Angelina walked over quickly:

"Hey, with just over ten thousand in capital, even though her matters have nothing to do with me, if you use it all up, we won't have a penny left."

"Relax, Anya~" Xu Xiaoyou waved her hand. "I'll pay you back ten times with interest."

The urgent matter is to secure enough startup capital, but all the ways to make big money are written in the "New Gospel", and she is just a law-abiding citizen, unable to think of a better option other than coming here.

Thinking this, Xu Xiaoyou slowly pushed open the grand door in front of her, revealing a splendid and magnificent casino hall.

Scanning the room quickly, skipping from table to table, the well-dressed tycoons were splashing cash; they had cigars as thick as their index fingers in their mouths, and their eyes darted back and forth between the opponents and the sultry dealers, sometimes chuckling softly, sometimes slamming the table and pointing at opponents while hurling insults.

In front of these seasoned veterans of the casino, any display of emotional breakdown is just a protective color; only having nothing at all would make them lose composure.

"What are we playing?" Angelina asked. "Texas Hold'em, Roulette, Baccarat?"

Xu Xiaoyou glanced over at the youths squatting at the pinball machines in the corner, scratching their heads, and jutted her chin towards them.

"Hey, let's play that."

"I'll play, and Anya, you observe from the side."

"If anyone gets mad and tries to hit me, remember to help."

Before Angelina could react, Xu Xiaoyou directly walked behind the young thugs.

"Get in, get in, hurry up!"

The thugs squatted anxiously by the pinball machine, emotional enough to swing their fists.

Their eyes were fixed upwards, watching as a gold ball engraved with '5G' rolled down, swirling around the board before finally dropping through the central hole to the next level.

"It went in, it went in!" the lead thug shouted excitedly, standing up.

As the ball rolled back to the central hole and was on the verge of entering again, in a mere blink of an eye, the ball was flung out at an odd angle, rolling right off the board and falling into the prize pool below through the gaps.

Upon closer inspection, one could see the prize pool below was densely populated with '5G' and '10G' balls. Each ball represented wealth, with the total amount once accumulating to 299,500￥.

"Again, again!"

The thugs were clearly overwhelmed, grabbing a ball with trembling hands and shoving it into the pinball machine, a slight aim followed by a strong push, and in a blink, the ball was ejected by the spring box below, circling the board.

Like the first time, the ball quickly dropped into the first board hole, then quickly into the second, and just as it was about to enter the third, as it approached the hole, it seemed to be subtly nudged, abruptly deviating from its path.

This time it didn't fall off the board into the prize pool but was stuck in a groove similar to a lotus root hole on the board.

"Damn, just a bit more!" the lead thug knelt on the ground, staring at the pinball machine, slamming the floor in frustration.

And behind him, his underlings exchanged looks but no one spoke.

"No, that's far from just a bit."

A blonde girl's voice drifted over.

The thugs turned their heads to see Xu Xiaoyou calmly watching the scene.

Xu Xiaoyou inspected the pinball machine, noting its three internal board levels from top to bottom, each having similar lotus root-like holes, with some being solid and some hollow, and varying in size.

According to the rules, gamblers could choose a ball, either '5G' or '10G'. As long as the ball passed through all the hollow holes of the boards and landed on the fourth level, they could win the accumulated prize pool from all previous gamblers.

The 5G ball is smaller, while the 10G ball is a bit bigger and more valuable, so most gamblers tend to choose the seemingly easier-to-fit, less valuable 5G balls.

Lower value means more betting opportunities with unchanged total chips.

"The money, there should be one more chance, where did it go?"

The thug looked at the empty account in a trance, then paused.

Only now did he remember that he had grabbed a 10G ball earlier.

"Boss, stop playing, this is all the money we've saved up for months, we're really broke."

The underlings tried to dissuade him, but the thug's fierce glare backed them off.

Ignoring their advice, he poured all his anger elsewhere.

"Far from just a bit? What do you mean far from just a bit!"

The thug's eyes were bloodshot as he stared fiercely at the approaching blonde girl, reaching out to grab Xu Xiaoyou's collar.

Before his hand could touch the girl's pristine white collar, a crisp slap resounded.

The thug widened his eyes in disbelief, covering his swelling cheek, glaring at the impassive Xu Xiaoyou as she slowly took off her black glove.

"Sorry, please keep your distance. I'm allergic to people who can't use rational thinking."

"People who can't even maintain dignity don't even qualify as gamblers, just opportunists."

"You... you..."

The thug wanted to explode, but the girl's strong presence forced him back, shrinking away, her exquisite amber eyes burning into his own as if to pierce him through.

He felt like a homeless wanderer, nowhere to hide under the gaze of this blonde girl.

Xu Xiaoyou chuckled lightly.

Casually, she picked up two balls, one 5G and one 10G, tossing them to the floor in front of the thug.

"Pick them up."

The calm, steady command permeated his mind like an order.

He looked down, watching as the two balls rolled towards the corner on what seemed like a flat surface, implying more than words could express.

The entire building was tilted, cleverly masked by inclined lighting fixtures on the ceiling and wallpaper angled in the same direction.

"Screw it, it's all a bunch of cheats!"

Realizing this, the thug stood up, ready to vent the anger pent up in his chest, but the girl's gaze stifled his words halfway.

"I told you to pick them up," Xu Xiaoyou said.

The thug faced her, with his underlings watching, and from afar, Angelina's eyes twitched slightly, arms crossed.

In the end, the thug begrudgingly bent down, picked up the balls, and handed them to Xu Xiaoyou.

"Damn it, what bad luck."

The thug cursed as he intended to leave with his underlings, but Xu Xiaoyou leaned forward, deadpan eyes staring him down:

"I didn't say you could leave."

"Hey!"

Unable to bear it any longer, the thug clenched his fist, turning to meet Angelina's subtle smile, the icy aura in her gaze sending a chill down his spine.

A mere pat on the shoulder sent a force through his body that nearly buckled his knees.

"I really have no money left, staying here is pointless, dear ladies, I'm sorry for any offense, please let me go..."

The thug forced a pained smile.

"No money?" Xu Xiaoyou laughed,

"With today's technology, borrowing some money isn't difficult; pledge your heart, emotional module, or visual module or something. As long as the mindset remains undeterred, solutions outnumber the hardships."

"What do you actually want from me!" The thug nearly broke. "We have no grievances, who discusses mortgaging their heart with strangers at first meeting..."

"Indeed, no grievances."

Sitting on a chair, Xu Xiaoyou crossed her right leg over her left, shrugged, and continued,

"So I'm here to strike a deal with you. "

"Find a way to gather forty thousand for me, and by then, thirty thousand in the prize pool, fifteen thousand goes to me, you split the rest, how about it?"

"Of course, I'm not forcing you; feel free to leave if you don't want in."

The thugs exchanged glances.