The luxury cruise liner was enormous.
It would have no problem carrying a thousand people; there were just over five hundred of them aboard, leaving much room for everyone.
After getting on, Chen Xiaobei acted like a curious old lady and surveyed every inch of the ship. There was no hint of nervousness on his face – he was relaxed, as if he was just another ordinary tourist.
Murong Xiaoyao and the rest of his allies followed him closely behind, all of them looking extremely worried. Third Elder was the only other member in their group who managed to keep his calm.
The annual dinner officially commenced as the cruise weighed anchor!
Held within the ship's spacious ballroom, the event was essentially a buffet evening that corporations organize for their staff each year. Still, everyone was busy having pleasant chats over food; even Qiu Hairui came over to make a toast with Chen Xiaobei on several occasions. It definitely made them forget the impending bloodbath!
"Asshole Xiaobei! Why are you drinking with that fat f*ck? He almost killed us last time we met!" Murong Xiaoyao asked angrily.
"Pumpkin, this is the calm before a storm!" Chen Xiaobei replied evenly.
"I have no idea what the hell that means! I'm just not happy to see you toasting with him!" She pouted.
"Have you forgotten what I told you last time?"
"What?" She asked, cocking her head.
Chen Xiaobei moved next to her and whispered, "Girls with bad tempers have small boobs!"
"You…" Murong Xiaoyao was stunned, her pretty face turning red immediately. She wanted to slap him right then but stayed her hand for the sake of the breast enlargement massage he had promised her earlier.
She would be patient and teach him a fine lesson after her bust upgrades.
"Huh? Why is Ms. Murong being as meek as a lamb in front of Bro Bei!"
"Normally, our Ms. Murong is like a volcano waiting to erupt!"
"Seems like Bro Bei had cracked our princess!"
"That is definitely not an easy task! Finally, a man that can suppress Ms. Murong's temper!"
...…..
The other key members of their faction made quiet exchanges over Murong Xiaoyao's attitude; they were rather surprised to find the stark changes in her behavior.
The Third Elder was stroke his goatee. "Our Boss Tian has such good eyes!" He said happily. "Not only has he found a great future husband for Ms. Murong, he has also found an inspiring leader for our faction! What a marvelous man!"
"What future husband? Third Elder, you're spewing nonsense…" Murong Xiaoyao was so embarrassed that her face reddened as if a tomato.
"We're on international waters! The ship will drop anchor now!" Fire Boss reminded the group – it seems that he alone had been monitoring the movement of the cruise all this while.
Everyone's expression turned serious at his words. It appears that the fun was over; the storm looms!
"Everyone! The cruise has now stopped over international waters. We can move into the casino now, where the real fun begins!" Qiu Hairui announced loudly into a mic as Black Gang members marched into the casino neatly.
"What the hell are they planning? Are we really going to just gamble with them? Where's the bloodbath? Where's the negotiations? Where's the power play? Where are the armed men?" Fire Boss and core members were confused.
"Something's up, no doubt about it." Murong Xiaoyao added in caution. "It's going to happen during the games!"
"Well! My little pumpkin is getting smarter! And that's something indeed!" Chen Xiaobei smiled.
"I'm not your little pumpkin! I… I… I'm going to take your shit for now…" Ready to throw a tantrum, Murong Xiaoyao calmed herself once again by thinking about her chest size.
"Xiaobei, it's clear that they have something in mind for us. How would you go about this?" Third Elder asked gravely.
"No worries! I shall give them the Chen Xiaobei special; gambling is my forte too!" Chen Xiaobei said casually.
"Stop trying to show off!" Murong Xiaoyao rolled her eyes. "And since when did you learn how to gamble?"
"Actually, that's my secret. I have been the Universal Gambling Alliance Committee President stationed at Green Vine City all along!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Now, everyone rolled their eyes at him.
"In other words, my skill at the stakes is the best there is! There's no one on earth can win against me!" Chen Xiaobei declared confidently with his chin pointing towards the sky.
His comrades rolled their eyes again; pick anyone out of their group and the person's pupils would have turned back inside their sockets!
"Could you stop dicking around?! What the hell do you mean, no one on earth can win against you? I think you are the most useless gambler on earth instead!" Murong Xiaoyao retorted.
"What are you guys talking about? Let's head to the casino! You guys are our VIPs today, everyone is waiting!" Qiu Hairui approached them with a broad smile on his face.
"My apologies, Mr. Qiu, but I don't believe that we'll be joining. You see, we don't know a thing about gambling! It's meaningless having us there." Chen Xiaobei replied gravely, shaking his head.
Everyone rolled their eyes once more after hearing that exchange. To think that Chen Xiaobei himself had just mentioned – second ago – that he was the most best gambler on earth; he was already admitting that he knew nothing about gambling now!
"Mr. Chen! You're being humble! We're all adults; I won't believe you know nothing about gambling!" Qiu Hairui insisted politely.
"Didn't you just hear Ms. Murong scold me, saying that I'm the most useless gambler on earth? Perhaps you plan to take advantage of me in the casino?!"
"There's no way we can do that – gambling is all about luck! And there's a saying: Your luck will be excellent if you are new to gambling! We'll let you have our money with that beginner's luck!" Somehow, Qiu Hairui was becoming even more polite; he clearly wants Chen Xiaobei to join him at the tables.
"Is that so? But what if you guys refuse to let me cash out my chips later? There's no one I could complain to!" Chen said cautiously.
"Don't worry! We're using electronic chips today, and all winnings will be deposited into the winner's account after each round!"
"Alright! It seems that you guys mean no harm! I'll join but let me make something clear; you guys shouldn't bully an honest person like me!"
"Never, never! We'll never do something like that! Mr. Chen, welcome to the casino!" Qiu Hairui spread his arms in welcome.
Though he appeared warm and affectionate on the surface, he was laughing fiendishly inside. "You're losing every last penny once you step into the casino, and we'll be taking every single last dime of your fat bank account! Hahaha…"
A huge table stood in the middle of the casino, and every Black Gang member were already sitting around it; the scene was one straight out of a high-stakes poker match usually found in movies.
Murong Xiaoyao and her faction sat at the first row, where they could see everything going on at the table clearly. Dongfang Hong and Gu Caozhuo were already seated on the table, awaiting Chen Xiaobei's arrival. After seeing to his guest taking a seat at the table, Qiu Hairui sat beside Chen Xiaobei.
It was a match between four men.
"Everyone, shall I deal?" A blonde girl with blue eyes walked towards the table and asked in fluent mandarin. It appeared that she was a professional dealer!