The only thing noteworthy about the white porcelain cat sculpture in his hands was probably just its overall outline.

It seemed to have a somewhat aloof and divine posture.

"Haha, Saul, looking at your expression, I know you're somewhat disappointed with it, right?" Mike smiled mysteriously, seemingly unsurprised by Saul's reaction.

He extended his index finger and waved it twice in front of Saul. "This is the first piece of advice from an elder who has been traveling and trading for over ten years: never be deceived by the surface appearance of things."

He placed the white porcelain kitten on the dining table and gently stroked the kitten's head with his hand.

"I'll demonstrate it for you personally now." Mike took out a regular twelve-sided die. "You know dice, right? Let's throw randomly and compare sizes. I just petted the cat god and received a brief blessing. In the next three rounds, I will definitely beat you."

After speaking, Mike extended his hand toward Saul, indicating he should go first.

Saul picked up the die, thinking: "Could Mike be a cheater, or a highly skilled gambler?"

He didn't control his strength and casually threw the die into the plate Mike had prepared.

The number facing up on the die was 10.

This was already quite a large number.

Mike smiled confidently, picked up the die, and also threw it very casually.

The die collided with the plate, making a crisp sound.

When the die stopped again, the number on top was 11.

Exactly one point more than Saul's.

Saul said nothing and picked up the die to throw a second time.

This time it was 6 points.

Mike also threw very casually.

The die drew an arc in the air, and when it stopped, it was 8 points.

Mike looked up at Saul. "I've already beaten you two rounds."

Saul crossed his arms, then extended one finger to point at the die in the plate.

"This time, you go first."

Mike raised his eyebrows and smiled slyly, as if saying "I already know what you're thinking."

However, he didn't decline and still picked up the die, throwing it casually.

This time he threw 11 points.

Quite large, but not the peak number.

Saul reached out to pick up the die.

He felt the texture of the die with his fingers and didn't discover any layered materials inside.

So it seemed the other party's die-throwing technique was very skillful.

But Saul wasn't afraid either. With his muscle control, he could throw whatever number he wanted.

He flicked his middle finger lightly, and the die flew out with a "ding" sound, landing in the plate and starting to spin.

When the rotation was about to stop, both could see that the top of the die showed 12 points.

However, just as the die was about to stop, the entire airship suddenly shuddered and dropped about half a meter downward in an instant.

"Don't worry, sometimes air currents or flying birds can cause the airship to shake. Nothing will happen." Mike remained calm and didn't even look at the die in the plate.

Saul shifted his gaze from Mike's composed face to the plate on the table.

Due to the recent shaking, the die in the plate instantly changed from the about-to-stop 12 points to 9 points!

Saul looked at Mike again. The other party hadn't moved improperly from beginning to end.

Finally, he looked at the white porcelain kitten sitting quietly on the table.

"Luck is just like this—unclear and indescribable, but it truly exists." Mike leaned back and smiled even more proudly. "People used to say luck favors those who are prepared. But some people prepare their whole lives without luck ever favoring them once."

He leaned forward again, elbows on the table, fingers interlaced against his chin. "And today you've gained a chance to directly purchase luck."

"How much?" Saul asked directly.

The corner of Mike's mouth, hidden behind his fingers, curled up.

From Saul's last die throw, he could tell this young man had some ability.

But the more capable someone was, the more easily they fell into another extreme after failing at something they were confident about.

They would inexplicably believe in whatever had defeated their skills.

Even if that opportunity seemed incredibly absurd.

"Since you're so straightforward, I won't beat around the bush either. Twenty thousand silver coins, or twenty magic crystals."

Saul raised his eyebrows. "You also accept magic crystals?"

"Of course. We're all people going to Sky City to make a living—don't tell me you didn't prepare magic crystals."

"I do have some, but I need to think about it. This money... is too much."

"Of course you can." Mike nodded first, but then reminded Saul, "However, Saul, good luck won't always stay in place waiting for you. If you can't make up your mind before the airship reaches Sky City, I can only abandon this transaction."

After Saul returned to his room, Kate, who had been holding back the entire way, finally couldn't help but speak, "I think this person is just an experienced swindler. That white porcelain kitten is both ugly and has no magical fluctuations at all, yet he wants to cheat you out of twenty magic crystals. If we were really just ordinary people, twenty magic crystals would basically be a lifetime's savings."

"But he did beat me three times." Saul looked thoughtful. "And the last accident wasn't something an ordinary person could arrange."

"Lord Saul, I can tell you don't often deal with this type of person." Kate licked his cat paw. "People like Mike, even if they didn't encounter the airship shaking, would definitely have other ways to interfere with your die. Did you notice the time limit he gave you for consideration? Why before the airship reaches port? Because once you complete the transaction, he'll immediately leave the airship and make sure you can never find him again! Of course, this is only based on the premise that you're just an ordinary person."

"That makes some sense." Saul nodded. "So I plan to go look at that ceramic kitten again tonight."

"Tonight?" Kate blurted out. "How will you go look?"

Saul drew a wavy line in the air with his hand. "Float over."

Kate's whiskers trembled. "...As long as you're happy."

...

That night, Saul lay on the narrow bed and completed an soul projection.

The orange cat curled up sleeping in the chair seemed to sense something, lifted one eyelid, saw Saul was still on the bed, then closed it again.

It was still muttering, "I knew he wouldn't go."

Saul didn't wake Kate and directly floated upward.

He quickly reached the upper floor and, after passing through several walls, finally arrived at Mike's room.

During the day, when the airship shook, he had vaguely sensed a mental power.

But that mental power was very special—a type of mental fluctuation he had never seen before.

Fast and weak.

Like down floating in willow catkins, making it impossible to distinguish it from the wind.

Saul decided to enter the soul state, which was more sensitive to spiritual bodies, and go examine that white porcelain kitten again.

He believed that in this state, as long as the white porcelain kitten produced even the slightest fluctuation, he could sense it.

However, when Saul passed through the last wall and entered Mike's room, he fell silent.

Because Mike... was already dead.

He sat in the chair, bent over with his face down.

Drowned in less than three centimeters of washing water in a basin.

At his feet, the white porcelain kitten that Mike had carefully guarded during the day had fallen to the ground, broken in half.

(End of Chapter