Super Gene

With Han Sen’s chess talent, he was unable to tell what was so special about the 17 stalemates. At the very least, he was unable to tell if any secrets had yet to be discovered.

“Does that mean the secret of the chessboards isn’t actually in the chessboards?” Han Sen tried to analyze the stalemates via a different perspective.

Han Sen’s Heavenly Go and Under the Sky Knife skills were heavily related to chess. So, he tried to separate the black chess pieces from the white chess pieces and started to move like a chess piece.

Han Sen went back to the first stalemate he saw. He thought of himself as a chess piece and started walking per the black chess pieces of the chessboard.

Han Sen quickly discovered that would not work. The locations of some of the chess pieces were in reverse to where he went. Unless he had eight pairs of legs, he would not be able to walk like that.

“That means these chess pieces do not represent a location to get to.” Han Sen tried doing it with every picture. He noticed it did not work in many ways. Even if he walked past it, it was useless. The chessboards were not directions.

“Little Doll, stop wasting your time. I have tried in many different ways. There is no secret.” Holy Pirate approached Han Sen. He threw him a few fruits and said, “You should eat more. Someone is going to pick you up tomorrow. Do not worry. No one wants to kill you. You just need to listen to someone’s orders.”

“Are the Extreme King people coming tomorrow? That means I have no time!” Han Sen looked at the sky. The sun was going to set soon. It did not seem like he could accomplish much in the space of one night.

But Han Sen was not going to give up. He sat on top of a wall and ate the fruit while he examined the chess pieces on one of the walls. He thought, The chessboard itself is fine. The chess pieces do not make directions, so what is the secret of these chessboards? Or, is it just how Holy Pirate said? Is it all a big joke? Is there no secret to be discovered with the chessboards?”

Han Sen had nothing else to do, so he continued watching the chessboards. While he was looking at them, his brain suddenly flashed. What if I played out all of these chess games? What would happen then?

After Han Sen thought that, he quickly wanted to do it. He chose a chessboard that was nearing the end. He tried playing chess on his own and continued with the game.

Since the stalemate was near the end, the winner was practically determined. Han Sen just continued with it. Throughout the rest of the chess match, he did not notice any problems.

Han Sen used the chess pieces he had just played with to walk once. He noticed it still did not work.

Han Sen did not give up. He observed the chessboard again. He noticed when the chessboard was finished, it seemed a bit different compared to when it was unfinished.

“What is the difference?” Han Sen looked at the chessboard and thought about it. He looked at it for a while before slapping his legs and saying, “Could this thing be a password? Is it like how the Breakskies used their hands for a password on that metal box? You needed a set of punching skills to open the metal box. What if I follow that discipline and a chess game? What would happen then?”

Han Sen was examining one of the chessboards, but he swiftly discovered a problem. He did not know which way to go. This Go was not like the average game of Chinese chess. If it was Chinese chess, one could look at the chess pieces and tell what sort of steps could be taken.

In Go, it was extremely hard to see which chess piece was moved first and which chess pieces moved later. So, it was hard to find out the order of the chess pieces.

“In that case, I have to go backward and replay the entire match of that chessboard. That way, I might be able to find something.” Han Sen started to reverse the moves played out on that chessboard.

It was not easy for Han Sen to do, even though he was good at Heavenly Go, Dongxuan Sutra, and Under the Sky Knife. By the time he was finished with one chessboard, it was already midnight. It was only a few hours until daylight.

His work did not go to waste. After Han Sen replayed the game of chess, he was able to figure out the order of each chess piece.

“My success hinges exclusively on this.” Han Sen walked before that stalemate. He wanted to press the chess pieces on the image, but he was not tall enough. He was unable to touch them.

“A child’s body is horrible.” Han Sen had no choice. At the moment, he had no power. He could not hit things in the air.

In the valley, he found a thick branch that he could use as a ladder. Han Sen returned to the chessboard with it. He climbed up the mountain with the ladder. According to the order he had calculated, he placed his hand on the first chess piece.

Katcha!

That chess piece that was carved onto the mountain and not being pressed inside. It made Han Sen extremely happy.

According to what he thought, he then pressed the chess pieces in order.

“Huh? What is going on?” Holy Pirate walked before the mountain. He looked up at Han Sen pressing a chess piece in with shock.

He had tried to do that before, but he had been unable to press it in. Now, he was seeing Han Sen doing what he had failed to do. That made him quite surprised. He had no clue how Han Sen had managed to do it.

Han Sen pressed all the black chess pieces, but it was still quiet all around. He did not see any contraption unlock or secrets unveiled. No danger showed its face either.

Han Sen’s heart jumped. He started pressing the white chess pieces.

It seemed like Han Sen moving his little body via that cumbersome ladder was too slow. Holy Pirate teleported forward and lifted Han Sen up. “Tell me which chess piece you want me to press, and I will help you.”

Han Sen told him the order in which to press the pieces, and Holy Pirate went to press them. He easily pushed in the chess pieces.

Soon after, all the chess pieces on the chessboard were pressed in.

After they pressed all the chess pieces of the stalemate, nothing happened.

“Do I have to press the chess pieces on all 17 stalemate images?” Han Sen asked.

“That won’t be too hard.” Holy Pirate flew over to the second stalemate. He reached his hand out to press a chess piece. When his fingers came down on it, the chess piece did not move. It did not go into the stone as the other ones did.

He pressed every chess piece on the chessboard he was able to. Not one of them seemed to budge.

“Why is it not working?” Holy Pirate looked at Han Sen.

He was called the Chess King in that universe, but his chess skill level was not all that high. It was just as Han Sen thought. Holy Pirate was bad at playing chess, even though the man thought he was great at it. He was confident in his chess-playing level.

“If you want to know how to press these pieces correctly, promise to let me go,” Han Sen said. “If you make this promise, I will give you the solution.”

“This…” Holy Pirate hesitated.

Although Bai Wanjie had told him success or failure mattered, he was still in possession of the sky silk picture. But as one of the Pirates, stealing the benefits and doing nothing in return was not an option.

With these revelations, Holy Pirate did not want to give Han Sen away. It was not easy to uncover the secrets of the chessboards. If Han Sen left, he would not be able to continue.