Chapter 12 Round Twelve

In the twelfth round, Feng Bujue had, arguably, played an abysmal hand. He'd given away a set of "Three Aspects Made Clear" cards and created two more pairs among the known cards.

And so, it was Black Butterfly’s turn to flip…

Having successfully taken the known three points, Black Butterfly's score rose to 33. Of course, she was already in the lead, so this "reversal point" was not of great significance.

But the key was... both locations of the "Pure Land of Bliss" were now known.

In other words, from this moment on, as long as "Six Aspects" were revealed on the table, meaning "the total Aspects flipped by both sides reaches twenty-five," the one with the right to flip would have a very good chance of winning directly.

"I see... I think I understand what he's trying to do..." After taking the three points, Black Butterfly didn't immediately flip a new unknown card, but pondered, "His three flips just now seemed foolish, but in fact... it was a trap! His intention was to increase my chances of scoring in this round..."

Thinking of this, Black Butterfly sneered and said to Jue-ge, "Heh... you really are wicked, Mr. Raven."

Feng Bujue made no response to these words; his expression behind the mask remained unchanged.

"You're being so generous in 'helping me' because, bluntly, you want me to keep attacking and reveal more unknown cards, right?" Black Butterfly continued.

"Oh... you saw through it?" Upon hearing this, Feng Bujue knew there was no point in hiding anything.

"It's not that difficult to see through..." Black Butterfly became somewhat smug. "Now that I think about it... you've never considered things in terms of 'this round' or 'the next round,' but rather 'the whole game.' From the first round, you've been following this line of thinking, so, except for the rounds you thought you should score in, you've been revealing 'unknown cards' every round." She paused, then added, "According to the rules, there are three conditions that must be met to 'determine a winner': first, twenty-five Aspects have been revealed on the table; second, both 'Pure Land of Bliss' cards are known; third, when the first two conditions are met, the one holding the right to flip must have at least 33 points."

At this point, Black Butterfly sneered, "Hmph... however, that's just the obvious surface; there's another, less obvious 'condition' that you wouldn't think of just by looking at the rules. That is—while the previous three conditions are met, the number of unflipped known cards on the table must reach a certain amount."

"Heh... not bad." Feng Bujue responded with a smile upon hearing this.

"No need to praise me; I'm just at the 'normal person' level." Black Butterfly retorted. "Because I only just realized your intention... until now." She shook her head and said with a helpless tone, "I must admit... besides memory, you're also above me in calculation... to use chess as an analogy, anyone who understands the rules can calculate one or two steps ahead; but you... when you make your first move, you've already seen the whole board, always leading others by five steps, or even ten steps or more." Saying that, she tapped the table with her hand. "Looking at the current situation, I seem to be in an advantageous position because I'm very close to those 'three superficial conditions,' but in reality... that last condition is the real key to victory..."

"The person who knows enough unflipped cards can win at any time; conversely, those who have unclear memories of those unflipped cards, or know nothing at all, no matter how close they are to 'victory' in terms of points, will never be able to take that final step..."

"Heh... that's not necessarily true." Feng Bujue said, "If that step is taken on a staircase called 'Strong Luck', isn't it still possible to walk toward victory?"

"Strong Luck?" Black Butterfly sneered again. "Hmph... the 'Strong Luck' you're talking about, could it be that I'll 'reveal Six Aspects in a row' from this hand onward? Heh... if I had that kind of luck... I wouldn't have ended up on this ship, would I?"

Having said that, she started flipping cards, and unhesitatingly flipped three known cards, ending her turn.

"Oh... is that your strategy?" Seeing this, Feng Bujue said listlessly, "Then let me ask, if I start flipping only known cards like you from this round onward, then after two rounds... are you going to be penalized points, or are you going to flip at least one unknown card?"

Black Butterfly heard this and smiled charmingly, "You can wait and see for yourself after two rounds."

"Hehe..." Feng Bujue laughed, "Looking at your fearless appearance, even the mask can't hide your thoughts..." As he spoke, he stood up from the chair again. "You've already calculated... that at least seven to nine more unknown cards must be revealed on the field before a winner can be determined, so you're not in a hurry. Anyway, you'll flip according to the pace of flipping only one unknown card every three rounds, and if you're lucky, you might even score, and if you're unlucky... it's just giving me a chance to score; now you've already obtained the 33 reversal key points, so it doesn't matter even if I score 15 points in a row. What you want to fight for... is only the 'Twenty-Fifth Aspect', everything else doesn't matter. And before that, if you and I spend rounds flipping only one unknown card every three rounds, you'll be happy too... because your memory isn't dominant, so you can't ask for more when something helps you repeatedly solidify your memory."

His words had basically explained about eighty or ninety percent of the tactics the other party had thought of.

Black Butterfly didn't deny it and immediately replied, "So what if you know?" By now, she had long abandoned her delicate image and was communicating with Jue-ge entirely in her true nature. "Even if you know, the situation won't change. Blame... blame yourself for being too arrogant, and never expected your tactics to be seen through by me; now... it's too late to regret it." She pretended to sigh and continued in a provocative tone, "Alas... Mr. Raven, I might as well guess your thoughts as well, are you thinking at this moment—'If I had known this, I might have won if I had started by trying to score against her using the usual method'?"

"'Might'?" Feng Bujue repeated those three words and replied coldly, "What do you mean by might?" As he spoke, he reached out to prepare to flip a card. "Are you referring to... abandoning one's advantages in all aspects, and competing with the opponent in a limited layout space, at a level where luck accounts for a large proportion?"

As he spoke, he had already flipped an unknown card.

"Sorry..." Jue-ge said after putting down the new "One Aspect Clear" card, "You and I... are not in a relationship where we can play that kind of 'easy game' together. Even if the current game isn't very interesting to me, this is ultimately a 'win or lose' situation that involves interests, and I... don't intend to lose."