Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 707 - : An Unfair Game

Chapter 707 -707: An Unfair Game

“Let’s raise the stakes,” the old man proposed, “Flawed karmic sin cannot be used as chips, with each minimum initial bet being 1 koku of ordinary karmic sin, and each draw requiring an increased bet. The winner takes all, while the loser loses the chips they have bet.”

This implied that both winning too much and losing too much could lead to a bad outcome.

After speaking, the old man swept his hand over the table, and a set of Roder Cards appeared. Shard and Mr. Benhart also brought out their own cards. Noticing that Sister Delphine was unprepared, Shard slid his spare cards across the table to her, and the nun thanked him softly.

“The most common rules, where each round the drawn cards can be reshuffled back into the deck. I acknowledge those special rule cards, as they make the game more interesting. But here, I also have special cards left by outsiders from the past.”

The old man said, then fished out a rusty black iron mini-statue from under the table and placed it on the surface.

Representing the Desecration Spirit, it almost forced the three players to avert their eyes immediately. Even Shard was reluctant to look directly at the statue for long; it was undoubtedly a statue of the Evil God, depicting a chubby man with raised arms clenched into fists.

“My initial bet is this statue of the God of Bygone Days—the Bringer of Misfortune, ‘Father of Slumber,’ which contains 3 koku of the treasure ‘Sloth.’ This great one governs slumber, idleness, laziness, misfortune, and poverty. If any of you wins these 3 koku of ‘Sloth,’ it can be counted as 30 koku of perfect karmic sin.”

He slightly pushed forward the statue of the Evil God:

“This building has housed too much karmic sin, but treasure-level karmic sins are not something an ordinary body can hold. A divine statue of the Old God is the best container. May the Gods of Sin bless me, I think this game will be very interesting.”

As he spoke, he drew his first card.

Mr. Armand Bernhardt immediately drew a card as well:

“My initial bet is 1 koku of ordinary ‘Bloodlust,’ and I stand.”

He didn’t even look at his hole card, signifying that he was giving up this round. After all, as a Vampire Kind, all he needed was perfect-level sin, and winning this round would actually be bad for him.

Sister Delphine hesitated:

“Initial bet of 1 koku of ordinary ‘Greed.’

She didn’t stand.

Shard, on the other hand, considered that losing the game was also a good opportunity to reduce his sins, so he drew a card and then placed a bet:

“1.1 koku of perfect ‘Sloth.’

This was him putting up the sin he had been forced to acquire in the Sin Mansion.

He glanced at his own hole card, flower 6, an ordinary card.

“Now, starting the second round. This is a Divine Emblem of the God of Bygone Days, ‘Father of Slumber,’ containing 1 koku of the treasure ‘Sloth.'”

The mansion’s owner took out another black iron pendant and put it on the table, then drew his second card.

Shard looked towards Sister Delphine, who shook her head slightly at him:

“1 koku of ordinary ‘Sloth,’ I stand,” she said.

Sister Delphine also gave up this round, continuing was too risky for her to handle even 4 koku of ‘Sloth.’

“This method of betting is not fair to us,” said Shard.

However, the decrepit old man just covered his second card. According to the rules, each round of card showing was supposed to be done together by everyone; thus, he did not immediately show Shard the content of his second card.

Shard also drew his second card:

“Raising the bet by 0.1 koku of perfect ‘Sloth.’

This brought out all the ‘Sloth’ he had obtained here. Shard’s second card was the Flower 9 from ‘Legend of the Hero: Bard Fletcher.’ Because the previous card was an even flower suit, the special card rules applied, and the number 9 could adjust between 9 and 10.

He added all his special cards to the deck. Although doing so would let the Vampire Kind Benhart know who he really was, it was still better than losing the game. After all, Shard also knew Benhart’s true identity.

“My second card is the Moon 2 ‘Steam Mechanized Ship: The Roaring Blue Lyon.’

The mansion’s owner showed Shard the card, his grin revealing his yellowed teeth:

“The rule is, when ‘Steam Mechanized Ship: The Roaring Blue Lyon’ and ‘Steam Mechanized Ship: The Silent Red Yorker’ are drawn consecutively, the total points for the round default to 21 points.”

He then revealed his hole card to Shard:

“Look, my hole card is the Sun 2, ‘Steam Mechanized Ship: The Silent Red Yorker.’

He stacked the two cards and clasped his hands over them on the table:

“So, will you continue to draw cards?”

Shard’s mouth twitched, for he did not remember the opponent shuffling the cards before playing. Moreover, even if he had shuffled, Shard was quite certain that the opponent had definitely cheated.

“Why not just good luck?” she asked teasingly next to Shard’s ear.

“Looking at his face, it seems like he’s deliberately provoking me.”

Shard was indeed annoyed but soon realized it was the mansion’s power influencing him, making him more irrational:

“Fine, since he’s playing the cards this way, don’t blame me then.”

[Are you planning to plant a card on your opponent again?]

“She” asked with a smile.

“No, that’s too low-level.”

Shard also flipped over his two cards:

“The first card, Flower 6, the second card, Flower 9, totaling 15 points. I’ll raise the bet, one quarter-mark of ordinary [Lies].”

He removed his mask, and Mr. Benhart beside him watched in surprise, not understanding how this person could suddenly reveal his identity while playing.

“The third card…”

Shard placed his hand on his deck, narrowed his eyes slightly in concentration, and then violently drew the topmost card, tossing it onto the table while announcing the card’s content:

“Flower 7,[Genesis: Balance].”

This was utilizing his control over the [Impermanence Card], allowing him to directly draw the card he desired. Currently, Shard could only do this with [Genesis: Balance], [Genesis: Darkness], and[Southern Carsonrick Folklore: Moon Dance Festival].

He was a fair man, so even among the Big City Players, he hadn’t used this ability. But since the opponent had resorted to tricks first, Shard didn’t plan to play the game seriously with him anymore.

Mr. Benhart looked at the cards on the table, his eyes widening in astonishment. As someone who carried a Roder Card with him, he certainly knew the Genesis series and even more that the [Genesis: Balance] should be in someone else’s possession:

“You are…”

“Let’s leave identity matters for later. Look, I’m at 22 points, bust. But the rule of [Genesis: Balance] is, after busting, discard all cards and redraw.”

Shard discarded his three cards:

“Raising the bet by one quarter-mark of ordinary [Lies].”

His eyes were firmly fixed on the old man at the other end of the long table, his hands again covering his deck:

“You might think I’m cheating, but in fact, I have been blessed by the God of Bygone Days[The Restless Black Hunter], yes, the God of Gambling.

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Therefore, every draw I make is predestined.”

He drew a new hole card but did not hide it; instead, he held it upright, obstructing his left eye with it. His right eye narrowed slightly, filled with anger and resolve:

“Star 11[Genesis: Darkness], when this card is drawn, if it is the first hole card, win immediately regardless of any rules and conditions. The priority of this card’s victory is higher than any other rule, and after redrawing, it indeed is the first hole card. Sorry, this time, I win.”

Mr. Benhart’s face revealed a smile that he forcibly suppressed, and even Sister Delphine gave Shard a slight smile.

The master of the mansion was clearly stunned, and it took a long while before he softly exclaimed:

“Impressive combination, truly an impressive combination. So it is, the rules of Roder Cards can actually produce such a wonderful synergy. I initially thought two [Steam Mechanized Ships] were potent enough.”

“So, you admit that I won?”

“Of course, I admit it, yes, you’ve won 4 quarter-marks worth of the [Sloth], and you may leave with the golden pearl earrings. But what you’ve won only encompasses [Sloth] itself; the divine statue and Holy Emblem as containers still belong to the mansion. Thus, you need to absorb the Karmic Sin before you can leave.”

The statues behind him stirred and brought the Divine Statue and Holy Emblem to Shard’s side.

The proximity to the Power of the Evil God even made Mr. Benhart somewhat uncomfortable. Shard didn’t want to harm others because of his own reasons, so after getting permission, he changed his seat to face directly across from the mansion’s master.

Contacting a Divine Statue of the Evil God is never something a wise person should do. The Desecration Elements and the power of the Evil God are enough to tempt any strong mind towards madness.

When Shard was a Circle Sorcerer, he had merely glanced at the statue of Duke Lowell and gained the Sorcery of Echo of Blood amidst the frenzy of blood. Absorbing the sins contained in the Divine Statue was obviously a deeper interaction with the power of the Evil God than just glancing at it.

He hesitated momentarily, not risking a direct observation of the Evil God’s statue and Holy Emblem, but instead looked up at the mansion’s master across the table:

“Perhaps, before the next game begins, each of us should reshuffle our cards.”

“Do you still want to continue playing?”

The scarcely alive old man asked.

“Certainly not, I have already achieved my goal. I just hope that my two friends here can participate in the game more fairly.”

Saying this, he divided his deck into two parts, handing them over for Mr. Benhart and Sister Delphine to use. Naturally, the stack for Sister Delphine contained more special cards, a total of nine, while Mr. Benhart only had three.

The two softly thanked Shard, then began to shuffle their cards. The mansion’s master also tapped on the table, causing the stack of Roder Cards to automatically start washing.

“Remember, when you see me with that cat as warm as the sun, consider my advice.”

Sister Delphine suddenly said. Shard puzzled for a moment, then nodded his head, preparing to absorb the sins within the Evil God’s Divine Statue and Holy Emblem.