The skies had cleared after the rain.
Lin Cheng woke up in the afternoon again. Last night, he hadn’t been able to resist rewatching Faiz. He glanced groggily at the comments—Litchi had said she’d sent Xu Wanyue to the East City Casino yesterday, where Xu had won five million. Tonight, Xu was to go again. Lin Cheng replied with a thumbs-up and switched to a video, drifting off as he started watching.
Litchi was starting to turn into a real mother hen these days. In the past, she’d have handled a small matter like this herself without reporting to him. At the Fruit Shop, he was the behind-the-scenes boss, but in reality, he was no different from an outsider on the sidelines. He left the money-making to Litchi, security to Grape, and Lemon was the group’s beloved mascot. As for Water Honey Peach… Lin Cheng hadn’t seen her in ages. She was probably busy with her gigs.
His daily life was all about keeping things low-key and ordinary—playing games, mobile titles, watching videos, lounging around and waiting for death. The more he slept, the sleepier he got, and the sleepier he got, the more he wanted to sleep. When he got too bored staying cooped up, he’d head out for some fun. But after going out too much these past couple of days, he felt like holing up.
Lin Cheng got out of bed and went downstairs. He bought a bunch of instant noodle cups in different flavors and restocked the fridge with sodas. Then he went home, curled up in his chair, and kept watching anime. Days like this just slipped by, one after another.
A sudden downpour hit without warning on that spring night. Xu Wanyue was driving toward the East City Casino.
The abrupt storm stirred a hint of unease in her heart. Back in her Alliance days, most jobs had been simple and safe. Thanks to her Luck Ability, she’d never run into any real danger.
But things were different now. She’d become a mole in the Fruit Shop—the most prominent and mysterious civilian organization of the past three years. Tonight’s mission was infighting between civilian groups. Unlike the Alliance, these outfits didn’t play by the rules. The last time Lin Cheng had pointed a gun at her, she’d nearly burst into tears—a humiliation she never wanted to relive.
If not for the Evolution Blood, Xu Wanyue wouldn’t have come here to play undercover. Over the past couple of days, she’d finally met Lemon and Grape. Lemon seemed like a sweet, well-behaved girl. Grape… well, Grape hadn’t said much, just given her a warning.
…If she dared to wear any more of those backless halter minidresses, hot pants with spaghetti straps, or lace garters in front of Lin Cheng from now on, Grape wouldn’t mind burning the clothes to ash for her—letting her show off her good figure to Lin Cheng properly.
Xu Wanyue had wanted to crack a joke to lighten the mood, but after one cold glance from Grape, she didn’t have the guts to retort. She could only nod obediently.
…You’re the one wearing a maid skirt and white silk stockings—that’s the real freak show!!!
The wipers swished back and forth as the rain poured harder. Fortunately, she’d reached her destination. After parking in the garage, Xu Wanyue got out of the car. Of course, she was alone tonight. Her ties to the Fruit Shop hadn’t been exposed yet, and the Fruit Shop hadn’t announced them publicly. So, to the people at the East City Casino, the only backer they saw behind her was the Alliance.
But the East City Casino paid its dues to the Alliance every year and fulfilled its quotas. For her to show up and run a shakedown like this… it went against the code. If things went south, the Alliance wouldn’t have a legitimate reason to back her up.
East City was an old-school Ability User organization, but it had changed its name in the past couple of years and apparently switched leaders too. From what Xu Wanyue had gathered, the casino was now run by a group called 【Garden】, and its current leader was a woman named 【Hongshao】. She was notoriously elusive, rarely showing her face. The only intel on her was oddly specific… she was the most beautiful woman in the city.
No use worrying now that she was here. Xu Wanyue sighed and headed upstairs to the casino. A world of extravagance and revelry unfolded before her.
This was East City’s casino, even more opulent than the one in West City. The male servers carrying drinks were all chiseled and muscular, dressed in tight shirts that showed off their broad shoulders. The female servers wore Playboy bunny outfits, their curves on full display, makeup flawless, with fluffy rabbit tails swaying behind them as they moved.
Xu Wanyue had done her homework on 【Garden】 before coming. The casino had been their original cash cow, but they’d since branched into chain bars, flower shops, and even their own milk tea brand.
Casinos were hugely profitable but operated in the gray zone. 【Garden】’s had been around for decades. Yet ever since the Fruit Shop had popped up in North City two years ago and opened its own casino, 【Garden】 had naturally lost some business.
The Fruit Shop had never bothered paying respects before muscling in—cutting off their revenue stream was like killing their parents. Lately, East City had been sending experts up to North City to win big or offering loans to desperate losers. But North City’s casino didn’t do loans; East City was breaking their rules.
These petty disruptions didn’t threaten the core business, but they were damn annoying. Litchi, fed up, had seized the chance with Xu Wanyue’s arrival to make it her initiation test. Her mission: win fifty million from here.
Xu Wanyue had no choice but to grit her teeth and dive in. She wasn’t afraid of losing—in fact, ever since realizing her ability had always been active, she’d had no weaknesses. Psychological Suggestion wouldn’t work on her anymore, so in gambling, she was unstoppable, with virtually no rivals.
In less than half an hour, Xu Wanyue had racked up five million in chips and left the table for the Texas Hold’em game.
She skipped the slot machines and other games where the house could easily rig things. She knew she’d already caught the casino’s attention. There had been probability experts at her earlier table, but they’d all lost to her.
Her Luck Ability was subtle, and her observation skills were sharp. Even the slickest cheats had tells, so she stuck to games that were harder to manipulate. An hour later, the little box in her arms held ten million in chips.
And her starting stake? Just twenty bucks.
Since turning eighteen, Xu Wanyue had never worried about money. With her Luck Ability, if she really wanted cash, she could just buy lottery tickets every day. She might not hit the jackpot, but the little prizes—tens of thousands—came up often enough.
Money had nothing to do with why she’d joined the Alliance. Justice? Sorry, she wasn’t some superhero willing to die for it.
The real reason she’d joined the Alliance was that it was the only one that could fulfill a certain wish of hers.
For that wish, she’d give everything she had.
