The Phantom Gamblers of the Silver State

Previously

…Elias, a man whose quiet intensity seemed to absorb the surrounding frenzy, moved with a practiced, almost fluid grace. His eyes, sharp and observant, swept over the crimson carpets, the gilded accents, the faces of those caught in the thrall of chance. His mission was clear: to establish a baseline, to understand the rhythm of this bustling metropolis of dreams and disappointments, before he began to listen for the whispers that lay beneath the clamor. He started his sweep on the periphery, a deliberate strategy to observe without immediately