After practicing a few times, Zhao Yao knew what he had to do. Instead of freezing time once, he froze time in intervals of one second each, giving him three chances to tamper with the ball.
This was the trick Zhao Yao came up with after much practice.
Zhao Yao's time freeze could stop time for 3 seconds but required 3 seconds of cooldown before using it again. But after experimenting, he found out that for any amount of time he used the power (less than 3 seconds), the cooldown required would be the same.
Since he had allocated his timefreeze into 1 second intervals, he could activate his power with a cooldown of 1 second after every use.
Doing so allowed him to freeze time three times in a row, and he could accurately predict which position the ball would end up at.
The first two timefreeze were meant to slow the ball down and to adjust its direction. The last timefreeze would be the final blow to confirm the final position of the ball.
For another 30 minutes, Zhao Yao polished his skills, making sure that he could manipulate the ball into the square he wanted almost 100% of the time, before deciding to place a bet.
At this time, there was only a middle aged man and woman left at the table.
The man seemed to have lost a lot of money. He had bloodshot eyes and was looking cranky.
He gave Zhao Yao a glance and scolded, "Hey punk, are you betting or not? If not what are you staring for, you are pissing me off."
Zhao Yao smirked, "Of course I'm betting" as he casually placed 10 chips worth 10 thousand HKD each on the number 15.
Seeing what Zhao Yao just did, the dealer and the other gamblers were surprised. To them, betting 10 thousand HKD chips was normal, but betting on a single number was rarely seen.
The man commented, "Punk, are you crazy? Betting on a single number? That's suicide." In between sentences, the man bet chips worth 5 thousand each, "I bet on numbers 1-12."
The woman also placed her bet, "I'll take numbers 1-18."
As soon as all 3 of them placed their bets, the dealer placed the ivory ball at the edge of the wheel, giving it a hard push and it started rolling.
Staring intently as the ball started to slow down made Zhao Yao nervous and sweat trickled down his back.
In the next moment, he activated the first timefreeze and forcefully pressed the ball.
Time continued and the ball, without losing speed, knocked into the edges of the squares and started bouncing. Zhao Yao activated timefreeze a second time.
This time, the ball rolled towards number 15.
Seeing as the ball bounced between 14, 15 and 16, Zhao Yao activated timefreeze for the third and last time, making sure to push the ball into the square numbered 15.
Time started flowing again and Zhao Yao's palms were drenched in sweat. Seeing that the ball had landed at 15, he coughed uncontrollably.
The woman screamed, looking very surprised from the outcome.
The man, with an unbelieving look, exclaimed, "What the, he really won? 35 times? Isn't that 3.5 million HKD?"
The dealer looked a little surprised, but kept his cool as he had seen many times when customers stroke it rich.
The dealer asked politely, "Sir, will you like to stop or continue?"
Zhao Yao smiled and replied, "I'm done for the day, can you deposit the money I've won into my account?"
"Yes, sir."
Zhao Yao had already done his research. In Macau, winnings can either be brought home as cash or directly transferred into the bank. Cash would be troublesome to bring across customs and the banking option was more convenient but at the cost of a transaction fee.
Two bodyguards approached Zhao Yao and escorted him to process his winnings. The staff helping him with the transaction all seemed too familiar with the situation, as though they had seen customers win millions on a daily basis.
"Sir, do you want all your winnings transferred into your account?"
Zhao Yao replied, "I'd like to keep 1 million HKD worth of chips, the rest you can transfer."
Due to currency exchange and the transaction fee, 2.5 million HKD turned into 2.15 million RMB in Zhao Yao's bank account.
A casino manager asked Zhao Yao, "Sir, will you like to continue playing? If you do I can give you a free night stay at one of our VIP suites and a free membership. If you wish to leave, you can contact us anytime and we will have our helicopter service send you to the airport."
Having just won 3 million HKD, Zhao Yao was still feeling rather nervous. During the timefreeze, he was moving at top speed so that he had enough time to regain his original position, in case the casino wanted to investigate his actions through the surveillance camera.
But after the interactions with the casino's staff, Zhao Yao was confident that no one had any suspicions or intentions to investigate the validity of his winnings. The staff were desensitised after having dealt with this kind of situation many times. To them, this kind of winnings was considered little.
Zhao Yao smiled and politely replied, "I'd like the free suite room. I plan to spend some time touring the place."
Having been escorted to the suite, Zhao Yao jumped at the sight of how posh and extravagant the place looked. At this point of time, he was thrilled to bits.
Thinking about the 2.15 million RMB in his bank and looking at the 10 casino chips each worth 100 thousand HKD each, Zhao Yao's heartbeat rose uncontrollably.
3 million RMB. Working for 10 years might not even save him this much but within just a few hours, he had won over 3 million RMB.
Looking at his unfinished to-do list, Zhao Yao thought to himself, "I've earned so much money and yet I have not completed my tasks. Is it because I have yet to buy Matcha's cat feed?"
Having completed his objective, Zhao Yao could be on his way back but since he was already in Macau, could he really settle for just 3 million RMB?
He looked at his remaining chips and grinned, "I shall not play roulette anymore. But with two more days at Macau, I can still make a big killing."
Although Zhao Yao was excited, he maintained his cool. Roulette could give high returns, but the chances of winning were too low and if he were to keep winning, it would raise suspicions.
Games like baccarat were different. They were more low-profile, and with 1 million worth of chips, he could win a lot of more.
Macau's casinos were not afraid to let customers win some money, but winning in a too obvious fashion might raise their suspicions and this was what Zhao Yao wanted to avoid.
Standing in front of the window and staring at Macau's brightly lighted city, Zhao Yao never had a moment like that, feeling all confident and excited, as though the whole world belonged to him.
In the next two days, Zhao Yao went from casino to casino, making use of his time freeze power to win more than he lost. Everytime he won a few hundred thousand at a table, he would move on to the next table. Two days passed just like that and Zhao Yao had earned more than 13 million RMB.
The third day, 8am. Zhao Yao, filled with lethargy, sat in the main lobby of the airport. Looking at his bank account balance on his phone, a blissful smile flashed across his face.