Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 371 - 271 Life-and-Death Confrontation

Chapter 371: Chapter 271 Life-and-Death Confrontation

Fushimi Roku casually picked up a metal card and closely examined its appearance. It was engraved with only the number "25," with no other patterns or decorations.

Before the arbitrator announced the official start of the gambling game, he seized every second to start thinking.

Just as Yakou Shichi mentioned earlier, deducing the rules for determining victory or defeat is also a part of the game. However, deduction games are his weakness; Minamoto Tamako is better at these games than he is...

The water level was still rising rapidly. Fushimi Roku glanced sideways outside the glass chamber and quickly retracted his gaze. Naturally, in a life-or-death gambling game like this, he could not rely on others.

Since "deducing the conditions for victory or defeat is also a part of the game," it indicates that the "conditions for victory or defeat" can be deduced. By gathering enough elements for deduction, one can reasonably speculate the card playing rules.

However, no matter how one deduces, it is only when the results of the competition come out that one can verify whether one’s speculations are correct—in theory, there are five opportunities for trial and error, but in reality, there’s only one or two. The earlier the rules for determining victory or defeat are deduced, the greater the chances of winning.

Various possibilities flashed through Fushimi Roku’s mind.

"During the water infusion period, a few more rules are being added," the arbitrator took out another card and read aloud seriously: "There are some points to note in this game."

"First, an ’air compression tank’ that has been opened cannot be used again as a chip."

"Second, at the start, the party with the lower number bets first, then betting is done alternately, with a maximum of half of all chips on the table. For example, the base bet for the first round is 2 chips, so the maximum bet for that round is 1 chip."

"Third, the betting time limit is 30 seconds."

"Fourth, if a certain condition is triggered, the ’calamity’ phase will occur, and the loser of that round will lose the same amount of air as the chips they lost."

"Fifth, violence and other disruptive behavior that impedes the game are prohibited."

"Sixth, refusing to pay chips is prohibited."

"Participants who violate any of the above rules will immediately be judged to have lost, and their opponent will receive the key to unlock their shackles."

"Now, then..."

The arbitrator turned around, and in the glass chamber, the water level had already reached the necks of both individuals. Putting away the last card, he loudly announced to the camera: "The gambling game—begins!"

Fushimi Roku lowered his head. A respirator was wrapped around his waist. He extended it and placed it in his mouth, immediately lowering his head to start thinking about the oxygen supply issue.

liters of compressed air could allow an adult to breathe for about 5 minutes. Each person had 25 chips, equivalent to 125 minutes of breathing time...

However, just at that moment, outside the glass chamber, everyone leaned forward in surprise as the arbitrator began counting down: "Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

...

Fushimi Roku looked up and saw under Fox Princess’s skirt.

The gambling game rules clearly stated that if your buttocks left the seat for ten seconds, you would be judged as the loser. Therefore, Fox Princess took advantage of the water level gap to float her face above the water and take deep breaths—in the ninth second, returning to the seat would gain nine seconds of breathing time!

From the moment the arbitrator announced the start of the game, even without placing a bet, the life-or-death struggle had already begun!

Though not much, Fox Princess had indeed stored more oxygen than he did.

While everyone’s attention was drawn by Fox Princess, Fushimi Roku didn’t remain idle either; he employed a small trick against Sazaki Gen.

Nine seconds flew by, and Fox Princess returned to her seat.

Amidst a flurry of bubbles, the two exchanged glances underwater. Fushimi Roku suddenly realized where he had seen those eyes before.

Almost every day, he saw this kind of gaze; yet, without exception, he never paid serious attention... because the owner of those eyes stood in the mirror.

She looked at people just like him.

Fox Princess seemed to realize this as well. Her eyelids curved slightly, seemingly in a smile. Though they couldn’t speak underwater, they communicated silently through their eyes.

The first round of the card game officially began.

Each person breathed one oxygen chip and used one oxygen chip as the base bet, each remaining with 23 chips.

At the card playing stage, Fushimi Roku looked down at his hand. The five cards he received were: "25," "45," "26," "36," and "39."

If the standard for determining victory isn’t simply card size, he couldn’t see what these numbers meant at the moment.

Unless there were clear violations, the arbitrator wouldn’t interfere with the game. His only job was commentary. At present, the arbitrator addressed the camera and said, "Here, I can give the audience a small hint. The order in which participants play cards will directly affect the outcome of the next round... The audience can also try deducing the complete rules together."

In theory, submerged underwater and separated by glass, outsiders’ conversations couldn’t be heard.

But Fushimi Roku could read lips.

This was a level 7 ability attached to Psychological Guidance. He could even deduce the other party’s psychological state through body language.

—"The order of card play will affect the outcome of the next round’s competition."

He captured this critical piece of information and immediately withdrew his gaze to look at the Fox Princess, only to find that she had just turned her head away as well.

Their eyes met, and simultaneously a thought flashed through their minds:

"He/She can read lips too!"

...

Fushimi Roku suddenly felt an inexplicable excitement. He noticed that the Fox Princess had not used her respirator up until now—she had been holding her breath. And as soon as the card-playing phase began, without hesitation, she slapped down her first card.

Only until Fushimi Roku placed a card on the table as well did the Fox Princess finally use the respirator, starting to breathe evenly and slowly.

Indeed, thinking also increases the consumption of oxygen.

This was unlike competitive diving; they needed to engage their brains in a contest of wits. This meant that, underwater, even thinking required paying part of the "chips"!

Fushimi Roku could see that his opponent did not want to waste oxygen on solving unsolvable problems. Since the first-round results were not yet out, any thought at the start would be in vain. After all, there was no way to verify if one’s hypothesis was correct. Useless thinking would only waste oxygen, so it was better to rely on instinct to choose the first card.

It was apparent that the Fox Princess was extremely careful about her oxygen usage.

After both sides played their cards, they flipped them over in unison.

The camera focused again, and everyone intently gazed to see that the Fox Princess had played a "15", while the Demon Cutter had played a "25".

This was the first round of life-and-death confrontation.

According to the rules, the Fox Princess, who had the smaller number, bet first. Without any hesitation, her long, fair fingers picked up an air chip and gently placed it in the center of the wooden table.

...

Outside the glass chamber, Minamoto Tamako nervously grasped the retractable strap: "She’s betting..."

Fujiwara Homare stood beside her, trying to understand the betting rules: "Isn’t betting normal? Isn’t the point of the rules to bet in turns?"

Minamoto Tamako didn’t care about status or Fujiwara Section Chief’s face. Her mind was racing, and almost reflexively, she said:

"Idiot! In the first round, it’s best to just bet the ante and let the arbitrator directly judge the results! We don’t yet know the rules of the competition; only betting the ante to probe is the optimal solution, right?"

The more she spoke, the angrier she became, even twisting the rope into a braid: "This is really infuriating! Why bet now!"

Fujiwara Homare, feeling his pride slightly hurt, retorted, trying to regain face: "Then Mr. Fushimi could just not follow, couldn’t he?"

"Not following means losing an ante for nothing, right?" Minamoto Tamako was even too lazy to call him an idiot.

Fujiwara Homare found himself speechless for a moment. He turned his head towards the glass chamber, and sure enough, Mr. Fushimi followed with an air chip.

However, to everyone’s surprise, after reaching the first round’s betting limit, Fushimi Roku, without any hesitation, reached forward and added two more air chips in one go!

The Fox Princess’s eyes widened, and her pupils dilated, not out of fear, but from excitement!

In everyone’s shocked gazes, she leaned forward, pushed with both hands, followed, and raised six air chips!

The onlookers gasped in disbelief, and Fujiwara Homare pointed at the compartment, shouting: "Isn’t this against the rules? It’s clearly over the raising limit!"

The arbitrator timely explained that the Fox Princess’s six air chips consisted of two parts: two chips to follow, making the total on the table eight, and half of the raising limit, which was four additional chips, making a total of six air chips.

...

Only the two participants could truly experience the thrill brought by this competition of intelligence and courage.

Fushimi Roku bit down on the respirator, staring intently at the Fox Princess, not missing a single detail. The Fox Princess was silently laughing wildly underwater—had she bet on luck, or had she already cracked the rules?!

It was thought that the first round was a steady probing game, but it unexpectedly turned into a gamble close to 16 chips!!

He had to admit he underestimated this opponent.

Originally thinking the so-called designer was just a self-promoting clown or a no-experience newbie, like Minamoto Tamako, obsessed with intelligence games... now it seemed she was adept at life-and-death gambling, indeed a qualified hunter.

By the time Fushimi Roku came back to his senses, the first canister of air chips was already depleted. He replaced it with the second chip, inserting it into the slot at his waist, and casually tossed the empty chip to the ground.

Just as the game began, he was already at a disadvantage.

In poker, there is indeed a strategy to bluff the opponent into folding. The most common is "Zha Jin Hua," where players bluff by continuously raising to make opponents mistakenly believe they have a strong hand, leading the opponents to fold and allowing the bluffer to win with a smaller hand.

The onlookers also weighed in. Moriyama Yasurou thought four chips were too high, and if it were her, she would not follow; Minamoto Tamako and Fujiwara Homare didn’t dare risk it either, especially when the opponent seemed to have already cracked the rules. Recklessly following could lead to serious losses...

However, the Fox Princess was a hunter, not prey.

Fushimi Roku felt his blood heating up like it hadn’t in a long time, even slaughtering those cult members couldn’t bring him this burning sensation.

His pupils dilated, and he uncontrollably grinned fiercely, pushing the chips to the center of the wooden table.

Follow, with four air chips!!