Chapter 32: The King’s Heart (Ch 32)

There are two days left until the end of the second phase of the comprehensive test [Talent Competition].

At this moment, all the students have found their teams.

Zhou Ke looked at the comprehensive test interface on the school’s official website and sighed.

Statistics show that there are as many as 1,103 students from Spade Country who have joined Su Chenxi.

Ye Lingtian’s cube camp has 394 people.

Zhou Ke’s Red Heart Kingdom has only 3 members.

Zhou Ke, Zhang Yang, Tang Xin.

This is actually not surprising.

Zhou Ke has already told everyone online that if they want to support him, they should join the Spade Nation.

Therefore, those who originally wanted to join Zhou Ke, due to Ye Lingtian’s threat, chose to join Su Chenxi.

Since Zhou Ke came from a common family, he was actually not familiar with the freshmen.

Instead of getting more teammates you don’t know, it’s more practical to find a few acquaintances you trust.

But looking at the number “3” under the column of the Red Heart Country, he still sighed slightly.

After all, senior Liu Yingming also said at the time that the more teammates there are, the better the competition will be.

“I hope that in the test the day after tomorrow, the number of people in the team won’t be that important…”

In addition to having too few supporters, Zhou Ke has another worry.

He gently took out his King Card.

It was a red heart with a crown.

At the end of the first round, senior Liu Yingming said that this card played a crucial role in the final round.

But the method to use needs to be explored by yourself.

But what good is a card?

Zhou Ke placed it in the sunlight and observed it carefully.

It’s just a very ordinary card, no different from an ordinary postcard.

Zhou Ke took the card with him and prepared to go out to the school library to look for clues.

…

“Brother Zhou Ke?”

“Tang Xin?”

“What a coincidence?”

Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered the library, Zhou Ke ran into Tang Xin at the door.

“Brother Zhou Ke, the third stage of the competition is about to begin. Is there anything you need my help with?”

Zhou Ke handed her the King of Hearts card:

“Here, this is the card. It is said that it contains clues for tomorrow’s game.”

“Do you have any idea?”

Tang Xin held up the card and looked through it in the sunlight.

But nothing unusual was found.

“Brother Zhou Ke, have you ever tried roasting with fire?”

“fire?”

“Yes,” Tang Xin said, “Use milk to write on paper, and the writing will be invisible after it dries.”

“If it is roasted over a fire, the protein in the milk will turn brown due to the heat, and the writing will reappear.”

Zhou Ke looked at her approvingly: “You know a lot.”

“I usually like to read detective novels, and many clues are hidden like this.”

“Ah, what a pity, I’m not the God of Spades, and I can’t release the flame.” Tang Xin said regretfully.

“Use this.” Zhou Ke immediately took out a lighter, pointed it at the King Card, and lit it with a click.

“Ah, I know this! Civilians invented this little gadget to start a fire because they don’t have special powers! Brother Zhou Ke, do you smoke?” Tang Xin came forward curiously.

“Well, I don’t smoke.” Zhou Ke explained: “Before I came to school, I was a magician.”

“I often do some performances with lighters.”

“Sometimes, fire… can create great magic.”

“Ah, but you probably don’t know that I won’t perform magic involving fire in the live broadcast room.”

Tang Xin didn’t understand what kind of fire magic could be called “great”, and just nodded as if he understood.

The flame of the lighter swayed slightly, heating the King Card.

Zhou Ke and Tang Xin kept staring at the card, but didn’t notice any signs of discoloration.

“It seems that it is not written with milk.”

Zhou Ke put away the lighter and sighed.

“Tang Xin, do you know any other ways to write invisible characters?”

“Of course!” Tang Xin suddenly became excited and felt happy that she could help:

“If you write with rice soup, you can use iodine to make it visible; if you write with lemon juice, you can also use fire to bake it…”

“There is also a special ink that can be irradiated with ultraviolet light…”

Tang Xin listed more than a dozen kinds in one breath and was ready to go.

“Stop, stop, stop.” Zhou Ke quickly stopped her.

“Let’s try them one by one.”

…

All failed.

Zhou Ke ran to the infirmary to get iodine, and went to the laboratory to borrow an ultraviolet lamp… He tried all kinds of methods, but there was still no effect.

At this moment, it was already dark.

“Maybe our thinking is wrong?” Zhou Ke said slowly while looking at the starry sky.

“Hey! Isn’t this our little brother Zhou Ke!” A tall figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Who are you?” Zhou Ke looked at the boy in front of him. He had dark skin and a smile on his face.

Zhou Ke said uncertainly: “Senior Li Hanfeng?”

“That’s right! What’s the matter? Why do you look so sad even when taking a walk with a pretty girl?” Senior Li Hanfeng laughed.

Zhou Ke was speechless and wanted to find an excuse to slip away to prevent him from pestering him to join his club again.

Suddenly, a sentence Zhang Yang had said before came to his mind.

He said that one of Li Hanfeng’s achievements was…

“By the way, senior, I heard that you were the freshman champion in the last comprehensive test?” Zhou Ke asked politely.

Li Hanfeng immediately put away his smile and said in a serious tone:

“Oh? You’ve heard my story?”

Zhou Ke also pretended to be serious:

“No, but your face is full of stories.”

Li Hanfeng’s expression was subtle:

“Ahem! Don’t look at me like this. I’m actually still very good! I always get first place in the exams and often win the championship in various competitions…”

Zhou Ke stretched out a raised hand:

“Stop! Who asked you?”

“Then why do you propose a comprehensive test?” Li Hanfeng said.

“I just want to ask…” Zhou Ke lowered his voice: “Did you use this King Card last year?”

Li Hanfeng was shocked for a moment: “You are not trying to trick me, right? This… Logically speaking, we cannot discuss this topic with freshmen.”

He changed the subject:

“But I don’t play by the rules!”

“Good boy, you are quite sensible! You even asked seniors for answers to previous years’ exam questions. I really admire that!”

Zhou Ke smiled and said, “You’re too kind. I don’t have any mental obsession with cleanliness, so I don’t care what means I use to win the exam.”

Li Hanfeng smiled mysteriously: “I do know some relevant information. The key to cracking the secret of the King Card lies in the difference in [Suit].”

“Oh? Please elaborate.”

“Think about it, aren’t there three King Cards? Why do we have to go through the trouble of distinguishing them into three different suits? In fact, the secret is very simple…”

“As long as you agree to join the Black Blade Group, I will tell you!”

The real purpose is revealed.

“That’s fine.”

Zhou Ke walked away without looking back, leaving senior Li Hanfeng swaying alone in the cold wind.

…

After walking far away.

“Tang Xin, please hold this King Card for me.” Zhou Ke handed over the King Card.

“Oh, okay.” Tang Xin took it.

“Raise it higher.” Zhou Ke ordered.

Tang Xin held the King card and placed it in front of Zhou Ke.

Zhou Ke stared at the red heart on it.

Although he did not receive any specific help from Senior Li Hanfeng, the information revealed in some of the conversations still gave him some hints.

He kept thinking about what Li Hanfeng had just said.

The difference in color?

On the God Cards, Spades specialize in force, Hearts control the mind, Diamonds create change…

My own King card is the heart suit, and the heart represents the soul…

Could it be that… I have to treat this King of Hearts card with sincerity?

Zhou Ke suddenly came forward, gently kissed the card, and whispered, “I love you.”

“Eh hey hey???” Tang Xin obviously misunderstood Zhou Ke’s behavior, and her face suddenly turned extremely red.

“Don’t interrupt, I’m talking to this card.” Zhou Ke didn’t even blink.

The next second, the King of Hearts Card spun rapidly, and then suddenly a silver thread appeared above it.

These threads kept changing and entwining, and finally formed a line of small characters:

【There can only be one king in the world.】

Done!

My guess was correct!

Zhou Ke was excited and looked at the line of text.

Can there be only one king in the world?

…Is this the hint?

Does this imply that in the upcoming final stage of the game, the other two kings must be killed?

“Thank you, Tang Xin. You can give me back my cards now.”

“Oh… okay.” Tang Xin finally realized that what he just said was not directed at her, and she returned the card angrily.