Triple Ko Cycle

I don't know if it was because I was too fierce with Papa Midnite that day, but the demons have been unusually quiet these past few days.

Since the firm opened, we've only taken on two cases.

Bored, Lin Xu and Constantine started playing Go in the firm.

Soon, after ten rounds, Constantine finally lost all the $40 he had just earned a few days earlier.

He looked at Lin Xu with a puzzled expression. "Did you cheat?"

"Come on, John, how can you doubt my character?"

"Do you have it?" Constantine was very skeptical. After all, he had won a magical artifact from a chess player from an island nation two years ago, and he was quite confident in his chess skills. He never expected to be defeated today.

After staring at Lin Xu for a long time without finding any flaws, he could only conclude that the opponent's chess skills were truly superb due to his long lifespan.

"Want to come again?"

"Never mind," Constantine silently got up and lit a cigarette.

Lin Xu put away the $40 with satisfaction, and casually gave a thumbs up to the offline version of F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s clone on his phone in this Sub-Dimension.

Hmph, even Ke Jie was defeated by artificial intelligence, let alone this being F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s clone. Little John Constantine, you can handle him.

Afterwards, Lin Xu categorized the chess pieces. "Since we're already here, shall we play a game?"

Upon hearing this, Constantine tightened his grip on the cigarette and abruptly turned to look at the doorway. Only then did he realize that Gabriel was standing there quietly.

Okay~

Gabriel, wearing his little leather shoes, sat down in Constantine's original spot and immediately started with a Tengen move.

Lin Xu followed closely behind.

The two players moved their pieces with extraordinary speed, and after more than ten minutes of back-and-forth play, the entire chessboard was filled.

Gabriel put down his chess piece and looked at Lin Xu with a smile, "A triple ko, how about a draw?"

"Can."

Lin Xu was amazed. As expected of the omniscient angel under God's throne, he was able to fight to a draw with advanced artificial intelligence starting with the Heavenly Origin.

"A dignified archangel, surely he didn't come here specifically to play chess with me?"

Gabriel carefully examined Lin Xu, especially the Hoggoth's Bone Armor on his chest, then spread his wings and plucked a pure white feather from the base, handing it to Lin Xu.

"What do you mean?"

"The Cherubim Feather can grant intelligence to non-living beings; I think you should find them useful."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xu's gaze shifted back and forth between the chessboard and Gabriel's face.

Good grief, that bastard not only discovered F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s existence, but he also deliberately slapped me in the face!

According to the Heavenly Eye's assessment, Gabriel's strength is roughly at the level of the Grandmaster, clearly just an avatar of Gabriel under the throne of the Multiverse God.

Or we could just kill Him and gamble on whether God will show up.

Perhaps sensing Lin Xu's killing intent, Gabriel dropped the feather and retreated rapidly. He wasn't afraid of death, since even if he died, he could return to Heaven, but his plan would be ruined.

"I'm sorry, I meant no harm."

"Tsk, I see you're quite malicious. When I first came to Los Angeles, two mixed-blood angels shot at me. Luckily, I'm tough enough."

"That was just a misunderstanding. Besides, do you think if I wanted to kill you, I would just have my men do it?"

Lin Xu remained silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"Haha, since it's a misunderstanding, let's talk it out. Come, sit down and let's chat."

Constantine, standing to the side, silently rolled his eyes; what a smiling tiger.

After spending these past few days together, he had already seen through Lin Xu. He knew Lin Xu was a cunning and sly person, and whenever he smiled like that, someone was bound to be in trouble. He just didn't know if this archangel could handle it.

Gabriel glanced at Lin Xu twice, and only after confirming that the other party wouldn't make a move did he silently sit down.

"I'm here today because I have a few questions I'd like to ask."

"No rush, what would you like to drink? Tea, coffee, cola, Snow Beer..."

"Tea bar."

Okay~

Then, Gabriel saw Lin Xu flip his hand and pull out two porcelain cups printed with Queen Elizabeth's image, followed by a plastic bag containing various small tea bags...

"Don't look at me like that. You know, people in North America don't usually drink this stuff. I bought this when I went to London to see John; it's a pure import!"

After brewing the tea, Lin Xu looked at the other person with a regretful expression. It was a pity that all the Ancient Ones he knew were men, otherwise he would definitely shave Gabriel's head.

After taking a sip, Gabriel was not impressed with Lin Xu's tea-brewing skills and quickly asked, "Your divine power is similar to, yet not quite, that of the Norse Pantheon, and you carry such a pure aura of White Magic. Logically, I should know you, but I have never seen you before. Where do you come from?"

"What, is this the only world you can see?"

As Lin Xu said this, his eyes held a meaningful look.

Upon hearing this, Gabriel suddenly realized, "So... it's another universe?"

Yes, but it might be a little bigger than you think.

After Lin Xu nodded, He asked again, "What is your view of the human world?"

"Purity, filth, cleanliness, defilement, love, hate, life, death, justice, depravity—the human world is a very complex place."

"Yes, filth, filth, hatred, death, depravity, that's how the world is..."

You're pretty good at taking things out of context!

Gabriel looked at Lin Xu with a hopeful expression. "If you had the chance to change the current state of humanity, would you do it?"

"Change?" Lin Xu laughed upon hearing this. He was someone who only took things out of context, only focused on the bad side, and never paid attention to the good side.

Flipping the table can sometimes make things better, but you've gone a bit too far with this.

"Do you see this chess game?"

Lin Xu pointed to the chessboard in front of the two of them.

"This world is like this game of chess. Either the white pieces capture the black pieces, creating a stagnant pool, or the black pieces capture the white pieces, turning it into a living Hell. But in the end, they are both swept away and put back into the chess box."

"Isn't there a third option?"

"Yes, you've already seen it, haven't you? The result in the human world now is no different from what we produced."

Upon hearing this, Gabriel looked back at the chessboard on the table.

The black and white pieces split up and counterbalance each other. No matter what piece is placed, it will capture part of the opponent's piece. However, at the same time, the other side's counterattack will also capture part of the opponent's piece.

Capture pieces, place pieces, and so on, endlessly.

Gabriel left, looking somewhat dazed.

Constantine then approached the chessboard and studied it for a long time. "You compare the human world to a chessboard, then who is the one playing the pieces?"

"Nonsense, of course it's Lucifer who hasn't given up yet, and God who's bored out of his mind. Who else could it be but me?"

So who do you think will win?

"I don't know who won, but the loser apparently went and opened a bar later."

John:???