Something's wrong with how I'm watching anime.

"Looks like we've been discovered."

"How so?" Cerberus asked.

"While he was talking, he put a few extra cards in the deck."

"His technique is very fast; he's clearly been specially trained. He must be a 'golden touch' that the casino keeps on hand."

By simply slipping a few smaller cards into the remaining deck, the advantage will shift back to the dealer. It also disrupts the card-counting process.

Although the man's technique was swift and discreet, it couldn't escape Kazama's eyes now.

As expected, Kazama lost this round.

Kazama took a deep breath and feigned a dejected expression:

"Looks like my luck has run out for today..."

"Winning and losing is normal," the man dealing the cards said with a smile. "Mr. Yu, would you like to continue?"

"Never mind." Kazama shook his head and stood up.

"Your show is about to start, right? It's almost time now."

Hearing Kazama say "never mind," the man breathed a sigh of relief. After hearing Kazama mention "the show" again, the man paused, but then smiled.

"Mr. Yu, are you here to watch the 'show'?"

"I heard that your 'programs' are quite good. I happen to like this kind of thing, so I came to check it out."

"Just playing cards casually."

"I see..."

Kazama gathered his chips, got up, and left the card table.

Before leaving, he glanced up at the surveillance camera mounted on the wall not far away.

"They found it so quickly, it seems there are some capable people here..." Kazama muttered to himself.

Kazama wasn't using too many chips, and the game hadn't even reached the next round yet. He originally estimated that he wouldn't be discovered even if he played a little longer.

“However, it’s about time,” Kazama said.

"After all, we're not really here to play cards."

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Incident

Behind the surveillance cameras, in a hidden room somewhere in the casino.

The monitoring room is located here.

In front of the control panel, all of the dozen or so screens were lit up, displaying the scene being monitored.

Behind the console, a bald, muscular man stood staring at a screen in front of him.

The screen shows a blackjack table.

"That guy's gone," the bald, muscular man said.

He watched as the middle-aged man, played by Kazama, left the gambling table.

At the same time, the bald man received another phone call.

"Third Master Xiao..."

It was that substitute player, the one the casino hired as a "golden touch," who made the call.

Listening to the other person's words on the phone, Xiao San nodded: "Old Chen, I saw it all. You did a great job. Thank you for your hard work."

After hanging up the phone, Xiao San turned around and said to the man sitting on the sofa behind him, legs crossed:

"Brother Jie, you were right after all, that guy really is up to something."

"Ah."

The man, known as Brother Jie, with a cold expression, nodded slightly, seemingly without the slightest surprise.

Despite the man's cold demeanor—the owner of the underground casino, a prominent figure in the area—Xiao San remained unfazed and instead spoke with a hint of obsequiousness:

"As expected of Brother Jie. By the way, how did you find out, Brother Jie? If you hadn't reminded me, I would have thought that fat pig just got lucky and was on a winning streak."

"Actually... I was just guessing." Chen Jie put down his crossed legs, leaned forward, and placed his hands on his knees.

"Because I don't believe in the kind of luck that allows you to keep winning."

"Moreover, it's a game like blackjack. I heard from a friend that card-counting experts used to frequent the big casinos in Oakfield and Vislaga."

Jie paused:

"However, since you sent someone to give a warning, that person should know what's going on."

"Unlike those guys who like to cheat and are greedy, those who play card counting are basically smart people who know their limits."

“I know…” Xiao San echoed, “I’m the kind of person who always tries to be polite first and then resort to force. As long as that guy realizes the danger and stops in time, I won’t do anything to him.”

The main point is that 'card counting' is a skill-based gameplay within the rules, rather than directly breaking the rules like cheating. If you follow the rules, it's really not easy to do something to someone in person; you can only do it secretly.

Of course, if you get caught cheating...

According to the rules, then there's a lot to say.

Just then, Xiao San's phone rang. He answered it, and a voice came through the phone.

"Third Master, we've already sent people to investigate. The man's name is Yu Bie, and he was introduced by Liu Weiguang."

"Liu Weiguang? That idiot really knows how to cause me trouble."

Xiao San hung up the phone cursing, then smiled at Chen Jie and explained:

"Liu Weiguang is my supplier, the head of a rescue station. My dog ​​farm usually gets its supplies from there."

"The dog I showed you last time, Brother Jie, was sourced from him."

Chen Jie's expression remained unchanged during the first part of Xiao San's speech, until Xiao San mentioned the dog, at which point Chen Jie's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Chen Jie had a particularly deep impression of the dog that Xiao San mentioned.

He watched with disdain as the unassuming dachshund killed a large dog twice its size.

Inside the cage, the larger, more dominant dog lay trembling on the ground, tail between its legs, whimpering, seemingly submitting to the dachshund in front of it.

The dachshund remained unmoved, slowly approaching the large dog that dared not move, and leisurely extended its paw, pressing it into the eye socket of the dog in front of it, killing it.

That appearance reminded Chen Jie of a demon in a movie, elegantly devouring his prey with a knife and fork.

After killing its own kind in front of it, the dachshund seemed to sense the gaze of the humans nearby.

He slowly turned his head to look at Xiao San and Chen Jie.

At that moment, Xiao San was beaming with excitement, as if he were showing off his treasure to Chen Jie, and said:

"I got this dog by accident. I originally thought it was just an ordinary stray dog, and I wanted to use it to train the fighting spirit of my fighting dogs."

"But when I put this dog in the cage, my original pet, a large fighting dog, was trembling in front of it and didn't dare to come up and bite it at all. Then this dog killed it in the way you just saw."

"A divine dog..."

Xiao San stared intently at the caged dog.

"Moreover, it won't eat regular dog food; it only eats the meat of the prey it kills, the meat of its own kind."

"This must be the fiercest fighting dog in the world."

Chen Jie didn't listen to what Xiao San said.

Because he felt the dog was staring at him.

Those black eyes, devoid of any color, were scrutinizing themselves.

That's right, it's about scrutiny.

I don't know if it's just my imagination, but the way this dog looked at him was like a hunter scrutinizing its prey.

Chen Jie had an inexplicable urge, the kind of reaction he had when encountering bad things or crises, to directly nip the source of this sense of crisis in the bud.

But in the end, Chen Jie held back.

First, he knew that dog fighting had always been Xiao San's favorite pastime, and he had even started a show for it.

This show is quite famous in the area, and it has attracted a lot of people to Xiao San's casino.

I'm still in a situation where I need Xiao San's help, so there's no way I would kill Xiao San's current 'treasure'.

Secondly, after that strange impulse, Chen Jie began to doubt his previous feelings.

Just kidding... you're afraid of a dog?

Gather your memories and return to the present.

Chen Jie shook his head.

After that, he never went to Xiao San's dog farm behind the casino again.

The dog bothered him a little, but so what?

Anyway, he'll be leaving here soon.

Thinking of this, Chen Jie asked Xiao San:

How are the preparations going?

"It's all ready, someone will deliver it shortly."

"Very good." Chen Jie nodded in satisfaction.

I'll be leaving here tonight.

"Tonight? So soon? I even booked a table at Shengxianglou for you to try, Brother Jie."

I appreciate your kindness.

Chen Jie stood up.

"However, Master Jin is still waiting for me to go back and report..."

Upon hearing Chen Jie mention 'Master Jin', Xiao San immediately shut his mouth and stopped uttering any unnecessary words.