Hell Game: Starting from Metropolis

Moreover, there is no duration, which means that if he doesn't kill the enemy within three minutes, he will encounter another enemy.

No wonder the other bidders weren't very interested.

"You two bastards plotted against me!"

Liu was cursing the penguin captain and the plane tree in his heart.

Chapter 562 The Fool's Twin Brother?

"Forget it, trading two excellent for one superb is already a good deal."

Liu Zheng quickly calmed down again.

Besides, he doesn't smoke. Trading two useless items for a powerful weapon, even with significant side effects, isn't a bad deal.

Moreover, if you think about it carefully, since vengeful spirits will hunt down enemies, enemies will definitely retaliate against vengeful spirits.

In a battle between masters, the fight often happens in the blink of an eye. If the enemy and the vengeful spirit are still alive after three minutes, they are probably half-crippled.

Defeating two half-crippled enemies is, in some ways, easier than defeating a fully-healthy enemy.

After comforting himself, Liu Zheng put the trash can into his system space.

"Now we'll move on to the third round of bidding. Wow, this round of items is quite interesting too."

A lottery box appeared in front of Captain Penguin.

"The Paradox Lottery Box allows you to draw a prize by paying with your luck. The more luck you pay, the better the prize you can win. But the more luck you pay, the lower your probability of winning a good prize becomes, hence the name Paradox Lottery Box."

"The last time I heard about this collectible was thirty years ago. A collector with a strong gambling addiction used up almost all his luck, and ended up pulling out a used condom. He died on the spot and became a vengeful spirit, which eventually alarmed the Public Security Bureau to handle it."

"In a way, this can be considered a cursed object."

said the captain.

"Cursed items" is a specific term in the collecting world, referring to items that bring misfortune to collectors but continue to circulate among them for various reasons.

"It's hard to assess the value of this item, but it's certainly interesting as a collectible. It all depends on whether you have the courage to acquire it and the perseverance to resist its allure."

"Alright, the auction begins."

The captain brought down the auction gavel.

"this thing."

Liu Zheng seemed to be deep in thought.

If he first consumes the Black Carp Dragon's Relic, whose odds have been disrupted, and then pays out all of his Luck MAX to the lottery box.

Then, after consuming the third-grade Qi Luck Golden Lotus Seed and obtaining near-maximum luck, you can draw a prize without being guaranteed to get something good.

"wrong."

Liu Zheng quickly realized what was happening.

He can't see the item descriptions for the Paradox Lottery Box right now. If the highest quality prize he can draw is only perfect, then his plan will fall through.

After all, the Relic of the Wraith with a 99% chance of obtaining MAX Luck is definitely among the strongest in terms of perfect quality, and only the Legendary Deliveryman Set pieces can consistently surpass it.

But now that it's confirmed the legendary deliveryman's hat is in Wolf Rider's hands, the Paradox Lottery Box can't just conjure one up out of thin air for him.

"Just take some pictures, if you can't get any, that's fine too."

Liu Zheng thought for a moment and took out the cursed horseshoe that the ox and horse had given him.

This item grants +100 to Strength, but the player's Strength cannot exceed 100 points, and the equipment cannot be removed normally.

If he had just entered the dungeon, he would probably have equipped it without hesitation, but now this item is very useless and can only be used for trading.

After he submitted his bid, several other collectors joined the auction.

As Captain Penguin said, the Paradox Lottery Box has almost no practical value as a supernatural item, but it is certainly interesting as a collectible.

Moreover, the metropolis has no shortage of gamblers.

This round quickly entered its final stage, and unsurprisingly, Liu Zheng failed in his bid.

He felt a little regretful, but not much, since the relic of resentment and the golden lotus seed of fortune had already been decided to be used.

After the exchange of items, the fourth round of bidding began.

"This is... a poetry manuscript? I don't sense any extraordinary aura from it, which means it's just an ordinary manuscript?"

"Let me see who the author is. Bai Langzi? Never heard of him. Has any of you heard of this poet?"

"Captain Penguin asked."

Some collectors shook their heads, while the rest did not respond at all.

"Okay, if this isn't just the seller being overly narcissistic, then these poems are indeed quite well-written. Unfortunately, I don't have any artistic talent, so I'll give you some time to see for yourselves."

Captain Penguin tapped the projector with the auction hammer, and the projection of the poem immediately magnified more than ten times, with each page displayed separately.

"Kavas, what do you think?"

The captain asked his advisor.

“Boss, you know me. Although I am quite accomplished in literature and art, I treat them like my toolbox.”

Kavas shrugged.

"You mean you can't tell whether this poem is good or bad?"

"Yes, boss. Judging from rhythm, imagery, and logic, these poems are mediocre. But my intuition tells me they are not so simple."

"Kavas said."

Poetry is a game of words, and evaluating whether a game is good or not is the same as evaluating whether a poem is good or not; it is a result of a combination of subjective and objective evaluations.

Sometimes, subjective evaluation is even more important than objective evaluation.

Like many AAA titles, it boasts top-notch graphics, music, storyline, optimization, and interaction, yet it's still not considered a good game by players.

But when it comes to what's missing, neither the creators nor the players themselves can say.

It seems like something is missing, yet none of these things seem to be the main point.

Even though similar games have the same flaws, they are still considered rare masterpieces.

Ultimately, it may simply lack a certain mystical spirituality.

However, appreciating poetry has a higher threshold than evaluating games. To understand the spirituality contained in poetry, the appreciator must also have spirituality.

As Kavas himself said, poetry is just a tool, no different from motorcycle repair or postpartum care for sows.

Therefore, it can only sense that this manuscript is unusual, but cannot truly comprehend it.

Fortunately, collectors are a rather peculiar group in the metropolis, and there was no shortage of discerning individuals among those present.

"I'll publish one of these!"

A collector was the first to raise his paddle.

"what?"

Liu Zheng looked over and saw that it was a gray cat dressed in a tuxedo and wearing a gray top hat.

Except for its fur color, it looks exactly like the black cat "Fool".

"Is this a relative of the Fool? Or a worshipper of it?"

He guessed in his mind.

While it's normal for humans to think two cats look alike, it's not normal for them to dress the same.

He then looked at the thing in the gray cat's hand, which was a book shrouded in gray mist. The gray mist on the cover rose and rolled from time to time, like worms.

"This gray fog looks so familiar."

Liu Zheng was certain that this gray cat was definitely closely related to the Fool.

"Help me authenticate the items in this auction."

He immediately spoke to the projector.

"OK, just a second."

The identification process also takes some time.

"A portion of the manuscript of the bestselling novel 'The Witch and Her False Redemption' can be used to temporarily gain the abilities of a random character from the novel. If enough 'flesh' is used as a base, a random character from the novel can be temporarily summoned to help. The more compatible the user is with the character, the higher the probability of summoning that character."

Soon, the projector provided the assessment results.

What novel is "The Witch and Her False Redemption"? Are the characters in it very powerful?

Liu Zheng asked.

"That's the best-selling novel of the year, written under the pseudonym 'Chariot.' But apart from that pseudonym, everything else about the author is a mystery. A fanatical fan once spent ten million to hire a detective to investigate 'Chariot's' true identity. The result was that all the detectives died in extreme pleasure, and the fan was sent to a mental hospital."

The projector replied.

"The Chariot? The Chariot and The Fool are both from the Tarot, right?"

He said thoughtfully.

"Yes."

The Fool is the first card in the Tarot deck, with the number 0, representing knowing nothing yet knowing everything.

The Chariot is the eighth card in the Tarot deck, with the number 7, representing overcoming obstacles and achieving victory.

"Has no one ever questioned the relationship between the chariot and the Fool?"

Liu Zheng asked, his eyes narrowed.

Even if those non-human minds are rather rigid, there must be humans among the fans of the book "Chariot", right?

"Of course. In fact, many people speculate that the chariot is the Fool's disguise. But the Fool himself has issued a solemn statement denying this speculation. Given the Fool's good reputation, most people believe his statement."

"That's what the projector said."

"Is that so?"

Based on his understanding of fools, he believed the other party was unlikely to be lying.

However, just because it's not its alternate identity doesn't mean it's unrelated to it.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Zheng called the Fool.

"Why are you calling me so late, sir? Is something urgent?"

The Fool's voice sounded somewhat sleepy, but his pace remained unhurried.

"Look at their manners."

Liu Zheng gave a disdainful look to a certain ox or horse whose morning grumpiness was more than the sky.

"Well, Mr. Fool, I am attending an auction."

he replied.

Which auction?

The fool asked.

"It was an auction hosted by four penguins."

"Oh, I know. The Penguin Special Agents of Madagascar, the legendary temporary workers at the city hall."

"That's what the Fool said."

"Are they temporary workers from the city hall?"

"They used to be, but they've retired. I can't say more about it since it involves the city hall. Anyway, they were a very impressive and interesting team. I even planned to use them as the basis for a novel, but the city hall rejected it."

The Fool smiled and said.

“I see. Anyway, I met a gray cat at the auction that looked very much like you. It traded part of the manuscript of ‘The Witch and Her False Redemption’ for my collection.”

Liu Zheng continued.

"."

The fool fell silent upon hearing this.

What are your collection items?