Fatebound Dice

Chapter 14: The Demon-Slaying Society

“What, he actually agreed to reconcile?”

“Good, good! Thank you, Mr. Tarreno. From now on, our Fire Fox g**g will steer clear of the Chris Group.”

In a lavish hall, Lin Tianming—who had been anxiously awaiting this meeting—received the news that made him leap with joy.

The “powder keg” that had ignited a series of disasters for the Fire Fox g**g had suddenly disappeared.

Ever since he succeeded as g**g leader, the Fire Fox g**g’s days had grown harder and harder.

As for revenge against the “culprit” who caused all this, he didn’t even dare to imagine it.

If they angered [Qiaomoya] again, that wealthy man could simply flaunt his “money power,” sponsoring a few hungry wolves from surrounding gangs to rip the Fire Fox g**g to shreds.

Thus, for this meeting, Lin Tianming truly intended to surrender—and under Tarreno’s persuasion, had even considered pledging allegiance.

Now, this outcome was already not bad at all. After all, no one likes being someone else’s dog.

As for avenging Hu Wanhai, well, of course the killers were the several underworld forces currently besieging the Fire Fox g**g.

It had nothing to do with the Chris Group whatsoever.

······

The days that followed were peaceful and steady for Chen Qi.

Apart from attending a few gatherings of Tallinn’s wealthy, all his time was devoted to studying ancient scripts, martial arts, and developing his abilities.

His diligence and drive left many small tabloid reporters—who lived off sensational “playboy” stories—utterly dumbfounded.

The reputation of [Qiaomoya Chris] suddenly reversed in Tallinn.

A rich man “turning over a new leaf” was always something people readily accepted.

······

December 18th—that was the date Chen Qi had estimated for completing his studies of seven ancient civilizations’ scripts.

But he had underestimated the terrifying bronze dice. With its aid, Chen Qi overachieved his goal, mastering eight ancient scripts.

At dusk, Chen Qi once again returned to his luxurious villa and pulled out the [Qiaomoya Diary].

Tonight, he planned to fully unravel Qiaomoya’s secrets.

······

“Incredible. Just what is this Seven of Hearts, that it actually grants the ability of [Flesh Manipulation]?”

“The puppet threads it condenses must be some kind of mysterious energy state, ignoring all barriers of material reality.”

This was the first translated diary entry, recording in detail Qiaomoya’s various experiments after acquiring the Seven of Hearts.

Qiaomoya had been stunned by the card’s ability.

After all, the entire Taimoya Academy of Magic possessed barely more than a dozen magical tools—and none of them could be used by ordinary people.

For a commoner to wield magical equipment—that was already beyond Qiaomoya’s “magical common sense.”

Thus he firmly believed the [Seven of Hearts] was far more than just a piece of equipment.

And his later bold experiment proved this point.

“Impossible!”

“This card is alive. The [Source Ore] actually awakened it!”

When recording this, Qiaomoya’s hand trembled, his handwriting uncharacteristically sloppy—whether from shock or terror, Chen Qi could not tell.

From this experiment, Chen Qi also learned the function of [Source Ore].

Source Ore was a kind of sentient metal—or rather, living metal.

It existed only in the outer rings of the [Human Survival Zone], and every piece was priceless.

For mages, Source Ore was the core of constructing magic arrays and summoning the [Four Symbols Book].

With enough Source Ore, one could even build a small [Mana Well], gaining a continuous flow of magical power.

In Qiaomoya’s experiment, the Source Ore’s sentience awakened the [Seven of Hearts], which, like a starving beast, instantly devoured one-third of the ore.

If Qiaomoya hadn’t reacted quickly, all his Source Ore would have been eaten.

Even so, the ore’s sentience was gravely weakened, and Qiaomoya had to return it to a vein to recuperate.

The [String Strangulation] skill of the Seven of Hearts was precisely the result of its evolution after consuming Source Ore.

More precisely, devouring Source Ore gave the puppet threads the ability to shift between tangible and intangible states.

······

“So it seems, each initial card only grants a single superpower!”

Qiaomoya’s later diary entries confirmed this.

The Six of Spades and Two of Clubs he hunted down each had only one ability.

As for why he killed them, it was because he had discovered a secret:

“Cards can devour one another, merging into stronger abilities!”

Driven by his hunger for power, Qiaomoya conducted experiments without hesitation—thus becoming a [Betrayer].

He even boasted in his diary: “The devouring and evolution between cards is the only path to victory in the game!”

This was exactly why Erland had scrawled angry annotations in the margins, calling Qiaomoya a fraud.

Clearly, when Erland later encountered Ten of Clubs, he trusted the diary, grew reckless, and attempted a hunt.

The outcome was obvious. If not for his shameless groveling, his life would have been forfeit.

······

“So the cards are alive. That explains why those [Betrayers] plunder and s*******r at the root.”

Chen Qi gazed at the [Seven of Hearts] sigil on the back of his left hand. Ordinary people could not see it, and even other players could not identify it unless abilities were activated.

Only when a player used their powers would the card manifest.

In the final moments of Qiaomoya’s life, there had been one encrypted diary entry: [Never let others know your card number].

Clearly, this was a revelation Qiaomoya had grasped after suffering some immense disaster—possibly even paying with his life.

Yet the hateful man had failed to explain why, making his death all the less pitiful.

Perhaps this very secret was why the Seven of Hearts was called a “card of certain death.”

Looking back, the so-called “last words” Qiaomoya had written in common script were nothing but a trap.

Whoever inherited [Qiaomoya]’s role would automatically expose the Seven of Hearts.

What secrecy could possibly remain?

······

In fact, the diary held more than just this one hidden secret.

Chen Qi also found records of a mysterious organization of Betrayers—the [Demon-Slaying Society].

They believed firmly that King Gustav was the demon itself, and that their actions were righteous.

Qiaomoya had originally intended to join them, but died before he could even take the entrance trial.

And the Demon-Slaying Society wasn’t even the most powerful among the Betrayers.

The true elites were those who had survived multiple [King’s Judgments] and endured several shuffles, living legends among Betrayers.

Having read the entire diary, Chen Qi found himself uncharacteristically emo.

This cursed game left no room for rookie players to survive.

Win without cheating? Impossible.

Qiaomoya and Erland were perfect examples.