135 The Wager!

Three days later, it was clear that Joss had not been killed; his ashes were still quite comfortably settled within his own body.

"Tell me, what will it take for you to leave my Sakaar?"

Inside the Grandmaster’s arena, in an incredibly luxurious parlor, a beaming Joss and a sullen Grandmaster sat across from each other at a circular table, locked in a standoff. After the three waves of warriors he had dispatched failed to return, the Grandmaster knew that this situation was no longer simple. Well, even if he was a bit of a clown, he knew that when the same thing happened three times, there was definitely something fishy going on. Though, it was unclear if he had ever considered the fact that sending people to wreck the shop while his brother and various other big shots were present was essentially an act of suicide.

Watching the Grandmaster, whose brow was pinched with suppressed fury, Joss wore a grin as bright as a blooming chrysanthemum. It hadn't been easy; despite the significant effort involved, Joss had finally arrived here to face the master of Sakaar. Under normal circumstances, an unknown person wanting a one-on-one conversation with him had only two choices: either act as a warrior—like Hulk, Beta Ray Bill, or Man-Thing—smashing through every opponent to stand before him like a god of war, or be as adept at reading minds as Loki, spending years of clever scheming to slowly become his friend. The former would result in the Grandmaster slapping on an inhibitor that could paralyze a person instantly, and the latter was time-consuming, exhausting, and impossible to pull off without talent and power as a foundation.

Yet, Joss had relied on a crooked, unorthodox path to carve out a new way! Of course, it was slightly different from what he had originally envisioned. He had hoped to turn the Grandmaster into an idol otaku, which would have made subsequent steps much easier. But the man guarded his arena like a fortress, refusing to watch the performances no matter how much others raved about them—much like those people who refuse to watch *Kemono Friends* no matter how hard you shill it to them.

After a brief moment of self-satisfaction, Joss turned his attention back to the current situation. While his plan had deviated, the first step—meeting the Grandmaster—was a success, though Joss wasn't entirely satisfied.

"Why would I leave Sakaar? I’m having a pretty good time here." Joss picked at his ear with his pinky finger, acting as if he weren't the one who had turned the Grandmaster’s arena into a desolate wasteland of empty seats.

"Because I don't allow idols on my Sakaar! That is a law I just passed!" The Grandmaster slammed his hand on the table and roared.

Hearing such an absurd statement, Joss felt a momentary pang of heart-straining irritation. He had sensed the man was a clown while watching the movies, but having actual contact made him realize just how truly ridiculous the guy was. Heaven knows how a brain like that—and such shallowness—managed to become the master of Sakaar.

However, ridiculous or not, Joss wasn't about to lose the upper hand in the public arena. He slammed his own hand on the table and stood up. "So what! I’m performing right here, what are you going to do about it? Send more people to fight me?"

The Grandmaster was furious! *Hey, it’s not like I haven’t tried! Isn’t that exactly why we’re negotiating, because you wiped them all out?* Did he really have no one under his command who could deal with Joss? That was impossible. Even if his guards lacked the strength, he still possessed plenty of starships and all manner of black-tech weaponry. But did he dare make a move against Joss, or rather, the Seven Sins Idols?

He wouldn't dare even if he were granted ten times the courage. It was said that the souls of countless people had been snatched away by those idols. Even if the big shots didn't intervene, the local population of Sakaar alone was enough to be fatal. Although the Grandmaster hadn't crunched the numbers at first, after his loyal subordinates explained the concept of "people power" and how "ants can bite an elephant to death," the Grandmaster had been forced to hold his nose and come to negotiate with Joss. Unfortunately, he wasn't a master negotiator, and neither was Joss; the result was this high-stakes negotiation devolving into a farce.

The Grandmaster’s face darkened. He frowned and said in a low voice, "In any case, as long as you and your people leave Sakaar, whether you want money or goods, if I have it, it’s yours."

The words stunned everyone in the room. The master negotiator, the Grandmaster, had immediately revealed his bottom line. It was terrifying! Truly terrifying!

Joss chuckled, looking lighthearted and breezy as he replied, "I only want your Champion gladiator, Hulk. Oh, and yeah, throw in some money and weapons too."

A master of verbal trickery, Joss instantly exposed his primary target as a counter-maneuver, scaring the likes of Sokh—who had come to support him—into an awkward silence. This guy was truly a powerhouse! The subordinates on both sides exchanged a look, a tacit "I get you," and then silently retreated a few paces.

It was just too embarrassing. What kind of negotiation was this? Elementary school level?

After a round of verbal sparring—or rather, just two people talking nonsense at each other—the Grandmaster finally couldn't hold back. "In that case, let’s gamble! If you win, you take Hulk and whatever else you asked for. If I win, all of your people get out!"

As a man who loved to open gambling dens, the deadlocked conversation had finally moved in this direction. As everyone turned their heads toward the Grandmaster, a smile reminiscent of Katsuya Jonouchi spread across Joss’s face. He had waited so long for this line!

"A gamble? What do you want to bet on?"

The Grandmaster waved a hand, exuding grandeur. "Since I’m the one letting you gamble, you set the terms!"

Before the words had even faded, the plump female guard standing beside him reached out and covered his mouth, clearly having reached the limit of her patience with her clown of a boss. If she didn't step in, there was no telling if this guy might bet away all of Sakaar next. He was an Elder of the Universe and might not care, but they, the ordinary people, certainly did. Who could handle the trauma of suddenly having to move to another planet? Being a wanderer on Sakaar was a death sentence, you know!

After forcibly putting a stop to the Grandmaster’s self-destruct sequence, the female guard held up five fingers. "We will use a best-of-five format. Both sides will take turns setting the rules. Since the Grandmaster has already said you should set them, please go first, Mr. Joss."

The female guard was highly intelligent, spoke with great decorum, and clearly held the Grandmaster’s trust; even after her bold move, the Grandmaster didn't react with anything more than a grumble.

Joss gave a wicked grin and slapped a deck of cards onto the table. "Let’s draw cards and compare sizes. If you can beat me once, you win."