Chapter 996 Card Game
After entering the East Balam Military Veterans Mess, Klein handed his cane and hat to his valet, Enuni, only to see Colonel Calvin of the Loen Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense wearing an army uniform, waiting at the foyer with a glass of red wine in hand.
This long-faced officer smiled as he raised his cup at Dwayne Dantès.
“Long time no see.”
“It really has been a while.” Klein smiled as he walked over.
Colonel Calvin immediately offered his right hand.
“Congratulations. You did pretty well. Everyone was very pleased.”
“I was very pleased as well.” Klein used a Loen-styled euphemism to express his pleasure in cooperating. He then shook hands with him.
Calvin retracted his arm and glanced at Macht before he said with a laughing sigh, “Back when you first introduced Dwayne, I was quite distrustful of your judgment, but now I understand how you’re a Member of Parliament.”
“Anyone who interacts with Dwayne can easily tell that he’s an expert at this,” Macht accepted the colonel’s approbation with the same Loen-styled euphemism.
Calvin retracted his gaze, sipped some red wine, and smiled at Dwayne Dantès, asking in passing, “How much did you earn this time?
“Don’t worry, I won’t raise prices in the future because of it. I’m simply curious.”
“20,000 pounds in gold,” Klein gave the midpoint value as an answer.
In actual fact, he had earned 25,000 pounds, but after paying Miss Messenger 10,000 pounds for “Her” services, he had only earned 15,000 pounds.
Calvin nodded.
“Not bad. If you need to convert those gold bars into gold coins, I can introduce you to someone from an imperial mint factory.
“How was it? Did you notice anything abnormal around Maysanchez’s area?” Klein said directly without thinking, “Yes!
“There was a place called Revival Square under his control that was destroyed by lightning.”
“That, I’m aware of,” Calvin replied with a rather heavy expression.
But you probably do not know that the person before you was the one who created the lightning… Klein smiled and then said, “Also, Maysanchez seems to be maintaining a fragile balance among many factions, but in actual fact, he has already secretly aligned himself with a particular faction. Of course, I’m not exactly sure who it is.”
He had no intention of betraying the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom. All he did was divulge a little to win the trust of the Loen military.
“The only thing that can be confirmed is that it isn’t us,” Calvin nodded and said with a deep look in his eyes.
“It’s unlikely to be Intis.” Klein helped him eliminate one of the wrong choices.
Calvin tersely acknowledged.
“That isn’t a bad thing either. The few factions surrounding Maysanchez are supported by Intis. If he wishes to expand, there’s no way he can circumvent them. When the time comes, perhaps we will have more arms sales on our hands.”
With that said, he offered a toast.
“Holy Lord of Storms, to riches for everyone.”
As believers of the Evernight Goddess, Klein and Macht smiled in response without giving a direct answer.
After taking another sip of red wine, Calvin pointed at the second floor.
“Dwayne, I brought you here today to play cards with a VIP. Texas Hold’em.”
“Which VIP?” Klein asked with piqued interest.
Calvin’s expression turned solemn as he said with an unobvious smile, “Admiral Amyrius. He has been given a post and is currently in charge of the Ministry of Defense.”
Admiral Amyrius… The admiral whose younger brother was stripped of his post as governor-general, had his mistress corrupted by the Mother Tree of Desire, and ended up losing his post as highest commander of the Central Sonia Sea’s navy? I’ve worked with him before and even pretended to be him for some time… Indeed, when it comes to a demigod, as long as they didn’t screw up too badly, and if they are willing to hold it in, they will always be able to step out of the nadir… Klein recalled everything that had happened at Oravi Island, turning wistful.
Towards Admiral Amyrius Rieveldt, he still felt some guilt towards him. Although most of what happened back then didn’t have anything to do with him, his mistress’s anomaly was ultimately a result of the Mother Tree of Desire’s wish to control him.
“That is to say that our future cooperation requires His Excellency’s approval?” Klein asked in enlightenment.
“That’s how it is.” Calvin nodded and pointed up the stairs. “Let’s head on up.”
When they arrived at the second floor, they stopped in front of a pair of dark red double doors. Calvin turned his head to glance at Dwayne Dantès.
“Your mission today is to lose money.”
Lose money? Klein sized up Calvin as he curled the ends of his mouth.
“I’ll try my best.”
By the side, Macht said with a laugh, “There’s actually no need to be too deliberate. Admiral Amyrius has excellent card-playing skills. It’s almost impossible if you wish to win any money. Heh heh, I always lose. Sigh, I just hope I won’t lose too much today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even dare to return home.”
Klein nodded thoughtfully.
“I only brought 200 pounds in cash. Would that be enough?”
“Definitely not.” Calvin chuckled. “I’ve already changed chips worth 1,000 pounds for you. Just remember to return it.”
Loen’s best lawyers only earn about 1,000 pounds a year on the surface… You bunch of profligates… Klein sized up Calvin again.
This colonel didn’t notice it as he knocked on the door.
After a while, the double door creaked open, revealing the scene inside.
It was a hall paved with thick, soft carpets. There wasn’t a lot of furniture, making it appear rather spacious.
In the middle of the hall was a card table that could accommodate more than ten people. Surrounding it were luxurious-styled high-back chairs.
By the sides of the hall were gold-plated cutlery, marble-carved sculptures, coffee tables with books and newspapers, and a series of leather sofas.
Klein looked over and saw Amyrius Rieveldt sitting at the seat of honor. This admiral didn’t look different from before. His black hair was neatly combed backward, with his blue eyes dark and profound. The corners of his lips drooped slightly, and his face was clean-shaven. He had an austere temperament, and he wore dark blue clothes with an epaulet. He was meticulous in every detail, appearing extremely serious.
When he swept his gaze, Klein found another “familiar person.”
He had thick but neat black brows with a short and hard crew-cut of the same color. He had dark blue eyes and a high nose-bridge with a bushy mustache spreading out from his mouth. He had a long face with accentuated outlines as well as callous curves.
He was MI9’s deputy director, Qonas Kilgor!
He was one of the targets for Klein’s return to Backlund. He was the middle man in the dealings between the Demoness Sect and a particular faction in the royal family. He was one of the accomplices of the Great Smog of Backlund!
This brigadier general had abnormally broad shoulders, making his white shirt and black vest abnormally tight. He was playing Texas Hold’em with great focus.
There are two, no—three demigods at a card table. How can this even be played? Interesting… Klein sat down and began observing the others at the table.
During this process, an attendant delivered a huge stack of chips, worth a total of 1,000 pounds. In the first few rounds, Klein folded after looking at his cards. He acted very cautiously, acting as though he never called or raised unless he had good cards.
As for Admiral Amyrius, his style was the complete opposite of him. He was in no way conservative. He called almost every round, constantly raising in an extremely aggressive manner.
Every round that he was involved in seldom reached the point where everyone showed their cards. Most people failed to withstand such aggression and, with the admiral’s domineering force, they would call a round or two before folding. At times, someone would attempt to call Amyrius Rieveldt’s bluff, only to encounter four nines. The color in his face instantly drained as though he had been passed the death verdict by a judge.
Qonas Kilgor had a completely different style as well. He would occasionally lose a round, but the chips lost wouldn’t be much, preventing him from having too great a loss. And in the next round after his loss, he would often be able to wipe out the person who won all his chips the previous round, forcing him to spend money to buy in again.
Is there a need? Why are you using powers to cheat when dealing with Low- and Mid-Sequence Beyonders or even ordinary people? Others might not be able to tell, but would I be fooled? One has the Arbiter pathway’s dominance, and the other has the Baron of Corruption’s Bribe… Klein looked at his Five of Hearts and Nine of Clubs as he shook his head indiscernibly.
He couldn’t help but consider which powers of a Seer pathway could provide him help if he wanted to cheat.
Turn all my opponents into marionettes? In that case, I can win as much as I want. I’m practically invincible, but it’s of no pragmatic value. It’s not like I’m planning for some deathmatch poker tournament…
Unfortunately, there aren’t any mosquitoes here. Otherwise, I can use their Spirit Body Threads and turn them into marionettes to help me check out their hole cards…
Faceless only allows me to change myself, not the cards…
Magician’s Illusion? The effects would likely be pretty good when playing with ordinary people or Low- and Mid-Sequence Beyonders. But there are two demigods here…
Use a Clown’s ability to swap cards? It’s useless. The dealing and shuffling of cards are done by the croupier…
As his thoughts raced, Klein realized that apparently only his powers as a Seer was of use here.
He threw out his two hole cards to indicate a fold before taking out a metal chip and allowing it to move between his fingers.
At this moment, Amyrius Rieveldt suddenly looked up at him and retracted his hands before pushing all his chips in.
Indeed… Klein nodded inwardly without a hint of surprise.
During his last cooperation, he knew that Admiral Amyrius was able to distinguish ordinary people from Beyonders from his “position.” He suspected that he could even determine a Beyonder’s level, or in other words their “position.”
However, Klein wasn’t too worried, because a Bizarro Sorcerer had concealment powers to a certain degree. This was also why he could converge the augmentation effect the gray fog had on him after he reached Sequence 4. This made him confident that Amyrius wouldn’t be able to determine his level. However, he didn’t attempt any corresponding interference, as he suspected that Amyrius was able to tell that he was a Beyonder.
Therefore, he decided to reveal a tiny problem, making it easy to be seen through and be grasped.
