step in at a critical moment
**Everyone turned to look upon hearing the voice, and it was Ethan Brooks, who had supposedly gone to the restroom.**
**Ignoring the surprised glances from the crowd, Ethan Brooks ran to Sophia's side and said, "Let me take this one?"**
**Alice, standing nearby, couldn't help but say, "So you didn't run away after all."**
**Ethan Brooks scratched his head and replied, "Didn't I say I was going to the restroom?"**
---
**Earlier, when Ethan Brooks heard Daniel mention that they would use pool to decide the outcome, he had a sudden thought and communicated with Tina via telepathy, "Tina, I can access the items from the G1 game anytime, right?"**
**"Of course, but doing so here would reveal the existence of G1. Do you want to do it now?" the sprite Tina asked.**
**"No, wait," Ethan Brooks replied. After communicating with Tina, he excused himself to the restroom under everyone's watchful eyes.**
**He ran all the way to the restroom, locked the door, and said to Sprite Tina, "Tina, give me the Precision Ring."**
**"Sure! Aim the G1 at the wall," Sprite Tina instructed.**
**Ethan Brooks did as told, and a white light appeared on the wall. Under the illumination of the white light, it seemed as if an extra space had emerged within the wall, containing a box.**
**Ethan Brooks reached in, opened the box, took out the Precision Ring, and put it on. Immediately, the sensation of controlling everything returned to him.**
**The white light on the wall disappeared, and Sprite Tina said to Ethan Brooks, "Ethan Brooks, the ring you brought from the G1 game has a concealment ability. With a mere thought, you can make it invisible."**
**Upon hearing this, Ethan Brooks realized he could indeed control the ring. With a flicker of thought, the ring vanished from his hand.**
**Ethan Brooks immediately pushed open the restroom door and ran back.**
---
**Seeing Ethan Brooks return, Daniel was visibly taken aback, while Sophia hesitantly asked, "You? Can you really do it?"**
**Ethan Brooks gave a reassuring look and said to Sophia, "Trust me."**
**Isabella, standing opposite Ethan Brooks, was moved by his gaze and blurted out to Sophia, "Let him give it a try. Since Ethan Brooks has spoken up, he must have some confidence."**
**Ethan Brooks glanced at Isabella, his eyes filled with gratitude for her trust in him.**
**"Hey, have you guys made up your minds yet?" the princelings were growing impatient.**
**Sophia reluctantly handed the cue stick to Ethan Brooks, saying, "Take it easy."**
**Ethan Brooks confidently took the cue stick and walked up to the professional snooker player.**
**"You can break first," the professional player said to Ethan Brooks.**
**"Let's draw cards instead," Ethan Brooks suggested, much to the dismay of Sophia and others who thought he was being too naive.**
**"No need, you break first. I'm definitely going to win this game anyway!" the professional player said with utmost confidence.**
**Ethan Brooks smiled faintly, walked up to the table, placed the cue ball in the D - zone, and began to prepare for the break.**
**By now, the pool table was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers. Many of them shook their heads at Ethan Brooks' seemingly amateurish stance.**
**But Ethan Brooks appeared confident. He communicated with Tina, "Tina! Give me a boost!"**
**Tina nodded, and suddenly, Ethan Brooks saw countless red trajectories appearing on the pool table in front of him. Tina's voice said, "Ethan, I've calculated the trajectory of the balls after you hit them. You can see for yourself."**
**With that, Ethan Brooks saw all the possible outcomes of his shot, along with the optimal striking point. Even a power control bar appeared on the right side of his vision.**
**Ethan Brooks was amazed. With the Precision Ring's control, this was almost no different from a computer game.**
**Under the somewhat disdainful gaze of the professional player, Ethan Brooks took his first shot!**
**"Clack!" The balls scattered widely, but only one red ball went into the pocket.**
**The professional player remained expressionless; the first shot was purely a lucky one.**
**"Combination!" the waiter referee noted the score beside them.**
**Ethan Brooks glanced back at Isabella and smiled faintly.**
**He gripped the cue stick, preparing for the next shot.**
**"Which one is he aiming for?" a female student - dressed spectator asked her boyfriend beside her, looking at the pool table.**
**"Not sure. The brown ball in front of him would be the easiest to hit, but he's not aiming there. It looks like he's trying to use the cushion for a rebound?" the man replied.**
**The professional player also watched Ethan Brooks with a cold smile, thinking, "Overreaching!" Even he could only choose the brown ball in front of him; hitting any other ball would only have a thirty percent chance of success.**
**Suddenly, Ethan Brooks, holding the cue stick, seemed to exude an astonishing aura. His stance changed, and he looked as if he was holding a spear rather than a cue stick.**
**"Huh?" Daniel, noticing the footwork and posture of Ethan Brooks, showed a surprised expression.**
**Unaware of Daniel's reaction, Ethan Brooks struck the cue as if thrusting a spear!**
**"Clack!" The white ball in front of Ethan Brooks traced an M - shaped route, bypassed two clusters of red balls, hit the black ball, which went into the pocket, and also scattered the cluster of red balls, creating a favorable situation.**
**The professional player's pupils contracted. Was that intentional just now? Even he wouldn't have been confident in making such a difficult shot.**
**"GOOD BALL," the referee took the black ball out of the pocket and placed it back in its original position. Ethan Brooks walked to the other side of the table, aiming at another red ball.**
**The red ball went into the pocket, and Ethan Brooks aimed at the black ball again...**
**"GOOD BALL," the black ball went in! It was already the sixth ball.**
**The area around the pool table was filled with low - pitched murmurs, and many people started to discuss.**
**"The sixth black ball in a row! This guy is a master!" a tall, thin man said.**
**"His playing style is like Ding Junhui!" a girl with glasses, hugging another girl beside her, said in a starry - eyed manner.**
**"So cool, so handsome, and he doesn't even smile~~" the other girl remarked.**
**Alice wondered to herself, "I didn't expect him to be a master. Then why didn't he play to his full potential with us earlier?"**
**The professional player couldn't sit still anymore. As they say, a professional's skill is evident with just one move. One or two lucky shots could be dismissed, but six consecutive successful shots, with the ability to control the cue ball and use force to scatter the red balls, was something he knew he couldn't match even if he were playing.**
**The tattooed man also became restless. He thought for a moment, walked up to the professional player, and said, "If he makes a mistake, can you clear the table in one turn?"**
**The professional player looked at the situation on the table and said, "He scattered the balls widely. If you give me a chance, I have an eighty percent chance of preventing him from catching up in points and a sixty percent chance of clearing the table in one turn."**
**The man nodded, said a few words to the two people beside him, one of whom nodded and walked towards the bar, while the other moved to the side of the pool table.**
"Stop!" he walked over to the pool table and shouted loudly.
"What are you doing? Trying to use underhanded tactics because you're about to lose? You're deliberately disrupting Ethan Brooks' rhythm, aren't you? How despicable!" Alice immediately stepped forward and confronted him.
"It's okay, let him speak his piece," Ethan Brooks stood up and said to Alice.
"We want to increase the bet! It's thirty thousand dollars! We're betting on your loss. Do you dare to raise the bet?" The man took out thirty thousand dollars and slapped it on the table, addressing Ethan Brooks.
Before Ethan Brooks could respond, Alice quickly retorted, "Dare? Of course we dare! If you're offering money, I'll gladly take it!"
Then Alice turned to Ethan Brooks and said, "Ethan, you better play your best. If you lose, I won't let you off the hook!"
Ethan Brooks remained expressionless, but inwardly he let out a wry smile. He had already gotten a taste of this girl's personality.
"Why are they increasing the bet?" a girl in the crowd asked her boyfriend.
"They're trying to create pressure to make the opponent make a mistake, giving themselves an opportunity to take advantage," the boyfriend of the girl with glasses explained.
"How despicable~~" the girl commented, to which her boyfriend replied, "It's nothing unusual, just a strategy."
Ethan Brooks gathered his focus and began to aim at the red ball on the table, preparing for the next shot.
The red balls in the corners had already been cleared, leaving only a large cluster of red balls in the middle of the table.
Ethan Brooks aimed at one of them, took aim, and was about to strike.
Just as Ethan Brooks was about to strike, suddenly a thunderous sound like a bomb exploded in the pool hall: "Dudududududududududu"
The sudden burst of music caused the onlookers in the pool hall to wince, their ears ringing, and several girls screamed in fright.
"Who's so mean? Turning the music up so loud! It's going to deafen us!" came a chorus of complaints from the crowd.
People turned their gazes toward the bar, where a small-time thug, who was hanging out with the princelings, was seen standing beside the sound system controller with a cigarette dangling from his lips. The waiter beside him looked on in silent anger, too afraid to say anything.
The pool hall's sound system was a top - of - the - line British audio setup, complete with subwoofers and tweeters. It was rumored that the maximum volume could reach up to 250 decibels. The thug had cranked the volume all the way up, clearly intending to sabotage Ethan Brooks' game!
The crowd turned back to look at Ethan Brooks, who was standing in front of the pool table with a very grim expression. One red ball was already missing from the table, but the white cue ball was now surrounded by a ring of red balls!