Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

The betting continues.

Cards were dealt continuously.

Game after game.

There are wins and losses.

But the fat man's complexion grew worse and worse.

He only won games with small stakes, such as 10,000, 20,000, or 50,000.

Lin Gui always won big prizes: 200,000, 500,000, or 1 million.

The fat guy won five games in a row, but the total winnings were less than 100,000.

Lin Gui won back hundreds of thousands in one go.

The female mage's brow remained furrowed.

Her hand remained in contact with Lin Gui's body.

She was completely unaware of any magical fluctuations.

This person did not use magic at all, nor was it possible for them to cheat.

Elvia noticed the change in the mage's expression.

After letting out a slight sigh of relief, a smile curved her lips.

Then she spoke, her tone laced with sarcasm:

"Little fatty, are you sure you can handle this?"

"Should we just stop here? It's not shameful."

The fat man's face turned even uglier.

The female mage also spoke, her voice very soft:

"Young Master, that's enough."

"You can't beat him at this bet."

"I've lost almost all my money."

"let's go."

These words were like a fire poured on the fat man's heart.

His face turned bright red, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

"Shut up!"

He roared.

"Who said I was leaving?"

"continue!"

He increased the stakes.

All in.

One round, and we won.

The fat man excitedly slammed his fist on the table and roared:

"Hahaha! Did you see that!"

"My luck has turned!"

Then in the next round, go all in.

Lost.

I lost everything.

He pushed all his chips toward Lin Gui.

The fat man stared blankly at the empty tabletop, his mouth agape, like a fish that had been pulled ashore.

Lin Gui saw that the locals seemed unable to come up with the gambling funds.

Then they started collecting money.

One by one, he put the Star Coins into the bag, his movements unhurried and deliberate.

Finally, Lin Gui stuffed the fat man's bank receipts worth millions of gold coins into his pocket.

The fat man suddenly stood up and slammed his hand on the table:

"etc!"

"I still have money!"

"You're not allowed to leave!"

Lin Gui looked up at him.

The fat man pulled something out of his pocket.

It was a wooden box about the size of a palm.

The dark red wood was covered with fine runes, and a faint glow flowed between the runes.

The corners of the box are inlaid with gold metal, which gleams softly under the light.

The female mage's expression changed instantly upon seeing that thing.

She rushed forward and grabbed the fat man's arm.

"Young Master! No!"

"You can't gamble on that!"

"Have you forgotten why we came to Drywood Town?"

Her voice was trembling.

"That's our hope for saving the family!"

"This is the only thing we've gained after staying here for a year..."

"You can't gamble, young master!"

The fat man shoved her hand away.

"Get out of here!"

"Who do you think you are? You dare to tell me what to do?"

The female mage staggered as he flung her, her heels scraping against the stone pavement with a harsh sound, but she did not retreat.

She rushed forward again and grabbed the fat man's sleeve tightly.

"Young master, I beg you..."

"We've been in Deadwood Town for so long, and it took us so long to catch them near the Wooden Bell Tavern. It took us so long to get this in return."

"If we lose, the family... the family will..."

The fat man's eyes reddened.

He pulled a dagger from his waist and held it to his neck.

"If you stop me again, I'll kill myself right now."

The female mage's face turned pale.

She released her grip and took a step back.

His lips trembled, and he couldn't speak.

Lin Gui nudged Elvia silently and lowered his voice:

"See? Gambling ruins lives."

Elvia replied in a low voice:

"This is an isolated case; do not generalize it to the entire population."

Lin Gui ignored her.

He looked at the wooden box and squinted.

The female mage's words, the hope of saving the family, the things obtained in exchange for capturing them, and that tavern.

Wooden Bell Tavern.

That tavern seemed familiar; I felt like I'd seen it somewhere before.

Lin Gui felt a sense of familiarity, as if it were vaguely emerging from some corner of his memory, but he couldn't quite place it.

He hadn't had time to think about it carefully.

"boom--"

The fat man slammed the wooden box on the table.

"This thing is worth a billion gold coins!"

A collective gasp filled the air.

A billion? What could be so valuable?

Many people crowded around to take a look.

Lin Gui glanced at the wooden box, then at the pile of chips in front of him.

To be frank.

"I don't have that much money."

He paused.

"Including what I won from you, it's only a little over six million gold coins."

"Your bet is too big, I don't have the money to bet, so let's just forget about it."

He put the chips into his bag and stood up.

"you!!!"

The fat man panicked.

"Don't go!"

The fat man unleashed his magic and tried to forcibly stop Lin Gui.

However, his strength can only be described as barely passable, at the upper-middle level.

Therefore, his obstruction was ineffective.

Elvia stepped forward, drew her sword, and pushed him away.

"Being forceful is useless," he hurriedly said anxiously to Lin Gui.

"You can use your belongings to pay for it!"

Lin Gui turned around speechlessly, revealing his attire to the other party.

"How much do you think this outfit of mine is worth?"

The gray robes were faded from washing, and the oak staff was plain, without even a decent magic crystal.

The fat man's gaze swept over him and then landed on Elvia in front of him.

His eyes lit up.

"she!"

He pointed at Elvia.

"She's worth a lot of money!"

"You can sell her on the black market!"

"Many nobles would pay a high price for her, just like female elves."

Elvia's face instantly darkened, and she wished she could draw her sword and kill the person who had insulted her.

Lin Gui said calmly:

"Her..."

He stretched out his hand and counted.

"Bring me thirty trillion first, then we can discuss how to use her as a stake."

There was silence all around.

Thirty trillion?

Everyone stared at Lin Gui speechlessly.

What kind of woman is so valuable?

Even if you captured the Elf Queen and auctioned her off at the slave auction house, you wouldn't even get a fraction of that amount.

They thought Lin Gui was just making up numbers.

But Elvia sensed something else.

Thirty quadrillion, that's the total annual output of the City-State Alliance.

Lin Gui's words implied that if he wanted Elvia, he should trade the Alliance for her.

Her face turned red, from her neck all the way to her ears, even the tips of her ears were pink.

Overwhelmed by emotion, she wrapped her arms around Lin Gui's neck without hesitation and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Then he looked at the fat man defiantly:

"Did you hear that? Bring out thirty quadrillion gold coins."

The fat man's face turned a deep liver color.

He stared at Lin Gui, at Elvia, and at the wooden box on the table.

Then he took a deep breath.

"OK!"

"good!"

"That's over six million gold coins!"

"I'll use this to pay six million, and I'll gamble with you one last time!"

The female mage charged forward again.

"Young Master—"

The fat man raised the dagger and held it to his neck.

"If you stop me again, I'll kill myself."

The female mage's eyes reddened.

She stood there, trembling.

Looking at the fat man's crazed face, and at the wooden box slammed on the table.

His lips moved, but in the end he said nothing.

She lowered her head, stepped aside, and shrugged slightly.

The surrounding gold-level adventurers looked at her; some shook their heads, and some sighed.

Someone whispered:

"How pitiful, a high-ranking mage in the civil service, being manipulated like this by a piece of trash."

"What can be done? She's dependent on someone else's family. Without family support, where would she get the resources to cultivate?"

"Too."

Any adventurer with even a little knowledge could guess the relationship between the female mage and the fat man.

A mage's progress requires the accumulation of resources.

Too many talented mages from the lower classes are willing to become slaves of nobles in order to break through their limits.

And the female mage was clearly like that.

The female mage heard those words but did not react.

She just stood there with her head down, like a stone statue.

Only her clenched fists betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

The fat man urged the gambling table to open.

"Hurry up! What are you dawdling for?"

Lin Gui raised his hand and stopped him.

He looked at the wooden box with a strange expression.

"Gambling is fine, but at least tell me what this thing is?"

The fat man smiled disdainfully:

"An ignorant wandering monk."

He picked up the wooden box and waved it in front of Lin Gui.

"Take this thing to the underground auction house in the City of a Thousand Towers, and you can choose any item you want to be auctioned."

Even if it's an expensive semi-divine artifact, or the grand finale of an auction.

"You can exchange any of these!!"

He burst into laughter.

"And its most valuable feature is that it can open the door to the top."

"Take this, and a whole bunch of high-and-mighty nobles will come crawling to your doorstep!"

Lin Gui wanted to take a look.

The fat man didn't refuse and handed it to him.

Lin Gui squinted as he took the wooden box.

He could sense an absurdly complex anti-counterfeiting magic circuit operating within it.

The intricacy of the runes was so great that even he felt his scalp tingle.

The person who made this thing is definitely not simple.

Judging from the female mage's excited appearance, it's highly likely to be true.

Even if it's not real... it's still worth a lot of money just for this anti-counterfeiting magic.

Lin Gui chuckled; he was somewhat grateful to Elvia for dragging him to the casino for a date.

Otherwise, how could there be such an unexpected gain?

"Okay, come on."

He sat back in his chair, ready to play the game as before.

The fat man interrupted him:

"Let's try a different approach."

Lin Gui raised an eyebrow:

"How do you want to play?"

The fat man grinned maliciously:

"Comparing sizes is purely a matter of luck, how about that?"

Lin Gui smiled:

"OK."

The fat man grabbed the cards and dealt them himself.

He sneered:

"To prevent some lowlife from cheating, I'll be the one to send the messages. You don't mind, do you?"

Lin Gui shrugged, completely unconcerned.

"Whatever makes you happy."

The fat man snorted coldly.

One card is dealt to Lin Gui, and one card is placed in front of him.

Seeing this, Lin Gui reached out his hand, preparing to turn over his cards.

The fat man suddenly grabbed his wrist.

"etc."

"This card is mine!"

He snatched Lin Gui's cards and exchanged them for his own.

He grinned maliciously at Lin Gui.

If the other party cheated, then they should now reap what they sow.

"I'd like to see just how lucky you are."

He sneered and flipped over the cards.

Shout with confidence...

However, the excited expression vanished instantly when the numbers on the cards were seen.

He slumped in the chair, feeling completely drained.

His lips trembled, and his eyes were fixed on the card.

There is a number written on it.

3.

As Lin Gui exchanged cards, his eyes narrowed, and his right hand covered the cards, indicating that he intended to use some tricks.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the cards the fat man had revealed, and his lips twitched.

Three points, the lowest number of cards.

He no longer covered the cards with his right hand, nor did he intend to use any tricks; he simply turned his cards over directly.

There is a number written on it.

5.

Both of them had very bad luck.

But if the fat man hadn't tried to be clever and changed his cards, and if Lin Gui hadn't resorted to any tricks...

He won.

"Oh, it's five."

"Looks like you lost again, you fatso."

Elvia happily gathered the chips in front of her.

Especially that wooden box, it felt like holding some precious treasure in my arms.

A whimper escaped the fat man's throat.

"How is this possible... how is this possible..."

He slumped in the chair, his eyes vacant, like two bottomless black holes.

Behind him, the female mage who had remained silent stepped forward.

Her gaze shifted from the fat man to Lin Gui, and she reached out her hand.

"Give the things back."

Her voice was cold.

"Do you know whose things you won?"

Do you know who's standing behind him?

"It's the Violet Family from the City of a Thousand Towers!"

She took a step forward.

An aura of extraordinary power emanated from her, making the air seem heavy.

The surrounding gold-plated adventurers unconsciously retreated.

"Give that thing back if you don't want to die!"

Her gaze was like a knife.

Lin Gui looked at her without saying a word.

Elvia stood in front of Lin Gui, blocking his way.

Her strength was inferior to her opponent's, but her gaze was colder.

"Trying to rob me? Go ahead and try."

The female mage's aura intensified.

The air seemed to freeze, making it difficult to even breathe.

Just when the atmosphere was at its most tense, a rough male voice came from the doorway.

"Ouch!"

"Isn't that the mailman?"

Everyone looked over.

Four men entered.

Leading the way was a tall, muscular man.

His face was covered in stubble, and he wore a thick leather armor with several deep scratches on the armor plate on his chest, as if he had been through many battles.

A medal, a star in a ring, is pinned to his shoulder.

Morningstar Racing Team.

The people in the transport team.

Each of them possesses extraordinary strength.

His steps were steady, his breath was restrained, and his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's.

The surrounding gold-level adventurers looked on with envy and longing.

That was a transport team, the pinnacle of the Gold Adventurer profession.

Meanwhile, at the gambling table, the female mage who was about to attack Lin Gui turned pale.

Because she saw the burly man walk up to Lin Gui and put his arm around his shoulder.

"Haha, mail carrier, long time no see!"

"We haven't properly thanked you yet for helping us deliver the letter last time!"

"Come on, let's have a drink today!"

His tone was as familiar as that of an old friend.

The female mage looked at his action of embracing Lin Gui and asked with a solemn expression.

"Who are you--"

She stared at Lin Gui.

"People from the transport team?"

Some of the surrounding gold-level adventurers recognized Lin Gui.

"Ah! I know him!"

"He's that mage who came a while ago; he knows levitation!"

"Levitation?"

These three words were like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, creating ripples.

Everyone's gaze changed.

A mage who can levitate is no ordinary wandering mage.

Those were people the transport teams were scrambling to hire.

Or he might be a member of the transport team.

The transport teams were protected by the transport guild.

In terms of energy, it is in no way inferior to the magic guild.