Chapter 883: Bliss Bank

“Aries…” I thought for a long time but couldn’t help asking, “Is this really the best game you’ve designed?”

“Hmm?” Aries responded with a puzzled tone.

Only then did I notice the muscles on his face twitching along with his expression, and I finally realized I might no longer be talking to a human being.

“You’ve seen through my game?” Aries said.

“Pretty much…” I nodded. “Having ‘participants’ bet on the ‘outcome’ of each game and profiting from it.”

“You’ve only grasped the first layer,” Aries replied. “If my game were designed purely as a ‘casino,’ there’d be no need to set it up in a bank.”

“What…?”

Aries didn’t answer me. Instead, he turned to look at Jiang Ruoxue.

“Next is the purpose of the display screen,” Aries said. “‘Causality’—the logic of the display must be built upon the twelve statues.”

“How do we do that…?” Jiang Ruoxue asked.

“The second layer of logic is this: at sunset each day, ‘summarize’ the number of times each ‘Zodiac’ lights up. If the red light appears more frequently in a day, display the character ‘red.’ If the green light appears more, display ‘green.’ If it’s a tie, death, or no participation, display ‘white.’ Then, arrange the summaries of all twelve ‘Zodiacs’ in order, forming a twelve-character sentence based on the ‘red-white-green’ descriptions.”

“I…” Jiang Ruoxue took a moment to process it before nodding. “I don’t fully understand, but I’ll just follow your instructions.”

She dragged a chair over, stepped onto it, and reached up to touch the display screen, muttering to herself.

As the screen flickered to life, that familiar feeling returned—just when I thought I understood Aries’ actions, he always managed to surprise me.

“What does this mean?” I asked.

“I’ll let the ‘participants’ in soon and explain in detail,” Aries said. “Right now, we’re pressed for time. Let’s finish setting up the game first.”

It seemed Aries wasn’t lying. If Jiang Ruoxue hadn’t shown up today, his game wouldn’t have worked at all. These ordinary statues and a barely powered display screen… would have been useless.

While Jiang Ruoxue was applying ‘causality,’ one of the previously white-lit ‘Ox’ statues suddenly turned red.

It looked like the nearest ‘Earth Ox’ had won.

Though we hadn’t seen that Earth Ox or knew what its game was, it had indeed won.

As Jiang Ruoxue finished applying ‘causality’ and was about to step down, Aries called out to her again: “Stay there. Next is the third layer of logic, also for the display.”

Jiang Ruoxue took a deep breath, steadied herself, and nodded. “What else?”

“One hour before the tenth day’s reset, ‘summarize’ all the ‘summaries.'”

“Eh…?”

Jiang Ruoxue looked visibly confused, and I wasn’t entirely sure I understood either.

This ‘casino’ was quickly becoming something unrecognizable.

“What do you mean by ‘summarize all the summaries’?”

“Same principle as before,” Aries explained. “Treat each day’s ‘summary’ as a single light. Then, tally which color appeared more over the ten days and display the final result. If red was more frequent, the summary is ‘Total Red,’ and vice versa.”

Ah…!

I think I get it now…

What the hell is going on in Aries’ mind?!

If I’m not mistaken… he’s designed three games using these twelve statues and the simplest logical relationships, each targeting low-, mid-, and high-tier players.

High-tier players have high-tier gameplay, while I could only see the lowest-level ‘casino’ aspect.

What’s even more impressive is… Aries has left the outcome of this game entirely to the other ‘Zodiacs.’ He neither participates nor interferes, ensuring absolute safety, effortless wealth, and no risk of gambling his life.

No wonder he set this game up in a ‘bank’… it’s beyond fitting.

Though Jiang Ruoxue didn’t fully grasp Aries’ explanation, she still applied the final layer of ‘causality’ to the display.

With everything ready, Aries’ game arena was finally complete.

He signaled for us to let the ‘participants’ outside in.

And at that moment, his rules were fully revealed.

I had a feeling… it wouldn’t be long before this bank became the busiest place around, the largest ‘Dao’ repository in the area.

If ‘Dao’ truly was currency, Aries would soon be richer than a nation.

“Everyone, my game is called ‘Bliss Bank,'” Aries announced to the crowd.

“Bank…? How exactly does it work?” a man asked.

“A ‘bank’s main business is naturally deposits,” Aries said. “But there are also some side games with perks to help you quickly earn ‘Dao.'”

First, he introduced the first layer of gameplay—a betting game suitable for all lower-tier players, where they could wager on the outcome of a ‘Terrestrial Zodiac.’

When the white light lit up, bets could be placed on ‘win,’ ‘lose,’ or ‘kill.’ Winners would take the opponent’s chips and pay Aries a single ‘Dao’ as a ‘venue fee.’ If the winner only earned one ‘Dao,’ no fee would be charged.

Additionally, if a ‘kill’ bet won, Aries would personally double the chips on the table.

The crowd quickly grew interested in Aries’ unique game, but I knew this wasn’t the end.

“This game is called ‘Bliss Gambling,'” Aries said. “Next, I’ll introduce the second gameplay—’Bliss Lottery.'”

With that, he began explaining the purpose of the display screen.

At sunrise each day, ‘Bliss Bank’ would sell lottery tickets for one ‘Dao,’ with the ‘draw’ taking place at sunset.

Lottery participants could customize their tickets by randomly arranging ‘red,’ ‘green,’ and ‘white’ to form a twelve-character phrase.

If the phrase matched the ‘draw’ result on the screen, the winner would take all the chips from other lottery purchases.

If no one matched, the chips would roll over into the prize pool for the next day’s draw, though new tickets would need to be purchased.

While this rule seemed like Aries wouldn’t profit… this was, after all, the ‘Endgame.’

Participants might end up dead on the streets or lose their memories after buying tickets. Though one ‘Dao’ didn’t seem like much, if enough people took a chance on the lottery… the prize pool could grow massive.

Not to mention, Aries alone decided how much was in the ‘prize pool.’

“But…” a woman spoke up, “how do we know you won’t rig it? What if you never let anyone win?”

“You’re free to observe,” Aries replied. “The color of these ‘lights’ depends on the performance of nearby ‘Zodiacs,’ not me. Even if I had the power, I couldn’t collude with over a dozen ‘Terrestrial Zodiacs’ to deceive you.”