[Xianyun: See that? As long as my Shenhe takes the field, the rewards are coming home]
[Jade: What a pity. If Aventurine had snapped out of it earlier, it wouldn't have ended like this.]
[Topaz: Who told him to overthink everything? Disappointing.]
[Silver Wolf: Holding the Emperor card and still losing? Embarrassing.]
[Fu Xuan: If he had played Emperor in the first round, didn't he calculate the odds?]
[Yanqing: W-What if the opponent thought the same?]
[Yukong: Then you accept your bad luck.]
[Raiden Ei: Heh. Now let's watch our Miko.]
Raiden Ei was completely confident.
As long as Yae Miko brought the reward back, she'd go ask if she could "borrow" it.
At that moment, Yae Miko had already placed a card on the table.
"Your turn~"
She leaned on the table with one hand, smiling faintly. Impossible to tell what she'd played.
"Heh."
Zhu Yuan smiled back and placed her own card down.
They flipped.
Citizen. Citizen.
"Oh? Not bad. You know not to open with Slave."
Miko's expression didn't change.
"In that case, I'll play Emperor this round."
She said it casually—
And placed the Emperor card face-down.
The livestream exploded.
[Raiden Ei: Here it comes. She must have a Citizen.]
[Kamisato Ayaka: The opponent is definitely Citizen.]
[Kujou Sara: Good. This secures victory.]
[Seth: Dream on…]
[Qingyi: Heh. Based on earlier matches, the highest win rate is Emperor first round. So why didn't Zhu Yuan open Slave?]
[Raiden Ei: What are you implying?]
[Qingyi: Because the first-round Emperor is also the easiest to counter. The safest time to play Emperor is the second round.]
[Kamisato Ayato: Even if you figured it out, you can't warn her.]
[Qingyi: We work the same department. If I can see it, you think Zhu Yuan can't?]
[Keqing: So… Miss Yae is going to lose?]
[Amber: No way. Both Emperors losing?]
[Lisa: It's not decided yet.]
Zhu Yuan glanced at Miko.
"You really played Emperor?"
"Of course."
"…Alright. I'll believe you."
She flipped her card.
"Slave."
"…What?"
For a split second, Yae Miko froze.
She hadn't bluffed her.
"You… you don't want to rethink that?"
"No."
Zhu Yuan shook her head calmly.
"The probability of you playing Emperor on the second round is high. Especially after your deliberate hint."
"If I were you, I would've done the same."
"And you guided me too intentionally."
Miko stared at her.
This girl…
She's sharp.
She actually read through me?
She turned toward Valerius.
"Can we redo that?"
"No."
Valerius chuckled.
"A loss is a loss. Don't be discouraged."
"Officer Zhu Yuan deals with cunning criminals daily. Reading intent is her job."
Zhu Yuan blushed faintly.
"Please don't exaggerate…"
[Yae Miko eliminated.]
A beam of light descended.
Miko vanished from the space.
Only two victors remained.
"Congratulations to you both."
"You each receive 10 points."
Valerius paused meaningfully.
"But…"
"But what?"
Zhu Yuan's heart skipped.
Wasn't this already the final victory?
"Follow me."
He led them to two separate small rooms—
And locked each inside individually.
The livestream reacted instantly.
[Qingyi: Didn't they win? Why isn't it over?]
[Jing Yuan: Recall rule four from the beginning.]
[Jane: 'The game continues until only two remain. At that time, new rules will be announced.' So… there's another round?]
[Nicole: So the winner gets 20 points?!]
[Philos: That's huge.]
[Furina: Waaah—20 points?! Why wasn't I chosen?!]
[Zhongli: Likely not. There was no withdrawal option this time.]
[Fu Xuan: Let's see what Valerius is planning.]
Inside one of the rooms—
Shenhe stood blankly before a strange machine.
She frowned slightly.
Hadn't she already won?
Why wasn't there a draw?
And this machine didn't look like a lottery device at all.
Valerius stepped forward.
"Do you want more points?"
"What do you mean?"
He smiled faintly and pointed at two buttons on the machine.
Red.
Green.
"You each currently have 10 points."
"But if you press the red button…"
"You will steal Zhu Yuan's points."
"You'll have 20."
"And the green button means share."
"If you press green, you both keep 10."
Shenhe's brows knitted together.
"You can steal…?"
"Oh, by the way," Valerius added lightly,
"I will ask Zhu Yuan the same question."
"If both of you choose to steal—"
"Then all points are forfeited."
"If both choose to share—"
"You each keep 10."
"If one chooses share and the other steals—"
"The one who shared loses everything."
Silence.
Then the livestream erupted.
[Herta: What did I just hear? You can steal points? That's vicious.]
[Keqing: What's the issue? If both choose share, it's fine.]
[Yelan: And what if the other side steals?]
[Ningguang: High risk, high reward. But one misstep… and you lose it all.]
[Phantylia: Hehe~ I did say Lord Valerius understands human nature very well.]
[Fu Xuan: Calling him 'Lord' now? Has the Lord Ravager malfunctioned?]
[Phantylia: Oh my~ It's just respect, dear Diviner.]
[Bronya: Valerius doesn't need you serving him.]
[Seele: Exactly. Even if someone serves him, it'd be me and Bronya. What are you doing here?!]
[Bronya: Seele??? What are you saying?!]
[Seele: Wait… that's not what you meant?]
[Ningguang: Oh my. There's gossip here.]
[Silver Wolf: This reminds me of a game I've been playing recently.]
[Kafka: You mean that 'White Album' Valerius gave you?]
[Silver Wolf: Exactly.]
[Beidou: Aren't we drifting off topic?]
Yes.
They were.
Because right now—
This wasn't about gossip.
This was a trap.
A pure test of trust.
And human greed.
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