Chapter 218: 1v6, Ke Mingqing's Player War, Surprise Attack (6)

The casino was a scene of absolute devastation. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling, threatening to collapse at any moment.

The Wall of Ten Thousand Armies stood like a colossal beast, temporarily separating Ke Mingqing from the two players.

In his arms, Ke Mingqing cradled a faintly trembling Dragon Egg.

'A miscalculation...' He stared down at the egg, breathing a soft, silent sigh. 'I thought the Blended Lightning form would be enough. I didn't expect two of them to survive the slaughter.'

With that thought, Ke Mingqing stroked the Dragon Egg's outer shell.

'Having only half my main body's attributes is too much of a strain, as expected. If my real body were here, this would've been settled long ago.'

Bai Ziling hurried over from a distance. She gripped his blood-drenched coattails, tilting her head up to look at him with a trace of worry.

"Giovanni..."

"It's fine. We haven't lost yet."

Balancing the Dragon Egg in one arm, Ke Mingqing took Bai Ziling's hand with his free hand.

"Stay close to me. If I have to, I'll toss this egg to you. You have to catch it. Treat it like a baby bird hatched by Blue Pigeon."

Bai Ziling blinked, the adorable Dragon Egg reflecting in her crimson eyes. She gave a firm, gentle nod. "Okay!"

"That egg looks a bit weird."

Lan Feng stared at the Dragon Egg cradled in Ke Mingqing's arms, scratching his chin in suspicion.

"I can tell," Genkawa Tsuguo muttered. "It's either some kind of trap, or an item that needs a delay before it takes effect."

"My thoughts exactly. Just stay sharp," Lan Feng said softly.

The two skirted around the Wall of Ten Thousand Armies, advancing on Ke Mingqing step by step. They could tell he was at the end of his rope; right now, he was simply holding the white-haired girl's hand and steadily retreating.

"Now you know how to run, brat?" Lan Feng scoffed, veins pulsing on his forehead.

Genkawa Tsuguo glanced at the two headless corpses of Zi Duo Duo and Huang Haolong on the floor. His expression turned increasingly icy. He tightened his grip on his spinning top, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

By now, the duration of his three elemental enchantments had reached its limit. Blazing Fire, lightning, and flowing water gradually faded from his spinning top.

The battle had entered its white-hot climax. Both sides had basically exhausted their trump cards; all that remained was to see who could pull out more tricks in this final, desperate struggle.

"What else am I supposed to do? Sit down and wait for death?"

Even as Ke Mingqing provoked them, he activated an E-Rank skill from his extra Skill Bar—Mist of Loss.

[Mist of Loss (E-Rank Skill): Releases a diffusion of obscuring mist. Enemies within the mist cannot see your figure, but you have total sensory awareness of everything inside.]

A purple mist billowed out with Ke Mingqing at its center, spreading across the devastated casino. It rolled toward the two approaching players like a tidal wave.

Caught off guard, the pair was swallowed by the mist. Their senses immediately clouded over.

Fearing the fog might be toxic, Lan Feng and Genkawa Tsuguo shut their mouths and held their breath, even switching their communication to the player Chat Panel.

[Lan Feng: Be careful, this stuff might be poisonous. This guy is way too underhanded, buying nothing but these bastard skills, huh?]

[Genkawa Tsuguo: I know that without you telling me.]

[Lan Feng: Hurry up, find him, and kill him. Otherwise, if the rest of Death Crow actually comes back, we're dead meat even if we manage to kill this "Jin Chengwu".]

[Genkawa Tsuguo: Didn't he fake his identity as a member of Death Crow with some skill or talent? How the fuck can you believe that?]

[Lan Feng: Just listen to me. So many unbelievable things have happened already, one more wouldn't hurt to be wary of.]

The purple mist was disorienting and eerily quiet. They had completely lost track of Ke Mingqing and Bai Ziling, unable to hear even the faintest rustle of footsteps.

Lan Feng and Genkawa Tsuguo were like hunters clutching their rifles, cautiously picking their way through a dense jungle. One gripped his billiard cue tightly; the other squeezed his spinning top.

Meanwhile, Ke Mingqing led the white-haired girl by the hand, moving lightly through the fog. Her swaying hair made her look like a deer slipping in and out of the forest shadows.

[Lan Feng: This is fucking endless. I'm going to fly up and take a look. Give me a signal so I know where you are!]

The moment he sent the message, a strange light flashed in Lan Feng's eyes.

[Space Walk (Skill): Leap upward a set distance. For a short period afterward, your body will briefly lose gravity, as if floating in space.]

Lan Feng stomped against the floor, his body bounding lightly upward until he reached the ceiling.

As if adrift in space, he hovered in midair without the slightest sign of dropping back down. Frowning, Lan Feng scrutinized the fog below but couldn't spot a single silhouette.

A moment later, his eyes darted to the side—he had caught a flash of white darting through the mist.

Without a word, Lan Feng tossed a coin upward and struck it with his cue stick, shooting it out like a bullet.

The coin bullet carved a brilliant golden trajectory, piercing the mist and creating a perfectly clear path—but it hit nothing but air.

The fog remained dead silent. The purple mist quickly diffused inward, swallowing up the freshly cleared path.

Lan Feng let out a cold scoff. Resting the cue stick on his shoulder, he held his breath and focused intently on the swirling fog.

Originally, he hadn't wanted Genkawa Tsuguo to clear the mist around himself. Doing so would expose his position, playing right into the enemy's hands and putting him in danger.

But it had already come to this; there was no point worrying about it anymore.

[Lan Feng: Spin your damn top like your life depends on it! Hurry up!]

Genkawa Tsuguo finally moved. Pulling down his frog hat, he whipped his spinning top with both hands. A fierce gale erupted, blowing away all the mist within a ten-meter radius.

Mist of Loss covered a radius of over a hundred meters. Genkawa Tsuguo sprinted forward, using the spinning top to churn up winds as he tried to flush Ke Mingqing out of hiding.

[Prompt: 24 seconds remaining until the Blue Dragon hatches.]

"Why does sixty seconds feel so long?"

Ke Mingqing stared up at the countdown panel, his heart hammering faster and faster.

He exhaled sharply. "At this rate, Frog Hat will find us in no time. I have absolutely no way to fight them head-on right now. I have to find a way to stall."

Making up his mind, Ke Mingqing crouched down, parted his lips slightly, and silently exhaled a cluster of colorful, seemingly harmless bubbles.

[Rainbow Bubbles (D-Rank Skill): Blow rainbow bubbles. Anyone who touches them will temporarily lose gravity. You can also encase yourself in a bubble and control its ascent into the sky.]

Unnoticed in a dark corner, the tiny rainbow bubble drifted through the fog. It floated silently upward, gradually closing in on the soles of Lan Feng's feet.

To keep Lan Feng from noticing, Ke Mingqing abruptly poked his head out of the mist and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Idiot billiard guy, I'm over here! Are you deaf!?"

Bai Ziling jumped up as well. She pulled her eyelids down, stuck her tongue out at him through the fog, and mocked:

"Big dummy!"

Tracking the voices to his rear flank, Lan Feng whipped his head around to glare at the two. His face twisted into a savage sneer.

"Well, thanks for the heads-up!"

He aimed at Ke Mingqing, flipped a coin into the air with his right hand, and jabbed the butt of his cue stick directly into the coin's face.

But at that exact moment, the colorful bubble silently drifting upward finally reached Lan Feng.

The instant his foot touched it, Lan Feng was swallowed by a massive rainbow bubble. He instantly lost his balance inside it and tipped backward.

"What the hell is this now?!" Trapped inside, Lan Feng pinned the cue stick under his elbow and violently jabbed at the bubble's inner wall.

A moment later, Genkawa Tsuguo, who had intended to chase the two of them, paused, worried that the bubble might possess some special effect.

After hesitating several times, he finally threw a spinning top upward at it.

"What the fuck are you doing up there, trying to be an astronaut?!" Unable to take it anymore, the frog-hat youth roared.

The vibranium top spun at high speeds, smashing through the bottom of the rainbow bubble's membrane.

With a loud pop, Lan Feng plummeted from the air. Swearing profusely, he shouted:

"Why the hell are you worrying about me, brat? Go catch them first!"

The words had barely left his mouth when Lan Feng caught a fleeting glimpse of Bai Ziling out of the corner of his eye. She looked like a white rabbit bounding through the woods, darting out of one thicket only to vanish into another.

Without missing a beat, a cold glint flashed in his eyes. He tossed up another coin bullet and shot it with lethal precision right at Bai Ziling's back.

"Bai Ziling!"

Ke Mingqing's brow twitched. He whipped his head around toward her.

Snapping back to his senses, the philosopher "Nietzsche" in his palm suddenly threw its arms high and cried out:

"Eternal Recurrence!"

[Eternal Recurrence (From the philosopher Nietzsche): Returns a target in your vicinity to the position they occupied 1.5 seconds ago.]

In a flash, Bai Ziling was enveloped in a faint golden light. She vanished, instantly reappearing where she had stood a second earlier—a spot that was still relatively safe.

With a whoosh, the coin cannonball scraped right past her former trajectory, the violent wind whipping her snow-white hair into the air!

However, their location was now exposed. Lan Feng tossed up another coin bullet and readied his cue stick.

Simultaneously, Genkawa Tsuguo seized the opening and sprinted over, hurling his spinning top right at Ke Mingqing's back.

At that exact moment, Ke Mingqing pulled a C-Rank item from his inventory: the Shield of Möbius. A silver-blue shield appeared in his grip, its surface emblazoned with a Möbius Strip pattern.

[Equipment Name: Shield of Möbius]

[Equipment Rank: C-Rank]

[Equipment Effects:

1. Throwing the shield at an enemy deals a powerful impact. After flying a certain distance, the shield automatically returns to the player's hand.

2. When the shield is destroyed, the destroyer is trapped within a Möbius Strip and can only return to reality after 2 seconds.]

With lightning-fast reflexes, Ke Mingqing twisted his body and flung the shield straight at the incoming spinning top. The Shield of Möbius spun rapidly, soaring out like a massive boomerang to meet the vibranium top.

Bzzzz!

The two objects violently collided, producing an ear-piercing metallic screech. Cracks instantly splintered across the shield before its homing effect triggered, returning it to Ke Mingqing's grip.

Deflected by the impact, the spinning top was knocked off its trajectory. It whizzed harmlessly past Ke Mingqing's side before a sharp tug on its string swiftly pulled it back to Genkawa Tsuguo's hand.

"C-Rank gear just can't hold a candle to B Rank. What a piece of junk!"

Ke Mingqing cursed silently. Raising the heavily fractured shield above his head, he tackled Bai Ziling to the ground.

Just then, a loud bang echoed as another coin cannonball shot out from Lan Feng in the distance. The projectile pierced straight through the shield, tearing a bloody hole through Ke Mingqing's right palm and into his shoulder.

Chapter 218: 1v6, Ke Mingqing's Player War, Surprise Attack (6)

The casino was a mess; cracks spread across the ceiling, looking as if it would collapse at any moment.

The Wall of Ten Thousand Armies stood like a colossal beast, temporarily separating Ke Mingqing from the two players.

Right now, Ke Mingqing was holding a faintly trembling Dragon Egg in his arms.

"A miscalculation..." He lowered his gaze to the Dragon Egg and sighed softly. 'I thought the blended lightning form would be enough. I didn't expect two of them to survive.'

At this thought, Ke Mingqing stroked the shell of the Dragon Egg.

'As expected, having only half the main body's stats is too much to handle. If the main body were here, this would have been resolved ages ago.'

At this moment, Bai Ziling hurried over from a distance. She squeezed his blood-soaked coattails and looked up at him with a hint of worry:

"Giovanni..."

"I'm fine. We haven't lost yet."

Holding the Dragon Egg in one hand, Ke Mingqing took Bai Ziling's hand in his other and told her, "Remember to stay close to me. If necessary, I'll throw the egg to you. You must catch it and treat it like a little bird born from Blue Pigeon."

Bai Ziling blinked in surprise. The adorable Dragon Egg reflected in her red eyes as she gave a gentle nod and a soft, "Mhm!"

"That egg looks a bit strange."

Lan Feng stared at the Dragon Egg cradled in Ke Mingqing's arms, scratching his chin in suspicion.

"I can tell," Genkawa Tsuguo muttered. "It's either some kind of trap or an item that needs a delayed timer to take effect."

"You and I are on the same page, kid. Just be careful," Lan Feng said quietly.

The two of them bypassed the Wall of Ten Thousand Armies, advancing step by step toward Ke Mingqing. They could see he was at the end of his rope. Right now, Ke Mingqing was continuously backing away, holding the white-haired girl's hand.

"Brat, now you know to run?" Lan Feng laughed, dark lines of annoyance popping on his forehead.

Genkawa Tsuguo glanced at the two headless corpses of Zi Duoduo and Huang Haolong on the ground. His expression grew colder and colder. He tightly gripped the spinning top in his hand, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

By now, the duration of his three enchanted elements had reached their limit. Blazing Fire, lightning, and flowing water gradually faded from his spinning top.

The battle had entered a white-hot phase. They had basically exhausted all their trump cards, and the rest depended on who could pull out more tricks in this endgame.

"What else can I do but run? Sit down and obediently wait to die?"

While provoking them, Ke Mingqing activated an E-Rank skill from his extra Skill Bar—Mist of Loss.

[Mist of Loss (E-Rank Skill): Diffusion of a patch of Mist of Loss. Enemies within the mist cannot see your figure, but you can perceive everything inside the mist.]

With Ke Mingqing at the center, a deep purple mist spread throughout the devastated casino, surging like a tide toward the two approaching players.

Caught completely off guard, the two were enveloped by the fog, their senses instantly growing hazy.

Fearing the mist might be toxic, both Lan Feng and Genkawa Tsuguo shut their mouths and held their breath, even switching their communication to the player Chat Panel.

[Lan Feng: Careful. This stuff might be poisonous. This guy is too sinister. He specifically buys these kind of bastard skills, huh?]

[Genkawa Tsuguo: I know that without you telling me.]

[Lan Feng: Hurry up and find him so we can butcher him. Otherwise, if the other members of Death Crow really come back, even if we kill this "Jin Chengwu", we won't escape death either.]

[Genkawa Tsuguo: Isn't his Death Crow affiliation just a fake identity he created using some skill or talent? Are you really fucking buying that?]

[Lan Feng: Listen to me. So many unbelievable things have already happened; one more wouldn't be a surprise.]

The purple fog was blurry and secluded. They had completely lost track of Ke Mingqing and Bai Ziling's direction, to the point where they couldn't even hear a single footstep.

Lan Feng and Genkawa Tsuguo were like hunters clutching their rifles, carefully weaving through a dense jungle. One gripped his billiard cue, while the other clenched his spinning top.

Meanwhile, Ke Mingqing held the white-haired girl's hand, leading her gracefully through the mist. Her swaying hair was like the fleeting shadow of a deer in the woods.

[Lan Feng: This is fucking endless. I'm going to fly up and take a look. Give me a signal so I know where you are!]

The moment he sent this message, a strange light flashed in Lan Feng's eyes.

[Space Walk (Skill): Leap upward a certain distance. For a short period afterward, your body will briefly lose gravity, hovering as if in outer space.]

Lan Feng stomped both feet against the floor and leaped lightly upward, instantly soaring to the ceiling.

As if he were truly in space, he drifted in mid-air, showing no signs of falling. Frowning, Lan Feng looked down at the scene within the mist, but couldn't find a single trace of anyone.

The next moment, his eyes darted to the side as he caught a glimpse of a white silhouette flashing through the fog.

Without a word, Lan Feng silently tossed a coin into the air and struck it with his billiard cue.

The coin bullet carved out a brilliant golden trajectory, extinguishing the mist along its path and clearing a perfectly visible trail. However, it hit nothing but air.

The fog remained eerily silent. The purple mist diffused over once again, quickly swallowing the freshly cleared path.

Lan Feng sneered coldly. Resting the cue on his shoulder, he held his breath and stared intently into the fog.

Originally, he hadn't agreed with Genkawa Tsuguo's idea of sweeping away the surrounding mist, as that would expose their positions. It would play right into the enemy's hands and put them in danger.

But since things had already reached this point, there was no need to care about that anymore.

[Lan Feng: Spin your damn top with everything you've got! Hurry up!]

Genkawa Tsuguo finally made his move. Pulling down his frog hat, he rapidly spun the top with both hands, whipping up a violent gale that completely blew away the mist within a ten-meter radius.

The Mist of Loss covered a circular radius of over a hundred meters. Genkawa Tsuguo dashed forward while violently spinning the top to generate wind, trying to drag Ke Mingqing out from the fog.

[System Prompt: Countdown to "Blue Dragon" hatching: 24 seconds remaining.]

"Why does sixty seconds feel so long?"

Ke Mingqing looked up at the countdown panel, his heart beating faster and faster.

He exhaled a long breath. 'At this rate, that frog-hat kid is going to find us soon. I have absolutely no ability to fight them head-on right now. I can only find a way to stall for time.'

At this thought, Ke Mingqing half-crouched on the ground. Opening his mouth slightly, he silently blew out colorful, seemingly harmless bubbles.

[Rainbow Bubbles (D-Rank Skill): Blow out rainbow bubbles. Anyone who touches a bubble will temporarily lose gravity. You can also wrap yourself in a bubble to ascend into the sky.]

In a neglected corner, this minuscule rainbow bubble drifted through the mist. It floated upward without a sound, gradually closing in on the soles of Lan Feng's feet.

To distract Lan Feng from noticing this, Ke Mingqing suddenly poked his head out of the fog and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Idiot billiard boy, I'm over here! Are you deaf!?"

Bai Ziling also jumped up. Pulling down her lower eyelids, she stuck her tongue out at him through the mist.

"Big dummy!"

Following the sound coming from behind him, Lan Feng abruptly twisted his head to glare at their figures, his face contorting furiously as he yelled back, "Then I really must thank you for the reminder!"

As soon as his words fell, he aimed in Ke Mingqing's direction, tossed a coin up with his right hand, and thrusted the tip of his billiard cue against the back of the coin.

But at that very moment, the colorful bubble silently floated up and touched Lan Feng's body.

The instant the soles of his feet brushed against it, Lan Feng's entire body was instantly swallowed by a massive rainbow bubble. Inside the sphere, he lost all balance and tumbled over.

"What the hell is this now?!" Lan Feng sprawled inside the bubble. Pinching the billiard cue beneath his armpit, he frantically jabbed at the inner wall of the sphere.

After a short while, Genkawa Tsuguo, who had originally intended to give chase, hesitated out of fear that the bubble possessed some special ability.

He weighed his options repeatedly before finally casually tossing a spinning top upward.

"What the fuck are you trying to do, become an astronaut?!" The frog-hat-wearing boy finally lost his temper and roared at the ceiling.

The high-speed vibranium top spun furiously, smashing through the outer membrane of the rainbow bubble from underneath.

With a pop, Lan Feng fell from the sky. Swearing loudly, he yelled, "Brat, why the hell are you worrying about me? Go catch them first!"

Right as he spoke, Lan Feng suddenly caught a fleeting glimpse of Bai Ziling in his peripheral vision. She looked like a bouncing white rabbit in the woods, popping out of one thicket only to dart into another.

In the blink of an eye, a cold light flashed across his gaze. He flicked another coin bullet into the air, firing it with pinpoint precision right at Bai Ziling's back.

"Bai Ziling!"

Ke Mingqing's eyebrows shot up as he abruptly whipped his head toward her.

In that split second of realization, the philosopher "Nietzsche" grasped in his palm suddenly threw both arms into the air and cried out loudly, "Eternal Recurrence!"

[Eternal Recurrence (from philosopher Nietzsche): Return a target in your vicinity to the position they were in 1.5 seconds ago.]

In a flash, Bai Ziling's figure was enveloped in a faint golden glow. She vanished, reappearing in the position she had occupied a second prior—a spot that was still relatively safe.

With a whoosh, the coin cannonball narrowly grazed past her, its violent winds whipping up her snow-white hair!

However, their location was now fully exposed. Lan Feng tossed another coin bullet into the air and raised his billiard cue.

Simultaneously, Genkawa Tsuguo seized the momentary opening to sprint forward, hurling his spinning top at Ke Mingqing's back.

At this critical juncture, Ke Mingqing pulled a C-Rank item from his inventory—the Shield of Möbius. An interwoven silver-blue shield materialized in his grasp, its surface embossed with the pattern of a Möbius Strip.

[Equipment Name: Shield of Möbius]

[Equipment Rating: C-Rank]

[Equipment Effects:

1. Throwing the shield at an enemy will deal a powerful impact. After flying a certain distance, the shield will automatically return to the player's hands.

2. If the shield is destroyed, the destroyer will be trapped within the "Möbius Strip," only returning to reality after 2 seconds.]

With quick reflexes, Ke Mingqing violently twisted his body and threw the shield in the direction of the incoming top. The Shield of Möbius spun at high speeds, flying to meet the vibranium top like a giant boomerang.

"Hummm—!"

The two collided with an ear-piercing ringing, like the clash of swords and spears. Immediately after, a web of cracks fractured across the shield as it activated its return ability, flying back into Ke Mingqing's hand.

The top was knocked off its original flight path by the impact, grazing past Ke Mingqing's side before the string yanked it back rapidly into Genkawa Tsuguo's grip.

"C-Rank trash just can't clash against a B Rank weapon. What a piece of junk!"

Ke Mingqing cursed silently. Raising the heavily damaged shield over his head, he tackled Bai Ziling to the ground.

Right at that moment, a loud bang echoed as Lan Feng fired another coin cannonball from afar. The projectile pierced straight through the shield in an instant, tearing a bloody hole through Ke Mingqing's shoulder and the palm of his right hand.

"Squelch—!"

Blood spurted out, dyeing Bai Ziling's cheeks crimson and leaving her frozen on the ground in shock.

Bai Ziling was still cradling the Dragon Egg in her arms. The egg pulsed and trembled, as if something inside was on the verge of breaking out of its shell.

[System Prompt: Countdown to "Blue Dragon" hatching: 10 seconds remaining.]

At that very moment, the Shield of Möbius shattered to pieces. Following that, a system prompt window popped up in Ke Mingqing's vision.

[Triggered Effect 2 of "Shield of Möbius" — If the shield is destroyed, the destroyer will be trapped within the "Möbius Strip," only returning to reality after 2 seconds.]

In a flash, the emblem of a Möbius Strip suddenly appeared above Lan Feng's head.

"What the hell is this?" He craned his neck to look up, and his entire body was instantly sucked into the pattern. He plummeted into another world—a realm stretching out endlessly in an infinite loop.

[System Prompt: Countdown to "Blue Dragon" hatching: 8 seconds remaining.]

"He's trapped by the shield's ability for two seconds! Let's run!"

Ke Mingqing hissed. Scooping Bai Ziling into his embrace with his bloodied hands, he abruptly hauled himself to his feet, turned around, and bolted madly through the fog.

Blood poured from his shoulder, leaving a stark red trail all the way down his path. Bai Ziling blankly stepped through his blood, her sandals stained entirely crimson.

"Do you think I'm just here for show?" Genkawa Tsuguo's cold voice echoed as he shot forward from a distance. "Even without him, it's all the same."

The boy's frog hat fluttered wildly in the wind. Crossing his arms, he yanked the strings. Two spinning tops flew out in an instant, blasting away the purple mist as they smashed aggressively toward Ke Mingqing's back.

A single top would probably be enough to rip a gaping, breezy hole right through his back, let alone two of them.

In that split second, relying on the desperate survival instincts of a vampire, Bai Ziling actually managed to react. She yanked Ke Mingqing hard, forcing his body to tilt downward.

With a heavy thud, the two of them slammed onto the casino floor and rolled over. The two vibranium tops rocketed right over their heads, the howling gales whipping their hair into a frenzy.

Genkawa Tsuguo clicked his tongue, though his face displayed little panic.

It was just one miss. He could tell that this Red Name Player was completely out of options. Killing him was only a matter of time, much like a hunter armed with a rifle chasing down a defenseless lamb across the plains.

At this exact moment, Ke Mingqing's gaze was still locked dead onto the prompt window hovering above.

[System Prompt: Countdown to "Blue Dragon" hatching: 5 seconds remaining.]

"Stop running and let yourself die with some dignity," Genkawa Tsuguo said callously. "I'll use my top to open a hole in your head, then take it home as a collectible."

As soon as he finished speaking, his right hand violently yanked the string, flinging a black-and-gold spinning top straight at Ke Mingqing's head.

"Mio!"

Ke Mingqing suddenly roared.

[System Prompt: E-Rank Item removed from inventory — "Cursed Doll: Ling".]

At that moment, the ragdoll dressed in a black western dress descended from the sky, landing squarely on Ke Mingqing's shoulder. She lowered her plush, chubby fabric cheeks, opened her mouth wide at Lan Feng and Genkawa Tsuguo, and let out a massive shriek.

"GUWAAAAAAHHH—!!"

The berserk soundwaves erupted throughout the absolute silence of the casino, shattering the glass chandeliers on the vaulted ceiling. Following that, the pitch-black soundwaves nearly materialized into a sharp, physical wall, completely blocking Genkawa Tsuguo's spinning top from advancing.

"Gaaahhh!" The frog-hat boy clamped his hands over his ears, screaming as he crouched down, nearly dropping to his knees. His eardrums were on the verge of rupturing.

However, Lan Feng, who was further away, wasn't affected much.

Scowling, he tossed a coin up and launched it at Ke Mingqing with his billiard cue. "What's all that noise!" he yelled. Pushing out his chest and making a crude pelvic thrust, he shouted, "It's just a broken doll! Stop putting on a show!"

Ke Mingqing, clutching his ears, failed to notice this. Bai Ziling, however, caught the golden streak of light flying in from the distance out of the corner of her eye.

"Giovanni..."

Amidst the absolute silence, she murmured wordlessly. Lunging her body forward, she pinned Ke Mingqing down against the ground.

In his place, accompanied by a resounding bang, her abdomen was pierced clean through by the coin cannonball. A massive hole was torn open, and blood gushed out of it like a waterfall.

Ke Mingqing's eyes widened slightly. The girl pressed against his ear, whispering softly, "Giovanni... my heart, I give it to you..."

She spoke gently. Her eyes were already hazy, struggling to stay open. Her bloodstained hand, however, fumbled toward the bloody wound on her abdomen, as if she were desperately searching for something inside.

Ke Mingqing watched her right hand. He lowered his head, staring blankly for a long time, before unexpectedly letting out a low, hoarse chuckle.

"Are you an idiot, you..."

He murmured hoarsely, pushing himself up from the ground. He clasped her warm hand within his palms. "Stop feeling around. The heart isn't there. No matter how much you search, you'll never find it."

Bai Ziling could no longer see or hear. After a moment of dead silence, she felt Ke Mingqing's gesture. Seeming to realize she was being scolded, she gave a soft, "Oh."

Then, cradled in his arms, she slowly closed her eyes.

Not far away, Lan Feng stared at the scene with wide eyes. It took him a good moment before he patted his chest and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Man, good thing I didn't hit her heart. That scared the crap out of me..." He shrugged. "Vampires have regenerative abilities. A little wound like that shouldn't kill her."

"There's no rule saying it has to be a beating heart," Genkawa Tsuguo remarked coldly. "To be honest, I want to slaughter her too. Just looking at her disgusts me."

"What if it has to be beating?" Lan Feng retorted irritably, waving a dismissive hand at him. "Shoo, shoo... what does a kid like you know?"

The two chatted as they strode toward Ke Mingqing. But at this moment, Ke Mingqing tilted his blood-streaked face upward, his gaze hovering quietly in mid-air.

[System Prompt: Countdown to "Blue Dragon" hatching: 1 second remaining.]

"What is he looking at?" Lan Feng asked. "Has he gone crazy?"

"Who knows." Gripping his spinning top tightly, Genkawa Tsuguo sneered. "Crazy or not, it won't save him. We have to torture him first."

In the next second, the Dragon Egg resting in Bai Ziling's arms suddenly twitched. It began to shudder violently, a web of fissures spreading rapidly across its shell.

Ke Mingqing took a deep breath. Gathering the unconscious Bai Ziling tightly into his embrace, he slowly raised his head.

In an instant of absolute silence, a massive, sudden dragon's roar exploded throughout the casino. The deafening bellow crashed into the eardrums of everyone present.

The corners of Ke Mingqing's lips curled up slightly. Gazing up at the colossal blue dragon bursting from its shell, he gently stroked Bai Ziling's hair.

Not far away, Lan Feng was utterly paralyzed. Only after a long silence did he tilt his head up. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he whispered, "What is..."

Genkawa Tsuguo pulled the frog hat off his head, his voice turning hoarse.

"...A dragon?"