Chapter 627: The Fat Monkey
Xiao Cheng got up early and made his way behind the counter of the small shop.
He moved a few floorboards, pulled out the cloth bag hidden inside, and placed it on the counter, opening it to count its contents.
After deducting what he’d lost yesterday, there were only fifteen *Tao* left.
The entry fee for an Earth-level game would likely be between two and five *Tao*—just barely enough for the three of them.
If there had been any other choice, Xiao Cheng knew he wouldn’t have gambled his entire savings on an Earth-level game that could cost him his life.
But in order to survive the End of Eternity with his memories intact, he had no choice but to resist those middle-aged men. Now, this was the only path left.
After a long moment of thought, Xiao Cheng let out a bitter smile.
This place was full of extraordinary people—there were probably already powerful individuals figuring out ways to collect three thousand six hundred *Tao* and escape. Meanwhile, he was still racking his brain just to preserve his memories for the next cycle.
“Xiao Cheng.” Tian Tian walked slowly out of the back room, followed by the sleepy-eyed Zheng Yingxiong. “You’re up early. Ready to go?”
“Yeah…” Xiao Cheng nodded. “Sister Tian Tian, yesterday the Human Monkey said the Earth Monkey’s game would make people ‘linger and forget to leave.’ I really couldn’t figure out what that meant. I thought about it all night, and the only conclusion I could come to is that the Earth Monkey’s game takes a very long time.”
“Mm.” Tian Tian nodded. “That’s possible.”
“So I want to head over early and see what the situation is. It might require a lot of participants, and if everyone’s not here yet, we could have to wait a long time.”
Tian Tian thought for a moment, then said, “So you’re taking all the *Tao* with you? What if you run into danger?”
“I don’t have a choice,” Xiao Cheng said. “It’s already the sixth day. You should know that the death rate gets higher the further we go. After all, the people who survive here are no pushovers. Yesterday, when the black lines descended, the bells rang one after another—it means Resonators are everywhere now…”
Tian Tian nodded in agreement. It was true that many people would Resonate under such extreme circumstances. Even if they hadn’t awakened under the influence of the black lines, subsequent events would grant them abilities. She herself was an example.
The three of them packed their bags, tidied up everything in their base, and brought all the *Tao* they had, heading toward the Earth Monkey’s game venue.
Following the map the Human Monkey had given them yesterday, it took them about half an hour to get there. But the place looked very empty, with no signs of Zodiac activity. For a moment, they thought the Earth Monkey hadn’t clocked in yet.
Fortunately, the Human Monkey’s map was extremely detailed. There was even a note written in the corner, stating that the Earth Monkey wouldn’t be standing at the entrance of the game venue. They had to look for a building with a special door sign and push the door open to enter.
They followed the map for another seven or eight minutes before finally finding the strange game venue in a small alley.
The sign at the entrance was particularly eye-catching, especially the line: “Harmony and peace, wealth comes in and goes out.”
With some trepidation, Xiao Cheng reached out and pushed the door. Sure enough, it wasn’t locked—the Zodiac must have already started work—but the smell inside was strange.
They took a few steps in, passed through a long corridor, and arrived at an open space.
In the dim light seeping in from outside, a short, fat figure appeared before them—the Earth Monkey. He was currently smoking a cigarette, holding a mop as he dragged it across the floor.
The sound was sticky.
“Yo, damn it,” the Earth Monkey said lazily, scratching his pudgy belly with the cigarette dangling from his lips. “Welcome to the shop. You’re here early today, huh?”
Xiao Cheng felt that this so-called Earth Monkey looked far too human.
Monkeys already look quite similar to humans, and with his short, fat build and sloppy attire, the more Xiao Cheng looked, the less he resembled a monkey and the more he seemed like an old man.
His fat belly had burst out of his shirt, revealing a few strands of brownish-black monkey fur.
Compared to the other Earth-level Zodiacs, this one’s clothes were even messier. His suit and shirt were covered in wrinkles and stains, as if they hadn’t been washed in ages.
Right now, the Earth Monkey was holding a bright red mop, smearing the sticky bloodstains on the floor.
It looked like quite a few people had died here last night.
“Wait a moment, folks. The shop still needs cleaning up,” the Earth Monkey said politely, then took the cigarette out of his mouth and flicked it toward a bowl of instant noodles on the counter.
With a hiss, the cigarette jumped into the noodle bowl and committed suicide.
“Sigh… I trained pretty well, so why did the head still get smashed?” he mumbled to himself. “Is every head a different hardness?”
The Earth Monkey wiped the floor a few more times. His mop was already drenched in blood, and his current movements didn’t seem to be cleaning the blood away so much as spreading it more evenly across the entire room to ensure the floor was uniformly colored.
After about a minute, the Earth Monkey put away the mop, walked to the side, and turned on the lights.
With a crisp *click*, a massive underground casino was revealed before them.
The completeness of the equipment and the variety of games were staggering.
Xiao Cheng stared blankly for a long while before finally muttering, “W-Where is the ‘Earth Monkey game’?”
“Oh, it’s all of it,” the Earth Monkey said, lighting another cigarette and then picking at his eye boogers. “Get in early, get profit early; come late, and it’s all for naught. Two *Tao* per person, come in and play whatever you like. Whatever you win is yours.”
“Play whatever…?” Xiao Cheng thought he must have misheard.
They said monkey-type games represented “intelligence,” but did this free-for-all casino really have anything to do with intelligence?
“Gambling”—in the common person’s mind, wasn’t that a game of “luck”?
At that moment, Tian Tian reached out and gently patted Xiao Cheng, pulling him back to his senses, and then pointed at the wall opposite.
Xiao Cheng looked up and saw written in bold letters—
**“Entry ticket: Two Tao.”**
**“Redemption to leave: Ten Tao.”**
“So…” Xiao Cheng thought for a moment and asked, “Once we pay the entry fee, if we want to leave, we have to give you ten *Tao*?”
“That’s right. Ten *Tao* per person.” The Earth Monkey nodded lazily, glanced at Zheng Yingxiong, and added, “Our shop is fair. We cheat neither the old nor the young. So the kid’s ticket is also two *Tao*, and redemption is ten *Tao*.”
“What a ‘fair’ policy…” Xiao Cheng clutched the cloth bag, his face full of worry.
He had fifteen *Tao* in his hand. After paying six for the tickets, he’d have nine left—not enough for even one person to leave, let alone all three.
There was no turning back now. Could he win in this casino?
“I have a question…” Tian Tian said timidly.
“Go ahead.” The Earth Monkey gestured with his hand.
“How do we earn *Tao*? There are only the three of us here. Whose *Tao* are we supposed to win?”