62: Chapter 62 Old Guan, how did you become a Goguryeo person?

After the humanoid 'shield tunneling machine' [Tao Yuanming] chiseled out a Taoyuan Wonderland and transplanted the 'tree of dark twilight' into it, the Star Chessboard clearly displayed two distinct attitudes toward 'nightfall'.

One was to let it be.

Sakura Country and Ottoman stated: 'What I have planted is the "tree of eternity", and one of my trees can equal two. I will plant it right in my Home Base, and it will be stable.'

'What is nightfall devouring? No need to pay attention to it!'

Long Country did not have a 'tree of eternity', but it also blended in, letting 'nightfall' advance toward the Long Country Home Base.

The other way was to use [Heroic Spirits] to delay 'nightfall'.

"Look quickly, Britain's Heroic Spirit [Prometheus] has been successfully subjected to 'Judgment' by the Russian Bear! Not only has the [Heroic Spirit] disappeared, but the portion of 'nightfall' that [Prometheus] had held back with divine fire has all come rushing back! Britain is finished!"

At this stage, there was no 'fog of war' on the Star Chessboard. [Prometheus] was successfully 'doxxed' and exposed to everyone's eyes. After seeing this, Fan Ling pointed to the 'chessboard grid' where [Prometheus] had disappeared and said to Chen Aoyun.

[Prometheus] being subjected to 'Judgment' was within Chen Aoyun's expectations.

Chen Aoyun spoke based on his own insights, " [Prometheus], let's see how you 'narrate' this Heroic Spirit. Treating [Prometheus] as a Heroic Spirit of 'Western Civilization', it was fine for Britain to play this mythological figure. But if it comes down to a specific country, [Prometheus] is a god from Greek mythology. It is clearly problematic for Britain to play him, and it is normal for him to be 'Judged' away."

From the appearance of [Prometheus] to his disappearance due to 'Judgment', Chen Aoyun had been silently watching.

After all, he was a novice in the Game of National Destiny, and Chen Aoyun still had a lot to learn about the entire Game of National Destiny.

By observing the special case of [Prometheus], Chen Aoyun keenly summarized two points.

"First is the logic of playing Heroic Spirits. Although the New Era lacks culture and has a fractured history, not all historical materials from the Old Era have been lost. There are varying amounts of preserved historical materials from the Old Era. Countries with more preserved materials can summon more [Heroic Spirits], making them powerful nations. Conversely, a country like our Long Country, which suffers from severe deficiencies and fractures, can only remain at the bottom of the Game of National Destiny for a long time."

"Aside from the issue of quantity, there is also the issue of authenticity! Britain summoned [Prometheus] as its own Heroic Spirit, and in the end, someone successfully doxxed it. Is it because that [Strategist] from Britain didn't know the specific allusions regarding [Prometheus] and mistakenly believed it was a native British Heroic Spirit? Or is it that they knew the remaining historical materials were problematic but forcibly played the piece anyway? Both possibilities exist; it's hard to say."

Chen Aoyun's words left Zhao Hongxiu thoughtful and made Fan Ling exclaim, "What do you mean by these words? Is it possible that historical materials genuinely left over from the Old Era could be fake?"

That was a naive question!

Chen Aoyun explained, "Are the historical materials that survived from the Old Era to the New Era necessarily authentic? [Li Bai], [Guan Yu], [Confucius]—the people of Goguryeo stole them during the Old Era! Even the Dragon Boat Festival was stolen by the people of Goguryeo..."

Before Chen Aoyun could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Fan Ling, "Wait, wait, wait... [Guan Yu] was stolen? The Goguryeo Heroic Spirit [Guan Yu] shone brilliantly in a Game of National Destiny fifteen years ago; it was the key to Goguryeo's bottom-line rebound and turning the situation around. Are you saying [Guan Yu] is not a Heroic Spirit of the Goguryeo nation? Stolen? Stolen from whom? It wouldn't be from our Long Country, would it?"

Fan Ling's pupils dilated; he had a very deep impression of that Game of National Destiny fifteen years ago.

That was a special Game of National Destiny with a large number of participating countries and extremely rich rewards.

In that Game of National Destiny, Long Country was not forced to participate; frankly speaking, Long Country didn't even have the qualifications to participate!

Fan Ling remembered that in that Game of National Destiny, a medium-sized power like Goguryeo also fell into trouble. If it weren't for the fact that Goguryeo's Strategist played [Guan Yu] at the end and used Guan Yu's [Flooding the Seven Armies] combined with the terrain dense with water networks to turn the situation around in one fell swoop, a medium-sized power like Goguryeo would have almost become one of the countries at the bottom of that Game of National Destiny!

The Goguryeo Heroic Spirit, [Guan Yu]—how heaven-defying he was, both in terms of the Heroic Spirit's own strength and his skills, left an extremely deep impression on Fan Ling.

Now that Chen Aoyun said [Guan Yu] was not from Goguryeo so casually, Fan Ling's large face was instantly shocked to an extreme degree.

Fan Ling was shocked, but Chen Aoyun was no better, "I just mentioned [Guan Yu] offhandedly; damn, did I actually hit the nail on the head?"

[Guan Yu] belongs to Goguryeo? Even if Chen Aoyun agreed, [Zhao Yun] and [General Zhang Fei], whom Chen Aoyun had previously played, wouldn't agree!

Zhao Yun and General Zhang Fei: 'You snatched my big brother, and you even changed his nationality; what is the meaning of this? Isn't that a bit too much?'

"Sure enough, the logic of playing Heroic Spirits is not simply 'whoever it belongs to can play it, whoever can summon it', otherwise what is [Divine Judgment] for?"

The next moment, the corners of Chen Aoyun's mouth curled into that familiar arc, "This is also good! Stealing Long Country's culture—the Old Era couldn't sanction Goguryeo, but the New Era has 'Judgment'. In that case, won't I just play your Goguryeo to death?"

Just imagine, when Goguryeo's [Strategist] faces Long Country and excitedly pulls out [Guan Yu], and [Guan Yu] is immediately subjected to 'Judgment' by Chen Aoyun, or even turned to his own use, how satisfying that would be...

Fan Ling saw that familiar arc on the corner of Chen Aoyun's mouth and thought to himself: "Whenever this guy smiles like this, it means someone is about to suffer. It's fortunate that he's an ally..."

Summarizing the logic of playing Heroic Spirits, the destruction of [Prometheus] after being 'Judged' also confirmed what Zhao Hongxiu had said before:

"For the side being 'Judged', a failed 'Judgment' is not just as simple as the [Heroic Spirit] disappearing. Once a [Heroic Spirit] is successfully 'Judged', all of the [Heroic Spirit]'s previous actions will be judged invalid."

Chen Aoyun looked at the 'chessboard grid' where [Prometheus] had disappeared.

"[Prometheus]'s disappearance not only allows 'nightfall' to return to its original rate of advance, but even the portion of 'nightfall' that was neutralized by 'divine fire' has come rushing back! This is the most terrifying part of [Divine Judgment]!"

Fan Ling and Zhao Hongxiu were noncommittal. Fan Ling said: "It's fortunate that no one has doxxed [Tao Yuanming], otherwise..."

Chen Aoyun shook his head and said, "There is no problem with [Tao Yuanming] himself; he is our own person from Long Country. The allusions I used to construct the skills are also fine; they are not some 'jokes'. I am not worried about [Tao Yuanming] being doxxed; what I am truly worried about is the 'refined [Chess Rules]'."

It really was a case of fearing something and having it happen. Just as Chen Aoyun's main body finished expressing his worry about the [Chess Rules], his clone in the 'Taoyuan Wonderland' sensed a hint of an ominous aura!