Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 19
“Is it alright to leave Joanna alone?”
The elevator ascended, bringing Alois and Joshua from the tranquil underwater back to the bustling casino. As the elevator doors opened, a wave of heat mixed with excited screams and disappointed sighs hit them.
“If she can’t handle it alone, then having more people won’t help,” the assassin said, glancing around the casino. His eyes lingered on the gambling tables for a moment. “It seems that no matter how much human history progresses, the love for gambling never changes.” He nudged Alois with his elbow. “Want to give it a try?”
“I never touch these things,” Alois replied, trying to show his law-abiding image, but Joshua gave him a mocking glance.
“A little gambling is good for the soul,” the assassin said. “Don’t tell me you don’t even know how to use a slot machine.”
“Of course, I do!” Alois glared back defiantly. “But what if I lose?”
“Charge it to my account.”
Joshua skillfully exchanged for a handful of chips and stuffed them into Alois’s arms. Then he turned Alois around and gave him a push toward the lively crowd. “Go ahead.”
Alois stumbled, barely maintaining his balance. When he looked back, Joshua had already headed to the bar in the leisure area, ordered a cocktail, and started typing rapidly on his communication terminal.
“…Just wanted to get rid of me that badly?” Alois muttered angrily. He stopped looking at the assassin’s silhouette and turned toward the gambling area.
The casino’s center was the elevator, with platform levels arranged in irregular fan shapes around it, resembling layers of white shells from a distance. Each platform featured different gambling games. Alois passed the slot machine platform, where colorful lights flashed incessantly to the sound of falling coins. He remembered a con artist he met in Hecate Prison who scientifically demonstrated the various possibilities of slot machines using mathematical permutations and combinations, successfully instilling a fear of slot machines in the prison bully who always hated math.
Alois quickly moved to another platform, which was the roulette area. He had no fondness for this purely luck-based form of gambling. Moreover, “From a probabilistic standpoint,” the con artist had said, “whether you win or lose, the house always profits in the end.”
The third platform featured a game from the distant planet Cassano called “Colorful Pebbles”. Two participants took differently colored pebbles from a sealed box and engaged in a series of complex buying and trading rules. The first to collect seven pebbles of the same color won, while the loser had to swallow all the opponent’s pebbles. This seemed more like a board game than gambling. Spectators placed bets on who would win. Alois lingered on the outskirts of the crowd for a while before heading to the fourth platform.
At this point, someone stopped him.
“Good evening, young man.” The blocker was a middle-aged man with graying temples, clearly no longer young. In the warm, almost hot casino, he wore a thick, long coat. Whether it was due to a strange illness, or a peculiar habit was unknown. “I’ve been watching you for a while,” the man said. “Is this your first time here?”
Instinct told Alois that a stranger striking up a conversation in a casino had no good intentions. “You’re in my way, sir.”
The man smiled. “Don’t be like that, young man.” He spread his hands, showing he meant no harm. “This is the Portia Casino, one of the safest places in the world. There are well-trained security guards here,” he pointed to the guards patrolling the casino, “and surveillance cameras monitoring around the clock,” he pointed to the hidden black cameras on the ceiling. “No one would dare harm you here.”
This speech did nothing to lessen Alois’s wariness. Hecate claimed to be an impregnable fortress, too, he thought, showing an impatient expression.
“Young man, I only want to make friends with you,” the man said sincerely. “Since it’s your first time at Portia, how about I give you a tour?”
Alois tilted his head, pondering how to refuse without hurting the man’s feelings. Suddenly, a hand hooked around his shoulder. Startled, he turned to shake it off, only to be hit by a strong smell of alcohol.
A drunken young man hung on him, blowing a mouthful of boozy breath at the man. “Get lost!”
“Oh… alright. Sorry to disturb you two.” The man still smiled politely, shrugged, and then turned to leave.
The drunk young man staggered forward, almost dragging Alois along. “Don’t pay attention to that guy,” the youth slurred. “He’s a loan shark, Neo Venice’s ‘vicious Shylock’…”
No wonder he acted so familiar. Alois could almost imagine an unlucky novice gambler falling into that man’s trap step by step, eventually losing everything. “Uh, thanks for the help.”
“You’re welcome…” The youth held a half-empty bottle of amber liquid. He took a swig, then pushed Alois away, wobbling toward the next platform and almost falling down the connecting stairs. Just watching his unsteady gait made Alois’s heart skip a beat. He quickly followed the youth to the fourth platform.
This was the dice area. The crisp sound of dice clinking in cups and the dealer’s shouts filled the air. The youth waved his bottle as he squeezed into the crowd, securing a spot at the table. He pulled out a handful of colorful chips from his pocket and slapped them on the table. “Betting big!”
The dealer, a pretty girl, gave the youth a disdainful look before asking the gamblers around the table, “All bets in?” After getting affirmative responses, she revealed the dice. The numbers were 2, 4, and 1, totaling 7 points.
The youth’s chips were taken away. The dealer put the dice back in the cup and started shaking again. Her shaking was elegant and stylish, but in a casino, gamblers only paid attention to the dice, not the pretty dealer. She finally placed the cup on the table. “Place your bets!”
The youth took another swig of his drink and, undeterred, pulled out more chips. “Betting small.”
This time, the dice showed 5, 4, and 4, which was big.
In the following rounds, the youth lost regardless of his bets. Alois couldn’t bear to watch any longer. He remembered his gambling prison mates at Hecate saying, “There are those blessed by Lady Luck and those abandoned by her. Sometimes, you find people at the gambling table who seem to absorb all the bad luck in the world and lose no matter what they bet.”
The surrounding gamblers seemed to notice the youth was one of those abandoned by Lady Luck. After he placed his bet, they would bet the opposite.
After several rounds, the youth lost everything and had no money left. He raised his bottle, only to find it empty, then angrily smashed it on the ground, causing a loud crack. The entire casino fell silent. People stopped their games to watch the penniless youth. The dealer signaled the security guards to remove him before he caused a scene.
“Kid, you’re out of money. Stop gambling,” someone advised kindly.
“Who said I’m out of money?” The youth raised his head, unzipping his jacket slowly and theatrically pulling out two slips of paper from his inner pocket, holding them between his middle and index fingers. He waved them before pressing them on the gambling table.
“I’ll use these as chips,” he said proudly.
Instantly, the crowd erupted!
“Oh my god, what are those?” “Concert tickets for Camilla! Actual paper tickets!” “And they’re front-row premium seats!” “Even all the chips on the table combined wouldn’t match the value of one ticket!” “How extravagant!”
The dealer frowned, realizing she was dealing with a difficult customer. “Sorry, sir, our casino only accepts chips or cash…”
“Don’t be like that, Alison,” a deep male voice interrupted. “It’s rare to have a high-rolling guest. Don’t spoil the fun.”
The loan shark in the black coat slowly walked to the dealer, patting her shoulder before turning to the youth. “We meet again.”
“Do you want to place a bet too?” The youth squinted. Despite his previous drunkenness, he now appeared sober and sharp, completely different from before.
The loan shark smiled. “That’s right. I’ll be the banker this time and play a round with you. How about it?”
The youth sneered. “How much do you think these two tickets are worth?”
“I know they’re expensive. Luckily, I can afford to gamble.” With that, the loan shark mimicked the youth’s style, slowly taking out two uniquely shaped keys from his pocket, holding them between his fingers, and displaying them to the crowd for a few seconds before throwing them on the table.
“Keys?”
“The activation keys for the ‘Bard’.”
The crowd buzzed again!
“I’ll bet your tickets with these keys. How about it?” The man smiled slyly.
The youth snorted. “Bring it on!”
The dealer looked nervously at the man. “Is this okay?”
“Shake the dice, Alison. Everyone’s getting impatient.”
“Alright.” The dealer quickly started shaking the dice again. Throughout, the loan shark and the youth stared each other down. The man’s gaze was like a venomous snake biting into the youth.
“Place your bets!” The dealer placed the cup on the table and then clasped her hands behind her back, signaling she wouldn’t cheat.
The loan shark grandly waved his hand. “Everyone can join. Feel free to place your bets.”
No one spoke. They silently watched the youth, waiting for his next move.
The youth pushed the two tickets to the side marked “big”. “I bet big.”
After a few seconds of silence, someone timidly said, “I’ll… I’ll bet big too.”
Then the crowd came alive. “I’m betting big too!” “I’m betting small!” Some people wanted to bet on the youth, while others feared his recent losing streak and bet the opposite. Alois also felt the urge to try his luck. Despite disliking the loan shark, the “abandoned by Lady Luck” youth was even more frightening. So he placed all his chips on “small”.
“All bets in?” the dealer asked.
The loan shark scanned the crowd. “Reveal it.”
The dealer swallowed and quickly lifted the cup.
The three dice showed 6, 6, and 6—big.
Amid the exclamations, the youth pocketed the keys and tickets. “I have my lucky days too,” he said, smiling victoriously.
Alois watched in amazement as his chips were taken away. Luck was indeed a strange and indescribable thing, he thought.
At that moment, his communication terminal rang. Alois left the crowd and found a slightly quieter spot to answer.
“Lagrange?” Joanna’s voice came through. “Come to the casino entrance. It’s time to go.”
The owner of Portia Casino, Jolene, lounged on a soft sofa, savoring a Neo Venice-style ice cream. Despite being in her forties, she still retained her charm. After washing her hands of her past and opening the casino, she took great care of her appearance, looking just over thirty now.
The door to the room silently opened, and the loan shark entered quietly, making no noise. The long carpet absorbed his footsteps, but Jolene sensed his presence. Her sharp senses hadn’t dulled over the years.
“Kepler, I heard you lost badly just now?” Jolene’s subordinates had quickly reported the eye-catching gamble to her.
“Don’t mention it.” The loan shark sighed loudly as he walked behind her.
“You still haven’t kicked that gambling habit!” Jolene snapped her fingers, and a holographic screen popped up, replaying the surveillance footage of the game—the dealer Alison revealing the three sixes.
“Did he cheat?” Kepler asked.
“No.” Jolene shook her head. “Unless there’s a cheating method the cameras can’t catch.”
The loan shark sighed again, turning away from the heartbreaking footage.
The young man in the video pocketed the keys and tickets while the gamblers at the table buzzed. A young man was seen struggling to leave the crowd.
“Stop!” Jolene commanded. The screen froze on the blurry side profile of the young man leaving the crowd.
“Why does this person look familiar?” Jolene murmured.
“You’re overthinking it.” Kepler turned to comfort his friend but stopped short as he recognized the young man. He had tried to talk to him earlier, only to be ruthlessly rejected. Kepler hadn’t thought the young man looked familiar, but the blurred profile on the screen strongly resembled someone he used to know.
Jolene and Kepler almost simultaneously looked at a photo frame on a nearby shelf. In an age where electronic photos were the norm, Jolene had specially ordered a paper photo for its nostalgic feel. The photo was of a group of young people, with a much younger Jolene and Kepler in the center. The person on the far left seemed distracted, turning away from the camera, showing only a partial profile.
A profile that looked strikingly similar to the young man in the hologram.
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