The work of the Go master

The fiery red fist tore open the seemingly unshakeable pincers, creating a straight path to rush towards the opponent!

Following this path, Ke Zhiguang's sprint resumed, and he descended like a flying star, striking down from the air like a leaping slash!

"I'm sorry, Ke Zhiguang, in the end I still have the upper hand!" Yuechuan Longji spun around under the stars, the starlight of death illuminating the ancient city ruins in the deep sea.

On move 78, a piece was cut off on the second line, like a vengeful spirit from the deep sea!

"A brilliant, absolutely brilliant move! Now White's outside is too thick..."

The iron-like tentacles blocked the attack, but the red fist pierced through them layer by layer!

A single syllable escaped from Ke Zhiguang's mouth.

The force... was slightly lacking...

The power of the red fist shattered the conch shell, creating dazzling sparks and sending water splashing into the distance. Gatanothor was also pushed back by the impact, but eventually regained his footing.

Ke Zhiguang also used the force to jump back, creating distance. The charred steel tentacles fell into the sea like raindrops, and a cloud of evaporated mist rose from the sea surface, but it was quickly blackened.

Weakness, numbness, and many other unpleasant symptoms have appeared in the palms.

It must be admitted that the opponent's sacrifice tactic was very successful, successfully building an invincible external force. On the chessboard, there are no good points left for us to exert our strength.

Drip-drop—drip-drop—

this.....

The voice etched in our DNA has appeared...

Ke Zhiguang looked down with a bad feeling—damn, his premonition actually came true.

The light on his chest was already flashing red.

Who knows when this red light appeared?

This script...it looks so familiar...

He had a vague idea of ​​what was going to happen next...

Above the dark sea, the fog rolled in with Gatanothor's advance, each step creating a wave several meters high.

In the lower layers of the black mist, two scarlet gazes were like the wide-open gates of hell.

Soon, the third ray of light appeared!

Gatanothor opened its dragon-shaped, blood-red maw, and the energy particles of the Purple Extreme surged toward its center.

Within this giant maw, Tatsumi Koshikawa spread his five fingers wide, facing Ke Zhiguang, who was thousands of meters away.

"Sleep at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, Ke Zhiguang!"

The purple petrifying rays sliced ​​through the sea!

They really are following the script exactly!

The black mist swallowed the entire world, extinguishing all light.

......

......

A chilling wind howled across the sea at nine o'clock at night, and strange, monstrous cries echoed from the water, sending shivers down the spines of all the passengers on the Ryugu.

Fortunately, we'll reach our destination tomorrow, so the tourists can still be patient. Otherwise, given today's atmosphere, most people would want to get off the ship and run away.

The effect of the fortune-telling had partially broken down; the psychological suggestion applied to the tourists had disappeared, and everyone began to feel that it was a boring and long journey.

This journey was indeed too long. Under normal circumstances, people would start to feel bored after about four or five days on the ship, but thanks to the psychological suggestion of luck, they were able to maintain the novelty of their first cruise until recently.

But the moment Gatanothor awoke, all the effects of his fortune were swallowed up, becoming a sacrifice offered by Tatsumi Koshikawa to the deep sea.

The tsunami has already begun.

However, no one knew about this, and no relevant agency issued a warning, otherwise the ship would not be continuing to sail like this.

Ke Zhiguang stood alone on the deck at the bow of the ship, as if he had the entire area to himself.

He faced the wind and waves, gazing into the boundless darkness in the distance, listening to the ghostly howls echoing between heaven and earth, as if he had arrived at an ancient battlefield.

Tonight, there are no stars or moon. The Ryugu has never been so dark. Only the faint ship lights float on the sea, like a baby whale separated from its pod.

The sea breeze blew in, lifting the hem of Ke Zhiguang's clothes.

He stared into the distance without saying a word, as if confronting some unseen enemy.

Inside the cabin on the deck, a large group of people were peering out of the door, trying to see what was happening on the deck. There were a total of 12 people, all vying for the space of a small window.

"Hey, what's going on in there? Surely the famous general isn't thinking of jumping into the sea?" Xiong Ying said, shoving Qingdao Shika's head.

"Shut up, you stupid bear. Even if he really wants to jump, he'll wait until he loses the decisive game tomorrow," Yingmei calmly analyzed.

"You two jinxes, shut up! If he really jumps tomorrow, you two should jump down too!" Harujima said angrily.

"Long'er, if you say that, doesn't that mean you're admitting that Mr. Mingguang will lose tomorrow? In that case, you'll have to jump down too."

Harushima Deer choked back a sob: "This... then let's all jump! None of us can escape!"

As she spoke, she became incoherent.

"As expected, Tatsumi Koshikawa is still too difficult to deal with. Even a super genius like Koji Mitsuaki couldn't take him away in one fell swoop." Soma bit his lip.

Bamboo Blade Forging couldn't stand it anymore and said, "What are you all doing huddled here? If you want to encourage him, just go for it! Come on, I'll lead the charge."

He was about to step forward when Narita Shunji grabbed him and stopped him: "Hey, Mr. Tomo, can you read the room? Is this something we should be doing? If anyone should go first, it should be them!"

Noriyuki Sasahara nodded, agreeing that while encouragement was welcome, there was a proper order to follow.

First and foremost, one of these female team members should just go up at random!

Hoshino patted Harushima's shoulder: "Harushima-senpai..."

"W-What are you doing?" Harujima Shika panicked.

"Aren't you going to say anything to Senior Ke Zhiguang?" Xingcai sighed, implying that they were...

Harushima Shika's eyes flickered, and she awkwardly turned away, "Well... what should I say?"

Although she jokingly told Ke Zhiguang yesterday that she would comfort him if they didn't win, she didn't have a specific plan on how to do it.

What should I do...?

She suddenly remembered the night before the New Star Wars. It was drizzling outside the window, and the rain soaked the windowpane, blurring the neon-colored floating islands like seashells. She looked at her reflection and the other person in the window and said a lot of strange things. Although she was sleepy at the time, she remembered this memory inexplicably.

Is there any way to say something like that night... something that, though embarrassing to recall later, was incredibly sincere...?

Thinking this, she reached out and covered the back of Ke Zhiguang in the center of the round window on the door with a flicker of emotion, as if she were caressing him from afar.

As the crowd shoved and jostled, a thirteenth voice suddenly came from behind them: "Let this old codger with plenty of experience winning the Dragon Throne go... since nobody else knows how to go up."

Not long after, Saito's voice rang out from behind Koji Mitsuhiro: "Oh, looks like you're in a corner now."

Koji turned around and found Saito walking over with his usual nonchalant steps, as relaxed as if they were just bumping into each other on a stroll.

"Yes, this opponent is much tougher than we expected," Ke Zhiguang replied calmly, even taking a couple of sips of strawberry wine.

Seeing how relaxed the other person was, Saito couldn't help but pour himself a glass: "Have you heard of a movie term, 'the night of the soul'?"

"This is the first time I've heard of it."

Saito explained slowly, "It's said that in a two-hour movie, at the one-hour and fifteen-minute mark, the protagonist should lose everything and be in dire straits, so that he can make a comeback and be reborn from adversity... That's what my friend in the film industry said."

"Teacher, do you mean I'm at the prelude to a counterattack?" Ke Zhiguang replied in the same leisurely tone, as if the two of them had returned to the afternoon in the school gymnasium, studying the chess game while chatting idly.

“I don’t know. My friend also said that before the Dark Night of the Soul, there will be a two-minute period of ‘nothing’. Only after getting through the most difficult period of nothing can the protagonist calm down and find a way to fight the enemy in the Dark Night of the Soul,” Saito said.

What exactly does "having nothing" mean in those two minutes?

"It tells the story of the protagonist's incompetence and rage, blaming his teammates like a giant baby. In short, it's designed to persuade the audience to leave the movie theater."

After a moment of silence, they both chuckled.

The dark sea breeze couldn't stop their laughter.

The family and friends in the cabin could only see that they were chatting happily, but they didn't know what they were talking about.

"Actually, I later realized a problem: have I been carrying too many distracting thoughts lately?" Ke Zhiguang said, sitting on the table with his feet on a chair.

"Yes, I'm listening."

“For example, in the past, I only had one purpose in playing chess, which was to defeat my opponent. But recently, it seems that in addition to defeating my opponent, I have been given some additional purposes, such as saving the world, or helping you prolong your life,” Ke Zhiguang said, looking into the distance.

Saito thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "It seems very tiring."

"So I wanted to ask you, teacher, what are your thoughts on these things? After all, you're just like me, busy saving the world and also busy prolonging your own life."

"Hey, how can you talk like that? I'm not busy saving the world, nor am I busy prolonging my life... As for prolonging life, I just consider it as the cycle of life arranged by God. If I can get it, that's a blessing; if I can't, that's fine too."

"So you really came here for that universe?"

Saito pondered for a moment: "It took me a long time to figure this out. I probably just wanted to play Go like I did back then. In those days, we had nothing, no luck, no high prize money. We just wanted an opponent we could fight against and be fortunate enough to win."

"Purely...Go?"

“Yes, Pure Chess. Rather than saying I want to see the universe again or anything, I just want to walk the path I took to seize the throne back then.” Saito looked up at the sky and said, “The universe is nothing compared to family. And I’ve spent enough time with my family. I’m sixty-six years old. Apart from the fact that ‘a man is a boy until he dies,’ what else do I have to let go of?”

The world was exceptionally quiet, the ocean tides listened to everything, and the memories of time were shattered together with the waves.

A cigar was lit on the deck, and a puff of smoke rose from it.

He had quit cigars for several months to maintain his fitness, but now he doesn't have to quit anymore, and it's time to light them up again.

"That's it. Don't worry too much about me. I've finished the game I needed to play, and I've reached the end of the road I needed to walk. All that's left is to see you win the Dragon Throne Championship."

And so, Saito flung open the cabin door and strode away with a flourish.

A group of relatives and friends who had been eavesdropping at the door were thrown in like dumplings when the door was suddenly opened, and they even rolled around a few times.

"Are you... holding some kind of religious ceremony?" Ke Zhiguang asked, looking at the crowd of people on the ground.

"Nonsense! You ran up to the deck without saying a word. How can we feel at ease? What if... what if you jump?" Harujima Shika shouted, baring his teeth.

"Don't worry about that. I'll jump tomorrow. Tomorrow is the final decisive round."

Upon hearing this, Xiong Ying immediately perked up: "See? I told you it was tomorrow!"

“That’s what I said,” Yingmei reminded her.

"Idiots, you bunch of idiots, shut up!"