Entering the "Card Table" interface, "Players at This Table" could communicate via typing or voice, and video chat could also be enabled.

Feng Bujue didn't hesitate and directly turned on the video, saying to the screen, "I'm here."

After a brief silence, the user on the other side of the "Card Table," whose ID displayed as [Host] and whose avatar was a question mark, also turned on voice chat: "It seems… you no longer care about exposing your identity."

"Hmph… wasn't that already exposed a long time ago?" Feng Bujue snorted.

"Oh? How so?" the Host asked.

"With the resources you have… just take a cup or straw I used on the Yager, and with fingerprints and DNA, you can find out who I am, right?" Feng Bujue replied. "Also… your first sentence just now was a self-admission."

"Hmm?" The Host was stunned.

"Hmph… slow reaction…" Feng Bujue didn't give the other party any time to react. A second later, he continued, "Indeed, the appearance I'm using now is my own, and the name is also a homophone, but… how did you know that? That day on the Yager, you only saw a 'Clown' face and only knew the name 'Crow'… and now, in this virtual game where you can adjust your appearance, your first sentence after seeing me is 'You no longer care about exposing your identity.' This is telling me—the 'person you saw' and the 'identity you found' match."

He finished this passage at a rapid pace, causing the Host to fall silent again.

A moment later, the Host also turned on the video chat function, and then a young face appeared on the screen.

"Let me formally introduce myself…" The Host, with a mixed Central European appearance (Jue-Ge judged him to be East Asian from the skin color of his neck and hands when he was wearing a mask), said to Jue-Ge with a smile, "...My name is Adolf Snow, a rich second-generation who loves 'games'."

"Oh, hello." Jue-Ge responded weakly. "Given that you should have already checked my name, occupation, and other information, I won't repeat it. If you want to call me an artist or a great writer or something… feel free, I can handle it."

"Heh… you really are as 'crazy' as they say online," Snow replied, "Feng, Bu, Jue."

He deliberately spoke those three words slowly, seemingly implying something.

Jue-Ge also understood the hidden meaning: "So… your research on me goes beyond the 'files'."

"Yes…" Snow didn't deny it. "After confirming your identity, I became even more interested in you… So, I read your books, watched the TV shows you recorded, and learned a lot about what you did in *Thriller Paradise* from various channels…" He said, his eyes flashing with excitement, "Hehe… frankly… I really like you more and more."

"Hmm… these lines of yours are so full of BL vibes…" Feng Bujue squinted and complained, "It's easy to cause misunderstandings 'in that direction'."

"Whatever," Snow replied nonchalantly, "I'm bisexual anyway."

"I see…" Feng Bujue nodded.

Then, there was an extremely strange silence for a few seconds.

"I already have a girlfriend," Jue-Ge said after holding it in for a few seconds.

"Hahahaha…" Snow laughed, "Don't worry, you're not my type." He paused for half a second before continuing, "When I say 'I like you,' it's as a 'game opponent,' there's no other meaning."

"I feel like you deliberately used that kind of easily misunderstood wording to test my reaction," Feng Bujue was truly perceptive.

Snow was stunned again, and then said after a few seconds, "Okay~ okay~ you saw through me. I was thinking that if the conversation went smoothly, I would…"

"That kind of assumption no longer exists," Feng Bujue immediately interrupted. "Let's talk about something else."

Snow shrugged and smiled, "Hehe… alright~" He thought for a moment and said, "Right, about the 'identity' topic just now, there's still one thing I don't understand…" He then asked, "The day before yesterday on the Yager, since you were very clear… that no matter what, I would eventually find out your identity, then why… did you still put on such an exaggerated clown makeup under the mask?"

"Heh… that ah…" Feng Bujue laughed, "That was an emergency measure I prepared to prevent someone from taking off my mask during the banquet or game." He explained, "Of course, that kind of thing… you, as the host, and your subordinates, wouldn't do, because you already have the information of all the guests; to take a step back, even if you suspected my identity, you would invite me out alone and ask me to take off the mask." He paused for a second, then changed the subject, "However, the other guests… that's hard to say; if some guy gets annoyed by me and yanks off my mask when I'm not paying attention, my face will be seen by everyone around. And that situation… is very troublesome."

"Those in the banquet hall that day were all desperate members of the upper class, many of whom would return to shore after that night… If even one of them recognized me, there would be endless future troubles."

"You… even considered that level." Snow murmured after hearing that.

"Isn't it obvious to consider that level?" Feng Bujue retorted, "Impersonating someone else, taking a ship registered in Panama, sailing to international waters… to participate in a game that looks illegal no matter how you look at it; that kind of trip… even if it ends with 'being dismembered and buried in the sea,' no one would find it strange, right?"

Jue-Ge's words were a shock to Snow's thinking.

This was a great example of "different circumstances, different ways of thinking."

People who go into the deep mountains with a full set of wilderness survival gear, and people who get lost in the mountains empty-handed, think about things in very different directions, even possibly the opposite.

Those things that Feng Bujue said… Snow would indeed consider, in fact, to make the "game" more interesting, he often considered the problem from the perspective of those "prey"; however, he ultimately couldn't think of Jue-Ge's "that level."

"Hu… if possible, I really want you to come here and be a consultant," Snow said again after a long while.

"Sorry, I have no plans to change careers," Feng Bujue said.

"I'll give you a truckload of U.S. dollars, how about considering it?" Perhaps this was some habit of Snow's; he almost blurted out "truckload" as a unit of measurement for money.

"It can be seen that you are a person who doesn't value money very much." Feng Bujue didn't directly answer the other party, but responded with such a sentence.

"How?" Snow asked, "You want to say… you too?"

"Yes, me too," Feng Bujue said.

Although they both didn't value money very much, the nature was very different, because one of them was super rich, and the other… frequently spouted things like "a gentleman is steadfast in poverty and does not abandon his lofty aspirations," and really didn't have much money.

"Hmm…" Snow sighed softly, "I think I know your answer." At this point, his tone was slightly cold, "Then… why would a 'detached from fame and fortune' person like you come to today's appointment?"

"Nonsense, because I want 'that thing'," Feng Bujue replied.

"That thing…" Snow snorted, "Hmph… isn't it just money?"

"Who said I was going to sell it?" Feng Bujue said, "Didn't I tell you on the ship that I was taking it on someone else's behalf?"

"Just because someone asked you…" Snow continued, "You participated in that kind of trip that was very likely to be one-way?"

"Why not?" Jue-Ge retorted.

"In other words…" Snow said again, "Today, if you win against me and get 'that thing,' you will hand it over to the person who entrusted you without taking a single cent?"

"That's between him and me," Feng Bujue said, "You… are here to 'game,' aren't you?"

"Hehe…" Snow smiled, "Yes… 'originally,' I was just here to have fun."

From this sentence structure, it could be judged that he was about to say "but."

"But…" Snow lived up to expectations, "Now I've changed my mind."

"Nong xiang zu sa?" Feng Bujue's hooligan accent came as soon as he said it, even his hometown dialect came out.

"Heh…" Snow smiled even more, "We agreed before that in this 'duel,' my stake would be 'that thing,' and your stake would be the hundreds of thousands of dollars you won from me (he didn't bother to remember exactly how much money Jue-Ge had won the night before, so he said 'hundreds of thousands'), right?"

"What? Want me to raise the stakes?" Feng Bujue said.

"Since neither you nor I consider money to be anything important, wouldn't it be too boring to use it as a stake?" Snow went along with the flow.

"Don't you think it's a bit much to make this kind of request just as the duel is about to begin?" Feng Bujue naturally wouldn't agree immediately; he was trying to fight for his own interests.

"'Too much'?" Snow repeated those two words and laughed, "You impersonated my guests, sneaked onto my cruise ship, and used a fake identity to swindle hundreds of thousands of dollars at my banquet… and I neither threw you into the sea, nor took the money back, nor illegally detained you and subjected you to torture… Now, you're actually saying I'm going too far?"

"Hmm… the way you put it, it seems to make sense." Feng Bujue stroked his chin, as if he had just understood, and casually responded.

Snow was also mentally prepared for Jue-Ge's unprincipled words and actions; he suppressed the desire to complain and continued with the previous topic: "In short, what I mean is, my side's stake remains the same… no, I can even take another step back, those hundreds of thousands are yours. But, your side's stake…"

"If I lose, I have to come and be your consultant, right?" Feng Bujue asked.

"Heh… exactly." Snow wasn't surprised that Jue-Ge directly said the answer.

"Sigh… I knew it," Feng Bujue muttered, "If it's not money… it's people."

"If you agree to this condition, we can begin," Snow said quickly, urging the other party to make a decision as soon as possible when he heard there was hope.

"Okay, I'll bet." Feng Bujue didn't hesitate. "However, this is just a verbal agreement right now… can you trust me?"

"Is that even a question?" Snow said, "Didn't you also believe that I would give you the thing after I lost without any contractual guarantee?"

Feng Bujue laughed, "You flatter me; that's because I had no room to question when the agreement was reached (back then on the Yager, after Jue-Ge took off his mask)."

"That doesn't matter; anyway, I believe you will keep your word," Snow said, "Because the opponent I recognize… must be a man who can afford to win and lose."

…………

Twenty minutes later.

[Your deck is ready.] After confirming his deck selection, Feng Bujue turned around and faced the elevator door.

*Ding—*

The moment Feng Bujue pressed the [dueL] button, the elevator door opened with a beep.

Outside the door was a vaulted stone corridor.

The corridor was built of white stone blocks and was quite spacious. About ten meters ahead, there was an exit, and the scorching sunlight was already shining in from outside the exit.

[Please select your duel equipment.]

The system voice sounded again the moment he stepped out of the elevator.

In the next second, a window popped up in front of Jue-Ge. There were only two options in the window: [Duel Console] and [Duel Disk].

Feng Bujue chose the Duel Disk without even thinking and pressed Confirm.

Instantly, data light streams bloomed out of thin air, turning into a ball of white light that wrapped around his arm.

Three seconds later, the white light solidified, gradually darkening and taking shape. A device with a blue base, white frame, and red axis, like a folded mechanical wing, had already appeared on Jue-Ge's left forearm.

[It has been detected that your dominant hand is your right hand. The Duel Disk is installed on your left hand by default. If you want to change the settings, please return to the login space settings.]

[Your Duel Disk is dd(duel_disk)-Standard. For more cool skins, please go to the online store.]

During the Duel Disk's formation, these two lines of subtitles with voiceover also flashed in front of Jue-Ge.

"What's the use of being cool? Can it increase the probability of a God draw…" Feng Bujue muttered inwardly, looking at the advertising prompt that flashed by.

At this moment, he had reached the end of the vaulted stone corridor.

As he stepped out of the stone gate, a wide-open space appeared before him. The "duel arena" he had selected on the "Card Table"—the [Ancient Roman Colosseum]—came into Jue-Ge's view.

At the same time, from a stone gate opposite him, another duelist who was also equipped with a Duel Disk—Adolf Snow—walked out.

When the two of them took their positions (there were cursors on the ground indicating the duelists' standing areas) and stood in the huge circular arena, a new system voice came.

This time, it wasn't a "prompt," but a "broadcast" that sounded directly in the arena.

Only to hear… a very passionate male voice proclaim—

[Uphold the rules and etiquette, and duel happily.]