In the dark tunnel, Anker held the torch and walked down. He held onto the wall and walked very carefully, afraid that he would fall into the bottomless abyss if he missed a step.
At first, he wanted to remember the steps he took, but he soon gave up on the idea. No matter how he walked, he could never see the end of the stairs, as if the end of the stairs was connected to the other side of the earth.
After walking for a long time, the torch in his hand began to flicker. The fuel was almost used up. Boundless darkness swept over from all directions. That was the most primitive unknown, the most primitive fear.
Anker stood still. This feeling reminded him of when he climbed a mountain as a child. He stood at a very high place and looked up. His legs felt weak.
He turned around and glanced at her.
The entrance of the cave was no longer in sight.
He gritted his teeth and stepped back step by step.
But after taking two steps, he stopped moving.
The corner of his mouth twitched twice. A trace of unwillingness and shame surged out from his heart and occupied his mind in an instant.
Retreat?
Back to the cave?
"You think you can scare me like this?"
Thinking of the gray-haired boy's mocking eyes, his voice echoed in the tunnel like a poisonous snake. He sneered and repeated, "You think you can scare me like this?"
He suddenly raised his head and roared, "You think you can scare me like this? You think I'm a muddy bastard like Aldo? My father was the greatest capitalist in Germany. My grandfather was the most famous slave owner in Europe. I, Anker von Kleist! For thirty years, I've killed countless people. The corpses of my enemies are enough to build a dam on the Rhine River. You think you can scare me like this? Don't even think about it. I'm the darkness! "
Whoosh!!
After saying that, he blew out the torch and smashed the wooden stick on the stairs. The surroundings were completely plunged into endless darkness.
He didn't care at all and walked down with large strides.
At first, because he could not see, he fell a few times. But soon, he got up and walked down angrily.
As he walked, he sneered and said to himself, "Let me see what you can do. Come on, let me see what you can do."
He kept his fighting spirit high and walked in the darkness.
Ten minutes.
Twenty minutes.
Thirty minutes.
One hour.
Two hours.
Three hours.
Ten hours …
Fifteen …
Perhaps even longer.
The darkness did not give him any response.
His fighting spirit gradually dissipated.
His footsteps seemed firm, but his back was drenched in cold sweat.
He did not know how long he had walked. He might have walked to the surface of Moho, or he might have walked to the surface of Castle Gutenberg. He might have even crossed the mantle and walked directly into the core of the planet.
Finally, Anker couldn't take it anymore. He huffed and puffed, "You've won this time. Let me rest for a while and we'll try again. Let's see who can go deeper, you or me!"
Then he lay down on the steps in the dark. He closed his eyes. The ground was uneven, cold and hard, but not for long. Anker actually fell asleep.
Or rather, he woke up from another layer of darkness, and in front of him was still an unchanging pathway. The so-called rest and sleep were just illusions.
He finally panicked.
A moment of compromise and retreat in exchange for a rapid decline in momentum. After a day of high fighting spirit, he recognized the fact that this might be a bottomless pit and turned to crawl to the ground.
The scary thing was that he could no longer feel the existence of gravity. Crawling up felt no different from crawling down. In addition, it was pitch black all around, and there was no point of reference to speak of at all. He simply did not know whether he was walking up or down.
The darkness was constantly pressuring his nerves, and countless emotions took turns in his mind.
He regretted going underground himself. He began to hate Bach for making a deal with him, Aldo for being afraid of insects, and the damned mission target, Lemour.
Everything in this cave, everything in this dream, none of it did not annoy him. Being played in the palm of his hand made him feel extremely humiliated. If he could walk out of this dream and find the source of it, he would definitely tear it to pieces, no matter what it was. Based on this humiliating hatred, he prayed to the gods. Even if he had to pay the price of his soul, he would escape this darkness.
A glimmer of light appeared in front of him.
Unbelievable!
Anker ran towards it like a traveler who had walked in the desert for more than a month seeing a spring.
The light grew bigger and bigger.
His heart beat faster and faster.
What could it be?
Would he return to the real world or see the source of the dream? Even if that did not work, returning to the cave was not a bad idea.
He came to the light and his eyes suddenly opened up.
It was actually a hemispherical room …
The room's furnishings were very strange. It was filled with skeletons.
In the middle of the skeletons was a whist table. The table was filled with colorful chips, and there were four animals playing cards around the table.
They were a fox, a bear, an eagle, and a milky white pigeon.
"Oh, hi, hello."
The fox was facing him and took the initiative to greet him. He appeared to be very polite.
The other three animals also turned their heads to look at him.
Facing the three animal heads, Anker's heart pounded. Everything was taken over by chaos and disbelief.
Sensing his fear, he secretly clenched his fists tightly. He was a wizard. Only others could fear him. He should not be afraid of any Anomalies.
"You're just in time," said the fox. "I'm about to lose. Can you help me win?"
Anker looked at the fox's smiling face and gulped. He had ten thousand questions in his heart, but he did not ask any of them.
Under the fox's smiling gaze, his legs uncontrollably walked to the table and picked up the cards that the fox threw down.
"These cards are terrible," said Anker. "I can't win."
"I believe in you."
The fox put its furry paw on his shoulder.
"Once you see the cards, you're going to play," said the eagle.
The bear and rabbit stared at him.
Anker secretly shuddered. He picked up the terrible cards and began to play.
In the first round, he racked his brains in panic. Every step he took was cautious. But in the end, he still lost.
The bear laughed. The eagle let out a screech and stretched out its sharp claws from under the table. It grabbed the chips in front of the fox and dragged them in front of itself.
Anker looked at the fox with an ashen face.
The fox spread out its hands and smiled helplessly. "I still have some chips left. Whether I can make a comeback or not depends on you."
After that, the four animals continued to shuffle the cards, making a clattering sound. One by one, the cards were thrown in front of Anker. He did not know what they were doing.
After the cards were dealt, the fox pushed the cards in front of him with its furry paw. "The cards are good this time."
"Who are you?" Anker's teeth chattered.
"We're gamblers playing cards." The fox said. "Come on, help me win this bet. You should play cards often. Just treat it as entertainment."
Entertainment? Anker thought back to when he was young. He did play cards often, but that was in the most exclusive clubs, smoking cigars with the most upper-class people. It was a relaxing form of entertainment.
In such a place, how could he relax and find joy?
"I'm going to flip diamonds. It's your turn," said the bear.
.....
The second round.
His luck was good. Under his full concentration, he managed to turn the tables for the fox, but the number of chips in front of the fox did not increase.
"Best of five," said the fox.
"Again?" Anker asked. "Where is this place? How do I leave?"
"Finish this round first. Look, there are so many good treasures. Don't you want to win?" It pointed to the chips on the table. "With them, you can do anything you want."
"I can leave this place?"
"As long as you're willing." The fox's smiling voice was drowned out by the shuffling of the cards. The three animals reshuffled the cards and placed them in front of him.
As long as he won, he could leave?
In another round, he tensed his nerves and concentrated on the game.
This time, the cards were better than the last. He won again.
The bear slammed the table in frustration, the eagle threw the cards on the table unhappily, and the pigeon cooed incessantly.
The two consecutive victories brought a strange sense of satisfaction to Anker. The victory under pressure was different from the usual victories. He found a joy similar to walking on a tightrope.
This joy was like his first kiss when he was thirteen. It made him tremble all over. It was a feeling he had never experienced before.
The fox was right. Not only did he find joy, he even wanted to do it again.
In the third round, he was in better condition and won again.
The fox clapped happily. "See, I told you you could win, didn't I?" As it spoke, it began to take a few chips from the other animals' tables and placed them on its own table.
"What are these chips?"
Anker asked the fox curiously. He was in a good mood.
"These are time. The winner can get the time of the loser. Look." The fox used its furry paws to place the chips in front of him. Anker took a closer look. The chips were yellow, almost like gold. Not only that, there were all kinds of beautiful women in the middle of each chip. They stroked their hair coquettishly, exactly like living people.
"Isn't it great?" asked the fox. "With time, you can do anything you want."
"It's pretty good." Anker grumbled sincerely. He touched the chips in Fox's hand, and when he touched the picture of a woman in the middle, she covered her chest and giggled shyly. She was extremely shy.
"It's pretty good," he repeated with a smile. "Right, what happens if there are no chips?"
"You can eat the loser who has no chips."
The fox retracted its paws and smiled as it pointed at the circle of bones in the room. "Look, there were many people playing here, but now there are only a few of us left. If you eat enough players, you'll be able to obtain an endless amount of time. "
"Endless time?"
"Yes, the one and only eternal life," said the fox.
"That's great." Anker looked at the chips in front of the other animals and licked his lips. "I will definitely win."
He completely forgot what he was here for and threw himself wholeheartedly into the game. One round, two rounds, three rounds. After that, the game was no longer like the first two rounds where he won easily. It became normal. There were wins and losses.
However, it was precisely this cycle of winning and losing that made him feel even more excited. He kept repeating the game, and his card skills were improving rapidly as he continued to practice. Time ticked by, and the chips in front of him increased.
After a long game, the bear was the first to lose all of its chips. It let out a howl, threw away its cards and ran away.
Its howl triggered some sort of primal impulse in Anker. He stepped on the card table and jumped over. Like a wild beast, he pressed the bear under his body and bit down on its neck.
The bear's skin was rough and thick, and it took him all of his strength to tear its throat open. The blood that gushed out did not have any strange smell. It was as clear as amber and as sweet as red wine.
Under the baptism of blood, Anker's restless emotions calmed down, and he confirmed his position in the food chain. He closed his eyes, sat on the ground, and slowly ate the bear until only the bones were left. It was as if he was enjoying a feast.
While he ate, the other three animals maintained absolute silence. They were like waiters in a top-notch restaurant, not making the slightest sound.
After eating the bear, he slowly sat in his seat and looked at the three animals one by one.
"Aren't you afraid?" he asked.
What answered him was the sound of shuffling cards.
"Very good."
Anker showed a satisfied smile and began to draw cards.
He was getting familiar with the rules.
In less than twenty minutes, all the chips in front of the pigeon were won by him. Before the pigeon could escape, he grabbed the white bird in his hand, opened his mouth, and bit off its head. He used so much force that the pigeon was crushed into meat paste.
After eating the pigeon, he indifferently spat out the feather in his mouth.
"Again."
The eagle faced him. Suddenly, the eagle threw his cards.
"You win. I admit defeat."
"Why?"
Anker was surprised.
"You have become one with the rules. No one can defeat you."
"I see."
Anker shrugged indifferently. "Up to you. The ending won't change anyway."
He grabbed the eagle's wings and tore it in half.
Fresh blood dripped on his body, but this time, he felt a little bored. The eagle and pigeon did not resist.
"Boring. Not exciting at all."
He frowned and looked around. When he saw the smiling fox, he had an idea.
"You, you play with me."
The fox's smile froze on his face.
"Me?"
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