Staring at the stunned Algae and Fern, Twenty who was unexpectedly smiling, and Moss who was glaring at him, Lin Yu calmly spread his hands.

“Sorry, I lost.”

This was the best strategy Lin Yu could come up with.

If he didn’t have his hidden card, the seven, and Algae, Fern, and Moss could reach a relatively optimal solution with their hands…

There happened to be a rule that allowed someone to avoid participating in the base-card “exchange.”

That was…

to voluntarily declare a bust.

By doing this, he could sacrifice himself, lose this round, and greatly increase the other three’s chances of winning.

This was the plan Lin Yu had thought of from the start.

He had decided that even if he had to sacrifice himself to help the three of them—of course not for any grand reason—he would do it.

Essentially, Lin Yu had three motives.

First, he did it to maintain his persona, and in a two-sided way.

Such a self-sacrificial move would, in Twenty’s view, likely further confirm the reality of the “four-in-one” arrangement.

And to Algae and Fern, it would probably make them even more certain that the newly emerged personalities were “radical” types. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Second, Lin Yu’s action might send the remaining few out.

If Fern, Algae, and Moss all won, they would be expelled from the dream.

That would again create a one-on-one scenario between himself and Twenty inside the dream… a scenario that would definitely benefit Lin Yu.

Third…

this was also Lin Yu’s “test” and “probe.”

As for the fact that after losing this round, losing once more might force him to answer Twenty’s questions, Lin Yu didn’t care.

He even faintly hoped he would have to answer.

Although it might carry some risk, if he didn’t answer, how could he ever fully fool the “Detective” in front of him?

So Lin Yu directly forfeited this round.

Just as Lin Yu had expected, Twenty immediately saw Lin Yu’s hidden card and understood Lin Yu’s motive.

“Because every face-up card on your side pairs poorly with your seven, you chose to give up outright? That’s quite a decisive choice.”

Twenty said softly.

Before Twenty’s explanation, Fern and Moss had clearly already grasped Lin Yu’s tactic.

After Twenty’s prompt, Algae also realized what was happening.

Seeing how they looked at Lin Yu, Algae couldn’t help but feel a solemn respect.

“Amazing, Grass… you actually chose such a ‘radical’ method.”

“More like, no wonder it’s ‘me.’ Radical, yet smart and resolute.”

Fern clearly approved of Lin Yu’s move.

Her resentment about “Grass” having taken Moss earlier had faded considerably.

If others were the only ones being radical, Fern would have had some grievances.

Now, seeing that Grass, after judging the situation, was willing to decisively sacrifice himself without double standards, Fern naturally changed her opinion of Grass for the better.

Twenty also looked at Fern.

“Do you want to draw a card?”

“I’ll pass this round.”

Fern shook her head, opting to follow the current “optimal solution” and decline drawing.

Next, Algae similarly passed on drawing.

Then it was Moss’s turn.

Moss chose to draw.

He quickly received a Jack, a T-card worth 10 points.

If, after future exchanges, his cards would end up being 2 and 3 for a combined 5 points, Moss would currently be holding 15 points.

Moss furrowed his brow, thought for a moment, then shook his head and chose to stop drawing.

“I won’t draw.”

After all, the dealer Twenty’s face-up card was only a five, not very large.

That meant the opponent would need an Ace or a T-card to beat Moss without drawing.

Besides, the dealer could easily bust—if Twenty wanted to beat more people, Algae’s T-card on the table would put enough pressure on him.

“All right, now you can decide whether to exchange cards.”

Twenty said, then began drawing for himself.

He drew a seven, then immediately stopped.

Next, the Trio of Algae, Fern, and Moss started exchanging cards.

“All right, reveal your hands.”

With the dealer Twenty’s voice, everyone flipped over their hole cards.

Fern had a King and a Nine, totaling 19 points.

Algae had an Ace and a Queen—21 points, a blackjack, an automatic win.

Moss had 2, 3, and a Jack—15 points.

Twenty’s cards were 6, 5, and 7, coming to 18 points.

So this round’s result was Algae and Fern winning, Moss and Lin Yu losing.

When Algae and Fern saw the outcome, Fern was about to say something, but Twenty raised a hand and sent them away.

“Whoosh!”

The two figures disappeared from thin air.

Seeing them leave, Lin Yu fell into thought.

“Hmm… after those two leave, will their real bodies wake up?”

Though he had no evidence, Lin Yu vaguely felt they would not.

After all, Twenty himself was still asleep!

If that were the case, wouldn’t this move be controlling himself?

Also… Moss should be the host personality; if the host doesn’t leave, maybe they don’t count as awakened.

Twenty spoke indifferently, “All right, congratulations to the two of them, they won this game.”

“But you two… you just lost.”

“If you lose one more round, you’ll have to answer my question.”

Twenty reminded them.

Lin Yu didn’t respond.

Moss nodded slightly.

“I know, continue.”

Moss made a beckoning gesture.

For Moss’s usual image, the gesture was a bit too mature.

It didn’t match the withdrawn childlike persona Moss had shown before.

Sure enough, Twenty looked at Moss with some surprise.

“It seems having the other two around earlier affected how you performed.”

Twenty slowly shuffled the cards, glancing at Moss as if speaking casually.

Lin Yu heard Twenty’s doubt but kept silent.

However, he realized something…

Twenty seemed to think Moss’s earlier choice not to draw was a bit suspicious.

Moss readily nodded in agreement.

“Yes, I did it to send the two of them away.”

Moss said what Lin Yu had just been thinking almost verbatim.

“Honestly, the punishment for us losing—only having to answer questions—isn’t much of a punishment to me.”

“I don’t mind answering questions.”

Moss spoke the longest sentence Lin Yu had heard from the kid since they’d met.

Moss delivered the long line almost in one breath, with barely any fluctuation in tone.

Twenty looked at Moss with keen interest.

“You don’t even know what I plan to ask, do you?”

“I really don’t know; it would just be about my identity or something,” Moss said calmly, “but that’s exactly why I wanted you to ask.”

“Because when you ask, and I answer, the one who gains information isn’t just you who hears the ‘answer.’”

“It also includes me who hears the ‘question.’”

Moss stated an extremely simple fact.

For two sides that don’t understand each other, merely asking a question can already reveal a lot.