Chapter 190: Time changes, a card changes fate
Under the lights of the Crystal Palace, a group of four people walked down the east staircase.
At least from the perspective of clothing, they are dressed very well with the current environment. They are all popular Peron-style men's dresses-the chest, skirt, and wrists are all decorated with large lace.
The man at the front looks to be less than thirty years old, with short light brown curly hair, head held high, lips pursed, eyes indifferent, and a lazy sense of alienation revealed in his movements. As if there was nothing worth caring about in the world.
Typical aristocratic style.
If he hadn't seen the gray-white necromantic energy flowing in his body with his own eyes, it would be difficult for Raven to connect him with the Hand of Death.
As a type of negative energy, necromantic energy naturally repels life.
Generally speaking, a knight can awaken fighting spirit of any attribute, and a mage can also have elemental affinity of any attribute, but among them, there is no death.
Only the Order of the Death Hand possesses a unique way of allowing living humans to control this element.
Even so, it will bring significant side effects, such as the extremes of negative emotions, numbness of the body and nerves, and the personality will gradually move closer to paranoia and cruelty.
Except for the leader who is a second-level necromancer, the remaining three are all herders.
Raven tapped his fingers lightly on the table. He was a little curious about the motives of these people coming here. The Death Hand Order had just been suppressed from causing trouble. Could it be that they were going to cause another wave?
At this moment, the leader of the Death Hand cast his gaze over, and Raven retracted, hiding himself in the shadows.
"Sir Doug, have you found anything?" a follower asked.
"Nothing." Doug looked back and shook his head.
The lights in the Crystal Palace were dim and he didn't see Raven's face clearly, he just thought it was a guest who came to spend money.
It’s not because he lacks vigilance, but because Doug believes that no one will see any flaws, and there is no reason to arouse suspicion.
Because he was originally from a baron family in the Feton city-states.
In fact, until fifteen years ago, his life was very leisurely, with a brother who died young and two younger sisters behind him.
As the only son in a baron family, he is naturally qualified to be the heir. However, since his brother died young, his parents had very relaxed requirements on him, giving him more time and more possibilities to do what he wanted to do. Not something that should be done.
Young people all have dreams, and he was no exception. But when he realized the coldness of reality and knew that no matter how hard he tried in his life, he could not break through the shackles of his birth and could only be a baron in his life, he quickly became desperate. .
He hated his origin, why he couldn't be an earl, marquis or duke; he hated his father who pretended to be omnipotent even though he was obviously incompetent; he even hated his mother, why Then abide by your chastity, instead of trying your best to climb into the bed of a great nobleman and make him a noble illegitimate son!
Although Doug was sent to a noble academy by his parents, like most young nobles, Doug began to slide rapidly towards hedonism.
It is impossible to attend classes.
Drinking parties, hunting, duels, gambling... He lived his life day after day, and if nothing unexpected happened, he would also die in this kind of life.
Until the day the family is destroyed.
His father was accused of colluding with a cult, and his political opponents made trouble. Without even giving them a chance to defend themselves, they united with several big nobles to capture and bloodbath their castle.
Doug became wanted and began to flee. After a series of coincidences, at the age of seventeen, he became a member of the Order of the Death Hand. It was also at that time that he learned that he Has the talent of a magician.
This discovery made Doug hate his parents even more - if they had been willing to spend a little money to identify his magical talent, Doug would not have ended up like this.
At this time, he completely forgot that just for the potion to appraise the qualifications, it would cost the territory half a year's revenue; and if he could stand out in the academy, he could get the qualifications to appraise the qualifications.
Life in the Order of the Hand of Death is not easy. You have to be with corpses every day. The smell of corpses is lingering on your body. The servants are affected by the energy of the dead. Even the women are dry and sleep every day. When I got under the covers, it was like lying in a pile of ice!
Eagle Town is better, or Crystal Palace!
Women here are called women, and living here is called life!
Doug skillfully raised his hand and called the waiter. After saying a few words, the waiter bowed and left.
Not long after, the music in the venue suddenly became impassioned, the lights gathered in the box where Doug was, and then the host shouted: "Mr. Doug in Box 3, Consumer Angel Kit A set! ”
These words echoed in the hall, suffocating the rhythm of the venue. Many people's eyes fell on Doug, with envy, jealousy, and flattery.
There are three bottles of Angel Tears in the set, two of which are brand-new flavors that can only be obtained in the set. They are considered good value for money, but this set costs 29.99 gold coins. It is simply not affordable for ordinary people, even some small nobles have to grit their teeth.
In the light, Doug's self-esteem and vanity were greatly satisfied, but he still maintained that distant smile on his face - these people should have looked up to him!
Instead of being ordered around by the elders like in the Order of the Hand of Death, doing chores like a servant, listening to them talk about the "glorious deeds" of the past, and at the same time doing things against your will. of praise.
Three maids in cool clothes brought three trays with three different colors of angel tears in them.
The center is a classic purple-red, the left is light yellow, and the bottle on the right is an extremely rare light blue, with stars floating on it vaguely.
"Open it." Doug said with a laziness in his voice.
The classic version of Angel’s Tears was poured into a decanter, while the other two types were poured directly into wine glasses.
The lights focused on the box gradually went out, which made Doug feel a little disappointed, but he immediately focused on the wine in front of him.
He chose the blue one, shook it gently, and watched the wine swirl in the glass, as beautiful as a vortex in the clear lake water under the sunlight, and then took a sip.
There is a hint of spiciness in the mouth that the wine should have, but it disappears immediately and is replaced by a cold sweetness. After the sweetness, the unique fragrance of lavender emerges. Breathing gently is like stepping into a lavender flower field.
After breathing in and exhaling the air, there will be a hint of coolness in the throat, just like chewing a mouthful of mint, which makes people feel refreshed.
“This is wine!” This is not the first time Doug has said this emotion, but every time it comes from the bottom of his heart.
Most of the members of the Order of the Hand of Death have poor backgrounds and poor aesthetic taste; and due to the erosion of the energy of death, the taste has become extremely dull. In order to find a little excitement, the drinks and meals among them are so Call someone...
Can’t bear to look back!
The food must be topped with a lethal amount of salt, pepper and garlic. Even a cow will die from eating it. As for the wine, the pursuit of the ultimate "flavor" is to put whatever is exciting, sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, etc. All tastes.
It just doesn’t smell like alcohol.
Doug even suspected that even if the wine was replaced by swill, the elders might not be able to drink it!
Gently sipping the wine into his mouth, Doug leaned on the soft sofa, crossed his legs, looked at the colorful dancers on the dance floor, and felt a little moved for a moment.
Just as he was about to speak, the herder Manda who came with him said: "Master Doug, we have been here for five days, should we continue to act?"
Doug frowned, raised his eyes, and lowered his gaze slightly: "Manda, you should remember that I am responsible for everything in this operation."
Feeling Doug's dissatisfaction, Manda pursed her lips Lips: "Of course, I have no intention of challenging your majesty, but there is nothing here Anomalies worth noting, according to the plan made by the elders..."
Doug waved his hand and interrupted Manda. He hated Manda, not just because Manda showed ambition and tried to pass this This way of fighting with himself for the right to speak is also because of Manda's stupidity.
A herder is just the elder’s dog, why should he bark at himself?
“As the old proverb says, a general has the right to decide the details of the front line.” Doug looked directly into Manda’s eyes: “Everything I do is for the future of the Holy Religion. , has no obligation to explain to you.”
"If you think there is something wrong with my decision-making, then now, I can give you the power to act on your own and leave the Eagle Territory!" As he said, he looked at the two herders who had been silent and said, "The same goes for you."
The two men shook their heads together, Manda’s expression She became stiff, and finally managed to squeeze out a smile: "Sir Doug, it was my words that were not measured!"
Manda jumped like this, probably because she wanted to show her face to the elders after returning, to express that she was not out of touch. A person who is doing nothing really has the confidence to part ways with Doug.
At this time, the classic version of Tears of Angels had already woken up. Manda poured a glass for Doug in a flattering manner, poured some for herself, and drank it.
The cool wine flows into the throat, and the mouth is filled with a clear and sweet taste that has never been experienced before. Every time you taste it, it is a rare enjoyment.
The money is all with Doug. If he leaves, where can Manda drink such good wine?
Doug saw all the changes in Manda's expression, and there was a hint of disdain at the corner of his mouth - these things whose heads have been corroded by the necromantic energy to the point of rigidity, are really desperate to compete with his own intelligence.
However, crushing Manda intellectually does not bring him any pleasure. He needs something more exciting to excite himself!
Putting a money bag on the table, Doug said: "You can order whatever you want next. I'll go out and look around and get some information."
Manda wanted to say something else, but her eyes were attracted by the dancers on the dance floor. She swallowed and said no more.
“You’re smart.” Doug snorted, turned around and left the box, but did not go through the front door. Instead, he left the Crystal Palace through the back door, walked through a passage, and came to the adjacent "Bai Letang" .
Paradise is a casino.
Different from the splendor of the Crystal Palace, the decoration of Paradise is more grand and luxurious. From the floor to the walls, granite is used, which looks neat and bright. There are even Pattern outlined by gold thread.
When you step into the door, the first thing you see is a tall wall, which I heard is called the "Feng Shui Wall".
Engraved with eight shining golden characters on it -
"Time comes, a card changes your life"
Doug subconsciously murmured, a little disdainful in his heart, but he seemed to be aroused. Something like that made my heart feel hot.
In short, this feeling is very complicated and mysterious.
There are gambling tables in the hall, with red hardwood table tops and green silk cloth covering them, with various ways of playing.
Simple ones such as blackjack, dice betting, more complex bridge, stud, baccarat, and Othello, which is very popular in the Nordic province, are all available.
But currently, the most popular one with the most fans is the unique gameplay launched by Paradise: Egg Breaking!
Because it is a confrontation mode of two teams of four, this gameplay avoids the possibility of cheating in the casino to the greatest extent, leaving the victory or defeat in the hands of the gamblers themselves. The rules are simple and yet Stimulate.
As this kind of gameplay gradually spreads, now there are even regular partners of "egg-smashing" appearing in Paradise.
Let alone the entire Nord province, even if you look at the entire empire, it is unique.
Very attractive to all gamblers!
Of course Doug doesn’t have a fixed partner yet, but that doesn’t stop him from loving this kind of gameplay. The feeling of killing everyone on the card table makes him extremely addicted!
Today he was ready to kill everyone again. He went to the front desk to change his chips and began to patrol around the card table.
As a veteran of gambling, Doug is observing the situation at each table. He is choosing his opponents and his teammates.
At the same time, Raven and Fiona also came to the casino along the passage, but they did not enter the venue, but sat down in the rest area nearby.
Even though they had no intention of gambling, the waiter immediately brought drinks and desserts.
Raven's eyes were locked on Doug. Fiona picked up the wine glass and took a sip, with a hint of surprise in her eyes.
This is not Angel's Tears, but it is still a good wine with a market price of 6.37 silver coins.
"Lord Baron, there is something I don't know whether I should say."
Lei Wen said smoothly: "Speak."
Fiona said: "I felt strange when I was in the Crystal Palace before. For such a large-scale magic lighting application, I am afraid that a piece of magic crystal is used every day. Moreover, except for the angel suite, the prices on the wine list are almost no premium. I am afraid that the profit Not high.”
“Although there are a lot of people in the Baile Hall here, I remember that you only pump 8% of the water per station, but you are providing these for free. Priceless drinks and snacks."
At this point, Fiona took a deep breath and organized her words: "What I want to say is that if you do this, your income will not cover the cost, right?"< br>
Raven turned around and looked at Fiona in surprise: "You can actually see this layer."
As expected of an academic master, he hit the point in one sentence.
"Actually, not only the Crystal Palace and Parade Hall, except for the Arena, the entire Eagle Town industry is basically operating at a loss."
Fiona was a little confused: "If this is the case, why Do you want to continue to operate like this?"
Raven did not answer directly, but asked another question: "What do you think is the most important thing about a casino?"
"...Yes. What?”
“Feng Shui!”
"Feng...water?"
"Yes, Feng Shui." Lei Wen said lightly:
"The most common form of water is rivers. Rivers cannot be easily changed, just like once a casino is completed , there is no way to migrate easily.”
"So whether it is construction, decoration or services, you must invest the maximum amount of money at the beginning, build it once, and do it to the best. Don't think about the opportunity to overthrow it and start over again in the future."
Feo Na asked: "What about the wind?"
Raven continued to explain: "Wind is the flow of people and passengers. It is free. There can be wind without water, but with water, the wind will be more stable, just like every morning, the wind blows to the shore; every day the sunset , the wind will blow towards the river again. ”
"No matter what industry or industry, whether it is selling firewood or selling arms, it all needs sufficient customer flow and customer sources. Only when there are enough customers can it be possible to make money."
Fiona seems to Discovered the great secret: "I understand, so The reason why you run the arena so vigorously is to have a water eye and a wind eye to attract as many people as possible!"
"Water and wind will flow, and those who go to the arena will flow! , naturally we will also carry out other activities in surrounding stores. Spend! ”
“And because of the high-end services of the Arena, other shops must also have their own style, keep the service above the standard, and accumulate reputation and reputation until they become eyesores. , eye of the storm ”
Raven nodded slowly with satisfaction: "Your understanding is very good. It seems that Old Gordon gave birth to a good granddaughter."
Fiona lowered her head, but her toes raised proudly.
At this moment, Lei Wen clicked his tongue:
“Hey, what a rare guest.”
……
(End of this chapter)