The Battle-Damaged Guy's Ability

Ren Yi's words successfully piqued the waiter's interest.

"You've figured it out? How he's going to gamble against the God of Gamblers?"

"That's also what I'm wondering," Ren Yi said, frowning. "First, let me share my judgment."

Ren Yi slowly withdrew his perception and said to the waiter word by word, "I believe the Battle-Damaged Guy's ability is 'Time Stop'."

He paused, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.

"And I've roughly guessed his goal. It should be related to the God of Gamblers, or rather, getting the God of Gamblers out of the entertainment city entirely."

"But based on my current inference, while his ability is very strong, it still shouldn't be able to overcome 'Luck' in a head-on clash of fortune."

At this moment, the waiter proved to be an excellent listener. "Mr. Ren Yi, how did you figure that out?"

Ren Yi pointed at the Battle-Damaged Guy by the gambling table.

Ren Yi called him that because he looked heavily injured.

Right now, his head was slightly bowed, his face paler than before, and several wounds had reopened, with fresh blood soaking through his torn clothes.

He had been in much better shape when he first entered the entertainment city.

Ren Yi's voice was very soft. "From the first game until now, facing the God of Gamblers, he hasn't made any unnecessary movements."

"During the games, he always maintains a 'motionless' posture."

"But sometimes, staying 'motionless' is itself an 'anomaly'."

He pointed in the air, retracing his reasoning process.

"Without the support of the world's will, a Participant's talent will weaken to some extent."

"Such a powerful ability must have limitations or negative effects."

"At first, I thought 'staying motionless' was a negative side effect of his ability."

"But seeing his wounds get worse, I'm more inclined to believe that's the price of using his talent."

"Every time he stops time, it might cause damage to his body."

"So, being motionless is intentional?" the waiter asked.

"Yes, to cover it up," Ren Yi explained. "Time Stop means acting within frozen time."

"If there's even a slight deviation in his movement before and after activating the ability, someone would see the flaw."

"He stays motionless to ensure that after finishing everything in stopped time, he can return perfectly to his initial state, leaving no trace."

He remembered the Armor Hero's words, a knowing smile playing on his lips. "The Armor Hero said he thought the Battle-Damaged Guy's talent was 'Teleportation'."

"It's simple—moving to another position during stopped time looks like 'Teleportation' to others the moment time resumes, doesn't it?"

The waiter nodded repeatedly but then asked, "But why are you sure his target is the God of Gamblers?"

Ren Yi spoke slowly.

"Because we actually saw him use his ability the first time we met him in the entertainment city."

"And that time, he didn't use the 'motionless' cover."

Ren Yi's gaze drifted to the corner of the casino, where the elevator to the lower level was located.

"In the restaurant, when we first saw him, he appeared very suddenly."

"We weren't paying attention to him then, so we didn't notice how he showed up."

"But the people around the God of Gamblers were suddenly startled, and their clamor drew our attention."

"And back then..."

Ren Yi recalled hesitantly.

"Did my brother 'glitch' for a second?"

At that time, Ren Yi was watching the dispute between Dr. Lin and the waiter, and Ren Man's sudden movement beside him made them notice the situation with the Battle-Damaged Guy and the God of Gamblers.

So, was Ren Man not affected?

That's why, in Ren Yi's eyes, it looked like a dropped frame.

Was this how he discovered the Battle-Damaged Guy's specialty?

Ren Yi pushed the thought aside for now.

"I guess every time he stops time, his activity time is limited."

"That period should be more than enough to swap dice in a cup."

"But crossing a crowd to reach the God of Gamblers and take action within that limit is difficult."

"That's why he ended up startling the people near the God of Gamblers."

Ren Yi continued his analysis.

"At that time, there was no gambling game. He couldn't have used Time Stop to win chips."

"His goal had two possibilities."

"Either use the chance to steal the invitation from the God of Gamblers, or try to attack him directly."

"But he didn't get the invitation, and the God of Gamblers was unharmed."

"An invitation isn't hard to take, which only means his attack on the God of Gamblers failed."

Ren Yi looked up at the waiter with a deep gaze.

Clearly, a direct attack wouldn't succeed.

The reason was the entertainment city's rule of "no mutual harm," which didn't fit the typical Anomaly style.

It wasn't about punishing violators, but preventing it by giving everyone "invincibility."

So, the Instance rules applied even during stopped time.

No matter how strong his ability or how long he controlled time, if he couldn't break the defense, he couldn't do anything.

Was this also part of the guidance of 'Luck'?

"So, he settled for second best and chose to use a gamble to complete his plan," the waiter chimed in.

"Exactly." Ren Yi nodded, but confusion remained in his eyes. "But I still have a question: how is he going to win?"

"He harbors malice toward the God of Gamblers, so why hasn't the 'Luck' talent kicked in?"

"Logically, even if he can lock the dice with Time Stop, 'Luck' isn't limited to the gambling table."

"If the God of Gamblers were about to lose, what if the ceiling collapsed and smashed the table?"

Ren Yi started imagining wild scenarios, earning a dangerous look from the waiter.

No, logically, if it were truly disadvantageous, the God of Gamblers shouldn't have even sat at the table.

Had he overestimated 'Luck'?

Ren Yi looked at the waiter.

Right now, more than just the Battle-Damaged Guy held malice toward the God of Gamblers—the one in front of him was the real big boss.

The waiter acted as if he didn't notice and asked instead, "Mr. Ren Yi, have you thought of how to deal with his Time Stop?"

"Some of your abilities, even if used, probably can't affect him while time is stopped. You can't manipulate your own abilities in frozen time."

Seeing the waiter had no intention of clarifying things for him, Ren Yi shook his head and turned back to the table, his tone calm.

"There's no need."

"Regardless of whether he wins or loses, he has already... walked into a dead end."