Chapter 86#

Fu Yucheng stared blankly at the dice on the table, looking completely despondent.

Brother Zhou smiled triumphantly and swept all the chips in front of himself: “A-Cheng, a bet is a bet. Just try to look on the bright side.”

Fu Yucheng gritted his teeth tightly, his face slowly turning a deep red.

Then, he suddenly unfastened something from his waist and slammed it onto the table with a “Bang!”: “Another round!”

Everyone peered closer to see that it was a thin and narrow scalpel. The blade was only the size of a finger, and its edge flickered with a faint blue light, looking very peculiar.

Someone immediately let out a “tch”: “I thought it was something special, just a broken knife.”

Brother Zhou, however, was someone of experience. He stared fixedly at that scalpel and didn’t speak for a long time.

Looking at his expression, Fu Yucheng knew the other had taken the bait.

In fact, this scalpel wasn’t made of “blue gold”; it just had a layer of special electroplated metal on its surface that made it appear this eerie blue—this was something Ning Yue had handmade in the mechanical factory according to Fu Yucheng’s requirements.

Of course, Ning Yue didn’t know what Fu Yucheng wanted it for; if he did, he certainly wouldn’t have helped Fu Yucheng deceive someone.

Staring at the scalpel, Brother Zhou’s eyes suddenly focused.

Fu Yucheng blinked. Feeling the other’s weak mental power quietly released, he immediately mobilized his own mental power and, using the “force system” ability, lightly lifted the scalpel.

The scalpel rose into the air, rotating slowly in an extremely graceful posture.

Brother Zhou’s eyes widened, thinking his mental power was resonating with “blue gold,” and was overjoyed. However, he was after all only a D-class controller. Before long, his mental power became unsustainable, and the scalpel fell onto the table with a “clang.”

Brother Zhou reached out to take it, but Fu Yucheng had already snatched it back a step ahead, watching him warily at the same time: “What do you want to do?”

Brother Zhou said with a fawning smile: “A-Cheng, let me have a look at that knife of yours.”

Fu Yucheng gripped the knife tightly and glared at the other: “This was left to me by my grandfather; it’s our family heirloom… If you dare to seize it by force, I’ll snap it directly, and no one will have it!”

That thin scalpel trembled slightly in his hand, looking as if it couldn’t withstand force.

Brother Zhou quickly leaned back a bit while waving his hands desperately: “No seizing, no seizing! You, be careful; don’t break it!”

Fu Yucheng stared at him for a long time. Seeing that he made no move to seize it, he seemed finally to relax, and the force in his hand lightened.

Brother Zhou asked tentatively: “A-Cheng, you said just now you wanted another round with me?”

Fu Yucheng pursed his lips tightly. After a moment, he nodded somewhat hesitantly: “I want… I want to use this knife as a stake.”

As if afraid he would change his mind, Brother Zhou hurriedly said: “Easy to say, easy to say! En, for this knife, I’ll count it as ten thousand transaction coins. How about it?”

Everyone simultaneously took a sharp breath—in this desolate Titan human settlement, ten thousand transaction coins were enough for an ordinary person to live a prosperous life.

Fu Yucheng shook his head.

Brother Zhou blanked: “You think it’s too little? I can add more; that’s not a problem. It’s just that I can’t produce that much cash right now.”

Fu Yucheng looked at him and said slowly: “I don’t want transaction coins. I want your nine gambling dens, including this one.”

Brother Zhou was stunned.

After a long time, he raised his eyebrows somewhat amusedly: “A-Cheng, I didn’t see it before, but you’ve got quite the ambition, kid.”

Fu Yucheng said coldly: “Less nonsense. Are you betting or not?”

Brother Zhou squinted his eyes, looking the other up and down, and said slowly: “I’m betting.”

Fu Yucheng added: “Go find Old Overseer Xu to be a witness.”

Old Overseer Xu was the general manager of this large “Rock Bun Area” and an old confidant of the Titan Lord. If he acted as a witness, no one would dare renege on the debt.

Brother Zhou curled his lips: “Fine.”

He tilted his chin toward a subordinate: “A-Qiang, go invite Old Overseer Xu.”

Not long after, Old Overseer Xu arrived tremulously. He was a bald old man and also a C-class electric system controller, though he hadn’t made a move for many years.

Old Overseer Xu squinted his dim eyes, heard the explanation clearly, and then slowly nodded: “I understand. Zhou Meng, A-Cheng, you two start now.”

Brother Zhou held three dice, his hawk-like eyes glancing at Fu Yucheng, and then gave a light throw.

Six, six, five.

Brother Zhou secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“Tsk tsk, seventeen points.”

“As expected of Brother Zhou!”

“Haha, this is settled now.”

The crowd watching the scene had complex expressions for a time. Some were envious, some were jealous, some pitied Fu Yucheng, and some couldn’t wait to fawn over Brother Zhou.

Fu Yucheng had no expression on his face as he held the dice, feeling the slight movement of the mercury inside.

He could actually use mental power to control the dice, but Old Overseer Xu opposite him seemed very sensitive to mental power. If he were seen through, it would be somewhat troublesome… Fortunately, his own technique was also quite good.

Fu Yucheng took a slow breath and threw them out casually—

Everyone’s eyes followed those three dice as they rolled.

Six, six… six!

Everyone’s eyes widened, as if unable to believe the scene before them.

“Three sixes… how is that possible?”

“This kid A-Cheng is good!”

“Cough, cough, there couldn’t be a trick, could there?”

Brother Zhou stared fixedly at the three dice on the table, his face devoid of expression.

Old Overseer Xu said in a deep voice: “This round, A-Cheng won. Zhou Meng, do you have any objections?”

Brother Zhou finally came to his senses, his face gradually turning extremely pale. He staggered back a few steps and slumped into his chair.

…

This evening, the settlement was again hit by wind and sand. The light inside the small rock bun was particularly dim, and an old portable charging lamp on the table emitted a faint yellow light.

Ning Yue looked down at the table, his expression somewhat dazed.

On the table lay a stack of yellowed deeds for gambling dens.

“…What are these?” He slowly swallowed a mouthful of saliva and spoke with some difficulty.

Fu Yucheng took a drink of water and shrugged nonchalantly: “I won nine gambling dens from Zhou Meng today; these are the deeds for those dens.”

Ning Yue suddenly stood up: “You can’t have these!”

Fu Yucheng put down his cup in confusion: “What’s wrong?”

Ning Yue said urgently: “What kind of person is Zhou Meng? It’s one thing if you win a few transaction coins from him, but you’ve won his entire livelihood. Will he let you go? Don’t you know the saying—when the creditor is gone, the gambling debt is also gone? What do you think he will do?”

Fu Yucheng thought about it and nodded: “En, it seems so.”

Ning Yue said in a low voice: “Yu-ge, tomorrow I’ll go with you to the Zhou house and return these things to Zhou Meng. Yu-ge, you really don’t need to do this… I sing at the bar at night; though the money isn’t much, it’s enough for the two of us. Besides, once I finish my apprenticeship, the mechanical factory will also pay a salary. If it’s still not enough, I can take another job…”

Listening to his incessant nagging, Fu Yucheng couldn’t help but find it funny and said: “Don’t worry, Zhou Meng won’t move against me for now. As someone who runs gambling dens, his most important asset is credit. If it were a small matter, it would be fine, but this bet caused such a commotion and had Old Overseer Xu as a witness. If something happened to me immediately, could he avoid suspicion?”

Ning Yue furrowed his brows tightly: “Are you, are you unwilling to part with these deeds?”

“The deeds aren’t important.” Fu Yucheng shook his head, “Besides, within three days, Zhou Meng will definitely come looking for me. At that time, I’ll sit down with him and slowly negotiate terms.”

Seeing that he wouldn’t listen to reason, Ning Yue became even more anxious: “You’re dealing with a tiger! It’s too dangerous!”

“Such a child…” Fu Yucheng shook his head amusedly, no longer arguing with him, and went back to his room of his own accord, leaving Ning Yue alone to stare blankly at the pile of deeds on the table.

…

“Little brat, come home with me.” That person walked out from the sandstorm, reaching out a hand toward him.

He looked up at him dazed, involuntarily placing his hand on top.

At that exact moment, the person’s hand suddenly solidified, and then starting from the fingertips, an unusual blackness emerged. That blackness spread rapidly, and within moments, his entire being turned into a piece of charcoal.

Then, with a faint “crack,” it shattered into a floor full of charred debris.

And his own outstretched hand was still suspended in mid-air.

It was empty, without a hint of warmth.

…

“Yu-ge…” Bai Mo breathed violently and abruptly opened his eyes.

He lay on the soft large bed in the Crown Prince’s palace, looking blankly up at the fluttering white gauze curtains at the head of the bed. His nose caught the distant and hazy scents of magnolia and white rose.

It had been one hundred and fifty-three days and nine hours since that day.

At first, he couldn’t sleep at all; as soon as he closed his eyes, the darkness was filled with that person’s smile and the dazzling fire of the explosion. Soon, he was unable to process state affairs normally, but to sustain the entire empire and protect everything well, he had the doctor prescribe strong sedatives.

Over these months, Bai Mo had relied on medication to manage two or three hours of sleep each night.

But every night, he would struggle to wake up from various nightmares and then be unable to sleep again.

Tonight was the same.

Bai Mo lay quietly for a long time, then sat up and turned on the bedside lamp.

He picked up the yellowed copy of Beyond Good and Evil next to his pillow and began to read slowly.

Back on Earth, that person had said that once he had time, he could take a good look at this book… he had to listen to that person.

Bai Mo lowered his eyes, turned another page, and read in a low voice: “When you gaze into the abyss…”

Suddenly, a commotion came from outside, mixed with arguments like “His Majesty is resting,” “I have urgent business,” “You can’t do this…”

Bai Mo couldn’t help but furrow his brows.

So late at night, what was going on?

He stood up, casually draped an outer robe over himself, and said in a deep voice: “Who is outside? Come in.”

A moment later, Yao Ning pushed the door and walked in. This calm and lean Light Realm Knight was actually a bit out of breath at this moment.

Bai Mo waved his hand, exempting him from kneeling: “It’s so late, is there something you need?”

Yao Ning hesitated slightly and then said: “Your Majesty, last night, the people below screened a piece of news—someone reported to the logistics center of the Fifth Dyson Cloud three months ago that a small long-distance spacecraft was missing. It just so happens that the person who reported it is currently in the Ninth Ecological Zone, so I had him brought here.”

Bai Mo frowned: “So what?”

Yao Ning mused: “This news alone isn’t particularly noteworthy. However, the traffic center just issued a cross-comparison report of various flight bases… Previously, a cargo ship departed from the flight base of the rebel Edmund and stayed at the logistics center of the Fifth Dyson Cloud for three days. Not long after, a small spacecraft went missing from the logistics center.”

Bai Mo stared fixedly at the other, his entire body tensed, seemingly realizing something.

He hesitated for a long, long time before finally speaking, his voice even trembling: “You mean… you’re saying…”

Yao Ning said in a low voice: “I’m not certain either, so I brought the person who reported it as well. He is waiting in the study.”

Bai Mo felt a buzzing in his head and, disregarding all etiquette, ran toward the study barefoot, even nearly tripping over the study’s threshold, appearing almost disheveled.

The person who reported it was a minor noble and also a small owner of a medicinal mine. His usual business was mainly pharmaceutical mine trading between the Fifth and Sixth Dyson Clouds, and occasionally mining at the surrounding asteroid belts.

At this moment, he was kneeling on the snowy white long-haired carpet in the study, looking somewhat cowering.

This small business owner didn’t seem to understand why simply reporting a theft had led him to be brought to the White Rose Palace by a Light Realm Knight.

Bai Mo strode in front of him and said sharply: “You’re the person who reported it? How did you lose your ship? Did you see anyone at the time?”

The owner guessed who he was, and his entire being was terrified, his body shaking: “No, no… I don’t know anything, Your Majesty spare me, Your Majesty spare me!”

Bai Mo was so agitated he almost wanted to give him a heavy kick!

He gritted his teeth fiercely, doing his best to control his emotions. After a long time, he managed to calm his breathing and then softened his voice as much as possible: “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you; I’ll even reward you. Think carefully, how did you lose that ship? During the few days the ship went missing, did you see any strangers?”

The owner stammered: “My ship is a small long-distance spacecraft, used for mining pharmaceutical mines in the asteroid belt… That morning, I took people to unload cargo for another ship and suddenly discovered a ship was missing. I’m usually very busy and didn’t notice any strangers, except, except…”

Bai Mo said urgently: “Except what? Tell me!”

The owner muttered: “Except that in our docking area, it seemed like a cleaning worker was replaced, and then the person disappeared later.”

After he finished, he seemed to feel this matter was truly insignificant, and his expression was somewhat uneasy.

Bai Mo stared intently at him: “The cleaning worker you mentioned, what did he look like?”

The owner blanked for a moment, seemingly not expecting such a detailed question. He hesitated for a long time before speaking uncertainly: “He was always wearing a cleaning worker’s dust mask; I didn’t pay attention…”

Bai Mo felt a bit disappointed and pressed further: “What about his build?”

The owner blinked: “Build… the cleaning uniforms are all very baggy; his specific build couldn’t be seen.”

Bai Mo patiently interrogated for a long time yet still found nothing. He furrowed his brows tightly, feeling both extreme agitation and immense disappointment.

The owner licked his lips and suddenly remembered something: “By the way, one day that worker was cleaning oil stains at a docking berth, looking like he was struggling quite a bit. I told him to go to the logistics center to get some cleaning agent, and he even said thank you to me…”

The owner’s expression was somewhat puzzled: “I don’t know if it was because of the light at the time or if I was seeing things, but the color of his eyes looked very strange… clearly dark, yet flickering with a bit of dark green.”

Bai Mo couldn’t hear anything that followed.

He involuntarily swayed, then almost collapsed, having to support himself against the desk behind him to stay standing.

The owner was a bit afraid and couldn’t help stealing a glance at him. This legendary solitary and cold White Emperor was currently leaning against the desk as if drained of strength, his entire body shaking slightly.

After a long, long time, the youth finally spoke, his voice hoarse beyond measure: “Investigate… investigate thoroughly for me. Yao Ning, pull all the surveillance from all satellites of the nine Dyson Clouds for the past five months…”

His dark eyes stared fixedly at the heavy deep-blue night outside the window, saying almost word by word: “Within twenty-four hours, I want the whereabouts of that spacecraft.”