Becoming the Richest Man Alive

In their shock, the crowd recoiled as one upon taking in the new development. They hadn’t expected that Harold would go on a
rampage like that. From the way they saw it, it seemed likely that a fight would soon break out, and they prepared themselves to
flee.
Meanwhile, Gunther exchanged glances with the two shooters. The second Casper gave the word, the trio would proceed to
take this casino down.
“Do you think this is the first time I’ve had a gun pointed at me? You’re actually using a mere cane to scare me off? Although you
may be old and I can understand that you’re unable to come to a decision, this is ultimately merely a simple gamble. Haven’t we
all been gambling and facing the odds ever since we were born? Every decision we make is a gamble based on whatever
information we had at the time,” remarked Eugene with a cold smile even as Harold prodded at him with his cane.
As he spoke, Eugene put out his cigarette using his palm. Despite the burns he received from the heat of the flame, he seemed
unaffected by the scorching temperature and didn’t seem to mind it much.
He rested his weight on the desk and used it as a support to get up from his seat. Following this, he flashed his crippled right arm
at Harold and said, “We both knew what we were getting into when we started gambling. It’s never as simple as losing a mere
finger or two. Although you claimed to have washed your hands off gambling when you opened this casino, you’ve actually been
gambling this entire time! You’ve never given it up! The very moment you started operations, you should’ve been prepared to
lose it all and close down. Since you want to win money from others, you have to make sure you experienced the thrill of a
possible loss as well. Everything has been fated to be the second you sat down at this rummy table.”
Harold was literally taken aback by Eugene’s intimidating stature and retreated several steps back from him. Eugene saw this
and chuckled as he lit another cigarette and declared, “There’s no escaping from it tonight! It’s either I bring the casino down with
me, or you join me in a game of life and death at this table!”
With that, Eugene pulled open his shirt to reveal the jet-black grenade that lay beneath.
The crowd in the casino started to scream in terror, and even Harold and Michael were taken by surprise. Only Casper knew that
this grenade was fake, and thus he didn’t have much of a reaction.
Back then, when Casper had hidden the gun amongst the cash, Eugene had taken the opportunity to conceal the grenade
therein as well. After all, he was the one who had told Casper that the staff at the casino wouldn’t search the money.

“Don’t move! Not a single muscle!” ordered Eugene in a resounding tone that carried throughout the space to strike every single
soul in the gambling house.
“Gunther!” exclaimed Casper. With that one shout, a single figure stood out and weaved smoothly through the crowd like a
seasoned predator. In just a few seconds, several men from Horington Casino fell before his hands.
This was the pre-arranged signal that Casper and Gunther had established before the meet. If he only wanted Gunther to move
alone, he would call for him by name. On the other hand, if he wanted the entire trio to act, Casper would yell, “Move!”
As such, the remaining pair remained silent and hidden amongst the crowd. This would ensure that they could project a more
intimidating and useful presence when the critical time came for their activation.
Harold took in this scene and immediately guessed that Casper had emplaced other men within the casino to wait in ambush.
The fear and shock in his eyes were evident as he exclaimed, “All right! I see what’s going on now! You’ve made such advanced
and extensive preparations just so you could snatch away my money!”
“Snatch?” asked Eugene.
He grabbed hold of the grenade and pointed to the crowd surrounding them as he chuckled and said, “Aren’t you snatching away
and stealing money from these people as well? Don’t forget. This isn’t a legal casino but rather an underground one. Every
single cent you make here is illegal. In fact, this is the filthiest corner of the city. Look at the people around you! They’re either
those who have been manipulated and made use of by others or those who have been doing the manipulating. The former is
being squeezed dry, whereas the latter is making use of your facilities to launder their money.”
“If I didn’t make such preparations, I would have been fully taken advantage of by you like the first group of people I mentioned.
There wouldn’t be a single cent left to my name. As such, I brought this here only to ensure that we can arrange for a fair
gambling match,” continued Eugene as he gestured toward Harold with the grenade in his hand, which rendered the latter so
frightened that he ducked away.
At this point, Eugene chuckled at his mention of the concept of fairness in a casino. He kept the grenade away and took his seat
at the table once again.
“Come on. I’ll leave the choice to you,” remarked Eugene as he patted at the chips by his side. He continued, “Your first choice is
to let me use this eighty million in chips to finish the remaining four rounds of our match. If you’re lucky, you can win the money
back, but if you’re not, you would stand to lose another eighty million. However, if you manage to middle your way through this,
you would only lose these chips I have right here.”

Eugene spoke carefully and at a measured pace to ensure that each word was carved indelibly in Harold’s mind. He continued,
“If that’s the case, the damage and losses you’ve suffered tonight will still be acceptable. Even if people knew that there are
issues with your casino, they will ultimately still return. After all, which casino doesn’t have something fishy going on the
backend?”
Finally, Eugene added, “Your second choice is to clear off all the debts you’re tracking on your account. Whatever wins and
losses you’ve racked up in the past won’t count any longer. Distribute the winnings equally. Since you have the chance to win all
our money, we should have the opportunity to do the same to you as well. Now, without any cameras or conniving techniques at
hand, let us finish our match before all these eyewitnesses! Starting bet will be ten million!”
An awkward silence ensued in the gambling house as everyone considered the ramifications of Eugene’s proposal. The silence
was only punctuated by the occasional whirring of the slot machines and their moving mechanical components, as well as the
steady thumping of everyone’s hearts as they waited in anticipation. Finally, Harold broke the silence and said, “I choose the
second option.”
Once the chips had been reassigned, each person now held about forty million worth of chips in their possession. However, they
were fully aware that this was still insufficient for use since the starting bet already amounted to ten million. With that starting
amount, anyone could easily walk away with triple of that amount just by winning via the lowest possible tier available in the
match.
Everyone held their breath in anticipation as they waited anxiously. Casper was no exception.
Only the last four rounds of the match remained, and Casper made sure to play each of his hands with utmost caution. In the first
round, he managed to get one over the other players by securing an easy victory. Once he accounted for the bonuses, that
meant he racked up a win of sixty million from each player for that round.
He couldn’t believe what had happened, and his arms trembled as he realized that he had managed to make more than a
hundred million just like that.
As there weren’t sufficient chips for the game, they used the chips that represented a ten-thousand denomination to represent a
hundred thousand. With that, Michael, Harold, and Eugene each tossed six of such chips over to Casper.
At this point, Eugene suddenly exclaimed, “Surely you don’t intend to exclude your student’s share when we do the final
accounting later on, do you?”

Michael’s face turned pale-white in response since he had long considered such a possibility. If he made a mistake later on or
lost quite a sizeable amount of money, the debts he would incur would be substantially reduced if Harold evicted him from the
game.
“What are you thinking, Michael? Who do you think has been providing for you and guiding you along this whole time?” asked
Harold incredulously as he took in Michael’s expression and realized the latter was contemplating that option.
Michael hurriedly replied, “Of course, it’s you! I wasn’t thinking of anything else. I’m loyal only to you.”
“Hmph! Don’t you dare let your imagination roam wild! These people can’t be trusted, and they’re not easy to deal with!” exhorted
Harold firmly as he brought Michael’s musings to a screeching halt.
As this was going on, the game had already arrived at the second round, and it was clear that everyone was preparing to play
major hands of their own. As they continued to guess at what cards their opponents were holding on to, they simultaneously
devised strategies to let their teammates get what they needed to win. It was such an intense match that if something went awry,
it was easy for any one of them to dive too deep and fall into a bottomless abyss.
At this stage of the game, Casper’s hands were drenched in sweat amidst the tension that permeated the space. Although an
amount in the hundreds of millions wasn’t much to him personally, this was a critical moment. He turned to look at Eugene and
saw that the latter had become serious despite his usual poker face and inscrutable expression. The cigarette he was smoking
had very nearly burnt to its end.
“Game!” yelled Eugene.
He had seen the card that Harold had thrown out, and his eyes flashed triumphantly as he immediately snatched it up and
revealed his hand. With the addition of Harold’s discarded card, Eugene managed to complete a relatively low-tier combination
to win the round.
Even though the win wasn’t particularly spectacular and wasn’t augmented by any bonus considerations, it nevertheless still cut
Harold deeply as it represented a direct win that Eugene had over him.