The Bet

Lin Xia briefly explained that humanity's understanding of the Reinforcement Pillar was far too shallow.

The so-called independent probability was nothing but a smokescreen.

From the moment the Reinforcement Pillar descended on the planet, the success points for reinforcing every Card had already been determined.

It was like stacking countless sheets of A4 paper marked with numbers. The numbers on the sheets represented the corresponding success points.

What we called reinforcement success was simply drawing the sheet that belonged to us from the stack.

At this point, Lin Xia paused. So he wouldn't expose his Eye of Insight, he had deliberately used the word "bet."

"So as long as you bet on the right point, it doesn't matter how many reinforcements a Card has—it can still succeed."

After hearing Lin Xia's words, the whole crowd fell silent.

But the silence lasted only a few seconds.

Once everyone had processed what he'd said, they immediately burst into thunderous laughter.

"You're saying any Card can succeed, no matter how many reinforcements it has... What kind of nonsense is that? Don't you know that Cards with different reinforcement levels have different success probabilities?!"

"I think I've figured it out, buddy. You're an attention seeker, aren't you? Feeling unloved, so you came here to get noticed?"

The short-haired young man and his companions looked at Lin Xia with scorn, practically howling with laughter as they spoke.

"Heh..."

Sun Qi turned around disdainfully, giving Lin Xia his back as he faced the Reinforcement Pillar, intending to continue using more Cards to raise the odds.

Ever since hearing Lin Xia's words, he'd written him off as an immature young man who talked nonsense.

Card reinforcement had been around for hundreds of years. Countless scientists had devoted themselves to studying it over the centuries, only for Lin Xia to deny their conclusions!

Wasn't that the very definition of ignorance and immaturity?

Meanwhile, Lin Xia made no attempt to stop Sun Qi.

Nor did he care about the crowd's mockery.

His body temperature was rising, and his heart was racing, yet his expression remained remarkably calm as he looked steadily at Yang Ming.

After all, Yang Ming was the only person there who hadn't laughed at him.

In fact, when Lin Xia had said something that completely upended common sense, Yang Ming had listened with unusual seriousness.

Now, he was watching Lin Xia, too.

That man looks so serious. He doesn't seem to be lying, and everything he says makes sense. He doesn't seem crazy, either...

Should I trust him just this once?

Reinforcement Masters are just betting when they reinforce Cards, anyway, aren't they?

Wait, no. I barely know this guy. Why would he help me?

"Hold on!"

Yang Ming called out to Sun Qi, stopping his hand in midair once again.

"Young Master Wang, surely you're not going to believe this kid?!"

Sun Qi stiffly turned his head and stared at Yang Ming in disbelief.

Yang Ming ignored him and asked, "If the next one really is going to succeed... why are you helping me?"

At that, all sorts of answers raced through Lin Xia's mind.

After all, his motive mattered. It was the key to earning Yang Ming's trust!

Because if you miss this chance, your Gold Card may blow up. And if you lose an SSR Card, it'll be like losing an arm...

I'm handsome and kindhearted. Now that I've run into you, how could I stand by and do nothing?

Of course I'm helping you to curry favor! That's right, I'm after all those Material Cards you can't use up!

*...*

No, no, those reasons were way too lame.

Wait!

Lin Xia suddenly realized something.

Yang Ming seemed a lot like a famous internet celebrity from Lin Xia's old world...

They'd both been born into powerful, resource-rich families and protected since childhood, growing up surrounded by flattery...

And then there was Yang Ming's contradictory behavior: he'd changed his name and put on cheap clothes to avoid attention, yet casually spent three million to reinforce a Card. In front of everyone, he'd even bragged about his endless supply of Material Cards...

People as naïve as him seemed to fall for this kind of excessive flattery.

"Because I've had the honor of meeting the Great Xia Empire's number-one genius. You're so young, yet you already have an SSR Card at 7 reinforcements. If it succeeds, wouldn't that be a blessing for the Empire... No, for all humanity and the Awakeners?"

Lin Xia spoke earnestly. "Of course, I know that a genius like you will still stand above everyone else in the future, even if your Card blows up!"

Hearing this, Yang Ming's lips curled upward without restraint, and his gaze turned shifty. He turned his head aside, as if embarrassed.

"Oh, stop it~"

After basking in the praise, he turned back with an even expression. Fidgeting with the hem of his clothes, he waved a hand with a haughty air. "It's not that exaggerated. There are plenty of geniuses in my generation. I'm just one of them... Hey, didn't you say the next one would succeed?"

"Here! Go ahead and reinforce it!" Yang Ming pushed his hand through the air, and the 7-reinforcement Card slid in front of Lin Xia. "If it succeeds, I'll give you—"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lin Xia interrupted him, putting on a disappointed, angry expression. "I'm helping you to show how much I admire you. Do you think I'm trying to get something out of you?"

"I... I didn't mean that."

Yang Ming grew flustered. He felt he'd judged Lin Xia too shallowly and hurt his feelings.

Sun Qi, who'd watched their entire exchange, was utterly dumbfounded.

But he soon fixed Lin Xia with a greedy look. "Since you're the one who offered to let this kid reinforce the Card, then whether it succeeds or blows up has nothing to do with me. I'm not refunding that three million."

As he spoke, Sun Qi looked at Lin Xia with a sly grin, thinking, This is great. Some sucker's jumped in to take the blame for me.

"Of course, of course. You can consider it a breach of contract on my part. You don't have to refund the money!"

Yang Ming waved his hand, showing that he didn't mind.

After all, to him, that three million was just what he could earn by selling one Material Card with a score of 94.

But another thought had just crossed his mind.

Yang Ming had taken a liking to Lin Xia's SSR Card.

It had a score of 94 at just 1 reinforcement. This Card was absolutely worthy of his status.

But taking something another person cherished wasn't the act of a gentleman.

So he pointed at the Card Lin Xia was holding. "Um... would you sell me that Card? Name your price!"

Lin Xia naturally refused. That Card couldn't be measured in money.

So he came up with a plan. "Talking about money hurts our friendship. Why don't we make a bet? If I fail to reinforce it, I'll give you the Card. But if I succeed—"

"If you succeed, I'll give you five Material Cards with scores of 94 to help you reach 2 reinforcements!"

Yang Ming blurted it out first, his face alight with excitement, as if to say this was a great bet!