I put you in charge of the child, and you raised a monster!

Women with short hair are the same.

She was holding a cup.

The rim of the cup was less than two centimeters from my lips.

Normally, if a person picks up a cup, they will either continue drinking or put it down unless interrupted by external force.

But just before the dealer was about to collect the cards, her hand stopped.

The cup stopped in mid-air.

It stopped for a very short time.

It was so short that she herself seemed unaware of it.

It was so short that if Shen Ling'er hadn't spoken first, everyone would have mistaken that slight pause for a compressed surveillance video or a natural hesitation someone might have before drinking water.

The other two men were the same.

A person is adjusting their cuffs.

One of them is moving the chips in front of him to the left.

But before each dealer begins collecting the cards, they all pause briefly.

Very short.

Less than half a second.

Four people are possible.

However, a similar "stop" occurred before the same process node.

The air in the monitoring room suddenly turned cold.

The beeping sounds from the devices, the typing sounds from the staff, and the notification sounds from the screen switching all seemed to be suppressed by this pause of less than half a second.

Zhao Lei felt a chill run down his spine.

He stared at the slow-motion footage, watching the gray-clad man's hand hovering at the edge of the chips, and his throat moved.

"What are they waiting for?"

No one answered immediately.

Master Chen's expression had changed.

He was just judging whether these people's methods were clean or not from the perspective of a professional dealer.

But now, he realizes something is wrong.

It's normal for a gambler to pause occasionally.

The occasional pause between two people can also be explained as a coincidence.

However, all four people, at different tables, experienced this subtle pause at the same point in the process.

That's no coincidence.

That's just a habit.

Or rather, it's training.

Shen Ling'er did not look at Zhao Lei.

She stared at the screen.

Her small face appeared even quieter than usual under the cold white lights of the monitoring room.

"Wait for the cards to die."

The four words fell.

He Jingyan's expression finally changed.

He had maintained the extremely composed expression of the young master of the He family.

But at this moment, the suppressed shock in his eyes could no longer be hidden.

Master Chen whispered, "The dead card area?"

As soon as those three words appeared, several staff members in the monitoring room subconsciously looked at the screen.

In a casino, cards used in a single round will not be used again in the current game.

According to the procedure, it will be collected by the dealer and sent to a designated area to await further processing.

To the untrained eye, it's just "the cards that have been played."

But from the perspective of casino risk control, that's a dead card.

Dead cards can no longer change the game.

That's why most people won't pay attention to it anymore.

The winners look at the chips.

The loser gets to play the next round.

The onlookers watched the spectacle.

Few people pay attention to the dead cards area.

Uncle Liang immediately looked at the staff.

"Adjust the angle of the dead card area."

The staff member's fingers flew across the keyboard.

The main screen is split in two.

The left side shows the original full view of the gambling table.

The right side switches to the monitoring angle from the side of the gambling table.

Zoom in on the image.

Improved clarity.

After each round, the dealer will collect the cards, check their faces, and send them to the designated area before preparing for the next round.

Everything still seems normal.

No one touched the cards.

No one changed their cards.

The dealer's actions were not unusual.

The man in gray did not cross the line.

The short-haired woman's cup only paused for a moment.

The other two men didn't even look in the direction of the dead cards.

They appear to be completely innocent.

They are even cleaner than the average gambler.

Zhao Lei stared at the screen, becoming more and more confused.

"Nobody touched it."

Bai Sisi also frowned slightly.

"If no one touches the cards, what are they doing waiting for their cards to go down?"

Master Chen did not speak.

His eyes were fixed on the dealer's hand as he collected the cards.

But he couldn't see the problem either.

The croupier's technique is standard.

There were no cards sandwiched between them.

There are no Tibetan amulets.

There were no unnecessary movements.

Even the angle at which the cards were placed in the dead card area after being collected was very neat.

Uncle Liang looked at the staff member next to him with a stern face.

"Slow down a bit."

The video continues to slow down.

The croupier's hand seemed to be stretched out over time.

The cards are put together.

Press your fingers against the edge.

Push into the dead zone.

Staff members passed by.

The guests are arranging their chips.

Everything was broken down into individual frames.

But the problem still seems to be hidden outside the picture.

It's invisible.

I can't touch it.

But somehow, everyone felt something was wrong.

Just then, Shen Ling'er suddenly pointed to the edge of the screen.

"They didn't touch the cards."

Everyone was taken aback.

She looked at the gamblers.

"They're watching to see who can get a tile."

In the monitoring room, the air froze once again.

Zhao Lei felt a chill run down his back.

He understood half of it.

But it is precisely this half that is the most frightening.

He Jingyan whispered, "Croupier?"

Shen Ling'er shook her head.

"Not this dealer."

Uncle Liang frowned: "Who is that?"

Shen Ling'er did not rush to answer.

Her little finger pointed to the other side of the screen.

There, a staff member was responsible for table cleaning and auxiliary services.

The man is around thirty years old.

He is not tall.

Wearing a neat, dark uniform.

The name tag was illegible in the surveillance footage; all that could be seen was that he passed by different gambling tables at intervals.

He helped the guests collect their empty glasses.

Tidy up the tissues on the table.

Confirm the chair's position.

Occasionally, I would bend down to pick up a receipt that had fallen to the ground.

Sometimes you can say a few words to the dealer.

Sometimes I just walk past the gambling table.

There are far too many people like that in casinos.

Because casinos are not just about dealers and gamblers.

There are also service staff.

Staff at the exchange area.

Every position is like a small gear in a machine.

They are usually hard for guests to really notice.

Zhao Lei stared at it for a long time.

"he?"

Shen Ling'er nodded.

"Every time he passed by, their hands would be very well-behaved."

"When they're not passing by, they're like guests."

"When they passed by, it was like they were in class."

Zhao Lei felt a chill run down his spine.

Like attending a class.

This metaphor is too strange.

Yet it's strangely fitting.

On the screen, the four gamblers who had won money did indeed show a subtle "waiting" as the staff member approached.

Don't look up at him.

I wasn't talking to him.

They don't communicate with each other through eye contact.

They didn't even noticeably turn their heads towards him.

But their movements will become more disciplined.

It will be contained.

It will stop at a certain location.

He Jingyan immediately looked at Uncle Liang.

"Investigate this person."

Uncle Liang's face had already turned grim.

He glanced at the screen, his voice very low.

"Ah Dong."

"Four years with the company."

"Outer service staff".

"Normally there are no problems."

The phrase "Normally there are no problems" sounds particularly jarring at this moment.

If someone has pre-existing issues, it's actually not difficult to investigate.

The difficult ones are these kinds of people.

Four years of work, like a silent cog in a machine.

Everyone knows he's there.

But nobody would give him a second glance.

He Jingyan's voice turned cold.

"The less problematic something seems, the more you should investigate."

He spoke in a low voice.

But the staff members next to him were clearly tense.

This is no longer a typical risk control warning.

This was when He Jingyan was truly enraged.

Shen Ling'er spoke again.

He wasn't giving an answer.

Everyone was taken aback.

He Jingyan immediately looked at her.

"Then what does he do?"

Shen Ling'er blinked.

"He provides the rhythm."

Zhao Lei subconsciously repeated, "Rhythm?"

Shen Ling'er nodded.

"When should we start raining?"

"When should we stop?"

"When are you changing tables?"

"They don't win every game."

"They won when they were supposed to win."

In the monitoring room, it was so quiet that only the low hum of the equipment could be heard.

That statement is too blunt.

It's too cold.

You can't win every game.

It's about winning when you should win.

What casinos fear most is not that gamblers keep winning.

Because consistently hitting the mark is too unbelievable.

Too easy to expose.

What's truly frightening is that some people know when to strike.

Lost a few games by a small margin.

Win a few games.

Occasionally, I would stop.

I change tables occasionally.

Like a regular gambler, it's a back-and-forth affair.

But every time he actually added to his bet, he did so at the right moment.

Zhao Lei muttered, "Isn't this... a precision strike?"

Bai Sisi's expression also darkened.

"If he only provides the rhythm, then it's very difficult to catch up."

Master Chen said in a low voice, "But how can you guarantee winning so much just by relying on rhythm?"

He is a professional dealer.

He was very familiar with the rules of casino games.

Whether it's Baccarat or Sic Bo, neither of them guarantees a win simply by "when to place your bet".

Unless there is other information behind this beat.

For example, the state of the shoe.

For example, a certain process node.

For example, certain internal changes that should not be known to outside gamblers.

He Jingyan's gaze turned completely serious.

If Shen Ling'er is right, then this is not ordinary cheating.

Instead, someone uses the rhythm of the game, card information, or a predictable point in the internal process to provide outsiders with "betting opportunities".

This is more troublesome than ordinary cheating.

Because, on the surface, no one violated the rules by touching the card.

No one exchanged chips.

There are no electronic devices.

There was no obvious code.

Everything is hidden in "what to do at what time".

It doesn't look like a knife.

It's more like a gear in a clock that's been slowed down.

You can't see where it's wrong.

But it swayed the entire timeline.

Shen Ling'er looked at the card table on the screen.

"Because they don't gamble on every single hand."

She pointed to the profit curve.

"They're picking the ones they can win."

Zhao Lei stared at the curve.

That line doesn't go straight up.

It has ups and downs.

There has been a decline.

There has been a standstill.

Its overall directional stability is frightening.

Each significant upward movement is preceded by a specific point in time.

No one thought those times were special before.

But now, with A-Dong's figure superimposed, everything has changed.

Zhao Lei whispered, "Isn't this just... not playing with luck, but only playing with loopholes?"

Shen Ling'er glanced at him.

"You were a bit smarter today."

Zhao Lei was so nervous that his scalp tingled.

Upon hearing this, I instinctively straightened my chest.

"Thank you, teacher."

Bai Sisi: "..."

She couldn't help but glance at Zhao Lei.

Do you still want to receive praise at a time like this?

He Chuan, standing to the side, was at a loss for words, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

But the smile was quickly suppressed by a heavy expression.

Because what's on the screen is becoming increasingly clear.

Uncle Liang has already had someone retrieve all of Ah Dong's movements that afternoon.

Soon, a multi-angle replay appeared on the screen.

Ah Dong moved between different gambling tables.

Take away the empty cup.

Bending down to adjust the chair.

A brief exchange with the dealer.

To give directions to guests.

Walk from the main passage to the side passage.

Then circle back to the lobby from near the rest area.

All movements were normal.

Each action, taken individually, is flawless.

He did not make any gestures toward the four gamblers.

There was no deliberate lingering.

They didn't touch places like ears, collar, or cuffs that could easily be identified as coded messages.

He did not have any direct communication with any of them.

Sometimes, he was even three or four meters away from the gambling table.

But when the staff superimposed his movements on the betting peaks of the four gamblers, everyone fell silent.