Heroes' Prison

Chapter 498 - 488: Manipulating the Prize Pool

In their original expectations, this was supposed to be a tough and splendid match, but now it seemed it ended after just two attacks, far below their estimations.

"What’s going on? Doesn’t T.N.T have a Resurrection Skill? Why did the system announce the outcome of the match so soon?"

"Yes! T.N.T already mentioned this morning when he fought with Thunder God that he would save his Resurrection Skill for the individual matches tonight, but now he didn’t even get a chance to use it?"

Some of the uninformed audience members were puzzled, and the whole venue was filled with murmurs of speculation.

However, some commentators saw the truth and immediately explained, "Many audience friends may be wondering why T.N.T couldn’t use his Resurrection Skill. In fact, this was a problem that God of Slaughter already considered. Just now, many people were puzzled why, after God of Slaughter first reduced T.N.T to a Bare Life State, he would deliberately cancel two area-wide offensive abilities, allowing T.N.T to survive. This is not a problem, but an answer."

"If T.N.T was killed in another way, then he most certainly could have used his Resurrection Skill. But God of Slaughter’s plan was to directly seal off T.N.T’s Resurrection Skill. His Heavy Judgment can smash an enemy into mincemeat, leaving no corpse behind to resurrect. That’s why he canceled the two wide-ranging attacks and chose to use Heavy Judgment to kill his opponent. After T.N.T was smashed to death, even the corpse disappeared, and he couldn’t use his Resurrection Skill at all, so the system immediately announced the results of the match."

The reporters were right; Huang Yi planned to completely eliminate the chance for T.N.T to use his Resurrection Skill. After all, a top player like T.N.T was too difficult to defeat.

Huang Yi’s victory wasn’t because T.N.T lacked strength but because T.N.T had been careless. T.N.T had not expected Huang Yi to have the Ancient Giant’s Blood and high Demon Resistance, so he engaged in a head-on clash with him from the start, falling into a hopeless situation. Once T.N.T could revive in full health and learned Huang Yi’s tactics, he would definitely fight seriously, and it wouldn’t be so easy for Huang Yi to defeat him again. The match would become much more unpredictable.

With this, Huang Yi advanced to the semifinals of the individual matches. There are ten billion players around the world, and he’s one of the only four players left in the tournament.

Additionally, this victory brought Huang Yi another enormous fortune—

"[System Prompt]: The result of your match with T.N.T has been decided, you have achieved victory. All the prize money from T.N.T’s prize pool will be distributed to all players who bet on you. Since the ratio of the prize pools was 1:1.001, you bet two trillion Gold Coins on yourself, and aside from the principal, you have won 2 trillion and 20 billion Gold Coins, congratulations!"

Another 2 trillion Gold Coins! This money could build another Hero Guild!

In just one day, Huang Yi diverted one trillion Gold Coins from the guild’s funds and created a massive fortune of four trillion Gold Coins. If this news were to get out, it would probably hit the headlines on forums and shock the world!

Four trillion Gold Coins, that’s more than the total fortune of the players in many countries, a real fortune comparable to that of a nation! If countries could trade with Gold Coins, his four trillion Gold Coins could buy many countries outright.

Today was destined to be a turning point in history. Huang Yi and the organization behind him have always wanted to control the economy of The Second World, and now Huang Yi has achieved half of that goal!

Four trillion Gold Coins can indeed impact the entire Second World, but it’s still far from enough to control it. So, his journey of betting must continue. There are four more matches in the tournament, and he could continue to shake up the prize pools with his four trillion Gold Coins.

Next up is tomorrow’s team match, Heroes’ Guild versus Sun Team. It’s a match whose outcome was already decided before it even started, and it’s uncertain just how much he could make after betting his four trillion. Everything will depend on the final ratio of the prize pools tomorrow.

Subsequently, Huang Yi teleported out of the battlefield and returned to Dragon City.

"Congratulations to Big Brother God of Slaughter for advancing to the top four!"

"Our guild leader is like a money tree for me; I’ve won another bet. It’s like earning a month’s salary!"

The moment he stepped out, he was greeted by deafening cheers. After his victory, these members seemed even happier than he was. The cohesiveness of the Hero Guild grew stronger with each match.

"Brother, you’re amazing. My classmates’ spending money has doubled!" At this moment, Xiao Chunzi also teleported from the spectator seats of the match venue, hugging Huang Yi tightly and rubbing her little face against his clothes happily as she spoke.

"Keep betting on our Heroes’ Guild to win tomorrow! I believe we will definitely win," Huang Yi said encouragingly. Tomorrow’s team match had no risks, and he genuinely hoped that every member of Heroes’ Guild would bet on their own victory, so that everyone could make a huge profit.

Afterward, Huang Yi checked the situation of the individual matches.

Apart from his match with T.N.T, another match had also ended: Sharp Sword, the top player of Group A, had faced off against the fourth place of Group B, the Pope. Sharp Sword was located on the Chinese Mainland and hadn’t been affected by the invasion of the Demon Clan, allowing him to fight with his full strength. Whereas the Pope had died and lost levels in the battle against the Demon Clan, and also depleted his Major Skills, significantly reducing his power. In the end, Sharp Sword won the match and advanced to the top four.

Regarding Sharp Sword, Huang Yi had always been wary of him. He was the most mysterious super-master in the world, who had quietly won the last Best Individual Award. Even Dao Feng, the previous world number one, had said that Sharp Sword was the strongest opponent he had ever met!

Now, with only four competitors left in the individual tournament, the chances were as high as 1/3 that he would be facing Sharp Sword in the next match.

Huang Yi waited quietly. Three minutes later, the results of the other two individual matches were all in—

Thunder God narrowly defeated Heavenly Dao and made it into the top four!

Miyamoto Musashi barely beat Giant Bear, securing the last ticket to the semifinals!

Thus, the top four were finalized: Huang Yi, Sharp Sword, Thunder God, and Miyamoto Musashi. Chinese players alone occupied three of those spots, all from Group A.

The semifinals would take place tomorrow night, where the four of them would compete for the last two spots in the finals!

Huang Yi drew a deep breath and looked at tomorrow’s match roster.

The next moment, he breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the system had heard his prayers. His opponent in tomorrow’s individual match was none other than Thunder God!

And Sharp Sword was to fight against Miyamoto Musashi!

In tomorrow’s individual and team matches, Huang Yi would face his own brothers!

It could be said that the outcomes of these two matches were already predetermined.

He now had two chances to manipulate the prize pool!

Huang Yi, along with Qin Shiyu, walked bathed in moonlight away from the crowd to the top floor of the City Hall, engaging in a secret discussion.

"Xiao Yu, later contact everyone in the organization and bet all of our organization’s wealth on the Heroes’ Guild to win. After the team match is over, bet all the money on my victory in the evening’s individual match. This time, we must seize this heaven-sent opportunity of the tournament to take control of the economy of The Second World. We won’t easily get such a chance again," said Huang Yi to Qin Shiyu. Once they secured the economy of The Second World, overthrowing the World Federation would be much easier. It would be an epoch-making turning point.

"Alright, Brother Yi!" Qin Shiyu nodded and, with a sly smile, covered her mouth and said, "We will also manipulate public opinion to build momentum for Thunder God, leading others to bet on the Sun Team and Thunder God to win. That’s how we’ll make the biggest profit."

Huang Yi nodded, gazing at the huge bright moon outside the window. A relaxed smile appeared on his delicate face, "Indeed, if we throw all our organization’s wealth into it, we should significantly shift the prize pool’s odds. The wealth of just Number 2 and Number 5 alone is not something ordinary guilds can compete with. Plus, the wealth of our guild, the wealth of Thunder God’s guild, and the wealth of thousands of criminals from Rose Prison scattered around the world—if it all falls on us at once, it indeed seems a bit outrageous."

"The move you and Thunder God have made is brilliant! Outsiders think you two are archenemies, but who would have thought you’re actually good brothers? Not only did you help each other make it into the top four with this relationship, but you’ve also teamed up to manipulate the prize pool. Once this secret gets out, it’s going to cause quite a stir," Qin Shiyu said, tucking a stray hair behind her ear to reveal the snow-white nape of her neck, wrapping her arm around Huang Yi’s neck.

...

The next morning, Huang Yi and Thunder God sat together in the cafeteria, having breakfast.

"Brother Lei, our team match is coming up soon, and then tonight is our individual match. Let me win both matches!" Huang Yi said as he drank some porridge, speaking to Thunder God.

"That’s what I was thinking too! Anyway, you’re now Level 97. Once you enter the finals, you’re bound to rise to the Holy Domain rank of Level 100," Thunder God replied, nodding as though he had intended to yield both the individual and team matches to Huang Yi from the start.

"I’ve been thinking, we can use national righteousness as an excuse to resolve the team match quickly. For the individual match, we still need to appear as if we have a great enmity, so I’ll use a fake instant-kill potion to pretend to kill you. That’ll make the fight quick," Huang Yi shared the strategy he had in mind for the match. Although they had already determined the winner, they still needed to put on a show.

"Okay, let’s do it your way! Everyone thinks you still have two instant-kill potions left, so using one now is completely justifiable. Once you enter the finals successfully, people will think you have one left, and misinformation like this can easily mislead others, which is very advantageous for you," analyzed Thunder God, agreeing with Huang Yi’s proposal.

With that, Thunder God finished the sweet porridge in his bowl, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and looked at Huang Yi with a mix of curiosity and interest, asking, "How many billions do you have to bet now?"