage, since there are no corresponding Enhancement Element in the city.

Therefore, if she wants to further improve herself, she can only purchase other horizontal Enhancement Element to increase her own strength.

Little Four was lucky, as Black Gate City happened to have the fourth-stage Enhancement Element: the Ghost Princess.

Once he has accumulated enough points, he can directly advance to the fourth stage.

He was aiming for this goal and started accumulating points a long time ago, but the gap is still quite large now.

"I don't need that much, just give me two hundred."

Xiao Xiao was also surprised and, after careful consideration, only asked for two hundred.

He assured Little Four, "Once I win the Dante Organization's fortune, I'll definitely give you a big share."

Little Four was deeply moved and thanked him repeatedly, saying, "Thank you, Brother Xiao. If only I could earn tens of thousands at once!"

In their wonderful daydream, Xiao Xiao received the two hundred points transferred from Little Four.

He breathed a long sigh of relief. Now he only needed a thought to help Butcher complete the second stage of enhancement. However, since the bet had been agreed upon, he needed to wait for Lin Bo to witness it. He was currently helping his subordinates arrange the assembly of the forbidden weapon, which would take some time. So he returned to his office and silently pondered the next steps.

Logically speaking, I should go back now and see the Butcher, since I'm about to help him strengthen his character.

But he quickly dismissed the idea: he had been somewhat moved by Lin Bo's theory and was now really unsure whether the person who usually helped him fight was the real Butcher or just a shadow projected into his mind.

At this critical moment, I don't want such thoughts to shake my confidence.

In any case, seeing is believing, so it's more important to carefully experience the changes in your mental world during the enhancement process.

"Mister Ye, I'm ready."

Having sorted out his thoughts, Xiao Qi sent a message to Mister Ye's email address via his mobile phone.

Strangely enough, Mister Ye. Ye hasn't shown his face since the appearance of Dante Organization. However, Xiao Xiao is certain that he is paying attention to everything. His original plan was to complete the Butcher's enhancement without anyone else knowing. But now that things are public, some of the necessary preparations can no longer be omitted.

Mister Ye's reply was only one sentence, "I will arrange a venue for your intensive training."

After seeing his reply, Xiao Xiao got up and went to the window, looking out through the French windows.

I was also a little curious about how he would arrange things.

As he was pondering this idea, he saw that outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the rows of tall, brightly lit buildings and the crowded streets suddenly seemed to come alive and recede as if they had their own vitality.

You can even see many tall buildings that have twisted and folded due to the pressure between them.

However, neither the traffic on the road nor the people in the high-rise buildings seemed to notice that their own bodies were being stretched and deformed by the pressure of the buildings, yet they continued doing what they were doing without knowing it, as if the world and the busy scene were just a painting, a painting that was distorted and folded, but the people in the painting were completely unaware.

As the buildings were compressed, a huge empty space began to appear outside Xiao Xiao's office.

The square is as large as three football fields, with dark red pillars rising from the ground and guarding the area.

On each pillar is a human face, some smiling, some sad, some angry, each different, seemingly corresponding to the six emotions of "joy," "anger," "sorrow," "happiness," "grief," and "trouble," mysterious and solemn.

"What's this?"

Every time Xiao Xiao saw Mister Ye make a move, he would feel surprised.

Mister Ye, who didn't even know what the company commander looked like, felt only intense curiosity.

It seems that even the direction of this person's enhancement is different from everyone else's; he is powerful, yet exceptionally mysterious.

"The six senses are sealed."

The phone beeped with an incoming email. Mister Ye offered a brief explanation. "You can enhance your character in this plaza. If the enhancement fails, most of the negative effects caused by the aberration of the special item will be trapped within the seal I've set up, reducing the impact on the city and its inhabitants, thus lowering the cost of your failed enhancement..."

"It seems he doesn't actually believe I can succeed..."

Xiao Xiao thought to himself, "But why didn't he stop me?"

Seeing that it was almost time, I left the office and strolled leisurely towards the huge square outside the building.

Meanwhile, near the plaza, Red Eyes Ling Ping, along with his followers, the Serpent Sisters, and even Old Zhou Under the Bridge, had also noticed the change and came to the edge of the plaza to wait. This was a high-stakes gamble concerning the fate of Black Gate City and the wealth of the new Black Gate Society's leader and the Dante Organization's divine messenger. Even they dared not relax for a moment and waited anxiously.

Yang Jia has been privately questioned many times, "Why didn't you stop him?"

But Yang Jia's expression also showed some helplessness. "He was too confident, making me look like a fool if I tried to stop him."

Amidst the anxious yet expectant gazes of the crowd, Xiao Xiao had already reached the center of the square. Then, for the first time under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he hesitated for a moment and summoned the Butcher. In that instant, the light in the square seemed to dim suddenly. The next moment, the Butcher, who was over three meters tall, appeared behind him, carrying a dark chainsaw in his arms.

Around the square, people instinctively looked away.

At this moment, from an outsider's perspective, the Butcher's appearance is not very clear; only a huge shadow can be seen.

Like a small mountain, it stood behind Xiao Xiao.

But the fierce, cruel, and chilling aura emanating from him made people subconsciously tense up. Whether it was an illusion or not, it was as if they could smell a strong stench of blood in their nostrils, and their hair stood on end, a deep sense of fear arising from their very instincts.

The Butcher appeared before the people of Black Gate City for the first time.