National destiny: Starting with a coffin, building an aircraft carrier is broadcast live globally.

He continued flipping through the pages, which looked like potato chips.

"...I remember that young man."

"When he came, he didn't even have a coat to cover himself, but his eyes were full of ambition... He told me that he wanted to buy the whole town and gain everyone's respect."

The middle part was violently torn off, leaving only jagged stubs.

And on the last page it says:

"...He did it, they all did it."

Ivan scratched his head in confusion. "Isn't Anna a chubby little girl?"

Anna in the diary is so sick she can't eat, so she couldn't possibly be overweight, but in some ways—

For example, hairstyles.

Yet it seems to make sense.

The live stream chat in various countries also started scrolling with analysis:

[This is really weird. Everyone in the diary was sick, disabled, and poor; now they're all well-off and wealthy.]

[Yes, yes, the town looks completely different from what it used to be!]

[I see... This is like giving Golden Anchor Town a max-level beauty filter!]

[Be serious! According to that comment in the log, the price for taking away 'pain' is the soul, right?]

[...But these townspeople seem just like real people, and they're very independent...]

Things might be a little more complicated than they thought.

"If 'He did it' means that Willie successfully bought the town, then what about them?"

"May everyone's troubles disappear."

Anyone who takes up Klaus's words at the cost of their soul, and the source and agent of the deal is Mayor Willy.

He raised his left hand and examined the emerald ring on his middle finger.

He originally thought this matter was inextricably linked to Naya, but given the behavior of that "Little Nine's relative" from last time, he probably wouldn't let these townspeople live carefree lives like this.

So could it be someone else?

"Who cares how he succeeded? All I know is that if that fat guy dares to make things difficult for us, I'll teach him a lesson in 'pain'."

As he spoke, he rubbed his greasy right hand on the fabric sofa.

Klaus's eye twitched as he forced himself to look away—

It's not ours... It's not ours...

"I knew it!"

Nathan stroked his chin:

"I noticed it the first time I saw him; the mayor has absolutely no background. Aside from gold, he has no other adornments—"

"Da da da..."

"Thump, thump, thump."

His words were interrupted by a rhythmic knocking on the door as footsteps approached.

Just by listening to that affected, pretentious commotion, you can tell it's Willy.

As if on cue, Nathan shut his mouth, speechless. He straightened his tie, walked over, and opened the door.

"Everyone... um, strangers, did you sleep well last night?"

As Vili stepped into the room, he unconsciously glanced around furtively.

Seeing the table full of leftover food, his eyelids twitched... This was all his money!

Even though it was free, it was still his money!

"Thanks to you, the bed is quite soft, but I keep hearing people screaming for help at night."

Renyi had put away the priest's diary at some point, and now there was a box full of chips on the coffee table.

Vili chuckled twice, rubbing his thick hands together.

"Those are... gamblers with no self-control, even in paradise they make mistakes. As long as you follow the rules, Golden Anchor Town is the happiest place in the world."

He waved for the waiter to put the tray down—

Freshly baked bread and black tea.

"This is my prized black tea... Also, to apologize for my rudeness yesterday..."

Vili bent down, his gold teeth gleaming greedily in the morning light.

"I've prepared a 'special' game that ordinary people aren't allowed to enter; that's where the real high-stakes gambling takes place."

"So, folks, how about it? Want to try your luck and gamble on immortality in this town?"

"eternal life?"

Nathan was very unhappy about keeping his words to himself.

He walked halfway around Vili. "Mayor, it seems your immortality doesn't include body management or personal taste?"

Willy's face twitched, and he almost lost his smile, so he looked away at the person who remained seated on the sofa without moving.

"Mr. Renyi, what do you think?"

He casually picked up the box, saying, "I have no interest in immortality."

"However... if the mayor is willing to give up your 'special' position, I'd be happy to oblige."

Hmph, greedy outsiders!

However... this suits me perfectly.

A glint flashed in Vili's eyes. He stepped aside, gestured "please," and personally led the way.

They walked through the noisy hall and pushed open an inconspicuous side door. There were no windows in the wall, but the firelight illuminated the inside.

Inside the door lies another world.

This place is much smaller than the outer hall. The air no longer smells of cheap cigars, but rather expensive incense. The huge room has only one oddly shaped table in the middle.

Or rather...

It is a sophisticated work of mechanical art:

It was a square gold table with sides approximately six meters long.

On the table is a large, slowly rotating disc, divided into several small squares by small pillars. Each square contains a different number of gold coins, and the center of the disc is hollow.

The disc has several narrow tracks along its edge, and at each of the four corners of the table, there appears to be a launcher with a knob.

Welcome to the Roulette of Fortune.

Vili proudly spread his arms wide.

He pointed to the table: "See those gold coins? Use your chips to buy 'Touch of Fate' and launch it from the launch pad. As long as you can knock the gold coins in the squares down and make them fall through the middle, those falling gold coins... are yours."

Peeking out at random, one sees the so-called "Touch of Fate"...

It's actually a kind of translucent blue glass disc that's thicker and heavier than a chip.

"..."

The group stared at each other in silence for several seconds.

"This is just pushing coins..." Ivan couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"Don't talk nonsense."

Nathan tried to be serious, but ultimately couldn't suppress a smile. "Didn't it also incorporate pinball? That's a childhood classic!"

Willie didn't know what coin pushing was, let alone classic pinball...

But he detected the contempt in it—

"This is destiny! It's destiny!" he drawled, his voice filled with unprecedented fervor.

"Okay."

Ren Yi chuckled lightly, signaling Nathan to tone it down and not to break the mayor's guard.

"Let's begin then."

He tossed the box onto the table. "Replace all of these with pinballs... uh, Touch of Fate."