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Mi Xiaonan watched Beiyue and the others head to the villa and turned to Cui Ming. "Cui Ming, you’ve been quiet today."
Cui Ming asked, "Xiaomi, do you think someone with my personality is suited to be an Alliance Hunter?"
Mi Xiaonan replied bluntly, "Not a chance. Even if you joined, you'd be kicked out in a few months."
"Why?" Cui Ming inquired.
"Because Alliance Hunters are all altruistic people. You have no interest in defeating monsters or saving planets."
"Yeah... you're right."
After Beiyue dropped Wei Nan off, he came back to the two of them and said, "I want to spend a few days with my uncle to learn about my father's youth. I'll wait for Ding Ze and the others."
Cui Ming nodded. "Alright, we'll stay at a hotel then."
"Okay." Beiyue asked, "Do we have enough cash?"
"Yes," Cui Ming replied. "Let's get going."
"Sure."
Mi Xiaonan felt something was off about their conversation. Just as she was about to ask, Cui Ming looked at her and said, "Mi Xiaonan, do you need me to accompany you to find Mi Xiaobo?"
Mi Xiaonan said, "Xiaobo mentioned that Eagle Squad is in secret training. We agreed to meet four days later at the tower."
"Then let's go find some fun together."
...
What kind of fun? If it were Li Qing, he would take Mi Xiaonan on a food tour of Twilight City. If it were Ding Ze, he would introduce her to the nightlife culture. If it were Beiyue... reading might be considered fun. And for Cui Ming? Of course, it would be the casino. Life is full of luck; being born is the biggest gamble of all, and reincarnation is an art form. Then there are exams—while skill is important, luck plays a significant role too. Finding a partner requires good judgment and luck; who knows what the future holds? Big bets come in threes and nines; small bets come in ones and fives. Whether you turn left or right, life goes on like this—winning and losing until the end of it all.
This is life, taking the stage and facing countless choices. In the end, death is the judge, sealing one's fate. Cui Ming would not lead Mi Xiaonan astray; he knew that not everyone could handle the ups and downs of gambling. Taking Mi Xiaonan to the casino was about observing people. The casino reveals true emotions, with joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness all displayed on a single face.
First, they needed to return to the hotel, eat something, rest, and take a shower.
As soon as they arrived at the hotel lobby, they spotted the Prophet's Messenger. Approaching him, Cui Ming took a paper box and said, "This is for you."
"What is it?" Cui Ming opened the box to find a cloak that revealed the outer layer of Force.
"The Spectral Cloak," the Messenger nodded at Cui Ming before leaving.
Back in his room, out of curiosity, Cui Ming put it on and felt an additional layer of Force clothing. The Force within the cloak could blend with his own Force but could not be extracted for personal use.
"So this is the purpose of treasures."
"No, Cui Ming, treasures are completely unfit for you. Every piece of Force treasure, weapon, or equipment has its compatibility. How should I explain?" Mi Xiaonan's theory was sound. He knew that explaining too much might confuse Cui Ming, so he simplified it: "For example, if there are a thousand points in total and your compatibility is 100 points while Beiyue's compatibility is 200 points. Following this reasoning, Beiyue's weapon would score between 198 and 202 points. This means Beiyue can resonate with the weapon; it's the most basic condition for a weapon to be used by Beiyue. If it were 195 points, it would be quite difficult. At 190 points, even if you could use the weapon, you wouldn't be able to unleash 50% of its potential."
Cui Ming asked in surprise, "There’s such a classification?"
"There is. Among practitioners, there’s a profession called Evaluator. There are very few of them—almost extinct. An elder from the York Clan happens to be an Evaluator. He can determine my score and then assess the value of items. The higher quality the treasure, the harder it is to evaluate; he has only evaluated three times in his life—once taking three days and another time fifteen days." Mi Xiaonan explained: "A craftsman doesn’t need evaluation; they can forge weapons suitable for an object based on its Force characteristics. That’s why it's said that someone else's items may not necessarily work for you."
Mi Xiaonan continued: "For example, take Jack the assassin; let’s say his score is five hundred. Eva is also an assassin—does she have a score of five hundred? Not necessarily. However, the equipment Jack can use is likely usable by Eva as well. This is determined by the characteristics of the equipment rather than its Force compatibility; if their compatibilities differ significantly, its power cannot be fully realized. For instance, with the Spectral Cloak, while users’ compatibilities may vary greatly, any practitioner with stealth abilities can still utilize some function of the Spectral Cloak."
Cui Ming pondered for a long time before saying, "Shower, change clothes, eat something, and find some fun."
"Hard to understand? Actually, what the elder explained was even more complex. Anyone who wants to travel must pass theoretical assessments," Mi Xiaonan recalled their training sessions with dread. Meeting an elder who explained things well was fine; encountering one who didn’t was disastrous. What are Force characteristics? What foundational abilities are necessary when energy undergoes transformation?
Cui Ming closed the bathroom door.
...
In Twilight City, gambling is legalized; however, locals are not allowed to enter casinos. This is a common practice among many city-states aimed at profiting from tourists while acknowledging the dangers of gambling. A sociologist once said that anything potentially addictive is not good for society.
Inside the casino, there was no sense of time, no clocks to be found. The standard setup included free drinks, and for a thousand dollars in chips, one could enter this establishment. There was even a complimentary buffet in the side hall. However, it wasn't entirely free; exchanging a thousand dollars would only yield nine hundred in cash due to the personal income tax taken by Twilight City.
When Mi Xiaonan and Cui Ming arrived at the casino, it was already ten o'clock at night, and the place was packed. Cui Ming purchased two sets of fifty-thousand-dollar chips and headed to the VIP lounge on the second floor. The third floor was reserved for VIPs, with a million-dollar threshold.
The crowd on the second floor was noticeably thinner. Mi Xiaonan took her chips and asked, "Cui Ming, which game is more interesting?"
"Today is your practical lesson. Do you see that beautiful dealer? She's a newcomer, but she's got good luck," Cui Ming replied. "Defeat her."
"How do I defeat her?"
"Look into her eyes. She's a rookie; you can tell from her makeup that she’s showcasing a sexy and beautiful side rather than a professional one. So while she’s trying to control her expressions and minimize her movements, she’s still inexperienced."
Mi Xiaonan nodded and walked toward the dealer's table. A nearby security guard quickly brought over a taller chair for her. There were four players at the table. The base chip amount was one thousand; if your hand was good, you could choose to bet with chips—like matching one thousand. On the third round, you could bet up to five times that amount, meaning five thousand chips against the dealer. If the dealer folded, they would not only lose their chips but also have to compensate other players with an additional one thousand chips each. This game was a variation of Flower Card; instead of playing together, players were betting against the dealer, akin to a two-player version of Flower Card.
Cui Ming remained seated at the roulette table. He didn’t bet on black or white, nor on odd or even; he didn’t cheat or manipulate the game either. With a drink in hand, he consistently placed five hundred on fifteen. After about half an hour, Eva appeared beside him in a red evening gown. Cui Ming didn’t look at her and said, "Just arrived?"
"You knew I was coming?"
"I just thought of a simple logic: you want the Spectral Cloak, and you know who the messenger is—someone with poor skills. You saw her at the hotel; coincidentally, I was there too and saw her give me a box," Cui Ming explained. "I figured when you asked me to meet at Stone Bridge, you must have thought that since you can’t get the Spectral Cloak yourself, dragging me into this might help you obtain it. Because knowing my personality, if there’s an opportunity to negotiate, I would definitely want the Spectral Cloak."
Eva tossed her chips onto 14 and asked, "Do you know why an idiot can survive longer?"
Cui Ming smiled. "Don’t say that; I know I can’t beat you. Mi Xiaonan and I won’t be your match against Raefus. But I’ve always thought of you as someone who values reason. If you offer something suitable in exchange for it, I’m not particularly fond of the Spectral Cloak anyway."
"If you're willing to give me the cloak, I would be very grateful and surely repay you—who knows, I might even fall in love with you."
"Lady, people appreciate kindness; what you're suggesting sounds more like betrayal."
Eva's left hand brushed against Cui Ming's neck as she ominously said, "Be careful with your words."
This was the third time she had warned him to be cautious; such concern made him feel awkward. Cui Ming remarked, "It's strange; I have this intuition that tells me you won’t kill me."
"Why?"
"I don't know, it's just a feeling," Cui Ming replied. "Especially after Raefus searched our room and found no cloak, you definitely won't kill me."
Eva smiled, applying pressure as a chill surged from her shoulder towards Cui Ming's heart. Seeing that Cui Ming remained unfazed, she released him and said, "You're right; I won't kill you. But you're also wrong—not because of the cloak. One reason is that Twilight City is the Ye Family's territory, and causing trouble here would bring me problems. Although I'm an assassin, I'm weak and merely trying to survive in the cracks of this world. You also misunderstood; we didn't search your room."
"And what’s the other reason?" Cui Ming asked. "That should be the main reason."
"Let's sit over there," Eva said, gripping Cui Ming's throat firmly, not allowing him to disagree as she pulled him to a secluded tea table. "Are you interested in joining the Evil Squad?"
Cui Ming was taken aback; this was unexpected. He questioned, "Why me? I'm not very skilled; you have many better options." After all, both Raefus and Eva were experts.
"You're not unskilled, and you've only just begun practicing the Six Elements. Setting aside your skills for now, first of all, you have a criminal background; you're part of the Thieves Guild and possess a talent for crime. Secondly, while there are indeed many experts, ordinary people find practitioners rare, but practitioners see nothing but experts—it's like rock-paper-scissors; there's no absolute expert. Why do assassins instill fear? Because they have the ability to launch surprise attacks. We in the Evil Squad need someone with brains."
Cui Ming asked, "I'm curious; what’s your purpose?"
"Money."
"Tch."
"Both Raefus and I are Bit People."
"Oh?" (To be continued.)
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