American Comics: Something's Wrong with This Superhero World

Chapter 173 Fair?

Maroni was completely bewildered. The contract he signed with Xiao Xian instilled a deep-seated fear in him, but his years of gang life and experience as a gang leader made him realize that he couldn't back down now, or at least not show it. Otherwise, he would be completely controlled by the middle-aged man in front of him.

Ultimately, reason prevailed over fear. Maroni slammed his fist on the table, pointed at Xiao Xian's nose, and shouted that he was gambling, gambling that Xiao Xian was just a magician who manipulated light and shadow and was skilled in hypnosis.

"What the hell did you do?!"

When Maroni's henchmen saw that their boss was angry, they all raised their guns and aimed them at Xiao Xian.

"I hate it when people point a gun at me."

As Xiao Xian spoke, he glanced at Maroney's henchmen, who immediately clutched their hearts and collapsed to the ground. Xiao Xian could sense the sins committed by these men from a distance; indeed, there were few good people among the gangsters in Gotham.

No, this lousy place doesn't have many good guys among the superheroes, not even as many good guys among the supervillains. At least most supervillains were just actors when they were born.

"." Seeing all his underlings fall down, Maroni sat down awkwardly. This time, it seemed he had really met his match.

Xiao Xian tossed a dice cup in front of Maroni and said with a smile, "The game begins."

"I think we might have misunderstood each other. I admit my voice was a bit loud just now. It's normal to win and lose in gambling. You can take all the money you win today with you."

Maroni looked at all his underlings lying on the ground. He felt a little embarrassed when there were many people around, but now that there was no one else, Maroni's boss-like attitude wasn't so big anymore.

"I still like your attitude just now. By the way, if you don't roll the dice to see the result within one minute, you lose." Xiao Xian picked up the dice cup and reminded Maroni, his bright smile making Maroni feel uneasy.

"I was wrong, brother, I'll give you this casino," Maroni tried to salvage the situation.

"An apology also counts as time," Xiao Xian reminded him.

Maroni took a deep breath, his hand trembled slightly, and then he shook the dice cup violently. The dice inside clinked together crisply, a symphony of fate. He shook it several times, each shake seeming like a struggle against destiny. Finally, he stopped, his palm covering the dice cup, a hint of tension and anticipation flashing in his eyes.

"Okay, I'm done shaking." Maroni's voice trembled slightly.

Xiao Xian simply smiled slightly, his expression calm, as if he didn't care about the outcome at all.

Maroni slowly lifted the dice cup, revealing three large sixes. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh, a relieved smile spreading across his face.

The worst-case scenario is that Xiao Xian also gets three sixes, resulting in a draw.

"Looks like you still have some luck." Xiao Xian's voice carried a hint of amusement.

Then, Xiao Xian picked up another dice cup himself. Xiao Xian's movements were elegant; he gently shook the cup, and a dull, rhythmic sound came from inside. Then Xiao Xian stopped and placed the dice cup steadily on the table.

Maroni's attention was focused on the quietly standing dice cup, praying that Xiao Xian wouldn't get three sixes.

"Don't worry, I'm not three sixes."

Xiao Xian smiled and then slowly lifted the lid of the bowl.

Inside were six dice, each showing a six.

Upon seeing the result of Xiao Xian's dice roll, Maroni froze, his smile instantly turning to silence.

Maroni jumped up from his chair, pointing angrily at the dice cup on the table, and said, "This isn't fair! I only have three dice, but you have six. How are we supposed to play like this?"

Xiao Xian merely smiled slightly, as if he had anticipated this scene. He leisurely adjusted his cuffs, then spoke slowly, his voice calm.

"Maroney, life is inherently unfair. If you were Wayne, would you still need to run a casino here to make money? And those gamblers downstairs, are you playing fairly with them? I'm already being very polite by not using sixty dice to play with you. This world is ruled by the strong, and the difference in our strength is more than just one or two times."

These words struck Maroni like a hammer blow. He knew he was no match for Xiao Xian; Xiao Xian was now the butcher, and he was the fish on the chopping block, with no way to resist.

Maroni took a few deep breaths, barely managing to calm himself. He glared fiercely at Xiao Xian and said through gritted teeth.

"Fine, fine! You won today, but I won't just give up like this!"

"I know that few souls enter Hell willingly." Xiao Xian clapped his hands, and the magically conjured dice disappeared.

"However, I am different from other hell lords. I am not the kind of demon who likes to force others. As long as you are willing to help me collect souls, I can not only return your soul to you, but also grant you supernatural power, longevity, and even immortality is not impossible."

"Making promises is a basic skill that every capitalist should have," Xiao Xian tempted Maroni.

Maroni rolled his eyes and suddenly realized that this incident might not be entirely a tragedy; it might also be an opportunity for him.

Without much thought, Maroni quickly made his decision, and he spoke to Xiao Xiandao without hesitation.

"Deal, Lord Demon. I will collect souls for you."

If I don't collect souls for Xiao Xian now, he will take my soul to hell. If I do collect souls for Xiao Xian, the worst outcome is that Xiao Xian will break his promise and still drag me into hell.

As for the souls he had collected, Maroni didn't care about them. If collecting souls was simply a matter of killing people, Maroni decided he should be able to gather them all very quickly. After all, he killed a lot of people every year even without a contract with the demon.

Gotham's second-largest gang wasn't earned through words, but through bullets and bloodshed.

"Very good. I have high hopes for you. Keep up the good work, and maybe one day you can become a dimensional demon god like me." Xiao Xian patted Maroni on the shoulder to encourage him. In fact, a contract of this level, like a dice game, doesn't reduce the cost of recruiting people much at all.

Even with such a contract, Xiao Xian would definitely lose money by forcibly pulling Maroni into the dimensional space. However, once Maroni starts pulling people into the dimensional space and overdrawing his points with the world's will, Xiao Xian's cost of pulling people would drop rapidly. Even if the contract is dissolved, pulling people would still be profitable.

More importantly, can Maroni simply break a contract whenever he wants? If he collects 999 souls to regain his freedom, and then Xiao Xian sends someone to cause trouble once he has seven or eight hundred, forcing him to exchange his souls for the use of magic to save his life, Maroni will never be able to collect enough souls to redeem himself.

Moreover, Xiao Xian didn't think that a supporting character like Maroni could collect 999 souls. He would most likely collect one or two hundred souls before being sent away by various accidents arranged by the world's will.

(End of this chapter)