An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 136 Death's Gamble
"A gamble with Death?"

Chu Xiu raised an eyebrow slightly: "What is that?"

“This is a special kind of gambling game where lives are the stakes,” the masked man said in a hoarse voice. “If you beat me, I will give you ten Destiny Chips. These chips come from the God of Gamblers and are priceless. Countless people outside would fight tooth and nail for them, but they can’t even get one.”

"What if we lose?" Chu Xiu asked calmly.

"Is there even a need to ask?" the masked man said impatiently. "I already said, this is a death gamble with lives as the stakes."

"Death?" Chu Xiu scoffed, interrupting him. "How many divisions does Death have? I need to know the specifics. How are you going to take my life?"

The masked man seemed to have never seen such an arrogant person before, and was speechless for a moment. After a long while, he said with dissatisfaction, "Why ask so many questions? You can't refuse the bet anyway, unless you want to stay here forever."

But halfway through his sentence, he suddenly stiffened as if he had been electrocuted, and white smoke began to hiss from his body.

A few seconds later, he recovered and said reluctantly, "According to the rules, I must answer your question."

"If you lose, you will be executed by the notary. If you can withstand it, then even if I am unlucky, you can still live."

As his somewhat hoarse voice faded, four more candles suddenly lit up around the two of them, further illuminating the room and allowing Chu Xiu to see the true nature of the "furniture" around him.

On either side of him were rows of shelves. On the left shelf were all sorts of torture instruments stained with dried blood: saws, branding irons, nail-pulling pliers, wires connected to high-voltage electricity, and so on.
On the other side of the shelf were various caliber firearms and ammunition, which looked quite old, with the gun bodies covered in dust.

On either side of the cabinet stood two tall, thin men in formal attire, with no facial features and disproportionately large bodies; they were clearly the notaries the masked man had mentioned.

Chu Xiu looked at the torture instruments on the cabinets on either side with amusement: "You think these things can hurt me?"

The masked man didn't answer, but simply said, "If you're ready, press the button on the side of the chair."

Chu Xiu didn't rush to make a move, but instead pondered whether to honestly follow the rules of the game or simply force his way out.

Although these chains were thick and heavy, with his current abnormal physique of nearly 400, he could easily break free.

As for participating in gambling, to be honest, although Chu Xiu was somewhat morally corrupt, he didn't indulge in every bad habit. At least in his previous life, he lived to be almost thirty years old and never even entered a casino. He was even the one who stood on the sidelines and watched when playing poker during the Chinese New Year.

Furthermore, he had extremely bad luck with gambling, and the few times he gambled, he always ended up losing miserably.

The guy on the other side looks like a veteran; who knows what kind of dirty tricks he's up to.

Rather than using his brain in areas where others excel, he prefers to smash everything with his Heavenly Demon Hand.

Just as he was pondering this, the task panel appeared before him at the opportune moment.

[Trial Name: Izzy Tar Ogos's Gamble]

[Trial Description: β-2345674 is the world ruled by Iz-Tal-Ogos. As an extraterrestrial demon who worships the god of gambling, he has transformed his world into a giant casino, where everything you have, including your body and soul, can be used as chips, and you can use these as stakes to win anything.]

[Trial Mission: Have forty chips by the end of the time limit (excess chips will be converted into mission contribution points)]

[Bonus Mission: Collect as many chips as possible to gain entry to the Golden Hall.]

[Trial Time Limit: Six Hours]

[Basic Trial Rewards: 800 Karma Points + Random Special Item]

Current chip count: 0

Looking at the panel in front of him, Chu Xiu had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Is this a dungeon focused on intelligence? That's not my forte."

Chu Xiu had a very accurate self-awareness; he was definitely not a fool, but compared to those at the pinnacle of power, his intelligence was certainly inferior.

However, he didn't dwell on it too much and simply pressed the button on the chair.

With a soft "beep," to Chu Xiu's surprise, not only did nothing detrimental to him, but the chains binding him actually came off on their own.

Just as Chu Xiu was completely bewildered, a phantom chain suddenly connected to his left wrist.

At the same time, the masked man opposite suddenly burst into a terrifying laugh: "Hahahaha! You fools! Every single one of you is equally stupid! Did you think I couldn't hurt you, so you readily accepted the bet?"

"Let me tell you, both the chains and these instruments of torture are just to deceive you, to make you believe that everything is under your control! Even if you lose, nothing will happen! I understand the arrogance of you Awakened Ones all too well, hahahaha!"

"You are now linked to the 'Chain of Bets' and must participate in the bets! Any form of resistance or violation will be directly punished by the 'Chain of Bets'!"

As he spoke, the masked man clapped his hands, and several more oil lamps lit up in the distance.

Chu Xiu then noticed that in the far corner of the room were two large-caliber cannons from the 19th century! At that moment, the huge, dark muzzles of the cannons were pointing directly at him!
Beside each cannon stood a notary, holding a fuse, ready to ignite the cannon at any moment.

Even more bizarrely, the instant the oil lamp was lit, all of Chu Xiu's equipment was forcibly stripped off! In its place was a thin linen garment!

At the same time, the illusory chains binding him were still relentlessly draining his attributes and suppressing his skills!
This caused a look of horror to flash in Chu Xiu's eyes.

What a powerful effect!

You have a total of three chances.

Just as Chu Xiu was surprised, the masked man's smug voice rang out.

"If you lose the first time, you will be randomly sentenced to a punishment by a notary; if you lose the second time, I will personally execute you with a firearm; and if you lose the third time..."

The masked man gestured towards the cannons behind Chu Xiu: "I don't need to tell you what will happen, right?" "Of course, you might not even make it that far."

"Don't even think about doing anything crooked. In a gambling game, any offensive behavior not stipulated by the rules will be considered a violation, hehehe."

At this point, the masked man couldn't help but chuckle, looking like he had Chu Xiu completely under his thumb.

What he enjoyed most was watching the awakened ones who came here, transform from confident to terrified.

The two cannons he deployed were genuine coastal defense cannons. Even though they were antiques from the last century, their power was still astonishing, enough to penetrate the armor of a light warship at a distance of a kilometer!

To survive such barrage of fire, an awakened being stripped of their equipment would need at least a constitution of 100 or higher, along with defensive skills, to have any chance of surviving. Breaking free from the chains would be even more difficult, requiring not only a constitution of 100 or higher but also high mental attack resistance to withstand the backlash when the chains break.

A normal level 9 awakened warrior has a total constitution of just over 100, with only S-rank melee classes reaching 200, and their mental resistance is generally weak.

Moreover, this chain is an attack targeting the soul. Melee classes with high physical strength but low mental strength will have more of their physical strength drained, and their defensive skills will be greatly suppressed. On the other hand, those with high mental strength are generally fragile. Therefore, he has never seen an awakened person survive the bombardment, not even an S-rank!

In his eyes, although the Awakened One opposite him could maintain his composure on the surface, his dull eyes betrayed him. He must have been so frightened that he was completely at a loss and frozen in place!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but let out a strange laugh.

However, what he didn't know was that Chu Xiu wasn't flustered at all; he just stared speechlessly at the masked man opposite him who was grinning like an idiot.

"Does this guy think he's got me cornered?"

It must be said that the masked man's psychological tactics were quite interesting, and the chain of bets was also very powerful.

If he wasn't mistaken, this was an item bestowed by a higher being to maintain the "fairness" of the betting game.

Under the draining effect of the chain of the bet, Chu Xiu's physique was reduced to a pitiful three hundred!
The power of the Heavenly Demon Hand was also suppressed by a full twelve percent; if it were to withstand this cannon fire head-on, it would probably break its skin!

Shaking his head with amusement, Chu Xiu asked, "And what if you lost?"

“I can’t possibly lose,” the masked man said confidently. “Of course, if I do lose, the same rules apply.”

Upon hearing this, Chu Xiu looked up and saw that the masked man's left hand was also bound by the chain of the bet. Chu Xiu then turned his head and saw that there were two similar cannons behind him, aimed directly at the masked man.

"Okay, stop talking nonsense."

The masked man reached out and pushed a wooden box in front of Chu Xiu, then opened it.

"Choose the game you want to participate in." Chu Xiu looked down and saw three recesses in the wooden box, each containing a deck of cards, an exquisitely crafted sphere of unknown purpose, and a stack of copper coins.

"Shouldn't you explain the rules first?" Chu Xiu said.

The masked man curled his lip: "Only by making a choice can you know the rules. Come on, rely on your intuition."

"Playing cards, I guess," Chu Xiu said without hesitation.

"it is good."

The masked man took the playing cards out of the box and handed them to the notary beside him, who then shuffled the cards and dealt them face down onto the table one by one.

These playing cards are dark gold, similar to the color of the table, and have gilded diamond patterns on the back.

Chu Xiu squinted and looked at it, but couldn't see anything suspicious.

“规则很简单，二十一点你知道吗？就是2到9分别记作2到9点，10和花牌则记作10点，A即可当1点也可以当11点。”

"Each person is initially dealt two cards. Afterwards, they can choose to pass or continue to take cards. If the total exceeds 21, it is considered a bust, and the other person is automatically declared the winner. If neither person busts, the player with the higher total wins. If they are the same, the player with more cards wins. If they are still the same, it is considered a tie."

"Of course, unlike the usual blackjack, there are two decks of cards here. Our first two cards are dealt by the notary, and the rest can be drawn freely on the table."

"How was it? Pretty simple, right? Any questions?"

Chu Xiu carefully examined the face-down playing cards, then looked up and said, "These aren't some kind of special prop cards, are they?"

"If any cheating behavior is detected, the player will be automatically disqualified."

Chu Xiu nodded: "Then I have no problem."

The masked man chuckled: "Then, let the betting begin!"

As his voice fell, the faceless notary dealt two cards to each of the two men.

Chu Xiu picked them up and saw that they were a 2 of diamonds and an 8 of clubs.

"I am the master, so I'll let you go first in the first round," the masked man said with a faint smile.

As he spoke, he placed his cards on the table and covered them with his palm.

Chu Xiu only had ten points in total with his two cards, so he naturally chose to take the cards without hesitation.

He examined the upside-down playing cards on the table carefully, and after still finding nothing, he randomly drew one.

He was lucky and drew the 9 of spades, bringing his hand to a total of nineteen points, which was quite a lot.

As he drew his card, the masked man stared intently at him, and after he finished drawing, the masked man also drew a card.

"Are you still taking it?" the masked man asked.

Chu Xiu shook his head, while the masked man took another card and then announced that he would not take any more cards.

The faceless notary spread out his white-gloved hands, signaling the two to reveal their cards. Chu Xiu placed his cards on the table, and the masked man opposite him also showed his hand.

Hearts 3 + Clubs 7 + Hearts 8 + Spades 2, totaling twenty points.

"Well, it seems I'm in luck," the masked man said with a grin.

Chu Xiu stroked his chin thoughtfully.

The masked man drew the 2 of spades as his last card, meaning he still chose to draw a card despite having 18 points in his hand. Could he have read his own hand? Or was he confident he would draw the card he wanted? Or perhaps both?
Chu Xiu carefully examined the cards covered on the table again, but still found no problem.

"Is it some kind of special skill? No, the masked man can also be suppressed by the chain of the bet."

Chu Xiu scanned them with his Ghostly Eyes the moment he arrived. The Ghost-Faced Talent was only at the Rank 5, and the notaries were only at the Rank 9.

In this situation, he would be completely suppressed by the chain of bets, unable to use any of his skills.

"That's a prop."

"Is it invisible ink that requires special glasses to see? No, he seems to be wearing just an ordinary mask."

Not to mention, with his current perception, he doesn't believe that ordinary invisible ink can fool his eyes.

Chu Xiu looked around again but couldn't find any hidden cameras or anything that could monitor his cards.

This made Chu Xiu frown.

Was it really just luck?

No, he definitely cheated. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked to choose his own cards. Wouldn't it have been fairer to just have the notary distribute them all?

But Chu Xiu couldn't figure out how the other party cheated.

"Damn it, I knew I wasn't good at gambling."

Just as he was muttering to himself, the masked man's smug, eerie laughter rang out again: "You lost the first round, but it's okay, you have two more chances."

"But before that—hehe, you'll have to go through a punishment."

"What should I choose? Electrocution? Or skinning? Both seem a bit boring. Hmm, I used pliers to break off the last person's fingernails, so this time I'll choose a branding iron!"

"Where should we print it? Chest or back? Both are too cliché! That's it! On the face! The notary, print it on his face!"

As the masked man's excited shouts subsided, the notary walked to an iron furnace, took out a red-hot branding iron, and then slowly walked to Chu Xiu's side.

The masked man sat up straight, his eyes gleaming.

Under his expectant gaze, the notary pressed the branding iron towards Chu Xiu's face. However, just as the branding iron was about to touch Chu Xiu, a strange emerald green flame suddenly rose up and climbed to the tip of the branding iron.

Immediately, to the astonishment of the masked man, the branding iron melted at a speed visible to the naked eye, turning into molten iron that fell to the ground in an instant.

This scene left the notary stunned for a moment before he silently returned to his original position.

"Can we start the next round?" Chu Xiu's calm voice rang out.

"you you"

The masked man stared at him intently for a long time before finally letting out a cold snort: "Let's begin."

The notary dealt the cards again, and this time Chu Xiu received a five and a six.

But instead of immediately taking the cards, he put them down and stared intently at the masked man: "It's your turn to go first this time."

The masked man scoffed disdainfully, "Anyway, you're going to lose."

As he spoke, he picked up a card, about to insert it into his hand, when Chu Xiu's cold voice rang out: "Wait."

"What's wrong?" The masked man paused in his movements.

A faint smile appeared on Chu Xiu's lips.

"You are cheating."

He said it word by word.

(End of this chapter)