Chapter 12 The Duel

After entering the "card table" interface, the "players at this table" can communicate through typing or voice; of course, they can also turn on video chat.

Without much hesitation, Feng Bujue directly opened the video and said to the screen, "I'm here."

After a brief silence, the user on the other side of the "card table," whose ID displayed as [Organizer] and whose avatar was a question mark, also turned on voice chat: "It seems... you no longer care about exposing your identity."

"Hmph... wasn't that already exposed long ago?" Feng Bujue snorted.

"Oh? How so?" the Organizer asked.

"With the resources you have... as long as you get a cup or straw I used on the Argo, you can find out who I am through fingerprints and DNA, right?" Feng Bujue replied, "Also... the first thing you said just now was a tacit admission."

"Hmm?" The Organizer was taken aback.

"Hmph... slow to react..." Feng Bujue didn't give the other party any time to react. A second later, he continued, "Indeed, the appearance I'm using now is my own, and the name is also a homophone, but... how did *you* know that? That day on the Argo, you only saw a 'clown' face and only knew me as 'Crow'... and now, in this virtual game where appearances can be adjusted, the first thing you said after seeing me was 'you no longer care about exposing your identity.' That's like telling me—the 'person you saw' matches the 'identity you found'."

He spoke very quickly, causing the Organizer to fall silent again.

A moment later, the Organizer also turned on the video chat function, and then a young face appeared on the screen.

"Let me formally introduce myself..." The Organizer, who had a mixed Central European face (Jue-ge judged him to be Asian from the skin color of his neck and hands when he was wearing the mask), said to Jue-ge with a smile, "...my name is Adolf Snow, a wealthy second-generation who loves 'games'."

"Oh, hello." Jue-ge replied weakly, "Given that you should have investigated information like my name and profession, I won't repeat it. If you want to call me an artist or a great writer or something... don't be shy, I can handle it."

"Heh... you really are as 'crazy' as they say online," Snow continued, "Feng, bu, Jue."

He deliberately enunciated those three words, seemingly implying something.

Jue-ge also understood the hidden meaning: "So it seems... your research on me goes beyond the 'files'."

"Yes..." Snow didn't deny it. "After finding out your identity, I became even more interested in you... so I read your books, watched your TV shows, and also learned a lot about your actions in 'Thrilling Paradise' from various channels..." As he said this, his eyes sparkled with excitement, "Hehe... frankly... I'm liking you more and more."

"Hmm... these lines dripping with gay passion..." Feng Bujue complained with narrowed eyes, "It's easy to cause misunderstandings of 'that kind'."

"I don't care." Snow replied nonchalantly, "I'm bisexual anyway."

"I see..." Feng Bujue nodded.

Then, there was a very awkward silence for a few seconds.

"I already have a girlfriend." Jue-ge said after holding back for a few seconds.

"Hahahaha..." Snow laughed. "Don't worry, you're not my type." He paused for half a second, then added, "When I said 'like you,' I meant as a 'game opponent,' nothing else."

"I feel like you deliberately used that kind of easily misunderstood wording to test my reaction," Feng Bujue was truly perceptive.

Snow was stunned again, and only said after a few seconds: "Okay~ okay~ you saw through me. I was thinking that if the conversation went smoothly, I would..."

"That kind of assumption no longer exists." Feng Bujue immediately interrupted, "Say something else."

Snow shrugged and smiled: "Hehe... alright~" He thought for a moment and said, "Oh, right, about the 'identity' topic just now, I still have one thing I don't understand..." He then asked, "The day before yesterday on the Argo, since you knew very well... that I would eventually find out your identity anyway, then why... did you still put on such exaggerated clown makeup under the mask?"

"Heh... that..." Feng Bujue smiled, "That was an emergency measure I prepared to prevent someone from taking off my mask during the banquet or game." He explained, "Of course, that kind of thing... you, as the organizer, and your subordinates, wouldn't do, because you already have all the guests' information. To take a step back, even if you suspected my identity, you would have asked me to reveal it alone." He paused for a second, then changed the topic, "However, the other guests... that's hard to say; if some guy got angry at me and pulled off my mask when I wasn't paying attention, my face would be seen by everyone around. And that situation... would be very troublesome."

"The people in the banquet hall that day were all upper-class people at the end of their ropes, many of whom would still return to shore after that night... If even one of them recognized me, there would be endless troubles."

"You even... considered that level?" Snow muttered after hearing this.

"Isn't considering that level obvious?" Feng Bujue retorted, "Impersonating someone else's identity, taking a ship registered in Panama, sailing to international waters... to participate in a game that looks illegal no matter how you look at it; a trip like that... it wouldn't be strange if it ended with 'being dismembered and buried at sea,' right?"

Jue-ge's words were a shock to Snow's thinking.

This was an excellent example of "different situations, different ways of thinking."

People who go to the deep mountains to explore with a full set of outdoor survival equipment, and people who get lost in the mountains empty-handed, think about things in very different directions, or even in completely opposite ways.

Snow would indeed consider the things Feng Bujue said. In fact, in order to make the "game" more interesting, he often considered problems from the perspective of those "prey"; however, he could never think of Jue-ge's "that level."

"Phew... if possible, I really want you to come here and be a consultant." Snow said again after a long while.

"Sorry, I have no plans to change careers," Feng Bujue said.

"I'll give you a truckload of US dollars, how about considering it?" Perhaps this was some kind of habit of Snow's; he almost blurted out "truck" as a unit for measuring money.

"It can be seen that you are a person who doesn't value money very much," Feng Bujue didn't answer directly but responded with this sentence.

"What?" Snow replied, "You want to say... you too?"

"Yes, me too," Feng Bujue said.

Although they both didn't value money very much, the nature was very different, because one of them was super rich, while the other... often spouted "a gentleman is steadfast in his poverty and does not abandon his lofty ambitions," and really didn't have much money.

"Hmm..." Snow sighed softly, "I think I know your answer." At this point, his tone was slightly cold, "Then... why did you, who are so 'indifferent to fame and wealth,' come to this appointment today?"

"Nonsense, because I want 'that thing'," Feng Bujue replied.

"That thing..." Snow snorted, "Hmph... isn't it just money?"

"Who said I was going to sell it?" Feng Bujue said, "Didn't I tell you on the ship that I was only taking it because someone asked me to?"

"Just because someone asked you to..." Snow continued, "You participated in that kind of potentially irreversible journey?"

"Why not?" Jue-ge asked back.

"In other words..." Snow said again, "Today, if you win against me and get 'that thing,' you will give it to the person who entrusted you without taking a penny?"

"That's between me and him," Feng Bujue said, "You... came to 'play a game,' didn't you?"

"Hehe..." Snow smiled, "Yes... 'originally,' I just came to have fun."

From this sentence, it could be judged that he was about to say "but."

"But..." Snow lived up to expectations, "Now I've changed my mind."

"What do you want to do?" Feng Bujue's hooligan accent came as he pleased, and his hometown dialect came out.

"Heh..." Snow smiled even more, "We agreed before that in this 'duel,' my bet is 'that thing,' and your bet is the hundreds of thousands of US dollars you won from me (he didn't bother to remember exactly how much money Jue-ge won the day before yesterday, so he said 'hundreds of thousands'), right?"

"What? You want me to raise the stakes?" Feng Bujue said.

"Since you and I don't consider money to be anything important, wouldn't it be too boring to use it as a bet?" Snow continued smoothly.

"Don't you think it's a bit much to make this kind of request just when the duel is about to start?" Feng Bujue naturally wouldn't agree immediately; he was trying to fight for his own interests.

"'Too much'?" Snow repeated those two words and smiled, "You impersonated my guest, snuck onto my cruise ship, and used a false identity to take hundreds of thousands of US dollars at my banquet... and I didn't throw you into the sea, didn't take the money back, and didn't illegally detain you and torture you... now, you're actually saying that I'm being too much?"

"Hmm... now that you mention it, it seems to make sense," Feng Bujue stroked his chin and replied casually, as if he had just understood.

Snow was also mentally prepared for Jue-ge's unscrupulous words and actions. He suppressed the urge to complain and continued with the previous topic: "In short, what I mean is that my bet remains unchanged... no, I can even take another step back and give you those hundreds of thousands. But, your bet..."

"If I lose, I have to come and be your consultant, right?" Feng Bujue asked.

"Heh... exactly." Snow wasn't surprised that Jue-ge directly said the answer.

"Sigh... I knew it," Feng Bujue said, "If it's not money... then it's people."

"If you agree to this condition, we can begin." Snow urged quickly, hearing that there was a chance, wanting the other party to make a decision quickly.

"Okay, let's bet then," Feng Bujue didn't hesitate, "However, this is just a verbal agreement... can you trust me?"

"Is that even necessary?" Snow said, "Aren't you also trusting me to hand over the thing after I lose without any contractual guarantees?"

Feng Bujue smiled: "You flatter me; that's because when the agreement was reached (it was on the Argo at the time, after Jue-ge took off his mask), I didn't even have room to question it."

"That's fine too; in short, I believe you will keep your promise," Snow said, "Because the opponent I recognize... must be a man who can afford to win and lose."

…………

Twenty minutes later.

[Your deck is ready]. After confirming the deck selection, Feng Bujue turned around and faced the elevator door.

*Beep—*

The moment Feng Bujue pressed the [dueL] button, the elevator door opened with a beep.

Outside the door was a vaulted stone corridor.

The corridor was made of white stone blocks and was quite spacious. About ten meters ahead, there was an exit, and the scorching sunlight was already shining in from the outside.

[Please select your duel equipment]

The system voice sounded again as he stepped out of the elevator.

The next second, a window popped up in front of Jue-ge. There were currently only two options in the window: [Duel Console] and [Duel Disk].

Without thinking, Feng Bujue chose Duel Disk and pressed confirm.

Instantly, a stream of data light bloomed in the air, turning into a ball of white light that wrapped around his arm.

Three seconds later, the white light solidified, gradually darkened, and took shape. A device with a blue base, white frame, and red axis, like a folded mechanical wing, had already appeared on Jue-ge's left forearm.

[Your dominant hand has been detected as your right hand. The Duel Disk is installed on your left hand by default. To change the settings, please return to the login space settings]

[Your Duel Disk is dd(duel_disk)-standard type. For more cool skins, please visit the online store]

During the process of forming the Duel Disk, these two lines of subtitles with voice also flashed in front of Jue-ge.

"What's the use of being cool? Can it increase the probability of a god draw..." Feng Bujue looked at the passing, advertising-like prompt and muttered to himself.

At this time, he had reached the end of the vaulted stone corridor.

Stepping out of the stone door, his vision suddenly widened. The "duel arena" he had chosen on the "card table"—[The Ancient Roman Colosseum]—came into view.

At the same time, from a stone door opposite him, another duelist, Adolf Snow, who had also equipped his Duel Disk, walked out.

When the two each took their positions (there were cursors on the ground indicating the duelists' standing areas) and stood in the huge circular arena, a new system voice came.

This time, it was not a "prompt" but a "broadcast" directly in the arena.

Only to hear... a very passionate male voice announce—

[Uphold the rules and etiquette, and duel happily.]