At the same time, the phantom chains that restrained him continued to draw his attributes relentlessly and suppressed his skills!

This caused a look of astonishment to flash in Chu Xiu's eyes.

Such a domineering effect!

"You have a total of three chances."

Just as Chu Xiu was surprised, the ghost-faced man's smug voice rang out.

"If you lose the first time, the notary will randomly impose a penalty on you. If you lose a second time, I will personally choose a firearm for execution. And if you lose the third time..."

The ghost-faced man gestured towards the fire cannon behind Chu Xiu with his mouth: "I don't need to tell you what the outcome will be, do I?"

"Of course, you might not even last until then."

"And don't think of trying any tricks. In the gamble, any attack not stipulated by the rules will be deemed a violation... Heh heh heh..."

Saying this, the ghost-faced man couldn't help but chuckle, looking as if he was certain of Chu Xiu's fate.

He loved watching the transformation of awakened individuals who came here, changing from confidence to sheer terror.

The two fire cannons he set up were genuine coastal defense cannons. Even if they were antiques from a century ago, their power was still astonishing, capable of piercing the defensive armor of a light warship from a kilometer away!

An awakened individual, deprived of equipment, trying to survive such barrage would need a Constitution of at least 100 and a defensive skill to have even a sliver of hope to save their life. Breaking free from the chains was even harder, requiring not just a Constitution of over 100 but also high mental resistance to withstand the backlash of the chain breaking.

Typically, a Warrior Tier Level 9 Awakened has just over a hundred in Constitution, with only S-Class Close Combat Professions reaching two hundred. Mental resistance is generally weak across the board.

Moreover, since these chains attack the soul, professions with high Constitution but poor mental attributes would lose more Constitution, and their defensive skills would be heavily suppressed. On the other hand, those with high mental resistance tend to be fragile, so the ghost-faced man had never seen an Awakened survive a bombardment. Even S-Class couldn't do it!

In his eyes, though the Awakened before him maintained an outward calm, the vacant look in his eyes betrayed him, surely dazed with fear and paralyzed in place!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but let out a strange laugh.

However, he didn't know that Chu Xiu was not panicked at all, simply looking speechlessly at the ghost-faced man who seemed to be laughing at nothing.

"Does he think he's got me figured out?"

The ghost-faced man's psychological tactics were indeed interesting, and the effect of the Bet Chain was quite domineering.

If Chu Xiu wasn't mistaken, this was likely an artifact bestowed by a higher existence to maintain the "fairness" of the gamble.

Under the Bet Chain's absorption, Chu Xiu's Constitution was a pitiful three hundred!

The power of the Celestial Demon Hand was suppressed by a full twelve percent; resisting those cannons might break the skin!

With a wry smile, shaking his head, Chu Xiu asked: "And what if you lose?"

"I can't lose," the ghost-faced man said confidently, "But if I were to lose, the rules are the same."

Hearing this, Chu Xiu looked up and saw that the ghost-faced man's left hand was also locked by a Bet Chain. Turning his head, he noticed two similar fire cannons aimed straight at the ghost-faced man from behind.

"Alright, enough with the chatter."

The ghost-faced man reached out and pushed a wooden box in front of Chu Xiu, opening it.

"Choose the gamble you wish to participate in."

Chu Xiu glanced down; inside the wooden box were three indentations containing a deck of cards, an exquisitely crafted unknown Exquisite Ball, and a stack of copper coins.

"Aren't you going to introduce the rules first?" Chu Xiu asked.

The ghost-faced man curled his lip: "Only after you choose will you know the rules. Go on, trust your instincts."

"The playing cards, then." Chu Xiu decided without much deliberation.

"Alright."

The ghost-faced man took the cards out of the box and handed them to the notary beside him, who shuffled the deck before laying them face down on the table, one by one.

The cards were a dark golden color, similar to the table's hue, with gilt diamond patterns on the back.

Squinting, Chu Xiu examined them but saw nothing suspicious.

"The rules are simple. Do you know Blackjack? Cards from 2 to 9 are valued at 2 to 9 points, respectively. 10 and face cards are valued at 10 points, and Aces can be either 1 or 11 points."

"Each person starts with two cards and can choose to stay or draw more. If someone exceeds twenty-one points, they bust, and the other person automatically wins. If neither busts, the one with the higher total wins. If tied, the player with more cards wins, and if still tied, it's a draw."

"Of course, unlike regular Blackjack, here we use two decks of cards. Our starting two cards are drawn by the notary from their deck, and remaining cards can be freely drawn from the table."

"How about it? Simple, right? Any more questions?"

Chu Xiu carefully examined the face-down cards on the table, then looked up and asked, "These aren't special cards, are they?"

"Any cheating would result in an automatic loss."

Chu Xiu nodded: "Then I have no further questions."

The ghost-faced man chuckled: "Then let the gamble begin!"

At his word, the notary without facial features dealt two cards to each of them.

Chu Xiu picked up his cards to find a 2 of Diamonds and an 8 of Clubs.

"I'm the host, so I'll let you go first for the first round," the ghost-faced man said with a faint smile.

As he spoke, he placed his cards on the table and covered them with his hand.

With only ten points from his two cards, Chu Xiu naturally chose to draw another card without hesitation.

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