CHAPTER 337: CHAPTER 212: THE ANNIHILATION PLAN, GAMBLERS, AND THE PAST

After saying goodbye to the other brigade members at Bryggen Pier, Anluns and Xia Pingzhou walked along a brightly lit, winding mountain street. A red and white bus passed by them, pigeons perched on the distant church spire, and passers-by flowed like a moving melody.

Xia Pingzhou asked, "Did the leader reveal what the specific content of the August 1st operation is?"

"Rob the treasure of the Whale Terrarium." Anluns got straight to the point.

"Whale Terrarium?" Xia Pingzhou was taken aback, "Isn’t that the country of the Anecdote Envoy, the one inside the whale’s belly? You mean... we’re going to be against a nation?"

"That’s right, that’s our target."

"A country must have at least a few thousand guards, right? Even if they can’t kill us, they can wear us down."

"Indeed, according to the intelligence, the Royal Court Army of the Whale Terrarium numbers a thousand, each soldier at least comparable to a Kui Level Superpower User." Anluns shrugged, "In addition, there’s the Royal Court Team, which includes Catastrophe Level experts."

"How do we even fight that?" Xia Pingzhou asked suspiciously, "Aren’t we just throwing our lives away by going in... not to mention the Royal Court Team, just the thousand soldiers alone are enough to give us a hard time, though with Radish Head’s abilities, we can open a door and escape at any time."

Anluns laughed, "For this action, we have a few collaborators. According to the brigade leader, as long as we can help the Third Prince Cezar acquire the ’White King’s Staff,’ the power of both the Royal Court Army and the Royal Court Team will be disarmed in an instant, turning them into sheep ready for slaughter. And the brigade, being mostly composed of Superpower Users and Exorcists, won’t be affected by the White King’s Staff."

"What is the White King’s Staff?" Xia Pingzhou asked knowingly.

"The highest treasure of the Whale Terrarium, only available to the ruler of each generation, and in front of it, all Anecdote Fragments of generational level or lower will lose their effect. For the Anecdote Envoy, it’s like cutting off their lifeline."

"So... there’s a prince in the terrarium who’s become a rebel, and we need to help him get the staff?"

"That’s about it." Anluns smiled as he put his arm around Xia Pingzhou’s shoulder, "Come on, the nightlife is about to begin."

He pulled Xia Pingzhou into an alley on the street, walking into the depths down stairs leading underground, entering a brightly lit casino.

The moment they pushed the door open, lively noises rushed in, voices clamor, women in red miniskirts and white leather shoes entered their view, carrying trays with champagne passed by them, throwing a seductive glance their way.

Guests at the gambling table clenched cigarettes between their lips and frowned tightly, staring intently at the chips on the table, like generals inspecting resources during a war.

Xia Pingzhou looked around, "What are you going to do, blow this place up with a slot machine?"

Anluns curled his lips, "Just want to show you, this upright boy scout, the world."

He casually exchanged some chips with a banknote, then put his arm around Xia Pingzhou’s shoulder and sat down at a nearby gambling table, where the other three people simultaneously cast gazes at him.

Seated at this long table were notorious local gamblers, and seeing their mocking and smiling eyes, it was clear they thought Anluns was a newcomer who didn’t know their faces.

Xia Pingzhou pulled out a chair and sat down next to him, silently watching Anluns perform.

"So, when did you start gambling?" he asked.

Anluns lowered his eyes, checking his hand while whispering, "Uh... I grew up in London, and ended up encountering a criminal group. They specialized in kidnapping children and sending them into London casinos to coordinate with staff as cheating tools."

"That’s really miserable."

"Actually, it wasn’t too bad. I learned a lot of gambling skills there, and accumulated quite a bit of experience from constantly observing and listening... Two years later, I successfully escaped from the casino, broke away from that criminal group, and when I returned, I wore a face mask, assumed a new identity, won against everyone in the casino, exposed all their tricks in public, and finally, when they were about to shoot me, I blew it up with a slot machine."

"That’s really ruthless..." Xia Pingzhou said, "But well done."

"After that, I became a fugitive, having to change faces and identities in every different casino. I spent three years challenging every famous gambler in the United Kingdom, making them lose willingly, some even committed suicide by gun in front of me." Anluns said, "By then, I had long heard of Japan’s number one gambler ’Crow.’ He was very famous in the gambling world around the globe, rumored never to have lost a game in years, so I traveled all the way to Tokyo, Japan, to have a life-risking gamble with ’Crow.’"

Crow, was it Urushibara Osamu? Xia Pingzhou thought.

At this point, the atmosphere at the poker table was already at a boiling point, the other three guests who were calm earlier now flushed with anger, their necks as red as if on fire.

They glared at Anluns’s right hand and the last card on the table with eyes like fierce dogs, gnashing their teeth.

Anluns met their gazes one by one, scanning their faces, then teasingly curled his mouth and casually flipped over the last card on the table.

"This is impossible!"

"He’s definitely cheating!"

"Let me take a good look at this kid!"

Anluns clasped his fingers together, smiled, and sat calmly at the table without looking back as he said to Xia Pingzhou:

"In the end, as you see... I lost. Only at that moment did I realize, that Japan’s number one gambler ’Crow’ was actually the leader of the White Crow Travel Brigade—Urushibara Osamu. It was meant to be a life-risking game, so just as I picked up a revolver intending to pull the trigger on my head and end it, the leader generously asked if I wanted to join them.

"But by then, I had already pulled the trigger. When I came to my senses, I realized that the gun I carried was empty, the bullets had been removed at some point, and when I opened my eyes, I saw a crow flying in the air, black beak dropping bullets one by one.

"The leader’s eyes were very calm at that time, and after a long silence, I chose to join the brigade."

A gambler at the table swung his right hand, seemingly trying to grab Anluns’s suit tie, but Xia Pingzhou caught his arm, pulled him over, bent his body slightly, executed a smooth shoulder throw, and then pinned him to the ground with his elbow.

Although Xia Pingzhou’s physical abilities were average, they were more than enough to handle ordinary people.

"Let’s go, looks like the fun for tonight ends here." Anluns smiled.

Xia Pingzhou released the gambler’s right arm, stood up, and walked beside Anluns with a cold expression, like a cold-faced bodyguard. The surrounding onlookers quickly made way for them, and the two soon walked out of the brightly lit casino.

The pitch-black iron gate closed, shutting out the noise behind them. They walked out of the silent deep alley, back onto the long street surrounded by mountains, with soothing jazz music wafting from the café.

"Have the other crew members arrived?" Xia Pingzhou asked.

"Only me, Tong Zizhu, and the hacker are here. The other members will take a couple more days," Anluns shrugged.

"Quite a relaxed feeling... even though there’s a century battle coming up on August 1st, those who should be late are still late."

"Scared?"

"Not really..." Xia Pingzhou said with a blank face. "Just amazed at how big this operation is. In comparison, that auction was like child’s play, though it was quite unlucky we ran into Lake Hunting’s monster."

"There’s not much difference between a robber and a gambler," Anluns shrugged. "The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. Every action is a gamble, which is one reason I enjoy staying with the White Crow Travel Brigade. Part of me wants a chance to compete in gambling with the leader again, while another part enjoys the atmosphere here."

Xia Pingzhou thought for a moment: "Actually, you could have stayed at the casino a bit longer, why let them check you? With your skills, even if you cheated, they wouldn’t find out."

"Do you know why?"

"Didn’t want to waste time with them?"

"No... because if I didn’t return you in time, the young lady would get mad at me."

Anluns said, glancing at his watch. He had agreed with Ayase Origami to only borrow Xia Pingzhou for two hours, and the time was almost up. The agreement had his handwritten signature in black and white.

"True enough," Xia Pingzhou said.

"Let’s go," Anluns smiled. "The young lady and Tong Zizhu are still by Bryggen Pier, and the hacker arranged a place for us to stay nearby. We should be staying at a hotel tonight, with a sea view, and the rooftop is perfect for chatting at night while enjoying the sea breeze. If you don’t drink, you can have orange juice."

"Oh."

Xia Pingzhou nodded and expressionlessly extended his hand towards him.

"What do you mean?"

"Bodyguard fee. I didn’t come for free," Xia Pingzhou said.

Anluns was taken aback and then shrugged helplessly: "Okay, okay, I’ll have the hacker transfer it to you later."

With that, he put an arm around Xia Pingzhou’s shoulder, walking back. Before long, they reached Bryggen Pier. Xia Pingzhou glanced at the address sent by the hacker on his phone and walked to a nearby hotel, collecting the room card from the front desk. When he opened the room, it was empty.

After showering, he went to sleep without a word, ignoring even when Anluns knocked to ask him to drink.

The next morning, Xia Pingzhou, like a robot running a set routine, opened his eyes in bed promptly.

Drawing the curtains, he glanced at the view of the fjord city. The sea by Bryggen Pier shimmered under the morning sun, with birds perched on the wooden fish house apex.

"Green tea shark."

Suddenly, he heard a call that didn’t belong here. Then, he scanned several perspectives in his mind and synchronized his consciousness to the Third Body.

The little shark opened its eyes from the crystal ball, seeing Li Qingping already holding the crystal ball, waiting in a corner of the dormitory. Cezar was changing by the coat rack.

It lifted its head and could see Li Qingping’s chin.

"What a lousy start to wake up and see a pig’s chin," the little shark muttered.

Li Qingping yawned, too lazy to respond.

"Yaguba... good timing on waking up, Mother wants to meet," Cezar said, "I don’t want to avoid it."

"Then let’s go meet that bad woman," Yaguba said.

Cezar straightened his collar, turned to Li Qingping: "Speaking of which, Li Qingping, Yaguba told me a couple of days ago that there are many words in Chinese similar to ’dumbass’... so what word do you think fits Mother?"

"Let me think..." Li Qingping tilted his head, thought for a while expressionlessly, "Bitch."

"Bitch?"

Li Qingping nodded: "A compliment, suits Her Majesty the Empress."

"I see..." Cezar said, taking the lead to walk out of the dormitory, "Let’s go, meet Mother."

Yaguba was stunned, then pointed a fin at Li Qingping, shouting: "Do not teach elementary students bad words, even blackened elementary students must have quality! Li Qingping, you’re heinous!"

"You already taught His Highness the Third Prince how to curse me in Chinese, isn’t that bad?" Li Qingping asked.

"How is cursing you bad?" Yaguba said, "That’s just speaking the truth."

"Green tea shark."

"杂鱼红龙 (Trash Red Dragon)."