Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic

Chapter 1803 - 1802: The Card Game at the Bazaar

Although the Black Mist Camp is not visible by the demon-infested campfire, walking along the path for more than twenty steps would bring one within the camp’s bounds.

The surrounding air grew colder, and the chilling silence instinctively made the soul feel a sense of danger and oppressive atmosphere. Everyone closed their mouths. As before, for safe passage and to avoid accidentally getting lost, the four of them lined up in a row, the person behind resting a hand on the shoulder of the one in front.

Miss Higgins, the witch, continued to control the black balance that Shard had his eyes on, walking at the forefront, followed by Old Lady Miles, then Shard, and finally the boy.

This time, with a clear objective, Miss Higgins led the group directly into the camp’s interior, carefully moving between the shadow vendors on the small path.

The path the four were walking this time was entirely different from the last time, which meant that although the previous experience might still be useful, what they would encounter along the way became completely unknown.

The glow of the four torches only illuminated the goods on the stalls on both sides of the path. In the torchlight, each individual’s face displayed different expressions. Miss Higgins showed concern for herself and Mrs. Miles, the old lady displayed a reckless determination, Shard frowned as he pondered the confusion in his heart, and the boy behind had a sullen look of annoyance.

There was silence all around. Except for the burning flames, even the footfalls were swallowed by the black mist. The air carried a faint smell of decay, and the faceless and motionless shadows in various poses behind the stalls seemed to be watching them.

Observing while walking made Shard confirm once more that although these shadows had various postures, their body shapes were remarkably identical. He noticed this detail the first time he came, and recognizing it again now added some realism to his other guesses about these things being something other than demons.

While Shard pondered, Miss Higgins, walking ahead, suddenly slowed her pace. Not because they had arrived at the destination, but because the stationary shadow in front suddenly started moving, indicating they had once again encountered a mandatory "camp activity."

It was the shadow on the left side of the path between the stalls, with a decayed and peeling wooden table placed in front, on which rested a pile of playing cards.

When Shard looked over, the shadow just happened to pick up the cards, which were adorned with the Golden Scales pattern on the back, selecting five to place before himself, five more facing outwards on the table, and then placing three black coins beside them, making a gesture of invitation.

"Is this... playing cards?"

Shard was somewhat surprised, and Miss Higgins was no different:

"Do you know how to play cards?"

She asked Shard softly, though Big City Player 1853’s champion instinctively wanted to reply, he quickly remembered the current situation:

"But I don’t know what kind of cards it is playing."

Miss Higgins then attempted to ignore it and walk directly past the card table, but as she took a step, chains clattered in the darkness beyond the torchlight.

The young red-haired witch glanced at Shard, who cautiously nodded:

"We can only try. Do you want to do it or should I?"

Old Lady Miles, positioned between the two, instinctively backed away behind the witch, while the boy approached the old lady. Miss Higgins was clearly quite fearful, and Shard perceived her intent:

"I’ll do it this time; you owe me a favor."

"Understood."

Thus, Shard went to the table, looking at the shadow with a glance:

"I’ll play cards with you."

It seemed that winning would allow him to take the three coins, but what would happen if he lost was still unclear. Shard suppressed the unease in his heart and reached out to flip over the first card in front of him. When the card face was revealed in an instant, he widened his eyes:

"How is that possible?"

The card face was surprisingly Moon 4 from the Roder Card deck.

Shard was quite certain that there could never be Roder Cards or Roder Card rules in this era; even the Impermanence Card should follow the rules of the "Game of Life" in this era.

"Because I flipped the card, all cards follow the Roder Card rules? Can this shadow provide different types of cards based on my origins? Wait, it..."

He suddenly realized something and quickly turned his head to look around. His pupils slightly contracted, and then he realized exactly what he was thinking:

"This is quite interesting."

He glanced at his first card again and asked the shadow before him:

"What rules?"

The shadow extended three fingers, and familiar with the Roder Card rules, Shard understood:

"Five cards for three rounds?"

The shadow nodded slightly.

This is a very special set of Roder card rules. You select a specific number of cards, then reveal each card in sequence to complete specific rounds of competition. Each card can only be used once and must be played in order, with the ability to preview only the next card. In other words, if you preview three cards, the first two must be played.

Such rules are rarely seen in official competitions; they’re more common in party games. Under these rules, the most important condition is to have cards left at the end. So, to win under a similar system, you must calculate not only your points but also the number of remaining rounds and the number of cards in hand.

After figuring this out, Shard covered "Moon 4" back up, then pushed it forward:

"First round, I play a card."

The shadow pushed two covered cards forward, revealing them together, proving that Shard’s "Moon 4" lost to the combination of "Sun 5" and "Flower 3."

Shard continued to look at his cards. The second was Star 7, and the third was Sun 5. After some consideration, he skillfully used the third card to lift the corner of the fourth card, discovering it was Star 8.

He breathed a slight sigh of relief and was about to play all three cards when the witch beside him stopped him:

"Even though I don’t understand the rules, doesn’t having just one card left at the end seem too risky?"

"I already lost the first round. I absolutely cannot lose the second round."

Shard gave this explanation and then, with Miss Higgins, saw the shadow reveal two cards, leaving just one card.

"If it had only played one card this round, I might have had another option, but now I must use three."

With that said, he revealed his own cards. Shard totaled 20 points, while the shadow had Moon 9, Flower 1, losing the second round with 10 points.

Therefore, the final outcome depended solely on the size of the last remaining card of each side.

There was no hesitation. The shadow unveiled its cover card with a Sun 11, causing Miss Higgins to gasp slightly. Although she didn’t know the upper limit of 21 points, she could see it was about size.

"This is bad..."

Shard placed his hand on his card, took a deep breath, and looked at the back of the card. He closed his eyes, tossed the card onto the table with a slap sound in the quiet camp, unusually distinct. He was certain he wouldn’t lose, not because of the God of Gambling’s blessing, but because—

"Flower 12."

The card face was none other than the [Genesis: Earth] Shard had obtained from Ston Osenfort. He had the ability to draw out any of the five Impermanence Cards besides "Genesis: Silver Moon" at any time, a power that stemmed from the mysterious "new power" acquired after each The Chosen One major event concluded, and this particular power hadn’t yet encountered any restriction, usable in the Fifth Era.

Shard sensed the witch beside him was holding her breath. While all other cards were blank, only this card had a face, allowing Miss Higgins to realize there was something peculiar about Shard’s last card. Naturally, if she looked at the card back again, she would see more issues.

Shard knew this too, so he silently looked at the shadow across the table, waiting for their judgment.

After a few seconds, instead of pointing at Shard’s card and accusing him of cheating, the shadow slowly pushed three black coins to him.

A smile appeared on Shard’s face, not because his number of coins increased to four, but because he had confirmed one of his suspicions. Although the Impermanence Card was mystical, it had to be recognized; otherwise, it was just an ordinary card, and if it were an ordinary card, the shadow had no reason to accept such a cheating play from him.

So the current situation was that this card had evidently been recognized; otherwise, there was no way to explain why the opponent didn’t accuse him of cheating.

"What sort of presence can identify the Impermanence Card?"

He had a preliminary understanding of what Tree Father intended for him to do this time; the Demon, the shadow, all were simply red herrings to mislead him. That Deity of Wealth and Trade truly had a sense of humor.

Shard’s coin count had now increased to four. After exhaling a sigh of relief, the group once again placed hands on shoulders, forming a line to set off.

For the next few minutes, they didn’t encounter any more of these special stalls in the market, since such stalls were uncommon here.

After stepping a hundred paces away from the card-playing shadow, Miss Higgins stopped once more, as the black Balance restored equilibrium here.

The Demon said earlier that the merchant the boy was looking for was on the way to the merchant Old Lady Miles was seeking, so this was the boy’s destination.

Miss Higgins, standing at the forefront, stepped aside to let the boy approach the stall. As the boy passed behind him, Shard suddenly reached out and placed a hand on his trembling shoulder:

"Do you know the most important thing people should contemplate before undertaking any task?"

"Whether it can be done successfully?"

The boy stood there without looking back at Shard, who felt the boy was too afraid to meet his gaze.

"No. The most crucial thing before undertaking a task is to consider whether it should be done."

Shard provided his answer. The boy nodded, broke free from Shard’s hand, and approached the stall. Miss Higgins looked at Shard in surprise, who shook his head slightly and also stepped up beside the boy.