The work of the Go master

Although he couldn't judge the profit and loss here, he remembered this saying: sometimes disrupting the opponent's strategic intentions is more important than playing a good move.

As for whether Tatsumi Koshikawa had figured everything out, Koshikawa's answer was no.

He's just playing mind games...

Or rather, both sides are betting on each other's psychology.

Water droplets collided with each other in mid-air! The collision created a cumulonimbus cloud!

The torrential rain fell on the chessboard, soaking both of them. The chess pieces became crystal clear.

An eerie silence enveloped the Ryugu in the deep darkness of night. Many tourists were enjoying the cool air on the deck, feeling the freshness of the sea after the downpour, while children played and frolicked around the adults.

At this rate, they should be able to disembark on a Hawaiian beach in about two days.

This is a wonderful journey for most people. While entertainment on a typical cruise ship consists of music or theatrical performances, the main purpose of this voyage is a chess game.

Everything was the same as usual, nothing different.

On the chessboard, the pieces of both sides slowly moved forward, with black ocean waves on one side and a single white sand beach on the other.

Koji Mitsuaki and Tatsumi Koshikawa faced off in their respective territories, with apocalyptic black clouds swirling in the sky.

In the room of the ninth-dan group, a group of old guys with an average age of over sixty years old were also tightly gathered in front of the TV and the Go board, clenching their palms and watching each move.

"Ke Zhiguang is currently in the lead, but Yuechuan Longji has the time advantage. Considering that he has 4 more seconds of overtime than Ke Zhiguang, I think no one would disagree with saying that the situation is evenly matched," Xia Fuying said, setting up the game.

"But don't get too excited yet. The Koshikawa Tatsumi in the first game, the second game, and the third game are not the same thing. Winning this game is nothing. The important thing is the next game," Kita-niwa Kuranosuke said.

“Yes, the only way to defeat him is to take him down 2-0. Even our original plan only had the option of 2-0,” Kuremon Atobe agreed.

Saito watched the game silently, completely absorbed.

A protracted tug-of-war began. After the torrential rain, the moon did not appear, and the sea remained shrouded in boundless darkness. The Ryugu floated on the sea like an isolated island.

In the black ocean, Ke Zhiguang slowly moved forward, feeling the immense resistance against the current with each step.

It's getting closer and closer.

The ancient elephant-like roar grew clearer, the pungent smell of poison became increasingly acrid, and the faint sound of a heartbeat could be heard, which gave one an idea of ​​how enormous the creature was.

Time ticked by, and the scene on the camera remained frozen for a long time, like a CD stuck on a time plate. Unbeknownst to them, the game had been frozen for over an hour after 64 moves.

Koshikawa Tatsumi's backup time is already 45 minutes behind.

To the average person, the local battles are over, and the next step is to seize other large-scale battlegrounds. It would only take two or three minutes to figure out the next location. But Koshikawa Tatsumi actually spent an hour here.

Even the referee wanted to go over and remind him, wondering if he was asleep, but when he turned his gaze, he could indeed see that Tatsumi Koshikawa was deep in thought.

Ke Zhiguang could indeed feel the opponent's powerful computing power being activated; the electric current in the black mist was like thunder, constantly running in full power.

Even with Ghidorah's weapon deactivated, the power was only activated occasionally, while Tatsumi Koshikawa maintained this intensity throughout.

Finally, 65 moves—

Koshikawa Tatsumi's eyes snapped open.

The placement of the piece woke up the person who was dozing off in front of the screen.

The calm sea surface was finally violently ripped open, and the tentacles spread out like towering trees, outlining a desperate struggle in the air!

It was a three-space move that gracefully took a large step into the air, and its shape did indeed resemble a sharp tentacle.

An aura of death and decay surged down from its top, and the black mist spread further toward the land!

A brilliant move... and a desperate gamble...

The small half-dragon raised its proud head, its sharp horn pointing towards White's connection and eye position. It was indeed a good move worth spending an hour to refine.

However, this move also carries enormous risks.

After all, while the Three-space Flying move looks elegant and confident, in reality, because the steps are too big, it is easy to trip up your hips.

We need a beautiful Iaijutsu to separate the dragon's head from its body!

As if gathering strength for a run, Ke Zhiguang plunged his hand into the chess box, the chess pieces scattering with a sound like jade beads!

In his eyes, this move had already ignited a thick black flame, becoming the decisive move for Koshikawa Tatsumi to actively seek battle!

Ke Zhiguang closed his eyes. As the calculations deepened, a circle expanded around him, and he captured information about all the traps within its reach.

tentacle.....

They're all tentacles...

Within that black mist, tentacled traps lurked beneath the deep sea, forming a vast labyrinth.

The last time I saw something like this was when I was playing the Warcraft 3 campaign. I was blocked by the Forsaken and the screen full of tentacles gave me trypophobia.

Who knows, what might be hidden deep within this black fog is indeed a huge and terrifying living structure.

After another hour of deliberation, the map of the maze was unfolding before our eyes!

"That's right, that's the momentum! Let's use this localized area to fight to the death!"

Both sides have adopted a posture of fighting to the death!

Lean, pull, twist, flip and hit!

Break, length, flight, sharp break!

From their perception, the entire ship began to rock uneasily, the swaying chandeliers went out, and the ship's light sources gradually disappeared.

Amid the hurricane, the ship began to tilt and rock violently, small objects were sucked out of the windows, and seawater rushed in, but the two men's chessboard and seats seemed to be equipped with pulleys, spinning and dancing in this luxurious game room, oblivious to the outside world, like a pianist playing wildly with complete absorption.

"Both sides have very little time left, and the outcome could very well be decided in this localized engagement."

Under the apocalyptic sky, the sounds of lightning and thunder could be heard intermittently from the thick fog.

A solid push pierced through the black stones' connection!

The sea surface was broken open, and Ke Zhiguang went deep underwater. Every move he made became the driving force for his progress. A long blade helped him cut through the tentacles that surged in from all directions, and the seawater was stained with strange-colored blood!

A sense of triumphant joy welled up within me, as if the script had reached the point where we would return to our hometown to get married after this battle.

Although he knew that Tatsumi Koshikawa might have multiple stages of advanced transformation, it seemed that the first stage of transformation was not too difficult to fight, and even if more weight was added later, he could probably withstand it.

I hope so.

108 moves! A decisive move has been made, branding the center of the board with a black stone, which has been captured by the white stone!

Groups of tentacles began to die amidst their mournful cries! Like a vast, withered flowerbed, they sank into the sea.

A dragon tail worth twenty pieces was cut off! It practically sealed the victory for this round!

found it!

Having cut through the last layer of tentacles blocking his way, the underwater view suddenly opened up, and Ke Zhiguang finally discovered the true form of Koshikawa Tatsumi's symbolic spirit—

A breathtaking underwater scene.

Not far below in the darkness, a gigantic conch-shell-like creature, reaching a height of 200 meters, lay prostrate in the ancient city on the seabed. A terrifying tension emanated from it, radiating outwards to the surface of the water, turning the entire sea into the color of death.

Its shell is covered with densely packed, irregularly shaped holes, and steel-like tentacles extend from beneath it, making it look like a monster that has been punished for thousands of years.

Megalophobia, trypophobia, and claustrophobia all occurred simultaneously.

[(Dragon shape) ? ? ? ? ]

[Still asleep—]

So... what the hell does this thing have to do with dragons?!

Chapter Eighty-Five: Gatanothor!!!

Confusion, fear, and shock surged within him; this was the first time Ke Zhiguang had ever felt such a strong sense of negativity in this special effects space.

We can't worry about that now, let's just do it!

To put it bluntly, this is just a game of chess. No matter how powerful something is, you can defeat it as long as you win the game!

A white piece is tightly gripped in the hand, and a sharp blade of light slashes down!

The conch shell also stirred at that moment, its giant, steel-like tentacles blocking the attack!

With a snap, the tentacle was completely severed.

But the offensive came to an end there...

"Ke Zhiguang wins this game! 1-0, leading for now!" the referee announced.

The scene of the deep sea suddenly cuts off!

Ke Zhiguang's consciousness began to return to reality, as if he had smashed through layer after layer of mirror-like barriers, and waves of dizziness came over him.

When he regained consciousness, he realized that Tatsumi Koshikawa had already pressed the timer and was lying back in the chair, holding his forehead with his hand, his expression unreadable.

The tide receded from the surrounding area, the special effects disappeared, revealing a clean chessboard and pieces, and outside the window was a calm night sea.

The monster beneath the sea also vanished, and Ke Zhiguang didn't even have time to see its full appearance.

The teammates were thrilled to see this news.

"Well done! Whether it's Koshikawa Tatsumi or Koshikawa Torami, just chop them all off like lamb skewers!" Harushima Shika shouted excitedly, while not forgetting to glance at Fuchigami Shizuru next to her with a smug and provocative look.

Shizuru Fuchigami calmly adjusted his glasses, then bowed to the camera: "That concludes this explanation."

That's what they say, but there aren't many people watching chess on TV anymore.

It is now 11:30 p.m. Most people are already asleep, and only Tokyo is awakening at night, with the Ryugu floating like an isolated island.

Tonight is exceptionally peaceful, with the sound of the waves lulling me to sleep.

Ke Zhiguang remained in a thoughtful posture in front of the chessboard, as if he had not yet woken up from the game.

What exactly did I just see?

Beneath the deadly surface of the water, Ke Zhiguang stood frozen for a long time before this monster, a combination of extreme fear of giant objects, trypophobia, and Cthulhu, its catastrophic power causing him to pause for a long time.

Upon seeing it, Ke Zhiguang's first reaction was that this symbolic spirit had turned evil, but considering that this was Koshikawa Tatsumi, it was most likely that it was the normal original.

There is no trace of a dragon.

The dragon throne and crown are also nowhere to be seen.

All you can see is a magnificent conch shell, like a castle, and an ancient underwater city that serves as a natural backdrop... Could this be R'lyeh or something?