Teleportation?

"What?" Ren Yi looked up, sounding a bit confused.

The waiter didn't answer. Instead, he suddenly placed a hand on Ren Yi's shoulder.

In the next second, Ren Yi felt his perception sharpen to an extraordinary degree. Even through the thick dice cup, he could clearly "see" the numbers on the three dice inside.

Ren Yi was momentarily stunned, but he quickly realized what was happening.

This entertainment city certainly wasn't playing fair either.

"X-ray Vision: My Life in the Anomaly Entertainment City."

A few titles of old web novels instantly flashed through Ren Yi's mind.

No, no, focus on the dice first.

The person responsible for shaking the dice was a professional waiter of the entertainment city. He picked up the dice cup, his wrist flicking with a light touch as the three dice inside made a crisp, rhythmic clattering sound.

Finally, with a firm press of his wrist, he slammed the cup onto the table with a sharp thud. The entire sequence was fluid and seamless, carrying a hint of showmanship.

Ren Yi's perception probed the gambling table. A one, a two, and a three. That added up to six, which was Small.

Meanwhile, the Armor Hero tilted his head slightly, pointing the side of his helmet where an ear would be toward the dice cup.

Seeing this, the waiter beside Ren Yi leaned in and explained in a low, smiling voice.

"Don't underestimate this game. Although the equipment can't be tampered with, a true master can hear the result."

"The sound is different depending on which side of the die lands face down."

"When a low number hits the surface, the sound is lighter and crisper. When a high number hits, the sound is deeper and more muffled."

"Those who have practiced to the extreme can determine if it's Big or Small, or even a Triple, just by the sound of the cup landing."

Hearing this, Ren Yi asked curiously, "So this Armor Hero is an old gambler too?"

"No..." The waiter hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully.

"It's likely that his mecha can perform audio track analysis."

Fine, fine. I thought this would just be a battle between a cheater and the King of Luck.

But now, it's turned into high-tech versus Mutants.

The Battle-Damaged Guy looked at the Armor Hero and spoke calmly, "I'm the challenger. You choose first."

The Armor Hero didn't stand on ceremony. "Small."

Well, he guessed right. That audio track analysis actually had some merit.

According to the rules of Big or Small, both players could bet on the same option or different ones without conflict.

But just as everyone was wondering if the Battle-Damaged Guy would follow the bet, he spoke calmly:

"Triple."

As soon as those words left his mouth, the surrounding crowd erupted into an uproar!

A Triple meant all three dice showed the exact same number.

Ren Yi remained silent.

How should he put it? He wasn't at all surprised that this kind of plot was unfolding.

However, he clearly perceived that the total inside was six, which was Small. Was the Battle-Damaged Guy planning to use some trickery now?

If so, his method of cheating probably wasn't something like X-ray vision that let him know the result in advance, but rather something that allowed him to tamper with the dice.

Ren Yi's interest was piqued. He stared intently at the Battle-Damaged Guy.

With the "X-ray vision" granted by the entertainment city, he should be able to spot some clues.

I want to see exactly how he turns a Small into a Triple right under everyone's noses!

His perception remained focused on the dice cup throughout the process, not missing even the slightest movement from the Battle-Damaged Guy.

But the Battle-Damaged Guy... didn't move.

He leaned back comfortably in his chair the entire time, arms crossed over his chest, motionless. He didn't even blink.

His expression was indifferent, as if he wasn't worried about the result in the cup at all, radiating the aura of a powerful expert.

While the crowd whispered amongst themselves, a bizarre scene unfolded within Ren Yi's perception.

Without any warning, without the sound of dice rolling, and without even a ripple in the air...

The numbers on the dice inside the cup, which had been facing up, changed instantly.

The three dice simultaneously became sixes.

"Huh?" Ren Yi was a bit dazed. "What kind of move was that?"

He wasn't surprised that the dice had changed, of course. What surprised him was that his perception hadn't captured anything at all.

The trace of cheating was incredibly obvious, yet he couldn't figure out how the Battle-Damaged Guy had done it!

The dice had changed in an instant, in the blink of an eye, without even the process of turning over.

It was almost as if the dice themselves had built-in electronic screens that switched their display in a flash.

Of course, the dice in the entertainment city couldn't possibly have such an obvious gimmick.

Through the whole process, the Battle-Damaged Guy hadn't moved a single finger.

It seemed this was the Battle-Damaged Guy's trump card. Its effect could be described as simple and crude.

While he was lost in thought, the situation at the gambling table had already shifted.

The Armor Hero clearly hadn't expected this either. His mechanical eyes stared at the dice cup as he spoke in disbelief.

"Impossible! According to my acoustic analysis, you definitely cheated! I want to inspect the dice!"

"You can inspect them, but a loss is a loss. You must accept it," the Battle-Damaged Guy said calmly.

"The rules of the entertainment city are right there. If you can't prove I cheated, you must hand over the chips as agreed."

The Armor Hero took the dice and examined them repeatedly for a long time, but he couldn't find any issues.

With no other choice, he could only reluctantly pull out half of his chips and slam them onto the table, his tone fierce. "Again! I don't believe you can keep being this lucky!"

But over the next few rounds, regardless of whether he guessed Big or Small, the dice results would change out of thin air at the last moment, forcing a win for the other side every single time.

Before long, the Armor Hero had lost almost all of his chips, leaving only a few scattered ones.

The fierce aura around him had mostly dissipated, replaced by intense anxiety and resentment.

The Battle-Damaged Guy leaned back, raising an eyebrow at him with a hint of playfulness in his tone. "According to the rules of the entertainment city, losing all your chips means death. What are you going to do now?"

The Armor Hero fell silent for a moment, but he didn't seem particularly panicked.

"I already wrote a debt note earlier and 'lent' a portion of my chips to my companion. What I have left on me is only a part of my own stash. I haven't lost everything yet."

"But for now, I 'temporarily' have nothing left to bet against you."

It seemed he wasn't entirely a meathead.

Upon hearing this, the Battle-Damaged Guy didn't get angry. Instead, he started laughing.

He turned his gaze toward the Pale Scholar, who had remained silent and indifferent the whole time, and spoke in a light tone.

"Since he's out of chips, do you want to have a gamble?"

The Pale Scholar looked at him as if he had just heard a joke. He rolled his eyes with a look of disdain.

"I'm not that stupid. You can even beat him; wouldn't I just be a lamb to the slaughter? I don't want to lose all my chips too."

After saying that, he even pointedly took a step back, looking as if he were terrified of being dragged into it.

The Battle-Damaged Guy didn't force him. He smiled and turned back to the wary Armor Hero, his tone softening slightly.

"Then, how about we make a deal?"

"I can change the condition. I don't want your chips."

"That way, you can keep most of your gains and won't have to face the problem of having to win back a lot of rounds later. What do you think?"

The Armor Hero was stunned, clearly not expecting him to suddenly propose such a condition.

"What do you want?"

"It's simple." The Battle-Damaged Guy stopped smiling, his gaze becoming a bit more serious. "The reason we entered this Instance is actually because he..."

He raised a finger and pointed at the Pale Scholar nearby, his tone carrying a hint of coldness. "Because he set us up."

"It's just that you had an invitation, while I didn't. That's why my situation was worse."

He continued, "But at the end of the day, we were both played by him."

The Battle-Damaged Guy's gaze fell on the Pale Scholar, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "So, my condition is: after we leave, help me take him out."

The Armor Hero hesitated for a moment.

"Since you've already escaped danger, why don't you do it yourself?"

"With your 'Teleportation' talent, it shouldn't be hard for you to kill him, right?"

Ren Yi was taken aback.

Wait, what?

Thank goodness for the Armor Hero's big mouth.

So, the Battle-Damaged Guy's talent was Teleportation?

Did he use Teleportation to swap the dice in the cup in an instant?

But even Teleportation shouldn't be able to counter 'Luck,' right?

Ren Yi's intuition told him that the information from the big-mouthed Armor Hero might not be entirely accurate.

Could it be that the Battle-Damaged Guy's ability produced an effect similar to 'Teleportation'?

If that were the case, the range of possibilities would be much narrower.

Ren Yi hesitated for a moment, then quietly pulled the waiter beside him and asked.

"Are you sure the dice in that cup are still the original ones? They weren't swapped by someone, were they?"

The waiter nodded quickly; he was certain of that much.

"Yes, they are the original dice."

So, it wasn't an instantaneous replacement of the dice.

Ren Yi's mind flashed back to some of the Battle-Damaged Guy's previous performances.

"I feel like..." His hesitant voice drew the attention of the waiter beside him.

"I think I know what his ability is."