6. The Brave Pawn Crossing the River

Before the middle-aged man looked up, Qing Chen thought he might be deaf, given that the loud noise nearby hadn't affected him at all.

However, after the middle-aged man looked up, Qing Chen almost thought he himself was deaf because the noisy square had suddenly become silent, without a single extra sound.

The astonished expressions in the eyes of the people around, along with an array of inexplicable emotions, seemed to serve as a backdrop for the identity of the middle-aged man.

Because in the past, this middle-aged man had never responded to anyone asking for help.

Suddenly, Qing Chen breathed a sigh of relief, as everything proved that he had gambled correctly.

The middle-aged man said nothing to him, but calmly moved the red piece forward on the chessboard, advancing it one space.

The middle-aged man, holding the black pieces, chose to move his elephant from five back to seven, capturing the pawn that had just aggressively advanced.

Qing Chen watched the chessboard quietly from afar. This Four Invaders Capture the King endgame was known as one of the most perilous setups on Earth.

Typically, an endgame meant that the black side was sure to win, with the red side not even able to achieve a draw. Achieving a draw meant solving the endgame.

But Qing Chen was not satisfied with a draw.

The Four Invaders Capture the King endgame was peculiar, with four audacious red pawns having crossed the river to the end line, and both chariots still present.

The situation appeared evenly matched at first glance; however, in reality, this endgame was fraught with fatal strategies and traps everywhere. Black needed only one move to win the game, while red could only run around frantically; a moment's inattention could lead to them thinking they had secured victory, only to be defeated in a counterattack.

This was a position full of hope that could slowly drag a person into despair.

"Continue," the middle-aged man said flatly.

Qing Chen said, "Pawn two moves to three."

The middle-aged man's eyes brightened, and at that moment, he seemed truly interested, too lazy to touch the chessboard, he closed his eyes and followed along with Qing Chen in a game of blind chess, "King six advances one."

Qing Chen also closed his eyes, "Rear chariot advances four."

"Elephant seven retreats to nine."

By the sixth turn, Qing Chen suddenly said, "Chariot one advances seven!"

The middle-aged man, whose eyes had been closed, opened them again, astonished, looking at Qing Chen, "Elephant five retreats to seven."

During the first five moves, back and forth, everything was unremarkable. But from this sixth step onward, both sides began mercilessly exchanging pieces!

You kill mine! I kill yours! Blood flowing like rivers, a field of mourning soldiers!

The decisiveness and determination on the chessboard were extremely brutal.

Both were like the calmest generals on a battlefield, sacrificing everything for the final victory.

The Four Invaders Capture the King setup had fiercely brought out a spirit of valor in them, yet behind this valor lay their deep calculations.

At the beginning, Qing Chen's red side, with four ferocious pawns crossing the river, looked more aggressive, yet he chose to sacrifice each one for other strategies, keeping only the last one!

Chariot one moves to four.

King four moves to five.

Cannon four moves to five.

Chariot three moves to five.

By the fifteenth move, Qing Chen finally let out a long breath, "Pawn five advances one!"

The dagger was revealed when the drawing was finished.

Capture the king!

It wasn't until this moment that the charm of solving the chess endgame of "Four Invaders Capture the King" finally burst forth, indescribably fascinating. The situation of mutual annihilation along the Chu-Han border made the middle-aged man feel as if he were truly on a battlefield, strategizing against a tactician.

This game of chess was perilous at every turn.

What astonished the middle-aged man most was that, despite his young age, the youth in front of him didn't hesitate at all when sacrificing pieces to alter the game.

Not abandoning or giving up is indeed important, but war is war, and how can there be a war without sacrifices?

He silently watched the young man opposite him, who was also staring back, his expression solemn and stubborn.

It seemed as if he was fighting his way out of a desperate situation, carving out a new path in life.

The middle-aged man understood, he was playing a chess game, whereas the opponent was striving to survive in an environment encircled by steel beasts, thus their attitudes were inherently different.

No one noticed that at that moment, of the 210 surveillance cameras in this prison fortress, 81 of them directly turned towards Qing Chen.

The black camera lenses swirled inward as if focusing on Qing Chen's face.

No one knew who was behind the surveillance cameras, focusing in on him.

The middle-aged man chuckled and placed the black general upside down on the chessboard, "Interesting, not many people know how to play chess these days, let's continue tomorrow."

Having said that, he walked towards the library area with his hands behind his back, leaving the chessboard on the dining table untouched by anyone.

The grey cat at the table stood up and silently followed behind the middle-aged man.

When the cat curled up, it resembled a furry ball, seemingly not large at all.

However, when it stretched out, Qing Chen realized that the cat was surprisingly large, over a meter long, and exceptionally agile.

Typical cats walk with a light and graceful step known as a "catwalk," but this cat moved with the posture of a tiger.

Everyone in the square who was watching was stunned, the youth had actually won the game?

Honestly, they didn't understand chess, and when it came down to both sides playing blind chess, they understood even less.

In this era, there were too many entertainment activities, each more exciting and enjoyable than chess.

They could use chips to directly attain pleasure, and even log their consciousness into virtual networks. It was an era where happiness was incredibly cheap; how many could outsmart artificial intelligence in chess?

However, their astonishment at Qing Chen winning over the middle-aged man stemmed from the fact that, in their eyes, how could that middle-aged man possibly lose?

Whether it was in chess or combat, how could he lose?

Honestly, Qing Chen was also puzzled. This middle-aged man clearly did not have mechanical limbs, nor did his two companions, yet why was he so highly regarded in this prison rampant with steel beasts?

The young man who had blocked Qing Chen earlier winked at him, "Impressive. My name is Lin Xiaoxiao, and this is Ye Wan. See you tomorrow."

After speaking, he and another young man called Ye Wan followed the middle-aged man and left together.

At this moment, Qing Chen didn't even know the middle-aged man's name, only the names of the two companions; but this was undoubtedly a good start.

The tension in the square only began to ease when the middle-aged man, along with Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao, had all gone to the reading area.

The prisoner welcoming new inmates was still pulling new arrivals into their cells, including Qing Chen. Out of the 12 newcomers, 9 had already been taken in.

Now, when Qing Chen looked at those prisoners, they no longer considered targeting him.

Suddenly, a young man equipped with a mechanical leg ran up to Qing Chen, speaking hastily, "We are both new here, help me, and I'll follow your lead from now on."

The surrounding prisoners watched coldly. They were still a bit unclear about the situation; Qing Chen was definitely off-limits, but if this young man wanted to protect other newcomers, they were not willing.

However, Qing Chen turned a deaf ear to the young man's words, his expression as calm as if he heard nothing at all.

The prisoners laughed and forcefully dragged the young man away.

Only to hear the young man yell, "My uncle is a Director at City 17's Ming Company, you..."

Before he could finish speaking, the other prisoners burst into laughter, "Apart from the five major corporations, other companies are not worth mentioning. Not to mention you, even if your uncle came to this prison fortress, he would have to behave."

Qing Chen silently listened to everything, absorbing all the useful information. He had just been identifying the identities of these newcomers, trying to see if there were any other Earth people hidden among them.

He himself had crossed over, having no memories belonging to this world, and until now, he didn't even know how many years he had been sentenced.

Qing Chen believed that others also lacked memories, so anyone like this young man who could talk about relationships outside the prison, probably wasn't from his "hometown."

Among the twelve new inmates, it seemed that only that broken young man and he were from Earth.

For some reason, Qing Chen didn't feel discouraged at all, instead, he felt somewhat excited about his radically different... life.

A radically different life.

The phrase itself sounded very enticing.

When your own life is already a mess, and then someone presents a button in front of you saying, "Press this, and you'll enter an extraordinary life."

But pressing it could lead to two outcomes.

It might be better.

Or it might be worse.

Would you press it?

Qing Chen felt he probably would.

On Earth, he always seemed superfluous; his father regarded him as a burden, his mother had a new family, and his relatives seldom interacted with him.

Qing Chen had already spent two Spring Festivals alone.

So, if your past life was all gloom, then no matter how dangerous, unknown, or terrifying the new world is, it would still be somewhat anticipated.

This world was different. For Qing Chen, coming here from Earth felt like a rebellious adventure in life, as well as a liberation from the past.

If it hadn't been for this countdown incident, he would have probably focused on his studies, worked hard to support himself, and relied on his unique memory to get into a very good, very distant university, never to return.

Yet, that kind of life seemed still somehow uninteresting.

He believed that not many people had traveled with him from Earth, and even if there were a few thousand or tens of thousands, it was a very small ratio compared to the total.

This made him feel special.

Countdown 39:31:29.

Qing Chen silently observed his surroundings, intending to record all the information he could see, so that he could slowly analyze it once he was back in his cell alone.

Above an alloy gate next to the square, there was a blue holographic projection displaying the bouncing time, AM8:29.

The three-dimensional holographic image looked so novel and conspicuous, 8:29 AM.

Just then, a young man took advantage of the moment when others were distracted, and suddenly came over to Qing Chen and whispered, "You finally came in, just as handsome as the legends say. I am Lu Guangyi, Qing Yan arranged for me to come here three months ago, you can just call me Xiao Lu."

Qing Chen: "???"

He paused for a moment and looked at the other person.

This young man named Lu Guangyi was about 24 or 25 years old, with short black hair, both his right arm and left leg were equipped with mechanical limbs, and he even had mechanical eyes. Qing Chen could even see spiral patterns in his eyes adjusting their focus.

His mechanical limbs, unlike those of most prisoners, whether it was their streamlined design or their material, appeared to be of high quality.

Qing Chen searched his memories, tracing the other's actions.

Only then did Qing Chen realize that Lu Guangyi had looked at him 21 times in just over an hour, and that was only the times he fell within his own field of view.

Qing Chen did not know who this person was, but the way he spoke, it was clear that he knew him, and he even used honorifics.

From Lu Guangyi's point of view, it seemed I was also in this prison fortress with another agenda.

But Qing Chen was afraid of exposing his time travel, so he didn't want to get too involved with Lu Guangyi at the moment, "I don't need your help for now; I can handle some things myself."

Lu Guangyi's head shook like a bobblehead, "No, no, I must take good care of you."

Qing Chen also shook his head, "No one's character is nobler than anyone else's; you don't need to use words like 'serve'."

At this point, Lu Guangyi said sycophantically, "Come on, just order me around in the future; just think of me as your lapdog, the foot-licking kind!"

Qing Chen was speechless, what kind of person would say such utterly shameless things, "What if I have athlete's foot?"

Lu Guangyi, not embarrassed at all, said, "Then I could lick it better for you!"

Qing Chen was silent for a long while, "...Awesome."

Even though he was trying very hard to restrain himself from speaking recklessly, he couldn't help but be astounded.

Qing Chen was a bit confused now; he had clearly traveled through time with both his body and consciousness, so why were there such bizarre past interpersonal relations?

That is to say, did people in this world really think he had been living here for so many years?

Seeing that Qing Chen wasn't talking, Lu Guangyi whispered, "This morning I was wondering why you hadn't come to find me at the first moment; it turns out you planned to approach Uncle Li Dong as a newcomer, so clever. In this Prison No. 18 fortress, having Uncle Li Dong's help will make our plan much smoother."

Qing Chen, "..."

What plan.

What are you talking about.

Can you be clearer?!

Lu Guangyi continued as if talking to himself, "I've been in here for over three months and have gathered a group of useful people for you; don't worry, they won't let you down."

The young man was chattering incessantly.

Qing Chen felt that Lu Guangyi was a bit of a chatterbox, and he just listened silently, unsure of how to respond.

It was like playing "Who's The Spy" with a blank card, having to wait for everyone to finish speaking before you could talk; otherwise, if everyone else's word was "urine" and you were the first to speak, suggesting it was drinkable, that would create a big problem.

He searched his mind and remembered that at breakfast, there were vaguely a hundred people around Lu Guangyi, each equipped with mechanical limbs.

It appeared that these people were the "subordinates" Lu Guangyi had recruited after coming here.

Seeing that Qing Chen still wasn't speaking, Lu Guangyi asked again in a low voice, "But be careful with Uncle Li Dong, dealing with such a person is like bargaining with a tiger, and it could put us in a passive position... sorry, I spoke too much."

At that moment, Qing Chen realized that the mentioned Uncle Li Dong was probably that middle-aged man.

Lu Guangyi thought he had a mission as soon as he came in and went straight to play chess with Uncle Li Dong.

But approaching Uncle Li Dong wasn't for some crappy plan; it was for survival.

"What instructions did you bring with you this time?" Suddenly Lu Guangyi asked.

Qing Chen slowly turned to look at the young man, "A monk has come from the south."

The young man, "???"

Qing Chen didn't bother with him any longer and just walked away, leaving Lu Guangyi standing there stunned, "A monk has come from the south? What monk?"

...

Chapter 6 is up. Please recommend and vote for the month.

Thank you, Nan Gengchen, Alpaca Xiao Fierce Xu, God Hidden, Bai Li Tong Yun, and Lonely Lonely Lonely Lonely for becoming chiefs of this book!