Meet Someone, Deliver a Message

Qiantiao precisely tossed a thick stack of green bills into the waitress's tray without sparing it another glance.

Judging by how smoothly she did it, she was clearly a regular at casinos.

But even though Cross Society cadres were paid well, ten thousand was no small wager.

Suren's eyelid twitched slightly as he watched. Hopefully the boss wouldn't blame him if she lost.

Then, so no one would suspect he wasn't a genuine gambler, he followed suit and bet a thousand on Blue Side.

"Ding, ding, ding~"

The bronze bell rang crisply, and the match began.

With a charge, the two gladiators slammed into each other inside the octagonal cage and began a vicious fight to the death.

Whether by luck or something else, the badly wounded Blue Side narrowly won this round.

"Whoa~ We won! Kid, your luck really is pretty good!"

Qiantiao cried out, clearly in high spirits.

Having won money, she smiled and turned to glance at Suren again. "Who do you think will win the next match?"

"..."

Suren did not care about winning or losing at all.

He did not understand betting either. He simply bet on whatever came to mind.

But with a gang boss standing beside him and asking so earnestly, he could not just brush her off.

To make himself look more like a gambler, he thought for a moment and gave a mystical answer. "After a red streak comes a blue streak. I think Blue Side will win again next round. Maybe?"

"Exactly!"

Qiantiao blinked, looking as though she found that perfectly reasonable.

She had just won one round. Even after the casino took its cut, she had eighteen thousand.

After hearing Suren's words, she called over the betting waitress and boldly put all her winnings on the line. "All in, Blue Side."

"..."

Suren felt that something was off. This boss seemed a little addicted to gambling.

After hesitating for a moment, he echoed, "I'll put down another thousand too."

Without those murderous tattoos, without the four long swords at her waist, who would have imagined that this woman whose eyes lit up while gambling was a gang cadre?

With a sidelong glance, Suren cautiously studied her for a moment. If he had not known that this boss was an extremely bloodthirsty professional, he would definitely have thought Sister Chijou had rather pretty features, an excellent figure, and the sexy air of an older woman.

But this woman was actually a killing god.

Hiss~

Couldn't afford to provoke her. Couldn't afford to provoke her.

Suren withdrew his gaze.

"Ding, ding, ding."

The bell rang, and another gambling match began.

This round settled into a deadlock between evenly matched opponents. The two gladiators in the octagonal cage fought to the death with everything they had, giving the gamblers a brutal and bloody struggle.

A tidal wave of cheers rose from the betting hall.

Qiantiao, meanwhile, was no different from any ordinary gambler, shouting herself hoarse for the Blue Side she had bet on.

"Oh, take him down, Blue Knight!"

"Hey, buddy, use the Guillotine! Choke him, choke him!"

"Damn it, what kind of idiot is that? Press the advantage!"

"..."

Qiantiao was like a coach worried sick over her player, shouting while even explaining tactics to the gladiator in the arena.

Suren could not help laughing at the sight. He did not know whether this counted as cheating. As a true expert, her guidance was naturally enough to change the outcome of the bet.

But Suren's attention was no longer on who won or lost. Instead, he was carefully watching the movements of the two gladiators in the ring.

Unlike before, whenever he focused on their fists and feet, their movements seemed to slow down, allowing his eyes to clearly capture every detail.

It was like watching footage in slow motion.

"So it wasn't an illusion. My left eye has undergone some kind of mutation."

Suren murmured inwardly, confirming his earlier suspicion.

Ever since successfully taking his profession, he had noticed that his All-Seeing Eye had gradually begun to change.

Not only could he see farther, he could see more precisely.

For example, when a fly passed before his eyes, he used to see only a dark blur. Now, he could clearly see the frequency at which its transparent wings vibrated.

Looking at the match again, every move the gladiators made was clear to him. Suren was certain now that some enhancement brought about by his professional awakening had also improved his talent.

"An S-Rank Talent really isn't that simple."

Suren was also certain that Talent S-018, the All-Seeing Eye, did more than appraise items. It had many undeveloped abilities.

This new ability, Dynamic Capture, was one of them.

Suren was so lost in thought that a strong arm suddenly hooked roughly around his neck. The moment he noticed it, he instinctively wanted to draw his gun, but then he remembered something and immediately relaxed.

Then Suren's head crashed into something soft and warm, with a sensation like waves washing over him.

"Hahaha! We won again!"

Hearing Qiantiao's excited voice beside his ear, Suren understood what had happened.

But he was also amazed. Was this the strength of a cadre?

His agility was now extremely high, and his extraordinary neural reaction speed even allowed him to dodge crossbow bolts. Yet just now, he had nearly failed to react at all.

Suren sighed inwardly. Then, with his head pressed into soft jade, he felt a little dizzy.

Qiantiao released Suren and laughed. "Wahaha, good thing you're lucky, kid. Otherwise, if I lost the last of my salary, I'd have to get support from the brothers in the gang again for the second half of the month."

"..."

Hearing that, Suren froze slightly.

This... Sister Chijou, a dignified gang cadre, only had ten thousand in her pocket?

That earlier ten-thousand wager that seemed so lavish had actually been her entire fortune?

Sure enough, gamblers ended up with nothing in every world.

Suren thought Qiantiao would quit while she was ahead. Winning several tens of thousands was already a decent haul. But unexpectedly, she spoke again. "Hey, who do you think will win the next match?"

At that moment, a strange green gleam flickered in Qiantiao's eyes as she looked at Suren, excited and full of fighting spirit.

Suren had already won two matches in a row. No, including the previous two, he had guessed four straight wins.

His own bets were small, so winning or losing did not matter.

But now that he knew this was all Boss Qiantiao's money, Suren felt quite a bit of pressure too.

He asked, "You still want to gamble?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

Qiantiao retorted, then muttered, "I've been stuck outside the city for months this time. I've been dying to cut loose. I need to have some fun tonight."

After a pause, she even explained in all seriousness, "Besides, not daring to follow a winning streak and refusing to leave after losing are the two great taboos of gambling!"

"..."

Hearing that tone, Suren knew better than to try persuading her.

She was definitely a gambling-addicted married woman. No doubt about it.

But he also thought that once she lost everything, she probably would not keep bothering him while he watched the matches. With that in mind, he felt no psychological burden and casually said, "Next round, I'm buying Red Side."

Qiantiao asked curiously, "Still only betting a thousand?"

Suren nodded. "Yeah."

"Heh, not being greedy is rare and commendable."

It sounded like praise, but Qiantiao looked thoroughly bored. Then her tone abruptly shifted as she said in pained indignation, "But gambling without raising the stakes has no soul! If you don't increase your bet when luck is good, when will you ever get rich?"

That gambling rhyme after gambling rhyme made Suren's head ache.

As she spoke, Qiantiao ignored Suren's reaction and directly called over the betting waitress. "Come on, put it all on Red Side!"

"..."

A dark line flashed across Suren's forehead as he watched.

All in every round. This woman really was reckless.

Fine. Once she lost, the world would finally be peaceful.

But things did not go as he wished.

Perhaps fate was playing a joke on him, but Suren guessed right again.

This time, after a prolonged struggle, Red Side killed Blue Side.

Then the dramatic scene continued to play out.

Every time Qiantiao gambled, she asked Suren. Then Suren would casually name one side, and she would go all in.

One gambling amateur dared to guess, and one reckless woman dared to bet.

Just like that, this bizarre pair gradually became the center of attention in the entire betting hall.

The next match—

They won.

The match after that—

They won again.

No matter how Suren guessed, he won every time!

The familiar scenes repeated themselves, strange and absurd.

In the end, the two of them actually guessed eight consecutive wins!

Qiantiao's original ten thousand, going all in every time, had turned directly into an astonishing two million-plus in cash.

Even Suren had never seen such a large pile of cash before.

A small mountain of green banknotes constantly stimulated everyone's nerves, driving the gamblers in the casino into a frenzy!

Suren had not wanted to draw so much attention, but his luck seemed absurdly good.

Fortunately, after the eighth match, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. The final gladiator match had ended.

At last, he no longer had to nervously guess winners for this gang boss.

"Hahaha, that gambling secret Goethe taught me really works. If your own luck is bad, follow someone lucky; otherwise, find some unlucky bastard and bet against him!"

"Your name is Suren, right? From now on, you belong to me, Qiantiao. If anyone bullies you, just give them my name!"

"..."

Having won money, the boss was in a very good mood.

Suren decisively refused her suggestion to continue gambling upstairs and prepared to slip away.

But just then, Kai arrived, covered in blood.

"Sister Chijou, why didn't you let me know you were coming?"

"Huh? Why are you covered in so much blood, kid?"

"I ran into a few idiots earlier and had a little conflict. They were probably from the Steam Party."

"Oh? Where are they?"

"Dead. I threw them into the sewers. They were just minor characters, so I didn't make a big deal out of it."

"..."

Hearing Kai's words, Qiantiao pursed her lips, and the longswords at her waist, seemingly starving for violence, appeared to settle down again.

But she had won money today and was in a good mood. With a grand wave of her hand, she said, "Come on, big sister's buying you drinks."

As the great hero responsible for winning the money, Suren naturally could not refuse. He followed them to the tavern despite himself.

As they walked, Kai chatted with Qiantiao the whole way.

"Sister Chijou, what are you doing on Green Street? Hehe, should I arrange something for you?"

"You brat, I'm here on serious business, all right?"

"What business?"

"To meet someone, and deliver a message to you while I'm at it."

"Meeting that Red Demon Golon?"

"Oh, you're pretty smart, kid. The chairman intends to recruit him into the Society, so a cadre has to come talk to him."

"Oh, and what message?"

"One of the enemies who attacked the gang headquarters yesterday escaped. He took an important thing from the warehouse with him. We tracked him all the way here, but that guy's trail disappeared in the blocks near Green Street. The chairman doesn't want that thing and the Sealed Item to be taken away, so he wants you to keep a close watch."