Life Game In Other World
Chapter 705

Chapter 705: 705

The night wind swept over the cold chessboard, brushing the cheeks of the Chess Masters on either side.

The world seemed to fall silent at this moment, with only the distorted lines in the sky still quietly undulating.

This silence was short yet seemingly long, like the night wind, abrupt and lingering.

Vellent watched the chessboard before him, his gaze lingering on the black chariot and then shifting to his ’opponent’.

Ultimately, he did not move to adjust any of the pieces on the board, nor did he respond to He Ao’s ’check’, he simply looked up at the distorted lines in the sky and asked softly,

"I’m a bit curious, where were you hiding just now?"

There were three altars, one in West City, one in the city center, and one in the south near South City, and all three altars were authentic, capable of conducting rituals, choosing any one among them to perform the ritual.

Before the ritual began, Vellent had set up full ceremonial arrangements at all three altars, but only he knew which one was the actual site of the ceremony.

Those trying to sabotage the ritual would not be able to reach the true altar in time to stop the ceremony if they made the wrong judgment and went to an incorrect altar.

This was a trap designed by Vellent himself.

And He Ao’s method of solving it was quite simple; he was probably always near all three altars, then deployed two teams to separately scout two of the three altars, quickly ascertaining which one was the real site.

Once confirmed, they could rush to the true altar in the shortest time.

And the best hiding place was actually the area equidistant from all three points, which is the center of the circumscribed circle formed by the triangle of these points.

The problem was that Vellent had anticipated this scenario, so he had actually arranged for people to be stationed at that ideal location and along the routes leading there.

If He Ao had been hiding in the best position all along, someone should have come to report by now, but Vellent had received no such notice.

Either the ambushers had all been killed, or...

With this thought, Vellent paused, then continued with a smile, "You weren’t in the position equidistant from all three altars? Why not choose the best location? Even somewhere nearby would have allowed you to arrive faster, to stop me sooner."

"If I had chosen the best location and you were not in this Central Park, but at the Evolution Acolytes or the Pollution Cleaning Department, what would have happened to the people who went there to investigate?"

"They would die,"

Vellent said with a calm smile.

Being equally close also meant being equally far; neither Sienzi nor Scait had the power to resist a Level B force.

Being in the ideal position would have allowed He Ao to get to Central Park more quickly, but it would have also left him without the ability to provide support.

So the location he had been earlier was actually closer to the Pollution Cleaning Department, given that it had the strongest defense, and Jia Xi was there; next came the headquarters of the Evolution Acolytes, with Central Park being the furthest away from him.

With the assistance of the ’Shadow Fang’ left by the Shadow Hound, he could travel through shadows and move at an increased speed.

Therefore, both Jia Xi and Sienzi were within He Ao’s support range, allowing him to appear promptly if they were in danger.

He had made specific and meticulous arrangements for different scenarios as well.

And because of the speed boost, after confirming that the other two locations were not the true altars, he could still arrive at Central Park in time.

Of course, his choice was also related to his predictions of the possible arrangements left by Vellent.

Vellent had predicted he might appear in the central position, whereas he had predicted Vellent’s prediction.

"Clever and effective arrangements,"

And after He Ao posed that question, Vellent had actually figured out He Ao’s operation. He smiled, "This move was indeed a win for you, you guessed my play correctly, but I couldn’t guess yours."

At this, he paused, then smiled and said, "It seems, this is why you must ’die’."

Initially, He Ao was in the light, and Vellent was in the shadows.

All of He Ao’s actions were under Vellent’s watchful eye.

Especially after He Ao had desperately fought Deres, he could almost predict that he would become the focus of Vellent’s attention.

Standing under such a glaring spotlight, any move he made would be discovered by Vellent, who would then counter it.

But after He Ao’s ’faked death,’ the roles of light and shadow changed, with Vellent in the light and He Ao in the shadows.

Under these circumstances, Vellent wouldn’t particularly consider He Ao when making his plans.

Just like Vellent’s recent ’ambush’ in the optimal position between the three altars, when he set this ambush, it wasn’t targeted at anyone specific. It was just a ’hidden move’ he made according to his own logic.

And He Ao, hidden in the shadows, could consider this hidden move clearly and then avoid it, catching Vellent off guard.

"I must say," Vellent observed the chessboard before him, "your feigned death was indeed a brilliant move, turning death into life, a splendid move,"

He raised his head, looking at He Ao, "So, this chess move, did you have a stroke of inspiration during the battle with Deres, or was it premeditated?"

"What do you think?"

And He Ao just smiled back at him.

In fact, the matter of ’faked death’ must be viewed from two perspectives: life and death.

From the perspective of life, what would have happened if He Ao had ’not died’ in the battle with Deres?

Given Vellent’s methodical ways, he wouldn’t rest easy with Cito, who killed Deres, remaining ’alive’, and he wouldn’t confidently proceed with the ritual.

So, he would definitely try by all means to kill ’Cito’.

And if Vellent didn’t start the ritual, focusing his target on ’Cito’ instead, he wouldn’t harm Kroter and Darn. He might even seek to win them over, as they would surely be glad to cooperate with the Kajet Group as long as there was no Evil God ritual involved.

Then He Ao would face the siege from the three B-ranked individuals within the city and the Kajet Group, the super conglomerate controlling the entire city.

Even if he escaped such a siege, it’s very likely that Vellent would enlist the Kajet Group’s power to call in strong reinforcements from elsewhere.

The difficulty of this Copy World task would then skyrocket.

Moreover, the incident would implicate those around He Ao, whether YiXiya or Jia Xi, or even Sienzi. If Vellent was determined to investigate, their identities would be dug up, and later used as means to tackle He Ao.

Even He Ao couldn’t ensure their survival under such pressure.

Therefore, both emotionally and logically, ’Cito’ had to ’perish’ together with Deres.

As long as Cito existed, there were no conflicts between Vellent’s and Mayor Kroter’s forces, and Vellent would stir all forces together to deal with Cito.

But if Cito ’died’.

With no external enemies, the sharp conflicts that had always existed within the Vellent group would erupt.

Vellent wanted to conduct the ritual, but all authority was derived from Mayor Kroter of Saint Joen City, who would never agree to it.

Kroter, though malicious, wasn’t weak; he had his own methods and ideas.

As long as Vellent did not flip the table and stayed within the rules, he couldn’t fully resolve Kroter’s obstruction.

In fact, in some sense, Kroter was also one of the ’legacies’ left behind by the former mayor, Snava.

Because of Snava’s strength, the Kajet Group could only find a strong and capable ally, rather than a puppet, to deal with Snava.

And this ally naturally became an irremovable presence after dealing with Snava.

In fact, He Ao had realized that this mayor was not an easy opponent as early as when he learned the entire process of Snava’s rise and fall from Sienzi.

Someone like Kroter, who had ascended to his position by betraying his original allies, would also have a hard time gaining the complete trust of the Kajet Group. In theory, they would let him be mayor for one term and then remove him, providing him with money and housing to live on, but no power.

However, Kroter successfully won re-election and had been the mayor for eight years without being replaced by a puppet from the Kajet Group.

In other cities, this situation might still be somewhat reasonable, after all for corporations, as long as the mayor can cooperate well and make money, even a strong desire for power can be tolerated.

But for Vellent, who had contacts with Winding Hill and was preparing for the Sacrifice Ritual, the existence of a capable and ambitious mayor like Kroter was a stumbling block that he definitely wanted to remove.

Just like in Rock City, Elijah, who was preparing for the Grim Reaper Sacrifice Ritual, directly manipulated a puppet to run for office and became the mayor herself.

Therefore, the fact that Kroter could serve consecutive terms as mayor was abnormal in itself.

This meant that Kroter had other allies in this city, and there were not many people in the city who could withstand the Kajet Group.

And this ally could also make Vellent, this B-level individual, feel wary and not dare to easily replace the mayor. Then there was only one candidate,

City defense officer Darn.

This B-level city defense officer, though also in collaboration with the Kajet Group, presumably had a stronger and more secure alliance with Kroter in private. They mutually guaranteed each other’s status and ensured they could both successfully make money.

This could also be seen from the interview with Kroter and Vellent that had been aired earlier.

Although Kroter always went along with what Vellent said, he always had his own control and was not completely Kajet Group’s lackey.

So He Ao was actually very clear about the internal contradictions within the Vellent group before he went to the ’feast’ in Deres.

He had even detailed Kroter’s general character to Sienzi, who had a semi-mentor relationship with Kroter.

"Over the years, you have been one of the most excellent chess players I have met."

Vellent naturally understood the meaning behind He Ao’s words. He had had such suspicions before but found them difficult to believe.

He Ao watched Vellent closely.

In fact, his ’feigned death’ went so smoothly, precisely because Deres was too strong.

If it hadn’t been for his ’Ease Thought,’ a bit of resistance to pollution, and the ability to find weaknesses through Divine Sense, he might have really died that night.

Even so, he had been indeed near death at the time, and his injuries were all real.

And Vellent knew the strength of Deres.

Judging from the power shown in the battle, Deres could completely fight two B-levels alone.

If Deres hadn’t died, even if the Nolanka Group’s mercenaries entered the city tonight, and Fiss arrived here, even if another B-level came, they wouldn’t be able to stop Vellent’s plans.

It was precisely because Deres was unimaginably strong that ’Cito’ perishing along with Deres was easily acceptable.

Even for a ’Chess Master’ like Vellent who was cautious in every step, it was difficult to go beyond his own comprehension and imagine that a ’Cito’ who suddenly appeared from nowhere could kill the renowned Deres without paying any price.

This was beyond comprehension.

Thus, it was expected that Cito and Deres would perish together.

After all, Deres’s body couldn’t be faked, and "Cito" couldn’t have killed Deres without sustaining injuries—even using stratagems, he would have been severely wounded, or even dead.

Although He Ao was indeed severely injured and on the brink of death.

He Ao merely needed to use this situation, push the facts forward a little, and create the impression of a mutual destruction.

In fact, he never let anyone publicize "Cito is dead"; he just arranged for YiXiya to pretend to flee with Jia Xi.

And to those with discerning eyes, this naturally led to the inference of the sequence of events: "Cito and Deres perished together, and without the help of a strong ally, YiXiya had no choice but to flee."

Of course, Vellent might not fully believe that He Ao was dead, but from the signals He Ao had sent out, he would also believe that even if He Ao wasn’t dead, he was too gravely injured to be a threat.

This was exactly what he had hoped for.

What deceives a clever person is never the lie itself, but their "own judgment."

And with He Ao’s fake death, he exited the main stage.

The suppressed conflict between Vellent and Kroter finally erupted.

Once Vellent lost an obvious enemy and decided to hold the ceremony, the cumbersome Kroter became useless, and he was sure to flip the table.

He Ao had anticipated Vellent flipping the table, which is why he had Sienzi approach Kroter in advance, but Vellent’s decisive action in killing Kroter outright was somewhat unexpected.

Although Kroter wasn’t stupid either, and he had guessed that Vellent might flip the table due to Sienzi’s hint, and had made preparations in advance, entrusting the key card to a trusted confidant.

But he probably didn’t expect that Vellent would just kill him, which is why he kept delaying, to see if he could gain more.

While Kroter was smart and keenly aware of the change in the situation, his greed ultimately sealed his fate.

Vellent, although cautious in his actions, was ruthless when he needed to be.

With Kroter’s death, Darn had no chance of surviving either.

This internal conflict ended with a complete victory for Vellent, and he fully seized control of Saint Joen City.

And the Class B adversaries He Ao would face had thus been reduced from three to two.

This was also the reason Vellent marveled at He Ao’s move as a "brilliant play."

Of course, given Vellent’s nature, the words he was saying now were actually a bit excessive.

He Ao watched the elderly man before him and spoke calmly, "If you’re waiting for Bram to come to your aid, you needn’t wait any longer; he won’t be coming."

Upon hearing these words, Vellent was initially stunned, then he couldn’t help but smirk, "Is it the Nolanka Group? Have they actually chosen to break through the West Gate? Was their target actually Bram from the start? If they intend to launch a ’surprise attack’, there won’t be many troops; they won’t be able to break through the city gate. It seems Kroter gave you the access key card?"

Having said this, he finally took a deep breath, his gaze returning to the black chariot on the chessboard, "With just a few insignificant pawns, you’ve stirred the entire game. People like you should not be unknown."

"Indeed,"

He Ao gazed calmly at the city under the night sky, "A pawn reaching the end of the board can also become a queen, can’t it?"

Promotion is a special rule in chess where a pawn reaching the opponent’s back rank can be promoted to any piece except a pawn or king, including the most powerful queen.

Silence enveloped the cold space once more, leaving only the rustling of leaves.