3: Chapter 3: Four consecutive moves

On the Starlight Chessboard of the Game of National Destiny, only four 'chess pieces' remained available for the Dragon Country, and all of them were mobilized by Chen Aoyun:

Two 'chess pieces' were moved by Chen Aoyun to the side of a bridge over the Raging River; both were 'Military chess pieces', with each 'chess piece' representing a combat legion.

A single 'chess piece' was moved to the canyon between two mountains; this was an 'Engineer chess piece', representing an engineering legion.

Only one 'chess piece' was moved back to the 'Home Base' as the Support Group had advised, but Chen Aoyun had already determined the identity of this 'chess piece', which could originally be set to any troop type, turning it into a special, non-combatant legion.

This maneuver completely bewildered everyone in the Support Group base.

Group Leader Chen Feng's face turned green with anger, and upon seeing Chen Aoyun's ridiculous maneuver, he crushed the communicator in his hand in a fit of rage.

"What is he trying to do?!"

"The theme of this Game of National Destiny is 'Survival'. Instead of moving all 'chess pieces' back to the Home Base for defense, he is pushing them forward. What is he doing?"

"Is he trying to seize the important items 'Dusk' and 'Dawn'?"

"Not to mention that other countries, including Sakura Country, have already revoked the Dragon Country's [Strategist]'s access to use their national heroes. Even if they hadn't, the Game of National Destiny has already reached its latter half, and the Calamity Demon on the field are terrifyingly strong in both quantity and quality."

"Going out to seize important items at this time, even if he could 'place' a foreign hero, would just be throwing it away!"

Group Leader Chen Feng offered a bitter smile.

"It's over; there's no need to negotiate with Sakura Country anymore."

"The four remaining 'chess pieces' of the Dragon Country are all going to be squandered by this Chen Aoyun. Even if the negotiations succeed now and we get authorization to construct foreign heroes, the Dragon Country will likely still be among the bottom-ranked..."

The Support Group's deputy team leader, He Xiaoyun, gazed at the 'chess pieces' Chen Aoyun was moving on the screen and suddenly said:

"Didn't you disagree with signing that humiliating treaty? Well, now that Chen Aoyun has done this, just as you said, the negotiations are meaningless, and that humiliating treaty definitely doesn't need to be signed."

Group Leader Chen Feng looked helpless. "I don't want to sign that treaty, but Chen Aoyun can't just mess around like this in the Game of National Destiny! What does he think the Game of National Destiny is? A stage for a young man to go crazy, show off, and act weird?"

"Does he know that ranking at the bottom in the Game of National Destiny will not only cause the Dragon Country to suffer massive national destiny penalties, but will also bring disasters to the real world! Furthermore, all [Strategist]s and [Roleplayer]s from the countries ranked at the bottom of the Game of National Destiny will die within the game!"

The live stream also showed Chen Aoyun, as a [Strategist], on the massive Starlight Chessboard. He Xiaoyun's gaze remained fixed on Chen Aoyun's figure. "Is he really just messing around?"

Group Leader Chen Feng was stunned. After carefully studying the chessboard that looked like it was made of starlight on the live stream, he still shook his head:

"If it's not messing around, what is it?"

"Not to mention pushing the pieces forward, his other operations are also stupid to an outrageous degree."

"In this Game of National Destiny, Swordman > Spearman > Archer > Cavalry. The rules have long been discovered. He entered the game late, but if he had watched the live stream, he should have known the rules."

"But look at what he's done!"

"Among the five available 'chess pieces' for the Dragon Country, four had undetermined troop types. And he, of all people, set two of these four undetermined 'chess pieces' as 'Cavalry'."

He sighed helplessly.

"Cavalry is the weakest troop type in these rules. If he had any brain at all, and if he really wanted to seize the important items, he shouldn't have created the weakest Cavalry 'chess piece'."

"Even more ridiculous is the 'Engineer'. Chen Aoyun even created an Engineer 'chess piece'."

"That's right, someone has already found the rule that this Game of National Destiny does not prohibit wonders."

"But whether wonders are prohibited or not has nothing to do with our Dragon Country."

"In the Game of National Destiny, there is only authorization for heroes; wonders cannot be authorized!"

"Foreign wonders cannot be authorized, and the Dragon Country doesn't have its own wonders, so why did Chen Aoyun create an Engineer 'chess piece'?"

It's as I said, that humiliating treaty doesn't need to be signed.

Among the four available 'chess pieces', three of the 'chess pieces' with undetermined troop types had already been squandered by Chen Aoyun. Heroes can only be placed on 'chess pieces', and they must match the attributes of the 'chess piece'.

The 'chess piece' moved back to the Home Base and the one that became an 'Engineer chess piece' can no longer support combat-type heroes. Even with authorization for foreign heroes, the combat power available to appear and resist the Calamity Demon has already been halved!

"Perhaps this is where a comeback is possible!" He Xiaoyun's gaze remained on the live stream. In the live stream, after pushing the 'chess pieces' forward, Chen Aoyun's expression was firm, his eyes revealing a hint of anger and confidence.

He Xiaoyun had a guess about the anger. To become a [Strategist], one either has innate talent or has been subjected to some kind of stimulation. It is very likely that Chen Aoyun was subjected to some kind of stimulation in reality, which is why he awakened his identity as a [Strategist] and entered the Starlight Chessboard of the Game of National Destiny.

He Xiaoyun had some guesses about the anger, but how could the confidence in Chen Aoyun's eyes be explained?

Was the confidence because Chen Aoyun is a bit crazy?

"Either this Chen Aoyun is, as you said, Group Leader, a complete madman, a lunatic."

"Or he really has some trump card that you and I cannot foresee, which is why he dares to mess around like this."

Complaining wouldn't solve any problems, and Group Leader Chen Feng calmed down as well.

In the entire Support Group, Group Leader Chen Feng and deputy team leader He Xiaoyun were the two smartest people.

He Xiaoyun's characteristic was divergent thinking; she could always solve problems with unexpected ideas.

Chen Feng's characteristic was meticulous logic. It was precisely because he followed that set of logic too closely in everything that he felt all of Chen Aoyun's maneuvers after becoming a [Strategist] were just messing around.

"I hope, as you said, that this Chen Aoyun really has a trump card that jumps outside my logical cognition. Although this possibility is not high, this Game of National Destiny concerns the safety of three cities and millions of people, so we can only pray..."

Just when Group Leader Chen Feng and He Xiaoyun were discussing whether Chen Aoyun was a madman.

On the chessboard condensed from starlight.

Chen Aoyun slowly raised his hand.

Three heroes and one wonder; Chen Aoyun had already outlined them in his mind.

At this moment, the Construction Power left behind by the previous [Strategist] turned into specks of starlight and gathered at his fingertips...

"This... how is this possible!?"

"This brat is... 'Condensing a chess piece'!!!"

"Did the negotiations with Sakura Country succeed? Did any country open up the usage rights of their heroes to the Dragon Country?"

Group Leader Chen Feng's voice was like a booming bell.

Was he asking?

No.

Being in the Support Group base, if any country had opened up authorization for heroes to the Dragon Country, someone would have reported it immediately.

Group Leader Chen Feng wasn't asking; he was just too shocked to know what to say.

But since Group Leader Chen Feng asked, a member of the group naturally answered:

"Report, Captain, no!"

"Not a single country has opened up authorization for heroes to the Dragon Country!"

"That brat you're talking about, the 'Condensing a chess piece' he's doing might be condensing our own Dragon Country's heroes!"

China has no heroes?

The Dragon Country participates in the Game of National Destiny, only to beg for authorization from other countries and make do with trash heroes given as charity by other countries?

Ridiculous!

"Today, I will let the whole world know: The Dragon Country not only has heroes, but the Dragon Country's heroes are so numerous that they can handle any situation and perfectly match any rule of the Game of National Destiny!"

Starlight was still gathering at Chen Aoyun's fingertips.

Finally.

A 'chess piece' was condensed!

Chen Aoyun didn't hesitate; his raised arm fell.

Placing the chess piece onto the Starlight Chessboard of the Game of National Destiny!

"Again!"

After placing the piece, Chen Aoyun gave a light shout and raised his arm again!

The Construction Power once again turned into specks of starlight and gathered at Chen Aoyun's fingertips.

Then, Chen Aoyun placed the second piece!

"It's not over yet!"

Specks of starlight... gathering... the third piece placed!

"Continue!"

Starlight... hero 'chess piece'... the fourth time... placed!

Four moves, corresponding to three [heroes] and one [wonder].

Given the current progress of the Game of National Destiny and the Construction Power Chen Aoyun can mobilize after becoming a [Strategist], these four (accurately speaking, three heroes and one wonder) are the only solution Chen Aoyun can think of to win this national destiny battle!

Dropping them all at once is because some 'pieces' require a certain preparation stage to take effect. Placing them early... well, there is an element of showing off, but that doesn't matter.