allendalepharm Chapter 4769 The Royal Casino (3)
Chapter 4769 The Royal Casino (3)
Chapter 4769 The Royal Casino (Part 3)
In a flash, greed took hold of him. He circled the table, trying to negotiate, using sweet words to persuade Batman Arkham to spare him.
"I think as a speedrunner you should understand that in asymmetrical games, the Ghost's development is more important than the Human's," Greed bluntly pointed out. "On the surface, the Ghost has an absolute advantage, but in reality, the Human has a higher margin for error. Therefore, the Ghost values the early game more, while the Human values the late game more. If you don't develop in the early game, you'll be dragged down and killed."
"Of course, I'm not trying to be helpful, but it's just that I'm annoyed by you playing these games with me. Why make the game like this? In an asymmetrical game, you're only targeting me; isn't that a bit like targeting me specifically?"
"I'll take this as your recognition of my abilities, but I also have teammates. Putting aside whether they'll come to my rescue, aren't you afraid they'll find some key item and use it against you?"
The more Greed spoke of this, the less Arkham Batman remained unmoved. The two of them kept circling the table, probably hundreds of times in the time it took to exchange just a few words.
"Batman!" Greed raised his voice, "Are we going to keep going like this until the game ends?! Did you bring all these people in just to play this?!"
"Why not?" Arkham Batman replied casually.
Greed outwardly feigned helplessness, but inwardly he was overjoyed. His goal was to keep Arkham Batman tied up here, as he had just met with Matt and discussed the initial plans. Matt should already be conducting a search on the top floor.
They agreed that all the supplies Matt found would be used to support Greed's operations. They even planned to take the supplies and chips from other teammates he encountered along the way to use as Greed's initial capital.
Greed could guess that Arkham Batman wasn't worried about the others' development, probably because he had some long-range interference skills, such as disrupting their lock-picking progress or even tampering with the gambling facilities, which was why he could stay here so calmly and watch him.
However, if all teammates work together and conduct an extensive search while Batman Arkham is away, they can not only familiarize themselves with the entire map's terrain but also acquire a large amount of valuables. As long as they don't operate at gambling facilities, the probability of interference is very low.
In this way, he not only slowed down Arkham Batman's development, but also allowed his teammates to accumulate resources. Once the early game is over, he can still manage to operate effectively.
The greedy plan was unfolding rapidly, but just then, a shot rang out, followed by a flash of red light. The detective shouted from the doorway, "Run!"
Greed is infuriating. Everyone else is playing asymmetrical gaming, but this agent is playing "Casino Royale," are they just using their gun to wreak havoc?
But seeing the agent's expression, Greed knew he had to leave. So, while Batman was stunned by the attack, he manipulated the gambling table, withdrew his chips, and dashed past him.
Greedy ran forward, and the agent turned back and shot Batman again. The two ran upstairs together. As they ran, the agent said, "I knew he'd come to ambush you; he was definitely trying to stall you."
"It was me who held him back!" Greedy exclaimed, turning back to emphasize, "If you hadn't come, I could have held him back for at least two hours!"
"The problem is why he's being held up by you." The agent reacted quickly. "He can't be so stupid as to not know the importance of physical development."
“He must have some ranged interference skills,” Greed said.
“I reviewed the Hunter’s memories before I came here,” the agent said. “The Ghost usually accumulates points in various ways to unlock his ultimate move. He’s been chasing you for so long, he’s probably accumulated enough points by now.”
Greed slowed his pace, and the two entered a private room upstairs. Greed frowned slightly, then said, "You mean he's using me to boost his score?"
"Not necessarily, his remote control skills might also be included. In any case, drag this out until his ultimate skill is ready, then you definitely won't be able to escape."
"That's a question," Greed said after thinking for a moment. "What kind of ultimate move do you think it will be?"
"That's not quite clear, but the Hunter's ultimate skill is a status effect that increases his speed, eliminates attack intervals, and boosts his attack power, called 'God of the Wild Hunt'."
Greed pondered for a moment, then said, "If that's all, I'm not worried. But I feel that if his entire skill set isn't very offensive, his ultimate skill probably won't be offensive either. What could it be?"
Arkham Batman glanced at his skill bar. Clearly, there were two people relentlessly gambling in this game; one was likely Lucifer, and the other could be either Superman or Matt.
Batman from Arkham knows Superman quite well. Superman isn't a gambler; he might gamble simply because he lacks understanding of the game and just follows the main storyline. The main storyline gave him the chips and told him about the gambling game, so he went for it.
Through Arkham Batman's constant manipulation of the odds, he had already collected almost all of the chips from both players. Combined with his previous winnings, his score had reached 120. With just three more chips, he could unleash his ultimate move.
At this moment, his other skill came in handy—"Personal Participation: Select an ongoing gambling game and participate as an opponent. If you win, your chips will be converted into three times the points. (This skill can be stacked with presidential decrees.)"
It's not hard to see that his skills are a combo. First, he uses map exploration to see which facility is being used, then he uses presidential decrees to increase the opponent's chances of failure, and then he personally goes into battle to earn points.
The reason it wasn't used before was actually out of fear of encountering Greed. Batman from Arkham also knew that if Greed didn't have control or an escape skill, then his skills might also be able to manipulate the win rate. If his increased failure rate clashed with the opponent's increased win rate, the probability of winning money would decrease.
However, Greedy was just chased away by him and should still be on his way to relocate. The game won't start so soon, so it's unlikely we'll run into him. Choosing any of the other characters would be relatively safe.
Arkham Batman activated the map-finding feature again. Sure enough, a gambling table was highlighted. He immediately executed a combo, first increasing his chances of failure, then activating "Personal Involvement," instantly appearing on the other side of the gambling table.
The Superman on the other side was completely terrified. He turned to run, but the game couldn't be quit within the skill's interface. He could only bite the bullet and greet him, "Hi, Batman."
Arkham Batman ignored him, simply looking down at the gambling table. It was a simplified version of Texas Hold'em, with each player receiving 12 cards, and the highest-ranking hand being played out. There were three rounds, best of three.
Because he used his ability, Batman Arkham had a very good hand, with a three-of-a-kind and a full house, and a high number of points. Seeing Superman's furrowed brow, he knew that Superman's hand was probably very bad.
As expected, Batman from Arkham fielded a winning hand of combinations, while Superman's best hand was only a three-of-a-kind, with the rest being mostly random cards. Having lost the first two rounds of a best-of-three series, Superman shook his head in frustration.
Arkham Batman silently apologized, but still accepted the chip. Superman only had one chip left, but because it was tripled, one chip was worth exactly 30 points, for a total of 150 points.
Arkham Batman looks at his presidential suit's ultimate move.
"Presidential Recruitment: The president personally calls a gambler and grants him a pardon. His race is changed to 'Fanatical Voter,' he is given a set of 'Voter Skills' in addition to his original skills, and a 'Presidential Hotline' is installed on the map for communication between the president and voters. His victory condition is also changed to 'Successful Retreat.'"
The reason Arkham Batman is so eager to unleash this ultimate ability is because it's a defection skill. He can directly select a player and pull them to his side, giving them a completely new set of skills and the ability to communicate with them directly. More importantly, he can change their victory conditions.
"Successful retreat" refers to leaving the casino via a separate escape route after all other teammates have been eliminated. This escape route only opens when only one player remains on the gambler's side. In other words, if this player wants to win, they must eliminate all the other players and then use the escape route. Regardless of whether the human or the gambler wins, they cannot win.
In this case, the person who is bound to the team, even if they don't actively sabotage their teammates, must at least try to slack off as much as possible. At the very least, they can't save a teammate who is about to be killed, because if that teammate doesn't die, they can't win.
Batman from Arkham would love to give this skill to Greed, because that way he could cripple the opponent's key figures.
But as a true expert, he immediately realized upon seeing the skill that it shouldn't be given to the most valuable person, but rather to the person least concerned with who wins. To be precise, the person with the least extreme personality.
Even in reality, you can't turn a leader against another party. When the forces are evenly matched, why would they surrender to you? At worst, you'll both die.
Not to mention this isn't reality, it's just a game. If Arkham Batman were to try and turn Greedy against him, Greedy might very well risk losing himself to drag Arkham Batman down with him. After all, this isn't forced manipulation; it's just a change in the victory conditions, so the other side still has a lot of autonomy.
Greed is a rather extreme character, and he's a key figure on the opposing team. Judging from his current performance, he still really wants to lead the opposing team to victory. The probability of successfully turning him against his team using this skill is extremely low; the most likely outcome is a lose-lose situation.
Conversely, if this approach is applied to someone who doesn't care whether one person wins or the ghosts win, the probability of successfully turning them against their former allies is much higher. Furthermore, this person's moral standards cannot be too high, and they cannot be too much of a team player, otherwise they might not be willing to betray their former allies.
That makes a relationship between Superman and Matt practically impossible. Superman wouldn't do something like that; his moral compass wouldn't allow it. Matt is close to Greed and has little interaction with Arkham Batman; he wouldn't betray a friend at this time.
That leaves only Lucifer and the agent. Despite their good relationship with Schiller, they're both potential targets. Lucifer is already ruled out by Arkham Batman. Even if he were successfully turned, he'd likely be a hindrance. He doesn't play games seriously and has been wandering around since the beginning; bringing him over wouldn't be of much use.
On the contrary, it's the agent. His escape skills are already very strong, and it will be difficult to catch him if he's not lured into a corner. Moreover, he has a gun, and even if friendly fire is disabled in the game, as long as he's turned against them, the opposing team won't be considered his teammates and can be shot. As long as he fires the crucial shot at the critical moment, the gamblers' plan will collapse.
The agent was simply pulled in; he didn't care who won, he just wanted to get off work early. Batman Arkham was confident he could persuade him.
The instant the skill is activated, the location of all players becomes clear, and their silhouettes are clearly visible. Arkham Batman selects an agent.
“I’ll protect you while you go find Matt,” the agent said to Greed. “I’ll go have a couple more moves with Batman, he…”
The next second, the agent suddenly saw the outline of a bright landline phone in his field of vision, and a guide line leading to the phone appeared on the ground. A voice also sounded in his mind.
"Ring ring, the President is calling! Ring ring, the President is calling! Please proceed to the designated location within five minutes to answer the President's private call, thank you!"
The agent turned and walked out, Greed looking confused: "Wait a minute, weren't you supposed to protect me?"
"Excuse me, I need to take this call."
"?"
Greed: When I type a question mark, it's not that I have a problem, it's that you have a problem.