aircannonsinc Chapter 462 The Bettors
Chapter 462 The Bettors
Chapter 462 The Bettors
At this point, the Reversed World is still in the hands of the greedy. Although they are all fighting their own battles, they are mostly united in their approach to external forces.
This can be clearly seen from their handling of heretical demons.
Greedy people have no friends or allies; to them, everyone can be an enemy.
Regardless of which side threatens their control over reality, they will inevitably unite to launch a devastating attack on their opponent.
In other words, they cannot extend their reach into the inner world yet. Otherwise, Tang Zijun would really suspect that they might take this opportunity to wipe out the Heretic Demon force first.
However, upon closer examination, the possibility is not high. After all, the inner world is the domain of heretics and demons. Given the mindset of those greedy people, they generally would not put themselves under a precarious situation.
Greedy people are arrogant and conceited. In their eyes, they are the masters of the world. They must achieve both fame and fortune when they make a move. As for making them soldiers to fight, forget about it.
Sensing the faint, familiar scent wafting from afar, Tang Zijun knew she had stepped into the territory of an "old friend."
The current reverse world is still in a state of differentiation. The greedy people born here will choose the places they like to occupy, and the order of arrival matters.
Fortunately, the Reversal World is large enough that even though there are many greedy people, there won't be any territorial disputes like those seen with the Outer Path Demons.
But nothing is absolute. Tang Zijun knew of a greedy person who was banished to live on the moon in the Reversed World because he was disliked by other greedy people.
This also shows that the reverse world is not just comparable to Earth, but covers a large part of the universe, including the solar system. In this world, it is also possible to reach outer space.
However, since the negative energy contribution points are mostly concentrated near Earth, very few greedy people would leave Earth to cause trouble for astronauts in outer space.
Holding the curly-eared creature, Tang Zijun quickly slipped behind a piece of cover.
He could already sense the other party approaching. Not only him, but also Curly Ears held his breath and stared wide-eyed at the direction from which the intense power of greed was coming.
Soon, in the sight of the man and the rabbit, a young man playing with playing cards walked briskly onto the street in front of them.
He was a young man who looked to be around twenty years old. His fox-like, squinting eyes exuded a hint of gloom, and a smile was always on his face, as if nothing could stop the corners of his mouth from turning up.
"It really is him..." Tang Zijun smiled with mixed feelings the moment she saw him.
Curly-eared girl snuggled slightly closer to Tang Zijun. "You know him?"
"Hmm... Don't worry, I've already separated this part of the space. Even if he's a high-ranking member of the Greedy Ones, he won't be able to detect our presence without careful observation, let alone sense the magical girl power on you."
Hearing Tang Zijun's words, Juan Erduo breathed a slight sigh of relief, but quickly realized what she meant and couldn't help but exclaim, "He's a high-ranking official!?"
"Yes." Tang Zijun nodded slightly and said softly. "One of the high-ranking members of the Greedy Ones, known as the gambler's bettor. This guy caused me a lot of trouble back in the day."
"Rumor has it that his true identity is an old man who lost both hands after being caught cheating. After that failure, he lost all his wealth. Not only did he lose his hands, but he also had to use his wife and daughters to pay off his debts. And that's how the gamblers came to be."
"The first thing this guy did after he was born was to kill his own body, and then he started hanging around various casinos, feeding on the negative energy emitted by gamblers after they lost everything."
"Didn't he retaliate against those casinos?" Curly Ears asked.
"Why would he want revenge?" Tang Zijun raised an eyebrow.
"He...he..." Curly-eared man opened his mouth, then belatedly realized that the guy in front of him was actually a weirdo, not a normal person.
Tang Zijun sneered and continued, "Don't assume all greedy people are like Lao Chang. He's a special case, but none of the other greedy people are good people."
"Logically speaking, the greedy have no feelings, let alone humanity. They appear according to the image that the original being fantasizes about. Just like this guy, his youthful appearance and cheating skills that are comparable to divine skills are exactly what that old cheater dreamed of."
"But if you think that the greedy person will act according to the original body's wishes, you're overthinking it. This bettor not only didn't avenge the original body, but also regarded the original body's wife and daughters as one of the sources of negative energy."
"This guy rarely kills people on his own initiative because he thinks it's not elegant. What he likes to do most is to secretly make gamblers who should be making a fortune in casinos lose all their wealth, and then absorb their negative energy."
"So, to put it simply, his actions are about replicating his own experiences in other people."
"Didn't anyone notice him doing that?" Curly Ears asked again.
"Discovered?" Tang Zijun laughed. "Putting aside the immense power of this guy's greed, even if he were discovered, so what? Those casinos would love to have more guys like him."
After all, what bettors want is the negative energy from the victims, and the victims' money ultimately ends up in the casino's accounts.
Listening to Tang Zijun's story, Juan Erduo felt that the guy in front of her was extremely dangerous. She never expected that this seemingly harmless guy would be so evil behind the scenes.
It's no wonder this guy has risen to the ranks of high-ranking members of the greedy class, given that he can continuously obtain negative energy without killing anyone.
Most importantly, he was extremely good at hiding.
On the other hand, it would be difficult for any magical girl to discover his existence. After all, gambling and losing everything happen every day in casinos, and it's hard to imagine that such a consensual situation could be associated with evil forces.
In addition, given the chaotic environment, even if he did kill someone, let alone not kill anyone, would the magical girl really be able to detect it?
Thinking about this, Juan Erduo felt very conflicted.
She paused, then asked, "So what was this guy's final fate? Did you kill him too?"
"The ending..." Tang Zijun's expression turned somewhat strange as she spoke. "He was one of the very few greedy individuals who could defeat me, and in the end, he did indeed die at my hands, but..."
"But what?" Curly-eared man pressed.
Tang Zijun let out a soft breath and whispered.
"However, I did not defeat him based on my strength."
"This guy's greed is strong. He once used a cheating trick to exchange for my transformation card, making me insert a damn Joker card into my belt. Of course, nothing happened."
"Fortunately, I managed to transform at the last moment through sheer willpower, which saved me from being killed by this guy, but I was still seriously injured."
"During the second battle, I fought him while injured, and I didn't have much of a chance of winning. However, at the crucial moment, I received help from a guy..."
"Help?" Curly-eared boy blinked. "Haven't you been fighting alone all this time? Who helped you in this situation?"
Tang Zijun didn't keep them in suspense and said softly, "Who else could it be but Old Chang?"
"Chang Lei!?"
"I told you, Old Chang is a special case. Even among the greedy, he's the most special one," Tang Zijun continued. "During this period, he was unpredictable and seemed like a madman."
"But it is true that he provided me with considerable assistance when I first started dealing with some veteran corrupt officials."
"Take this bettor for example. His cheating skills were so advanced that I was powerless against him at the time. So in the second battle, he challenged me to a betting contest using arabesques as chips."
"I had no other choice but to fight back and secretly try to find a chance to rescue Tangcao, who was in a coma. However, just when I was about to lose the bet, I miraculously turned the tables and won."
"It must have been Chang Lei who made the move," Curly Ears murmured.
Tang Zijun nodded slightly. "Yes, Lao Chang used a cheating tactic to flip the table, swapping my hole cards with the bettor's, which also ended the bettor's royal flush."
"Although we all knew that someone had tampered with the game, the established bet could not be changed. The moment I revealed my hand, Tangcao was automatically released, and I seized the opportunity to severely injure him and kill him."
"Later, when I fought with Lao Chang again, I asked him why he helped me. His answer was that he and other high-ranking members of the greedy group did not want to see a wild wolf without restraint."
"But I don't think this guy is telling the truth."
"Now it seems that Old Chang really is very attached to his family..."
At this point, Tang Zijun shook his head slightly, looked at the bettor who had disappeared from sight, and rubbed the head of the curly-eared boy.
"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. If you want to hear it, I can tell you later when I have time, but don't forget what our purpose is right now. We still haven't found the whereabouts of that time train."
"I'm temporarily granting you partial access to the Inverted World, so you can explore the surface worlds one by one."
"OK."
Curly-eared boy stood up and patted his chest.
"Leave it to me, I'll definitely find that wrecked car!"