"Since your blood money can only be used as a price after it is used, why don't you use it to divine immediately after activating it, but keep it in your hand?"
"Blood money has another unimportant characteristic. Each blood money has the ability to sense other blood money. When I took the last blood money out of my containment method, it sensed the existence of another blood money in Tobesk. But the perception was very vague, and after activation, this perception will be enhanced."
She asked Shade and Miss Beas to try to touch the gold coins without gloves. Immediately, the vibration of the blood money was transmitted from the fingers to the brain.
"Yes, I have found out that the holder of the blood money is at the banquet. I invited Miss Bei Yasi to this banquet. I originally planned to find the blood money with her and then immediately perform divination on her. I didn't expect that you would appear just when I wanted to tell her about this."
Miss Anat looked at Shade:
"Look, Detective, don't worry about me."
"You'll make people more worried if you say that."
Miss Beas said that she didn't know what to say. The woman sitting next to her did such a crazy thing for her.
"There are five blood money coins in total. They are in the hands of Baron Cobol who is attending the banquet. The baron seems to think that those old coins are his lucky charms. The dance of this dinner party will start after 9 o'clock. My plan is to take advantage of the dance to meet him alone, and then say that I am a coin collector and want to trade the old gold pounds he has. If he refuses... then I can only use other methods."
Other methods probably wouldn't be legal.
"What is the market value of those five old gold pounds?"
Shad asked.
"Because we don't know exactly which era the five blood coins became gold pounds, it's hard to estimate their market value, but the maximum value of a single coin will not exceed 5 pounds. They won't become antiques that are too expensive, otherwise they will easily not be able to be traded as currency."
Blood money will only trigger its properties when it is traded as currency. If it is traded as an antique, it will just be an ordinary antique.
As he spoke, the fortune teller with short brown hair stood up:
"I'm going to implement the plan. You wait here for me. I'll do the divination right after I buy it."
"Don't bother. Sit down, Miss Anat."
Xia De stretched out his hand:
"Give me the gold pounds you want to use to buy the blood money. Wait here for a while while I go get those antiques."
"You know the Baron?"
Miss Annat asked, and then handed the prepared banknotes to Shad. She had prepared 30 pounds to prevent the other party from raising the price.
"Of course I know him, because of this."
He waved his Rhodes card at the two ladies.
A full hour had passed from the time he left the game to the time he returned, but the game was still going on in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the banquet hall on the second floor.
When he left, Baron Lavender and Baron Cobol were playing against each other. When he came back, Baron Lavender was still sitting there, but his opponent had become Baron Rwanda. The two barons had been holding a grudge against each other for a long time, and neither of them was willing to admit defeat.
Baron Cobol stood behind Baron Lavender and watched the battle, so Shade invited the baron to talk aside.
The baron did not refuse, and went with Shade to a location away from the crowd in front of the French window. Looking at the city from the second floor, the yellow lights represented the power of this era.
After confirming that there was no one around, Shade twirled his fingers at Baron Cobol:
"Baron, I heard that you recently got some old gold pounds in good condition? Are you interested in selling them?"
The baron was in the antique business, and the information about the coins was not hidden, so Shade's trade request was not out of place:
"You also know that the shooting not long ago..."
The young detective pointed to his chest shyly:
"So I've been looking for some coins that can bring luck recently. I want to carry them with me, otherwise I always feel like I'll be shot again. I have a friend who is a psychologist. He said this is post-traumatic stress disorder. Sorry, I can't remember the professional term clearly."
Baron Cobol smiled in understanding. This was the reason why the banquet could be held:
"This is my lucky coin, but since you're the one offering to buy it, I think I can bear the pain and part with it. Mr. Hamilton, do you want all five?"
"certainly."
Xia De nodded, but the baron did not agree immediately. Instead, he thought about it and suggested:
"However, please allow me to change the transaction method. Trading in gold pounds is too vulgar. I wonder if you are interested in getting a chance to get these antique coins for free."
"What's the meaning?"
Xia De hesitated, a little worried that the other party didn't actually want to sell those gold pounds.
"If you want these five coins, then play Rhodes with me. If you win, these coins are yours."
He took out a small cloth bag with a tightly tied mouth from his pocket and shook it. Xia De narrowed his eyes.
"If you lose, I'll give you 50 pounds and the five coins will be yours... but you have to give me your northern city, Coldwater Harbor."
The auction price of the northern city Coldwater Harbor, which has special rules for Rhodes cards, is about 50 to 70 pounds. The price of 50 pounds plus five old gold pounds is almost the same. In other words, even if Shade loses, he will not suffer any loss.
But the problem is that although the price of the special Rhodes cards in the northern city of Coldwater Harbor can be estimated by referring to the Rhodes card trading market, in fact, this kind of cards cannot be bought even if you want to, and those old gold pounds are not very valuable.
In other words, this transaction was not about Shade wanting to buy the five coins, but about Baron Cobol wanting to take a chance and buy Shade's Rhodes card.
"If I win, I can help Miss Anat save a lot of money. If I lose, it's like buying the blood money at a fair price... It seems like I can't lose anything. Why refuse it?"
Xia De thought to himself, then gave the baron a provocative smile:
"Sure, why not a thrilling round of Rhodes?"
The return of Shade attracted people's attention, and when he and Baron Cobol announced that they would bet on Rhodes cards, people were even more excited. Compared with gambling with money, gambling with special rules cards is the most attractive.
"I noticed the party is about to start, so there's no need to make it too complicated. Basic rules, whoever wins three times first wins. Or whoever empties the deck first loses."
Xia De didn't want to waste time here.
He still adheres to his good habit of not gambling, but this time he also wants to save Baron Cobol. If the blood money stays with him, something bad will happen sooner or later. Captain Rades is a good example.
"Detective, are you really willing to bet a card? Those antique coins are actually worthless."
As Shad's friend, Baron Lavender tried to persuade him quietly, but Shad shook his head:
"Look, I got the title of knight today. How can we not have an exciting game of Rhodes on such a memorable day?"
Everyone who heard his words smiled. Such words were very much to the liking of the gentlemen gathered here.
"I look forward to your luck."
Baron Cobol rubbed his hands and said, his face was also full of red, and he was looking forward to this game. For him, the worst outcome was just losing those antique coins, and this was definitely a game in which he would not suffer any loss.
People gathered around expectantly. Shade, who had already sat down, looked up at Baron Lavender and Baron Rwanda:
"How about you two check the deck and deal the cards?"
"Of course."
The people around were all excited, and every time a special card changed hands, it would become a topic of conversation for everyone for a long time.
"Then I will act as notary to ensure that this game of cards remains fair."
An elderly gentleman in the crowd said this, and the person next to him introduced Shad as Viscount Cronenberg, a famous local Rhodes player.
"There are still twenty minutes until nine o'clock. It seems we should move faster."
Shad handed the deck to Baron Lavender, who walked excitedly to the table, and people gathered slightly towards the middle, fearing that they would miss the exciting scene.
In this corner of the banquet hall on the second floor, the atmosphere became increasingly heated. The unique culture created a special group of Rhodes card enthusiasts. This kind of card game played by players of status is generally considered an "elegant game" and is most suitable for such high-end banquets.
No one wasted time and the game officially began. The two barons dealt hole cards to both sides, but neither of them looked at the cards immediately, but signaled to continue dealing.
Baron Cobol's second card was the 7 of the Sun, so he flipped open his bottom card and took a look. And Shade's second card was also the 7 of the Sun, so he checked his bottom card as well.
"It seems that I am still lucky."
The baron revealed his cards, Moon 13, totaling 20 points. He stroked his chin and raised his head to Shade:
"And you, Mr. Hamilton?"
"Keep asking for cards."
Xia De said, the next card was a suit 6. He shook his head regretfully and turned over the bottom card, 8+7+6, the points exploded.
The onlookers were talking in low voices, and Baron Cobol showed a smug smile.
In the second round that followed, the two still did not look at each other's hole cards, but Shad's second card was directly the queen. The Baron continued to ask for cards with a serious expression, wanting to bet on blackjack, and then as expected, he busted.
This way, it was a one-to-one game, and Shade was calm, as he would not put too much passion into this kind of game. But Baron Cobol on the other side was a little nervous, as this was related to whether he could get a special card.
In the third round, the Baron first checked his hole cards before deciding to continue playing. He finally stopped on the third card, which had a score of 19 points.
Shad continued until the fourth card. The first three cards were Sun 1, Sun 4 and Sun 5. But when the fourth card was dealt by Baron Lavender, it was actually Sun 10, which caused people to exclaim.
Shad's Sun 10 is the Original Steam Engine Mark 9. When you draw this card, if you already have at least two cards in your hand, and all the cards are in the sun suit, you can adjust the number on this card between 9 and 10.
"Oh, Mr. Hamilton, you are very lucky indeed."
Even Baron Cobol, his opponent, couldn't help but be surprised, but Shade thought it was bad luck:
"I can win this round regardless of whether it's a special card or not. The effect of the special card is wasted here, and it just wastes my luck."
"Mr. Hamilton, do you also believe in the conservation of luck?"
asked a middle-aged officer in military uniform from the crowd. This was Captain Rades' friend, whom Shad had just met.
"Of course I don't believe it, but I'm a little disappointed that this card didn't appear when I was at 22."
He joked, which earned approving laughs from the crowd.