The words had barely settled when a clamor erupted from the crowd below.

"Did I hear wrong, did Chairman Lu choose to ban the artifects from Light Chasing Garden?"

"Artifects, why ban the artifects from Light Chasing Garden?"

"Damn, has Lu Shuhang lost his mind, why would he think of banning artifects!"

In a roulette casino somewhere within the Probability Space Station, gamblers who had just placed their bets cursed angrily.

"It's over, no need to watch this match, Assassin's Creed is doomed to lose. What good is banning some useless artifect, to stop the people from Light Chasing Garden from using blood vials to heal?"

"What is that Lu guy thinking, I just bet four hundred thousand Federation Shields on Assassin's Creed!"

The owner of this casino was from the Celestial Snake Race, navigating both the legal and illegal worlds. His family, Molejica, controlled most of the area north of New Federation's Charon State, involved in smuggling contraband, human trafficking, and arms dealing. He was the godfather of the family, dabbling in both legal and illegal businesses, and those frequenting the underground world called him Boss She.

Seeing the gamblers' wails of despair, Boss She's vertical pupils slightly contracted, and the blood flow in his body slowed, a sign of his growing excitement.

Boss She gently stroked the rough, itchy snake scales on his body with his sharp fingertips. His intuition told him he could use this opportunity to make a fortune.

Those golden vertical pupils glared at the blonde girl on the competition stage. He absolutely despised Dark Gold Rose; her emergence had shrunk his family's business by nearly eighty percent in just under six months.

She was like a nightmare hovering over every Mafia godfather, a thorn in their sides that they were desperate to remove.

Yet he clearly saw that this always well-composed Devil was playing with an ancient copper coin at that moment.

On the competition stage, Xu Xiaoyou remained upright, gazing into the distance at Lu Shuhang, appearing unsurprised by his choice. The coin rolled from her slender index finger to her middle finger, then to her ring finger, ending up between her ring finger and pinky before rolling back up in sequence.

Angelina, standing beside her, noticed this small motion. She knew better than anyone that this was a habit of hers when extremely anxious.

Angelina couldn't even recall the last time she had seen her display this habit.

The uproar in the audience continued incessantly.

"Lu Shuhang's strategy has always been stable, or rather, he's always been trying to find the greatest advantage with the smallest loss."

"From what I recall, in battles where victory could be assured by sacrificing one member, Lu Shuhang would always choose his own team member, even if it meant the entire team losing the qualification to compete further," an analyst pondered.

"Don't his own team members object to that?" someone asked casually.

"They don't. It's as if they all tacitly accepted this approach."

"Now what we should be discussing is, why is Lu Shuhang being so aggressive this time?"

"Why is he banning artifects?"

Nanjia Wood pondered the discussions echoing in his ears, suddenly recalling what the other had said to him during the 'Express Tag' qualifier.

— "Where does her mysterious ability truly come from?"

— "Rather than breaking rules, I'd prefer to believe she's been within these rules from the start, merely using layers of fog to obscure everyone's vision."

— "If all of the above is what she was capable of even at the Three Tier level."

— "What if the girl is not a God, but someone who, by shining her light, made everyone think she was a god, one who believes in the probability of faith."

He knew the situation of Assassin's Creed well. Unless absolutely sure, Lu Shuhang would never make any risky or aggressive moves.

A bold guess formed in his mind.

What if Dark Gold Rose's strange, unpredictable abilities all came from some 'artifect'?

"Well done," Xu Xiaoyou let out a light breath and slowly raised her eyes, "Lu Shuhang."

"You flatter me, Chairman Xu," Lu Shuhang replied, "I've told you, I have reasons I must win, and this might be the last battle for Assassin's Creed."

"For this one time alone, I will stop at nothing."

"So, into the match?"

"Certainly."

"Both parties have selected banned abilities, the match begins, please team members enter the match grounds!"

Ten beams of light shot upwards simultaneously, dissipating before the audience in no time, as the large screen on stage loaded the match screen.

...

Beams of blue and purple light intertwined back and forth, dazzling light flitting across black and purple ceramic tiles, a heady mix of perfume and rouge scenting the air, making one's head spin, bombastic rock music gradually fading away, the figure of a blonde girl appearing in the dimly lit washroom.

Xu Xiaoyou quickly walked to the sink, turned on the faucet, and splashed clear water repeatedly on her face until she lifted her head and saw her reflection in the mirror.

In a black-and-white bartender outfit, a neatly buttoned vest accented her waist. Her long, low ponytail hung to her waist, damp hair sticking to her forehead, and her weary eyes reflected her blurred self in the mirror at that moment.

Xu Xiaoyou clicked her tongue and turned away.

Seeing her empty card slots and the 0￥ funds displayed in the upper right of her view, she slowly leaned back against the wall.

The opponent had banned the artifects from Light Chasing Garden. Coincidentally, only recently in Tang Xin's 'Creation of Illusion' effect, she confirmed that all her skill cards were fantasy artifects.

Xu Xiaoyou slid down the wall until she sat on the ground. A sense of helplessness arose. The purple light flickering from the bathroom's ceiling strained her eyes, forcing her to close them.

Let's calculate.

In total, she had four art-level skill cards banned, one hundred sixty-seven limited-level skill cards, seven hundred twenty-three hardcover-level skill cards, and around several thousand softcover skill cards.

Good grief.

She always used a softcover skill card like [Swift Step] just to hurry even while walking, and needed [Spiritual Rest] to sleep.

Even when she and Anya fled to Chichu Heaven, they had a few Fireball Bombardments in their pockets.

Xu Xiaoyou suddenly chuckled and then began laughing uncontrollably. Whether it was the artist or the Smiling Knight, even Gloomy Blue Tide, no one had managed to make her lose composure like this since she left Corrupt Nest City.

Lu Shuhang managed it.

Or rather, when the rules of banning came out, she already had a feeling about it.

Since it had happened, it couldn't be changed. The situation wasn't too bad; it was just a few thousand skill cards less. Falling and getting back up was something she had long grown used to.

She needed to think carefully about how to handle the next situation.

Xu Xiaoyou calmed down and began to observe her surroundings.

Was she in a bar now?

"The qualification match instance 'This is Our Era' has been fully loaded."

"Instance type: Team Competition."

It seemed to be a role-playing team confrontation instance, returning to Skyline City after half a year.

With her outstanding ability, the system would most likely assign her a leadership role, right?

At worst, a bar manager.

"Honey, aren't you ready yet? I've been waiting and getting impatient~" A woman's seductive voice drifted in from outside the door.

Xu Xiaoyou's eyelid twitched.