Forge a path to success

Mr. Lan immediately spoke up: "The ringleader of the violent conflict marched in formation for five minutes. Repeat offenders are detained for 1 to 10 days. The Divine Guard will enforce this."

Vande spread out his tentacles: "Well, the Divine Guard will deal with us first."

"Don't be so particular at a time like this!"

"That's precisely when we need to be careful. If we let the tourists run wild, what's the point of the Fifth Order's rules?" Vande was unusually serious. "If we break the rulers' rules, the first thing to suffer will be the Holy Grail itself, and that's a wound that's hard to heal. We've captured a demon, but at the cost of a Fifth Order captain's serious injury, is it worth it? Gutaf's arrogant behavior is, frankly, an attempt to provoke Harleroya into war. Even the local captain has held back; we can't be the first to ruin things."

"And we also need to pay attention to the environment," Chu Hengkong said. "Listen carefully."

The venue was a gathering place for demons, so naturally there were many demon guests. Unlike the frenzy in the concert area, the demons in the bar mostly appeared anxious.

"That entertainment guy has gone too far..." "He's determined to go against Jing Sha." "The master can protect him, but he won't protect us!" "If a fight breaks out, which side will we help?"

"Idiot! If a real fight breaks out, we'll die no matter which side we take!" "Jing Sha will never truly consider us his own people..."

Vande sighed: "The lower city is mostly filled with demons who are just waiting to die, and their biggest worry is their own safety. Once the Divine Guard starts a direct confrontation, the demons will inevitably panic. What will happen after this chaos ends..."

"It was an internal strife within the Fifth Meridian Demons, instigated by someone with ulterior motives," Chu Hengkong replied. "A common trick."

"So you're really playing cards?" Ji Huaisu rolled his eyes.

“Very well, that’s the second problem.” Van Der pointed out the key point: “Entertainment is determined to play the tortoise and not fight, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Those with rules can simply ignore you. What reason do you have to make it fight?”

"Because if it doesn't play cards with me, I'll beat it to death regardless of the rules."

"The arguments are somewhat weak," Mr. Gray commented.

"So what's the reason for this?" someone said. "It was going to be a duel anyway, but unfortunately the opponent turned out to be you."

The man was playing poker at the table with his back to everyone. He laid his hand out smoothly on the table: a flush of spades, 10, J, Q, K, A. The chips on the table automatically floated into his hand. It was a royal flush, the only hand in a five-card game that couldn't be beaten. Revealing this hand meant victory.

The man turned around and deliberately removed his top hat. He was dressed in a pure white tuxedo, his golden, tousled hair neatly styled, exuding gentlemanly charm.

"Good evening, everyone." A familiar smile appeared on that familiar face. "I am Burning Ambition, Arik Besen Kanin!"

The noisy bar fell silent in an instant. A chilling killing intent extinguished all sound, and Shadow Blade and God Slash crossed before Kanin's neck. Ji Huaisu donned her Blazing Armor, and Chu Hengkong's eyes turned blood red.

"So you've been resurrected, workshop master," Ji Huaisu said coldly.

Chu Hengkong narrowed his eyes: "It seems that the contractors' vitality is more tenacious than I imagined."

"What a warm opening! I never thought I'd be so popular." Kanin remained calm, lighting a cigarette through his longsword. "Do you two mind?"

“I don’t mind the actions of the dead,” Ji Huaisu said.

“You are very kind, Miss.” Kanin lit a cigarette with a flick of his finger. “May I ask your surnames? Although we get along very well and I have heard of your legendary stories, this is still our first meeting.”

"Playing dumb isn't like you at all!"

Ji Huaisu raised her shadow blade, taking it as a signal to begin the battle. Chu Hengkong, however, raised his hand to stop her. He carefully observed "Kanin," comparing her to the man in his memory. The person before him was taller, with slightly lighter blond hair. The style of her beautiful white dress was still the same, but the material seemed much more refined. But the difference wasn't just in appearance; it was something deeper…

Aura. He realized the key. This Kanin was too naive; he hadn't even used a double. The workshop master would never reveal himself so easily. The moment he appeared before him meant that all preparations were complete—the prelude to war.

“Arik F. Da. Besen,” Chu Hengkong said. “That’s the name you gave me earlier.”

“That’s the name of the last ambitious demon, the poor wretch to whom you tore a piece of flesh.” Kanin shook his finger. “But I am Arik Besen Kanin, a brand new face, a brand new me.”

It has taken on a new appearance, and therefore changed its name. The new ambitious demon is called Kanin.

Chu Hengkong lowered the Divine Slash, but did not sheath the blade: "Reason."

"The entertainment business is booming, but it's far too short-sighted. Its demise will create a temporary power vacuum in the lower city, perfect for me to grab a piece of the pie." Kanin took a satisfying drag on his cigarette. "Is that reason enough?"

"That's not enough. You still haven't said who you want to betray this time."

Kanin exhaled smoke and said, "I want to sit back and watch the two fight, and then be the fisherman. If you win, you can take over the entertainment territory; if the entertainment holds the ring this time, you can take back my fire."

“It’s still not enough,” Chu Hengkong said. “You’re asking for far too little; you’re far from being content.”

Kanin stubbed out his cigarette and burst into laughter.

"I want to discuss a big business deal with you." His eyes gleamed with childlike excitement. "This time, my helper doesn't want payment; he's bait to lure you in!"

Chu Hengkong sheathed the Divine Slash and nodded: "That's more like you."

"It was indeed a pleasant conversation with Detective Chu. I suppose we must have had a very good relationship in our past lives."

"I personally smashed you to ashes."

“That’s a life-or-death friendship.” Kanin jumped off the bar stool and walked to the table where everyone was drinking. “Let me introduce you to the underground city of the amusement park. This place is the second most notorious den of iniquity in the city-state of Thornsa, second only to the Upper House of Mansa Star Castle. The struggle between demons never ends. In the sea, this conflict is a bloodbath, but here it must be resolved with rules.”

He pointed to the noisy stage in the distance: "Entertainment has been clashing with another evil recently, and they will settle their differences tonight with an 'ultimate battle.' This game was naturally chosen by Entertainment; since it is more powerful, it will play by its own rules."

"An underground boxing match, huh? That seems quite fitting here." Vande glanced at him. "I wonder which mob boss is going against the entertainment industry?"

Kanin replied matter-of-factly, "Of course it's me."

"I knew it!"

"The duel is theoretically best two out of three, but in practice, it's whatever the entertainment calls it. The person who loses in a duel..." Kanin conjures a fighter card with a terrified boy on it, "...will turn into a card."

"Oh, what a classic scene!" Mr. Gray exclaimed. "Could the other side also possess a strange golden prosthetic eye that can see into people's hearts, and an evil soul inherited from the ancient past?!"

"Who knows? Anyway, their deck is really strong." Kanin put away his cards. "There are still ten minutes until the duel begins. Who should we send out for the first match?"

Speaking of the ultimate card battle, the best card skills belong to Guli Bo and Ji Huaisu. Guli Bo patted his chest and wanted to go on stage, but Ji Huaisu held him back.

“Card battles are very much about information advantage. Gulibo and I both use standard decks, so our opponents should know the effects of those decks,” Ji Huaisu said. “If we just put them in the game directly, we might get targeted.”

"I'll rely on my superb card skills here!"

"Your superb card skills are no match for a mere verbal sparring match," Ji Huaisu shook her head. "Besides, the opponent is a demon after all; it wouldn't be appropriate for Guli to play against him, so..."

"I'll play one game to test the waters first," Chu Hengkong said, standing up.

"Hey buddy, do you even know how to play cards?"

"We were just going to probe the bottom anyway, so it doesn't matter," Chu Hengkong said. "It's just a game."

Chapter 303 Enjoying It (6)

"Demon Lord!" "Entertainment Lord!!" "Encore! Encore!"

The audience waved their light sticks wildly, showering the stage with handfuls of green branches. Gutaf chuckled strangely; though fat and grotesque, he possessed a powerful baritone voice.

"A once-in-a-lifetime encounter, brimming with serendipitous encounters. The Demon Lords' concert is coming to an end, and the next show is about to begin!" Gutaf waved the microphone, "The monthly ultimate battle! Who dares to challenge the authority of the Entertainment Lord this time!"

A circular stage split open in the middle, and a bald man in a long robe—the Demon of Addiction—rose from the ground. His bald head was covered in black tattoos, and he made lewd gestures to the audience while beginning to rap.

"Someone wants to challenge the aura of the entertainment industry!"

But they don't yet know how powerful the Demon deck is!

Entertainment swayed its obese body in the back:

"Let our good friends hurt him a little."

Let's make tonight's atmosphere even more exhilarating!

Immersion and Entertainment high-fived, and a giant screen on the stage projected close-ups of their faces in real time, eliciting cheers from the audience. It was all a show, intentionally staged; even if the conflict were resolved through underground boxing matches and duels, the power struggles involving profit should be kept as secret as possible. Yet, both Immersion and Entertainment loved this kind of spectacle, where seriousness was dissolved, and the surface-level entertainment outweighed any deeper meaning. A refreshing emotional energy floated in the air—this was their most captivating environment, their perfect stage.

Entertainment cackled wickedly: "Where did you go? Where did you go! Where is the challenger? Get your trash up on stage and replace this shameful thing called Ambition!"

"—Let's begin."

A cluster of blue flames ignited opposite the stage, and the silver-armed man emerged from the flames. He somewhat clumsily equipped his Duel Disk and inserted it into his deck. Upon seeing that it was Chu Hengkong, who had blocked his path earlier, Entertainment immediately sneered.

"This time it's a greenhorn! A fool who doesn't even understand the situation!"

Three matches in total to provide you with plenty of talking points! Hope you bring more fun tonight!

Gutaf and the Indulgence Demon leaped back into the stands, their minions, the Tenacious Demon with a skull-like head and long braids, took their place. The Tenacious Demon was a tough, combative type; although it was a fantasy demon, it possessed combat power equivalent to a point mass of 4.

Both fighters drew their bone dueling disks, and a countdown of 3, 2, 1 flashed across the stage. "Duel!"

"I'll go first." Chu Hengkong drew a card first, "Summon Level 2, Longquan Township Martial Cultivator - Zhengxuan Talisman Master".

A valiant cultivator wielding a talisman appeared, his sword energy creating a howling wind within the dueling arena. Unlike ordinary card duels, the demons' game imbues the fighter cards with genuine power—the materialization ability of information possessed by the particles within the Floating Light Path.

“When the Zhengxuan Talisman Master is successfully summoned, any 'Dragon Spring Village Martial Arts Master' card can be added to your hand from your deck,” Chu Hengkong said. “I choose 'Dragon Spring Village Martial Arts Master - Chenjun Swordsman'.”

This is an ideal opening for the Wu Xiu deck. The Zhengxuan Rune Master has the effect of precisely searching for and destroying spell cards on the field, making it a very good lower-level fighter. However, Guli Bo in the audience frowned.

"I made a mistake. Adding Chenjun Swordsman to the hand card now won't do any good..."

One of Chenjun Swordsman's effects is that it can be Special Summoned when you only have this one card in your hand, but adding it to your hand now is obviously useless. After all, Chu Hengkong didn't study the deck much at all; he just bought a Longquanxiang competitive deck and played it straight into the game.

Vande shook his head: "I told you he didn't understand cards!"

"Ah Kong went first to scout out the opponent's deck, anyway, I didn't expect him to win..." Ji Huaisu gritted his teeth, "Look, it's starting!"

Just as Chu Hengkong finished summoning and was preparing to expand further, the Tenacious Demon coldly played a card. "Wait! At this moment, I activate the effect of 'Entertainment Demon - Bottle Holder' in my hand. This card can be Special Summoned from the hand when the opponent successfully summons a Fighter."

The tenacious demon played a card, and a chibi-style demon clutching a suspicious message in a bottle was chain-summoned. (Level 2, Attack 1000). The players in the audience suddenly exclaimed. "It's coming!" "That's what we've been waiting for!" "The demon is about to put on a show!"

The Bottle Keeper smashed the bottle in his hand. "Then I activate the Bottle Keeper's second effect: When this card is successfully summoned, you can send 3 random cards from your Deck to the Graveyard."

Three cards were sent to the graveyard in succession, and the tenacious demon flipped them over with a sinister grin. "Come on, let's see what cards we've sent this time..." There were two Spell cards, and... a Demon Fighter card!

"Very good. Among the cards I sent to the Graveyard is Entertainment Demon - Contractor. When this card is sent to the Graveyard by an effect, you can return this card and its remaining materials from the Graveyard to the Deck, and then Upgrade and Summon a Fighter that used this card as material!"

"Come forth, you entertainment demon - daydreamer!"

A half-human, half-demon phantom emerged from the graveyard area, creating a strange magic circle on the ground. The phantom gradually solidified, forming a mermaid fighter clad in blue leather. Her level is 4, and her attack power is 3200!

"If this card is Special Summoned, you can send 1 card from your opponent's field back to their deck." The Tenacious Demon pointed at the Mystic Runemaster, "Say goodbye to your Fighter cards!"

Chu Hengkong's Fighter card was swept back into the deck by the transparent wave, and at the same time, his opponent suddenly had another face-down card on the field!

"Also, I sent a 'Demon's Laughter' to the graveyard earlier. This card can be set to face on your field when it's sent to the graveyard, and because of this effect, your opponent cannot Special Summon it this turn." The Tenacious Demon chuckled. "That's enough for now... Come on, let's continue, it's still your turn!"

Chu Hengkong almost burst out laughing.

continue?

What's the point of continuing this?

From start to finish, he only summoned one Fighter card, while his opponent immediately played a powerful terminal card, a lower-level card, and a face-down card... Judging from the implication of the tenacious demon, this was not even the optimal board position, and at the same time, Chu Hengkong's board was already empty! And this was before it was even the opponent's turn!

How can we even play like this? There's no room for maneuver left!

Even with Chu Heng's vast experience and knowledge, he couldn't help but shake his head. Excited shouts filled the air. "This is what we've been waiting for!" "The Demon Lord is too strong!" "Your turn or my turn!"

"No, I don't think this is a matter of card skills," Vande said, his eyes wide. "What kind of lousy cards are these?!"

Even Gulibo's expression turned serious: "A fast-expansion deck that uses graveyard dumping as a resource management method... that's a very difficult deck to deal with..."

"The only way to counter this is to include cards that permanently banish enemies, but I don't have that effect in my deck." Ji Huaisu frowned. "What about you, Gulibo?"

“My Rotten Wood Warrior can banish cards from the graveyard, but that’s a Level 6 Fighter, which can’t usually be played properly.” Gulibo started to get anxious. “To be honest, there’s never been a deck like this before, and it’s hard to find counter cards in the current environment!”

Even the experienced card players were at a loss for what to do, and Chu Hengkong himself was completely stumped. After much thought, he had no choice but to place three cards face down: "End of round."

"Heh, but this level is nothing." The tenacious demon sneered. "My turn! I usually summon 'Entertainment Demon - Multi-Eyed Monster' and then enter the battle phase."

多眼怪的等级是2，攻击力也有1000点。加上3200点的空想沉迷者与1000点的怀瓶者，此刻能造成的伤害已经远远超出4000点了！

"The multi-eyed monster and the bottle-holder launch a direct attack!"

Two demons roared and charged forward, delivering a heavy blow to Chu Hengkong with their claws—damage that directly affected his ghostly body. Chu Hengkong's life points decreased by 1000-1000, becoming 2000. He immediately raised his hand and activated a face-down card: "Activate Strategic Spell, Ghostly Pardon. This can be activated when I take damage, turning one of my opponent's monsters face-down—"

"Don't even think about activating the effect of Multi-Eyed Monster. Once per turn, if you control two or more 'Gutaf' Fighters, you can send this card to the Graveyard to negate the activation of your opponent's Spell Cards."

Gulibo cried out in alarm, "How could this be! There's also his subordinate Kangbo!"

The multi-eyed monster returned to the graveyard, and the tenacious demon once again commanded: "That's it. Daydreamers, attack directly!"

Seeing that 3200 points of damage was about to hit, Chu Hengkong opened his second face-down card: "Strategic Spell, Ancient City Wall of Longquan Township. Discard one card to reduce the damage of a battle by half."

The phantom of the ancient city wall appeared, blocking half of the attack for Chu Hengkong. His health points were now only a pitiful 400, while the Tenacious Demon was still at full strength.

"You really know how to struggle, huh? I never thought that the minions of ambition would only have this much strength." The tenacious demon sneered. "Just sit there and quietly savor your despair, you little brat who's about to become a card... I activate the second effect of the daydreamer: Skip your opponent's draw phase the next turn after this card's battle."

"Set one more card over the wall, and the turn ends."

At the end of the turn, the Multi-Eyed Monster, which had been sent to the graveyard, returned to the field due to the effect of another card, and its attack power was increased to 2000. Now it was finally Chu Hengkong's turn, but he couldn't even draw a card... All he had left in his hand was the Chenjun Swordsman he had drawn at the beginning.

There was indeed no need for a fight now, and they had information about the opponent's deck. Admittedly, card games weren't his forte. He'd leave the rest to Gulibo and Huaisu; he'd just sacrifice himself here to see what this so-called "turning into a card" technique was all about…

The assassin unconsciously narrowed his eyes.

"Good!" "Kill him like that!" "Long live the Demon Lord!" "Hurry up and go down to watch the next match." The audience below the stage was still shouting, their eyes clouded with entertainment. The demons' mocking laughter. The loud music in the arena. The swaying spotlights. Vand was yelling that they should forfeit first to avoid falling into a trap.

After all, the opponent is also a delusional being of mass 5; the proper course of action now is to gather intelligence and then surrender. Surrender…

lose……