After Yu Hanjiang’s group left, Lu Jiuchuan gently placed his hand on Tang Ci’s shoulder and spoke in a hoarse voice, “You have worked hard during this period. Your legs can be healed, I really…”
Tang Ci softly interrupted him, “Brother Jiu, there is no need to say anything else.”
Lu Jiuchuan sighed. The man in front of him might be pale and thin on the surface but he was stronger than anyone else.
No one knew what Tang Ci had experienced in the Nightmare Room. When they met again, the man’s legs had already been cut off. Lu Jiuchuan had been heartbroken and Old Gui and Chu Huaying also felt sorry for him. However, facing his former teammates, Tang Ci only said calmly, “At least I am still alive.”
Yes, at least he was alive. He might be disabled but he was better off compared to their teammates who had completely disappeared in J of Clubs.
Tang Ci had previously been in charge of the team’s data statistics. After coming out of the Nightmare Room, Lu Jiuchuan thought it would be difficult to clear the S grade secret rooms with their power alone. They had to look for more powerful teammates. Therefore, Tang Ci established the Intelligence Bureau through his superb hacking skills. He hacked the database of the main cities of the Card World and retrieved all the information of ‘outsiders.’
On the one hand, they could count the number of challengers and find their information. More importantly, they could find strong teammates.
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou had both broken the records of the Hearts secret rooms. Tang Ci had noticed them. Lu Jiuchuan saw the name ‘Yu Hanjiang’ and suspected that this person was his cousin who was a police officer. Thus, Tang Ci had been paying attention to their movements. This was the reason why Old Gui sent someone to the airport to pick them up after they arrived at the main city.
It could be said that Tang Ci was the biggest contributor behind Lu Jiuchuan successfully meeting Yu Hanjiang in the World Weekly secret room.
He hacked into the ticket purchase system of the cruise company in advance, found the schedule of the ship that Yu Hanjiang and the others were on and helped Lu Jiuchuan book tickets. This was the equivalent to using hacker technology to modify Lu Jiuchuan’s ticket purchase information and forcibly letting Lu Jiuchuan and Yu Hanjiang take the same cruise ship out to sea, so that they entered the same World Weekly secret room.
Lu Jiuchuan examined the expression of the person beside him carefully. Tang Ci’s face was calm. He didn’t act too excited after knowing that his legs could be cured. On the contrary, Lu Jiuchuan was more excited than he was. Lu Jiuchuan knew that this proud man didn’t need too much comfort so he changed the subject. “Don’t you think my brother is good? This time, 8 of Spades is also a perfect clearance.”
Tang Ci nodded, a trace of appreciation in his eyes. “The strength of their team is indeed good. I just looked at the statistics of 8 of Spades and the death toll exceeds 50%. The elite teams sent by the Distant Association and the Luoying Pavilion Association have casualties but all of Yu Hanjiang’s team members survived and Shao Qingge even gained the bug king’s ability.”
Lu Jiuchuan said, “My brother is determined and loyal. That is why he insisted on not giving up his teammates after Shao Qingge was infected which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.” He glanced at the blanket covering Tang Ci’s legs and thought about how Tang Ci could finally walk as normally as before. The Tang Ci who could stand up wasn’t inferior to him in strength. This was great news for the entire team.
Tang Ci calmly looked at the data records of the Clubs secret room. “The A-grade Clubs secret room has a high probability of being a gold coins challenge. It definitely won’t be difficult for them.”
The Clubs secret room wouldn’t become difficult until it was the S-grade level and became a life-and-death confrontation game. The three A-grade Clubs room they had been to were card games for winning gold coins and there was no risk to one’s life.
Lu Jiuchuan laughed. “Wait for their good news.”
Xiao Lou returned to the villa and then chose the 8 of Clubs card from the card wall.
The group was collectively sent to the familiar preparation room and once again saw the young A of Clubs with facial paralysis.
The teenager was still wearing a black suit and black bowtie. He appeared to be only 15 or 16 years old but he pretended to be an adult. The black suit combined with the serious facial paralysis made him look a bit unusual…
However, no one dared to offend the keeper so they didn’t care about his strange hobby.
It was customary to change into suits after entering the Clubs secret room. Everyone wore the clothes that A of Clubs gave to everyone. The men wore suits and ties while the girls wore suit skirts paired with high heels. They were all dressed in black like they were going to a funeral.
A of Clubs’ emotionless voice sounded in the enclosed space. “Welcome to 8 of Clubs, Points Race.”
He flicked his fingers and the rules of the game appeared on the screen in front of the group.
There were two decks of cards present for a total of 108 cards. This included the four jokers. They were all contained in the game’s pile of cards.
Two sides would compete in a 2v2 confrontation. They would draw cards in a counterclockwise order and get 27 cards each. The game would start once all the cards were drawn.
After the game started, the player who drew a 3 of Hearts would gain priority to play a card. Then it would rotate in a counterclockwise order. The one sitting opposite was a teammate and the adjacent ones were opponents.
In every round of the game, the card played by the next player must be larger than the previous player or they couldn’t play. The player with the largest card in this round got the right to start the next round. Once a player had played a card, the other three could choose to give up. Then this player would continue to play the cards in the next round.
The game continued until two players on a team finished playing and then the game was over.
There were many types of hands in the game.
Single: Any single card.
Pair: Two cards with the same number.
Straight: Five or more connected cards such as 34567, 910JQK. However, a 2 couldn’t appear in a straight.
Connected pairs: Two or more pairs of connected cards such as 5566. However, a 2 couldn’t appear in the connected pairs.
Triple: Three cards with the same number such as 777.
Triple straight: Two or more consecutive triples such as 555666 or 777888999. A 2 couldn’t appear in the triple straight.
Three cards of the same number with one single card and three cards of the same number with a pair of cards were all based on the original card type with one or two casual cards.
Fifty K: A single card consisting of 5, 10 and K can be joined, regardless of suit. For example, 5 of Spades, 10 of Clubs and K of Diamonds could be combined to produce a 50 K.
Pure 50 K: Three cards consisting of 5, 10 and K of the same suit such as a 5 of Hearts, 10 of Hearts and K of Hearts. A Pure Fifty K was greater than a mixed Fifty K.
Bomb: The largest card type: Four cards of the same number such as 6666 or a king bomb composed of two jokers.
Comparing the same card hand, the number of points in descending order was 2>A>K>Q>J>10>9>8>7>6>5>4>3>. A similar card hand would directly compare the points. In addition, Fifty K, Pure Fifty K and a bomb were larger than any other card hand, with the bomb being the largest.
The Fifty K of mixed colour was smaller than the Fifty K of the same suit. If two players played a Pure Fifty K at the same time it was pure spades> hearts> clubs> diamonds.
……
Everyone looked at the rules and those who didn’t play cards had a headache.
Compared with the 10.5 previously played, the rules of the game this time were quite complicated and it was hard to understand for those who hadn’t played it before. However, people who were used to card games could understand it in one glance. “Isn’t this the common Fifty K in poker? Two teams group points. 5 is five points, 10 and K are both 10 points. After the cards are played, the points are cleared and whoever has more points will win?”
Qu Wanyue added, “Yes, teammates have to cooperate with each other in each round of cards. For example, you have a pair of 10s and the next person has a pair of Qs that is higher than you. Then your teammate can throw out the bomb to put your pair of 10s on the scoreboard and get 20 points.”
Yu Hanjiang hadn’t played this type of game before. He looked at the cards on the screen with a frown.
Xiao Lou explained to him, “Actually, the rules of the game are similar to Fight the Landlord. The next card must be larger than the previous one or else you ‘can’t raise it’. If you get a bomb that is two jokers then this card is the biggest. You can aim for the 10, K and other score cards of the opposing team to hold them down and take the initiative back to your own hands.”
Yu Hanjiang nodded in understanding. “Every round will give points. After the four players have finished the cards in one round, whoever has the biggest card will get the 5, 10 and K points of the current round, right?”
Xiao Lou nodded. “That’s right. If there are no score cards for the current round then it will continue to the next round until one side has played all their cards and the game is over.”
A line of scoring rules appeared on the big screen.
The 5/10/K played on the table were called table points. In addition to these points, there were bonus points at the end.
For example, the red and blue team could fight. If the red team finished their hands in first and second place respectively, they would get 100 bonus points. If one person was first and the other was third then they would get 50 bonus points. If the red team was first and fourth while the blue team was second and third, this was equivalent to a tie between the two sides and no extra points would be awarded.
The Clubs teenager spoke lightly. “The countdown is five minutes. If you don’t understand anything then ask as soon as possible.”
The card hands and size were on the screen and it wasn’t difficult to understand.
Apart from 5, 10, K and the bomb that could blow up the other cards, the remaining cards were internally compared. For example, if someone played a triple then you also had to play a triple. If someone else played a straight then you had to play a straight bigger than them.
The two decks when combined had 108 cards in total. Four people drew cards and the probability of getting four of the same number bomb card or the two jokers bomb card was too low. However, 5, 10 and K would be easier to draw. This was the key point in the game and must be used strategically.
Everyone looked at each other and obviously didn’t have many doubts about the rules of the game.
Shao Qingge wondered, “What is the use of the points obtained in the game? Can they be exchanged for rewards?”
The Clubs teenager nodded expressionlessly. “Yes.”
Shao Qingge raised his eyebrow and asked with interested, “Is the purpose of this Clubs secret room to gain gold coins?”
The Clubs teenager replied, “One point can be exchanged for a gold coin with a value of 10,000.”
Everyone, “………”
The eight people’s eyes lit up in an instant. They looked at the Clubs teenager like a starving person seeing fragrant braised pork.
The Clubs teenager, “???”
After getting a chill down his spine from being stared at by eight people, the Clubs teenager immediately said, “The game is starting. Please enter the room.”
Proofreader: Fictional Reality
