Chapter 13: Gambling with Life

The girl asked in confusion, "A bet?"

"Hmm."

Leonard Churchill nodded, his eyes shining like torches. His tone was firm and calm, "Bet on whether my deduction is correct."

"..."

Upon hearing this, the girl could not understand what her teammate was thinking.

His calm tone revealed no fear or anxiety.

On the contrary, it seemed like he was eager to gamble with his life...?

He willingly wants to compete with a monster?

Is this guy not afraid of death?!

At this moment, only one word came into her mind: insane.

...

Maybe it was because of the glowing powder, or Leonard's bad luck.

They had just stopped for a little while when suddenly a repugnant smell hit them. Instantly, a dog-headed monster appeared in front of their eyes.

Facing the A-rank catastrophe brought a palpable and horrifying oppression, making one's scalp numb. Moreover, a monster from the curse series gave people a feeling of terror similar to facing an abyss, full of infinite mystery.

However, the monster did not choose Leonard, but stood in front of the girl with the mechanical arm.

The girl's expression changed abruptly. She muttered bitterly, "Such bad luck."

With so many people turning to her, all she could do was sigh at her bad fortune.

However, even at this time, she wasn't yet at a dead end.

The mercenaries couldn't deal with this catastrophe, but that didn't mean she couldn't either.

The girl possessed an ancient artifact that could forcibly teleport her out of the duplication. Once used, she would exit immediately.

The only drawback was that after using that artifact, she wouldn't be able to take anything she obtained in the duplication outside.

That included the Pituitary Gland of the Witch she had obtained, which was a rare find.

If she missed it this time, it was uncertain whether she could find such suitable occupational materials again.

Unless absolutely necessary, she didn't want to give up.

But looking at the gruesome face of the dog-headed monster, she was at a dead end.

She had no other choice.

The girl with the mechanical arm felt a gloomy disappointment in her heart. What a pity.

At the same time, she also felt regret. If she left, her teammates would undoubtedly die, even though she had promised to protect them to the best of her ability.

But this was also a situation she had no power to change.

Sigh...

With a light sigh.

However, before she had time to consider whether to use the special artifact to forcibly exit the duplication, something unexpected happened.

Much to her surprise, an aggressively challenging voice suddenly came to her ears, "Do you dare to gamble with me?"

The girl widened her eyes, looking incredulously at Leonard who was speaking beside her.

Her thoughts seemed to freeze for a moment.

After a short pause, she realized what Leonard had done.

This guy...

He's challenging the monster?

He's challenging the monster!!!

True enough, could the monster have tolerated this face-riding mockery?

For a gambler, there is no such thing as not daring to gamble.

It immediately gave up its current target and turned to look at Leonard. A mocking smile appeared on the dog's head, "In which card is the Spade A?"

...

The girl with the mechanical arm was completely dumbfounded by this unbelievable scene.

The look in her eyes was full of confusion. This guy actually saved her?

But why did he do that?

Even if there is a cooperative relationship, he didn't have to do that...

At this moment, the girl finally understood what he meant when he said "us".

He had said it before, "If we get picked," let her run first.

In other words, no matter who the monster targeted, he had already prepared to face the monster?

But...

Not a single person has survived in front of the "Gambler Dog". Why would he do that?

The girl with the mechanical arm couldn't figure it out and looked at Leonard. Suddenly, she felt slightly complex emotions towards this temporary teammate.

...

Did Leonard Churchill become self-sacrificing?

No!

It was absolute rationality that allowed him to analyze the current situation clearly.

If this bodyguard teammate died, Leonard could be one hundred percent sure that he would not survive next.

The chances of those well-equipped mercenaries surviving were extremely low, let alone himself?

Any little monster could pose a lethal threat to him.

So escaping now, apart from surviving a little longer, would have no other significance.

Without killing this dog-headed monster, the end result would still be certain death.

Moreover, there was an even more important factor.

He needed to verify a conjecture.

The information obtained now was already extensive enough, and a string of clues were connecting in his mind like beads on a string.

He had already figured out some of the "game rules" of this Alternate Dimension.

This was the confidence behind him speaking up.

The exploration of only 30% of the duplication had just begun. Only by verifying those conjectures, he felt, was there a real chance to successfully pass this duplication alive.

Admittedly, this verification process did have elements of gambling.

But for Leonard, if he hesitated over something he believed firmly, what a boring life that would be.

Furthermore,

He couldn't suppress an eager thought in his mind anymore.

He genuinely wanted to gamble.

Tsk tsk.

What to bet on,

Is there anything more exciting than playing with your life on the line?

...

"I choose..."

Leonard had a calm expression on his face, deliberately delaying taking action.

Watching the struggling girl next to him, he guessed that his teammate was likely undergoing some complex mental activity.

But staying here wasn't a good choice.

His eyebrows raised, he made an urgent signal to flee.

The mechanical arm girl hesitated, feeling it was unfair to leave the one who had just saved her.

But under Leonard Churchill's urging gaze, she knew lingering was pointless, so she just said, "Take care!"

As her words fell, she quickly retreated to the depths of the corridor, her figure disappearing in an instant.

Now that his teammate was gone, the last possible factor for accidents was eliminated.

At this moment, Leonard Churchill had no worries.

It was as if the beast within had been awakened, a tingling excitement surging within.

He stared at the monster before him without fear, instead a provoking curve lifting at the corners of his mouth.

Like a clown walking on a tightrope, still wearing a strange smile even knowing he might fall at any moment.

The monster stared back, with a mocking expression.

"I choose this one."

Leonard slid his hand into his pocket and made a choice.

He casually chose a card and opened it directly.

This nonchalant move was, in fact, a choice between life and death.

But then something miraculous happened.

The pattern of "Spade A" appeared on the card he had picked.

The gambling hound saw this and froze, disbelief all over its face: how could it be possible!

In that moment, it seemed to realize something.

It seemed to have lost a second of memory: it had been mentally interfered!

But rules are rules.

The rules of the curse have never been subject to change.

At this moment, the Sorcery Gambler, like every gambler, sought to grasp the last straw of life.

But the backlash of the curse was already crashing over it like a tsunami.

Leonard's eyes narrowed slightly, and he grinned at the hound-headed monster, "Looks like I'm in luck, guessed it correctly."

The monster had no time to say anything, the life in its eyes fading rapidly.

This gamble was for life.

The monster had lost the bet; backlash from the curse, it instantly dropped dead.

Looking at the Catastrophe corpse that had collapsed in front of him, Leonard exhaled in relief.

At this moment, the perverse pleasure induced by this thrill seemed to make him feel as though his soul had been elevated.

...

Although Leonard was good at poker, he wasn't conceited enough to gamble against an A-rank Catastrophe.

Just like the monsters could cheat, he also used a somewhat underhanded method.

The hand he kept tucked in his pocket held the Witch's Gaze skill card that he had obtained earlier from killing the Fallen Witch Sect.

Once fired, it could cause mental hypnosis to all targets within range.

The Sorcery Gambler on the third floor was much more threatening than the Fallen Witch Sect on the second.

But in terms of mental power, the latter was likely stronger.

If it didn't resist this spell, it would cause at least 1 second of compulsory hypnosis.

When he was drawing cards just now, Leonard used this hypnosis spell, not giving the hound-headed monster a chance to cheat, and directly opened the card.

His luck was good, and he chose the right card directly.

Even if it hadn't been selected, there was enough time for him to flip open another.

As expected, he won.

This also confirmed his suspicions.

...

As the Catastrophe monster died, a green light slowly began to gather over its dead body.

Leonard looked at the card floating in the light, reinforcing his guess, and muttered to himself: "Just as I thought..."

Gambler's Broken Hand

Quality: Silver

Explanation: A single-use mysterious system spell skill card; after casting can cause curse spell on a target not exceeding 100% of own's mental power of Second Tier or below, resulting in a 50% chance to cause instant death; failing to curse causes backlash, and the user takes equivalent damage;

Another skill card had dropped from the monster, bearing the strange curse of gambling for life.

Compulsory 50% death rate, it's powerful!

And undefeatable!

Leonard Churchill carefully read the effect of the card, a glint of wisdom flashing in his eyes.

At this moment, he finally confirmed something.

This was indeed a gamble.

But what was at stake was not a choice, or cheating skills, but the understanding of the rules of space.

If the BOSS could not be killed by brute force, then it must be killed by the rules.

This was what Leonard wanted to verify.

In a deeper sense, he saw through the designer's thinking of this Alternate Dimension.

...

With the death of the A-rank Catastrophe "Gambling Hound", the Curse Power inside the monster lost control. Standing next to the corpse, Leonard experienced another round of Enlightenment.

'Curse Power out of control, subjected to pollution erosion, physique -0.02'

There was still glowing matter in the corpse's chest, probably more Extraordinary Materials.

But Leonard didn't have that magical Containment Card.

Even if he cut out these materials, they would still be a hot potato.

Just then, around the corner of the corridor not far away, a figure slowly walked out.

It was his teammate, looking completely stunned.

The monster could teleport and find people, so running away wasn't very meaningful.

The mechanical arm girl had been hiding nearby in a ventilation duct, which was the limit of her sensing distance.

She had originally planned to await the disappearance of her temporary teammate's breath before fleeing.

But she didn't expect that before her teammate died, the Catastrophe's breath would suddenly disappear?!

Although she couldn't believe it, the reality was right in front of her.

Leonard saw her return and smiled faintly, acknowledging their bond as teammates.

The mechanical arm girl looked at him, then at the corpse on the ground, her expression shifting several times.

Could this man, who was dozens of times weaker than her, really have killed that A-rank Curse class Catastrophe by himself?

It felt like a dream.

PS. Asking for votes, begging in every way possible~