This Damned Thirst for Survival

The name “Wilton” came to Jiang Luo from the mouths of three noblewomen.

In a setting where the rich are masked, the name of the rich man on stage is called out, and the protective cover of anonymity is stripped off. Wilton was horrified, but did not remember knowing such a person.

“Who are you?”

Jiang Luo took a step forward, the light and shadow casting shadows on the floor over him. He did not answer the question, but unceremoniously began to belittle everything about this ball.

“Uninteresting.”

“Tedious.”

“I thought the games here would be different, but they’re no different from the ones outside, cheesy, formulaic and unexciting,” Jiang Luo turned to the rich people behind him, “don’t you find it interesting?”

The rich also had a look of bemusement on their faces as they spread their hands and told Jiang Luo the answer.

Accusations from the insipidity of the rich were more unbearable to Wilton than the protests of the poor. He clenched his fists, his anger rising. All eyes were on the dark-haired youth standing at the front, waiting for him to say the rest.

“If the game is so boring, let’s change the rules and make it fun,” Jiang Luo said with a twist, “The first rule of the ball is ‘you can’t refuse a request to see the cards’, just add a few words in front of it and the game becomes more fun. Just add a few words to the front and the game becomes a lot more fun.”

“Like,” he teased his lips, “guessing the identity of someone before checking out their deck.”

“If you guess incorrectly, you are automatically reduced to slave status.”

At these words, the ballroom erupted in an uproar.

Rich’s first reaction was to disagree, but after turning it around in his head, he decided it wasn’t a no-no.

They discussed it among themselves in secrecy.

“This really is a much more exciting way to do it than earlier.”

“Who is this man? What a nimble mind. Adding interest to the game is only the most superficial layer, once he changes this rule, it looks like it makes the rich dangerous, but in fact it’s just appeasing the commoners, we’re all master cards, it’s not like the commoners will be rewarded for guessing our identities correctly. Most of the commoners are slaves again, very few of them have master identities, and it’s almost impossible for us to guess wrong.”

“We certainly don’t have anything to lose, it’s not the people on our side who made that suggestion.”

“I agree with that one, after all I’m afraid that the poor people will make a big deal out of it too. It won’t stop anything if it makes a big mess, but it’s trouble in the end.”

“Giving civilians hope and shattering that hope, I like it.”

Civilians discussed it more loudly than the rich.

This rule change had little effect on them, but the game was already unfair and they didn’t have the guts to challenge the authority of the rich. Now there is hope, and it is better than what it was before.

Wen Renlian tentatively spoke to a young man wearing glasses, “Such a change is still unfair, and the rich rarely get the answer wrong.”

“Not necessarily, didn’t a commoner draw the master card before?” Four-Eyes’ eyes twinkled, not wanting to talk about this too risky topic, “I think this is a good change, at least we are already slave cards, we can’t go down much, those rich people are miserable. Besides, the people who attend the ball come of their own free will, they’re willing to come for the money, what do you care so much.”

Wen Renlian frowned and suddenly took him by the arm, “Why don’t we protest again, the rich might just retreat even more.”

The four-eyed boy desperately tried to break free of his hand, “Are you crazy! Have you forgotten the death waiver we signed when we boarded the ship? I don’t want to die if you want to, I’ve had the audacity to go to the ball and earn another fortune, and I want to go back alive to collect my bonus!”

After getting rid of Wen Renlian’s hand, he gave a “yuck” and ducked into the crowd, “Bad luck.”

Wen Renlian withdrew his hand, “Death Waiver …… bonus ……”

He looked at the borderline between the rich and the commoner classes with a complicated look in his eyes.

When he first arrived at the ball, Wen Renlian wondered how so many poor people could attend.

For the poor, money can sometimes buy lives.

It also buys away dignity and the qualification of being a “human being”.

*

Everyone acquiesced to Jiang Luo’s stated rule change, but Mr. Wilton on stage sullenly yelled, “I disagree!”

Jiang Luo looked at him with no emotion in his eyes and suddenly stepped forward and walked sideways onto the stage, the waiter who had previously stopped the young woman’s husband did not stop Jiang Luo this time. The waiter who had stopped the young woman’s husband did not stop Jiang Luo this time. Jiang Luo went up and pulled the young woman up and pushed her off the stage, approaching Wilton’s side.

Holding the microphone in one hand, the tall, dark-haired young man leaned down gracefully to whisper in the ugly rich man’s ear, “Mr Wilton, you should open your eyes to see the way the poor people look at you.”

“They already know how unequal this game is,” Jiang Luo gave a laugh, the danger in his tone pinching into the rich man’s brain, “there are poor people all over this ship, and even ants can bite the elephant, and it would bother us if you got bitten all over by ants. ”

Wilton’s pupils tightened as he heard the dark-haired youth in front of him say, “Don’t give us any trouble, do you hear me?”

With that, Jiang Luo took a step back, gave Wilton one last look and walked off the side of the stage.

Wilton was still in a daze, but he suddenly felt an extreme sense of danger.

A chill ran down his spine and he stiffened, and Wilton followed the terrifying sight to see a man with dark blonde hair leaning against a pillar and staring at him with a smirk.

A few moments later, Wilton suddenly ran off the stage in a frenzy, laughing and crashing through the crowd all the way to the outside of the ballroom.

“Nuts ……,” the man he hit turned his head and cursed.

Jiang Luo, seeing that there were no further objections, beckoned to the waiter and whispered a few words. The waiter came up to the stage and announced the new rules, “Who has any objections to the new rules of the game proposed by this gentleman?”

The attendant waited, and when no one raised an objection for a minute, he continued, “From now on, then, if you wish to view someone’s card, you must guess the identity of their person, and if you guess wrong, you automatically become a slave – whether rich or commoner.”

The music of the ball was played again.

The stage was empty and no second pair of master and slave came on. Even though the rich knew they had the advantage, they did not venture out easily.

Their eyes moved over the faces of the commoners and someone suddenly remembered, “Who was that commoner who drew the master card earlier?”

Soon someone pointed to Lu Youyi and said, “He’s the one who drew the master card, so don’t ask him who he is.”

They remembered Lu Youyi’s appearance and tacitly prepared to avoid the civilian.

At the back of the crowd, the first mate, standing in the shadows, suddenly stifled a laugh, “That’s a clever idea.”

Such a decision allows others to subconsciously overlook Jiang Luo’s identity.

Slaves did not come forward to ask Jiang Luo’s identity, and the rich had their eyes on the commoners. Even with his slave tag, Jiang Luo was still perfectly safe.

Chi You’s mischief is steeped in intensity, however.

He lifted his steps and headed for the dance floor, the sound of his leather shoes hitting the floor crisp and clear, fitting in with the euphonious accompaniment.

As soon as Chi You first entered the crowd, Jiang Luo’s gaze seemed to pass through the crowd as if he had sensed it from a distance of ten metres or so.

Light eyes meet dark blue eyes.

Jiang Luo’s expression is calm, black feathers sweeping across his ears. The mask rests above the bridge of his nose, and the lower half of his face is counterbalanced with a white, penetrating look. The way he stands there quietly waiting for the evil spirits to come, as if it were the end of a feast.

All the crowd becomes false and faded in this moment. The noise disappears, the distance between the pure black mask and the pure white mask grows closer and closer, “Atsu, Atsu, Atsu”, the sound of leather shoes becomes clearer and clearer.

Finally, the evil spirits came up to the humans.

Two equally handsome, slender and highly attractive men face off against each other.

Their confrontation attracted many onlookers.

Jiang Luo and Chi You were neither the first to speak, but it was the evil spirit who finally spoke first, smiling lowly and saying, “Mr Zhong, I must say that the rules of the game you have proposed are interesting.”

“Thank you,” the young brunette nodded haughtily, “the first mate can go and have some fun with the sidekick.”

“Why go to someone else,” the first mate looked surprised, but the smile in his tone was about to be hidden, “is it because Mr. Chung is afraid I’ll come and guess who you are?”

Jiang Luo snorted, “You think too much.”

The evil spirit nodded fervently, “And yes, it is too easy for anyone to look at you and guess who you are when you are holding a master card.”

Jiang Luo wore a subtle look of triumph as if he had fooled Chi You. He relaxed a little, and above his mask, the red jewelled roses dotted at the end of his eyes bloomed brilliantly, “It’s good you understand.”

Instead, the evil spirit said, “But unfortunately, I want to do the opposite.”

The smile on Jiang Luo’s face froze, “What do you mean?”

The evil spirit shrugged, “I mean, I’m going to have to guess who you are.”

There is no hiding the pleasure in him, the mix of bad and excitement, and even the onlookers can see that he is up to no good, let alone Jiang Luo who is facing him.

At Jiang Luo’s increasingly condensed scowl, the villain’s tone rose high, “I’m guessing your deck is a slave deck.”

“Slave cards?”

The people watching around couldn’t believe it, “No way, how can this man be a slave.”

“I bet he’s definitely the master card, is this one in the white mask deliberately trying to become a slave?”

Amidst the questioning, the evil spirit’s mood heightened as he hummed and asked, “Isn’t that right?”

Jiang Luo looked deep into the evil spirit, “Are you sure? I’ll give you a chance to change your mind.”

It looked to the evil spirit like a cat overwhelmed with fear and trying to intimidate his enemy. He gave a few stifled laughs, the armrest held up his mask and said courteously, “I thank you for your generosity, but I am certain of my answer.”

Jiang Luo pauses and slowly draws his deck from his breast pocket.

After looking steadily at the middle pattern for several seconds, he looked up at the evil spirit.

The evil spirits look so calm, so in control of the situation, that they seem certain of Jiang Luo’s answer.

The corners of the dark-haired youth’s crimson lips slowly lifted, raising higher and higher in a strange smile.

He turned the card, the golden crown on the white card shining brightly in the light as if it were glowing like gold flakes.

“Congratulations, First Mate.”

His two fingers cupped the card and passed it to the evil spirit’s eyes, his open smile no longer concealed, “You have successfully been reduced to slave status.”