Imperial Crown

Under the light of the Crystal Palace, a group of four people walked down the east staircase.

At least from the perspective of clothing, they were dressed in a very suitable way for the current environment. They were all wearing the popular Peron-style men's suits - the chest, lapels, and wrists were decorated with large lace.

The man in front looked less than 30 years old, with short light brown curly hair, head held high, lips pursed, eyes indifferent, and a lazy sense of alienation in his gestures, as if there was nothing in the world worth his attention.

Typical aristocratic style.

If Raven had not seen the gray-white undead energy flowing in his body, it would be difficult for him to associate him with the Hand of Death.

As a kind of negative energy, undead energy naturally repels life.

Generally speaking, a knight may awaken any attribute of fighting spirit, and a wizard may have any attribute of elemental affinity, but among them, there is only no death.

Only the Cult of the Hand of Death has a unique way to allow living people to drive this element.

Even so, it will also bring significant side effects, such as extreme negative emotions, numbness of the body and nerves, and personality gradually moving towards paranoia and cruelty.

Except for the leader who is a second-level necromancer, the remaining three are herders.

Raven tapped the table with his fingers. He was a little curious about the motives of these people coming here. The Death Hand Cult had just been suppressed. Is it going to stir up another wave?

At this moment, the leader of the Death Hand cast his eyes over, and Raven shrank back and hid himself in the shadows.

"Master Doug, did you find anything?" asked a follower.

"Nothing." Doug retracted his gaze and shook his head.

The lights in the Crystal Palace were dim, and he didn't see Raven's face clearly. He just thought it was a customer who came to consume.

It was not because of lack of vigilance, but because Doug believed that no one would see the flaws, and there was no reason to arouse suspicion.

Because he was originally from a baron family in the Fiton city-states.

In fact, until fifteen years ago, his life was very leisurely. He had an older brother who died young and two younger sisters.

As the only son in a baron family, he naturally enjoyed the qualification of an heir. Because his brother died young, his parents were very relaxed about him, giving him more time and more possibilities to do what he wanted to do instead of what he should do.

Young people all have dreams, and he is no exception. But when he realized the cold reality and knew that no matter how hard he tried in his life, he could not break through the shackles brought by his birth and could only be a baron for his whole life, he quickly became desperate.

He hated his birth, why couldn't he be an earl, marquis or duke; he hated his father who was obviously incompetent but pretended to be omnipotent; he even hated his mother, why she was so faithful instead of trying her best to climb into the bed of a great nobleman and make him a noble illegitimate child!

Although he was sent to the aristocratic college by his parents, like most small nobles, Doug began to slide rapidly towards hedonism.

It was impossible to attend classes.

Cocktail parties, hunting, duels, gambling... His life was like this day after day. If nothing unexpected happened, he would die in this life.

Until the day when the family was destroyed.

His father was accused of colluding with the cult, and his political enemies took advantage of the situation and did not even give them a chance to defend themselves. They joined forces with several nobles to capture and bloodbath their castle.

Doug was wanted and began to flee. After a series of coincidences, at the age of seventeen, he became a member of the Death Hand Cult. It was also at that time that he knew that he had the talent of a magician.

This discovery made Doug hate his parents even more - if they were willing to spend a little money to identify their magic talent, Doug would not have ended up like this.

At this time, he completely forgot that just the potion for identifying qualifications would cost the territory half a year's revenue; and if he could stand out in the academy, he would be qualified to identify qualifications.

Life in the Death Hand Cult is not easy. Every day, you have to live with corpses, and the stench of corpses is lingering. The servants are affected by the energy of the dead spirits. Even women are dry. Every day when they sleep in the quilt, it feels like lying in a pile of ice!

Eagle Town is better, or Crystal Palace is better!

The women here are called women, and living here is called life!

Doug raised his hand skillfully and called the waiter. After a few words, the waiter bowed and left.

Not long after, the music in the venue suddenly became passionate, and the lights gathered in the box where Doug was, followed by a loud shout from the host: "Mr. Doug in box No. 3, a set of consumption angel kits!!"

This sentence echoed in the hall, choking the rhythm of the venue. Many people's eyes fell on Doug, with envy, jealousy, and flattery.

There are three bottles of Angel's Tears in the set, two of which are new flavors that can only be obtained in the set, which is worth the money. However, this set costs 29.99 gold coins, which is not affordable for ordinary people. Even some small nobles have to grit their teeth.

In the light, Doug's self-esteem and vanity were greatly satisfied, but he still maintained that alienated smile on his face-these people should look up to him!

Instead of being ordered around by the elders like in the Death Hand Cult, doing odd jobs like a servant, listening to them chattering about their past "glorious deeds" and praising them against their will.

Three coolly dressed maids brought three trays with three different colors of Angel's Tears.

The center is the classic purple-red, the left is light yellow, and the bottle on the right is an extremely rare light blue, and you can vaguely see stars floating on it.

"Open it." Doug's voice was lazy.

The classic Angel's Tears was poured into the decanter, and the remaining two were poured directly into the wine glass.

The lights focused on the box gradually went out, making Doug feel a little disappointed, but he immediately focused on the wine in front of him.

He chose the blue one, shook it gently, and watched the wine swirl in the glass, as beautiful as a whirlpool in the clear lake under the sun, and then took a sip gently.

The first sip of wine tastes spicy, but it disappears immediately, replaced by a cool sweetness. After the sweetness, the unique fragrance of lavender emerges. Breathing gently is like stepping into a lavender field.

After breathing, exhaling the air, a coolness will emerge in the throat, just like chewing a mouthful of mint, making people feel refreshed.

"This is wine!" This is not the first time Doug has expressed this feeling, but every time it is from the heart.

Most members of the Death Hand Cult have poor backgrounds and poor aesthetic taste; and due to the erosion of death energy, their taste has become extremely dull. In order to find a little bit of stimulation, the wine and food are so...

Unbearable to look back!

The food must be put with a lethal amount of salt, pepper and garlic, which can kill cows; as for the wine, it is even more the pursuit of the ultimate "flavor", whatever is stimulating is put in it, sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, salty, all kinds of flavors.

But there is no taste of wine.

Doug even suspected that even if the wine was replaced with swill, the elders might not be able to drink it!

Doug gently sipped the wine, leaned on the soft sofa, crossed his legs, looked at the dancers on the dance floor, and was a little moved for a while.

Just as he was about to speak, the herder Manda who came with him said: "Lord Doug, we have been here for five days, should we continue the action?"

Doug frowned, glanced, and slightly lowered his sight: "Manda, you should remember that I am responsible for everything in this operation."

Feeling Doug's dissatisfaction, Manda pursed his lips: "Of course, I have no intention of provoking your majesty, but there is nothing unusual here worth noting. According to the plan made by the elders..."

Doug waved his hand to interrupt Manda's words. He hated Manda very much, not only because Manda showed ambition and tried to compete with him for the right to speak in this way, but also because of Manda's stupidity.

A herder, just an elder's dog, why barked at him?

"As the old saying goes, a general has the right to decide the details of the front line." Doug looked straight into Manda's eyes: "Everything I do is for the future of the Holy Church, and I have no obligation to explain to you."

"If you think my decision is wrong, then now I can let you act on your own and leave the Eagle Territory!"

He said, looking at the two herders who had been silent: "You are the same."

The two shook their heads together, and Manda's face became stiff, but he finally forced a smile: "Lord Doug, I didn't speak in moderation!"

Manda jumped like this, probably to show his face in front of the elders after returning, to express that he was not here to eat dry food, and he really didn't have the confidence to part ways with Doug.

At this time, the classic Angel's Tears had been awakened. Manda poured a glass for Doug in a flattering manner, and also poured some for himself, and drank it up.

The cool wine flowed into the throat, and the mouth was clear and sweet that had never been experienced before. Every taste was a rare enjoyment.

The money is all with Doug. If he leaves, where can Manda go to drink such good wine?

Doug saw all the changes in Manda's expression, and a trace of disdain appeared on the corner of his mouth - these things whose heads were corroded to rigidity by the energy of the dead spirits, competing with him in intelligence, really don't know how to live or die.

However, crushing Manda in intelligence can't bring him any pleasure. He needs something more exciting to make himself excited!

Putting a purse on the table, Doug said: "Next, you can order what you want. I'll go out and take a look and get information."

Manda wanted to say something, but his eyes were attracted by the dancers on the dance floor. He swallowed his saliva and said no more.

"You know what's good for you." Doug snorted, turned around and left the box, but did not go through the main door, but left the Crystal Palace from the back door, walked through a passage, and came to the adjacent "Bai Le Tang".

Bai Le Tang is a casino.

Unlike the gorgeous Crystal Palace, the decoration of the Baile Hall is more grand and luxurious. From the floor to the wall, granite is used, which looks neat and bright, and there are even patterns outlined with gold lines on it.

When you enter the gate, the first thing that comes into view is a tall wall, which is called the "Feng Shui Wall".

There are eight golden characters engraved on it-

"Time comes, a card changes fate"

Doug murmured subconsciously, with some disdain in his heart, but it seems that something has been aroused, and a touch of heat surges in his heart.

In short, this feeling is very complicated and mysterious.

There are gambling tables in the hall, with red hardwood tabletops covered with green silk cloth, and various ways of playing.

Simple ones such as blackjack, dice betting, more complex ones such as bridge, stud, baccarat, and black and white chess, which are widely circulated in Nord Province, are all available.

However, at present, the most popular and most popular game is the unique game launched by Bailetang: throwing eggs!

Because it is a confrontation mode of four people in two teams, this game avoids the possibility of cheating in the casino to the greatest extent, and the victory or defeat is in the hands of the gamblers themselves. The rules are simple and exciting.

As this game is gradually promoted, now in Bailetang, even fixed partners of "throwing eggs" have begun to appear.

Not to mention the entire Nord Province, even looking at the entire empire, it is unique.

Very attractive to all gamblers!

Doug certainly doesn't have a fixed partner yet, but it doesn't prevent him from liking this game. The feeling of killing all sides at the card table makes him extremely addicted!

Today he was ready to kill everyone. He went to the front desk to exchange chips and began to linger around the poker table.

As a veteran gambler, Doug was observing the situation at each table. This was to select his opponents and teammates.

At the same time, Raven and Fiona also came to the casino along the passage, but did not enter, but sat down in the rest area on the side.

Even if they had no intention of gambling, the waiter immediately brought drinks and desserts.

Raven's eyes were fixed on Doug, and Fiona took a sip of the wine glass, with a flash of surprise in her eyes.

This was not Angel's Tears, but it was also a good wine with a market price of 6.37 silver coins per bottle.

"My Lord Baron, there is something I don't know whether I should say."

Raven said, "Say it."

Fiona said, "I felt strange in the Crystal Palace before. Such a large-scale application of magic lights probably requires a magic crystal every day, and the wine list has almost no premium except for the angel kit, so the profit is probably not high."

"Although there are a lot of people in the Baile Hall here, I remember that you only take 8% of the commission for each machine, but you provide these expensive drinks and snacks for free."

At this point, Fiona took a deep breath and organized her words: "What I want to say is that if you do this, the income may not cover the cost, right?"

Raven turned around and looked at Fiona in surprise: "You can actually see this level."

As expected of a top student, he hit the point in one sentence.

"In fact, it's not just the Crystal Palace and the Paramount. Apart from the Arena, the entire Eagle Town's industry is basically operating at a loss."

Fiona was puzzled: "If that's the case, why do you have to operate like this?"

Raven did not answer directly, but asked another question: "What do you think is the most important thing for a casino?"

"...What is it?"

"Feng Shui!"

"Feng... Water?"

"Yes, Feng Shui." Raven said lightly:

"Water, the most common form is rivers, rivers cannot be easily diverted, just like once a casino is built, there is no way to easily move it."

"So whether it is architecture, decoration or service, you must invest the most money at the beginning, build it once, and do it the best. Don't think there will be an opportunity to overturn and start over in the future."

Fiona asked: "What about the wind?"

Raven continued to explain: "Wind is the flow of people and customers. It is free. There can be wind without water, but with water, the wind will be more stable. It is like the wind blowing to the shore every morning and the wind blowing to the river every sunset. "

"No matter what industry or business, from selling firewood to selling arms, it needs enough customers and customers. Only when there are enough customers can you make money."

Fiona seemed to have discovered a great secret: "I understand, so you will run the Colosseum so vigorously, just to have a water eye and a wind eye to attract as many people as possible!"

"Water and wind will flow, and those who go to the Colosseum will naturally make other purchases in the surrounding shops!"

"And because of the high-end service of the Colosseum, other shops must also have their own style, so that the service can be maintained above the standard line, accumulate word of mouth and reputation, until they also become water eyes and wind eyes!"

Raven nodded slowly with satisfaction: "You have a good understanding, it seems that old Gordon has given birth to a good granddaughter."

Fiona lowered her head, but her toes were proudly raised.

At this moment, Raven sighed:

"Hey, what a rare guest."

...