People in Yu-Gi-Oh! The hyper-converged audience is also integrated

Chapter 311 For the sake of baby formula, maybe I can become a gambling saint?
My will and that of my other self reached an unprecedented unity at this moment.

I want to be a doctor and remove all the evil spirits that bring misfortune and disaster from the human body.

But that's for later. Right now, I'm so hungry I could eat a whole cow.

Doctors need to make a living too.

After running several kilometers on an empty stomach, my body's energy consumption had reached its limit.

I skillfully crawled into the ruins of an abandoned building, which had once been a factory workshop. The air still smelled of machine oil and rust. I rummaged through a pile of rusty parts and tattered canvas, and soon I pulled out a tattered black robe from under a pile of greasy industrial waste. The fabric was as rough as sandpaper.

I quickly tore off the excess rags, adjusted them to fit my body, tied them around my neck, and casually pulled up a corner to cover the troublesome head around my neck.

She coughed, choked by years of dust on the black cloth, and then burst into a loud, piercing wail.

Hearing the crying, that irritation surged up again, and I frowned: "You! What a nuisance!"

"Cry, cry, cry! What are you crying for!"

"Stop crying!"

I cursed under my breath, but she cried even harder. I had no choice but to grip the iron rod tightly, turn around, and run towards a nearby tribe.

I don't know how long I ran, until my lungs were burning and it was already dark, before I stopped and leaned against the wall, panting heavily.

A new tribe appeared before us, or rather, a new garbage dump and residential houses.

This tribe is much like the place I escaped from. In the distance, behind high walls lies the civic district, which is as bright as day at night. It is another world. We, the barbarians, are like maggots surrounding paradise, struggling to survive in the dilapidated satellite districts around us.

Each tribe has a market and an entrance to an underground city, which are the economic lifeline of the wasteland people.

The market was bustling with noise. It was more like a large open-air garbage dump than a market. The stalls, built with corrugated iron sheets and plastic sheets, were crooked and crooked. The ground was covered with a mixture of mud and unidentified liquid, and it reeked of cheap synthetic food and excrement.

Everyone's face was numb and wary, their eyes scanning the surroundings like wild dogs.

I pulled my hood down low, my hand never leaving the iron bar at my waist, my eyes quickly scanning every stall and every passerby, before finally entering the most respectable-looking general store.

The shop was dimly lit, and a pot-bellied owner was wiping the counter with a greasy rag. He glanced at me, his gaze lingering for a moment on my tattered robe and thin figure, with an undisguised look of disdain.

"buy what?"

“It’s for babies.” I lowered my voice, trying to sound like an 'adult’.

The shopkeeper stopped what he was doing and then sneered, "Baby food? Formula? Ha, that's for the common folk, I don't have that here."

I didn't say anything, but took out the shell with its eerie green sheen from my pocket and placed it on the counter.

The boss's sneer stopped abruptly. He squinted, leaned closer to examine the stone carefully, rubbed the surface of the stone with his oily fingers, and the contempt in his eyes faded: "Hey, this is pretty good quality."

He clicked his tongue: "If you're lucky, you might be able to buy half a jar, but I'm out of stock here. You'll have to go to the dungeon, kid."

Dungeon?
These three words felt like a needle, making my body involuntarily tense up.

The boss keenly noticed my reaction, and his smile turned playful: "What's wrong, new here? Scared?"

He shifted his posture, leaning lazily against the counter: "Here's a suggestion for you."

He held up three greasy fingers and waved them: "Go to the slums and find Granny Wang to breastfeed you. It costs twenty points each time. This piece of jade is enough for her to breastfeed you ten times."

"Twenty at a time..." I repeated to myself, quickly calculating in my mind.

Twenty dollars can buy five loaves of black bread, but that's only enough to feed her once? How can it be so expensive?

I frowned, silently put away the shell, and turned to leave.

"Tch, can't even say thank you, how rude." The boss spat at my retreating back. "Where did this little scoundrel come from?"

Even among the desolate people, there were different classes.

Those who can interact with the civic district look down on those who do legitimate business; those who do legitimate business look down on those who have a roof over their heads; those who have a roof over their heads look down on homeless people who have nowhere to live; and homeless people like me, who have nowhere to live and have a child, are at the very bottom of the hierarchy of contempt.

Following the impatient directions of the homeless people, I plunged headlong into the slum.

This place was even more dilapidated than my previous village. In addition to the sour smell of rotting garbage and the stench of excrement, there was a lingering, sweet, fishy odor, similar to rotting flesh. Underfoot was not mud, but a sticky, dark filth, each step producing a nauseating "plop" sound.

The so-called "houses" were just haphazardly pieced together tin sheets, plastic sheets, and wooden planks, crooked and dilapidated, ready to collapse at any moment and bury the people inside alive.

The people inside the cave had even more vacant eyes and were even more wary. They were like a pack of wild beasts tormented by hunger, casting scrutinizing and greedy glances at any outsider.

As I asked around, most people just glanced at me with numb eyes and turned away, ignoring me completely. Only one gaunt man who looked like he was about to starve to death pointed to a slightly larger shed at the very back, then stared intently at the shells in my pocket and stretched out his withered, branch-like hand.

I stepped aside, ignored him, and walked straight towards the shed.

Before you even get close, a strong smell of milk and the sour smell of babies fills your nostrils. A tattered cloth curtain hangs at the entrance of the shed, and the cries of babies, at least four or five, can be heard from inside.

I lifted the curtain and saw a hunched middle-aged woman sitting on a small stool, holding one child in her arms, and two more lying in a broken basket at her feet, all of them crying.

The woman looked to be in her forties, with thinning hair and a face covered in light wrinkles, like a crumpled old newspaper, but her small eyes revealed shrewdness.

Hearing the noise, she looked up, her cloudy eyes scanning me up and down. Seeing my thin frame, she spoke in a slightly hoarse voice, "Who are you looking for?"

"Feeding." I said in a low voice, concise and to the point.

Upon hearing those two words, Granny Wang's eyes lit up, and the wrinkles on her face blossomed into a smile: "Oh my, you want to breastfeed? Sure, other wet nurses charge thirty for a feeding, but mine is cheaper, only twenty."

I remained silent, not immediately taking out the gemstone, and pretended to leave.

She thought I thought it was too expensive, so she quickly changed her tune, her face beaming with a warm smile: "You're just a kid, it's not easy for you, fifteen! Fifteen o'clock, how about it? I have plenty of breast milk, I guarantee your baby will be well-fed!"

I was still hesitant. These two stones were all I had, and she couldn't exchange them for anything else; she wouldn't give me any change.

"Waaah—" Just then, as if sensing something, the girl on her neck started wailing again.

Wang Po, with her sharp ears, immediately heard it, and her smile became even more genuine: "Oh dear, listen, the child is crying from hunger. Quickly bring him to me, he'll suffocate if he's kept in his robe."

She probably thought the baby was behind me, hidden by my robe.

Grandma Wang stood up from the stool with a smile, patting the back of the child in her arms as she walked towards me.

My first instinct was to back away, but my feet seemed rooted to the spot. I hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn't move away.

As Wang Po approached, I slowly pulled down my hood, exposing the left side of my neck completely to her with a complex mix of shame, fear, and a sliver of hope.

The smile on Granny Wang's face froze instantly.

Her pupils first dilated in confusion, then contracted sharply, her mouth opened silently, and the enthusiasm and shrewdness on her face were replaced by horror and extreme fear in a mere second.

"Ah—!" She let out a short scream, and jumped back as if she had been branded with a hot iron, knocking over the stool behind her.

Instinctively, she grabbed a broom from the corner and waved it wildly at me like she was chasing away a plague: "Go away! Freak! Get out of my way!"

"Waaaaah—!"

The baby was terrified by Wang Po's ferocious expression and screams, and cried more piercingly than ever before.

The cries and Wang Po's screams immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding vagrants. Heads popped out from the dilapidated shed, peering out curiously.

Seeing that there were many people around, Granny Wang grew bolder. She pointed at me with her broom and shouted at everyone in a shrill voice, "He is a demon! A monster! He will bring us disaster, quickly drive him away!"

The surrounding gazes instantly shifted from curiosity to fear and wariness. Some people silently retreated back into the shed, and when they came out again, they had a rusty kitchen knife in their hands. A man picked up half a brick from the ground and stared intently at me.

I looked at them, gritted my teeth, and before they could make a move, I quickly pulled up my hood to cover the still-crying head, turned around, pushed through the crowd, and ran wildly again amidst their contemptuous and fearful gazes.

"It's all your fault!" I gritted my teeth, suppressing the urge to strangle the lump on my neck, and ran wildly through the mud, cursing under my breath.

"It's all your fault! It's all your fault!"

"He's a jinx, banish him!" Behind her, the shouts and curses of Granny Wang and the group of vagrants mingled together, like a pack of hyenas chasing after carrion.

Once again, because of this thing, I was chased around like a plague.

Soon after, a distinct beam of light appeared ahead, the entrance to the underground. Standing at the entrance was a tall, upright man, his uniform so clean it stood out starkly against the surrounding filth.

I grasped at the last straw and rushed to the man's side with all my might.

The vagrants chasing me stopped abruptly a few meters away, not daring to take another step. Granny Wang pointed at me with a trembling finger, her voice shrill: "He is the son of calamity! Quick! Drive him away!"

The man glanced at them, giving them a look that said, 'You're teaching me how to do things,' and the group immediately fell silent.

He lowered his head, his gaze falling on me, his voice devoid of any emotion: "Want to go into the dungeon?"

My heart was pounding. I knew very well that if I said no, I would lose this brief refuge, so I could only bite the bullet and nod.

"Entry fee: 500 gold points," the man said coldly.

“Five…five hundred…” I trembled all over.

Five hundred gold points, if used sparingly, would be enough for me to live on for a month. But now, it costs five hundred just to enter a door.

I glanced back at the group of menacing vagrants. If I didn't spend these five hundred, they would immediately kill me as a heretic.

I had no choice but to take out the only two shells I had from my pocket and hand them over with trembling hands. These were all my possessions, even though I had stolen them. I had no idea how much they were worth.

The man took the gemstone and casually placed it on a square instrument beside him. The instrument emitted a soft buzzing sound, and a line of numbers appeared on the screen: [Estimated value: 565 micrograms of negative cubic crystal]

565 micrograms of negative square crystal, equivalent to 565 points. (Sixth-century exchange rate)
"565!" I couldn't help but exclaim in a short, sharp voice.

Did that kid secretly hide 565?

In the original tribe, if I dared to hide 565, my 'dad' would beat me to death three times.

The man remained expressionless. He flicked his wrist a few times, and a smaller stone popped out of thin air. He took the stone, bent slightly, and handed it to me: "Here's your sixty-five. Welcome."

I instinctively caught it, looked down at the unremarkable little stone in my palm, then looked up at him, and was momentarily stunned.

Although it cost five hundred, and it was only for a brief moment, I truly felt respected.

I turned around and looked at the group of homeless people who wanted to hit me but didn't dare to, and who wanted to rush up but didn't have the money to get into the city. Seeing their embarrassed and angry appearance, an unprecedented sense of superiority rushed to my head.

Is this what it feels like to spend money? It's so awesome!

"Waaah—" The sharp cry on my neck pulled me back to reality.

Spending money feels good, but how am I supposed to survive in this dungeon with the remaining 65 points?
"My lord!" Granny Wang roared hoarsely, pointing at me, "Did you hear that? Underneath this freak's robe, there's a baby's head!"

"He will bring disaster!"

My heart tightened, and I nervously looked at the man in uniform.

The man didn't even glance at me again, but stared directly at Wang Po and her group, coldly repeating, "Are you going into town?"

Six words instantly silenced the air.

Wang Po's arrogance vanished instantly. She lowered her head and muttered softly, "We...we don't have five hundred points..."

“If you’re not going into the city, then don’t obstruct our distinguished guests,” the man added coldly. “Distinguished guests.”

I muttered to myself.

I'm not a freak, I'm a VIP.

Those two words had an impact on me like an earthquake at that moment. They just sounded so cool and exhilarating.

The gatekeeper didn't care what was being brought into the city; all he knew was that he would get a 50-point commission for letting someone in.

I turned around, facing the group of vagrants who had chased me relentlessly, grinned widely, and made the most obnoxious face a twelve-year-old could make, sticking out my tongue: "Hehehe—"

I feel so childish, but my body won't listen to me.

I watched their furious yet helpless expressions until I had vented all my anger before turning and walking into the deep underground city.

Now that the fun is over, it's time to face reality.

In my memory and from my meager education, the dungeon was a place only the rich could enter.

There is a chance to meet the citizens. If you are a pretty girl, you may be taken back to the citizens' district and given temporary citizenship. After successfully giving birth to a child, you can become a full citizen.

Unfortunately, I am a boy.

If a man from a remote village wants to be registered as a citizen, he must hand over a whole gram of negative crystals.

As for a citizen woman marrying a man from a remote area? I've never heard of that.

After 404 years, the women of Biantana were cursed to be able to have only one child in their lifetime. Because of this curse, they had extremely strict requirements for the male's genes, demanding that he be clean, handsome, and intelligent.

Clearly, these three conditions have absolutely nothing to do with the people of the wilderness.

The passage leading to the underground city was cold and narrow. After walking for about several dozen meters, a heavy metal door slid open silently, and I was hit in the face by a wave of hot air, perfume, alcohol and the smell of barbecue.

"This is--"

The sight before me left me, a naive person who had never seen anything like it, completely stunned.

I followed the crowd like a monkey, looking up at my surroundings. This was no city; it was clearly a city that never sleeps, built inside a giant cave. The jagged rock walls overhead illuminated the entire space with a bizarre and surreal light.

Countless neon signs hang on buildings carved from metal and rock, flashing glaring advertising slogans.

The baby on the neck looked at the dazzling lights through the black cloth, temporarily forgetting to cry.

I looked around, and my gaze was suddenly drawn to a high platform in front of me. A man with his back to me stood tall and wore clean clothes unlike any I had ever seen among the wild people.

On his wrist, a ring-shaped object emitted a soft electronic light, exactly the same as the one worn by the guards at the door; it was a supercomputing ring, a mark of a citizen.

A whole row of women stood in front of him.

They wore very little fabric, with most of their bodies exposed. Their skin gleamed alluringly under the lights. Their expressions varied; some were awkward, some were shy, and they were all trying to force ingratiating smiles.

The man walked slowly from one end of the line to the other, like someone picking through goods at a market, occasionally pointing and commenting.

I tried desperately to look away; the women's clothing was definitely inappropriate for children. But my body wouldn't listen, and my eyes wouldn't listen either, fixed on the women's exposed navels and chests. A strange heat rose from my lower abdomen.

"What a beautiful woman."

So this is how girls are taken away from the civic area.

Just as my mind was in complete chaos and I was about to lose control, a piercing electronic sound rang out, and a cold, emotionless broadcast echoed throughout the cave:

"Duel disk, countdown to the start of the match, ten, nine, eight..."

Before I could finish speaking, a violent tremor came from the ground beneath my feet.

Not far ahead, a huge circular plot of land slowly sank down, and then a huge gambling table with a diameter of more than 20 meters rose from the ground. In the center of the gambling table was a roulette wheel made of dark gold, which was engraved with dense symbols and shone with dazzling light under the lights.

"It's open! It's open!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! I must recoup my losses this time!"

The surrounding crowd instantly erupted in excitement, their faces filled with fervor and greed, as they surged toward the enormous gambling table like madmen.

The once spacious aisle suddenly became completely congested. I was jostled about by the crowd, clutching the small stone worth 65 points tightly in my hand. Unknowingly, I was pushed to the edge of the gambling table by the crowd.

The gemstones embedded in the edge of the gambling table were so bright they were blinding.

Money can buy women here, and it can also evaporate in an instant.

I swallowed hard, feeling my tiny sense of superiority, along with the 500 points entrance fee, completely crushed by this enormous dark gold roulette wheel.

With a loud "boom," accompanied by dazzling fireworks and ribbons, a woman slowly descended from the darkness directly above the gambling table, riding on a glowing disc.

She had long, bright green hair and exaggerated purple eyeliner. She landed steadily, picked up a microphone, and gave the excited crowd a professional and highly infectious smile.

Good evening, everyone!

The audience erupted in a thunderous roar and whistles, instantly igniting the atmosphere.

"I'm the host, Yi—" she deliberately drew out her words, letting them echo throughout the venue, "Mi—!"

"Oh--"

"Hurry up!"

The host, Immy, made such a high-profile entrance that my attention was drawn to her. I felt like I'd heard her name somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place it. So I looked away and stared at the betting table.

Imi basked in the cheers, raised his hands to quell the commotion, and his voice boomed through the megaphone throughout the cavern: "So, let's welcome our two big guests for tonight! The red team is our regular, the Demon Hunter!"

A burly man with a fierce face and wearing a gold necklace stood up in response, patting his chest triumphantly, which drew cheers from the crowd.

"The blue team is led by our rising star, Ling-Hua!"

In another direction, an elegant woman in a well-dressed gown merely nodded slightly, a faint, cold smile playing on her lips, while her supporters erupted in even more frenzied screams.

The two sat down, each with three cards in front of them whose contents were obscured.

After introducing the players, Immy raised the microphone and shouted, "Beting has begun! Place your bets now!"

"Red team! I bet 1000 points!"

"The Spirit Flower will prevail! Two thousand!"

"Listen to me, Linghua has gotten another rare card this time, this match is a sure win!"

The gamblers placed their bets, ranging from a few hundred micrograms to a few milligrams or even tens of milligrams. A man with a beer belly tossed a shiny crystal into the red zone.

Immy immediately caught it, her voice rising eight octaves: "One hundred milligrams! This gentleman bet one hundred milligrams in the first round! That's a high-stakes gamble!"

“One hundred milligrams.” I was stunned and murmured to myself.

One hundred milligrams is 100,000 gold points, 100,000, you just waved your hand and spent 100,000?!
These people, with just a flick of their fingers, gambled away more money than I could ever spend in a lifetime on a game I couldn't understand at all.

"Hey kid, are you going to play or not? If not, move aside." An impatient voice came from behind.

I shuddered and shakily took out the shell that symbolized sixty-five gold points. In an instant, suppressed low laughter rose from all around.

"That's all? You came in just to watch the show?"

"Get out of my way, don't block my path to wealth."

Hearing the commotion on stage, Immy tapped the table with the microphone: "Hey, hey, hey—no one is allowed to cause trouble in my place. That young man got this position because he's lucky."

She winked at me, her voice tinged with a hint of teasing, "Little brother, if you have money, bet calmly, whatever you want. If you don't have money, watching the show is fine too, just don't delay the big brothers from placing their bets later."

"Yes...yes." I answered tremblingly, clutching my only 65 points, unsure which side to bet on.

"Hurry up! Damn it, you've been thinking about a few points for ages, what are you thinking about!" The big man behind him urged again. He could have stretched out his hand to place the bet, but he just wanted to shout this and enjoy the feeling of being superior.

I trembled again from the shout, and the hand holding the shell subconsciously moved towards the blue area.

"Whoa-!"

The baby on the neck suddenly started crying again, the sound sharp and piercing.

Out of some instinct to soothe the child, I quickly pulled my hand back, and the crying stopped abruptly.

I composed myself and tentatively moved my hand toward the red side again. In an instant, she burst into tears again.

I pulled back abruptly.

"Ten seconds left! The first round has the highest odds, place your bets now!" Immy's voice urged them on.

"ten!"

"Nine!"

I hesitated, my hand moving back and forth between the red and blue sides. No matter which side I moved it to, she would burst into tears right on time.

"five!"

"Four!"

In a moment of desperation, I moved my hand to the tie zone between red and blue, and the crying stopped once again.

As I stared at the words "draw," my breathing and heart pounded faster and faster: "You..."

"three!"

"two!"

"one!"

If we lose this round, we'll be thrown out of the dungeon and die outside.

"Can I trust you?"

I muttered to myself, and it was the first time I had spoken to her. She didn't answer; she just smacked her lips and breathed on my neck.

In the last second, I pushed all my possessions, that pearl worth sixty-five gold points, into the tie zone.

"If we're going to die, let's die together!"

She nestled quietly against my neck, no longer crying.

"Place your bets now!" Immy shouted, and the room instantly fell silent. "Open the cards!"

The red team's Demon Hunter and the blue team's Spirit Blossom exchanged a smile across the gambling table, each slowly flipping over one of the three magic cards in front of them.

(End of this chapter)