The illusory scales slowly faded away.
The " Deathly Stillness " rule mark on the left tray vanished without a trace.
At the same time, a new item appeared in Life Throat's personal Spatial Inventory.
A slowly rotating, Dark Red mark, inside which seemed to contain countless Stars that had perished and been reborn, was the rule of " Deathly Stillness ".
Across the gaming table, GuQi's statue-like body swayed almost imperceptibly.
It slowly raised its head, its murky single eye fixed on the spot where the scales had disappeared, but there was nothing there.
It staked everything, but failed to bring about a turnaround.
The tattered face, covered by a half-mask, was expressionless.
Hope has been completely extinguished.
It seemed to want to say something; its chapped lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.
In his remaining, half-closed eye, the last flicker of light belonging to the "living" flickered violently like a candle in the wind, struggled for a moment, and then went out completely.
The light in my eyes has faded.
It didn't look at Life Throat again, nor at any of the faces around it that were excited, sighing, or indifferent.
He simply lowered his head slowly, looking at his withered, bony hands.
These hands once held the scepter of the tribe, were stained with the blood of enemies, and trembled as they cradled the cold cheek of the last cub—now, all gone.
The last hope, along with the imprint of the rules, shattered.
"Oh."
The next moment, the already thin life force around him dissipated rapidly like the receding tide.
It remained bowed, its flame of life quietly extinguished.
The body beneath the tattered black robe, having lost its last support, emitted a "rustling" sound like weathered rock peeling away, before turning into a cloud of grayish-white dust, falling softly and piling up on the ground to form a small grave.
Half a tattered bone mask landed on the crystal floor with a "clink," its empty eye sockets facing the dome, Reflection the hall's dazzling coldness.
The last surviving Pogu Clan, GuQi, gave up his barely surviving life in despair and perished.
Inside the gaming hall, the boisterous noise did not subside.
The cheers and exclamations continued, as if that pile of gray dust had never existed.
In Equivalent Game, once a move is made, there's no going back.
As some ascend to the crest of the wave, others simultaneously plunge into the eternal darkness of the sea.
This is the truest survival logic of the Monster World: behind every celebration lies a silent annihilation.
The flickering lights and shadows in the Fate City Casino are nothing more than a stark reflection of this cruel world.
Everyone is betting everything, just in different ways.
A defeat is a defeat; no one can truly empathize with your tragic moment.
This game of rules, which shook the seas, has now officially come to an end.
On the viewing platform, representatives from various parties in the nearby sea area rose one after another.
Some stayed to begin touring the casino, while another group gradually dispersed with the departing crowd.
The hustle and bustle flowed from the central lobby to the casino's corridors and outer plaza, eventually merging into the ever-present night breeze and the sound of waves at Dream Island.
The Life Throat didn't linger for long.
He nodded slightly to the clansmen waiting to the side, indicating that they would handle the follow-up matters, and then turned and walked towards the hidden door at the back of the hall.
Behind the door was a silent passage, shielded by runes that isolated it from all outside noise, with only his clear footsteps echoing through it.
The door to the secret room slid open and closed silently.
This place is absolutely quiet, completely different from the hustle and bustle of the outside world.
Soft light shone through the walls, illuminating the stone platform and seats inside.
Life Throat sat down in front of the stone platform, slowly exhaled, and the calm that had been on his face for so long finally relaxed, revealing a contented smile.
He raised his right hand, palm facing up.
With a slight thought, the Deathly Stillness rules within the personal Spatial Inventory silently appeared on the palm of one's hand.
It rotates slowly, and the interplay of light and shadow within, created by the flickering starlight, illuminates the secret Reflection, filling it with a powerful aura of order.
Life Throat's gaze shifted from the mark of rules to the Guiding Water Orb that hovered beside him, always there yet silent.
He composed himself and said respectfully, "Brother Guidance, thank you for your help."
This rule applies to all players who subscribed to shares and participated in this game.
Next, it's time to share the spoils of victory.
The Guidance received no response whatsoever. The next moment, an invisible force descended from nowhere, enveloping the Deathly Stillness of the rules.
A deep, resonant rumble resounded.
The Dark Red brand spinning on his palm suddenly stopped, and countless fine, spiderweb-like light marks appeared on its surface.
Immediately afterwards, like ice crystals thrown into an invisible furnace, it began to disintegrate and vaporize from the edges, transforming into streams of pure, Dark Red energy that surged and roared.
Following the invisible channel built by the Guidance, it frantically poured into a corner of the Life Throat's vision: the personal balance column.
The numbers representing Sacrificial Power skyrocketed.
Every digital leap brings in a huge fortune that would make any fellow villager envious.
Life Throat's eyes were fixed on the ever-increasing numbers, and his heart was pounding faster than usual.
Before long, more than 30 billion in Sacrificial Power arrived in the account.
The " Deathly Stillness rule," which carried the last hope of a group, has also changed drastically.
It was no longer the complete set of rules that once flowed with starlight and exuded a vast, desolate aura.
The vast energy of the rules has been completely extracted, leaving only an empty, three-dimensional framework woven from countless extremely complex Dark Gold runes.
It hovered quietly in Life Throat's palm, its size greatly reduced, and it no longer emitted the aura of rules.
Unlike the Blue Lantern Clan's almost "predatory" and brutal absorption, which severely disrupts the structure of rules and causes it to shatter into Rule Fragment.
The extraction method Guidance is more like a high-precision energy stripping process.
The basic framework of the rules was preserved intact.
In the future, as long as sufficient Sacrificial Power is injected back into this framework and a substantial "reconstruction fee" is paid, the Deathly Stillness rules can be restored to their original state.
It's equivalent to having a rechargeable "rule battery," or a rule embryo.
It has strategic value.
But just as the Rule Fragment can only be Sacrifice 300,000 Sacrificial Power to Brother Di Zhao, they can be sold for millions outside.
The Sacrifice value of this complete rule framework is only 23.49 million Sacrificial Power.
If he chooses to retain the framework, he must use a portion of his profits to cover the revenue shortfall and distribute it to other players.
Life Throat stored this light and airy rule into his Spatial Inventory.
My gaze fell once again on the dazzling balance figure.
This is the spoils won by him and all the more than 350,000 fellow villagers who subscribed to shares and bet their resources on this game.
The time to share the spoils of victory has come.
Life Throat to himself, then brought up the Function Panel and clicked on the Definition plugin: Casino Protocol.
Suddenly, a semi-transparent panel unfolded in view.
The left side displays a list of player IDs and their corresponding subscription share percentages, while the right side shows the allocation settings.
This is a plugin that he requested the A Lan team to create.
The process of subscribing and distributing rewards is simplified; players can subscribe using a plugin, and registration is automatic.
He immediately began the operation.
The first step is to settle the principal and basic returns.
According to the initially set fixed ratio, the corresponding share of the Sacrificial Power will be automatically returned to the account of each participating player through the plug-in channel.
This money is essentially a return of their initial investment.
The second step is to allocate the game's profits.
This part requires numerical calculations.
First, 10% of the total revenue has already been withdrawn by the Guidance, plus the 15% bonus from the Fate City rules.
After calculation, the total revenue is determined to be 36.093 billion.
The Life Throat began selecting preset options, redistributing this portion of Sacrificial Power as a reward to the villagers who had invested in this victory.
Setup complete.
As the Life Throat was given, the remaining balance was distributed like a floodgate opening, flowing into countless pre-set channels.
Almost at the same moment.
The long-awaited Challenger Prompt suddenly rang in the minds of all participating players.
[ Challenger Prompt: The Casino Protocol Plugin has completed liquidation. Your principal and basic earnings have been credited to your account, totaling: XXX Sacrificial Power. Please check. (Note from Reverse Fate's Throat: Thanks to my fellow villager for the help.)]
The Forum was instantly flooded with a massive number of posts expressing jubilation, screenshots of earnings, and expressions of gratitude and admiration for " Reverse Fate's Throat ".
"It's in my account! It really is in my account! I'm rich!"
"Thanks for the ride, Brother Hou. Let's go to the casino entertainment district tonight and have some fun!"
"A 105% return! I bet the entire guild's Sacrificial Power on it. Watching the live stream almost gave me a heart attack. Thank goodness we won! It's so awesome, otherwise the whole guild Eat Earth."
"I'll definitely launch another crowdfunding campaign next time I have the chance."
Players throughout Dream Island, and even scattered throughout the Monster World, whoever made a purchase, received a share of the profits from this gamble and cheered.
Inside the sealed room, the control panel in front of Life Throat slowly faded away.
The individual's final balance figure settled at eight figures.
Besides the game's profit sharing, his gains also include the rule framework quietly lying in his Spatial Inventory.
The more than 30 billion Sacrificial Power won from the gambling has been spread like spring rain to the fertile ground of the Player Camp.
This crisis of competition ultimately became nourishment for the development of the gambling city.
Life Throat leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and a victor's smile curled at the corners of his mouth.
Just then, Challenger Prompt sounded in his mind, indicating that A Lan had sent a communication call.
On a whim, he connected the call.
As light and shadow converged before him, A Lan's image appeared.
He looked solemn in the picture.
"Hmm, something's not right." A Lan cut to the chase, speaking faster than usual, "I just received a report from the Chamber of Commerce's Space Team, as well as warnings from several partner caravans. The spatial fluctuations in the waters surrounding Dream Island are unusually strong and are rapidly increasing. This is clearly not a natural phenomenon; it's a sign that Space Teleportation anchors are being set up. There are many of them, from various sources, but their energy levels are all quite high."
He paused, glanced at the latest feedback, and continued, "Based on the analysis of the fluctuation characteristics, at least five different forces are preparing to airdrop into the airspace or sea near Dream Island. In short, those who come are—not friendly."
Upon hearing these words, the smugness on Life Throat's face vanished, and his eyes sharpened like unsheathed Ice Blade.
Is a force about to take action against Dream Island?
The thought flashed through his mind, and he understood the crux of the problem: starting with the rules, possessing a treasure is a crime.
Although most of the energy of the " Deathly Stillness Rule" that he won has been extracted and distributed, the outside world is unaware of this, only knowing that he now possesses a rule.
It's like a dazzling lighthouse in the night, enough to attract countless greedy eyes.
The strongest force in the nearby seas, " Shuyan," has discovered the unique nature of the player Player Race through previous contacts, including attempts at raiding, and has therefore chosen a more pragmatic cooperative approach.
However, the forces outside the three major sea areas do not have a good understanding of the characteristics of "players".
They were also unsure whether Dream Island was real or not.
They don't care about the rules of Dream Island that forbid violence.
In their eyes, Dream Island is a piece of fat meat exuding an enticing aroma.
As for the true nature of Dream Island, for predators, the most direct way to judge the strength of an unfamiliar force has always been through contact warfare.
Those who choose to settle in the Monster World are all walking on the edge of a knife. Excessive caution in this world that follows the law of the jungle means that they may miss opportunities or even find themselves unable to move forward.
If Shuyan hadn't been deeply mired in the protracted war with the Ascension Clan and the Night Abyss Clan, and hadn't repeatedly failed in his attempts to plunder, personally experiencing firsthand the troublesome and unprofitable nature of the " Player Race," he would never have so easily turned to cooperation.
But these people without external forces don't have the clarity that comes from "suffering losses".
They only smelled the fragrance of rules and saw the prosperity of Dream Island.
For them, the scales of risk and reward have long been tipped by the weight of greed.
"Do you know exactly which factions are involved?" Minghou asked in Life Throat.
"I don't know." A Lan shook her head, quickly pulling up the energy spectrum diagram. "The spatial construction speed is extremely fast, clearly they came prepared. There seems to be some kind of tacit understanding between them; at least they haven't interfered with each other. They might be coming from a more distant sea. What we need to do is prepare for battle, otherwise we'll have to close down..."
He looked at Life Throat, his eyes filled with determination. "The Chamber of Commerce has activated the highest level of alert, the trade zone's defensive runes are warming up, and non-combatants are beginning to retreat to the core area. However, our Chamber of Commerce's main strength lies in defense; proactive attacks and dealing with this scale of raids are not our forte. I will ask our fellow villagers for help next, and I will leave the external warfare to you."
"Okay." Life Throat nodded decisively.
The interests of the casino and the chamber of commerce are both tied to Dream Island.
The casino beneath our feet is part of the rules of Fate City; its infrastructure can be quickly repaired if damaged, and no outside forces can take anything away.
But what's important is the special status of Dream Island.
Its importance in the eyes of various forces may decline due to a failed war.
Dream Island is no longer the temporary springboard it once was, which could be easily abandoned and strategically relocated at any time.
With the expansion of the trading market, the establishment of the Gold Coin Merchant Association' Network, and the rise of the Fate City Casino brand, the island's significance has changed dramatically.
Destruction can be rebuilt, but what truly cannot be destroyed is the symbol that Dream Island has built in the minds of all forces: security, fairness, and a super platform.
A failed defensive battle, even a temporary retreat or a Pyrrhic victory, can cause cracks to appear in this "symbol".
Speculators who come upon hearing the news, powerful clans observing from the shadows, and even partners who have already established cooperative relationships will all reassess: Is a force that can't even protect its own territory truly trustworthy?
Even though these groups have already made substantial profits from previous collaborations.
However, the decline in influence will inevitably limit future development.
To salvage the situation now would require ten or even a hundred times the cost, and a significant amount of time would be needed to rebuild the foundation.
What follows will be a battle for the foundation.
After ending the conversation, Life Throat stood up and paced back and forth in the small, cramped room.
The night outside the window was illuminated by the neon Reflection of the casino and trading market, making it as bright as day. The faint sounds of revelry could be heard, a testament to the joy of sharing the spoils of victory.
But beneath this joy, an undercurrent was already surging towards the door.
The aftermath of this game of rules is about to begin.
Life Throat stopped in his tracks, his eyes flashing with a cold light.
At the same time, a post appeared on the Forum, attracting the attention of all players.
Its popularity quickly rose to the top of the Forum.
[ Gold Coin Merchant Association: To all players, Dream Island is about to face external attacks. The Colorful Mist Coast Space Teleportation Array is fully operational. We request your support.]
Posted by: Receive Sacrificial Power.
The player Forum, which had just been ignited by the huge profits, fell silent for a moment when this announcement appeared.
Immediately, a torrent of shared hatred and indignation erupted.
"Holy crap? Going against the Gold Coin Merchant Association? That's outrageous! As a beneficiary of the Gold Coin Merchant Association, I have to come and defend them."
"Damn it, the Gold Coin Merchant Association must be saved."
"Brothers, gather at Colorful Mist Coast at once! Bullying the Gold Coin Merchant Association is just slapping us in the face!"
"This will cause the guild brothers to cease all activities and head to the Gold Coin Merchant Association for support. It's time for another all-faction war to make our Player Race race shine."
From its inception, the Gold Coin Merchant Association has been centered around A Lan, clearly defining its role: to serve the player community, solve their most practical difficulties, and build a resource conversion network for them.
This is never just an empty slogan; it is reflected in every transaction, every order, every intelligence sharing, and even every crisis rescue.
Besides the recent Tu Hu, numerous individuals and groups have received assistance from A Lan and the Gold Coin Merchant Association.
The Gold Coin Merchant Association Guild is behind the key issues they solve on their path to promotion, or the huge sums of money they urgently need to transfer.
Through his long-standing reputation and his generosity in helping others in critical moments, A Lan has woven an invisible network of relationships among the players.
Individuals who receive favors also develop their own networks of connections.
Therefore, this has become a network of relationships that covers all player factions.
In the eyes of players, A Lan is not only a shrewd businessman, but also an indispensable logistics manager and even a strategic ally for the Player Camp on their path of expansion in the Monster World.
Therefore, when " Receive Sacrificial Power " posted this message with a clear signal of help, the players' emotions were instantly ignited, generating a collective anger of "our own people being attacked".
Then a thought came to mind: those who have protected us now need us to protect them, and it is our duty to do so.
In the command channels of the top guilds, the guild leaders of various guilds mobilized their members almost without hesitation, preparing to go and provide support.
Solo players also stopped their activities, and those who were farther away simply stayed put and dispelled their own evil spirits.
Countless small and medium-sized teams and players were even more excited, expressing their desire to go to Dream Island to join the battle.
From top to bottom, from the Pyramid Peak to the vast base, almost every level of the Player Camp responded immediately.
This kind of cohesion, which requires no mobilization and is almost a conditioned reflex, is clearly not something that can be fostered by simple interest-based alliances.
It is rooted in the emotional connection that A Lan and the Gold Coin Merchant Association have built up over the years, bit by bit.
As a result, the Forum wave changed direction.
The revelry, which had been a feast of wealth, instantly turned into a roar of war.