Chapter 271: Something That Makes My Blood Boil

Mikhail's face was already red with embarrassment. At first, he seemed hesitant to talk about it but then he decided to man up and tell Ryan what he had in mind.

"My life is pretty plain. I've been leading quite an ordinary life," he started, "School, tutoring, meeting important people and other boring activities. I'm tired of it all so I want something different, something that can make my blood boil!" 

"Yesterday, I saw you fight at the Helvet bar and I was really amazed! In that very second I made up my mind to follow you anywhere!" His eyes were sparkling with enthusiasm as he said this.

After he finished speaking, the atmosphere turned silent.

Seeing Mikhail's sincere expression, Ryan just smiled and said, "Alright then, our current status is friends and don't ever call me eldest brother again,"

"Is it true? Thank you brother!" Mikhail was genuinely happy, but he realized he had called wrongly and patted his forehead.

"Then... I'll call you Ryan," he corrected, adjusting his shirt. "If Brother Ryan has nothing to do, how about I show you a great place to honor our friendship?"

"Where?" Ryan was interested in this offer.

"Just come along, I can guarantee the place has so much fun," Mikhail said with a laugh.

Ryan then thought for a moment, he originally had no urgent work in his office and he wasn't that suspicious of Mikhail either.

Seeing Ryan nod his head, Mikhail became very happy. Then they left in Mikhail's luxury car and immediately headed for Alameda Street. Soon, the luxury car stopped at an abandoned warehouse.

"Wait a minute here," Mikhail then got out of his car and spoke with the guard.

After the door to the warehouse opened, Ryan got out of the car and walked together inside. Under the guards' direction, they arrived in front of an elevator. 

And after the elevator went down, the sight really made Ryan's eyes sparkle. The luxurious decorations and fountains were completely different from the front of the building they entered earlier. Even the carpets used look expensive. Along his line of sight, several gaming tables could be seen!

Yes, Mikhail had taken him to the underground casino!

Inside this casino, hundreds of people were seen playing and having fun. It was not uncommon for Ryan to see beautiful women wearing naughty costumes and cosplaying as sexy rabbits, wrapped in latex lingerie, and fishnet stockings, while walking around delivering drinks.

"Do you enjoy gambling a lot?" Ryan looked at Mikhail.

"Ah! It's not just gambling for today," Mikhail then pulled Ryan and whispered. "There's also a championship for professional players."

Then he added, "Today's competition involves many parties, so I can guarantee that there will be interesting events,"

"Why are you that sure?" Ryan did not know what's the fun in seeing people gambling.

"Bro, it's not just a matter of money," Mikhail lowered his voice. "The competition this time will put the dignity of several aristocratic families at stakes."

Hearing this, Ryan also became curious. Aristocratic families in this country rarely made their appearance in public since they worked behind the scenes.

"To be honest, the families from the north seem to have problems with those from the south and there have been several cases of dispute from them. But if they go to war openly, they will drag their allies and the country into chaos. So they agreed to settle this at this gambling table. They have played before and now should be the last. The end of their battle will be determined by today's results."

Ryan's eyes were sparkling, what Mikhail said was really interesting. If the gambling involved an aristocratic family, the game must be very interesting to see. 

"How did you know all these things?" Ryan asked Mikhail.

Mikhail replied with a smile, "I heard it when my father discussed it with his client. And coincidentally, I came to this underground casino once so I could bring you here,"

"Bro, their competition is still long, how about we play first?" Mikhail took out the chip and gave it to Ryan.

Ryan didn't know what to do for a moment, he felt that Mikhail was trying to lure him into sinning.

"Okay," he finally nodded. Incidentally, the chips were free so he didn't need to hesitate if he ran out of it.

"You don't have to come with me," Ryan said.

Mikhail nodded. "If you need more money, just let me know."

Then Ryan strolled around admiring this vast underground casino. There were many games played in this place, be it cards, roulette, slot machines etc. 

Ryan had been to a casino in America once, where it brought his pleasant memories. And for him, roulette was a real money machine. The way it worked was very simple. The officer would rotate the board containing the numbers 0-36 with three different colors. Usually the odd numbers would be colored in red, even in black and 0 in white. 

Roulette had various kinds of bets, players could bet on how many numbers the ball would fall, color, odd or even numbers, etc. So it could be said that this game was very profitable for the players because it had a percentage of almost 50% to win.

Many people were playing at this table, so Ryan decided to pay attention to it first. The players were already holding their breath as the little ball spun.

"Come on black!" Shouted one of the people. His eyes were about to fall off when he saw the rolling ball slow down even further, it seemed like he was betting big on black.

"Stupid, why are you betting on colors? Obviously from that it was already 3x even, the ball is definitely odd now!" Shouted his friend, his hands were also sweating.

Finally, the ball started to slow down and came to a stop at 0. This incident made all the players at the table really sad and took a deep breath.

Please note, the number 0 did not include black or red and was not considered as even. Also, the percentage of balls stopping at 0 was really small so people never bet for 0 even though the payoff was huge.

Ryan laughed in his heart, the good gambler understood his limits and did not immediately risk all his money in one game. 

When Mikhail was engrossed in blackjack, he heard a voice from behind calling him. "Wow, well, this kid seems to always obey his father but it turns out he's quite a naughty one to gamble in this place."

When he heard the voice, Mikhail's body stiffened. He looked back and saw several people laughing.

The one mocking him was Asmodeus, his nemesis.

Asmodeus also came from an influential family in the city of Avalerion, therefore his and Mikhail's were often at odds. In the business aspect, both of them competed with each other continuously. From their grandfather's generation to the present, they continued to fight both in the open and in secret.

However, Asmodeus looked down on Mikhail. In terms of experience and various fields, Asmodeus beat him.

Mikhail looked at him coldly. "It's none of your business if I want to be in this place for fun. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Of course I came to gamble, otherwise why would I go to a casino?" Asmodeus laughed at Mikhail's stupid question.

"Aren't obedient brats like you unsuitable for a place like this? How about you get out of here right away? I'm a little sorry for your father's money being wasted like this," Asmodeus then laughed with his friends.

"True what he said, why don't you just go and have a drink at a bar nearby? I heard they just brought in girls from Thailand. You must like a woman with a trunk like that, right?" Asmodeus and his friends laughed once again.

"You...!!" Mikhail's face was completely cold, his anger was already overflowing. He wanted to beat up Asmodeus and his friends hard. But he didn't dare to do it because he only came alone with Ryan today. He didn't bring his bodyguards so he doubted he could win against Asmodeus.

The visitors to this casino were not interested in the young men's games. After all, no one dared to break the rules in this underground casino. If anyone dared to do so, then that person should be prepared to face their death.

"Why? Are you unhappy with that?" Asmodeus snorted coldly. "Do you want to kill me? I know you cannot touch me at all. Seeing you turn into a frightened dog is really amusing. Please continue to do that," Asmodeus laughed again with his friends.

"If you want to settle this matter, how about we finish it on the table? We also happen to be in the right place. So how? You dare to fight me?"

Though his blood was boiling hot, Mikhail did not immediately accept this challenge.  He thought about the advantage and disadvantage of his archenemy's challenge. 

But he lost it when Asmodeus tried to provoke him further.