Whoosh!

He took a deep breath, looked at the arrogant young man opposite him, and said in a deep voice, "Let's play rock-paper-scissors."

Seeing Li You's determined stance, Bai Ye laughed.

That laugh sent a chill down Li You's spine, filling him with a sense of foreboding. No way...

The devilish whisper came as expected: "Not enough."

"Damn! Five bullets!? What kind of crazy mushroom trip is this?"

"That Bai Ye kid is playing for keeps!"

Even the commanders of the East and West Districts were stunned. They had witnessed many Wheel of Fate games, and even participated in them when they were younger, but never had they seen anyone crazy enough to play with five bullets.

That's five bullets, almost certain death.

"I get it now, you're not here to gamble on the Wheel of Fate, you're here to commit suicide!" Li You thought he had seen through Bai Ye's intentions and was sure the guy was nuts.

With five bullets, the odds of survival were less than sixty percent, which crossed his bottom line.

"If you don't dare to gamble, hand over the Forbidden Item."

Bai Ye's words made Tan Jie's eyes light up, and he quickly chimed in, "Yes! If you don't dare to gamble, hand over the Forbidden Item!"

As the East District Commander spoke, his underlings also began to shout.

Li You looked troubled, and Wang She coldly said from behind him, "Don't fall for it. This kid is trying to scare you into voluntarily giving up the Forbidden Item. Keep gambling with him. If you're not confident, let him shoot first. He's not a cheat. With five bullets in the Wheel of Fate, I don't believe he can survive!"

The hard object pressed against his back became more forceful, the cold metal gun muzzle sending a chill through his floral shirt, making his hair stand on end.

"Fine, I'll gamble with you, but... never mind, let's play rock-paper-scissors." Li You initially wanted to follow Wang She's advice and let Bai Ye shoot first, but ultimately gave up because he wasn't used to leaving his fate in others' hands. If Bai Ye's luck was really that good and he survived the shot, wouldn't he be doomed?

He preferred to rely on his right hand, honed through years of practice, to control his own destiny.

Li You loaded the fifth bullet. There were thirty seconds left until midnight.

In those last thirty seconds, Bai Ye once again shocked everyone by saying, "Not enough."

Wow!

The crowd erupted in disbelief. Did they hear wrong? Five bullets weren't enough? A revolver could only hold six bullets. Loading it fully meant certain death!

Li You's eyes widened in disbelief. "Do you even hear yourself? This isn't gambling..."

Before he could finish, he noticed the young man had already stood up and was beside him.

The young man extended a mud-covered hand, gently took the Breath of Bones from Li You's hand, and then, under the astonished gazes of the crowd, picked up the last bullet.

10, 9, 8, 7...

Bai Ye silently counted down in his heart, his eyes a mix of reason and wildness sweeping across the scene.

"I'm not someone with good luck. I don't think I can win round after round until the Forbidden Item acknowledges me. So, instead... let's settle it in one round."

With that, he loaded the last bullet.

Click!

The cylinder snapped back into place, the bullet chambered!

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Bai Ye slowly raised the Breath of Bones, loaded with six bullets, to his temple. The dark red veins on the gun's body began to writhe, like serpentine snakes burrowing into his flesh.

Everyone present thought he was insane. This wasn't gambling; it was... suicide.

Damn it, saying your luck is bad, so you settle it in one round, is that even human logic?

Looking at the diverse crowd before him, Bai Ye suddenly smiled, revealing his white teeth.

"Six bullets, I bet it misfires!"

The crowd was stunned. Such a rare statement, they had never heard before.

Who told you that's how you play the Wheel of Fate??

Under the shocked gazes of the crowd, Bai Ye's finger moved towards the trigger.

Women and children in the crowd covered their ears in fear, and some instinctively ducked to avoid being splattered with blood.

3...

2...

1!!

The countdown ended, and the midnight bell tolled!

Dong!

In the endless night, in a dimension unseen by others, a massive, majestic golden dial emerged beneath Bai Ye's feet, swiftly covering the ground.

He stood alone on the enormous dial, like a traveler abandoned by time.

Simultaneously, the surrounding people, trees, buildings, and even the sky seemed to vanish, as if erased by a divine hand, leaving only golden dials of varying sizes.

These were the time manifestations of all things.

The hands on the golden dials of these people and objects all pointed to 12:00!

Except... the massive golden dial beneath Bai Ye's feet showed—12:01.

This was his own time, one minute more than this world's.

Feeling the power return, Bai Ye unhesitatingly activated his ability.

Time... Stop!!

Buzz!

An eerie time fluctuation sounded.

The world seemed to be paused.

The previously noisy square instantly fell silent, everyone frozen like statues, the shock in Li You's eyes solidified.

The secondhand smoke from his nostrils stopped spreading, suspended motionless in the air.

In this absolutely still world, the only one who could move was... Bai Ye!

The young man who had just performed a miracle, in the instant time stopped, swiftly opened the cylinder of the Breath of Bones and began to remove bullets!

"Quick, quick, quick!! Can't waste time! Time is life!"

Ever since he learned he only had one minute a day, he cherished time more than ever, because he had done the math.

One minute a day, 365 minutes a year! That's 6 hours and 5 minutes. Calculating six hours a year, ten years is only 60 hours. At his current age of sixteen, living to 50 in the Cataclysm Era would be a miracle. Assuming that miracle happened, living to 56, that's only 40 years, accumulating 240 hours.

And 240 hours equals... ten days!!

When Bai Ye calculated that his entire life amounted to just ten days of ability, he truly understood the meaning of the phrase "time is life."

Maybe it was the dirt on his hands, or the long untrimmed nails, but it took him several tries to remove a bullet.

"Damn hand! Hurry up!!"

At this moment, cold sweat broke out on him.

Facing the danger-ridden Cataclysm Era, he wasn't scared.

Facing the life-threatening Wheel of Fate, he wasn't scared either.

But now, just thinking about the seconds ticking away, he was truly panicking.

What was slipping away wasn't just time; it was his life!

Fortunately, on the fourth attempt, he finally removed a bullet.

Whoosh!

Bai Ye exhaled deeply, quickly putting the bullet into his pocket.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

He only removed one bullet, the one about to be fired, making it a blank shot.

After doing all this, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and began to pose.

He repositioned the gun against his temple, quickly adjusted his mindset, and once again wore the smile from before, ensuring the curve of his smile was exactly the same as before, then released the time pause.

Release!

Buzz!

The eerie time fluctuation dissipated, and the world's time resumed its flow. No one knew time had stopped; everyone's attention remained on Bai Ye.

In their eyes, Bai Ye calmly and confidently pulled the trigger, exuding an inner strength that drew attention.

The revolver, with its blend of metal and flesh, had its trigger slowly pulled back, the trigger moving the hammer backward, compressing the hammer spring. At the moment the trigger was fully pulled, the hammer, under the spring's force, moved forward rapidly.

It struck the firing pin on the gun hard!

Click!

A crisp sound rang out, no smoke, no fire, and no... bullet!

Nothing happened, only the boy's unchanging smile remained.