"Good evening, sir. Welcome to Rain Dinners. How many chips would you like to exchange?"
The waiter's smile was flawless, his tone humble, but those eyes, sharpened by years of studying rich men, had already scanned Kael from head to toe.
This outfit. This expression. Heh heh heh…
The waiter's heart exploded with joy.
Kael looked like a country bumpkin seeing a big city for the first time. He craned his neck, gawking around, then slowly dug into his clothes and pulled out a wrinkled bill.
One hundred thousand beri.
The waiter's smile froze for the briefest moment. His eyelid twitched.
That's it?
He thought he'd caught some young master from a big house. Turns out it was a broke clown puffing his cheeks to look fat.
Disdain curled in his gut, but professionalism snapped his face right back into place.
"Of course, sir. One hundred thousand beri. Please wait a moment."
To the faint snickers around them, the waiter kept his expression smooth as he handed Kael a tiny pile of chips and guided him to the most ordinary table.
"Sir, this is our most popular game, Desert Flower. The rules are very simple…"
A sexy female dealer swayed her hips as she spoke, voice syrupy sweet, explaining the play.
Each side drew three cards, placed bets, then revealed and compared.
Kael nodded along, wearing a look of sudden enlightenment.
So it's just three card brag, isn't it?
Back in the day, Chan Daozai turned twenty dollars into thirty seven million.
Me, Kael, turning one hundred thousand into 4.9 billion beri should be easy.
A tiny curve lifted at the corner of his mouth as he slid a small stack of chips forward.
First round, Kael won.
Second round, Kael won again.
Third round, Kael still won.
Three rounds in, his chips had doubled.
Right on cue, an excited flush rose on Kael's face. He breathed heavier, eyes shining as he stared at the table, the perfect picture of a gambler who'd just tasted sweetness for the first time.
"Yes! Good! I won again!"
He growled in excitement, not too loud, not too quiet, just enough for the people nearby to hear.
At the neighboring table, a few old casino rats glanced over, lips curling with quiet amusement.
Another one.
Everyone who falls into this bottomless pit starts off believing Lady Luck will stand by their side forever.
Even when nine out of ten bets lose and their whole fortune evaporates, they still cling to the delusion.
Next hand. Next hand I'll win it all back.
Even if they're filthy rich, it won't take long before they lose their last pair of underwear.
The dealer's eyes brightened. She swayed closer and tossed Kael a flirtatious look, sliding him three new cards, her voice turning even sweeter.
"Sir, your luck is incredible. Looks like the God of Wealth has decided to cling to you tonight and won't leave."
That kind of perfectly timed flattery was exactly what sent gamblers flying.
"Of course!" Kael puffed up, floating on the praise. He waved a hand grandly and shouted to a waiter not far away.
"Go! Exchange me three million more in chips. Tonight, I'm taking this whole casino!"
The waiter's eyes lit up like fireworks.
There it is. This is what a real fat sheep looks like.
He practically jogged over, respectfully taking the gold card Kael handed him, while subtly flicking a signal to a coworker.
Quick, bring this VIP to the Deep Sea table. Tell the Shredder to get ready to start the grinder.
Soon, a man who looked like a manager approached with a face full of smiles and personally escorted Kael upstairs to a quieter, more luxurious private room on the second floor.
This was the Deep Sea table.
Built to entertain the big spenders, and built to slaughter arrogant "fat sheep" who didn't know the sky from the sea.
Across the table sat a man already waiting.
He was thin and wiry, plain faced, but his eyes were sharp as a hawk's, carrying the coldness of someone who had soaked for years in calculations and gambles.
One of Rain Dinners' ace gamblers.
His nickname was Shredder.
The number of merchants and nobles he had bankrupted under his hands wasn't eighty or ninety. It was countless.
When Kael entered, he simply nodded in greeting, his gaze calm and emotionless.
To him, this was just another piece of prey waiting to be crushed.
A new game began.
Fifth round.
Kael's chips doubled again.
Shredder snorted inwardly, expression unchanged.
Tch. Beginner protection. His luck will run out soon.
Seventh round.
Kael's chips had piled into a small mountain.
The calm on Shredder's face disappeared. He watched Kael in silence, his gaze sharpening.
Interesting.
Ninth round.
Kael's chips had already surpassed thirty million beri.
Shredder exhaled slowly, cracking his knuckles with a sharp pop.
He still didn't speak, but the air in the room had begun to thicken.
Just a little wind and dust. Still under control.
Eleventh round.
Kael's chips broke fifty million.
A vein pulsed at Shredder's temple.
He could not help glancing at the sexy dealer beside him, eyes carrying a question.
The dealer's hands were still smooth as flowing water, but a thin layer of sweat had formed at her forehead.
She returned a glance so subtle it was almost invisible.
Everything's normal.
He's panicking. He's panicking.
Thirteenth round.
"Call."
Kael lazily pushed every chip in front of him onto the table.
That mountain of colorful chips glittered under the lights with a seductive glow.
Two hundred million beri.
Shredder's face finally collapsed.
Sweat ran down his cheeks, soaking his collar.
The chips in front of him weren't even a fraction of Kael's.
Even if he sold himself, he couldn't cover a debt like that.
The waiters and guards around them were stunned stupid.
How was this possible?
Since the day Shredder made his name, he had never been beaten this badly.
Was this gaudy dressed idiot kid actually possessed by the God of Gambling?
"What? Out of money?" Kael tilted his head with an innocent expression. "If you ain't got money, why the hell are you playing?"
Shredder stared at Kael, chest heaving.
He had lost, but he couldn't admit it.
This was Crocodile's territory. If he lost this much money, his only ending was being turned into jerky.
Suddenly, as if something clicked in his head, the despair in his eyes vanished, replaced by a cold, all in madness.
Next hand… it's impossible to lose.
He sprang to his feet, slamming the last of his chips down, along with a casino IOU, hard enough to shake the table.
"This hand, I'm all in!" His voice was hoarse, sharp with the ruthlessness of a man breaking his own road behind him.
The dealer's body trembled almost imperceptibly.
Shredder was going to use the final method.
Kael's stupid grin widened. He clapped his hands like a child.
"Sure, sure! I'm in!"
The dealer took a deep breath and began the most important deal of her entire career.
Her fingertips slid lightly across the back of the cards, using a technique no outsider could possibly notice, and delivered three specific cards cleanly into Shredder's hand.
The cards were dealt.
Shredder's fingers shook as he lifted the corner of his first card.
Ace of Spades.
He lifted the second.
Ace of Hearts.
He ripped open the third.
Ace of Diamonds.
Three aces. The biggest hand in this deck.
He won. He won for sure.
Ecstasy rushed into his skull. The muscles on Shredder's face twisted into something vicious, then settled into a cruel, triumphant grin.
He raised his head to look at Kael, eyes like he was staring at a corpse.
But Kael didn't even look at his own cards.
He lounged back lazily, golden pupils reflecting Shredder's warped, ecstatic face.
A faint red glint flashed across Kael's eyes and vanished.
He looked at him and spoke gently, his voice clear enough to fill the whole room.
"Your future has no winning line."