The morning sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains and spilled into the room, illuminating the slightly messy bed. Aunt Dalia had left early for work, and the hurried figure of her departure seemed to still linger in the air. At the same time, Sirin had also packed her schoolbag and headed off to the place known as the church school. At this moment, the entire house was left with only Shun alone.
He sat quietly on the sofa in the living room, his gaze somewhat dazed as he stared out the window. The feeling was like that of a lonely old man guarding an empty house, his heart filled with loneliness and helplessness. The lively scenes of the past were gone; the house now felt exceptionally desolate.
"Have I become a widowed old man?" Shun shook his head with some self-mockery. Perhaps it was the influence of this child's body—many things he wouldn't normally do were now easily triggered under the influence of hormones.
He remembered there was a post office on the first floor, but unfortunately, at this time, there weren't many people he could seek help from. Moreover, the harsh environment of Siberia made it very difficult for his letters to be delivered accurately to the people he wanted to reach.
Taixu Mountain was unlikely. He had no idea where Fu Hua was right now. After all, Fu Hua was still quite strong at this point, and the possibility that she was still working for Otto was very high.
Theresa? St. Freya Academy hadn't even been built yet, and he didn't know where Theresa was either. Besides, this wasn't like ten-plus years later—what qualifications did he have now to make Theresa trust him?
Cecilia Schariac and Siegfried? Forget it. The two of them lived at Schicksal headquarters; any letters sent there would definitely be inspected. Moreover, Shun didn't know them yet.
As for his in-laws, there were ways to contact those two, but it was only contact at best.
The last option… Otto. To be honest, before crossing over, he had just been backstabbed by Otto, and he still didn't understand what purpose Otto wanted to achieve during the Second Eruption.
If he rashly contacted Otto now, wouldn't it be like inviting a wolf into the house? Shun didn't dare to gamble. After all, he currently had zero ability to resist. In this situation, he didn't believe that Otto, this so-called close friend, wouldn't want to see what was inside his head.
So, if he were to seek help from one person, there was only one choice left, right?
"My dear big son, Gray Serpent." But this wasn't the information age yet. Finding Gray Serpent's whereabouts would be extremely difficult. Moreover, the way Gray Serpent would look at him for the "first time" in the future immediately made Shun feel there wasn't much hope.
"Forget it. Asking others for help is not as good as relying on oneself. I'll go get some self-defense items myself." After thinking for a while, Shun felt that he probably wouldn't find any external help, so he decided to take action on his own.
Because of Shun's inconvenient legs, the house they lived in was on the second floor. Why not live on the first floor?
Naturally, it was because the first floor of the Khrushchev-era building was mostly public facilities. Although it had now been converted into private shops, the original layout had been preserved to this day.
Strapping on the prosthetic limb he had handmade himself, Shun slowly made his way down from the second floor. In fact, both Sirin and Dalia had thought that after Shun broke his leg, he would probably be paralyzed for the rest of his life.
But after putting on the prosthetic, Shun could jump and run, basically looking like half a normal person.
During the times when the two of them were out, Shun would also come down from time to time to gather information. After all, everyone in the village knew that a cripple had moved into Sirin's house.
However, in the town, no one knew his real situation.
"I remember scouting out an underground casino yesterday." Touching the 50 US dollars in his pocket, Shun felt that if Jabami Yumeko could turn 20 bucks into 37 million, then using 50 bucks to win 5 million wouldn't be a problem for him.
However… this kind of small-town black casino naturally couldn't compare to a world-class casino like Macau. In a place like this, it was highly unlikely they would really let you win until your pockets were overflowing.
So Shun's goal on this trip wasn't money, but some small self-defense gadgets. They might not be enough to deal with Honkai-side creatures, but they would be extremely useful against people.
Shun slipped through a few small alleys and arrived at the entrance of the casino he had scouted yesterday. It was said to be run by the local gang in this town.
Two tough-looking bouncers stood guard at the door. Judging by the bulges in the pockets at their waists, they were probably carrying real firearms.
Shun didn't pay them much attention and walked straight in. No one stopped him—probably thinking that even a mosquito is still meat. And because a child's deceptive appearance was too strong, they didn't search him either.
The moment he stepped through the casino door, a strong, luxurious, and decadent atmosphere hit him in the face. Everywhere he looked was a scene of dazzling lights, wine, and indulgence. Brilliant, eye-catching lights intertwined and flickered, making the entire space feel dreamlike and hazy. Around the gambling tables were all kinds of people—some shouting excitedly, some staring at the cards with grave expressions, and others pretending to be calm while barely hiding their inner tension.
The people here wore luxurious clothes and expensive jewelry, waving large wads of cash in their hands, fully enjoying this frenzied feast woven from money and desire. Whether they were well-dressed rich and powerful figures or ordinary people harboring a bit of luck, all were drawn in by this invisible magic, sinking deep into it and unable to extricate themselves.
"Sure enough, no matter which world it is, it's always like this…"
The scene inside the casino did not affect Shun. He quickly searched for his target and finally arrived at a "big or small" dice table.
He wasn't very familiar with the rules of Blackjack or Texas Hold'em. As for calculations, without the Cosmic Juggernaut on him, a guy who often failed advanced math didn't need to be mentioned. Only a simple game like big-or-small suited an external-cheat player like him.
After all, with his hearing, he could clearly hear the sound of the dice colliding inside the cup even in the noisy environment of a casino. No matter what tricks the dealer used, he could hear them clearly.
...
"Sorry, please come with us for a moment." A burly man in a suit, who perfectly matched the image of a gang enforcer in people's minds, walked up to Shun and said.
In front of the gambling table, Shun was already holding 800,000 US dollars in chips. In a big casino, this amount of money probably wouldn't even catch the dealer's eye, but… as mentioned earlier, this was a small casino in a small place.
Moreover, Shun had started with only 50 dollars, looked to be less than nine years old, and hadn't lost even once.
As soon as he entered the small private room of the casino and saw the middle-aged man wearing an expensive suit who appeared to be the casino manager, Shun didn't wait for him to start speaking nonsense or for any novel-like plot to unfold.
"One well-maintained Makarov, one AK, then give me a few hundred rounds of 9mm and .76. Leave me ten thousand dollars, and I don't want the rest."
Shun said calmly, as if he were just restocking goods at a vegetable market.
Shun's words instantly deflated the casino manager, who had originally planned to use both threats and incentives. With a complicated expression, he looked at this nine-year-old boy who had nearly wrecked his establishment and said to the burly man who had brought Shun in:
"Go get me a Makarov and an AK."
Since the other party was giving him this much face, it would make him look bad if he continued to press aggressively. After all, in this day and age, unless things really got desperate, who would actually resort to killing?