Chapter 124 The Mechanical Era "What's your name?" "...
[I'm so nervous and excited! It's like watching the long-awaited reunion scene in a brainless drama!]
[So why is the leader wearing a mask? Is it to avoid being exposed? With so many people in the banquet hall, he can't just explain it away with something like, "I'll look exactly what you want me to look like."]
[What was Mo Dashen's reaction? Did he recognize her? Did he recognize her? Did he recognize her?!]
Even someone as oblivious as Eve could sense his distraction; it must be true.
[Hahahaha, I'm dying of laughter! Eve: Don't mention it, thank you.]
Mo Rugui stared intently at the figure in front of him, his fingers gripping the wine glass tightening involuntarily. However, the person's gaze merely swept over him in a fleeting glance, without even lingering on him for a second.
"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening." The banquet hall was quiet as the leader's voice slowly rose, but this time he didn't use the original electronic voice. Instead, he spoke in a tone somewhere between a young man and a mature man, "The annual night of revelry has finally arrived, and I, like you, have been looking forward to tonight..."
Mo Rugui didn't hear a word that followed. Perhaps others didn't know, they only knew that the leader had changed his voice, but only Mo Rugui knew how familiar he was with that voice.
He didn't come to his senses until the wine glass was snatched from his hand. Eve looked at him with disgust, "If you keep squeezing it, you'll crush the glass."
Mo Rugui took a moment to realize what he meant, and then stammered, "You didn't... go to play with Shi Yu."
Eve sat down in the chair next to Mo Rugui, swinging her legs and looking ahead. "You're boring, but he's even more boring. Compared to him, you're slightly less boring."
Mo Rugui remained silent, and the person under the spotlight in the distance also finished speaking:
"Have a good time tonight, everyone."
"If you win, you can take everything; if you lose, it's all on me."
A smile played on his lips, followed by cheers and screams from the audience.
“I have to say, he’s really good with words. He even made me a little tempted.” After a pause, Eve added, “However, I just heard someone say that the Empire’s Carnival Night is a perfectly legitimate opportunity to fleece the public funds, as long as you have the ability.”
Eve was eager to try, and Mo Rugui looked at her for a few seconds before saying, "Then go ahead."
Eve hesitated for a few seconds, but couldn't resist the temptation and went to play.
She discovered that Shi Yu had also joined in the game, and her initial hesitation vanished immediately. After all, even top students can't resist temptation, so it's normal for a mediocre student like her to be unable to resist.
Shi Yu sat at a table. In this game, he lost twice and won three times. There were no problems in the process. He didn't have to pay out money when he lost, and the chips he won were also recorded in his account. After winning, no one stopped him from leaving. He went to several other places, and it was the same every time.
The leader's statement that "the winner can take the prize, and the loser's money is his" is true.
So, was the original intention behind the design of Carnival Night really to allow citizens to happily take advantage of freebies?
Almost every game table was occupied, except for one table where the leader sat. It's unclear whether people were afraid of the leader or if there were other rules.
Just as Shi Yu was about to go over, he saw Mo Rugui walk over first. He paused for a moment and then followed.
The other game tables were surrounded by people, but the table where the leader was sitting had only him and his two subordinates standing on either side. Tea and snacks were on the table. The dinner should have been accompanied by red wine, but the leader seemed to prefer tea.
After Mo Rugui sat down, another cup of tea was added to the table.
People gradually gathered around, and soon the place became the liveliest game table.
The leader crossed one long leg over the other, slowly sipped his tea, and then spoke: "The rules here are different from those at other game tables."
Mo Rugui looked into the eyes behind the leader's mask and said, "Okay."
"The stakes won't be small."
"Can."
"You will bear the consequences."
"Can."
The questions escalated, but Mo Rugui's answers became increasingly resolute. Throughout the process, he kept staring into the eyes behind the mask, his face expressionless.
Finally, the leader looked away first, put down his teacup, and began to explain the rules: "First of all, we are playing blind cards here. Neither you nor I are allowed to look at our cards throughout the entire process."
"In other words..." Her perfectly shaped lips curved into a pleased smile, "...a blind guess."
"As for the chips, I don't like cold, hard money, so the chips will be based on my preferences. As for what my preferences are, you'll find out in a moment."
"Finally, since chips are not money, I cannot bail you out; you will have to bear the consequences yourself."
“Now…” The leader put down his crossed legs, rested his elbows on the table, leaned forward toward Mo Rugui, and stared straight into Mo Rugui’s eyes from behind his mask, his voice hoarse.
"Do you still want to play with me?"
Mo Rugui's pupils were unfocused, and in a daze, he seemed to have returned to that forest many years ago.
The trees were so tall they blocked out the sun, and their branches and leaves appeared lush and verdant. But upon closer inspection, one could see that the branches and leaves were black from the inside out, like ink. On the ground, one could occasionally see the corpses of sheep, rabbits, and venomous snakes, all of which were also completely black.
Mo Rugui was very hungry.
He had only one compressed biscuit and a quarter bottle of water left, which he could neither eat nor drink.
He didn't know how long it would take to get through the forest, or whether he would be able to see the safe base that everyone talked about after crossing the forest, or whether the base was still safe.
He followed the compass southwards, passing polluted plants and animals along the way. He didn't know how long he walked, but finally he saw a living creature.
It should be said that it was a person dressed in all black, but with dazzling silver-white hair and very white skin, but the person was very thin and looked like a minor.
He squatted next to a pile of fruit, looking very hungry. He seemed to be picking out a fruit that wasn't stained too dark and about to stuff it into his mouth.
Eating contaminated plants and animals is no different from being poisoned.
"etc!"
Mo Rugui stopped the boy.
After the apocalypse came, he met many people, including young men, strong middle-aged men, the elderly, women and children... At first, he was willing to lend a helping hand to them, but most of them did not have the ability to protect themselves. He could help them for a while but not forever, and many of the people he helped died not long afterward.
Later on, he gradually started helping only those who were capable of protecting themselves. The fact that this boy has survived to this day shows that he has certain abilities. It's such a pity that he was poisoned by the fruit.
So he gave the boy his last compressed biscuit and a quarter bottle of water.
But that was all. He couldn't give any more. After doing all that, he didn't say another word and turned to leave.
The cuff of his trousers was grabbed by a stained, bony hand.
"Can I come with you?"
The boy looked up at him, and Mo Rugui looked at the boy's face seriously for the first time. His first reaction was that the boy's features were too beautiful. Fortunately, he was a boy. If he were a girl, he probably wouldn't have survived until now.
My second thought was that the boy's eyes were a very special color, like gold but not quite, like silver but with a touch more sunlight than silver.
With silver-white hair and eyes that resembled silver but not gold, the boy was likely of mixed race.
He came to a rather useless conclusion.
The sincerity in the boy's eyes made him think that the boy wanted to repay him for giving him food. He said, "It's just a compressed biscuit and a little water. I don't need your repayment."
The boy stared at him and didn't let go.
He realized the boy might be serious, so he replied seriously as well:
“I’m not a good person, there’s no benefit in following me.”
The boy didn't let go.
Mo Rugui remained silent for a moment, then squatted down, closing the distance between himself and the boy. He stared into the boy's eyes and stated as if stating a fact: "I am an egoist. If you follow me, I will use you when necessary, or even kill you!"
"Are you still going to follow me?" he asked coldly.
The boy still didn't let go, and without even thinking, he replied:
"I'll go with it!"
His voice was so clear and crisp, and his eyes, which were neither gold nor silver, were like a pool of unpolluted water, so clear that there was not a trace of impurity.
Mo Rugui changed his mind just like that.
"May I have your name?"
"Jiang Liuyue"
...
As time flows by, the forest filled with the aura of death fades into the river of memory, and bright, dazzling sunlight shines in from the void.
Mo Rugui squinted and realized that what was dazzling was not the sunlight but the crystal chandelier above his head.
This is not that polluted forest devoid of food, water, and sunlight, but a luxurious and beautiful banquet hall where piano music fills the air, the aroma of food wafts through the air, and elegant women sway in the breeze.
Looking down, Mo Rugui met those eyes that seemed silver but not gold in his memory.
For a moment, he couldn't distinguish between memory and reality, or between the person in his memory and the person in front of him.
I can't tell what day it is...
He heard his own voice directly.
"I'll play."
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