Las Vegas has a particular industry with hospitals all over the place. Even for the sake of speed, Adonis directly sent Mike to a private hospital to overnight test the real age.
Because he had to go through the machine again, Mike thought he had seen it all before and said quite arrogantly while entering the testing room, "I just took a picture the day before yesterday, and then again? Ha, how many times will you not find out the cheater? Waste of time!"
In the past, doctors would have to ask questions about such frequent passes through the machine. But here, doctors are used to these gamblers being brought in to check for cheaters, so they don't answer. On the contrary, Middendorffi, hearing Mike's words, suddenly remembered a thing and asked Adonis: "He passed the machine before, did the film stay?"
Adonis, who knew, turned his head to look at his assistant, who said, "We didn't keep it, but the hospital can transfer it."
"Pull it up and show it to the doctors over here." Middendorffi said, "Have him compare the two films."
Adonis and his assistant were stumped but did as they were told. So, an hour later, the doctor took Mike's before and after filming material and was confused.
"This ... isn't right, is it?" The doctor reconfirmed, "Is this the same film of the same person?"
The assistant nodded, "Definitely. Look at the material that came through, and the marking is 'Mike, male, 34'."
"Thirty-four?!" The doctor realised that he had forgotten to scan over this age; he somewhat incredulously looked over the information of the documents registered on his computer again and said in surprise, "It's 34 ... Then he has a big problem!"
Mike was no longer so arrogant now and sat there somewhat hunched over. But he still stared dead at the doctor and repeated, "I didn't cheat! Not!"
Adonis glanced at him and only conversed with the doctor, "What's the problem?"
Doctor: "Premature ageing."
Adonis: "..."
He didn't realise that was the problem and was stunned for a few seconds before asking, "Premature ageing?"
"Well, my initial opinion is that he should be around sixty years old by the time he checks out, which is very inconsistent with his documented age." The doctor returned, "When my colleague comes to work at dawn, we can have a group meeting to discuss it before giving a firm conclusion. There are many causes of premature ageing, and genetic analysis may be needed to know ..."
"No need." Adonis interrupted the doctor, cursing in his mind; he was here to check Mike's cheating ways, not to cure him!
"Haha, premature ageing, premature ageing... is just that, premature ageing!" Mike's voice wasn't loud, but there was something maniacal in his laughter, "See, it's not cheating!"
Adonis listened impatiently, "Fuckin' hell, are you happy! A short-lived bastard with a life to earn but no life to spend!"
"Then I've also made money in just a few days that others wouldn't make in a few lifetimes! Hahaha, I can spend it however I want!" Mike seemed to have suddenly come to his senses as well, "I'm not going to gamble anymore, I'm going to cash out all my money, I'm not going to gamble anymore! I'm going to spend it, and I'm going to buy the most expensive lodge and yacht, I'm going to buy the most expensive booze and cigarettes, I'm going to have twenty women circling me, on their knees, begging me to slap the money in their faces! I'm going to enjoy myself!"
He grabbed Adonis by the sleeve, "You wouldn't dare to renege on your debt, would you? You're the owner of the casino, ha, and you'd be a real wimp if you did, and everyone would fucking laugh at you!"
Adonis listened to his kind of stupid speech that he wouldn't even enjoy and disgustedly jerked his sleeve away, coldly saying, "You're so arrogant, the whole venue knows you won big money, and you're going to get kidnapped and robbed when you go out. I'd like to see how you'll get out of Las Vegas!"
"You guys arrange my bodyguards and the fastest flight to the U Continent!" Mike said, "I have money; I can pay for bodyguards! You guys quickly help me arrange, and I want the best bodyguards ...!"
"You don't dare to gamble anymore because you don't dare to continue consuming your life force?"
Middendorffi suddenly spoke. He and Eli walked up and stood in front of Mac, sitting in the attendance chair, looking at the other with downcast eyes. Mac was yelling when he spoke earlier and didn't even hear what he said. Mac thought they were also under Adonis, the big boss, and asked with a frown, "What did you say?"
"I said you're so afraid of death that you won't give your life anymore." Middendorffi's hand reached for Mike. He subconsciously ducked, colouring, "What are you doing?!"
Middendorffi didn't touch him but just stopped her hand near his head as if sensing something, "How much life force do you consume when you activate it once?"
"What nonsense are you talking about ...!"
"One game of roulette consumes you for years. You're not teasing others; you're just afraid to use it every time." Middendorffi said indifferently, "If you use it every time, your life will be consumed even more, and it's not uncommon for you to die directly in the casino."
This was all speculation on Middendorffi's part, and it was just that he always spoke in a light tone, which sounded very specific to others. Adonis didn't understand all of it, but he understood that Mike was cheating and instantly cursed, "Yeah, you fucking dare to cheat in my venue!"
"I didn't cheat, I didn't cheat!" Mike's eyes widened as he denied it, but his emotional management was out of control, masking his panic with anger, "You have no proof! That's slander! You guys don't want to cash me out!"
Middendorffi remained blasé in the face of Mike's grimace. He consistently dismissed the others and continued with his own words, "I heard you play roulette the most. Is that because roulette only takes a few dozen seconds for a game to come out? Other games would take much longer to get the result, and life would be consumed twice as much, so you don't dare to consume it, do you? Your film from the day before yesterday and today's age should have been much different."
At these words, the doctor remembered that there was one thing he hadn't said, "Indeed! The day before yesterday's film and today's, there's already a significant age difference, at least ten years! That's why I asked just now, is this the same person? Even if it's progeria, it's not such a strange case!"
Adonis sniffed and sneered, "Then I should let you keep gambling. Wouldn't it be better to die?"
"Boss." The assistant suddenly voiced out at this moment, moving closer as if he was talking to Adonis; everyone heard it, "Mike Wiley Sang signed the contract when he went up to the first floor; there are still two poker games left to play."
"Oh..." Adonis sniffed, finally happy, "I'm sorry, Mr Wiley. You still have two more poker games to play. If you don't play, you'll pay the default fee honestly."
The first-floor poker game was played in a big way; the entrance fee alone was very high, and with the rise in the middle of the game, if you didn't win, you could be knocked out of a large sum of money. And the liquidated damages were even higher, several times more than Mike's remaining chips.
Mike said he didn't want to gamble anymore. Apparently, he forgot about the contract; Middendorffi said, "You knew it would devour your life; why did you sign a contract for so many games? Did you gamble too much on it, or did you misjudge the level of consumption?"
He paused and turned his head to ask Adonis, "Did it take long to play poker?"
"Long, long, extra long!" Adonis was amused; it was hard for him not to gloat when Mike was about to get unlucky, "That's many, many times as long as a roulette wheel!"
Mike's face went white, but Middendorffi had to ask, "So, are you going to start it again? Do you want money, or do you want your life?"
"He's sparing his life now, and he certainly can't control it when he gets in the ring. And a gambling dog quitting gambling? The biggest joke in the sky!" Adonis sneered from the side, "But what the hell is on him? Daring to play tricks in my arena, it's too long to live!"
Middendorffi didn't know yet either, but he said bashfully, "You don't care what it is if he doesn't start it, he'll lose his money back; if he starts it, he'll die at the table, and you don't have to cash it in. All you have to do is throw him in the casino, and he'll only be to blame."
This calm and cruel words of his made Adonis laugh out loud when he heard it, "Hahahahaha, right on! Whatever the means, I just have to wait and see him die!"
With that said, he stared at Mike and uttered even more cruel words, "If you die in my arena, I'll show everyone your corpse so that the others will know what happens when you play tricks in my arena!"
The doctor listened to these words as if he hadn't heard them.
"I didn't do it! I didn't do it!!!" Mike didn't know whether he was scared silly by the remaining two games of "life and death" or was already crazy, and he kept repeating the same sentence, "You have no proof; you accuse me!"
"We'll catch it when you can't resist starting it again at the table." Eli finally spoke, his voice cold and oppressive, "No need to show any evidence; we're right behind you, watching you from the closest distance. If you dare to do it again, it will be completely exposed; pull it out, and you'll start your downfall."
Eli said, stepping closer to Mike and staring at him condescendingly, "Dare to bet against us? Bet on whether or not we can catch this 'evidence'?"
Mike looked at him, his pupils imprinted with his sad face, his breath coming in suppressed and sharp gasps. Just moments after Eli's words, Mac unleashed the thing immediately!
The energy exploded near him; Middendorffi didn't even think about it; he grabbed the most conspicuous energy source, and the majestic energy shook him to the point that he was instantly unstable, almost about to explode into a black mist. Eli's pupils cringed as he watched, and when it was too late, he held Middendorffi's hand, pouring in a large amount of energy!
Mike's scream rang out, "Hoah...!!!"
Buzz-!
Countless images suddenly unfolded in front of Middendorffi.
He felt he was watching with his "eyes" but thought he was experiencing it himself.
One moment, it seemed that he was grabbing the thing that resembled a crack in space and was being devoured by it; another moment, he felt that he had swallowed the thing with such force that too much energy had caused him to explode into a black mist, scaring a large number of people to death and at the same time flying outwards; yet another moment, he saw that Eli held his hand, and the two of them superimposed their strengths together and tore the thing down; another moment, he felt that Eli was still holding his hand and that he was still holding his hand. Eli still had his hand; the two of them superimposed their powers, but this time, Eli helped him swallow the thing directly ...
It was one, and ten thousand, and countless.
An infinite number of world lines stretched out from the countless possibilities that could happen from this moment.