Zhou Lin

As early as the middle of the 21st century, mankind has experienced an energy revolution. Clean energy, mainly safe nuclear energy, has gradually replaced energy supply methods that would damage the environment; even for rigid demand products such as oil, coal and wood, , the mining volume also decreased a lot after the energy revolution.

By the 22nd century, in the decades after the Federation was first established, humanity had experienced a relatively stable period of development.

It was a golden age that was rare in the entire history of the Fifth Kingdom. In those days, artists did not have to endure arbitrary scrutiny, scientists were not constrained by positions and prejudices, and outstanding talents no longer needed to be constrained by Ordinary people do not need money or faith... they only need to obtain sufficient security from the social system.

In those years, human military technology almost stagnated, but the level of civilian technology made many leaps forward; and one of the technologies that achieved the biggest breakthrough was the miniaturization technology of energy/electronic equipment.

After entering the 23rd century, everything from aircraft engines to personal computers can be made incredibly small...

If you open the hood of a car two hundred years ago, 80% of what you will see is a lot of pipes and machinery. But in today's cars, when you open the hood, you will see a scene similar to opening the mainframe of a personal computer. box; although the size of those driving devices has not changed much, the core power conversion part and the fuel tank have been made very delicate and compact.

The high-end computers that required a full tower chassis two hundred years ago can now achieve more than 90% of the functions with a mobile phone or even a pen; in addition, there are monitoring probes, streaming media transmission media, and wireless power Transmission technology, etc., can achieve "extreme miniaturization".

No doubt... cruise ship powertrains, too.

Super luxury cruise ships like the Clover can not only precisely control the speed and draft, but also turn on the spot and "reverse the ship". In a way, this ship is more flexible than a car... and the most important thing is One point is that the space occupied by the cabin inside the ship has been reduced to the greatest extent; on a cruise ship where land is at a premium, every reduction in the occupancy of the cabin equals an extra space for other facilities.

As a result, there was a huge luxury banquet hall as big as an opera house, with five floors in depth.

…………

"Hey! Look who's here."

As soon as Ryunosuke and the others entered the banquet hall, a white man with a strong southern accent from Star County shouted loudly.

The door they came in was the main door on the third floor. Although the game hadn't started yet, many people had already come in earlier than them with the mentality of "come first to check out the spots."

Ever since, after this voice, everyone nearby turned their attention to the door and fell on Ryunosuke and his three followers.

"Ha..." Ryunosuke is also a person who often attends various big occasions. Being the center of attention did not make him feel any discomfort. He just chuckled, looked at the white man and said, " Eric, long time no see." Before he finished speaking, he already put on a very enthusiastic look, walked up and said hello to the other party.

"Hahaha..." Eric also smiled and answered in a tone that sounded like he was very familiar with Ryunosuke, "The last time we met was at a class reunion. I remember you drank like a dead pig. ,Ha ha ha ha……"

"Haha... why don't you drink like a dead dog?" Ryunosuke also responded with a smile on his face.

As soon as these words fell, the two people's laughter paused for two seconds at the same time, their eyes met, and then, they burst into even wilder laughter at the same time.

To others, it looked like they were old classmates meeting and joking around, but the two knew in their hearts that they were enemies on a narrow road...

Eric is a descendant of the Douglas family, a North American plutocrat. His father, Alan Douglas, started out as an ordinary member of parliament. With the family's strong financial resources and overwhelming power in North America, he became the first speaker of the Federal Parliament in just ten years. The throne can be said to be one of the most powerful candidates for the "Ten Auxiliary Cabinet".

Although in terms of official position, Allen Douglas is still lower than Shinichiro Arai, but in terms of foundation and capital, the gap between Hoshi County and Sakura Nobu is self-evident; over the years, the Douglas family has been in turmoil In Shinichiro Arai's mind, he wanted to drive this guy from a humble background out of the cabinet and replace him with someone from his own family.

Under this situation, the relationship between the descendants of both parties was naturally and inevitably turned against each other.

Of course, if one of Eric and Ryunosuke is a woman, maybe the story between them can go the way of Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately, they are both men (yes, both men are also OK, I know).

In short, the grievances between Eric and Ryunosuke have been going on for a long time, and they can't be finished all day and night...

The two of them are indeed college classmates, but from the first day they entered the school, there were all kinds of open and covert fights and tit-for-tat confrontations.

When he was a student, Ryunosuke was fatter and shorter than he is now, and Eric was born with a disability (their family has an internal tradition of incest for generations) and had a neurological problem in one of his legs. .

One of the two called each other a "stupid pig" and the other called the other a "lame dog", and they continued to call each other a "lame dog" until graduation.

Even after graduation, the two were at odds with each other in the political and business circles...

If there is any inextricable hatred in this world, the relationship between these two people probably belongs to this kind; their youth is a history of struggle with each other. If it were not for the fact that neither one can do anything to the other, they would have fallen apart long ago. Eat the other person alive.

"I knew you would come to join in the fun." After laughing for a while, Eric took the lead in provoking, "Humph, let me see...the partner you brought is..."

As he spoke, his eyes swept over Hanazuka, Sakaki and Axiu.

Obviously, Hanazuka looks like a bodyguard rather than a game partner. Among the remaining two people, the calm Axiu is more like the one responsible for security than the slightly frivolous Sakaki.

So, after a brief hesitation, Eric continued: "Well... this is the boy." He fixed his gaze on Sakaki and said with disdain, "Doesn't he look amazing? Isn't this the old con man you randomly found on the roadside?"

Hearing this, Sakaki didn't even look at Eric. He just picked at the dirt between his fingernails and said casually, "Compared to the cripple, I am indeed not very conspicuous..."

"You!" Eric was anxious at that time. He stepped forward and reached out to grab Sakaki's collar.

But because he had problems with his legs and feet, Sakaki took a half-step sideways and gave him a chance.

This move... made Eric even more furious.

"Old classmate." Seeing this, Long Zhijie smiled proudly, "A lot of people are watching, so be careful with your manners."

After being reminded like this, Eric's movements froze. He looked up and found that everyone around him was looking here, and many of them looked like they were "watching the show."

"Hmph..." Eric quickly figured out that it was his own provocation first, and Sakaki's identity was far different from his own. If he continued to pester him, it would only make him more embarrassed, so he snorted coldly. , gave up the plan of taking action, but straightened his tuxedo, and continued, "I don't know who brought this uneducated thing."

He seemed to be criticizing Sang and Huai, but before Ryunosuke could fight back, Sakaki said first: "Alas... not only is he lame, but he is also mentally retarded. I walked in in front of him and didn't even know who he was with."

This kind of exchange of trash talk was something Sakaki was very familiar with; besides... a pampered rich man was going to yell at a gambler who hung out in a smoky gambling place all day long. He would be damned if he could win.

This sentence was spoken back, making Eric very angry again, and his whole face changed color.

at this time……

"Okay, okay, Master Eric." A middle-aged man with long blond hair, sunglasses, and wrinkles on his face came to Eric's side and put a hand on the latter's shoulder. , "We are all here to have fun, why bother having a verbal dispute with a stranger here?"

This man's words seemed to have magic power, which immediately calmed Eric down, and he squeezed out a sneer: "Ha... That's right, you can't do it." After that, he looked at Ryunosuke again, "Yes. "Ryuuzosuke, this is a rare opportunity. Let me introduce you to you..." He suddenly changed to a showy tone, pointed at the man beside him and said, "This... is the Gambling King of Xingjun." ', Mr. Hopkins."

As soon as these words came out, Ryunosuke's eyes really flashed with surprise, because...this Hopkins is very famous.

In that "gambling world under the sun", Hopkins was a legend who had won numerous awards, and in the dark underground gambling world, he was also a man who left many legends...

When Eric introduced him, he did not add the word "personal name" before the title "Star County Gambling King". The reason is... This title of Gambling King was obtained in an officially certified competition and is not a private title. Nicknames and stuff like that.

"Uh...Hello." If it were in private, Ryunosuke might hold the other person's hand excitedly at this moment and say "I have long admired my name." But on this occasion, in front of Eric, he After all, for the sake of saving face, I only greeted Hopkins in a lukewarm tone.

"My pleasure, Mr. Arai." Hopkins seemed very amiable and took the initiative to shake Ryunosuke's right hand. "I hope you can enjoy today's game."

"Ha...haha...thank you...thank you...hahahaha..." When Ryuzosuke responded, he laughed for some reason, and the laughter got louder and louder, and he even burst into tears and staggered. The ground is about to fall.

At this moment, Hanazuka suddenly stepped forward and supported Ryunosuke.

Then, Huazhong stared at Hopkins with a cold gaze and said two words: "Stop."

Hopkins was having fun at first, but Huazhong's eyes and words made him instinctively feel some kind of danger.

He immediately retracted his hand, and Ryunosuke stopped laughing after letting go, and leaned against Hanazuka as if he was helpless.

"Hehe...just a little joke, don't mind." When he came to his senses, Hopkins' back was covered in cold sweat, but he still had a calm smile on his face as he said.

"I don't mind." Hanazhong spoke like a robot, "This is work." He paused and added, "But warning, just this time."

After that, Hanazuka supported Ryunosuke and walked to the rest area against the wall.

A fat man in his thirties, with Hua Zhong's support, seemed as light as a woman weighing less than 90 pounds.

Two minutes later, Ryunosuke, who was slumped on the curved sofa, finally regained his breath.

"Gu... Gu..." After his breathing stabilized, he took two sips of ice water and then said, "Just now... what happened?"

"That Hopkins must be an esper." Sakaki responded without hesitation.

He knew that a person of Ryunosuke's level must be clear about ability users, so he expressed his judgment straight to the point.

"Yeah, I think so too." Axiu also echoed, "I guess... it's the ability to control other people's emotions through physical contact."

"This old ghost... dares to attack me, Ryunosuke Arai?" Ryunosuke gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it... he's embarrassing me in public, no! I'm going to settle the score with him!"

"Please calm down, Mr. Arai." Axiu was understanding, and he immediately stopped Ryunosuke, "You have no evidence, so you just rush over and ask for guilt. The other party can deny it, and the result will only make you more embarrassed. "

"Is this the end of it?" Ryunosuke was still angry, and then looked at Hanazuka, "Also... Hanazuka-kun, if the ability of that guy just now was electric shock or poison, wouldn't I already be dead? ?”

"If he had murderous intentions, I would have taken action in advance, but I didn't just now." Huazhong replied coldly, "However, his ability still caused some damage to your body after all, so I stopped him."

"Then can you also help me hurt him?" Ryuzosuke asked again.

"My job is to protect your personal safety, not to act as a thug." Huazhong said.

"Tch...protect my safety..." Ryuzosuke repeated these words in a complaining tone, "In the end, I was tricked."

"It was indeed my dereliction of duty to let you get hurt." Huazhong continued, "There will be no next time. I have already warned him."

"Then what if he ignores you?" Ryuzosuke asked again.

Hanazuka didn't answer, but both Axiu and Sakaki knew the answer.

The "warning" of the Noisy Master only comes once, and next time he will speak with his fists; and anyone who has spoken to his fists will basically be unable to do it again within a short period of time.

…………

Evening, 7:50.

More and more people came to the banquet hall, and they were basically in groups of four, that is, one guest and three attendants.

Of course, there are also some guys who choose not to bring bodyguards, but only bring a gambling assistant, and then bring two female companions on board; such people... not only cannot win the game in front of them, but even in the outside world, they will not be able to win. He is destined to be no match for others.

By eight o'clock, more than 500 people had gathered in the banquet hall on the five floors.

The guests held champagne and chatted in small groups as if they were attending an ordinary party, while the entourage stood quietly not far from their respective hosts, either adhering to their posts or deserting.

Just as the atmosphere at the venue was getting warmer, a figure walked onto the circular stage at the bottom of the banquet hall.

No words or lights were needed. Within a moment, the crowd gradually moved to the railing and cast their gazes on him.

He was a man in his forties with a medium build; from the way he walked and stood, it could be seen that he often wore a suit, and the light-colored suit seemed to fit right on his body.

His hair was permed, his face was powdered, and his whole body was very tidy. He also held an electronic reminder card and a wireless microphone in his hand.

When 90% of the guests had focused their attention on the center of the stage, the man, who had stood silent for a minute, raised the microphone and spoke: "Good evening, guests."

Just seven words are enough for people to know that he is a professional host.

Although he showed a trace of nervousness, his extremely professional pronunciation, pronunciation, and tone... were at least the tone of a front-line news host on a county-level TV station.

"I am tonight's host." Strangely, he did not say his name. "Welcome everyone to the venue of 'The Supreme Game.'" He paused, as if waiting for the prompt in his hand. The card's subtitles scrolled, "Before we start tonight's game, I would like to clear up one of your doubts...that is, what exactly is the prize of the game."

This is indeed one of the things that the guests are most interested in, because the confidentiality of this party is very good, and the prize for the final winner has always been full of mystery. In addition to emphasizing that the prize is "unparalleled in the world", the organizer also No other information was provided.

At this moment, along with the host's lines, several men in suits pushed a magnetic levitation transport board onto the stage; on the board, there was a cube covered with black cloth, about three meters long, wide and high.

When the cube came to the center of the stage, the host went over and lifted off the black cloth.

Under the black cloth is a transparent cage. In the middle of the cage, a person is kneeling.

She was wearing a mental patient's one-piece straitjacket, with two circles of iron chains wrapped around her body, and an iron mask on her face, completely covering her face.

"The winner will get this woman..." the host continued reading while looking at the subtitles on the cue card, "She is a special ability user. As long as she is used properly, she can realize your various 'wishes'. "