After returning to Lanard's office again, Luo Bing seemed like a completely different person.

"Mr. Lanard, I can't afford your 'afternoon tea,' let's go gamble," Luo Bing pushed away the cup directly.

"Oh? Young man, you should think carefully. This is your last chance. Don't regret it after losing your money," Lanard said in a slightly threatening tone.

He had no intention of selling his shares to Luo Bing. How could he spit out the meat that was already in his mouth? Originally, he planned to continue humiliating Luo Bing after he finished his "afternoon tea" until he broke down. Unexpectedly, Luo Bing was quite spirited and didn't fall for it at all.

"I have made up my mind. Let's get started and stop wasting each other's time."

Lanard frowned, feeling that Luo Bing was too confident, as if he was sure he could win. This kind of overly confident person was either a fool who had never lost a bet before or someone who thought they had advanced cheating methods.

After running a casino for so many years, Lanard had seen too many of these two types of people. The former would end up losing everything, while the latter would have all their fingers cut off and put on a blacklist. If anyone dared to make trouble, the police would send them to jail without Lanard having to lift a finger. Lanard had his own ways of making sure they never got out.

"Mr. Lanard, do you doubt that I will cheat?" Luo Bing shook his head with disappointment, "What about trust between people? If I cheat, you can just kill me directly, but if I find out you're cheating, I don't want your fingers, you can just admit defeat."

Luo Bing's voice was loud enough for the people outside the office to hear. Lanard's subordinates were angry, thinking that Luo Bing was too arrogant.

Lanard, on the other hand, laughed heartily and said to one of his men, "Rogesson, did you hear what he said?"

The person called Rogesson took out a gun and waved it sinisterly, saying, "Hehehe, I heard it. If this Chinaman dares to cheat, I'll kill him."

...

Luo Bing followed Lanard and the others in an elevator to a quiet room in the underground casino. The room was divided into an inner part and an outer part. The inner part was the gambling area, separated by one-way transparent glass, with cameras all around, capturing the gambler's moves from every angle.

The outer part could watch the inner part through the glass or the screens on the wall. If one was in the mood, they could also bet on the gambler's win or lose.

Such conditions could eliminate any possibility of cheating. Even with fast hands, they would be exposed at ten times slower speed. Even tweaking one's crotch couldn't escape the cameras' capture - there were also cameras under the table.

As for high-tech cheating methods, it was also impossible. The gamblers would be thoroughly searched, eliminating any suspicious electronic devices. It was stricter than a college entrance examination.

"I didn't expect you would want to play Texas Hold'em. Hehe, young man, let me give you a kind suggestion. The loan business here is quite developed, even if you lose everything, it's not a big deal. You can get a loan and continue gambling," Lanard said with a kindly face and a sincere tone.

High-interest loans were a regular operation in the casino, and Luo Bing knew the sinister intentions behind Lanard's words. He smiled and said, "To be honest, poker is one of my best games."

"Dilin, come out."

Lanard said this and a tall, calm-looking man with an explosion hairstyle walked out from behind him. He first greeted Lanard and then turned his head towards Luo Bing, saying coldly, "Texas Hold'em, right? I'll play instead of Boss Lanard. You decide how to play, and I'll accompany you until the end."

"Mr. Lanard, I thought you would personally play," Luo Bing said.

"I never said I would personally play with you. If you don't have confidence in yourself, you can let someone else play for you," Lanard looked contemptuously at the two bodyguards behind Luo Bing.

The bodyguards remained motionless, as they naturally couldn't do these things for their employer.

"The simplest way to play, unlimited betting, with the minimum bet being half the share. How about that?" Luo Bing suggested.

Explosion Hair looked at Lanard and, seeing him nod in agreement, he walked into the inner room first.

Outside, Luo Bing signed a contract and left a handprint with Lanard.

Xu Fang activated stealth mode and followed behind Explosion Hair into the inner room, observing him. Xu Fang became slightly interested in him, not because his hairstyle was suitable for playing cards, but because part of the energy color on his body was blue.

Xu Fang's energy vision had seen the following colors: the black of vengeful spirits, the gray of kinetic energy, the white of light spots, and the gold representing the author.

He saw blue for the first time, although the color was very faint and only accounted for one-fifth of the total energy inside him.

Different colors of energy must have different characteristics. Is the explosion head a superpower?

After signing the contract, Luo Bing entered the gambling room. Soon, a beautiful woman wearing black stockings and white gloves also walked in, holding a few decks of cards.

The door of the room was locked, and the cameras started, staring at the three people in the room from various angles. Since the glass was one-way, people inside couldn't see the outside or hear any sounds from outside, ensuring that the gamblers wouldn't be disturbed by the outside world.

Luo Bing and Dilin each had 75 chips, with each chip representing 0.2% of the shares. The minimum bet was one chip with no upper limit. When their chips were running low and they needed to bet urgently, they could also purchase backup chips at a price of 10 million USD per chip, supported by loans.

The dealer took out a deck of cards and showed the seal on it, proving that the deck hadn't been tampered with. Then she opened the seal and spread out the 54 playing cards, indicating that there were not too many or too few cards inside.

Then, the dealer started shuffling the cards.

Dilin kept a straight face, fingers interlocked, closing his eyes to concentrate. He didn't even glance at the playing cards. He exuded an aura of someone who always wins at gambling, obviously a gambling expert.

Luo Bing felt a little uneasy seeing his opponent so calm. He couldn't see Xu Fang and didn't know if Xu Fang was beside him.

"I'm right here." Xu Fang whispered into Luo Bing's ear with a voice only he could hear.

Luo Bing felt reassured, and he also closed his eyes to concentrate like Dilin.

The atmosphere became subtle. The slender and beautiful female dealer shuffled the cards in silence, and the two gamblers were calm and confident, showing no signs of losing.

Dilin had indeed never lost in playing poker before. Even if his opponents cheated, they couldn't beat him. Therefore, he was so confident.

The dealer dealt the cards, and Luo Bing and Dilin placed their minimum bets, determining the order by rolling dice.

Dilin went first.

Luo Bing's starting hand was very poor, four small cards and a King, not even a pair, while Dilin had a slightly better hand with a pair of Queens and three small cards.

"Exchange three cards." Dilin threw a chip and exchanged all three small cards.

Xu Fang looked at the discarded cards and found that the blue energy inside Dilin had attached to them, forming obvious shapes corresponding to the numbers on the three cards.

"So that's how it is. Dilin marked those three cards, and only he can see the marks. After a few rounds, all the cards he played with would be marked." Xu Fang touched the blue dots on the cards with his fingertips and found that they were similar in nature to the white dots. Both could be absorbed and transformed into white dots. Compared to the white dots, the blue dots were lazy and stable, slowly transforming into white dots, dissipating.

Looking at the "Three of a Kind" in his hand, Dilin sneered. This time, he must perform well and win all of Luo Bing's stakes. Then Mr. Leonard would value him more, give him a better position, and maybe even transfer the casino's business to him.

Dilin had never told anyone about his superpower. Without this ability, he would have been exploited by capitalists as a worker for his whole life. But with it, he could become a gambling master and reach the pinnacle of life.

He always felt that he was the protagonist.

Dilin had dealt with gambling games involving billion-dollar stakes before. His expression was calm, and there was no panic in his heart. He wanted to watch Luo Bing's expression as he was forced into a corner, step by step.

"I'll raise." Luo Bing smiled and pushed the remaining 74 chips in his hand into the center of the gambling table.

Dilin looked at Luo Bing in astonishment.

Is this how the game is played? Going all-in right at the beginning? Do you even know how to play?

Raising with 74 chips meant that Dilin also needed to match the same amount. He could apply for backup chips from the dealer, but that would determine the outcome of this round.

"Is there a problem? Wasn't there no limit?" Luo Bing shrugged.

I don't know his hand right now, and there are risks in matching his bet. Then I'll mark as many cards as possible before folding... Dilin thought to himself.

Wait a minute!!

Dilin suddenly realized that the marks on the cards he had discarded had disappeared. This was the first time he encountered such a situation!

Dylan's hand holding the cards trembled uncontrollably. His ability had failed, could it be true?! On the other side, Lobin was also in a panic. He knew very well that his hand was trash, with only a high card of King. If the opponent had a pair, he would be done for. But since Xu Fang said it was no problem, he could only go all in.

After a ten-second standoff, Dylan chose to fold.

Lanard, who was watching from the sidelines, sighed. He would never underestimate Lobin again. Playing with a lousy hand against someone who went all-in, Lobin was a born gambler. Extraordinary, even. But Lanard was not worried. Dylan excelled in endurance battles, and the more games they played, the more advantageous it would be for him.

Dylan was completely panicked. He was terrified to discover that no matter how he marked the cards, the marks would disappear as soon as the cards left his hand.

Without any markings, it would be a fair showdown, wouldn't it?

Finally, after losing three consecutive rounds, Dylan exclaimed, "Dealer, I want to change the deck of cards. The feel of this deck is not good!"

After changing the cards again, the situation did not improve. Dylan ended up losing even faster. He realized that the problem was probably with himself. His ability had failed.

Why did it have to fail at this moment?

Lobin was extremely lucky, even if he occasionally got a bad hand, it was still better than Dylan's. Dylan didn't know Lobin's cards, so he didn't dare to exchange cards or raise the bet. Gradually, the number of chips in his hand diminished.

Dylan's back was soaked with sweat. Through the camera, he seemed to see the disapproving look from his boss. He wanted to quit. But the contract had already been signed, and they couldn't stop until one side was completely bankrupt.

He gritted his teeth and continued gambling.

Until the last chip fell into Lobin's hands, Dylan collapsed weakly on the table, crying in pain. It was the first time he had lost, and it was such a miserable loss.

Lobin played with the chips happily, wishing he could win a few more billion. But he comforted Dylan, "Don't be sad, brother. Your boss said you can get a loan, right? Buy a few more chips, I promise you won't go bankrupt."

"No need to gamble anymore, Dylan. Leave." Lanard pushed open the door and walked in with a grim expression.

Dylan wiped away his tears, kept his head down, and didn't dare to meet his boss's gaze. He left dejectedly.

"Boss, this guy must be cheating. I will have the footage checked later, and I'm sure we can find evidence!" Rogerson shouted. He planned to thoroughly investigate the recording. Even if he didn't find anything, he would use some photoshopping to frame Lobin. He couldn't let the boss suffer losses.

"You shut up. It's none of your business!" Lanard glared at him. This subordinate was simply causing trouble. Anyone with clear eyes could see that Lobin didn't cheat. By saying so, Rogerson made Lanard unable to continue playing.

"I didn't cheat. In fact, I should thank Mr. Lanard for going easy on me, otherwise, my gambling luck wouldn't have been so good." Lobin smiled.

Lanard was stunned, realizing that Lobin was giving him a way out. After all, losing a large amount of money in front of so many subordinates would be unacceptable for anyone. But if he followed Lobin's suggestion and said he had held back, then Lanard would appear magnanimous.

Lanard could see that Lobin was a ruthless person with good emotional intelligence, completely different from his impression of Chinese people. So he let go of his prejudice against Lobin.

"Lobin, I don't bully the younger generation. I will return all your father's money to you. Your talent would go to waste if you don't come to my side. How about joining me? The treatment will not disappoint you."

"Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Lanard. However, for one, it would be inconvenient for me to come over, and secondly, I still have family matters to take care of. I won't trouble you."

With a few words, the atmosphere became relaxed. The two returned to the office and completed the transfer of shares. Afterward, Lobin politely declined Lanard's invitation to a dinner and left with his bodyguards.

Xu Fang didn't leave with Lobin. He quietly exchanged some words with Lobin and then proceeded on his own. Since he had come to Anke Casino, he would investigate it carefully.

The golden spots on the author's body were a very special energy. Xu Fang could recognize whether there were traces of the author's presence here based on the bodily tissues that fell from them.

Even if there was no author, he could see if there was anything good here and take it away.

After leaving the casino, the guy with the spiky hair got drunk in a nearby hotel and fell asleep. Xu Fang took out his passport and driver's license, remembered the information, and also drew some blue energy from him into his own body.

After that, Xu Fang didn't find anything good in the casino, except for money or gold, and some special compounds - Leonard secretly sold compounds, and he had a large quantity of them stored in his private warehouse, all of them piled up like white flour. This matter couldn't be brought to the surface, not even Luo Bing knew about it, Leonard had his own sales channels...

But Xu Fang didn't care about any of these things.

Finally, when his invisibility time was about to end, Xu Fang left the casino and flew to the outskirts of the western suburbs of Boston, near the edge of the forest. There was no satellite surveillance here, and few people passed by, making it a suitable hiding place.

He planned to spend the night here alone and return to the city after the invisibility cooldown ended.

With his hands in his pockets, Xu Fang strolled along the edge of the small forest, considering his next move.

The unfamiliar author seemed to have no intention of appearing anymore. Xu Fang could now return to handle the matters of Xu Tong and Lin Jingrui in China, as well as the intimidation system.

There must be some connection between the intimidation system and Horror Novel Web, whether it was a relative relationship or something else remains unknown. But obviously, the intimidation system is easier to control. As long as the host is controlled, it is equivalent to indirectly controlling the intimidation system. He wanted to try to raise the intimidation system...

As Xu Fang was thinking, a small golden figure faintly appeared in his sight. He didn't see it wrong - in this gray-white-black world, gold had appeared.

He instinctively wanted to turn invisible, but then realized that he was still on cooldown.

What should he do? Why would there be someone in this remote wilderness, encountering a wild author suddenly?

Xu Fang was cautious. Instead of approaching rashly, he hid behind a shelter and observed the author from a distance. She was already within Xu Fang's attack range, and with just a thought, he could instantly blow her into pieces.

She was a girl with a height of 1.65 meters, a well-proportioned figure, long hair, and a beautiful appearance with Oriental features. However, her cheeks were gaunt, she looked terrified, and she walked unsteadily, clearly extremely weak.

In contrast, her golden light spots gradually became thin and tended to change into white light spots. Suddenly, the girl fell to the ground and didn't get up again.

The golden light spots on her body became even fainter.

Xu Fang leaped up, flew a distance in the air, and landed lightly in front of the girl, observing her condition.

Her lips turned pale, blood pressure dropped, showing symptoms of excessive blood loss, on the verge of semi-shock.

Xu Fang's gaze shifted to the fair back of the girl's hand, where a line of English was written. After reading the words, Xu Fang felt a sense of unease.

At that moment, the girl noticed Xu Fang and raised her head, hoarsely shouting, "Strange author, be careful of the 'Destruction Association.' They are all liars, demons! It's all a scam from beginning to end. They want to take the lives of newcomers to create a 'god.' If this continues, everyone will die. Please help us..."

Before she finished speaking, she fainted again.

"Is this the price of the setting column?" Xu Fang sighed, referring to himself. He had gotten himself into big trouble.

Obviously, this woman was being hunted by a terrorist organization called the "Destruction Association," and it was obvious what kind of organization hunted authors.

The woman in front of him was barely hanging on to life. If he killed her, her memories would be passed on to someone else, and they would know that Xu Fang had learned the secret of the Destruction Association from her memories. If he left her alone, she would die sooner or later, and her death would still be known to others.

"Maybe I should just erase her memories..." Xu Fang thought of possible countermeasures. "No, I don't know if that organization has already found out. If they have, it would put me in a very passive position. And how did she determine that I am also an author? Why did she coincidentally encounter me here?"

As Xu Fang pondered, he reached into the girl's clothes, crushed the miniature bug inside, then lifted her up and disappeared into the forest.