Six Bullets-I Bet It Misfires!

Whoosh!

He took a deep breath, looked at the arrogant youth across from him, and said in a low voice, "Rock-paper-scissors."

Seeing Li You's make-or-break stance, Bai Ye smiled.

That smile made Li You's heart skip a beat. A sense of foreboding rose within him. No way...

The devilish whisper came right on cue. "Not enough."

"Fuck! Five bullets!? What kind of poisonous mushroom has such a nasty aftereffect?"

"Bai Ye's playing for keeps!"

Even the leaders of the East and West Districts were stunned. They had witnessed many Fate Roulette games and had even taken part in them years ago when they were still weak, but they had never seen anyone crazy enough to play Fate Roulette with five bullets.

Five bullets—this was practically certain death.

"I can see it now. You didn't come here to gamble on Fate Roulette. You came here to kill yourself!" Li You believed he had seen through Bai Ye's intentions, and he was certain the other boy had gone mad.

The odds of surviving five bullets were already below sixty percent. That crossed his bottom line.

"If you don't dare bet, hand over the Taboo Object."

Bai Ye's words made Tan Jie's eyes light up, and he hurriedly echoed, "That's right! If you don't dare bet, hand over the Taboo Object!"

Once the East District leader spoke, the lackeys behind him began shouting as well.

Li You looked troubled. King Snake, on his back, said coldly, "Don't fall for it. The brat is trying to scare you into voluntarily giving up the Taboo Object. Keep gambling with him. If you're not confident, make him shoot first. He isn't a cheat. With five bullets in Fate Roulette, I refuse to believe he can survive!"

The hard object pressed harder against his back. The cold metal muzzle, carrying a faint chill, poked through his floral shirt and made his hair stand on end.

"Fine, I'll bet with you. But... forget it. Rock-paper-scissors." Li You had wanted to follow King Snake's advice and make Bai Ye shoot first, but in the end, he gave up on the idea. He was not used to placing his fate in someone else's hands. What if Bai Ye's luck was truly absurd enough for him to fire once and survive? Wouldn't that mean Li You was doomed?

He still preferred to use the Magician's Right Hand he had practiced for years to control his own fate.

Li You loaded the fifth bullet. There were thirty seconds left until midnight.

In those final thirty seconds, Bai Ye said something shocking once more. "Not enough."

Whoosh!

The scene erupted. Everyone even suspected there was something wrong with their ears. Five bullets still weren't enough? A revolver could only hold six bullets. If it was fully loaded and fired, wouldn't that be certain death!?

Li You's eyes widened in disbelief. "Do you even hear yourself? This isn't gambling at all—"

Before he could finish, he realized that the youth across from him had already risen and come to his side.

The youth extended a hand caked in mud and gently took [Breath of Bones] from his grasp. Then, under everyone's stunned gazes, he picked up the final bullet.

10, 9, 8, 7...

Bai Ye silently counted down in his heart, his wild, defiant black eyes slowly sweeping across the crowd.

"I've never been particularly lucky. I don't think I can keep winning round after round until the Taboo Object acknowledges me. Rather than that... I might as well settle it all in one round."

As he spoke, he loaded the final bullet.

Click!

The cylinder snapped back into place, and the bullet was chambered!

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Bai Ye slowly raised the fully loaded [Breath of Bones] to his temple. The dark red veins on the gun began to writhe, plunging into the flesh of his hand like winding little snakes.

Without exception, everyone present thought he had gone mad. This was not gambling at all. This was... suicide.

What the hell did he mean, his luck was bad, so he would settle it in one round? Was that even something a human would say?

Looking at the many different faces before him, Bai Ye's lips curled into a smile, carrying the confidence and youthful arrogance unique to a teenager.

"Six bullets. I bet it misfires!"

Everyone was utterly shocked. It was the first time they had heard such an obscure statement.

Who told you Fate Roulette was played like this??

Under everyone's stunned gaze, Bai Ye's finger descended toward the trigger.

Women and children in the crowd covered their ears in fear. Some people instinctively backed away, unwilling to get splattered with blood.

3...

2...

1!!

The countdown ended. The midnight bell rang!

Dong!

In the endless night, in a dimension beyond everyone's sight, a colossal and magnificent golden clock face emerged beneath Bai Ye's feet and rapidly spread across the earth.

He stood alone atop the gigantic clock face, like a traveler abandoned by time.

At the same time, the surrounding crowd, trees, buildings, and even the sky seemed to vanish, as though a god had swept away all existence with one hand, leaving behind only golden clock faces of varying sizes.

They were the physical manifestations of all things' time.

The hands on the golden clock faces of these people and objects all pointed to 12:00!

Only... the enormous golden clock face beneath Bai Ye's feet displayed—12:01.

This was his own time, one minute ahead of the world's.

Feeling his power return, Bai Ye activated his ability without hesitation.

Time Stop!!

Buzz!

A bizarre ripple of time spread out.

The world was put on pause.

The once-noisy plaza instantly fell silent. Everyone froze in place like statues, and the terror in Li You's eyes solidified.

Even the secondhand smoke exhaled from his nostrils stopped spreading, hanging motionless in midair.

In this absolutely frozen world, the only one who could move was... Bai Ye!

The youth who had just performed a miracle swiftly opened the cylinder of [Breath of Bones] the instant time stopped and began prying out bullets at lightning speed.

"Quick, quick, quick!! Don't waste time! Time is life!"

Ever since learning that he only had one minute each day, he had become especially frugal with time, because he had done the math.

One minute a day meant 365 minutes a year! That was six hours and five minutes. At six hours per year, ten years amounted to only sixty hours. His current body was sixteen years old. In the era of the Great Cataclysm, living to fifty would already mean his ancestors' graves were smoking. Assuming that miracle really happened and he lived to fifty-six, that would only be forty years—forty years to save up 240 hours.

And 240 hours was... ten days!!

When Bai Ye calculated that he would only have ten full days of ability use in his entire life, he truly understood what it meant to say that time was life.

Perhaps because his hands were too filthy, combined with his long, untrimmed nails, he tried several times but failed to pry it out.

"Damn hand! Pry it out already!!"

At that moment, cold sweat broke out on him.

He had not panicked in the face of the danger-filled era of the Great Cataclysm.

He had not panicked when facing Fate Roulette, a gamble with his life on the line.

But now, when he thought of several seconds already having passed, he truly panicked.

What was slipping away was not time. It was his life!

Fortunately, on his fourth attempt, he finally pried out the bullet.

Whoosh!

Bai Ye let out a long breath and hurriedly stuffed the bullet into his pocket.

He had removed only one bullet—the one that was about to fire. That way, the shot would be a blank.

After finishing everything, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and began adjusting his pose.

He pressed the revolver back to his temple, quickly steadied his emotions, and let the same smile reappear on his face. Only after making sure its curve was exactly identical to before did he release the time stop.

Release!

Buzz!

The bizarre temporal ripples faded, and time began flowing again throughout the world. No one knew time had ever stopped. Everyone's attention remained fixed on Bai Ye.

In their eyes, Bai Ye pulled the trigger with a smile and perfect composure. The immense confidence radiating from within him made them look at him anew.

The revolver, where metallic texture intertwined with the feel of flesh, had its trigger gradually drawn back. The trigger pulled the hammer rearward, compressing the hammer spring. The instant the trigger reached its end, the hammer sprang forward under the force of the spring.

It struck the firing pin on the gun with vicious force!

Click!

A crisp sound rang out. There was no smoke, no flash, and no... bullet!

There was nothing. Only the youth's unchanged smile.