Villain Boss Chapter 195
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 195: The Gamble
It was still quite noisy downstairs in the middle of the night. Those superhumans didn't seem to have any intention of resting. The commotion drifted into the room, and Jiang Ran sat up, clutching her blanket.
There was no one beside her. She scanned the room but didn't see Si Xu.
"Geez, that guy didn't actually go downstairs to find a girl, did he?" Jiang Ran muttered to herself as she changed her clothes and left the room.
"Oh, Miss Jiang, you're still awake?"
Huo Lingyin was pushing and shoving a handsome young man upstairs when she saw Jiang Ran. She stopped and asked with a smile.
The man had his arm around her waist, and upon hearing her voice, they both looked at Jiang Ran.
"Is this tonight's guest?"
Huo Lingyin patted his face and laughed. "Yeah, isn't she pretty? Look at you, your eyes are practically glued to her."
The man then grabbed her hand and said in a coquettish tone, "No way! It's you who ignored me as soon as you saw her. That's why I was curious."
"Haha, you're so glib."
Jiang Ran quietly watched the two people in front of her, and after they finished their back-and-forth conversation, she asked, "Have you seen Si Xu?"
"Your boyfriend? I saw him." The young man pointed downstairs. "He's down there."
Jiang Ran nodded her thanks.
"Girl, just a friendly reminder," the young man said with a half-smile, as if watching a show. "The current situation downstairs isn't suitable for a delicate young lady like you."
Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow. "It's alright, I'm not someone easily affected."
She nodded slightly to the two of them, then walked past them and headed downstairs.
As she brushed past Huo Lingyin, Huo Lingyin's nostrils twitched, and she sighed softly. "It smells so good, it's the smell of desire."
Jiang Ran didn't stop, and silently cursed, "Pervert."
After Huo Lingyi finished sighing with emotion, she pulled the young man into the room.
The door wasn't closed tightly, and one could faintly hear various suggestive sounds coming from inside.
Jiang Ran pursed her lips and went downstairs.
Huo Lingyin chose to stay at a small manor similar to a traditional courtyard house, with buildings on three sides surrounding the central courtyard.
At this moment, a dozen or so bonfires were lit in the courtyard, illuminating the dark courtyard as if it were daytime.
Cheers came from the courtyard.
The members of the superhuman team crowded around the courtyard, watching something with great interest, occasionally bursting into applause and cheers.
With her view blocked by the crowd of people in front, Jiang Ran couldn't see what was going on inside.
She jumped around in place, but still couldn't see it.
She looked around, and went back to the living room. Dragging a chair over, she climbed onto the chair, and looked outside.
Besides the bonfire, there were two figures entangled together in the courtyard.
The one on top was a human, and a zombie was pinned beneath him. He was swinging his fist and slamming it hard into the zombie's face.
Punch after punch, rotting flesh splattered everywhere.
A dent appeared on the zombie's head from being punched, and its struggles gradually diminished until, amidst cheers, it finally stopped moving.
The man stood up, the shadows cast by the flickering flames dividing his face into light and darkness. His eyes were fierce, like those of a wolf that had been starving for a long time. When he swept his gaze over the onlookers, the cheers inexplicably weakened.
"Not bad, one minute and seven seconds." In a corner of the courtyard, a man stood on a decorative pillar and loudly announced the time. "The one who bet on the left wins!"
"Wow! I won on my first bet!"
"Haha, following the deputy captain is definitely the right choice! Let’s carry on!"
"I earned thirty points this time. It’s much easier than doing missions!"
Recognizing the man on the pillar as the deputy captain who had greeted them that evening, and hearing the excited chatter of the others in front, Jiang Ran patted one of them on the shoulder and asked curiously, "What’s going on?"
The moment the man turned around and saw her face, his initial impatience was instantly replaced by a smile.
"You're the captain's guest, right? Why are you down here?"
"I heard noises downstairs and came down to check it out of curiosity." Jiang Ran frowned as she glanced around and saw yet another zombie being released into the yard. "What are you guys doing?"
"It's a gambling game, just to pass the time." Because the person asking the question was a beautiful woman, the team member was very polite. "We're bored, so we run these kinds of gambling games, letting ordinary people and zombies fight hand-to-hand, while we bet on which side will win."
"Ordinary people?"
"Yeah, ordinary people whom we picked up on the streets." The youth didn’t find anything wrong with these actions. "The captain said they were useless anyway, so we might as well use them for some fun."
"That man is just an ordinary person? What if he loses?"
"It ends when he loses. What’s the big deal?" Seemingly finding the question strange, the youth pointed to a corner of the courtyard. "Those are the ones who lost."
In one corner of the courtyard, piles of mangled corpses lay scattered.
"But that man is pretty good," the youth rambled on. "This is the sixth zombie he's fought. If he loses, it'll be those people's turn."
He muttered to himself, "I think he must be exhausted by now. Should I bet on the other side this time?" He glanced disdainfully at the group of elderly, weak, and disabled huddled in the corner of the courtyard. "Those people will definitely lose too. I should just bet on the other side from now on."
Jiang Ran's lips twitched, and she managed to squeeze out a sentence. "You guys make living people fight zombies to earn points?"
"Uh..." Faced with such beauty, the youth only realized then that the girl was just an ordinary person. A hint of disdain flashed in his eyes. "Those guys haven't awakened any superpowers, and they haven't contributed anything to the base's construction. Keeping them around is just a waste of food. Since they will become the zombies’ food anyway, why not give us some fun?"
The youth spoke as if it were the only way things should be.
Jiang Ran remained silent.
Outside, the deputy captain had already started another betting session, inviting everyone to place their bets.
Jiang Ran asked, "May I place a bet?"
The youth nodded repeatedly. "Sure." Then, remembering the chips, he hesitated. "But you don't have any points."
"I have." Jiang Ran took out an identity card. "This card is valid across all four bases, right?"
"Oh." Recognizing her ID card, the youth nodded. "Yeah, it's used universally."
"Okay." Jiang Ran jumped off the chair and squeezed through the crowd.
In the courtyard, the zombie was being pulled by ropes by the superhumans. Smelling the scent of flesh and blood, it kept lunging at the man.
The man had an injury on his arm, and blood was dripping from his fingers onto the ground.
He pressed his wound and coldly stared at the zombie opposite him.
Behind him, people huddled together, their clothes tattered, wanting to cry but not daring to utter a sound.
"Hey, hey, hey, place your bets! Which side are you betting on? Hurry up! Don’t miss your chance!"
The deputy captain shouted.
Among the huddled ordinary people, a petite girl rushed out and grabbed the man's clothes, pleading, "That's enough! You've already won! They promised to let you go. Don't bother about us! We don't need you to fight for us! Please..."
At the end, she choked back tears, sobbing uncontrollably. "Please, don't bother about us anymore."
The man clenched his bleeding fingers, remaining silent and not turning around.
"Did you hear that? Hurry up!" The deputy captain had clearly heard the girl's plea, and his voice rose an octave. "If you don't place your bet now, he might run away!"
Laughter erupted from all sides.
"Deputy captain, which side do you think we should bet on?"
"I think that guy could probably last another round."
"His face is so pale. I'm afraid he can’t make it."
"Then shall we bet on the zombie? This zombie looks quite strong."
"Let’s bet on the zombie!"
"Yes, yes, let’s bet on the zombie!"
Amidst the shouts of men, a clear, crisp female voice rang out, drowning out all the other sounds.
"My bet is on the ordinary guy."
The shouts abruptly stopped.
Everyone looked in the direction from which the sound came.
The girl ignored the gazes and said coolly, "Excuse me."
Perhaps it was her indifferent expression or her cold voice that made the people blocking her way make way for her.
Jiang Ran walked up to the deputy captain, dangling the card between two fingers. "This card has over 30,000 points. You can check if you don't believe me. I'll bet it all on that ordinary guy. He’ll win."
