The Monster is Coming

Chapter 492 A High-Stakes Gamble Based on Rules, United We Stand (Seeking Monthly Tickets~)

Upon receiving the report from his clansmen, he ordered his men to set off immediately.

15 minute later.

After a brief feeling of weightlessness, Minghou landed steadily at the teleportation point in the Dream Island gambling district.

The vision gradually cleared from the blur.

A bustling scene under the night sky instantly came into view.

The buildings here were all designed by him personally, blending architectural styles from multiple ethnic groups.

There are uniquely shaped exotic pavilions, spiraling sea dragon skeleton decorations, and magnificent blooming giant night-blooming cereus flowers... Along the way, there are luminous spiritual herbs transplanted from all over the sea, weaving a carpet of light on the ground or climbing on the walls of pavilions to outline lively patterns.

The gambling district was bustling with people, and foreign figures could be seen wandering around everywhere.

With a slight thought, Minghou's body flew towards the central casino building, supported by his mental power.

Thoughtful services are available everywhere along the way.

Outside the casino gates, a huge open-air stage floats in mid-air, where glamorous dancers spread their fiery wings and perform a captivating dance, eliciting cheers from the audience below.

On the other side, a group of graceful mermaid singers stood on a stage made of glowing mushrooms, their melodious harmonies echoing through the bustling crowd and lingering in the air above the gambling district.

There were also beautiful mermaid maids dressed in light gauze robes, carrying trays and weaving through the crowd like fish. On the trays were mixed drinks that he had paid to invite spirit chef players to set up shop in the casino and that were served free to the guests.

Entering the casino building, one is greeted by a magnificent and opulent scene.

The crowds are denser here.

Most of them are merchants who come to Dream Island for cross-domain trade. Some of them, after finishing their purchases for the Gold Coin Merchant Guild or their special product sales tasks, will flock to this money pit, wanting to try their luck with a few rounds of gambling.

As you walk toward the core area, you can see a group of green-skinned figures with pointed ears huddled around a gambling table, staring intently at each other, holding chips in their hands and looking hesitant.

There were also Wild Rice warriors clad in animal skins, their muscles bulging, holding wine jugs and using the "mental translator connectors" worn around their necks to chat loudly with the scaly lizardmen beside them, their words filled with anticipation for the upcoming bet.

There are also small, winged butterfly-like beings constantly flitting between different gambling tables, seemingly searching for a suitable way to play the game.

The scene was even more exciting once you entered the final battle zone, where the minimum stakes were limited.

This venue features multiple stages where employees from different ethnic backgrounds are singing and dancing, performing a series of stage plays full of exotic flavors. This attracts many passersby to stop and watch, and bursts of cheers erupt from time to time.

The air was filled with the sweet aroma of wine and exotic floral scents.

Singing, laughter, the clinking of chips, shouts of amazement and frustration... all sorts of sounds mingled into a vast ocean of sleepless desire.

Every inch of prosperity here is a manifestation of his hard work.

It was also the resources he accumulated for his path to heaven.

The voice passed through the clamor of singing and dancing, bypassed the long tables of free food and drink that wafted with aromas, and ignored the officials from various ethnic groups who bowed and paid their respects along the way.

The footsteps quickened, eventually becoming an almost invisible shadow, leading directly to a luxurious secret room separated by shielding crystals.

The clansman "Mingli," who had been waiting there, immediately stood up, his face devoid of its usual composure, replaced by solemnity:
"My Lord, you're finally back."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and gestured in front of him, instantly projecting an image onto a screen. He then pointed to a figure within the screen:
"it's him."

The scene is set in front of a gambling table in the heart of Las Vegas.

Across the gambling table sat a gambler from another race.

He was tall with a human-like appearance and unhealthy bluish-gray skin covered with fine cracks.

He was wearing tattered black robes, and on his exposed arms and calves, several deep, bone-revealing, and still not fully healed, hideous wounds were visible, with black smoke emanating from their edges.

Life Throat's gaze focused on the person's face. Half of the face was covered by a silver mask, while the other half was a bloody mess. One eye was a cloudy, dark yellow, and the other eye socket was empty, with charred marks remaining.

Despite being covered in wounds and leaning listlessly against the back of his chair, he exuded a fierce aura, like an ancient beast that was severely injured and on the verge of death but could still suddenly unleash its power to devour people at any moment.

"What's your background?" Minghou asked in a deep voice.

"The information came from the Gold Coin Merchant Guild. It is an elder of the Soul Bone Clan in the Three Stars Sea, east of the Ascension Sea. It calls itself Bone Prayer. Recently, its clan was almost completely wiped out, and it is one of the few survivors who escaped." Life Grain immediately replied.

Upon hearing this, Minghou immediately understood why the large fish had come.

The other party was clearly not there to play around; they wanted to gamble with the last of their tribe's resources, hoping for a chance to revive their nearly extinct tribe.

"It seems the other side has quite a lot of leverage."

Mingli nodded, pointed her finger, and the image focused on an item that Guqi had laid out on the gambling table.

This is a chaotic ball of light that is constantly changing shape, with what appears to be stars flowing within it.

At the core, a complex three-dimensional rune can be vaguely seen slowly rotating.

Even through the image, Minghou could sense the fluctuations of the rules contained within it.

He reached out and opened the guild chat channel, then opened the analysis screenshot sent by Mingli.

【Dead Silence (Rule)】:
Rule Description: Releasing the Deathly Stillness effect on any target will trigger an irreversible death judgment. A countdown number (in the form of a Deathly Stillness energy condensation rune) will appear on the target's back. The number will decrease at a constant rate over time from its initial value. Once it reaches zero, the target will suffer law-level annihilation and die instantly.

The initial countdown duration is affected by three main factors:
I. Life Strength: The target's lifespan, physical resilience, and concentration of consciousness directly determine the base duration. For example, the initial countdown for a mortal being is only 0.01 seconds, while for beings with extremely high life levels, such as demigods, it can reach hundreds to thousands of years.

2. Buff Status: Protective items and external buff statuses on the target will extend the death countdown.

Third, if the target itself is under the protection of the rules, the countdown will be extended further. The stronger the rules, the longer the extension will last.

Core Feature: Holders can accelerate the death countdown by consuming Death-Derived Energy.

……

Upon seeing the analysis results, Minghou immediately became interested.

This rule, named "Dead Silence," actually possesses rule-level power to "absolutely annihilate the target."

This is somewhat similar to the "rules of fate" held by their Fate Clan.

The characteristic of the Fate Rule is that, as long as the stakes in the equivalent game are large enough, it is even possible to generate rules as the winning edge.

The same applies to the Death Silence rule; as long as enough derivative energy is provided, even an opponent protected by the rule can be eliminated more quickly.

However, one can imagine that if the target is protected by the rules, the resources required to eliminate it would be enormous.

Now that the other party has presented the rules for the game, this deal can no longer be measured by ordinary bargaining chips.

After all, the rules themselves are the key to reaching the pinnacle of power.

At this moment, Mingli spoke, interrupting his thoughts:

“Master, this kid specifically asked to play an equivalent game. This is the biggest deal since the casino opened, and it involves a bet on the value of the rules... If we don’t take it, our reputation will be ruined, and we’ll close half the door to our high-end clientele.”

He paused and continued:

“But if we take over… we don’t have a complete set of rules that can match it. Even if we sell the entire casino, we can’t even scrape together one-tenth of the value of his bet.”

He raised his head, looking at Minghou with a hint of helplessness:
“Master, we absolutely cannot handle this order. If we really want to, we'll have to use your connections within the player camp to see if everyone can chip in... Otherwise, we can't even start this game.”

Upon hearing these words, Minghou couldn't help but frown.

Mingli is right. If we gather enough connections, we can definitely raise enough sacrificial power.

He and Alan have a good personal relationship, and the Gold Coin Merchants Association, considering his reputation and the future potential of the casino, will certainly be willing to provide a huge loan.

Secondly, given his current reputation and influence on the forum, he could attract a large number of high-end players or guilds to provide resources, making crowdfunding for gambling capital entirely feasible.

The problem lies in the inherent risks of "equivalent game".

The operating logic of equivalent game is cause and effect. The value of the chips will be strictly determined by the rules themselves. Any tricky "valuation" is meaningless in the face of the rules.

More importantly, even if they have strong luck, or even inflict bad luck on each other.

It can only affect the probability, but it cannot guarantee a win.

Even if you reduce your opponent's win rate from 50% to 10% through the Life Soul trait, they may still win this game.

If he loses... Fate Casino will have its reserve funds drained, and he will be burdened with enormous debt.

After that, there will be a long period of business closure, and he and his clansmen will have to work to pay off their debts.

This gamble was incredibly risky.

If you win, you'll gain a valuable rule imprint, your reputation in the casino will reach unprecedented heights, and resources will flow in abundance.

If we lose, we will lose years of development.

Thinking of this, Minghou fell silent.

As his thoughts raced, he came up with a potentially feasible solution.

Turning his head to look at the guide floating to the side, he bowed slightly, placed his fingers on his brow, and said respectfully:
"Guide, could the rules be broken down into sacrificial power, but the core structure be preserved, and then regenerated after sacrificial power is injected in the future?"

When asked, the guide slowly opened its eyes:

[Feasible, but a 10% handling fee will be deducted.]

Upon hearing the answer, a relieved smile appeared on Minghou's face.

With the guidance and affirmation, he could accept the deal without any psychological burden. A complete plan took shape in his mind, dispelling the gloom.

He looked at the life-giving grain, his eyes now devoid of hesitation:

“We’ll take this order and then share the profits with all the players.”

Life Grain was taken aback: "Divide?"

"Correct."

Minghou's thoughts became clearer, and his speaking speed increased:
“We will package this bet into a subscribed project, and divide the betting capital we need to raise into multiple shares. Any player can subscribe to the corresponding proportion of shares by paying us sacrifice.”

“Take the Dead Silence rule as an example. This rule is assumed to be able to decompose 10 billion sacrificial power. The Gold Coin Merchant Guild will give us 100 million sacrificial power. If we win the bet, the Gold Coin Merchant Guild will take away the cost and gain an additional 1 million sacrificial power. After deducting the 1% handling fee and adding the bonus of the City of Destiny, the Gold Coin Merchant Guild's income will be 1.05 million sacrificial power.”

"At the same time, the remaining shares will be publicly sold on the forum to all capable players and guilds, allowing more fellow villagers to participate and fill the gap in the supply."

"If we win, all participating players will share the sacrificial power generated after the rule is broken down according to their shareholding ratio. If we lose, all participating players or guilds will share the loss. In this way, our casino will lose some working capital, but we will not have to close down. Everyone shares the risk and benefits."

Mingli was stunned, then his eyes flashed with a sharp light:

“Brilliant, Master! In this way, the risk is spread among all the villagers, greatly reducing our pressure.”

Minghou nodded; this was exactly what he had in mind.

To his dismay, the game mode couldn't be like the Gold Coin Merchant Guild, where you could increase your earnings by using "Gold Coin Souls." Instead, you could only get a 15% bonus from the rules of the Soul "City of Destiny" that he created after defeating the Netherworld Council.

Otherwise, the profit from this round would be even higher.

Now, the risks of the game have shifted from being borne alone in the gambling city to being shared by many, and the road ahead has suddenly become wider and brighter.

Next, he plans to leverage all his connections to place bets together.

Although there's no guarantee we'll win.

However, with both good and bad luck, the probability of winning is much higher than the probability of losing.

Without further hesitation, he immediately brought up his contact list and sent a call request message to Alan, the president of the Gold Coin Merchant Guild.

After a short wait, the other party answered.

Alan's figure appeared in the unfolding light screen. He was at the Dream Island pier, surrounded by a bustling scene of unloading cargo, accompanied by the "whoosh" of waves crashing against the shore.

"Life Throat, it seems you need my help," A-Lan greeted with a smile and a nod.

Without wasting words, Minghou succinctly laid out the Bone Prayer, the Rules of Death and Silence, the Game Theory, and his newly conceived "Risk Sharing" plan, emphasizing that the guidelines indicated the rules could be broken down into sacrificial power.

Ah Lan listened quietly, as if she was calculating something.

There was a brief silence during the communication.

A few breaths later, A-Lan glanced at the golden barrage of bullets drifting past on her right, then looked at the phantom of Life Throat and nodded:
“This plan is good. The risks are controllable and the benefits are tempting enough. However, the Gold Coin Merchants Association’s regular working capital is fixed and cannot be touched. I can use some of the strategic reserve funds that I can mobilize to put it up... In this way, our Gold Coin Merchants Association will contribute 10 billion sacrificial power.”

Even though Minghou was mentally prepared, he was still startled by the number.

He took a deep breath and looked solemnly at the light screen, saying:

"President Aran, thank you."

Upon hearing this, Ah Lan smiled and waved her hand:

"Don't be so polite with me. The more you invest, the more you'll earn when you win. This is an investment with potential returns far outweighing the risks, and it's worth our Gold Coin Merchant Guild's investment... You should create buzz on the forum as soon as possible to get more players involved. This is also a good opportunity to enhance the influence of the Dragon Sparrow Guild."

After disconnecting, Minghou decisively brought up the forum interface and began editing a post recruiting investors.

The title directly states the core message:

[Destiny Casino: A rules-based gambling arena, now open for strategic investor recruitment.]

In the post, Minghou first detailed the identity of his opponent in this game and attached screenshots of his analysis.

Then, a screenshot analyzing the opponent's "dead silence" chip rule was shown.

The investment subscription model was then explained in detail, with the profits from winning the game distributed according to the proportion of shares held.

It also clearly informs forum players that if the gamble fails, the losses will be shared proportionally according to their share, meaning that the entire principal of the subscribed portion will be lost.

As for how to subscribe, he posted the link below for himself and 25 other members of his tribe.

Finally, click "Publish".

The moment the post was published, it was like a spark thrown into boiling oil, instantly igniting the forum that was still boiling over with excitement over the "Four Gods Blessing".

Its popularity index soared rapidly, quickly breaking into the top ten of the daily popularity list.

"Holy crap, he's betting the rules? This idiot's risking his life and fortune! Maybe his family has suffered a major setback and he's trying to turn his life around."

"Huh? The Gold Coin Merchant Guild has directly spent 1 billion? Even Guild Master Alan has gotten involved. I have to join in. Can I subscribe with 100,000 sacrificial power?"

"With the addition of level 100 luck and bad luck, the win rate should be around 75%. If I win, the return will be almost double. I want to go all in."

"I won't play. Even a 10% chance of losing is a major risk to me. If I lose, it's all gone. If the win rate is 99%, I'll definitely go all in."

"I've agreed, I'm betting everything I have on this purchase. Could you please approve my application?"

Within ten minutes of the post being published, Minghou's private messages were flooded with various applications.

The notification sounds kept coming in, so I had to ask Alan to download the filtering plugin to filter out all the lower-level players.

Those seeking cooperation included representatives from the Arms Dealers Guild and the Apothecary Guild, as well as managers from various top guilds.

Before placing their bets, they generally asked for guidance on the odds of winning in this round of betting.

The answer was 77.39349%.

This made all factions within the player community feel that this deal was worth betting on.

The probability of winning is much greater than the probability of losing, but the odds are more than double.

This is also the first venture capital investment that players have been able to participate in since the launch of Monster World.

As the post gained popularity, a large number of players followed suit and participated.

Players from the Fate Throat and Fate Clan also got busy, starting to record subscription information.

Besides top guilds, some wealthy, low-profile players also started to inquire about the details of the subscription during this period.

This includes many veteran chefs and hidden masters in the exploration community who have had the opportunity to get rich but have never shared it on the forum.

This earth-shattering gamble has been brewing for some time, even before it has officially begun.

As Minghou watched the messages constantly popping up in his private chat list, a huge weight was finally lifted from his heart.

The casino is open to the public; refusing this deal would be tantamount to ruining its reputation.

With the help of fellow townsfolk on the forum, there's no need to worry about funding.

While recording the subscription information, he also inquired about the specific value of the rules.

The guideline's answer is: low-level rules, worth 329 billion.

It wouldn't be difficult for the player faction to raise this amount of money.

The private messages are so popular that we may have to give up on some potential investors.

To improve statistics and replace the complex manual records with automatic registration, Minghou once again sought help from Alan, asking his team to create a small plugin.

The next night.

At the subscription time, a barrage of transfer notifications flooded Minghou's mind.

He summoned his spatial bag, and the numbers in the balance column jumped wildly like a runaway horse.

Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands... millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, billions!
Finally, the image froze under the watchful gaze of the throat:

[Sacrifice Power Balance: 34375932258]

Even though he was used to seeing storms, Minghou couldn't help but take a deep breath.

This huge sum of money represents both trust and pressure.

He then brought up the live stream interface.

Instantly, the screen was filled with bullet comments, flooding every corner of the viewer's vision and surging wildly at the speed of scrolling, submerging the entire live stream in a wave of surging emotions.

The comments section was filled with shouts of "Win for me!"
Clearly, many of these comments came from players who had purchased "gambling shares".

They must be feeling the same way I am right now – a mix of nervousness and anticipation.

The chips are ready, and the audience is in position.

Time to head to the gambling table and meet the opponent who's bet everything.

He straightened his robes, suppressed all his emotions, and stood up to walk outside.

　Thank you Tianyidao for the 5000 Qidian Coins!
　　|ω`) It's the last day of the monthly ticket giveaway! Brothers, if you still have any monthly tickets left, go ahead and vote!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)