"Bl—Black?!"
Billy froze mid-pose as he finally processed the card in his hand.
It was black.
Shock hit him like a freight train.
"Why?!"
His whole body went limp, collapsing onto the ground in dramatic despair.
"I swear, this robot is ridiculously flexible."
"How does he even pull off those moves?"
The others stared in amazement.
Billy might talk like a clown, but his mechanical construction was seriously impressive.
"I'm… I'm sorry."
Zhu Yuan lowered her head awkwardly.
Did this count as sabotaging a teammate?
"N–No, Officer Zhu Yuan, it's not your fault…"
Billy could only accept his fate.
It really wasn't on her.
In the livestream:
[Nicole: I'm furious! Why is it a black card?! Public Security Bureau, explain yourselves!]
[Qingyi: Explain what? Your Billy just has bad luck.]
[Seth: Exactly. Don't pin this on us.]
[Hoshimi Miyabi: Not Zhu Yuan's fault. That Billy guy's just unlucky.]
[Rin: …It really isn't Zhu Yuan's fault.]
[Nicole: How is it not?! It's totally her fault! I demand Denny compensation!]
The chat spiraled into chaos, even dragging up the Cunning Hares' questionable record.
Nicole immediately changed tactics.
"Pure slander! We just take small commissions! We've never entered a Hollow!"
"Exactly!" Anby echoed. "We don't even know what the inside looks like!"
"Right!" Nekomata chimed in. "There aren't even blue mackerels in there, why would I go?!"
The excuses only made it worse.
Back in the space—
Zhu Yuan squeezed her white pouch tightly.
As long as she didn't open it, hope remained.
But once she did…
It would be final.
She exhaled slowly.
First time participating, and her entire team was about to be wiped.
Even she felt discouraged.
"Eh? Black?"
Sparkle's voice rang out nearby.
Zhu Yuan turned.
Sparkle was holding a black card.
And her pouch had been black too.
Zhu Yuan's heart steadied slightly.
So the pouch color really didn't mean anything.
Taking a breath, she pulled open her pouch.
White.
Relief flooded through her.
She was safe.
Sparkle, however, looked deeply displeased.
"No fair. I wasn't done having fun."
She immediately ran over to Valerius.
"Let me draw again. Just once?"
"No."
Valerius didn't even hesitate.
"What I draw is what I draw."
"But I didn't enjoy it enough."
"Still no."
"Boring."
Sparkle pouted and turned away.
"Little peacock, check yours."
Aventurine smiled calmly.
He pulled out his card.
White.
"How about that?"
Luck?
He wasn't afraid of that.
Sparkle clicked her tongue.
"Fine, you win."
With no way out, she leaned in and whispered something into Aventurine's ear.
"You're serious?"
"Of course."
She gave him a meaningful look and stepped aside.
Seeing pouch colors clearly meant nothing, Yae Miko leisurely opened hers.
White.
Then Shenhe.
Also white.
All cards revealed.
Four white.
Two black.
[Players Sparkle and Billy eliminated.]
Columns of light descended.
The two vanished from the space.
Valerius looked at the remaining four.
"You now each have 5 points. Anyone want to withdraw?"
No one moved.
They had already agreed.
No quitting.
"Very well. Final round."
The platform descended once more.
This time, it stopped in a space with two tables.
"This is the last game: Emperor and Slave."
"You four will split into two matches. Winners remain."
"Rules are simple."
"Each player receives five cards."
"One side: Emperor + four Citizens."
"The other side: Slave + four Citizens."
"Emperor beats Citizen."
"Citizen beats Slave."
"Slave beats Emperor."
"If the Emperor dies, the Slave wins."
"If the Slave dies, the Emperor wins."
"There are only two Emperor decks."
"You understand."
Valerius stepped aside.
The moment he finished explaining—
Two figures moved instantly.
Yae Miko and Aventurine.
They reached the tables at nearly the same time.
The cards weren't hidden.
Displayed openly.
They locked eyes—
And both immediately grabbed the Emperor decks.
"Heh. Looks like victory is ours."
"Seems that way."
The rules were obvious.
The Emperor side had overwhelming advantage.
Four chances to eliminate the Slave.
The Slave only had one shot to assassinate the Emperor.
Miss it once—
It's over.
Zhu Yuan covered her face.
Was this level of shamelessness really allowed?
Valerius only shrugged.
Too slow.
That's all.
Shenhe said nothing.
She calmly took the remaining Slave deck and sat down at a table.
"Shenhe…"
Miko glanced at her briefly.
Then decisively chose the other table.
After all—
Shenhe was Ganyu's junior sister.
Miko wasn't keen on personally eliminating her.
Aventurine, meanwhile, looked at Shenhe and curled his lips.
This girl seemed a little too straightforward.
Winning against her almost felt unfair.
Almost.
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