After he finished up his work in the lab, Rocky headed over to the Scarlet Heaven Jade. He had
successfully challenged Darius and learned the peerless swordsmanship last time, so he moved on to
challenge another spiritual tablet. That tablet belonged to a powerful being, Lorenzo, who used to be
famous in the Supreme Ether Land.
At first, Rocky was worried that Lorenzo was an extremely vicious and wicked man. However, he
turned out to be quite the opposite.
"You lost again!" Lorenzo cried happily, setting his chess piece onto the chessboard firmly. Eyes filled
with amusement, he whispered triumphantly, "Checkmate."
"Sir, your chess skills are impressive," Rocky said with a wistful sigh. "We've played at least a dozen
rounds, yet I haven't won once!" He was at a loss whether to cry or to laugh. Although he didn't have
much experience in chess, he thought he at least had a fighting chance. He never expected he would
lose so miserably each time.
"Ha-ha, don't be discouraged," Lorenzo said, chuckling lightly. "You're not so bad a player yourself, but
are a little inferior compared to me."
"But when will you be willing to fight with me, sir?" Rocky asked urgently. "I don't think it's a good idea
for me to just keep on playing chess!" He had been playing chess with Lorenzo for two days now, and
he had lost miserably each time. But more than the fact that losing made him feel defeated, he also felt
it was a complete waste of time.
"Young man, don't you understand?" Lorenzo asked, his eyes twinkling. "The mystery of this chess
game is beyond the imagination of ordinary people. Since you have played so many rounds of chess
with me, I will give you some guidance." With a wave of his hand, the pieces on the chessboard began
to move. When they stopped moving, Rocky found that they were in a position of a final phase of a
chess game.
"Do you think there is a way to turn the tables for this game?" Lorenzo asked, gesturing at the board.
Rocky carefully studied the situation of the chess game in front of him. In his mind, he played out some
moves, but no matter what he thought up, he couldn't figure out a way to win that game.
"I don't think there is a way around it," Rocky finally said after a while.
"Okay, take a good look." As soon as Lorenzo finished speaking, he began to move the chess pieces.
It didn't take long for him to change the situation of the end-game. Although Rocky had been watching
all the time, he couldn't figure out how Lorenzo did it. The whole process seemed to be no different
from the ordinary attack and defense methods, but in the end, Lorenzo won the game, even though he
had been at a disadvantage.
"See? In your opinion, there is no solution to the chess game, but in fact, there is a solution. What do
you think I'm trying to tell you?" Lorenzo asked, eyebrow raised.
"Please teach me!" Rocky pleaded as he cupped his hands.
"Actually, it doesn't mean anything!" Lorenzo threw his head back and laughed.
"I don't understand what you're trying to say," Rocky said hesitantly.
"It doesn't matter whether there is a known solution or not," Lorenzo said, his expression suddenly
growing serious. "What matters is that you're willing to give it a try. If you don't even try, then even if
there is a solution in the chess game, you won't find it. Whether there is a solution or not is up to you."
"I see," Rocky said slowly. "But I still don't understand what you're trying to say to me by telling me
this."
"Actually, what I want to teach you is already in the game of chess with you, including the end-game
just now. Go back and think about it carefully. Come to me when you have figured it out!" Without
waiting for a response, Lorenzo flew straight into the spiritual tablet and turned into a stone statue
again.
"He must really like to mess with me," Rocky grumbled under his breath. "But what was he trying to
teach me through that game of chess?" Fortunately, he had fantastic memory. He studied their games,
positioning the pieces on the board according to each round of chess he and Lorenzo had played in the
past two days. Even then, however, Rocky still couldn't figure out what Lorenzo was trying to teach
him.
"Miss Hannah will arrive soon," he said to himself, looking at the magnet clock he made on the wall. "I'd
better go out to meet her first."
Sure enough, just as he left his Magic Spiritual Space, he heard a knock on the door. When he opened
it, he found Hannah standing outside, alone. Without even so much of a greeting, she strode into the
room.
"Well, don't just stand there," she said hastily. "Close the door!"
Rocky obediently closed the door, deciding to go along with her demands.
"Are you ready?" Hannah asked immediately.
"Yes, I'm prepared." Rocky nodded.
"Then, hurry up. I have to go out later," Hannah ordered.
Without dilly-dallying any further, Rocky took her to his Magic Spiritual Space. Just like last time, he
injected the gene serum into her body and monitored her body's response to it.
Six hours later, Hannah woke up without any hitches.
"Everything went well?" Hannah asked, blinking the sleep away from her eyes.
"Yes, you're fine." Rocky nodded.
"There's only one last dose, right? Does that mean I need to come here after three days?" Hannah
asked, her eyes wide. It was evident her heart was filled with hope.
"Yes," Rocky said curtly.
"Well, I'll see you then." Hannah got ready to leave. She had no time to spare, since she had plans
prior. Briskly getting off the operating table, she noticed a chessboard and strewn pieces on the table
nearby.
"Are you playing chess alone?" Hannah couldn't help but ask in curiosity.
"Yes, it's just for fun," Rocky replied, offering no further explanation.
"When I was a child, I often played chess with my father..." Hannah said wistfully. She couldn't help but
recall her childhood memories.
"I didn't expect Master Timothy would have such a hobby." Rocky smiled.
"But your game is so strange!" she exclaimed, looking carefully at the chess pieces on the chessboard.
Suddenly, her eyes narrowed.
"What's so strange about it?" Rocky asked, his brows furrowing slightly.
"If I don't look at the chess pieces of this side and only look at those of the other side, the shape formed
by the pieces is quite strange, yet almost familiar. I might have seen it somewhere before..." Hannah
replied slowly.
After hearing that, Rocky immediately looked at the chessboard. He tried to ignore his own chess
pieces, and looked at Lorenzo's pieces. Sure enough, after looking carefully, he found that those chess
pieces formed a strange shape.
"Didn't you have prior plans?" Rocky reminded Hannah in a calculated voice.
"Oh, right," she said, immediately losing interest in the chess game. "Send me out now."
Rocky then sent her out of his Magic Spiritual Space. Upon returning, he opened the door and let her
out of his room.
Once Hannah was out the door, he hastily returned to the Magic Spiritual Space. Excitedly, he removed
all his pieces from the board, leaving only Lorenzo's. Then, he played out Lorenzo's moves. Soon, he
found that the patterns on the chessboard were like dynamic pictures, constantly changing according to
certain shapes.
"What on earth is this? Could it be an array? But it doesn't look like that. The array doesn't change so
randomly. It looks too informal..." Rocky speculated, his eyes filled with
wonder.
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