# Chapter 886: Impossible to Bet One's Life
"Whether this 'lottery ticket' can win or not is basically entirely up to Aries." Jiang Ruoxue lowered her head and said.
"Yes..." I replied, "You use logic to control the lights, and he uses logic to control your logic."
"That damned Aries... He made me add 'causality' on top of the game's logic, while his own logic was placed on top of my 'causality'." Jiang Ruoxue let out a deep sigh. "After several layers of logic and 'causality' stacking on top of each other, this game has become nearly perfect... able to kill people steadily while also acquiring a large amount of 'Dao'... I thought my dizziness was because I hadn't slept well... turns out it was because Aries slept too well."
"Uh... Aries doesn't sleep..."
Jiang Ruoxue wasn't listening to me at all. After finishing her words, she seemed to think of something else and turned to ask me, "Then wouldn't Aries never let anyone win the lottery? Wouldn't people become suspicious?"
"Hard to say." I shook my head. "As Aries himself said, 'Everything is difficult at the start.' In the early stages, he might intentionally let 'participants' win, especially when the prize is only a few dozen or a hundred 'Dao.' That's the best way for him to build a reputation. And besides..."
"Besides what...?" Jiang Ruoxue blinked.
"This place doesn't allow 'killing to steal Dao,' but what about stealing 'lottery tickets'?" I bit my lip. "If he wants to run this kind of game, Aries will definitely give the participants physical 'lottery tickets' as proof—these can all be stolen."
"True... but how will Aries prevent lottery tickets from being stolen?" Jiang Ruoxue asked.
"He doesn't need to prevent it at all." I said. "Deaths caused by lottery ticket robbery definitely count as part of the 'Paradise Bank's' process. Aries will tacitly allow this to happen."
As I finished speaking, an unsettling image gradually formed in my mind.
Above the heads of all the 'Zodiacs' in this area, a giant white ram appeared, overlooking the 'Zodiacs' like chess pieces from the sky.
That gray-white, enormous pupil hung in midair, looking down coldly. Whether these twelve 'Zodiacs' lost, won, or died, they would all bring profit to Aries.
They were bound in place by invisible shackles. Aries didn't even need their consent to make them part of the game.
"But even if someone wins... won't some clever person see through this game?" Jiang Ruoxue asked again. "Wouldn't they discover that 'lottery tickets' can never really win...?"
"Ruoxue..." I shook my head. "How many people do you think there are in this place, like you and me, who can preserve memories for so long?"
"This..." Jiang Ruoxue nodded after hearing this. "True... under normal circumstances, being able to preserve memories for a year or two is already extremely rare..."
"To completely break Aries' 'lottery ticket' game, many harsh conditions need to be met simultaneously." I said. "First, long-term memory preservation. Second, sufficient intelligence. Third, knowledge of the existence of 'causality.' Fourth, being able to guess the lights of all other 'Zodiacs.' Fifth, having a team of at least three people, with every member meeting the above conditions."
"That's too difficult..." Jiang Ruoxue said. "Thinking about it this way... no one would try to bet their life with him, right?"
"Honestly... if I'm not mistaken, in this game, 'lottery tickets' are the only way to bet one's life against Aries."
"Only 'lottery tickets'?"
"Yes." I nodded and said, "If it truly involves 'betting one's life,' Aries' 'gambling' definitely won't work... because he's financially powerful enough to bet on 'win,' 'lose,' and 'draw' simultaneously in every round, so there's no possibility of him 'losing'... And the 'bank' doesn't have any room for 'betting one's life' either, because the bank can't even determine who wins or loses."
"I see... Only 'lottery tickets' allow betting one's life, but if you think about it carefully... no one here would actually target Aries."
Jiang Ruoxue was right. Aries' brilliance lay in the fact that people would make other 'Zodiacs' lose, win, or die for the sake of his game, but they would never let Aries die.
First of all, Aries held a 'drawing' every day. Once Aries died, the game would be invalid, and the 'drawing' would be ruined. For those 'participants' who didn't understand the truth, they wouldn't allow this to happen.
Even if someone actually challenged Aries to a life-or-death bet in public, they might be beaten to death by the other 'participants.'
After all, the upper management didn't regulate the participants killing each other. If the 'life-or-death opponent' died, Aries would win without a fight.
And in the later stages, when Aries had amassed a large amount of 'wealth,' the 'rich' would protect their assets and wouldn't allow anyone to bet their life with Aries either. These 'rich' people were usually desperadoes, veteran 'Echoes,' or mid-sized organizations. They were more than capable of dealing with ordinary 'participants' and would become Aries' most loyal bodyguards.
As Zhang Qiang and I had discovered back then, if 'Dao' was hidden away, it could be stolen by certain 'thieves.' When smart people observed this pattern over time, they would naturally bring their 'Dao' to Aries. This was what sales theory called—addressing the customer's 'pain points.'
For those who wanted to store their 'Dao,' even a ten percent risk of loss was better than losing everything.
Not to mention... if they had sharp instincts, they could even gain a ten percent return.
Just as I was lost in thought about Aries' game, Jiang Ruoxue called out to me from the side.
"Zhi Chun..."
"What?" I asked.
"I suddenly thought of something... When you were dealing with Aries before, did you ever tell him that I am 'causality'?"
"No." I replied. "I never mentioned anything about you, because he seemed completely uninterested in anyone else."
"Then you really shouldn't contact him anymore..." Jiang Ruoxue said with a grave expression. "This person is too terrifying..."
"Is that so..."
"This means this game was really 'improvised' on the spot after hearing about 'causality'... Do you realize what that means?" Jiang Ruoxue said. "Without 'causality,' this game would be full of holes. But now... it's even more terrifying than many games that 'Earth-level Zodiacs' spent years designing... Aries just needs to sit in his room every day, and people will voluntarily deliver 'Dao' and voluntarily deliver their 'lives.' Everyone happily dies for him and runs errands for him..."
Jiang Ruoxue turned her head to look at me, then asked in a hoarse voice, "What's the difference between him and the 'Heavenly Dragon'?"
Yes... Jiang Ruoxue had probably forgotten that Aries' ultimate goal was to replace the 'Heavenly Dragon,' so from my perspective, this was completely reasonable.
After saying this, Jiang Ruoxue took a few deep breaths, then continued, "What's even more worrying is that he can quickly identify the strong through his game venue... like which 'Zodiacs' always win, or which 'participants' always bet correctly..."