Because they knew there was a very skilled habitual thief hidden among them, all the participating cultivators became extra cautious.
They no longer dared to put their chips in bags or similar places, but instead held them tightly in their hands or quickly placed their bets on the gambling tables.
This made it difficult for Jiang Ke’er to continue her actions.
However, she was not in a hurry at all.
Instead, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, with her hands behind her back, she leisurely strolled around the casino with a few of her younger companions who had just had all their chips stolen, beginning to patrol boldly.
Her gaze was like electricity, sweeping over everyone, clearly an experienced constable.
Perhaps because of Jiang Ke’er’s presence, the petty thief dared not make any more trouble and became like a timid turtle, unable to commit another crime.
“Officer Jiang, when will you catch that thief?” a follower anxiously asked, “If we can’t catch anyone, we’ll be out of the game…”
“Don’t worry.”
Jiang Ke’er observed that almost everyone had started gambling, and the situation no longer allowed them to continue waiting.
After all, holding chips in hand wouldn’t lead to victory.
It was better to take advantage of the current mixed crowd to eliminate some weak players and accumulate chips… If they delayed any longer, all the chips would fall into the hands of the masters, and it would be much harder to win then.
Inside the casino, for a time, it was like the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their unique abilities; some rejoiced, others grieved.
Amidst this fierce competition, there were a few shining masters who were particularly conspicuous.
They were radiant, constantly winning, and their chips piled up into a mountain in front of them.
Even they didn’t know why their luck was so good today.
They couldn’t help but think—perhaps Heaven itself was helping them.
And to prevent having too many chips, which would be inconvenient to carry and easy to lose, every time they won a pile of chips, they would go to exchange them for a small number of large-denomination chips, holding them tightly in their hands.
In just one morning, ninety-nine percent of the casino’s chips had accumulated in the hands of these few masters.
The others couldn’t help but inwardly curse their bad luck and reluctantly left the casino, only able to look forward to fighting again next year.
Inside the casino, ninety percent of the participants were gone in the blink of an eye.
Including Jiang Ke’er, there were still over thirty people left.
Among them, more than ten, though having lost everything, remained because they had other plans.
“A villa with a spiritual energy eye within the Third Ring Road of the Great Si Kingdom’s imperial capital, for five thousand chips.”
Private transactions were not forbidden in the competition venue.
As long as both parties were willing, the tycoons could directly buy a special prize spot.
However, the special prize represented a priceless opportunity, embodying infinite possibilities, so not many people were willing to trade it for money.
Of course, some were not interested in this priceless treasure and just wanted to earn some money to go home and develop steadily.
After a brief period of trading, another twelve people left. Including Jiang Ke’er, twenty people remained.
“The situation is very clear now,” a middle-aged man who had just bought a large quantity of chips and was currently ranked first in chip count proudly declared, “That petty thief cannot be among us twenty, so Constable Miss, you can hand over your chips now.”
Jiang Ke’er was not bothered.
Instead, she nodded, pulled out her few pathetic small-denomination chips, and walked towards the gambling table: “I hope so. Although it’s a bit regrettable not to have caught the culprit, I can finally rest…”
But at this moment, a distorted scream came from the crowd: “Where are my chips?!”
Everyone felt a chill down their spine.
During that small commotion of transactions just now, someone else had lost chips.
“My chips are gone too!”
And it wasn’t just one person!
Jiang Ke’er stopped.
The venue was silent.
Jiang Ke’er’s gaze lingered on everyone’s face for a long time, carefully scrutinizing every expression and movement, like a holy light of judgment, seemingly able to expose all evil.
Let alone criminals, even normal people felt uneasy under the deterrence of the number one divine constabulary of the Demon Clan.
They stammered repeatedly, “It’s not me, it’s not me!”
“I’ve been standing here the whole time, everyone saw it,” Jiang Ke’er pointed to the ground beneath her feet, “So right now, in this situation, I’m the only one who’s absolutely innocent… right?”
Facing Jiang Ke’er’s rhetorical question, everyone nodded repeatedly.
This was indeed a recognized fact.
“Then next, please let me help you clarify your thoughts. This is my duty as a prophet… oh no, as a constable!” Jiang Ke’er’s face showed a reassuring smile, “Please rest assured, as long as I’m alive, perhaps I won’t be able to catch that thief, but at least I can ensure this competition proceeds in a fair and open environment.”
Everyone exchanged glances, and finally, with a determined look, they cast gazes of trust towards Jiang Ke’er.
“First, since we’ve confirmed there’s a thief present, we can’t continue the competition according to conventional thinking,” Jiang Ke’er stood on the gambling table again, allowing her clear voice to reach everyone’s ears.
“If you walk by the river often, how can your shoes not get wet? Everyone makes mistakes. If we continue for thirty days, we’re bound to make mistakes and give the petty thief an opportunity to commit a crime,” Jiang Ke’er paused here, then looked up, “So we must speed up the pace of the competition. We’ll finish the competition within this one day.”
Everyone frowned, pondered for a long time, and finally had to admit—Jiang Ke’er was right!
They couldn’t drag it out any longer!
“I’ll repeat the rules of the competition,” Jiang Ke’er pointed to a board in the distance, which displayed information about the competition, “The game ends after thirty days, or when all other contestants have been eliminated, leaving only one person.”
“So from now on, we will record the number of chips each person has.”
Jiang Ke’er squatted down and used a chip to engrave marks on the corner of the table, “Once the numbers are transparent, the thief won’t dare to steal openly. Even if they steal, they won’t dare to use their newly stolen chips to gamble. They’ll only be able to hide the stolen chips… until the end of the competition.”
“But that doesn’t matter!” Jiang Ke’er smiled playfully, “The competition will end sooner or later. They never expected us to end the competition so quickly, thus reducing many variables… In this way, as long as everyone participates in the gambling, eliminating one person after another, then among the last two remaining non-eliminated players, excluding me, there must be a thief!”
“As expected of Constable Jiang!”
“That makes so much sense!”
“Listen to the constable, that’s what we’ll do!”
Everyone was very cooperative.
“Oh, by the way,” Jiang Ke’er seemed to suddenly remember something, smiling as she looked at everyone, “My main purpose for this trip is to catch the thief, I have no other demands… So, to avoid suspicion, I will not participate in the gambling.”
“Please rest assured, I have no interest in the special prize, really.”