The Devil King's Gamble (Chapter 2-in-1

Although the clown's voice was soft, who among those present could not hear it? There was a moment of silence.

The deep shadow let out a low, heavy laugh and said, "How many years has it been? I never thought a rookie card master would dare to refuse my deal and even ask for my true name, wanting to deal with me one day in the future..."

From the darkness, a hand reached out, as if trying to extract something from the void.

Yana suddenly laughed. She shook her head and sighed, "I didn't expect to encounter such a situation so soon, nor did I think I would actually do this for a newcomer... Forget it, Liu Ping, remember your promise."

"A Devil king? Of course, that's not a problem" the clown said, gesturing with his fingers.

"If someone else said that, I would turn and leave, but coming from you, I believe it to some extent." As Yana spoke, she reached out and forcefully pulled something from the void.

At the same time, the shadow opposite her drew a card.

The shadow handed the card to the Blood Knight Luo Sheng and said quietly, "Take this card, Blood Knight, it can help you defeat your opponent."

Luo Sheng looked at the card and saw that it depicted a magnificent arena. A group of shadowy figures wearing crowns sat in the stands of the arena, surrounded by mountains of treasures.

"The Devil king's gamble!" Luo Shen couldn't help but shout.

"Yes, it's this card. Remember, the reward you owe me has now doubled" the shadow said fiercely.

Opposite them, Yana also drew a card, which bore a strange emblem, aside from this emblem, the entire card was blank.

"I knew they would use that 'Devil kings' gamble' card, only that card can give the Blood Knight a huge advantage, so we can only—" Yana gritted her teeth and threw the emblem card away.

Bang! A light sound. A silver-haired old man in a black tailcoat appeared in the arena. He gracefully took Yana's hand and gave it a symbolic kiss, saying "What a pity, my lady, that you have fallen into such a predicament."

"Ups and downs, fate is nothing more than this" Yana said calmly.

"You possess a natural elegance" the old man praised.

At the moment the old man appeared, the Blood Knight Luo Sheng was about to throw his card. —His hand was pressed down by the shadow.

"Wait a moment" the shadow said in a deep voice.

The old man seemed to sense something and turned to the shadow, saying, "Good afternoon, it's quite lively today. I didn't expect you all to be here."

The shadow replied, "Sir, do you wish to intervene in this matter?"

"No, my schedule is usually very busy, but when a reputable trading partner calls me, I come" the old man said with a warm smile.

He glanced at Yana.

Yana said, "You know, I have never brought you a losing deal."

"Yes, if only to express my gratitude, I should come" the old man replied.

"When nothing is going on, I wouldn't dare trouble you to come personally... but I have discovered a lucrative investment if you are interested..." Yana did not continue but simply looked at the old man.

The coldness in the old man's eyes completely vanished as he turned and conjured two glasses of red wine from the void, handing one to Yana and holding the other in his hand, gently swirling it, saying, "I have always been interested in making money." Dark red flames shot out from him, forming a wall that isolated their conversation from the rest.

The old man said, "Now that guy can't hear our conversation anymore, the business you mentioned is—"

Yana smiled and said, "What I want to talk about is this 'Devil kings' gamble'."

"It seems you all have plenty of time—wait, are you suggesting that I join you in a bet?" The old man yawned, seeming somewhat listless.

Yana replied, "I remember I still have quite a treasure stored in your bank, this time, I'm all in."

The old man's gaze suddenly became sharp, and the sleepy demeanor he had just displayed vanished without a trace.

"All in, huh..." the old man probed.

"Yes, all in" Yana replied.

"What do you want me to do?" the old man asked.

"As long as you are here, no one would dare to cheat, all I need is for you to oversee this gamble" Yana said.

"You want me to bet alongside you?" the old man asked.

"The profits are substantial" Yana replied.

"So, I would be pulling a fast one, huh?" the old man chuckled.

Yana bowed slightly and said solemnly, "It is an honor for all of us that you stand here."

The old man pondered, his gaze shifting to the opposite side, glancing at the shadow and the blood knight before returning to the clown.

"Child, do you know what a devil king's gamble is?" he asked kindly.

"No, I don't" the clown replied.

He stared at the other person, only to see a line of small burning words emerge from above their head:

[Ancient Deity.]

[?????]

[True Ancient Devil King Incarnation.]

[????????]

[Only explanation: He rules over all worlds within a certain layer of Purgatory.]

The clown scanned it and said, "If there are secrets regarding this, I can pay."

Upon hearing the words "pay," the old man immediately laughed, "Ah, many things in this world are fair, although I have many businesses, I'm not yet at the point where I charge even for this."

The old man took out a piece of sheepskin scroll and handed it to the clown, then quietly watched him.

The clown quickly finished reading, a smile appearing on his face as he said, "This gamble seems to accept all existing stakes."

"Yes, it's a public deathmatch, and no one is prohibited from betting" the old man nodded.

"Do you accept spirit stones?" the clown asked.

"Spirit stones? So that's the currency for cultivation, it's a non-renewable circulating object, and its market has been pretty good—you can bet it" a hint of a smile appeared on the old man's face.

The clown glanced at Yana and said, "I'm all in, betting on myself to win."

The old man asked, "How much are you betting?"

"Five point four billion."

"…Excuse me, how much?"

"Five point four billion."

The old man looked at him, retrieved a piece of parchment and a pen from behind, and said slowly, "Please sign the betting contract. If your money is not enough—"

The clown took the pen, glanced at the prompt in the void, found no issues, and quickly signed the betting contract.

The old man's expression remained unchanged as he took back the parchment, examined it carefully, and murmured, "There really is five point four billion..."

Spirit stones are nothing.

Money is never anything, what matters is people—

A newcomer who can acquire such a sum of money is rare throughout history.

From beginning to end, he was confident and signed the contract.

That kind of boastful guy could not reach this step.

He truly had a way to make money.

"But there is one condition" the clown said.

"What?" the old man asked.

The clown raised a finger, made a shushing gesture, and lowered his voice, saying, "We bet at the end."

"Haha, interesting, very interesting!" The old man laughed heartily.

Yana stared blankly at the clown.

The clown said to her, "This amount of money is nothing—actually, earning a living has always been very important in my life."

The old man chuckled, "Well said. For someone like me, with a whole family to support, I still have to hustle at this age."

He patted the clown on the shoulder and whispered, "Are you confident you can win?"

"I wouldn't dare to boast. If it were those who like to take risks, they wouldn't be able to keep making profits like I do, would they?" the clown said, lowering his voice.

Yana also looked at the old man and softly said, "You see—"

The old man paused for a moment, then suddenly began to tidy his tailcoat.

"Gambling... I haven't played this game in a long time. It's too risky, it makes my old heart race—however, since it's such a big deal, not only did the gods bet their entire fortune, but the parties involved also wagered five point four billion spirit stones—"

"This is worthy of my personal involvement."

The clown leaned in and whispered in the old man's ear, "For someone of your esteemed status, the only thing you need to do is let those guys keep betting money, so we can make a profit, right?"

The old man thought for a moment and then lowered his voice, saying, "Deal."

He waved his hand, and the isolated flames immediately dispersed.

"Sir, do you want to intervene in this matter?" the shadow across asked.

"No, I just want to participate in your betting. I think the Blood Knight has a better chance of winning. Sorry, ma'am."

The old man smiled apologetically at Yana and took big strides toward the center of the arena.

Dark shadows flew out from behind him, spreading in all directions, gradually enveloping the area within dozens of miles.

On the ground, the mud and wild grass had long disappeared, replaced by endless skeletons.

The old man walked step by step toward the center of the arena, and those skeletons kept appearing beneath his feet, forming a staircase of white bones that led to the gradually accumulating mountain of bones ahead.

At the top of that mountain, a massive throne made of millions of skeletons had already appeared.

The old man sat down on the throne.

His thin and small figure looked extremely out of place on such a gigantic and terrifying throne, but the faint shadow that emerged behind him was so large and menacing, perfectly overshadowing that terrifying skeletal seat.

The old man spoke:

"I will witness this gambling match."

The card in the Blood Knight Luo Sheng's hand suddenly slipped from his grip, flying up the mountain of bones and landing in the old man's hand.

The old man stared at the card and said softly, "Devil Lords, the betting is about to begin, those who want to make a profit, come forth."

The card was thrown out.

In an instant, the void was filled with wind.

Whispers came from nowhere, and then shadows quietly appeared.

These shadows landed on the mountain of bones, bowing to the old man, then looked toward the arena.

The old man said "One Blood Knight, one newly promoted rookie card master, their deadly duel will begin soon. The loser will be stripped of everything—now accepting bets."

The shadows looked at the Blood Knight, then at the clown.

"Clown... still a rookie... haha..."

The old man shook his head with a smile, reaching into the bone throne to pull out a glowing golden bone, and threw it out, saying, "I'll be the first to place my bet, I bet the Blood Knight will win."

Yana glanced at the Clown.

The Clown trembled continuously and managed to nod at her.

Yana whispered"Are you nervous?"

"I've never encountered something so interesting, I can't wait!" the Clown replied excitedly.

Suddenly, the old man's voice echoed from a distance: "As the first Gambler, my rule is—"

"Fairness."

"Under the principle of fairness, you cannot engage in secret operations, disrupt the rules, or set traps privately. If anyone does that, it's like marring my enjoyment, which is far too dull."

His eyes suddenly turned into slitted pupils as he grinned, revealing sharp teeth, and lightly chuckled, "Those who ruin my fun should just leave."

The crowd fell silent.

"Now, you may place your bets" the old man said.

Next to the Blood Knight, a shadow pulled out a bag and threw it into the void.

The old man frowned, glancing at it: "Decay Devil King, I bet a genuine ancient bone, and you, as the initiator, only bet such a trivial thing? If you can't afford it, don't play."

The shadow hesitated but had no choice but to pull out another bag and throw it into the air, buzzing "This is half my fortune. I'm betting it all on the Blood Knight winning."

"Good, now it's getting interesting" the old man chuckled.

The shadow asked, "Can I state my conditions now?"

"Please" the old man replied.

"When the battle begins, their weapons will have already pierced each other's bodies" the shadow stated.

Facing the shadow's gaze, the Blood Knight Luo Sheng declared loudly, "In that case, I can draw a card, specialize it, and prevent him from escaping—I'm sure to win with my armor and blood spear."

The shadow nodded, looking somewhat relieved.

"Is there anyone else who wants to place a bet?" the old man inquired.

On Bone Mountain, a shadow threw a chest full of gems and said, "I bet the Blood Knight will win, my condition is—"

"They must be on the battlefield, whoever tries to flee is immediately deemed to have lost the duel."

"Another bettor is needed!" the old man said loudly.

Another shadow stepped forward, laughing, "This is getting more and more entertaining, I bet the Blood Knight will win, and my condition is—"

"They must be in mid-air to start, and that place cannot hold two people."

"With three conditions met, the duel begins!" the old man announced.

Two beams of black light descended from the sky, enveloping the Blood Knight and the clown, and they instantly disappeared.

...

Blood and flesh flew everywhere.

The sound of cannons roared, and machine gun fire echoed endlessly.

In the sky, the roar of fighter jets could be heard.

On the ground, mechanized troops were charging into the battlefield, joining with several large combat exosuits.

At that moment, in the depths of the battlefield, a rocket launch pad was counting down in mechanical electronic tones:

"Five,"

"Four,"

"Three,"

"Two,"

"One."

"Ignite!"

Boom—

The dozens of meters high rocket erupted with a deafening roar, beginning to climb into the depths of the sky.

At that moment, two figures appeared at the rocket's top.

The Blood Knight.

The Clown.

The blood spear pierced the Clown's body, while the long Blade stabbed through the Blood Knight's chest.

"This is the devil King's gamble. it's over for you, Liu Ping."

Luo Sheng shook his spear, countless drops of blood flying from the Clown's wound and into his hand.

He was just about to draw a card.

The Clown grinned and said, "Do you know who the real devil king is?"

Frost surged over the long blade, and as Luo Sheng just drew a card, he was frozen in place by the frost.

The clown gave a slight nod to the rabbit on the long blade, then pulled out a candy box from his pocket with great difficulty, opened it, and pressed a red candy firmly into the frost. — This was the moment when the double-barreled shotgun was specialized, along with the exclusive holy bullet set.

"Go enjoy the scenery." He kicked the frozen Luo Sheng out, then immediately formed a seal to stop his bleeding and heal himself.

The rocket accelerated continuously, carrying the clown into the sky. And that mass of frost fell to the ground like a meteor— Boom! Sparks flew.

The candy in the frost exploded!

The clown looked down for a moment and saw a black dot approaching the rocket at high speed.

Blood Knight Luo Sheng!

His armor had several cracks, with thick smoke pouring out, looking somewhat battered. — But beneath him was a winged skeletal warhorse! It seemed that he had indeed drawn that card and finished its specialization.

The Blood Knight flew closer, laughing loudly, "It's useless, Liu Ping, now I have weapons, armor, and a mount. You don't even have a chance to escape."

"Escape?" The clown pulled out a Gatling M134 Minigun from the void, then opened the candy box and picked out six yellow candies to stuff into the gun.

"Time-effective bullets, can shoot for ten minutes. I want to see how you'll fly up." The clown raised the machine gun— Da da da da da da da da da da! Flames continuously spouted from the minigun, turning into lines of red fire, violently striking the approaching skeletal warhorse.

The warhorse neighed in pain, unable to approach the rocket for a moment.

Luo Sheng had no choice but to pull on the reins, making an arc to attempt a side attack.

But the rocket was flying too fast, and the firepower in the clown's hands was too fierce.

He flew around on the skeletal warhorse, getting hit multiple times by the traversing fire lines, yet couldn't find a chance to get closer. Both sides were in a stalemate for several dozen seconds.

The clown suddenly made a hand gesture.

The rabbit floating in midair saw this, let out a long cry, and slapped the Minigun hard with its paw.

The next moment. One could see that amidst the dense fire lines, there appeared more white frost. A fire line hit the skeletal warhorse, instantly freezing its left wing, causing the warhorse to stumble in mid-air and nearly throw Luo Sheng off.

The clown laughed loudly, "Can't maneuver anymore, can you, Luo Sheng!" It held the rotary machine gun in one hand and pulled from the void with the other. A card was instantly drawn.

[You drew the card: Sword Cultivator Armor.]

[Armor, cultivation type.]

[It is the armor used by sword cultivators to charge into battle, effective against weapon and magical attacks.]

The next moment. One could see all the burning small text change—

[You created an incident and completed a 'please'.]

[Card: Sword Cultivator Armor.]

[Since the user of this card is the clown, it has been transformed into the clown's exclusive item.]

[You gained the card: Clown's Phantom Jacket.]

[This is your exclusive item, no need for the sequence to explain. you know how to use it.]

Boom!

A brightly colored leather jacket was donned by the clown.

"It's going to be harder for you to hit me now" the clown murmured. The Minigun fired lines of frost-fire, forcing Luo Sheng to almost come to a stop. Suddenly, a voice rang out from the void: "My turn to bet, I bet on the Blood Knight to win. This time I want that rocket to explode and see who can emerge victorious in the ensuing battle."

Another voice followed: "I'll bet too, the clown is a newbie and probably doesn't have many cards—so I'll forbid him from using his existing weapon cards—Your Excellency, don't look at me like that, fine, the Blood Knight's spear must also be forbidden. They need to think of new ways to fight."

Out of nowhere— A buzzing sound rapidly approached from the distant sky.

A missile!

One could see a missile, burning with flames, flying straight toward the ascending rocket.

Boom!!!

Amidst the explosive sound from the distance, both the clown and the Blood Knight were blown away by the strong winds.

The Minigun in the clown's hand and the long blade at his waist disappeared in an instant. The floating rabbit seemed to sense something, letting out a reluctant howl as it glanced back at Liu Ping.

— It too disappeared into the air.

On the other side, the clown jumped into the cockpit of a jet flying by and casually glanced at the densely packed instruments and buttons, laughing, "What an outdated layout." He held the flight stick with one hand and pressed seven or eight buttons with the other.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Six missiles, trailing long flames, swiftly broke the sound barrier, heading straight for the Blood Knight. One second. Two seconds.

Boom—

The sound of explosions echoed in the sky, and a blood mist immediately spread out, dissipating continuously, as if the entire world had been soaked in blood.

The clown, however, was oblivious. "Ding ding ding, let me see what other colored candies there are..." He took out a candy box, filled the magazine with brightly colored candies, and then inserted it into a handgun.

— This was a self-defense handgun given to him by Old K back in Dark Mist Town. After finishing all this, the clown jumped out of the cockpit, standing on the nose of the jet, pointing the handgun towards the billowing blood mist.

Waiting.

Waiting—

The wind howled, and the clown's colorful jacket made a rustling sound.

Suddenly, a skeletal warhorse shot out of the blood mist. "Die, Liu Ping!" Luo Sheng roared from atop the warhorse.

With both hands raised, he brandished a heavy greatsword, diving straight at the clown!

"—If no one continues to bet on you in three minutes, I'll kill you" the clown said with a smile, pulling the trigger on his handgun.