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

Chapter 140 Hidden Mission: The Baron's Gamble
At the lizardmen's dwelling, Chu Xiu found a total of eleven chips, two large bags of Bliss Grass, and some miscellaneous equipment and items.

These equipment and items were of low quality, but since Chu Xiu's spirit and flesh storage pouch was large enough, he accepted them all without any complaints.

Next, he began sweeping through the outermost gambling dens of these commoners.

Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to sweep every single one that passed by. Instead, he cleaned up every few at a time to avoid being noticed by the patrolling guards.

In fact, if the gambler can be killed before he calls the police, the probability of being discovered will be greatly reduced. Even if someone later enters the casino and sees the gambler's body, they will only think that the person had made a death gamble and ultimately lost his life.

And so, Chu Xiu swiftly cleared out these gamblers, causing his chips of fate to surge at an astonishing rate.

During this process, he also witnessed many gambling games that broadened his horizons.

He had assumed that most people here played cards like the masked man, or played some serious puzzle games, but he was wrong.

In this city, everything can be bet on, even the number of birds that fly by, whether the next person to enter the store is a man or a woman, or something as mundane as that.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be a life-or-death stake; anything can be used for gambling.

There are even more bizarre gambling games, like those involving reptilians, and these "unique" gambling games are not uncommon.

What impressed Chu Xiu the most was a betting game involving "Pastoral Grass".

The rules are as follows: a pipe containing Bliss is lit in the center of a room, and eight heavily addicted addicts who have not used Bliss for a long time are placed around the room. There are many traps set between these addicts and the central Bliss.

At first, it was relatively simple, just some narrow paths covered with broken glass and passages with obstacles made of razor blades. As long as you could stay rational under the temptation of drugs, you could basically get through them.

Later on, it gets really weird. Every challenge requires self-harm to keep going. For example, there's a pool full of sharp syringes that contestants have to jump into and find a key to advance to the next level.

This even made Chu Xiu, a demonic cultivator, feel that it was too abnormal.

"The smoke emitted when the herb is lit is more potent than when inhaled directly, but I only light a small amount, which is far from enough for these poisonous insects and can only further stimulate their addiction."

"Guest, wouldn't you like to see just how far these poisonous insects can go?" the owner said with a smile.

The rules are simple: Chu Xiu can bet on which of the eight people will go the furthest, and there will be an extra reward if someone gets the drugs, or vice versa, betting on which people can remain rational when they are in the throes of drug withdrawal.

According to the boss, he has been involved in more than ten gambling games, and no one has been able to resist the addiction. Once you take Elysium, you can never stop, and your brain will undergo fundamental and irreversible changes.

Even the guards couldn't stop them.

"The guards also smoke?" Chu Xiu asked in surprise.

“Of course,” the boss said, pointing to the cages holding the contestants. “See that guy with the black hair at the very back? He used to be in the guard team, but he got addicted to drugs and lost to me for a bag of grass.”

"The baron is incredibly stingy. If it weren't for this, who the hell would risk their lives for him? The same goes for the guards."

"It's just that they're using higher-quality drugs, so the side effects are relatively fewer. But in the long run, they still can't escape this fate."

"Only gamblers who have lost even their souls are immune to the herb of ecstasy."

"But what does it matter? There will always be a constant stream of people coming. This world is full of crazy people who gamble with their lives. One batch is ruined, but another batch keeps coming. They're like weeds that just keep dying."

The boss's words gave Chu Xiu a deeper understanding of the power of the Bliss Grass, and a bold idea sprouted in his mind.

To thank his boss, Chu Xiu decisively smashed his head with a single punch using the Heavenly Demon Hand. The pain receptors were destroyed before the neurotransmitters and synapses could even react, and he died without any pain.

[Item Obtained: Fate Chips *9]

After rummaging through the boss's assets in the backyard, Chu Xiu's total chips had exceeded forty.

However, he did not trigger the forced advancement because he lost the first round of the Death God's wager and directly endured the Death God's punishment. Therefore, he did not complete the wager at all, which means that Chu Xiu did not even have the chain of the wager.

Without the chain of bets, there would naturally be no restrictions.

Of course, Chu Xiu also discovered that these chips of fate were just scrap metal to him. Only by possessing the chain of bets could he activate the effect of these chips to improve his fortune.

However, Chu Xiu doesn't need luck; his fists are the greatest source of luck.

He felt that fighting his way through from beginning to end was probably the correct strategy for clearing this dungeon.

Of course, it's difficult for others to replicate his method.

Without giving it much thought, Chu Xiu continued on to the next casino.

Keep killing!

Chu Xiu is very efficient and always acts cleanly and cautiously. If he encounters a boss who has taken very good precautions, he will immediately switch to another company without wasting any time.

So even after killing more than ten gambling houses, he still didn't arouse the patrol team's suspicion.

At this point, he had accumulated 97 life-saving chips.

After punching another boss to death and taking his life chip, and looting 14 chips, a notification sound rang in his ear.

[Hold more than 100 chips to unlock a hidden mission.]

Hidden Quest: The Baron's Gamble

[Note: Once you possess more than two hundred Fate Chips, the Baron will send someone to invite you to the Golden Hall to participate in a gambling game personally hosted by him.]

Perhaps you can use your gambling skills and wit to win the items you desire from the Baron's treasury.

The pop-up notification made Chu Xiu's expression shift slightly.

In the initial trial mission, there was an extra task to collect as many chips as possible. It turned out that when you collected 100 chips, the next stage would be triggered.

"The Baron's bet?"

Chu Xiu stroked his chin.

Actually, if he just holds on and waits until the time limit ends, he can pass the trial directly.

However, with numerous life-saving items at his disposal, Chu Xiu was naturally qualified to try and obtain more benefits.

At his current speed, grabbing another hundred chips wouldn't be difficult, meaning Chu Xiu could challenge this hidden mission at any time.

However, he wasn't prepared to gamble with the Baron. He was fully aware of his own gambling skills and luck, and knew he definitely couldn't outmaneuver these cunning old foxes.

Chu Xiu is determined to continue down his path and fight to the very end!

“These civilians are all exploited; killing them is slow and yields no good results.”

"If we're going to make a move, we should target the ruling class!"

However, although Chu Xiu made up his mind, he was not just being arrogant and conceited. Instead, he carefully analyzed the comparison of the enemy's and his own combat strength.

The gamblers and low-ranking notaries in the city are insignificant, but the dozens of well-equipped fierce-rank soldiers and a large number of warrior-rank soldiers in the patrol guard team cannot be ignored.

The real trouble, however, lies with the nobles in the castle!
"Based on the information I've gathered over this period, knights are usually of the Fierce rank, knights are at the peak of the Fierce rank, and barons are of the General rank!"

"As for high-level gamblers, they will have a stronger blessing from the God of Gamblers and their own personal notaries. These notaries are usually much stronger than the gamblers themselves! In addition to maintaining the fairness of the game, they will also be responsible for protecting their personal safety."

This is the biggest difference between a Knight-class Gambler and a regular Fierce-class Gambler.

After silently calculating in his mind, Chu Xiu concluded: "A head-on confrontation has too many variables!"

The main problem was that he couldn't figure out just how strong the Baron was.

Ordinary general-level monsters, such as royal elite ghouls with 700 constitution, are at most at the level of ghoul kings, even high-level generals.

Chu Xiu was not afraid of a one-on-one fight. Even if he encountered a particularly strong baron, he could easily survive with the mythical-level Heaven-Connecting Blood Vine and the Blood of Immortality.

"But if they join forces with their underlings and swarm in, the outcome of the battle becomes unpredictable."

"To be on the safe side, I should try to adopt a strategy of defeating them one by one, and try to disperse and eliminate the enemy's forces as much as possible."

This hidden mission might just be a tool that can be used.

After some thought, Chu Xiu had a plan in mind.

He turned and walked toward the meeting place he had agreed upon with the other three trial participants.

Soon, he reunited with the other three.

The group exchanged information and each of them found a gambling game that suited them and had a chance of success.

"Then let's proceed according to the plan we discussed earlier."

"Brother Chen, would you like to join us?"

Song Linchuan extended another invitation to Chu Xiu.

All three felt that Chu Xiu had no reason to refuse; from any perspective, cooperation was the better choice.

but.
"I'm sorry, but I still want to act alone first," Chu Xiu said calmly.

After saying this, he cupped his hands in farewell and left.

This caused a flash of anger to cross Lin Ji's brows.

"This guy is really wary. Doesn't he realize who we are? Why would we want to harm him for no reason?"

"Sneaking around and wearing a mask, I want to see if this cowardly fellow can pass the knight-level bet alone!"

As Lin Ji watched Chu Xiu's departing figure, his contempt and disgust deepened.

In his view, the three people were of noble status, and their repeated invitations had already given Chu Xiu enough face. He never expected that Chu Xiu would be so ungrateful!
This isn't just being cautious, it's being foolish!

"Forget it, he has his own ideas. We should just mind our own business." Song Linchuan waved his hand dismissively.

Seeing that he had spoken, Lin Ji said no more. Next, the three of them began to participate in the betting games that they were confident of winning, which they had investigated beforehand.

Although they couldn't brute force their way through like Chu Xiu, they each possessed unique skills, and having carefully scouted the game beforehand, their chances of winning were not low.

For example, there is a gambling game called dart throwing. Fifty meters away, there is a spinning dart disc the size of a washbasin. Different parts of the dart disc represent different points. The dealer and the gamblers take turns throwing darts, and whoever hits the highest number wins.

Although fifty meters is quite a distance, given everyone's abilities, hitting the designated spot is still a piece of cake. The key to this bet is that the frisbee will be covered with a black cloth made of special materials that is difficult to see through. This way, no one can see the state of the frisbee or know its speed of rotation, so no matter how accurately it is thrown, it will be useless.

At first glance, it seems to be a gamble that relies entirely on luck. However, no matter how ingenious the mechanism of spinning the frisbee is, the axle cannot be perfectly sealed. When it is spun to different parts, there will always be a slight difference in sound. However, this difference is extremely subtle and is fifty meters away, so ordinary people cannot hear it at all.

The boss happened to be a member of the Ghost Bird clan with exceptional hearing. In addition, he had practiced continuously since childhood and had memorized the sound of the rotating wheel. Therefore, the black cloth was nothing to him.

Song Linchuan stepped forward and lost the first two rounds. Just as the boss was beaming with joy, he suddenly increased his bet in the third round. The boss, who was very confident in himself, naturally followed suit. At this moment, Song Linchuan suddenly made a hand seal, and a third eye mysteriously opened on his forehead!
With the help of that divine eye, he seemed to be able to see the spinning wheel behind the black cloth directly, and in the end, he won the boss outright by virtue of his superior accuracy.

This surprised Chu Xiu, who was secretly observing from the shadows. He thought to himself that this person was indeed worthy of being a prince of heaven and had some skills. He wondered what his profession and talent were.

The other two were also skilled, but it was obvious that they were a step below Song Linchuan. Song Linchuan's chosen games had an almost 80% win rate, Bian Guanyue could only manage a best-of-three series, and Lin Ji repeatedly lost. After a round, he not only didn't have many chips left, but he also lost two, which made his expression quite unpleasant.

This person is quite capable, but his meticulousness is far inferior to Song Linchuan's.

Song Linchuan kept his promise and would distribute the extra chips to the others whenever they were close to the critical point of forty chips.

An hour later, all three of them had successfully accumulated more than thirty chips each.

"It's time to participate in the Knights' betting game."

"Let's stick to our previous plan, pool our resources, and select the person we're most confident in to participate," Song Linchuan said.

"Brother Song, is there even a need to choose?" Lin Ji smiled and shrugged. "You have the highest winning percentage in the betting game, and you've also earned the most chips. Who else could it be but you, Brother Song?"

Bian Guanyue nodded and said, "I have no objection to handing the chips over to Song."

However, just as everyone was preparing to hand over the chips to Song Linchuan, a voice suddenly rang out beside the three of them.

"Gentlemen, would you be interested in exchanging chips with me?"

The three turned around and saw that the speaker was a strange young man wearing a pig's head mask and a white robe. "Exchange chips?" Lin Ji was stunned when he heard this.

“That’s right,” the young man nodded. “Twenty chips can be exchanged for a piece of Warrior-grade [Perfect] quality equipment, with the item value halved, while the value of a Ferocious-grade item is doubled. Alternatively, one chip can be exchanged for one hundred Karma Points.”

"I have over a hundred chips here, do you want to exchange them?"

As the young man finished speaking, the three exchanged glances, and each saw a hint of attraction in the other's eyes.

"Brother Song, this seems like a good deal, but I don't know if there are any hidden traps," Lin Ji whispered.

This price is indeed not high. What they lack most right now is leverage, which can greatly increase the probability of the three of them passing the trial and will also be of great help to their subsequent exploration.

Although the three of them never mentioned it, they were all proud and arrogant young geniuses, so how could they not have any thoughts about that extra mission?

On the contrary, the three of them didn't care at all about exchanging some useless Warrior-rank items, since these equipment were not of much use after they advanced to the Fierce rank anyway.

But, is there really such a good thing in the world?

Seeing that the three were still hesitating, the young man suddenly stepped forward and stretched out his hands.

On his wrist, there was no chain symbolizing the gambling contracts of the God of Gamblers' followers.

This scene completely dispelled the three people's wariness.

It turned out that the young man was not a gambler; he had simply acquired a large number of chips from somewhere and wanted to exchange them for other valuable items.

After some discussion, the three quickly reached an agreement.

They took out three pieces of Warrior-level [Perfect] equipment and five thousand Karma Points, exchanging all the chips in the young man's hand.

After carefully storing his harvest, the young man couldn't help but smile beneath his mask.

This young man was none other than Chu Xiu.

His goal was simple: to use the hundred or so chips he sent out to push Song Linchuan's total number of chips to two hundred!

According to the normal procedure, Song Linchuan would first challenge the Knight's Gamble. The outcome was uncertain, and even if he won, Song Linchuan might not necessarily risk challenging the Golden Hall. Even if he did choose to challenge, the timing was uncertain. This was too much of a variable for Chu Xiu, and he couldn't just wait around.

But now, Song Linchuan will directly trigger the Golden Hall quest and be invited by the Baron to enter the Golden Hall!
Once the betting begins, both parties will be bound to the spot by the chain of the bet, and the notary will also be unable to leave. Without these two strongest combatants, Chu Xiu can do whatever he wants.

Compared to the gains that followed, the chips that were traded out were nothing at all!
"Now there's only one last step left."

"That is to ensure that Song Linchuan accepts the Baron's bet!"

Chu Xiu was not worried about this.

The way the baron treated the other gamblers in the city showed that he was an extremely greedy and selfish person; it was impossible for the other party to just watch two hundred chips slip away right under his nose.

Even if we fail, we won't lose out by getting so many good things in return.

Thinking of this, Chu Xiu concealed himself again and observed the three people's movements from a distance.

As he had anticipated, after Song Linchuan concentrated all his chips on himself, he immediately triggered the hidden quest of the Baron's Gambling Game.

"A hidden quest? The Golden Hall?"

He looked surprised and immediately shared the mission information with his two companions.

Upon hearing his words, both Lin Ji and Bian Guanyue's eyes flashed with surprise.

"So the hidden mission requires two hundred chips to trigger! Luckily we traded with that pig-headed man, otherwise we might have missed out on this mission," Lin Ji said with delight.

Hidden quests usually mean great opportunities!
"Don't get too excited yet. Don't forget that this is a world dominated by gambling. Even if it's a stroke of luck, it could still leave you penniless," Song Linchuan warned.

As the three were talking, two figures suddenly flew towards them from a distance.

They were two knights who had come to invite Song Linchuan to the Golden Hall.

The other two were also invited.

Song Linchuan wanted to play the knight's wager first to secure his position, but the two of them refused with smiles, saying that they should see the baron first. They weren't stupid; after all, if they lost, their rank would be stripped and their lives would be in danger. Bullying a commoner gambler with only forty chips was one thing, but facing a ruthless person with two hundred chips was another matter entirely.

Song Linchuan was also helpless. He hadn't expected such a change, but at this point he could only take it one step at a time.

Soon, everyone followed the two knight gamblers to the legendary Golden Hall.

The hall is located in the very center of the Baron's Castle. Just like its name suggests, it is decorated with golden ornaments everywhere. As soon as you enter the gate, you are greeted by a magnificent and luxurious atmosphere.

What's most eye-catching is that on both sides of the hall, rows of display shelves are lined up, neatly arranged with various weapons and equipment, ranging from warrior-level to ferocious-level. A quick glance reveals that they are all of [collector's] quality or higher! Among them are quite a few [perfect] items! There are over a hundred pieces in total!

At the far end of the hall, in the very center of the wall, hung a huge circular shield. Golden stripes extended outwards from the shield, radiating an extremely astonishing energy fluctuation, like a real sun. Even from a great distance, Song Linchuan and the others could confirm that it was definitely a [Legendary] piece of equipment! And its true rank was absolutely extremely high!

Even though Song Linchuan and his two companions had abundant resources, a burning desire still flashed in their eyes at this moment.

Legendary-grade equipment is extremely valuable to anyone.

"Are the three of you interested in this [Radiant Shield]?"

At that moment, a gentle voice rang out.

The three turned to look and saw a stone man with a kind face, dressed in a wide robe, swaying as he walked down. Behind him followed a slender, smooth-surfaced silver robot.

The moment the stone golem appeared, the two knights who had led the way bowed together: "Your Excellency, Baron."

The stone man waved his hand and continued to Song Linchuan and the other two: "I obtained this shield by chance, and it has been placed in this golden hall ever since. Many people have wanted to get it, but no one has succeeded yet. Would you three young friends be willing to give it a try?"

Lin Ji and Bian Guanyue both looked at Song Linchuan, who said warily, "Baron, we don't have enough chips on hand, so we may not be able to satisfy your bet."

Hearing his words, the baron waved his hand dismissively and said with a friendly smile, "You don't need to be so nervous. My Golden Hall is different from the gambling games outside. There will be no traps. I don't care about winning or losing. I'm just here to enjoy the fun of gambling."

"You can gamble whenever you want, and whatever you want. If you don't want to play anymore, you can quit anytime, and no one will stop you."

A knight standing nearby added, "The Baron is a nobleman personally appointed by the King. He holds gambling in the highest esteem and would not resort to tricks like those lowly commoners outside."

"On the contrary, everyone who is qualified to enter the Golden Hall will receive a reward from the adults."

"You all need not worry too much."

The two men's words softened Lin Ji's expression considerably, but Song Linchuan remained unmoved, simply saying, "Please, Baron, explain the rules."

The baron nodded and looked at the robot behind him, saying, "Let's play Texas Hold'em today."

The latter then stepped forward and explained the rules to everyone.

The rules here are no different from those of Texas Hold'em, which Song Linchuan and the others are familiar with. Of course, it has another name in this world, but the Abyss's translation ability has accurately translated it as Texas Hold'em.

Specifically, each person is dealt two cards, and five community cards are placed on the table. Each person needs to combine their two hand cards with the five community cards to select five final cards, and the player with the highest hand wins.

There are four rounds in total. In the first round, your hand is dealt cards. In the second round, three community cards are dealt. In the next two rounds, one community card is dealt each round. In each round, you can raise, call, or fold.

This is a very fair and competitive gambling game; there are even dedicated tournaments on Earth.

Furthermore, to dispel any doubts, the Baron added three more points.

First, he will absolutely not use any cheating methods. This is written in the rules and he cannot violate them. On the contrary, contestants can cheat, as long as they are not caught by the notary.

Second, participants can exchange any item for a "champion of fate," and the specific value will be assessed fairly by a notary.

Third, every chip lost will be converted into tokens, which can be used to exchange for items in the Baron's Treasury. In other words, even if you lose everything at the beginning, you can still exchange for good things!

Of course, the chips you win are more valuable; one chip can be exchanged for three tokens.

The three of them looked at the tokens and found that they were extremely valuable. A perfect, high-tier weapon only cost thirty tokens, which was even cheaper than exchanging it from the pig-headed man!

In other words, even if they don't win a single chip, they can still make back what they lost!

Once you win a thousand chips, that legendary equipment is yours!

Thinking of this, Lin Ji could no longer hide his excitement and whispered, "Brother Song, shall we give it a try? As long as we keep 120 chips to ensure we pass, even if we lose all of the remaining nearly 100, we'll still make a profit!"

Song Linchuan did not reply, but his brows were furrowed, as if he was thinking about what was going on with the Baron's suggestion.

But after thinking about it for a long time, he couldn't find any problems. More importantly, the Baron made it very clear that if he sensed something was wrong, he could quit at any time after the end of any game!
Is it really because they've gathered enough chips that the trial rewards them?

Just as Song Linchuan was struggling with his decision, the Baron's light laughter rang out: "I have studied Texas Hold'em for over three hundred years, and I am quite confident in my abilities. If you can beat me, what do a few pieces of equipment matter?"

"I have my own standards for my favorite gambling games, and you can rest assured that this gambling is absolutely fair and just."

"Brother Song!" Lin Ji called out to him again, and even Bian Guanyue was somewhat moved.

After pondering for a long time, Song Linchuan looked at the Baron and said, "Let me confirm again, we can end the betting at any time if we don't want to continue, right?"

“Just finish that one round,” the Baron chuckled. “You can’t just quit halfway through when you’re about to lose, can you?”

Having received the Baron's assurance, Song Linchuan finally nodded and looked at the two men, saying, "Alright, let's play then. But let's make it clear beforehand that there are 120 chips that we absolutely cannot touch; they are our life-saving capital."

"No problem!" Lin Ji readily agreed.

Upon seeing this, the Baron smiled faintly.

Next, as everyone's betting chains locked onto their wrists, the game officially began.

After playing for a while, everyone discovered that the game was not only free of any tricks, but things were actually simpler than they had imagined!
Because this is actually a three-against-one card game, as long as any one of the three players gets a high card, they can communicate with each other to make the other two players fold, which is almost equivalent to tripling the probability of winning!
And indeed, all three players won the first three games smoothly.

Unfortunately, because all three players were cautious at the beginning of the game and didn't invest many chips, they only won a total of twenty chips.

But the successive victories had boosted Lin Ji's confidence to an unprecedented level, and he seemed to see that [legendary] equipment beckoning to him.

Then he thought of Chen Ce again.

"I wonder what kind of expression that guy would have if he knew we'd stumbled upon such a tremendous opportunity."

"They'll definitely regret it to the core."

Lin Ji's smile widened. He slammed his cards face down on the table, pushed out his chips, and shouted in a booming voice:
"Raise the bet!"

Meanwhile, Chu Xiu, whom Lin Ji thought would be filled with regret, was silently observing them from a short distance away.

He breathed a sigh of relief after seeing the game officially begin.

“I knew that baron had plenty of ways to keep them.”

"Now it's my turn to perform."

Chu Xiu smiled, and in the next instant, his wings suddenly spread open, and he soared into the sky like a wild goose taking flight!

In the blink of an eye, he traversed a distance of over a thousand meters and arrived at the center of the town, where a magnificent Western-style pavilion storing the Bliss Grass stood beneath him.

"I will purify this filthy city."

With a soft whisper, Chu Xiu's figure suddenly swooped downwards! The next moment, the berserk demon hand, like a god's heavy punch, appeared behind him, and with the impact of the high-speed descent, he threw a punch!
"boom!"

Like a thousand-pound bomb detonating in mid-air, the top floor of the attic shattered with a tremendous explosion! Countless bricks and stones flew everywhere!
Chu Xiu didn't stop at all. He fell like a shooting star, and with a series of muffled thuds, the entire pavilion collapsed layer by layer like shattered building blocks!
Dust billowed up, and the gamblers and prostitutes nearby watched in horror, not knowing what had happened.

Just as they were at a loss, a blurry figure emerged from the smoke and dust.

Its enormous wings resembled those of a demon descended upon the world.

In the next instant, countless hideous and terrifying demons surged out of the collapsed attic! Like a swarm of ants emerging from its nest, they instantly engulfed the gamblers around them!
The massacre has begun.

Sorry it's so late. This chapter is a prelude. I originally wanted to finish writing it all at once before posting it, but I ended up writing more and more until it reached 8,000 words.

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(End of this chapter)