At this gambling table, the rules were such that a single ancient gold coin wasn't worth much.
A hundred ancient gold coins equaled one compass.
Ten compasses equaled one Arctic Ocean bottle cap.
When Lu Mingfei first arrived here, he was given an Arctic Ocean bottle cap—
that's equivalent to 1,000 ancient gold coins.
Ren Asakura toyed with the ancient gold coin in his hand.
"Back in the day, Chan Daozai could turn 20 bucks into 37 million. If he could do that, then me—Ren Asakura—turning one coin into a million? That's nothing!"
His tone was full of bravado as he placed the coin onto the table.
The rule of the gambling table was simple:
1,000 bottle caps meant you could leave.
That meant winning 1 million ancient gold coins.
Turning your initial stake into a millionfold return.
Even the best gamblers wouldn't dare guarantee that.
The dealer looked around at the others.
"Are you all in?"
The others just smiled and shook their heads.
They had taken seats, yes, but that didn't mean they intended to join this particular game.
The dealer had no authority to force anyone into a bet.
So they became spectators.
"Don't say I'm bullying you. Let's play your best game!"
Ren Asakura lightly tapped the table, his tone overflowing with dominance.
"Then let's go with Texas Hold 'Em," the dealer said as he began shuffling the cards.
Texas Hold 'Em was a common game in gambling circles, made up of face-up and face-down cards.
The face-up cards were visible to everyone. The face-down cards were only visible to the player.
Then it was all about the hands—pairs, trips, straights, flushes.
The strongest possible hand was the royal flush—
a hand that even the craziest gambler might never see in a lifetime.
Playing this game required not only luck, but psychological skill—
bluffing, reading your opponent, calculating odds.
A weak hand could win; a strong hand could lose.
It all depended on your gambling ability.
And, of course, you needed to be good at calculating odds.
Ren Asakura nodded.
The game began.
All in.
Round One!
Royal flush.
Without hesitation, Ren Asakura revealed his cards:
Hearts—10, J, Q, K, A.
Nothing beats that.
Without a doubt, Ren Asakura won.
His stack of chips doubled.
Lu Mingze had once said at the table:
"If you go to Las Vegas with a single dollar and bet on odds or evens, win every round, and do it twenty-eight times in a row, you'll win the entire city."
This wasn't odds or evens, but the principle was the same—
every win doubled the value.
The first round's royal flush could be chalked up to luck.
Round Two—Ren Asakura went all in again!
When it's one-on-one against the dealer, folding wasn't allowed.
The second round revealed his cards—
Another royal flush.
The third round—again, royal flush.
Fourth round, fifth, sixth…
The dealer lost count of how many times he had shuffled.
But every single time—without fail—Ren Asakura had a royal flush.
Sometimes, it was the dealer who turned over the cards.
This monstrous luck—
it was as if Lady Luck herself had fallen in love with him.
"You've lost."
Ren Asakura revealed yet another royal flush.
By now, the table in front of him had over 1,000 Arctic Ocean bottle caps.
"You've lost—and not just the game. You've lost your life."
Ren Asakura lightly tapped the table.
In the next instant, the dealer's body exploded, turning to ash and vanishing without a trace.
Just a game.
It hadn't even taken that long.
Ren Asakura stood up and gently adjusted the coat on his body with both hands.
Then he turned and left, as effortlessly as drifting clouds.
"Where's the applause?!"
Ren Asakura raised both hands.
In an instant, everyone who remained burst into applause.
…
…
After defeating the Kamaitachi Queen, the elite monster guarding the gate, the group pressed forward.
They continued along the damp, dripping tunnel.
At the tunnel's end lay an open space—vast and seemingly endless. To construct such an enormous underground cavity would have required tremendous manpower and resources.
Coal dust scattered across the ground. Golden lanterns flickered overhead, swaying.
This was the end of the subway tunnel.
The end of the labyrinth.
Fenrir's chamber.
The group advanced. The traces of artificial excavation were everywhere.
Something stirred in the darkness.
Mai had already drawn her handgun, standing on high alert.
The yellow lanterns above kept swaying, sometimes dimming as if blinking.
No—those were eyes.
The rock walls, previously solid, began to tremble. Cracks formed across the surface.
Then the stone rippled, and serpent-like appendages extended out from within the rock.
The high-hung lanterns… were the creature's eyes.
The eyes of the Dragon King, Fenrir.
Sensing something, Mayumi Sakuragi shone her flashlight toward one of the lanterns.
Bathed in light, Fenrir's true form emerged.
Dense black scales covered his entire body.
Enormous wings were tucked tightly against his torso.
His eyes—each the size of a lantern—locked onto them with unblinking intensity.
A colossal dragon, thirty meters long, appeared before them.
It was the first time Mai had seen a fully dragonized pure-blood Dragon King.
Even if his mind wasn't fully developed—naive and childish like a three-year-old—
The supreme pressure radiating from his body left her no thought of resistance.
There's no escape!
That was the first thought in her mind upon seeing him.
To hybrids, dragons were always a somewhat abstract concept.
After all, dragons could alter their body structure, even the size of their bones or the shape of their organs.
Sometimes dragons looked like four-legged lizards; other times they resembled horned serpents.
Or they would hide in human form within human society.
But when the veil of mystery was lifted—
What hybrids beheld was the overwhelming majesty of absolute power.
Fenrir coldly watched the ants that had entered his lair.
Compared to his massive body, the group was utterly insignificant.
His dark blue-black scales expanded and contracted rhythmically, scraping and vibrating like breath.
Fenrir slowly opened his mouth.
From deep within his throat came the roar of a king.
That terrifying sound sent waves of tremors through the air.
Mai felt her heart explode—her consciousness faded, and she collapsed.
Hybrids were simply too weak.
Just one roar from the Dragon King, and she fainted.
And this was already considered lucky—if her bloodline had been any weaker, her heart might have burst on the spot.
Lu Mingfei reacted swiftly and caught the collapsing Mai in his arms.
A beautiful, commanding woman in his arms—yet he had no time to admire her.
The pressure Fenrir emitted was simply too immense.
The Earth and Mountain King, embodiment of power, was indeed terrifying.
Lu Mingfei stared dead-on at that terrifyingly majestic head above them.
No reptilian creature could compare to such magnificence.
Fenrir seemed to realize he had done something wrong—his long head slowly retracted.
His eyes blinked softly.
°°°
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