209: Chapter 209 Tokyo University is truly a spy hell

Black Jesus reached his right hand into the stainless steel cover.

The inner metal wall was cold.

His fingers touched it and trembled slightly.

The prayer beads slid from his wrist down to the base of his forearm and got stuck.

Li Li also reached his hand inside.

His bandages brushed against the metal wall, making a soft sound.

"Best of three."

Li Li's hand rested beside the red button.

"Don't stall."

Black Jesus didn't make a sound.

Both of them pressed the buttons at the same time.

Click.

The cover sprang open on both sides.

Li Li, rock.

Black Jesus, scissors.

First round, Li Li wins.

Black Jesus pulled his hand back and wiped it twice on his pant leg.

Second round.

The cover closed.

Reaching in.

Pressing the button.

Springing open.

Li Li, scissors.

Black Jesus, paper.

Two rounds ended.

Best of three; Li Li had already won.

It was very quiet beside Table 14.

Security didn't move.

The dealer didn't move.

The VIP Hall manager didn't move either.

Slot machines were still ringing in the distance, but the sound, drifting over, only made the atmosphere at the table colder.

Black Jesus stared at the cover, silent for a long time.

He had been hanging around Macau for ten years.

He had seen people cheating.

He had seen people flip tables when they were blinded by losses.

He had seen people holding others at gunpoint to force them to keep betting.

But he had never seen this way of playing.

Lose a round, and you don't lose chips.

Lose a match, and you might lose your hand.

Li Li pulled his hand out and picked up his bubble tea to take a sip.

"Again?"

Black Jesus shouldn't have accepted.

But there were too many people standing behind him.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine people in the casino were all waiting for him to admit defeat.

If he admitted it, these people would immediately change their working status.

"Best of five."

Li Li nodded.

"Fine."

Third round, draw.

Fourth round, Li Li wins.

Fifth round, draw.

Sixth round, Li Li wins.

Best of five.

Li Li had three wins and two draws.

Black Jesus hadn't taken a single round.

The air conditioning was set to twenty-two degrees.

His shirt was soaked from the back of his collar to his waist.

The prayer beads slid further down his forearm, stuck by sweat.

Li Li ate a spoonful of ice cream.

"Seven rounds?"

Black Jesus's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Best of seven."

The result didn't change.

Li Li won four rounds and drew two.

Black Jesus pulled his hand out of the cover and slammed it onto the table.

Two chips bounced, rolled to the edge of the table, and were pressed down by the dealer.

"Nine rounds."

Li Li didn't look up.

"As you wish."

Nine rounds finished.

Li Li had five wins and four draws.

Black Jesus still had zero wins.

This was no longer luck.

Rock, paper, scissors.

Whatever Black Jesus switched to, Li Li matched it.

Occasionally drawing a round didn't look like a mistake either.

It looked more like he was giving him a breather.

The prayer beads broke.

Two wooden beads rolled into the pile of chips.

No one went to pick them up.

Black Jesus kept his head down, his voice remarkably hoarse.

"Best of eleven."

Li Li put down his bubble tea cup.

"Last time."

Black Jesus nodded.

Eleven rounds ended.

Six wins and five draws.

Li Li didn't lose a single round the whole time.

Black Jesus leaned back against the chair, his clothes soaked front and back.

His right hand rested beside the device, trembling so much he couldn't even unbutton his shirt.

He wasn't afraid of losing.

What he was afraid of was that he couldn't win at all.

From three rounds to eleven, he had tried everything he could.

Continuously throwing scissors.

Switching to paper at the last moment.

Drawing a round first and then changing tactics.

None of it worked.

The man opposite him, with both hands wrapped in bandages, sat there eating ice cream, effortlessly blocking every path he had.

This wasn't gambling.

This was a medical examination.

And he was the one being examined.

Li Li pushed the device aside and glanced at his phone.

Exactly one hour.

"Time's up."

Black Jesus froze for half a second, then immediately took out his phone to dial.

The phone rang twice.

It connected.

No one spoke on the other end.

Yossi was listening.

Black Jesus placed the phone on the table and hit speakerphone.

He didn't dare speak to either side privately.

Now both sides had to hear.

Both sides had to know he wasn't talking nonsense.

Li Li picked up a piece of matcha cake and took a bite.

He waited another dozen seconds.

A voice finally came through the phone.

Chinese, with an accent.

"Where's the money?"

It wasn't asking Black Jesus.

It was asking Li Li.

Black Jesus shifted back half an inch.

Li Li swallowed the cake and grabbed a tissue to wipe his hands.

"What money?"

Yossi paused for two seconds.

"Our money."

"The transfer was blocked."

The breathing on the other end of the line faltered.

"I can understand if the bank account was frozen."

Yossi's voice lowered.

"How can you block digital currency?"

"Isn't it supposed to be unregulated?"

Li Li leaned back into the chair.

He had been waiting an hour for this question.

"Of course you can't block on-chain transactions."

Yossi didn't respond.

Li Li continued.

"Peer-to-peer, once it's on the chain, it can't be pulled back."

"But you still have to use a platform."

"Platforms have owners."

"Owners have nationalities."

"If you have a nationality, you can be invited for tea."

Beside Table 14, several casino managers lowered their heads simultaneously.

Some held back their laughter.

Li Li finished the last bit of cake.

"Which platform your wallet is linked to, where the platform founder is, whose money they've raised, where the headquarters is registered—I don't know."

He paused.

"But someone does."

There was no sound on the other end of the line.

In a wooden house in Southeast Asia.

Yossi stared at the notification on his phone.

Transfer failed.

It wasn't a network issue.

It wasn't an incorrect address.

It was frozen on the platform side.

The last retreat he had left had been pinched from beneath the chain.

Technology is decentralized.

People are not.

Wherever the platform owner sits, that country has jurisdiction.

Yossi closed his eyes.

"I admit defeat."

These three words came through, and everyone around Table 14 heard them.

The VIP Hall manager gripped his walkie-talkie.

Security stood even straighter.

The waiter carrying the fruit cup stopped two meters away, never putting down the tray.

Yossi spoke again.

"The person you are looking for, barring any accidents, has already arrived at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa."

Li Li didn't move.

"But do you dare to go?"

Yossi's voice became clearer.

"That's US military territory."

"Once you go there, how the US side will handle it, you know better than I do."

He paused.

"I really want to see if you two will end up fighting."

Li Li took a sip of bubble tea, chewing the pearls.

"Aren't you curious about what he has in his hands?"

Yossi immediately replied.

"You can tell me."

"I wouldn't recommend it."

Li Li put down the bubble tea.

"Once you know, your client won't just be defaulting on the debt."

"It'll be silencing you."

The phone was silent for three seconds.

Yossi didn't ask again.

"We will meet again, Li Li."

The call disconnected.

Black Jesus took back his phone and looked down at his two hands.

They were still there.

Ten fingers, not one missing.

He finally let out a breath.

It's good to be alive in one piece.

Li Li stood up.

The legs of the chair dragged across the carpet, making a dull sound.

"Let's go."

Black Jesus had just taken a step when security guards on both sides moved in.

In front were the VIP Hall manager and two dealers.

Behind him was the valet.

On the left were the kitchen supervisor and three chefs, with knives tucked behind their aprons.

On the right was the cleaning crew, mops in their hands.

Further out, the gamblers in the main hall stopped pretending.

No one was pulling the slot machines.

No one was pushing chips.

The table that had been cursing the dealer earlier had all stood up too.

Black Jesus was sandwiched in the middle, moving toward the casino entrance.

It wasn't that he was slow.

It was that there were too many people; he couldn't move his legs.

The main doors pushed open.

The night wind blew in.

Black Jesus looked up.

On the hotel's circular driveway, three rows of military trucks were already parked.

Their headlights were all on.

Behind them were police vans.

Further out, armored vehicles were parked at both ends of the intersection.

The Macau Garrison.

Macau police.

Plainclothes officers.

Uniformed officers.

Five or six hundred people blocked the casino entrance so tightly there wasn't a gap.

No one was being held at gunpoint.

But all exits were gone.

Black Jesus stopped.

He turned and looked back.

Nearly a thousand people behind him.

Looking forward again.

Another several hundred.

His throat moved.

"His Highness was right."

"The East is truly a spy hell."

Two soldiers stepped forward, grabbing his arms from the left and right.

Black Jesus didn't struggle.

It was meaningless.

Li Li followed behind.

"Who is His Highness?"

Black Jesus was dragged toward the military truck, his shoe tips scraping the ground.

Li Li added.

"Yossi?"

Black Jesus didn't nod, nor did he shake his head.

"You will meet."

The soldiers shoved him into the truck bed.

Before the canvas curtain fell, Black Jesus suddenly spoke.

"How did you actually win?"

"Did you cheat?"

Li Li shook his head.

"Rock, paper, scissors—the three gestures involve different muscle movements in the forearm."

"Paper is the most obvious."

"Rock and scissors are closer; it's not always easy to tell, so I just threw rock."

Black Jesus kept his head down, still pondering.

Li Li looked at his hands, tied behind his back, and added.

"If you ever get the chance to try again in the future."

The canvas curtain fell.

There was no sound in the truck bed.

Li Li stood at the casino entrance.

The night wind blew over, his tattered coat clinging to his body.

A major walked over quickly and saluted.

"Mr. Li, the superior's orders are that you are in charge of the upcoming operation."

Li Li moved his left wrist, which was still aching.

"Earlier on the flight, someone who looked a lot like me was taken away. I need to find this person."

The major paused for half a second.

"The person has already been detained."

Li Li started walking toward the military jeep.

"Take me to see that imposter."