Tokyo: Rabbit Officer and Her Evil Partner
Chapter 376 - 276: The Final Trump Card

Chapter 376: Chapter 276: The Final Trump Card

If Fushimi Roku still had air chips remaining, then she wouldn’t be assured of victory in the oxygen depletion battle.

This round, she had no choice but to gamble.

Even so, her chances of winning were still high.

Although she couldn’t figure out why Fushimi Roku folded in the last round, this round her hand was undoubtedly stronger than her opponent’s!

But when did this guy break the dial?

Fox Princess recalled slightly, remembering her action of surfacing to breathe at the start of the game—had this guy already been planning to fake his oxygen reserve from that moment?

If so...

Fox Princess tentatively raised with one chip.

Fushimi Roku called without hesitation, not even thinking, then went all-in again!

Remaining chips, zero!!

A full-force, must-lose game!

Fox Princess looked astonished, wondering why? Why not just call with one chip? Did this guy think the one-chip difference wasn’t enough to win the oxygen depletion battle? Or did he think this hand was a sure loss, betting everything on the chance of a misbuild?

Was he trying to force me to fold?

This was probably the most likely strategy... bluffing me to fold, thus gaining the advantage of one chip...

Did he underestimate me, or did he have assured victory in mind?

No, I shouldn’t be led along in my thought process...

Did he inherently want to enter a depletion war?

Right, only then, from the cards, does he have a chance to win!

And to prepare for the oxygen depletion battle, he broke the dial, set the needle to zero, pretended to run out of oxygen, and risked drowning to fight for that last chance of victory!

Brilliant...

Truly a brilliant performance...

Unfortunately, the final victor can only be me!

Fox Princess abruptly pushed out six chips, deciding to call!

It’s over!

Whether it was Minamoto Tamako on site or participants from the Seven Sins Temple, and viewers watching the live broadcast, they could all see that Fushimi Roku’s 25 formed the largest hand of 7, 3, 5, 5, 5; whereas her 44 formed the largest hand of 7, 7, 10, 10, 10...

The crowd awaited the arbitrator to confirm the result.

If nothing unexpected happened, the two below were also desperately thinking, trying to form the largest hand from the given numbers...

A pin drop could be heard in the square, as everyone focused their eyes on the arbitrator.

The latter, covering his headphones, was silent for a moment before loudly announcing without further coyness: "Fox Princess’s 44 formed the hand: Diamond 7, Spade 7, Spade 10, Club 10, Diamond 10... it’s a Full House with tens!"

No mistake!

Observing the arbitrator’s mouth, Fox Princess even wanted to stand up and shake hands with Fushimi Roku to express her respect—she hadn’t had such fun in a long time.

However, the arbitrator continued to say, "Onikiri wins!"

"Fifth match, concluded!"

"The betting amount was twelve chips!"

The gap between both parties reached 14 chips, the gamble was over!!

Though unclear about what happened, Fujiwara Homare was the first to raise his arm and cheer, only to find the surrounding area silent, everyone with a face full of disbelief, not knowing what just happened.

The most difficult to accept was Fox Princess herself.

Why?!

Why!!

How exactly did I lose?!!

Where exactly did I lose?!!

This thought lingered in everyone’s mind, while Fushimi Roku, submerged underwater, did not explain; he just spread his arms, gathered up all the chips, and slowly moved them beside him.

...

...

Time rewinds to the end of the third round.

Fushimi Roku, almost frantically, banged on the tabletop, the vibrations transmitted through the steel column to the operating room, clearly heard by Kazama Tatsuya and Wiseman Hye Yi Kong.

That rapid tapping was undoubtedly a message from one of the participants above.

It was Morse code.

Translated, it was "PIN."

What does it mean?

Wiseman Hye Yi Kong pondered continuously, and this unexpected message caused him to make a mistake in hand-building during the fourth round.

On the surface, pin means ’needle,’ and apart from them getting pricked, it had no clear direction. Besides, the participants above should not be aware of the punishment below, so pin likely didn’t refer to the silver needle that punished them...

Wiseman Hye Yi Kong realized this message wasn’t meant for him from Fox Princess.

Because after the fourth round was revealed, Kazama Tatsuya also made a mistake in hand-building.

Why?

After the first round of punishment, Kazama Tatsuya could still build hands normally, proving he was able to remain clear-headed after intense pain—why, after receiving the hint, did he then make a mistake?

What did "PIN" really mean?

Was it a secret code only understood by the two of them?

Although mistakes in hand-building were common in the highly-challenging fourth round, Wiseman Hye Yi Kong knew Kazama Tatsuya purposely made the mistake!

The largest card combination using 26 in the fourth round is three sixes with a club four and a heart four — but Kazama Tatsuya chose to make a mistake, mistakenly using the spade four that was already used in the first round, so that he could keep the club four until the fifth round!

However...

Why?

What benefit is there in making a deliberate mistake?

Clearly, this guy has done so with a certain purpose, but what significance does keeping the club four until the fifth round have?

The only strategy is to also make a mistake, disrupting the potential card combinations...

But if he intentionally makes a mistake and fails to form the largest card combination, leading to the higher-level participants’ defeat, he’ll have to share the punishment with the "Silent Needle"...

For something uncertain... does he really want to intentionally make a mistake?

Furthermore, can that guy really intentionally make a mistake? Intentional mistakes mean accepting punishment; is there anyone who can willingly bear the torture of the Silent Needle?

Wise Four-Empty monk glanced at the silhouette on the other side of the curtain, knowing Kazama Tatsuya was lying next to him.

— ’Using one’s body to bully others, what’s so great about that? Don’t get cocky too soon; my leader is definitely stronger than you!’

He still remembered Watanabe Shun shouting such words.

Before designing the gambling mechanism, Ninomiya Jino had already conducted multiple rounds of tests to prevent card formers from deliberately making mistakes, resulting in such severe punishment, concluding, ’It’s impossible for anyone to willingly endure such torture’—this is unrelated to willpower, entirely based on human instinct.

He couldn’t do it, and Kazama Tatsuya shouldn’t be able to either...

"After experiencing that kind of pain, would anyone really try to endure it again?"

"Even if upper players pass down hand card information, with the threat of the Silent Needle, how could that guy deliberately form a smaller hand?"

Wise Four-Empty monk muttered to himself.

Both parties made mistakes simultaneously, necessitating a reshuffle.

This time, Wise Four-Empty monk surrendered to his instincts, forming the largest card combination with 63, namely K, K, K, Q, Q;

However, Kazama Tatsuya still insisted on making a mistake, forming A, 2, 3, 4, 5, still using the spade four!

The moment the card combinations were announced, he realized he had lost.

He couldn’t make mistakes twice in a row.

Indeed, the man named Kazama Tatsuya deliberately made a mistake!

— He preferred to willingly endure the torture and still fought for that slim chance!

Fushimi Roku folded his cards in the fourth round to make "25" the trump card; Kazama Tatsuya learned his hole card was "25" and reserved the club four in the final showdown, forming a club straight flush for Fushimi Roku!!

Before the last round of punishment, Wise Four-Empty monk couldn’t help but turn his head, looking to the other side of the curtain, and asked: "What does ’pin’ mean?"

...

A brief silence fell upon the surgery.

Ninomiya Jino did not rush to execute the needle punishment; he was equally curious about Kazama Tatsuya’s response.

After a moment, a low, tired voice was heard:

"It’s an abbreviation for police identification number, literally translated as ’police identification number’, which is the badge number. If I remember correctly, his badge number is 25."

Kazama Tatsuya paused, his gaze hazy, feeling extremely exhausted, unconsciously muttered to himself:

"Badge number... so this was his final card."

...

The gambling game was already over.

The Seven Sins Temple erupted as designers created various trials that were complex and exquisite, with the scoring rules designed to be addicting honey, but if the designers didn’t follow the rules and, like Aum Truth Sect, used "exemption privileges", then all the touted trials would become a joke!

As the dictator of Cat Island, the genius who ascended less than two hours ago, the chief designer, will he use his life to maintain the "absolute rule" of this island?!

All eyes were on the glass cabin within.

At this moment, the Fox Princess was reviewing in her mind; she didn’t know from which moment she lost this round.

Where did she actually lose?

Even though she predicted every possibility and considered every optimal solution, with luck on her side... how did she still lose?

...

Is it over?

Did she actually... lose?

Is this what defeat feels like?

...

...

Time passed bit by bit.

The Fox Princess discarded her last oxygen chip, allowing her body to float upwards.

The arbitrator counted down ten seconds, and when time was up, Fushimi Roku’s shackle key popped out. He bent down, shuffled the chips, picked up the key, and unlocked the shackles, his body gradually started to float.

However, as soon as he floated to mid-air, he was suddenly grabbed by the ankle by the Fox Princess.

Fujiwara Homare immediately pointed at the glass cabin, shouting: "Isn’t this a violation? This is clearly a violation! How can you grab someone?!"

The arbitrator immediately stated that grabbing the ankle does not belong to violent behavior and did not interfere with the gambling game’s proceedings, it falls within normal gaming scope; on the contrary, if Fushimi Roku used violence, he would be ruled as losing instantly for violating the rules!

"Isn’t this too shameless? Hasn’t the gambling game already ended?!" Fujiwara Homare couldn’t stand someone playing dirty; only he could use privileges, others couldn’t.

The arbitrator reiterated that the premise for the gambling game to end is:

— Until one side drowns!

The Fox Princess hooked her feet to the chair, sitting down again, she replaced the chips with one hand — not only did Fushimi Roku hide oxygen, she also hid oxygen!

Acting as if obediently waiting for death, slowly using up the remaining chips, her purpose was to make a comeback at the last moment!

Indeed, she hadn’t lost yet!