Seeing Fang Lin stem the decline and turn the tables, Tang Ruyu actually felt a small thrill of excitement.
If Fang Lin beat Su Baiye, Tang Ruyu might be able to recoup some of his losses… right?
The thought gave Tang Ruyu no confidence. Fang Boss was cruel and cold; even if he won, Tang Ruyu wouldn't get anything out of it.
For now, the situation was murky and uncertain. All he could do was watch and wait. Besides, there was nothing he could do anyway.
However, the next turn of events once again defied both of their expectations!
Whenever it was Su Baiye's turn to play first, he would choose to snap his own cards, playing a random one and leaving the outcome to luck.
During these rounds, Fang Lin could usually manage a draw, with only a small chance of losing. It seemed like he had stabilized the situation. Even if he lost, he wouldn't be attacked by the rag, so the loss wasn't significant.
But whenever it was Fang Lin's turn to play first, Su Baiye was guaranteed to win!
In other words, throughout the entire game, Fang Lin only had two options: ‘lose’ or ‘draw’. Any discerning eye could see that he was sliding step by step into the abyss of death!
A draw was merely a brief rest on his road to damnation.
Fang Lin had tried to struggle.
He used every trick up his sleeve, but nothing could stop Su Baiye's winning streak!
He had activated the Finger of Misfortune three times in a row, heedless of the cost.
A black aura swirled in his palm. After this game, he would suffer a negative effect of being plagued by misfortune for some time, an effect that not even death could erase.
But Fang Lin wasn't worried about his future, because if he lost here, he wouldn't have a future to speak of…
At that moment, after taking another hit from the scissors, Fang Lin spat out a mouthful of black blood.
Wang Luo's eyes lit up. His defense is broken!
Noticing his expression, Fang Lin shot Wang Luo a cold glance. In the past, he could have dealt with a rookie like this with a flick of his wrist. Even killing him secretly wouldn't be a big deal as long as word didn't get out.
Who would have thought he'd run into a freak like Su Baiye…
Fang Lin knew he had to fight for his life, but what drove him to despair was that no matter how hard he tried, it was all in vain.
It was as if death was always one step behind Su Baiye!
Fang Lin took out a potion, and his injuries began to slowly heal. At the same time, he replaced his Heart-Guarding Mirror with a new one.
Having exhausted all his means, the best Fang Lin could manage was a draw. For him, defeat was only a matter of time.
Fang Lin spoke slowly.
"Su Baiye, I'm certain of one thing now… Barring any surprises, I'm most likely going to die here today."
A bleak smile appeared on Fang Lin's face, radiating an unspeakable danger. His eyes were fixed on Su Baiye, his voice low as he snarled like a wounded beast.
Even through the barrier, Su Baiye could feel Fang Lin's resolve, which made him frown.
"The Dice of Gambling Madness has a bottom line."
Su Baiye shook his head and pointed at Tang Ruyu.
"Even when he lost everything, he was still left with 4 Points for Revival."
Tang Ruyu froze. What did this have to do with him?
When gods fight, please don't drag a small fry like me into it. I'm sitting at the kids' table with Wang Luo now. I'll never rob anyone again. From now on, I'll accumulate good karma and do a good deed every day!
Based on Su Baiye's experience, the compulsory games of the Dice of Gambling Madness had a bottom line, but not much of one.
Fang Lin's Dice of Gambling Madness was clearly more advanced. Su Baiye believed that a man like Fang Lin would definitely leave himself a sufficient escape route.
According to Tang Ruyu, Fang Lin still had a ‘Pass’ and a ‘Flame Stone’. He could leave at any time, so there was no need to risk his life.
Since he had a way out, where was this willingness to perish with his enemy coming from?
"Hah."
Fang Lin sneered in disdain.
"Don't compare me to trash like him."
Though insulted, Tang Ruyu couldn't help but nod. Right, right, that's what I mean! This has nothing to do with me, I'll just be leaving now…
"My Dice of Gambling Madness ensures that participants are left with at least 200 Points. With that amount, even if I had to retreat to Carriage No. 1, I could still make it out alive. But…"
Fang Lin paused, his tone shifting.
"I've now lost 2000 Points to you. In the next round, if you bet everything you have, I'll be forced to go all-in. If I lose, I'll only have 200 Points left! What good are 200 Points? I've robbed so many people. If I really end up in that state and word gets out, I can't even count how many people will be lining up to kick me while I'm down. I might as well be dead!"
Before Su Baiye could speak, Fang Lin shook his head and said,
"You have everything Tang Ruyu owns, right? That idiot, does he think I can use the Pass to run? Run my ass! Without Points, I'm dead no matter where I run! We haven't paid our weekly dues yet. If I can't pay them, I'm dead. If I sell my assets to pay the dues, I can't pay back my loans, and I'm still dead!"
Su Baiye listened quietly, not saying a word.
Fang Lin wasn't just speaking his mind. He was clearly laying the groundwork for something else…
Su Baiye had been talkative earlier to probe his opponent. Fang Lin was obviously not a talkative person; his words had a hidden purpose.
"Su Baiye!"
Fang Lin, like a cornered beast, switched from defense to offense and roared, "I have no way out now, so I don't need to choose. You're the one who needs to choose! I'm giving you only two choices!"
"One, you win these 2000 Points. In the next round, you can bet a maximum of 2000 Points. As for the wager, I will lose a Pass to you. Its value… I assume Tang Ruyu has told you about it?"
Hearing his name again, Tang Ruyu shrank back and hid behind Wang Luo, chanting in his heart, *You can't see me, you can't see me…*
Fang Lin's calculation was simple. The Pass belonged to the Service Group; he was merely holding it. If he were forced to use it here, the Pass would be destroyed, and he couldn't bear that responsibility!
As for leaving with the Flame Stone… Fang Lin's Dice of Gambling Madness had been specially upgraded to prevent people from using a Flame Stone to escape.
Tang Ruyu thought Fang Lin would have left himself an escape route. Fang Lin had originally done so, but once you're in the game, you're not your own master.
The big shot above Fang Lin had casually remarked, ‘Trash that loses to a newbie might as well just die.’
And just like that, Fang Lin's escape route was blocked.
Even among the dogs who served the powerful, there were hierarchies. Fang Boss, who preyed on newbies in the starting area, was clearly at the bottom rung.
In this line of work, Fang Lin was a mountain crushing the newbies, and his backer was a mountain crushing him.
That big shot didn't care if Fang Lin lived or died. If one Fang Boss died, a new ‘Zhou Boss’ or ‘Zhang Boss’ would take his place to do the dirty work.
The Lost Train never lacked for black gloves.
Fang Lin was throwing out the Pass as bait, setting a trap for Su Baiye.
If Su Baiye dared to take the Pass, it would be tantamount to stealing from the Service Group. As long as Fang Lin spent some Points to grease the right palms and played his cards right, he could have a Wanted Notice issued for Su Baiye on the grounds of ‘theft of a strategic item’!
Once the Wanted Notice was out, Su Baiye wouldn't be able to talk his way out of it, and Fang Lin certainly wouldn't give him a chance to reason!
At that point, Fang Lin could just bring people to the Even-Numbered Carriages to capture Su Baiye, and the Service Group's own brand of justice would take care of the rest!
However much Su Baiye had swallowed, he would have to spit it all back out! And then some!
The prerequisite was… Fang Lin had to leave with his remaining Points and assets. Only then would he have the capital to pull strings. With money, you can make things happen; without it, you're just a pawn.
If he could protect his Points and assets, Fang Lin still had a chance to live, even to turn the tables from this desperate situation. Otherwise, death was certain!
Fang Lin was sure his trap was well-hidden. Tang Ruyu couldn't possibly know the secret of the Pass, and a complete newbie like Su Baiye had no chance of knowing!
Faced with Fang Lin's proposal, Su Baiye's expression didn't change. He said flatly, "Quitting while you're ahead is something neither you nor I would do. If you have a way to threaten me, stop beating around the bush. Show your hand."
Fang Lin, who seemed to be at his wits' end and ready for a final, desperate struggle, had no way of defeating Su Baiye within the game.
In other words, any move Fang Lin could make that would truly threaten Su Baiye had to be outside the game!
Su Baiye's attitude was clear: lay all your cards on the table. Don't try to bluff with nothing.
Once your cards are out, we can talk.
If you have no cards, don't try to play this game of extreme pressure!
Su Baiye: *No one understands extreme pressure better than I do!*
Fang Lin didn't hesitate. He revealed his trump card.
"If you really insist on driving me to extinction… I'll tell you the Perfect Strategy for the Carriage No. 4 game!"
"Huh?"
Su Baiye was momentarily confused. He confirmed, "You mean, if I force you to your death, you'll give me a free strategy?"
What was this? A win-win? A double blessing?
"How vicious! You're actually trying to spoil it!"
Tang Ruyu couldn't watch any longer. He pushed Wang Luo aside and stepped forward.
"Su Baiye, that's a spoiler! You'll get on the Strategy Group's blacklist! He doesn't have the right to distribute the strategy. Once you've been spoiled, the Strategy Group will be after you!"
The Strategy Group was at the top of the food chain. In Tang Ruyu's mind, no Player could afford to provoke them.
"That's not right."
Su Baiye shook his head, disagreeing with Tang Ruyu.
"The Strategy Group must have some rules, right? Otherwise, I could just buy a strategy and spread it everywhere. Wouldn't everyone then owe the Strategy Group a huge debt? Why bother protecting intellectual property when you can just enslave all the Players?"
A strategy was too easy to spread. A few sentences could reveal the core, eliminating the crucial information gap.
Spoilers? Anyone could do it. All you need is a mouth!
Turning a strategy into actual practice might require skill—not everyone has it—but spoiling something? You really just need a mouth.
From that perspective, Fang Lin's threat didn't hold up, or rather, it was missing a key component.
Fang Lin didn't speak. He knew Tang Ruyu would explain it clearly, and in the current situation, Su Baiye obviously trusted Tang Ruyu more.
Besides, Tang Ruyu was a terrible actor. If he were lying, Su Baiye would see through it in an instant.
As Fang Lin expected, Tang Ruyu hurriedly explained, "For game strategies, the person who actively spoils is responsible for the fine. However, the person who is spoiled is not allowed to use the specific methods from the strategy. Once you use the strategy, you have to pay for it! And a so-called ‘Perfect Strategy’ is the most detailed one. Without using the techniques in it, you can't clear the stage at all. You'll be stuck in Carriage No. 4!"
From another angle, if there were other ways to clear the stage that weren't included in the ‘Perfect Strategy’, it would be a failure on the part of the Strategy Group.
That was the value of a Perfect Strategy.
At this moment, spoiling the Perfect Strategy had become Fang Lin's method of ‘mutual destruction’!
Only after Tang Ruyu finished explaining did Fang Lin speak again, unhurriedly.
"The Perfect Strategy for Carriage No. 4 is worth 10,000 Points. I can spoil it for you at any time, and there's no way you can stop me. I have a private chat channel. Even if you cover your ears, you'll still hear it! Once I reveal it, if you want to clear Carriage No. 4, you'll have to spend 10,000 Points to buy the strategy!"
Despite robbing so many newbies, Fang Lin had assets worth less than 10,000 Points. Aside from the weekly dues he had to pay, all his savings had gone into the down payment for this Perfect Strategy!
He had originally planned to wash his hands of this business, perfectly clear Carriage No. 4, and recoup his investment. Now, it seemed he had no future to speak of, so all it was good for was ‘spoiling’.
This strategy was Fang Lin's final insurance policy, his way of taking the enemy down with him!
Hearing Fang Lin's words, Wang Luo felt a chill run down his spine.
Once he spoiled it, it didn't matter if Su Baiye died or not; Fang Lin was definitely dead! For a 10,000-Point Perfect Strategy, the fine would start at 100,000 Points!
Wang Luo was flabbergasted. "You can play like that?"
Today was a real eye-opener. No wonder Tang Ruyu said the greatest power was intellectual property.
He never thought knowledge could become a bomb, or that spoiling could be a form of self-detonation…
Knowledge is power!
*Our battle of wits seems to have a different style from everyone else's…*
After understanding his opponent's logic, Su Baiye shook his head.
"But even if I agree to your terms, you could still spoil it at any time. You seem like the type to do something that hurts others even if it doesn't benefit you."
It was a bit too naive to talk about morals with someone who mugged newbies at the starting gate.
Fang Lin had anticipated this and explained patiently, "Spoiling comes with a sky-high fine. As long as you give me a way to live, I would never do something like that!"
Fang Lin would do something that hurt others for no personal gain. But if it was a matter of hurting the enemy for a thousand while losing ten thousand himself, he would never do it.
Self-interest was the most persuasive argument.
Seeing Su Baiye still thinking, Fang Lin continued to up the ante.
"I still have a lot of consumables on me, and I can use my remaining Points to pay back my loans at any time! In short, if I want to, I can minimize the loot you get and maximize your losses! I guarantee that everything combined won't be enough to cover 10,000 Points! You won't be able to afford the Perfect Strategy for Carriage No. 4. If I die, you go bankrupt with me!"
It was a simple math problem.
Either Su Baiye could quit while he was ahead, taking Tang Ruyu's assets, Fang Lin's 2000 Points, and a Pass, for a total gain of nearly 10,000 Points.
Or, Su Baiye could take everything Fang Lin had left, but be saddled with a 10,000-Point debt, wiping out his total assets or even putting him in the negative.
Fang Lin didn't say things like ‘let's bury the hatchet and go our separate ways.’ He knew Su Baiye wouldn't believe him.
But Fang Lin believed that as long as Su Baiye was a smart man, he would choose to make a deal!
No one would argue with Points!
Fang Lin had only one goal now: to leave this gamble with his liquid capital intact!
As long as he had capital, he had a chance to make a comeback.
The maximum loss Fang Lin could accept was 2000 Points and one Pass.
The 2000 Points were already gone. By giving the Pass to Su Baiye, Fang Lin would have the opportunity to frame him.
If this condition wasn't met, Fang Lin had no way to live.
Fang Lin saw the situation clearly. Su Baiye held the newbie's 1000 Points, Tang Ruyu's 3000 Points worth of assets, and the 2000 Points he was about to lose, for a total value of 6000 Points!
If Su Baiye won this round, he would definitely go all-in again in the next. If Fang Lin lost another 6000 Points… his remaining assets wouldn't be enough to grease the necessary palms.
As for loans, Fang Lin was already deep in debt with no credit left.
Besides, after constantly robbing newbies, his credit score had long since been depleted. He was in the lowest tier for loans, with the highest interest rates.
If Su Baiye won 8000 Points from him in two rounds, Fang Lin would be doomed beyond recovery!
Among everyone present, Tang Ruyu was actually the most relaxed. He had already been cleaned out, with nothing left to lose.
As for Wang Luo, emotionally, Fang Lin had robbed him of 800 Points, so he wanted to see Fang Lin suffer more than anyone.
But thinking a little more rationally, Wang Luo asked himself, if he were in Su Baiye's position… he would very likely choose to let Fang Lin go.
After all, fighting Fang Lin to the death was, in a sense, like killing him with his own hands… A normal person would still feel a psychological burden.
Points, games… it wasn't worth taking a real life, was it?
With the threat of the ‘spoiler’, it would be easier for Wang Luo to convince himself to compromise. If both sides took a step back, the possibilities would be endless.
As for what came after… if you can't beat them, you can avoid them, right? If he steered clear of Fang Lin, the man couldn't do anything to him…
No matter what the others thought, the final decision was still in Su Baiye's hands.
Su Baiye thought for a moment and proposed a counter-strategy.
"I could win everything, and after I leave, I could save up 10,000 Points, maybe even take out a loan, buy the rights to use the strategy, then clear the Carriage No. 4 game to make my money back and keep moving forward…"
Fang Lin shook his head. "Being spoiled will also get you on the Strategy Group's blacklist, so you can't get a loan. Even if you could, you wouldn't be able to afford the interest. And… for the Carriage No. 4 game, even with the Perfect Strategy, the expenses to clear it are not small, and the success rate is no more than 50%..."
A strategy is a strategy, but execution is execution. If Su Baiye went bankrupt paying the 10,000-Point fine, it would be a catastrophic start with no benefits whatsoever.
After pulling out the ‘spoiler’ self-destruct move, Fang Lin had blocked all of Su Baiye's paths.
Fang Lin believed that Su Baiye had only one option: ‘cooperation’!
Victory, in the end, still belongs to me, Fang Lin! The outcome isn't decided within the game. The Lost Train isn't just about fighting and killing!
Su Baiye pondered for a moment, then spoke slowly.
"Actually… there's a third option."
Fang Lin's heart sank. "What?"
He had a bad feeling.
Su Baiye's calm tone carried an inexplicable confidence, the kind that often comes from great power (or cheating):
"After I take everything from you, I'll clear Carriage No. 4 without the strategy."
Hearing this, Fang Lin's face changed. He threatened, "You'll die!"
"Maybe," Su Baiye said nonchalantly.
"We'll just have to see if death can catch up to me."