162: The Emperor's Chess Game! The Queen's Trap!

This was more than just a game of chess.

Lin Feng understood instantly.

This was the ultimate trial of wisdom, control, and psychological warfare!

He knew.

Victory on this chessboard would be the only key to unlocking that brand-new power belonging to an emperor!

He said nothing more.

He simply pulled out the ebony chair and sat down calmly.

His movements were steady, without a trace of nervousness.

Scarlett watched him, the playful smile on her red lips deepening.

"You first."

She made a gesture of invitation with an elegant posture, like a queen truly in control of life and death over the entire field.

Lin Feng did not stand on ceremony.

He reached out and pushed the pawn in front of the king.

The most common and stable opening.

An imperceptible glint flashed in Scarlett's eyes; she responded almost without thinking.

Her playing style was just like her personality.

Full of aggression.

Full of pressure.

Every move was like a meticulously planned assault, carrying lethal intent, lunging toward Lin Feng's position without concealment.

After only a dozen or so turns.

Lin Feng's defensive line had already been torn to shreds.

His rooks were cleverly pinned by her bishops and knights.

His queen was also locked in a corner by two of her pawns.

The situation was rapidly tilting in a direction unfavorable to him.

Scarlett picked up her wine glass and took another gentle sip.

Her posture was relaxed.

Her gaze held a cat-and-mouse sort of playfulness.

She was enjoying this feeling.

The feeling of toying with a man hailed by the outside world as a "Chosen One" in the palm of her hand.

Fine beads of sweat began to form on Lin Feng's forehead.

He had to admit.

In terms of pure chess skill, there was a massive gap between him and the woman before him.

If this continued, he would be completely checkmated within ten moves.

He slowly closed his eyes.

Then, he snapped them open!

Eye of the Heavenly Emperor!

Activate!

In that instant!

The world before Lin Feng's eyes changed completely!

The black-and-white chessboard transformed in his eyes into a massive web of destiny, woven from countless intersecting lines of causality!

Every move Scarlett made.

Every possible variation she might play next.

Even all the possible chain reactions triggered by the next three moves!

Everything was deduced with absolute clarity in his mind in a way that transcended the flow of time!

I've won.

These words surfaced in Lin Feng's heart.

If he only wanted to win this game.

He now had at least seventeen ways to easily checkmate his opponent using this near-cheating information gap.

But.

He didn't do that.

His fingers hovered in mid-air, hesitating to descend.

His brain was working at high speed.

No!

What Scarlett wanted to see was not a player who could "win" this game by relying on petty cleverness or some opportunistic trick!

What she wanted to see!

Was an emperor... who could control the entire match, and even control all the emotions of his opponent!

What would a true emperor do when facing a rebellion?

He wouldn't immediately use thunderous means to behead the rebel leader.

That was mere brute courage.

He would first show weakness to the enemy.

He would intentionally expose flaws.

He would indulge the rebels' desires, letting them drive straight in, letting them seize territory, letting them taste the sweetness of victory, letting them think they had controlled everything, letting them expose all their fatal weaknesses at their most frantic and arrogant moment!

And then.

Only then would he tighten the inescapable net he had prepared for them long ago!

He would thoroughly strangle them along with their ambitions and desires!

That was conquest!

That was the art belonging to an emperor!

Having figured all this out, a very subtle curve slowly formed at the corner of Lin Feng's mouth.

His fingers moved.

He made a move.

A move that would seem foolish to the extreme to any chess player.

In order to take an insignificant pawn.

He actively abandoned the protection of his queen!

Scarlett's eyes lit up.

She seemingly hadn't expected Lin Feng to make such a low-level mistake.

She didn't hesitate for a moment.

Her queen, like an unsheathed sword, precisely took Lin Feng's piece that symbolized his strongest offensive power.

"Check."

She said softly, her tone carrying a hint of condescending pity.

Lin Feng just calmly moved his king, dodging the attack.

But the situation on his board had become precarious.

Next.

Lin Feng's "mistakes" began to grow more frequent.

His knights were taken.

His bishops were also taken.

His defensive line was completely crushed by Scarlett's tide-like offensive.

From the look of the board, Lin Feng had already lost disastrously.

He was left with only his king and a few scattered pawns.

Like a king stripped of all weapons and armor, waiting for his final judgment in his own castle.

Scarlett looked at the endgame before her.

In her beautiful blue eyes, a trace of disappointment flashed that even she didn't notice.

Is this it?

She had thought this man, who could create miracles on the basketball court, would bring her some different surprises.

But now it seemed.

He was just so-so.

Ultimately just a simple-minded athlete.

Scarlett shook her head, the last bit of interest in her heart vanishing completely.

She was ready to end this boring game.

She reached out her slender hand with bright red nail polish.

Ready to move her queen.

To complete the final, fatal "checkmate."

However.

Just then.

Lin Feng moved.

His face remained as calm as still water.

He reached out.

He didn't move the king that had been driven into a corner.

Nor did he move any of his remaining defensive pieces.

His finger landed on the most inconspicuous, corner-most position on the board.

He gently pushed a tiny pawn that hadn't moved once since the start of the game.

He moved it forward one step.

It was just this insignificant step.

Just this move that seemed to have no connection to the entire battle.

Scarlett's hand, which was about to move her queen.

Suddenly froze in mid-air!

Her pupils contracted violently in that instant!

The lazy, slightly contemptuous expression on her face.

Completely solidified!

As if she had seen a ghost, she stared fixedly at that tiny pawn that had just been moved!

She discovered in horror!

With the movement of this pawn!

All her main pieces on the board with powerful offensive capabilities!

Her queen! Her rooks! Her knights!

All routes of retreat, all lines of attack!

Were unexpectedly and completely locked down by this one seemingly insignificant pawn!

The entire board!

In this moment!

Transformed from her hunting ground into a magnificent and lethal... cage, tailor-made for her!