novelraw Chapter 114 : The Final Gamble
Chapter 114 : The Final Gamble
Chapter 114: The Final Gamble
Ten minutes after the nuclear explosion.
The blue defensive barrier shrouding the embassy gradually began to dissipate.
In the end, the blue light screen flickered a few times, finally exhausting the last trace of its energy, turning into a scattering of blue light particles that dispersed into the air.
Inside the embassy, everyone collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath.
They looked at the hellish scene outside, their eyes filled with the relief of surviving a catastrophe, as well as a deep fear of Transcendent power.
Even humanity’s most powerful force—this kind of world-destroying power—had been easily blocked. The might of the Transcendent had already far surpassed human understanding.
And at this moment, when the five major nations looked down from satellite maps, the once-prosperous cities on the Neon archipelago had completely vanished.
In their place were several enormous smoking craters, scorched black land, and ash filling the sky.
……
At the instant the protective barrier disappeared, everyone in the embassy felt a scorching, dry wind carrying radioactive dust rush toward them.
The crowd hurried into the embassy to search for protective suits, but Chen Mo and Tsuchimikado Rin did not act together with them—instead, they stepped forward.
Chen Mo and Tsuchimikado Rin walked out from the ruins.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but scorched earth.
The ground beneath their feet had already vitrified, emitting brittle “crunch, crunch” sounds when stepped on.
The once-prosperous Neon metropolis had now turned into a silent wasteland.
The air was filled with a strong stench of burning and dust.
“Cough, cough……”
Chen Mo covered his mouth and coughed violently a few times.
“So this…… was the power of a nuclear bomb?”
Tsuchimikado Rin did not speak.
She merely swept her cold gaze across the surroundings, her miko blade clenched tightly in her hand.
There was not the slightest ripple in her eyes, as if everything before her had nothing to do with her.
At that moment—
“Ah, ah, the two of you finally decided to come out?”
A frivolous, mocking voice suddenly came from deep within the ruins.
Chen Mo and Tsuchimikado Rin turned sharply, only to see, in the distance atop a piece of charred rubble, a man wearing a floral shirt, with dyed blond hair and a cigarette in his mouth, sitting there with one leg crossed over the other.
【Gambler】Sakamoto Ryuji.
Although his body was covered in dust, he looked completely unharmed.
In his left hand, he was still toying with that silver coin, while his right hand held the revolver that had killed Hattori Heizo.
He looked at Chen Mo and Tsuchimikado Rin, wearing that signature cynical smile.
“You’re too slow.”
Sakamoto Ryuji lifted his head, a brilliant smile appearing on his dust-covered face.
“I thought you were going to hide for a lifetime.”
……
On the wasteland, the three faced off.
Tsuchimikado Rin’s hand was already pressed against the hilt of her blade, her body taut like a drawn bow.
At a single word from Chen Mo, she would spring forward like a leopard and sever that madman’s head.
But Chen Mo stopped her.
“Don’t rush.”
Chen Mo looked at Sakamoto Ryuji, his gaze calm like stagnant water.
“It was you who killed Asahara Shoko.”
Chen Mo said in a low voice.
“I wish it had been me.”
Sakamoto Ryuji exhaled a smoke ring. “Unfortunately, someone else got there first.”
“You killed Hattori?”
Tsuchimikado Rin asked coldly.
“Of course.”
Sakamoto Ryuji spread his hands. “The rules were written very clearly.”
“Personal victory requires killing more than half of the players.”
“If it hadn’t been him, I’d only need to kill one more person now.”
“But now, I’ve only got four heads in my hand.”
“So, regrettably, I have to kill the two of you before I can win.”
His gaze moved back and forth between Chen Mo and Tsuchimikado Rin, full of mockery and provocation.
Chen Mo looked at Sakamoto Ryuji, his eyes icy.
“You’re that confident you can kill both of us?”
“Of course.”
Sakamoto Ryuji said matter-of-factly. “My luck has never disappointed me.”
“My fate is destined to make me the final victor.”
“Madman.”
Tsuchimikado Rin spat out two cold words.
“Perhaps.”
Sakamoto Ryuji did not care.
“But in a world that’s gone mad, only those who are even madder can live longer.”
“No.”
“Gamblers never win.”
Chen Mo shook his head and spoke slowly.
Sakamoto Ryuji froze. “What do you mean?”
“I think you’re doomed to lose this time, gambler!”
Chen Mo walked step by step toward Sakamoto Ryuji, his voice deep and powerful.
The smile on Sakamoto Ryuji’s face stiffened.
“Do you dare gamble with me?”
Chen Mo stood before Sakamoto Ryuji, his eyes sharp as blades.
“Since that’s the case.”
Sakamoto Ryuji took a deep breath, and that cynical smile surfaced on his face once more.
Then, he took out the silver coin from his pocket and pinched it between his fingers.
“Then we’ll use this to decide the winner of this game.”
“This coin.”
“The rules are very simple.”
“I flip the coin.”
“If it’s heads, it means I win.”
“If it’s tails, it means I lose.”
“How about it?”
“Very fair, right?”
……
The wind blew, stirring up dust from the ground.
“Sakamoto Ryuji.”
Chen Mo suddenly spoke.
His voice was not loud, yet it carried far across the empty ruins.
“Do you know why gamblers always lose in the end?”
Sakamoto Ryuji paused for a moment, then laughed. “Because their luck is bad?”
“No.”
Chen Mo shook his head.
He walked step by step toward Sakamoto Ryuji, his pace firm.
“It’s because of greed.”
“Because they don’t know when to stop.”
“Your luck truly is powerful.”
“But even if you win a thousand times, ten thousand times.”
“As long as you’re still sitting at the gambling table, as long as you still want to win the very last round.”
“Then……”
“Gamblers will only ever lose.”
“Because as long as you lose once.”
“Everything you’ve won before will be lost completely.”
“And that once.”
“Will be your final time.”
“What…… did you say?”
Chen Mo stopped, only ten meters away from Sakamoto Ryuji.
“I said this time will be your last.”
“You will lose everything you’ve won before—your money, your life, your luck.”
“All of it will be lost completely.”
“That is the gambler’s destiny.”
……
The smile on Sakamoto Ryuji’s face gradually disappeared.
He looked at Chen Mo, his gaze turning somewhat sinister.
“Destiny?”
“In my entire life, the thing I believe in the least is destiny!”
“I only believe in myself!”
He suddenly raised his hand, his thumb pressing beneath the coin.
“Then let’s try it!”
“Let’s see whether your destiny is harder!”
“Or my luck is harder!”
At that moment, the atmosphere froze to the extreme.
The wind stopped.
The dust settled.
Everyone’s breathing seemed to come to a halt.
This was the final showdown.
And also the most absurd showdown.
On this nuclear-flattened wasteland, at this dusk where gods had fallen.
The final survivors would use a single coin to decide the ultimate life and death.
“Ready?”
Sakamoto Ryuji’s voice was hoarse, carrying a trace of trembling excitement.
“3……”
Chen Mo’s hand quietly moved toward his lower back.
There, was a handgun.
Tsuchimikado Rin’s long blade was already drawn half an inch from its sheath.
“2……”
Sakamoto Ryuji’s eyes were bloodshot.
“1……”
“The gamble begins!!!”