The old man looked at Li Chen with a smile.
Li Chen placed a black piece, but nothing happened.
The two continued playing chess in this way.
But the further down he went, the more surprised Li Chen became.
Because the old man in front of him played chess with the exact same rhythm as Yu Qingnian, and he realized that even though he could have easily defeated him in one move, the old man deliberately avoided that move, giving him the opportunity to continue.
Li Chen frowned, but finally said helplessly, "I admit defeat."
I can't beat you.
But he also confirmed that the old man in front of him was definitely related to Yu Qingnian.
The old man stroked his beard and chuckled, "Young man, won't you give it a try?"
Li Chen looked at the chessboard where there was no way to retreat, waved his hand helplessly, and said, "A loss is a loss, there's no need to try again."
The old man shook his head and stood up.
He looked at the little girl still playing in the distance, his eyes deep.
After a moment of silence...
Li Chen broke the silence, asking, "Who exactly are you, and why are you looking for me?"
The old man didn't turn his head but slowly said, "You don't need to know who I am."
You can think of me as one of your chess partners.
Li Chen remained silent. Were they truly just chess friends?
After another ten seconds or so, Li Chen spoke, "Do you know my mentor Yu Qingnian?"
"I think your way of playing chess is very similar to his, really very similar."
The old man smiled and said, "Of course."
"That kid learned his chess skills from me."
A storm raged in Li Chen's heart. He called Instructor Yu "kid."
Clearly, their relationship was extraordinary. After all, their Instructor Yu was now a powerful figure in the Wasteland Realm, yet the old man spoke with his usual calm demeanor.
"I know you too, Li Chen."
"They even know many of your secrets, and they know that you are now the Child of Destiny the Evil Cult is searching for."
The old man's expression remained completely unchanged.
Li Chen was starting to feel a bit lost. He couldn't figure out this old man; they weren't on the same level.
It was clear that the old man seemed to have control over everything.
But he knew nothing about this old man who had suddenly appeared.
The old man continued, "Chess is just a game, but aren't we all just pieces on that game?"
"Everyone is born with a predetermined plan of what they should do and how they should live."
"We are just figures abandoned by an era, but you are different."
"Your arrival represents a new beginning."
"I crossed the timeline, I crossed the future and saw only darkness, but I also saw a glimmer of Dawn."
"That is you, Li Chen."
Li Chen remained silent...
This has happened many times, many times already.
Many people have said those words to him, but is he truly that ray of Dawn?
He felt a strong urge to question these people about his own fate and whether he could even survive in the future.
Why was he the only Dawn, and why was his fate so predictable to others, like a puppet constantly being manipulated?
The mysteries surrounding him are now weighing him down, making it hard for him to breathe.
The old man did not stop talking.
"Just like this game of chess, I give you chances time and time again, but your choice is always to back down."
"Isn't that also a choice to escape?"
"If I, the white piece, represent the Eerie Monsters outside the wall, then you, the black piece, Human Race. Your constant retreat is just like Human Race now, ultimately ending up with only this small patch of land to survive."
"And you chose to give up, abandoning even that last glimmer of hope. Does this mean Human Race will truly disappear from the annals of history?"
Li Chen looked at the chessboard, where he saw black pieces being devoured by white pieces one by one.
He didn't make his last move by the end of the game.
Because he knew he had lost, and knew that he could not defeat his opponent no matter what.
But if we think about it the other way around, is Human Race like the black pieces, being devoured little by little, yet there's always a glimmer of hope lingering on the board, and everything depends on the choices of the player making the move?
His abandonment meant that Human Race had given up.
They allowed the Black Mist to devour the last remaining land of Human Race.
Li Chen fell silent. He had a sense of righteousness and a desire to contribute to the Human Race. After all, he was born as a human, and the Human Race represented him and all of humanity.
But he dared not accept this great responsibility.
The old man shook his head, his expression grave, and said, "Li Chen, I understand you have many secrets, and I also understand that your understanding of this world is still insufficient."
"But I can wait, and the Human Race can wait, but our time is running out."
"Human Race needs a leader. Yu Qingnian is not suitable, nor am I, but someone will eventually emerge to stand at the highest point and lead Human Race in the final all-out attack."
"I see the future, but I can never see the cause and effect in your life, because you are the one born into this era, the one most likely to lead Human Race towards hope."
"I don't want Human Race to perish, and I'm even more unwilling to see the strange being that attacked us humans begin to wither and die."
Li Chen remained expressionless and said calmly, "Then why do you all want to oppress the Human Race against me?"
"And why is it that whether it's Evil Cult or you, you're all willing to put your weight on me?"
"You all know my future and my past. I do not want to be your puppet, nor do I want to see this world wither away."
After a pause, Li Chen remained unusually silent and uttered a few words.
"I'm alone too..."
"I'm a human being with flesh and blood too..."
"I'm just a Sequence User hasn't even reached the Withered Sea Realm yet. How can I hold up this sky, how can I see hope, how can I break through that thick Black Mist?"
The oppression, the constant oppression, finally caused Li Chen to explode.
He also considered that a secret is ultimately a secret. He could choose not to find the answer, or he could choose to withdraw from this chaotic world and become an ordinary person, living an honest and simple life.
But from the moment he awakened, his world was gradually taken over by others... He became a puppet... a puppet who would either join Evil Cult to destroy the world or choose the side of Human Race to protect it.
He's a human being too; under immense pressure, he can break down. No one understands him, and no one knows how he should face all of this.
If he were truly given a choice, it would be just as Yu Qingnian once said.
Isn't it better to be an ordinary person?
At least you only need to worry about whether you've made money each day, without having to worry about anything else right now.
The old man shook his head slightly; he knew that imposed ideas would have serious consequences.
But time is running out for the Human Race.
He slowly began to speak, "Those Sequence User were once the pride of the world have now become rotten, stinking fish."
"This world needs new life, it needs the power you hold in your hands."
"Looking into the future, I can no longer see cause and effect."
"But you are my hope, and I can only gamble everything on you."
Li Chen was stunned.
Yes, this old man seems to be able to see the future, but he doesn't know the future, yet the old man has told him almost everything through his words.
The future only offers one choice, and so does the present.
And the choice was his "Li Chen".
Everything we could have decided has long been extinguished by hope, but at the end of time, beyond the future, there is only a solitary figure.
Stepping onto that path strewn with countless human bones and the corpses of countless Eerie Monsters creatures, one will eventually rise.
Dawn and darkness.
(End of this volume)