72 drones hung in the honeycomb of the gray ceiling, like sleeping wasps.

210 surveillance cameras slowly rotated their angles, while three armed robots stood guard in the square.

Prisoners lined up at the window to receive their meals, some complaining that it was synthetic meat again today and just as unpalatable.

In the square, people moved back and forth—some heading to the fitness area, others gathering to watch the newcomer ceremony.

But everyone instinctively avoided... that middle-aged man staring at the chessboard.

The man continued to study the chessboard intently, with no one approaching within five meters of him.

He was like a calm and unyielding reef on the surface of the sea, forcing all the surging waters and ships to give way.

Brian Brooks accelerated through the three-man encirclement and walked toward the middle-aged man.

Seeing the direction he was heading, many people suddenly realized what this newcomer intended to do.

Gradually, more and more people turned their attention to him, whispering among themselves. The expressions on the prisoners’ faces all seemed to be waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

However, Brian Brooks ignored the mocking voices, carrying his tray as if no one else were there, weaving through the crowd.

Before he could get close, a young man beside the middle-aged man stopped him.

The young man smiled and said, “New guy, I know what you’re up to, but we won’t help you.”

Brian Brooks paid him no mind, instead looking past the young man and speaking seriously to the middle-aged man: “Advance the front pawn by one. I can solve this endgame.”

Only then did the middle-aged man look up.

The moment he raised his head, the square suddenly fell silent, and the gray big cat opened its eyes.

Chapter 6: The Fierce Pawn Crossing the River

After the middle-aged man looked up, Brian Brooks almost thought he had gone deaf, because the once noisy square became instantly silent, not a sound to be heard.

Brian Brooks let out a sigh of relief, because all of this proved he had made the right bet.

The middle-aged man didn’t say anything to him, only calmly pushed the red pawn forward by one on the chessboard.

As for the black pieces the middle-aged man controlled, he chose to move the elephant back from five to seven, capturing the pawn that had just advanced so boldly.

Brian Brooks quietly watched the chessboard from a distance. The “Four Bandits Capture the King” was a fairly famous endgame on Earth.

An endgame generally means a situation where black is certain to win, and red can’t even force a draw. If a draw is achieved, it means the endgame has been solved.

But Brian Brooks was not satisfied with just a draw.

“Continue,” the middle-aged man said calmly.

Brian Brooks said, “Pawn two moves to three.”

The middle-aged man closed his eyes and played blind chess with Brian Brooks: “General advances six by one.”

Brian Brooks also closed his eyes: “Rear chariot advances four.”

“Elephant seven retreats to nine.”

On the sixth move, Brian Brooks suddenly said, “Chariot one advances seven!”

The middle-aged man’s closed eyes snapped open again. He looked at Brian Brooks in surprise: “Elephant five retreats to seven.”

For the first five moves, both sides played back and forth without much excitement, but after the sixth move, they began exchanging pieces at every step!

You kill me! I kill you! Blood flows like a river, the battlefield littered with fallen soldiers!

Both sides showed extreme decisiveness and ruthlessness on the chessboard.

In the “Four Bandits Capture the King” endgame, the two of them managed to create an atmosphere of martial valor, each willing to sacrifice everything for the final victory.

At the start, Brian Brooks had four fierce pawns that had crossed the river, but he sacrificed them one by one, leaving only the last one!

Chariot one moves to four.

General moves from four to five.

On the fifteenth move, Brian Brooks finally let out a long, heavy breath: “Pawn five advances one!”

The dagger is revealed at the end of the picture.

Checkmate!

It was only at this moment that the true, indescribable charm of solving the “Four Bandits Capture the King” endgame burst forth.

The situation of mutual slaughter and resolution across the Chu River and Han Border made the middle-aged man feel as if he were truly facing off against a strategist on the battlefield.

Every move in this game was fraught with danger.

The middle-aged man quietly looked at the young man before him, who met his gaze with a grave and stubborn expression.

He understood now: he himself was just playing chess, but the other was fighting to survive in a world surrounded by iron beasts—their attitudes were fundamentally different.

Somewhere in the prison, a solitary round of applause sounded.

No one noticed that, at this very moment, 81 of the 210 surveillance cameras in the prison fortress had turned directly toward Brian Brooks.

Within the black lenses of the cameras, vortices contracted, as if trying to focus on Brian Brooks’s face.

No one knew who was watching behind those cameras.

The middle-aged man smiled and flipped the black piece upside down on the chessboard: “Interesting. There aren’t many people these days who can play Chinese chess. Let’s continue tomorrow.”

With that, he walked toward the library area with his hands behind his back, leaving the chessboard on the dining table—no one dared to touch it.

The gray cat on the table stood up and quietly followed behind the middle-aged man.

When curled up, the cat looked like a ball of fur, not very big.

But as it stretched out, Brian Brooks realized the cat was over a meter long and exceptionally agile.

Ordinary house cats walk lightly, hence the term “catwalk,” but this cat moved with the bearing of a tiger.

Everyone in the square who had been watching was stunned—had the boy actually won the endgame?

What shocked them was: how could that middle-aged man lose?