Before long, a silver building with a triangular sign came into view.
Xu Jintang's gaze swept over the triangular sign, and he casually asked, "Why is your black market's symbol a triangle?"
The triangular sign is a silver triangular symbol with a hollow center; the design is very simple.
The man smiled and replied, "This sign was set up by our owner; you'd better ask him about it."
Xu Jintang withdrew her gaze and followed him further inside.
After entering the escalator, Xu Jintang crossed his arms and leaned against the wall.
"Ding--" The elevator doors slowly opened to both sides.
The hall is filled with cold colors and is made up of various high-tech devices, with automated lights, furniture, and floating spheres of all sizes hovering and patrolling in the air.
As soon as Xu Jintang and his companion stepped out of the elevator, a scanning light shone down from above, followed by a beep. "Welcome."
A person was sitting on the sofa placed directly in front of the living room, with his back to the elevator. He pressed some kind of button, and the sofa chair beneath him automatically rotated around.
His silver-black hair was striking under the light, revealing half of his fair and handsome face, while the other half was covered by a silver mask.
Xu Jintang's first reaction to this man: a devil.
"Master, this is the winner of today's pitch-pot game." The man in the black trench coat bowed deeply, showing great respect for the silver-haired man.
Gu Xiuwen looked up and his gaze fell on Xu Jintang. "Congratulations."
The warm, gentle voice was like the soft tapping of a beautiful jade, gentle yet powerful.
Xu Jintang smiled slightly, "You're too kind."
Gu Xiuwen raised his hand and gestured to the man in the trench coat.
The man in the trench coat immediately stepped back and left the room. Then, a black market worker walked up to Xu Jintang with a treasure box in both hands.
"Young lady, this is the prize for today's pitch-pot game: Soul-Seizing Bell," the staff member explained.
Xu Jintang didn't stand on ceremony, opened the treasure box, and glanced down at the contents.
The Soul-Seizing Bell is very old, with a bronze exterior that gives it a distinctly vintage look.
She picked up the Soul-Seizing Bell and shook it, a clear "ding-dong" sound emanating from it.
An invisible mental force surged from within the Soul-Seizing Bell, directly impacting Xu Jintang's mind.
She closed her eyes, frowning slightly as she tried to dispel the impact.
At that moment, a gentle force enveloped her entire body, gently neutralizing the attack.
After the crisis was averted, Xu Jintang opened her eyes again and realized that the gentle force she had just experienced came from Gu Xiuwen.
Gu Xiuwen explained, "Before it recognizes a master, this Soul-Seizing Bell will attack everyone indiscriminately."
Xu Jintang smiled and clasped his hands in a fist salute. "Thank you. My friend is still waiting for me outside. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."
Gu Xiuwen did not try to stop her, but only smiled faintly.
Xu Jintang put the Soul-Seizing Bell into his bracelet space, turned around and walked straight into the elevator.
As the elevator doors closed, her gaze met Gu Xiuwen's.
Her intuition told her that the man in front of her was dangerous.
The elevator doors closed, cutting off their view of each other.
After Xu Jintang left, the man in the black trench coat returned to the room, clasped his hands in a respectful gesture, and asked Gu Xiuwen, "Master, we've put so much effort into organizing this game, and you... just wanted to see this Miss Xu?"
Gu Xiuwen withdrew his gaze. "It wasn't that I wanted to see her; it was fate that brought us together."
The man in the trench coat paused, then realized something, "Could it be your special ability...?"
"Hmm." Gu Xiuwen responded, then waved his hand without saying anything more.
Seeing his gesture, the man in the trench coat quickly agreed and then turned to leave.
Xu Jintang returned to the market, where Yan Yuting and the others who were waiting for her immediately surrounded her.
Yan Yuting looked at him expectantly, "You got it?"
Xu Jintang nodded, "I'll show it to you when we get back."
The five people didn't separate again and went to the casino area together.
Although it was underground, the entire black market was brightly lit, making it difficult to distinguish between day and night.
Especially in the casino area, a blazing sun that looked incredibly realistic was hanging directly overhead.
"How long have we been here?" Xu Jintang realized the time issue.
Yan Yuting glanced at the time on her communicator, a hint of disbelief in her eyes. "It's been almost two hours already. I thought we'd only just arrived."
Xu Jintang looked up at the artificial sun in the sky.
"There is no night here, so people easily lose track of time and feel like they've only been here a short while."
Xue Zhongqi surveyed the tourists in the casino area. They were surrounded by gambling tables with red eyes, looking excited, as if they were all hoping to make their dreams of getting rich overnight come true, having long forgotten the passage of time.
"Beting has started for the new round of the Ability User Competition! The Mask Squad has very high odds right now, so if you're interested in taking a gamble, feel free to contact us!"
Besides the usual slot machines and lottery games, there are also games where the house sets up betting pools.
The Ability User Competition has been a hot topic of public interest recently, and casinos are naturally not going to miss out on this wave of popularity. Since the start of the competition, they have already opened several betting games.
"There's a betting game for us? Let's go check it out." Yan Yuting urged everyone to walk towards the betting table.
A crowd of onlookers gathered around the betting table, and someone asked curiously, "How high are the odds for the Mask Squad?"
Xu Jintang looked up.
Soon the bookmaker replied, "The odds of betting on the Mask Squad to win the championship are 100 to 1, advancing to the semifinals is 50 to 1, and advancing to the quarterfinals is 20 to 1."
"So tall?" The person who asked the question was clearly surprised.
The dealer nodded with a smile, "Yes, the Mask Squad is really hot right now. How about a game? Odds of 1 to 100, our casino has never had that before."
Upon hearing this, Xu Jintang turned and exchanged a glance with Yan Yuting.
Then, the two walked to the gambling table in perfect unison and each slapped a star card onto the table.
Yan Yuting: "Bet on the Mask Squad to advance to the top eight, 10,000 Star Coins."
Xu Jintang: "I bet on the Mask Squad to win, 10,000 Star Coins."
Not making money when you can is just plain stupid.
Chapter 90
Yan Yuting looked at Xu Jintang with surprise, "You're betting on winning?"
She thought that with the strength of the five of them, advancing to the top eight was a sure thing, which is why she dared to bet so much.
But she still has reservations about winning the championship.
The bookmaker looked over with a warm expression, "You two have made up your minds, right?"
Xu Jintang added, " The Mask Squad advances to the quarterfinals, bet 50,000; they advance to the semifinals, bet 20,000."
She certainly wouldn't put all her eggs in one basket.
Yan Yuting realized what was happening and quickly added, "I'll add one too, I'll bet five thousand on advancing to the top four."
The two moved so fast that Song Tianqi and the others didn't even have time to react.
Only after Xu Jintang and his companion had completed the betting procedures did Song Tianqi rush over, "Boss, boss, I'm betting too!"
Xue Zhongqi remained relatively calm and made the same betting choice as Yan Yuting.
Seeing that all four of them had placed bets, Jiang Shiyi also joined in and placed one.
The dealer was grinning from ear to ear, "Alright, I'll get it done for you."
Those who were initially observing were also swayed by the large bets made by Xu Jintang and his group, and began placing their own bets.
"Boss, I'm also betting on the Mask Squad to win, five thousand star coins!"
"I'm betting on the Mask Squad to advance to the semifinals, 5,000 Star Coins."
The dealer's smile grew even wider.
He dared to offer such odds because it was the result of professional calculations.
The combined strength of the five members of the Mask Squad is far inferior to that of the real favorites to win the championship, making their chances of winning extremely low.
However, this team has been very popular recently, so with the casino offering such high odds, there will definitely be fans and viewers joining in the fun and placing bets, which will allow him to make a quick buck.
Before leaving, Xu Jintang checked the odds offered by the casino to the other teams again.
Silver Light Military Academy also has very high odds of winning, as high as 1 to 50.
Secondly, there's the Science and Technology Mechanical Military Academy, with odds of winning at 1 to 30.
Xu Jintang stroked his chin, lost in thought.
It seems the casino owner isn't very optimistic about these two military academies winning the championship.
Her gaze continued upwards, and she quickly saw the team name at the very top: Purple Rosy Clouds Pond Flower Team.
The odds of winning the championship are 1 to 0.5.
It has the lowest odds of all the teams that can be bet on.
Yan Yuting leaned closer, "The odds for the Purple Rosy Clouds Pond Flower Team are so low?"
Xue Zhongqi glanced at the odds for each team and said, "That's normal. This team was last year's runner-up. The captain is at Fifth Tier, two members are at Fourth Tier, and there are two at the Peak Third Tier. With this level of strength, their chances of winning the championship are definitely high."
Song Tianqi scratched his head, "So strong, yet you only got second place last year?"
Xue Zhongqi: "Last year's champion team had all five members who were eighteen years old, and their overall strength was stronger than theirs. This year's champion team is over the age limit, so the Purple Rosy Clouds Pond Flower Team."
Yan Yuting began to ponder, "What do you think our chances of winning are if we face the Purple Rosy Clouds Pond Flower Team?"
"It's hard to say. We need to analyze the other party's overall strength before making a decision," Xue Zhongqi said cautiously.
Just then, another wave of new tourists arrived, "Boss, bet 10,000 Star Coins on the Purple Rosy Clouds Pond Flower Team to win!"
This group of people were clearly all there for the Purple Rosy Clouds Pond Flower Team; some even placed bets of 100,000 Star Coins.
Xu Jintang and his group of five exchanged glances and left the casino without making a sound.
When we left the black market, it was already pitch black outside.
Xu Jintang stretched and yawned as he walked towards the villa area. "Going back to sleep."