Dead on Mars

Chapter 199 - Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Five, Master’s Diary
Chapter 199: Sol Three Hundred and Twenty-Five, Master’s Diary

“It’s my turn…” Tang Yue glanced hesitantly at the screen. He only had three cards left—a Queen of Hearts, a Ten of Clubs, and a Seven of Diamonds. Tang Yue thought for a few seconds before throwing out his biggest Queen of Hearts. “Queen of Hearts! Anyone want it? Anyone?”

“Of course! King of Spades!” Tomcat hurriedly followed.

“Crush him! Lass, stop it! Don’t let that cat escape! It has nothing in hand! Lass, use your biggest card!” Tang Yue advised. This match was coming to an end. All three of them had few poker cards left in their hands. By throwing out his Queen of Hearts, all he had were two negligible cards that made blocking Tomcat an impossibility. All he could hope for was that Mai Dong had kept a sufficiently powerful trump card.

Mai Dong and Tomcat each had two cards in their hands.

With Tomcat having just thrown a King of Spades, Tang Yue had the vague notion that there was still a 2 that hadn’t been thrown. It was likely Diamonds or Clubs. In Fighting the Landlord, 2 was the third biggest card. As long as the 2 was in Mai Dong’s hand, she could finish off Tomcat at the final step.

“Block it… Block it… Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…” The girl looked around. “Ace of Hearts!”

Tang Yue was stunned.

“Ace of Hearts? That big a card? Miss Mai Dong, you frighten me.” Tomcat pricked up its eyes, revealing a smile that kept everyone guessing as it revealed a shiny fang.

Tang Yue had an ominous feeling. Could the 2 be in Tomcat’s paws?

“Two of Diamonds.” Tomcat slowly showed its card, crossing its hindlegs like it were a god at gambling. It was just short of sunglasses and a cigar in its mouth to pull off the look. “Game over, my friends.”

With the game ending, the system gave Tomcat victory. Tang Yue and Mai Dong watched as their monitors popped out a “LOSE” window. This landlord cat had once again clinched victory. The final card that decided victory was in its paws. Without the Jokers, no one could beat it, and it was a helpless endeavor for Tang Yue and Mai Dong.

Tang Yue looked at the Happy Beans on his account being swept away as the number beneath Tomcat’s name rose sharply. As landlord, it had won the game, receiving double the winnings. Therefore, it had made a killing.

After a series of tinkling sounds, Tang Yue’s Happy Beans finally fixed at 80,000. Mai Dong was worse than him, having only 40,000 left. Indeed, playing cards with a robot cat was futile. Tomcat could remember all the cards, allowing it to remember all the cards that had been played. It maintained its status as the landlord, wiping clean the two peasants—Tang Yue and Mai Dong.

“Tang Yue, you are a spectator; yet, you are providing unsolicited advice to Miss Mai Dong.” Tomcat held a paper roll in its mouth as it cocked its head. “In the previous, previous round, you shouldn’t have been in a rush to throw out the Black & White Joker. It made the 2 in my paw become the biggest card. Otherwise, there was still a chance for you to win that round.”

“It’s none of your business.”

“Miss Mai Dong, don’t listen to Tang Yue the next time,” Tomcat said. “You will lose without knowing why if you follow his advice.”

“She will lose terribly if she doesn’t listen to me.”

In terms of card-playing skills, Tomcat was better than Tang Yue who was better than Mai Dong. Mai Dong rarely played cards, and her skills were basically at the beginner level. Among Orion II’s astronauts, the experienced gamblers were actually Thomp and Max. Despite being two Caucasians with their blonde hair and green eyes, they were enamored by the Sichuan style of mahjong. Furthermore, they were strong supporters of including Sichuan mahjong and poker in the Olympics.

“Another round!”

“Again. Shuffle the cards.”

They were playing another round of Fighting the Landlord.

Kunlun Station’s computer had it installed. Many people could connect to it, providing the astronauts with some entertainment during their leisure time. However, Old Wang and company didn’t have much time to play games while they were around. Compared to poker, the astronauts preferred mahjong. They had even brought in a set of mahjong tiles with them. After Tang Yue finished his daily routine, he would sit in front of the computer and begin the game with Mai Dong.

Years into the future, if any intelligent life were to dig out Tang Yue’s diary, they would probably see such a description:

“Earth 1 June 2053 A.D. Weather is clear. Nothing happened. Played cards.”

“Earth 2 June 2053 A.D. Played cards.”

“Earth 3 June 2053 A.D. Weather has turned a little chilly. Played cards with Tomcat and Mai Dong.”

It resembled the style of the respected masters while China was still a republic.

Tang Yue recalled reading the university diary entries of Ji Xianlin while he was schooling, hoping that he could glean the amazing achievements of a master. He wanted to emulate the scholarly gentleman’s attitude towards studies in his youth, while also curious as to how such an amazing person’s daily life was different from his. He wanted to know if the man would memorize the numbers of pi when eating… However, when he flipped open the diary, the first bombastic words he saw was: “Today, I deeply understand the insipidness of exams. It’s all a bunch of nonsensical lecture notes that we are required to memorize!” This stunned Tang Yue.

Following that, there were the words which were filled with aplomb: “Didn’t do anything meaningful. F*ck these bastard professors. All they know is to have tests every day. If it’s not this subject, it’s another one. What the f*ck are they testing us on?”

At that moment, Tang Yue seemed to feel a spiritual resonance that reached deep into his heart.

“I have no other wishes left in life. All I hope is to see more women over the days, having more interaction with women from different lands.” When Tang Yue saw such a description, he was overwhelmed with admiration and couldn’t help but sigh. A master was truly an unbridled youth when he was young.

At this moment, Tang Yue felt that he had the potential to become a master.

Tomcat retorted that he had none of that. The only resemblance Tang Yue had with Master Hu was in playing cards and Master Li’s ability to curse. He had none of their actual skills.

“Who’s the landlord this round?” Tang Yue asked. “Who got the landlord card?”

There was silence in Kunlun Station for a few seconds.

Tang Yue glanced at Tomcat who rolled its eyes. “What are you looking at me for? I’m not the landlord this time.”

“I’m… the landlord,” Mai Dong said. “I got that card.”

“Mai Dong is the landlord?” Tang Yue was surprised.

“Yes.”

“Hahaha, it’s finally Mai Dong’s turn to be landlord. I love bullying young ladies who are newbies.” Tang Yue arranged the poker cards in his hand as he rubbed his hands in glee. “I’m going to turn this around! I’ll win back all the Happy Beans I lost. Lass, this will be a fair fight. I won’t be going easy on you… Watch my skills as the Kunlun Gambling Saint.”

“I’m not some newbie. You think of yourself as the Kunlun Gambling Saint?” Mai Dong carried her notebook computer. “I’m also a gambling saint, the United Space Station Gambling Saint. It’s a battle between gambling saints.”

There was nothing wrong with what she said.

No matter how unskilled Mai Dong was, there was no one better than her at cards in the United Space Station.

“Gambling Saints… Stop pecking at each other.”

Tomcat slowly and languidly looked up, done with the arranging of the cards in its paws.

“If you drag this on any further, I’ll be summoning Exodia the Forbidden One.”