Zane looked at the deck in front of him, then raised his head to glance at the man across from him. His gaze sharpened.
"Next, I will sacrifice two monster cards and summonit's me, the Train King!"
Wu Sheng looked at the cards on the field, then at the cards in his hand, and let out a confused, soul-searching question, "Is this still Gwent?"
"Why wouldn't it be? Just tell me, are these cards or not?"
Zane chuckled mischievously and tossed the cards in his hand aside. Wu Sheng looked to be around sixty years old, his hair already graying.
Yet he was one of the top doctors in the entire Return of Souls Mutual Aid Association. And right now, Zane was inside Wu Sheng's medicine room.
Zane narrowed his eyes slightly and pointed at the female doll beside Wu Sheng. "A bet's a bet."
As he spoke, Zane rubbed his hands together with narrowed eyes, a sinister grin spreading across his face. "Heh heh heh, Doctor Wu Sheng, you wouldn't want anything to happen to your beloved, would you?"
Faced with Zane's provocation, Wu Sheng calmly pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Do you think I don't know you?" Wu Sheng said as he recalled what happened on the day Zane first arrived, shaking his head with a light laugh.
"That day, Jinlu came crying to me, saying Yuan had been snatched away by you."
"So everyone rushed over to take a look, and there you were, playing some kind of Three Kingdoms Kill with a doll?"
Even someone like Wu Sheng, who had seen all kinds of ups and downs in life, couldn't help but feel a bit helpless.
What kind of normal person loses a game of Three Kingdoms Kill to a doll and then grabs its collar, accusing it of cheating?
Even absurdity should have its limits.
"Are you a bit too obsessed with card games? It looks like the person you lost really means a lot to you."
"Of course." Zane lifted his chin and said righteously, "Without that friend of mine, I can't even sleep at night…"
"Alright, alright, enough." The wrinkles on Wu Sheng's face instantly bunched together.
"For the past three days, you've been telling everyone the same thing. Either you can't sleep without him, or you 'know him inside and out' or whatever. My ears are about to grow calluses."
Wu Sheng covered his ears, grabbed Shunlian, and walked away without looking back.
Heaven knows how they had survived these past three days.
Every morning, Zane would randomly pick a "lucky" member and engage them in a fair, open, and just game of Gwent.
Then after another "fair, open, and just" battle, Zane would either pull out the two jokers for a massive combo or summon the Blue-Eyes White Dragon to instantly end the match.
Even after Wu Sheng's figure gradually disappeared, Zane was still stroking his chin, muttering, "Did I really say it that many times? Why don't I remember?"
Completely unaware that Wu Sheng had already slipped away with his "spoils."
At that moment, Jinlu's voice came from behind him.
"Rover, Lord Dollamaker wants to see you."
"Oh~" Zane raised an eyebrow, turning around with a gentle smile on his face. "Then what are we waiting for? I can't wait to see the one I lost."
Seeing the eager gleam on Zane's face, Jinlu could only shake his head with a helpless smile.
In the past, before meeting Dollamaker, they would all have some doubts about whether this mysterious figure could really let them see the person they longed for.
But Zane didn't seem to doubt it at all. Instead, he appeared extremely excited about meeting Lord Dollamaker.
At that thought, Jinlu gave Zane another deep look.
'He'll probably receive more favor from Lord Dollamaker than any of us.'
"What are you in such a hurry for? My match with Quxiu isn't even finished yet. I'm not in a rush."
"A match? You're not hanging around Yuan? That's strange."
Hearing this, Jinlu awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
Although that doll looked exactly like Yuan, once it came to playing cards, it felt a bit stiff.
Zane nodded at that. Quxiu was another guard of the association, and also a human.
"Alright, take me to this Lord Dollamaker you keep talking about. I've been wanting to pay a visit to this famous Dollamaker for a while now."
Jinlu didn't suspect anything and led Zane toward the puppet factory.
What Zane didn't know was that just after the two of them left the Return of Souls Mutual Aid Association camp, a girl with fiery red hair arrived shortly after, carrying an unconscious girl.
"Doctor Wu Sheng, I'll have to trouble you to prepare some poison for this person, so we can control her."
Hearing the familiar voice, Wu Sheng put the cards in his hand onto the table and looked up, immediately spotting the slender figure.
"Miss Yinlin, you're back." Wu Sheng smiled at her, then shifted his gaze to the other stunning girl she had brought. "Who is she?"
Hearing Wu Sheng's question, Yinlin finally pulled her gaze away from the cards he had just placed on the table.
"Doctor Wu Sheng, what are these cards? When I came in just now, I saw a kid holding cards and shouting something about 'Blue-Eyes White Dragon.' What does that mean?"
Wu Sheng instantly jumped up from his chair and rushed in front of Yinlin.
"Blue-Eyes White Dragon? Who did Rover give that card to!? Do you even know that's a limited edition card!"
"There's only one in the entire organization! Even if I have to risk these old bones of mine, I have to get it back!"
Yinlin was bombarded with questions and left completely stunned. She couldn't understand how, after being away for just three days, everyone had suddenly started playing cards.
And with such passion.
But compared to the cards, Wu Sheng's words confused her even more. "What did you just say? Rover?"
Hearing her question, Wu Sheng carefully explained how Li Rong had invited Rover (Zane) to join the organization.
Of course, that also included the part about how he had lost his close friend who used to play cards with him.
And how everyone in the organization, in order to comfort him, agreed to play cards with him.
But once they started, the entire camp discovered the joy of card games.
Now, a saying had spread throughout the camp,
Life is too hardfine, let's play a round of Gwent first.
After listening to Wu Sheng's explanation, Yinlin's beautiful brows furrowed tightly.
"You've been tricked. This is the real Rover. The one you brought back is not Rover!"
Wu Sheng's face instantly turned pale. Trembling, he asked, "Not Rover… then who is he?"
A figure flashed through Yinlin's mind.
This is bad. Zane is causing trouble at home!
"That's right, it does sound like something Zane would do…"
At that moment, the girl Yinlin had been carrying over her shoulder suddenly spoke, startling her.
"Weren't you knocked out by my electric shock? How"
Before Yinlin could finish, the girl casually broke free, flipped off her shoulder, and landed lightly on the ground. She gave a slight bow like a gentleman.
"Thanks for the ride. Otherwise, how would I have found out your plan? Honestly, your shoulder was pretty comfortable, and you smell nice too. Five-star review."
Yinlin's pretty face flushed red. It was the first time she had been praised like this by another girl.
But right now, that wasn't the most important thing.
"Where did he go?"
Seeing the undisguised anxiety on Yinlin's face, the girl beside her noticed it clearly.
Her golden eyes darkened slightly, an unreadable glint flickering within.
Wu Sheng, startled by Yinlin, quickly said that he had been taken away by Dollamaker.
Hearing this, Yinlin turned to the girl and said urgently, "Quick, we have to catch up. We can't let him meet Dollamaker."
Before her words even fully fell, she grabbed the girlwho wore a faint, knowing smileand ran toward the puppet factory.
Only Wu Sheng was left behind, standing there in the wind, completely bewildered.
"What is Miss Yinlin rushing off to do? …Forget it, let's play a round of Gwent first."