Chapter 898

After the first two rounds of competition, Baron Lavender now had 1+2=3 points, Miss Witt had 3+3=6 points, and Xia De had 3+4=7 points. Unless Xia De busted, it was impossible for Baron Lavender to win the championship no matter what. But if the Baron withdrew from the competition now, it would mean that even if Miss Witt beat Xia De, it would be a total score tie. Therefore, even with no hope of winning, for the sake of the fairness of the total score, Baron Lavender still stayed behind like a true gentleman.

After the three readjusted their seating positions, referee Mr. Justin announced the start of the game several times before barely pulling people's attention back.

"Miss Witt, speaking of which, this is also my first time playing Rod cards with a lady."

Because one person was missing, the remaining three swapped seats. At this moment, Xia De sat opposite Miss Miss Pawo under the grape trellis, while referee Mr. Justin stood opposite Baron Lavender.

The six-ring sorceress from the Truth Society had a smile on her face, as if she were truly enjoying the grand banquet tonight.

"Mr. Hamilton, you will find that ladies' mathematics is no worse than men's."

The hole cards for the three were dealt out. Xia De didn't look at his hole card and directly signaled to continue dealing.

Miss Miss Pawo's Deraerion accent was exceptionally standard, just as her Kassenrik accent was good enough for her to be a government spokesperson.

"So speaking of which, Miss, are you very good at mathematics?"

Xia De asked, and then looked at his second card with the other two. By a very strange coincidence, the numbers for all three were exactly the same, but the suits were different. Xia De had Star 7, the sorceress had Flower 7, and Baron Lavender had Sun 7.

"This is truly a coincidence."

The Baron said with a smile, signaling to continue asking for cards, and Xia De and "Miss Witt" did the same.

"I wouldn't say I'm good at it, but I have always believed that in this world, only mathematics will not lie."

She said, and Xia De nodded gently:

"Yes, I agree with this point of view, but I think it is best to add certain qualifiers to such sentences that have 'absoluteness,' otherwise..."

He stopped, his voice interrupted by Baron Lavender:

"I'll stand."

The Baron flipped over his hole card and placed it together with the other two cards:

"Sun 3, Sun 7, and Sun 9, 19 points."

As he spoke, he looked at the third cards of Xia De and "Miss Witt," looking forward to what would happen to the card game.

The insect chirping could no longer be heard on the early winter night. The night grew deeper, and the halo of the gaslight under the grape trellis was so ambiguous and blurry.

Xia De looked at the cards in his hand and asked:

"Miss Witt, the current situation is that as long as I don't bust, you must get first place in this round, and I get third place in this round, for you to win in the finals. So, do you think your winning percentage is high?"

The sorceress curled the corners of her mouth and said:

"I don't think you will bust. This is the conclusion I reached after studying all your card games circulating on the market. Mr. Hamilton, you are very cautious, and your luck is not bad, so you probably won't bust this time either."

She looked at her third card and Xia De's third card:

"If we are to discuss winning percentage, your hand is Flower 7 and Flower 8, 15 points. And my hand is Star 7 and Sun 10, 17 points. I think my winning percentage is higher."

Although he was not clear about the other party's Ring Ringed Ringed Shushi system, Xia De believed that the sorceress in front of him had most likely completely calculated the winning percentage of both sides in the current state.

He shook his head:

"If you calculate too clearly when playing cards, it will affect your mood instead. And I once heard a saying, divine power is not as good as heaven, ahem, ability is not as good as luck. Sometimes, if you calculate everything, you will delay yourself instead."

"No, no, mathematics will not lie."

The two exchanged opinions, and Miss Miss Pawo flipped over her hole card:

"I'll stand."

Her hand was Star 2, Star 7, Sun 10, totaling 19 points, exactly the same as Baron Lavender's. But what people were concerned about was not the total points, but the special card Star 2.

The card face depicted a human male with legs spread and arms stretched to the left and right. Except for the heart, all other parts were blurred, while the heart was depicted extremely delicately, about as detailed as a hand-drawn illustration in a university anatomy textbook.

Star 2 【Human Organ · Heart】: When drawing this card, if your own total points are odd, you can activate the effect based on the opponent's total points at the end of the round. If the opponent's total points are even, the opponent's total points are forcibly reduced by 2; if the opponent's total points are odd, the opponent's total points are forcibly increased by 2. This does not affect the points for busting. This effect must be activated, and the effect is only valid for opponents who have not stood.

"Miss Witt has 19 points, effect activated. Oh? It's actually this kind of special card?"

Baron Lavender said in surprise:

"Most special effects of Rod cards can be chosen not to be used. And effects marked as 'must be activated' are luck rules where both positive and negative effects exist. Plus two and minus two?"

The appearance of such a special card finally brought people's attention back from the "Knight boxing the cheater" incident just now.

People urged Xia De to reveal his cards, wanting to know who "Miss Witt's" special card was more favorable to.

But Xia De shook his head:

"Continue to ask for cards."

"Xia De, your two face-up cards total 15 points, and you still want to continue asking for cards?"

Baron Lavender asked in surprise, while "Miss Witt" said with a smile:

"This means that if he reveals his cards now, Mr. Hamilton has definitely lost. He continues to ask for cards, which means the three cards didn't bust. This means Mr. Hamilton's total points are definitely not 17 or 19 at the moment."

Baron Lavender thought for a while before understanding:

"Oh, yes, both this lady and I have 19 points. And according to the rules of the special card 【Human Organ · Heart】, 17 points becomes 19, 18 becomes 16, 19 becomes 21, 20 becomes 18, and 21 becomes 23. So, Xia De can only win if his total points are 17 or 19!"

"Yes, as long as Knight Hamilton cannot beat or tie me, then he gets two points in the third round, and I get four points. He only led me by 1 point in the first two rounds, so he must win or tie this round."

Miss Witt nodded gently:

"So, the situation has become very interesting. Can Mr. Hamilton gamble to get 17 or even 19?"

In fact, the probability of getting 17 was extremely small, because Xia De's second and third cards already totaled 15 points.

The sorceress curled her lips into a smile, Baron Lavender stared nervously at the cards under Xia De's hand, and people were discussing it heatedly.

This kind of card game where the points are compressed to the limit to only a few possibilities is the most tense and exciting. Coupled with Miss Witt's simple analysis, which sorted out the current situation, and the special card that erased other possibilities, such an interesting card game could probably not be encountered even once in half a year.

Xia De shook his head with a light laugh:

"Yes, my total points must be 17 or 19, this is indeed very interesting."

He was not nervous at all. Although he was very interested in 【Life Ritual · Wedding】, losing didn't matter. Winning the boxing match just now had already satisfied him; Xia De didn't expect to win twice.

The fourth card was dealt face down, but Xia De didn't show it immediately; instead, he flipped over his hole card, Star 5.

"Three cards total 20 points! Adding the fourth, it's impossible to adjust to 17 or 19 no matter what! Mr. Hamilton has actually lost!"

Baron Lu Anda, who was standing behind Baron Lavender with his right hand tightly gripping the back of the chair, his veins looking like they were about to burst on the back of his hand, said with excitement.

The crowd was in an uproar, mostly with sounds of regret. Now it seemed that Xia De was in a losing situation before asking for the fourth card. After all, 20 points with the first three cards made it impossible to get 17 or 19. And he continued to ask for cards with three cards because as long as he didn't reveal them, there would be no total points, and the rule of Star 2 【Human Organ · Heart】 would not be triggered, so there was no need to add two, and no busting.

Miss Witt let out a long breath, a bright smile appearing on her face.

Xia De looked at the scattered cards on the table and shook his head slightly. He looked at the last fourth card, not completely disappointed:

"No, actually I still have a chance to win, a very small possibility."

"What?"

Although Xia De's voice was not loud, the people who were heatedly discussing this card game still heard it:

"This is impossible."

Baron Lu Anda shook his head:

"You have already missed 17 and 19. And although there are cards in your deck that adjust points, even if you adjust, you are adding to 20 points; there is no card that can change this."

"My fourth card hasn't been revealed yet, so there is still hope."

Xia De reached out toward the fourth card. Under the bright grape trellis, everyone subconsciously stopped talking, and pairs of eyes looked at Xia De's hand, as if Xia De could really rewrite the basic rules of Rod cards.

"We must believe in our own Rod card deck."

He said softly, which made people respect him even more. Rod card players believe in their luck and cherish their decks; this is what a true card player is.

Taking a deep breath, he prepared to flip over the last card, but suddenly withdrew his hand.

Xia De turned his head to look at Miss Difa and said with a smile:

"Miss Difa, you come and help me reveal the card."

Although the black-haired maid was a little surprised, she nodded. Xia De explained to referee Mr. Justin:

"This is my lucky lady."

The referee nodded and allowed this practice.

So Miss Difa held Little Mia with one hand and flipped over the last card:

【Kassenrik Horror Story · Headless Knight Jack】, Suit: Star 1.

"Oh, what a pity, 21 points. Odd number plus 2, 23 points, bust! It was 21 points again, but still lost. Truly wonderful, truly regrettable."

Baron Lavender said with great regret, then felt his shoulder suddenly pressed by a great force. Turning his head, it was Baron Lu Anda, who stared wide-eyed at the card in Miss Difa's hand, his face flushed red as if his veins were about to explode:

"Wrong, wrong!"

He seemed to be having an asthma attack, unable to breathe:

"Mr. Hamilton won! Look at the rules! Oh, there's actually such a thing! Oh, God, why didn't you let me participate in this final!"

He groaned loudly, and people finally realized something was wrong. Xia De signaled to Miss Difa, and the latter read out the rules of the card in a clear voice:

"【Kassenrik Horror Story · Headless Knight Jack】, Suit: Star 1. When drawing this card, if the opponent's first hole card is also a Star suit and the number is less than or equal to 5, you can choose to forcibly reduce the opponent's total points by one."

After a slight pause, Miss Difa continued to speak. Although the maid's voice was very soft, almost everyone held their breath, so they could hear her:

"Miss Witt's first card was that Star 2 【Human Organ · Heart】, so the effect of Star 1 【Kassenrik Horror Story · Headless Knight Jack】 is triggered."

"But even if the effect is triggered, Miss Witt is 18 points, still beating Xia De's 21 points equaling 23 points."

Baron Lavender still didn't understand, while Viscount Surt, standing to the right rear of Miss Witt, said with a flushed face:

"Lavender, don't you understand yet?

It's the rules influencing each other, rare rule interaction! The effect of the rules is calculated in reverse order. This means that 【Kassenrik Horror Story · Headless Knight Jack】 is calculated first, Miss Witt's total points change from 19 to 18, which does not meet the activation condition of Star 2 【Human Organ · Heart】, which is that the card holder's total points must be odd!"

"What?"

Baron Lavender widened his eyes, stood up, and bent over to look at the stone table under the gaslight, which was covered with various cards. No one blamed him for his impoliteness, because everyone was just as excited:

"In other words, because the rules are calculated in reverse, 【Human Organ · Heart】 cannot be activated, Xia De's card does not need to be forcibly added by 2, and his points remain 21."

"And my points are 18."

The sorceress from the Truth Society said softly. Although she lost, she still had a reserved smile on her face, just like a true noble lady:

"It really is, very interesting."