Chapter 237: Hardaway
After Caelum entered the casino, a graceful waitress warmly came forward to greet him with a smile.
"Customer, may I ask..."
Before she could finish, Caelum tossed the fifteen gold coins in his hand to her.
The waitress froze, then fumbled to catch the money pouch.
"Exchange all of it for chips."
"Please wait a moment."
Caelum moved with the ease of someone returning home.
He looked around.
The casino was resplendent, with beautiful waitresses everywhere.
The gamblers’ feverish cheers and curses intertwined in the air.
The clear sound of gold coins clinking never stopped.
The glow of brilliant gems reflected across cups filled with fragrant wine, dazzling the eye.
Luxury and indulgence filled the place.
To avoid being constantly troubled by money during his travels, Caelum decided to solve the problem once and for all.
Compared with robbing the casino by force, using Observation Haki to plunder it was clearly more interesting.
The ability to foresee the future was perfectly reasonable in a place like this.
"Here are your chips."
Caelum refused the waitress’s company.
Women would only distract him.
He took the chips alone and sat down at a gambling table.
On the table was a transparent glass cover.
Inside the cover were two white dice.
Each die had fourteen sides, and each side bore a number from one to fourteen.
The highest total for two dice was twenty eight.
There were three ways to bet.
Odd or even.
High or low.
Exact number.
Caelum casually placed all fifteen gold coins worth of chips on two.
The payout for two was forty times the bet.
If Caelum won, his chips would surge to six hundred gold coins.
He turned his head and discovered that the middle aged man sitting beside him was actually blind.
The blind man held his last chip in his hand, sweat covering his forehead from nervousness.
Seeming to sense someone looking at him, the blind man turned toward Caelum and asked, "Young man, what number do you think will come up next?"
Caelum glanced at the two he had bet on.
He answered without thinking.
"Four."
"Then I will listen to you."
The blind man decisively placed his last chip on four.
As the two dice under the glass cover began rolling, his expression grew increasingly tense.
Several seconds later, the dice stopped.
"Two. Forty times payout."
He lost.
The blind man sighed and said to Caelum, "Young man, your intuition does not seem very accurate."
Caelum replied, "No. My intuition is very accurate."
The crisp sound of chips clattering rang beside them.
Six hundred gold coins worth of chips were pushed in front of Caelum, drawing quite a few eyes.
The blind man’s ears twitched, and he froze.
"Young man, that was not very kind of you."
Caelum laughed without the slightest shame.
"You were the one who placed the bet. How can you blame me?"
The blind man thought for a moment and found that this was indeed reasonable.
"That is true. Sigh, I lost everything again."
The blind man sighed and left the table.
He lost everything every time, yet still dared come back the next time.
Caelum did not hesitate.
He immediately placed all six hundred gold coins worth of chips on twenty eight.
The payout for twenty eight was still forty times the bet.
If he won again, the chips in his hand would surge to twenty four thousand gold coins.
The people beside him shook their heads one after another.
"All in on twenty eight?"
"Another madman."
Several seconds later, the rolling dice came to a steady stop.
They were indeed both fourteen.
The people nearby looked as though they had seen a ghost.
Their stunned gazes all turned toward Caelum.
"Twenty eight. Forty times payout."
In only two rounds, Caelum’s chips had gone from fifteen gold coins to twenty four thousand.
Such a pile of chips stacked in front of him made the other gamblers breathe harder, their eyes turning red with envy.
The dealer realized the situation was becoming bad.
Cold sweat began faintly appearing on his forehead.
He focused his attention on Caelum with uncertainty.
If this man guessed the exact number one more time, his table would collapse.
If the boss became angry, he would be the one to suffer.
Casinos were not opened to let gamblers win money and leave.
They existed to earn gamblers’ money.
"Customer, would you like to continue?"
"Of course."
Caelum pushed out all twenty four thousand gold coins worth of chips and placed them on fifteen.
The other gamblers looked at one another.
Then they surged forward and followed his bet.
"I bet on fifteen too!"
"Me too!"
"Same here!"
This is bad.
Once the bets were placed, the two dice began rolling.
Although the odds of guessing correctly three times in a row were extremely low, some people simply had very good luck.
The dealer lacked confidence.
Without changing his expression, he prepared to use a little trick to control the result.
Suddenly, a faint hum spread.
An invisible wave swept across him.
The dealer, who had been about to act, rolled his eyes back and lost consciousness.
He collapsed stiffly to the ground.
At the same time, the two dice stopped.
The gamblers widened their eyes.
Then they erupted with joy.
No one cared about the dealer.
"Fifteen. Ten times payout."
"Hahahaha, it really is fifteen!"
"Hey, your casino dealer fainted. Hurry up and send someone else over. I finally won for once. Bring me my chips!"
In an instant, Caelum’s chips multiplied tenfold again.
From twenty four thousand gold coins, they became two hundred forty thousand.
This was an enormous sum.
It immediately alarmed the casino’s upper management.
"What? Two hundred forty thousand gold coins!"
"Yes. And Lord Hardaway will not allow us to attack that person."
The moment he heard that number, the casino manager was badly startled.
He hurried to a corner of the casino hall.
On the sofa there sat a blue haired young man with an arrogant sprawl.
The young man wore the uniform of the Imperial army.
An officer’s badge rested on his arm.
He held a bottle of wine and took a drink from it now and then, looking utterly bored.
His name was Hardaway.
He had originally been a high ranking commander in one of the units of the First Legion in the imperial capital.
If he had risen another two or three ranks, he might even have obtained a position as a reserve Legion Commander.
However, he could not stand the nobles acting without restraint.
During one incident, he had beaten a noble’s son so badly that he had almost killed him.
That was how he ended up in his current state.
The Legion Commander of the First Legion had protected him, but the price was that he was transferred away from the promising imperial capital and banished to this miserable south.
After arriving here, he spent almost every day drinking.
He had always hated nobles, yet now he had become a guard dog for one.
That was what infuriated him most.
The casino manager came before Hardaway with an attitude both respectful and humble.
"Lord Hardaway, does that guest have something special about him? Otherwise, two hundred forty thousand gold coins is not a small sum."
Hardaway raised the bottle and took a mouthful of wine.
His expression was displeased.
"What, you cannot afford to lose? If you cannot afford to lose, why open a casino? Get lost."
"Yes, yes, yes."
The casino manager could only shrink his neck with an awkward smile and quickly run off.
In his heart, however, he cursed this useless drunk who only knew how to throw his weight around.
Drunk though he was, Hardaway’s mind remained extremely clear.
His gaze met Caelum’s.
He immediately raised the bottle in his hand and toasted Caelum with open boldness.
Comments