Deceitful Game

Chapter 118 What if there's only one chip left?

“That’s precisely why,” Gao Fan said, “that some charlatans… well, there are quite a few, who choose to ‘run away.’” “Run away?”

Ai Shiping repeated, "How do we escape?"

"Give up your identity as a deceiver."

Mingpo said lazily, "Just like... Chang Ning."

Just like Lin Ya.

When Mingpo asked Mo about Lin Ya before, Mo said something similar.

Because she's already lost two games in a row, even though they were relatively safe risk games, she's almost lost all her initial chips. There's no need for you to go find her... she'll probably be permanently trapped in her own anchor point soon.

This is the direct reason why Mingper believed that "running out of chips would lead to a paradox".

But this is not necessarily true... Mo was referring to "possibility".

That's because if they knew the cost of "bankruptcy," most con artists would choose to quit the game when they had only one chip left. But given Mr. Mo's personality, he would probably tell them this fact at the last moment.

Mingpo didn't actually know how many chips Lin Ya had left when she participated in the "musical chairs" game. But he guessed that she should have at least one left. Because given Lin Ya's personality, it would be reasonable for her not to gamble... unless she was completely obsessed.

"This is the question of 'what to do with the last chip'."

Gao Fan replied softly, "Some people will choose to gamble on one last chance to turn their lives around, while others will choose to give up their identity as charlatans. And choosing the former isn't necessarily wrong... because there really is a chance to turn things around. And even if you become bankrupt, there's always a chance to get your money back."

"As long as they can successfully complete one game, they can survive—as long as their chips aren't taken away."

"What if it were you?"

Mingpo turned to Gao Fan: "If you only had one chip left, what would you choose?"

"I'll probably... run away."

Gao Fan looked at the gray and white figures.

People came and went, but no one could see him.

Even if that means permanent death?

Mingpo raised an eyebrow and asked, "You don't even know who wants to kill you—and your parents? And you're just not going to save them?" Gao Fan sighed deeply, "Not everyone can be as strong as you, Captain."

"As for me, I'd probably choose to continue. As long as you don't give up, even if you're living in hell, there's always hope for the future." Ai Shiping looked at Mingpo and smiled, "You probably would too, right?"

Mingpo crossed her arms and nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"And you know so much, Xiao Fan... you even know about places like the job market."

Ai Shiping exclaimed in amazement, a hint of lingering fear in his voice: "To be honest, I didn't initially realize the importance of the 'time chip' (a financial advantage). My host hadn't mentioned it to me, and I almost used up all my chips..."

"Because of Gao Fan's former teammates," Ming Po said, "they would rent him out to make money, and they would take half of what Gao Fan earned. That way, even if they didn't participate in the game much, they would still have enough chips to use."

"...There's such a thing?"

Upon hearing this, Ai Shiping frowned deeply.

His tone was somewhat displeased: "Where are they? When I run into them, I'll teach them a lesson."

For Ai Shiping, who has an extremely good temper, this level of anger was already a sign of genuine rage.

"They're all dead."

Mingpo spoke lazily, slumping back in his chair.

As if soaking in a hot spring, he clasped his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair: "You don't need to lift a finger... Guess how I knew?"

"I knew it."

Ai Shiping beamed, "Aper is still reliable!"

"snort."

Mingpo snorted, "The fact that you're angry means you don't trust me enough."

This displeased him somewhat.

What does Ai Shiping mean by this?

Did they really think he would let these people go?

"However," Gao Fan suddenly said, "the job market isn't all useless people. Occasionally you can find some gems."

"Take the Red Queen's tea party, for example... They have an important member who was recruited from the job market. I don't know his specific abilities... but he's already become the third most important person at the tea party. Although it's also possible that he gained the Red Queen's favor because of his title..."

What is his title?

Mingpo asked.

"Alice," Gao Fan said.

"Oh...that makes sense. How old is the girl?"

"No, he's an older man."

üの」

"And he looks fierce, like the kindergarten principal from Crayon Shin-chan... or rather, he looks like a naval admiral."

"...A Navy Admiral?"

Even Mingpo was taken aback: "You mean... Kizaru?"

Kizaru Alice?

Why would an older man receive the title "Alice"? What exactly did he do?

Ai Shiping scoffed, "This is even more outrageous than the older sister getting the title of Virgil!"

"How would I know...maybe it's inherited."

Gao Fan said somewhat helplessly, "Generally speaking, a unique title must have a source. But the problem is, there are a few too many 'Alice's'... I don't know where his Alice is from. He hasn't used his title in front of me, but he's a very astute guy. He's basically responsible for catching the moles."

"It sounds like there are quite a few moles at the tea party."

Mingpo sighed.

Gao Fan turned to look at Ming Po and laughed, "After all, the Red Queen is a tyrant; she's quick to behead people."

Mingpo glanced at him and said bluntly, "But even the Red Queen, I think she's better than your previous captain. Because the Red Queen at least knew that her title might cause her to lose her rationality. So she specifically bought treasures to suppress her tyranny, which precisely shows that she wanted to improve. Your captain, on the other hand, clearly has the ability to lead a team. As a 'leader' with excellent command and support skills, she doesn't expand the team in order to maintain her position."

"His ability is perfectly suited to the Slaughter Domain, which is prone to losing its rationality. Ordinary Slaughter Domain deceivers would endanger the team due to their loss of rationality. But he can perfectly control a teammate, which is equivalent to helping the teammate offset the negative effects of the title. This is the true purpose of his title."

Just like the title "Werewolf".

The Werewolf title, capable of single-handedly defeating Frankenstein... while also benefiting from Minpe's personal attributes, its powerful self-healing, stamina recovery, and berserk mode make it clearly overpowered for a Time Bronze-level title. The only problem is its susceptibility to loss of control. However, if the leader and the Werewolf team up, the leader's title effect can completely negate the Werewolf's effects. Similarly, the "Madman" and "Red Queen" titles work the same way.

That's actually a very powerful and useful title—you could even say it makes you stronger when facing stronger opponents.

"Control immunity" is a highly coveted attribute in any game, not to mention "continuous super armor." Even without the control immunity effect, the super armor alone—allowing a character to unleash their full combat power even when stunned—is enough to make a "Gundam" in the Domain of Power incredibly powerful. Most survival-themed adventure games would be crushed by such a formidable force. The same applies to PVP games that require physical combat... A master of the Domain of Slaughter or the Domain of Power with super armor, full power, and immunity to control immunity can essentially take on two opponents in a 2v2 battle. After all, the instinct of humans is to fear injury.

Just as people fear wolves or dogs—not because they can't defeat them, but because they fear getting hurt. Under this fear, it's difficult to unleash one's full potential. If one fully utilizes their strength, without fatigue, without fear, without slowing down due to injury, and always calmly employing the optimal strategy, even a ferocious lion or tiger might not be defeated.

This is also an advantage of Hengzhi's domain.

The forces in the other domains are all heavily influenced by spiritual pollution. Only the domain of Balance suffers from the weakest spiritual pollution. This title, like an external brain, represents the absolute core of the team, just as the title describes the word "leader."

Mingpo was genuinely envious.

It would be great if Ai Shiping could get this title.

and……

He frowned slightly and fell into deep thought.

One sentence Virgil said to Minpple caught his attention.

She said...they might join the tea party in the future, so the Divine Songs team contacted them first.

But why?

Behind the tea party lies the Witches' Gathering... Since Virgil told them this on their first meeting, it shouldn't be a secret. Mingpo is not the kind of person who would foolishly cooperate with the Witches' Gathering for the sake of "becoming the King of the World." Not to mention, he would bring Ai Shiping and Gao Fan into this dangerous organization... especially given the numerous traitors within and the Red Queen's penchant for beheadings. However, Mingpo believes in himself.

He believed he would never do anything meaningless.

If he chooses to join the tea party, it probably means he already knows about the existence of "Heavenly Questions." But if he knows about Heavenly Questions, he should also know that his actions might be detected by Heavenly Questions and thus prevented from being carried out in advance.

What were his thoughts when he joined the tea party?

Could this be his future self trying to send information to his past self in this way?

The witches' gathering is famous for constantly rewinding time... What is their ultimate goal?