Chapter 229

Chapter 229

At this moment...

Beast didn't know what kind of opponent she was dealing with. During the chess game with Nini, she realized that her opponent was no ordinary foe and began to take it seriously.

In the first round, Beast emerged victorious.

"Wow, as expected, none of the Old Gods are simple," Uncle Hao in Crey's lab sighed. "There's nothing we can do. The time for adjusting this fake AlphaGo was too short; it's still evolving."

After Nini thought of the real-world AlphaGo, she returned to the real world and sought out Crey at Michigan University, which was somewhat biased towards liberal arts. Players could only interact with a scientist like Crey. Thankfully, he didn't disappoint them. Upon learning that Lord Lane needed it, Crey immediately contacted his friends in the scientific community and borrowed an outdated version of the game world's AlphaGo.

Of course, even though it was borrowed, it couldn't be used right away. Senet wasn't a mainstream board game, so there was little data available. Thus, Nini had been watching and collecting data from the matches between Beast and Lane.

Fortunately, even though they borrowed an outdated product, Senet wasn't as complex and changeable as Go, so the AI's computational load was greatly reduced.

After losing a round, Beast assumed that Lane and Nini would be discouraged or give up, but to her surprise, their expressions didn't change. Nini calmly tidied up the pieces, while Lane smiled and said, "Let's continue."

They hadn't agreed to let Nini win just one round, so Beast shrugged. "Fine, then I'll crush your hopes completely."

Yet, as the second round began, Best's expression shifted.

The opponent was growing too swiftly.

Best raised his head and gazed deeply into Nian Nian's eyes, but he saw no signs of cheating there.

Only Lan En and Nian Nian had that perspective.

Team Channel:

Uncle Hao: Place the piece in the third slot from the bottom on the second row. Don't mix it up.

Uncle Hao: Alright, the one on the left – oh, you ate one of their pieces!

"Ha, what remote control nonsense."

"It's like they're playing chess by remote, huh."

"Poor Cat God, being manipulated by AI without a clue!"

"What does this imply? Cats consider dogs their enemies."

"Best: Folks, who gets it? I can't stand dogs!"

The second game took nearly two hours to complete.

Bear in mind that Best usually finished his chess matches with Lane within half an hour, with Lane being the one on the losing end. However, in the previous game, Best had clearly held the upper hand against Yaya with his skills. Yet, in this round, he could only secure a hard-fought victory thanks to his century of experience.

Yaya, on the other hand, seemed completely relaxed as she started setting up the pieces again as if she hadn't exerted any mental effort at all.

Best took a deep breath and inspected the surroundings for any traces of magic, but still found nothing.

In the third game, Best was immediately put on the defensive and barely managed to eke out a draw until the very end.

The fourth game also ended in a tie.

In the fifth game, Yaya emerged victorious.

"We won!" Yaya's face lit up with excitement.

"Again!"

"Eh? Didn't you say just one game?" Yaya looked at Lane doubtfully.

Best's eyes burned with renewed determination. "I know you won, and of course I keep my word, but... let's have another round."

Lane thought to himself, Is he... getting hooked? He held back his smile to avoid provoking Best and nodded at Yaya.

And so, Best began to suffer relentless domination.

After the AI had won once, it was challenging for it to lose in any subsequent games.

The sixth game, the seventh, the eighth...

By the tenth game, Best finally accepted the reality, staring at Lane and Yaya in disbelief. "How did you do it? Why has his chess skill improved so rapidly?"

Lane cleared his throat. "You might not like what you hear."

"I won't get angry. We cats have a good temper."

Lan wasn't entirely convinced, but he still answered Bestest's question. With a snap of his fingers, the door opened to reveal the lab inside. Two players were replicating the chess game, while a computer beside them calculated the next move. Upon seeing Bestest and Lan, they awkwardly waved at them.

"Hey!"

"This is...?"

"Sorry, but since you said external help was allowed," Lan rubbed his nose, "I made use of a bit of technological power. Have you heard of AI? Artificial Intelligence?"

Bestest seemed a bit dazed. "I've seen it occasionally in human dreams, but has it developed to this extent?"

As expected, the Old Gods couldn't easily descend upon Earth, but they could still gain some understanding of human society through dreams. No wonder Bestest occasionally revealed knowledge about Earth.

Thoughtfully, Lan continued speaking without interrupting their conversation. "Yes, although humans in reality no longer possess the power to make all their wishes come true... they are achieving that by themselves."

"Will their demonstrated potential convince you to place a bet?"

Bestest composed himself, though his eyes still held a mixture of emotions. "You're quite cunning, young Lan. You know I wanted to see your potential."

Lan smiled. "But you didn't say I couldn't use external help. In fact, they are indeed invaluable assets to me."

"My wife claims I'm an aid, so rounding it off, my wife needs me! My wife just confessed to me!"

"Holy moly, what's going on upstairs? You skipped a few steps there, hhh."

"So, I'm not retracting our bet," Best said with a sigh. "Alright, you win this round."

Lane temporarily closed the door, and Nian Nian promptly displayed a mission completion symbol. As a reward, Lane allowed Nian Nian to choose her favorite spirit plants from his botanical garden. He would give her the seeds and even assist in their acceleration of growth.

Nian Nian was overjoyed. Everyone knew how sought-after Lane's spirit plants were. They could be used both offensively and defensively, as well as for healing. Many were also essential ingredients for high-ranking potions, holding great value in both trading and cultivation. Previously, players had attempted to lay hands on Lane's garden, but they were chased away by the Black Tree Guardians, who protected the area.

However, the rewards were not the most important thing at the moment; it was the upcoming plot!

Under the watchful eyes of Nian Nian and the live-stream audience, the two Old Gods continued their conversation.

"Well, my request is that I need your assistance," Lane said. "Please tell me why the Old Gods can't intervene in matters concerning the Perfect Ones, and how I can bring other Old Gods to my side."

"You have quite the ambition, young Lane," Best's lips curled up. "Having me isn't enough, you're already setting your sights on the other Old Gods?"

"I have no choice," Lane replied calmly. "Judas is my greatest foe, and I'm worried about Oger causing trouble for him. In this dream world, without the intervention of the Old Gods, it'll be challenging for us to defeat Him."

"Very well... There's no harm in telling you. To some extent, the answers to both your questions are intertwined," Bestir said with a cryptic tone. "The Old Gods vanished before the Perfect because..."

...

In Black Rock Town, the Druid and Matcha Latte had gathered testimonies and the final pieces of evidence they needed from the locals. The Black Cat led his team straight to the priest.

The priest was in the town's only church, which was likely dedicated to the Old God who protected the settlement. However, strangely, the statue within had no face, and there was no mention of the deity's name.

As the Black Cat and his companions entered, the priest was praying to the faceless god, his back turned to them.

Cornelia still harbored doubts about the Black Cat's deductions but instructed the patrolmen to wait outside.

"The one who murdered the bell ringer and the night watchman is you, isn't it?" the Black Cat stated.

The priest paused his prayer and turned around, his expression indifferent. "What are you talking about?"

"You're not as cowardly as you were before," the Black Cat taunted.

"I told you, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Well, it's standard procedure for detectives to review the case. Let's go over it."

"Fetch some stools."

"Front row for the drama."

"Background music, spotlight, and here comes the grand entrance of Master Black Cat!"

"Cough!" The black cat almost choked on the spectators' excitement in the live stream. "Anyway, we've found witnesses that confirm your connection with the bell ringer."

"We were lovers," the priest declared straightforwardly. "So what? It's not uncommon in this world."

"So you admit that you were with him in his watchtower the night he died, sharing the same bed?" Black Cat probed. "We found brown, long hair on the bed. Or do you think someone else was there with him?"

The priest fell silent, his gaze sweeping across the curious residents outside the church and settling on Cornelia's face before he closed his eyes and said, "I was there that night."

"Case closed, I suppose," Black Cat sighed, looking bored as if the opponent had fallen without a fight. "You admit being there, and no one else could have left their homes at night. Only you had the chance to kill the bell ringer."

"I killed him due to personal issues," the priest said nonchalantly. "But I never intended to harm the entire town or the night watchman. According to the temporary laws of this town, I would only be confined to my home."

The Black Cat was taken aback and looked at Cornelia. "There's such a rule?"

"…Yes." Cornelia's expression toward the priest was complicated. "He's now part of the decision-making group, and we can't afford to lose more power now. Even if a judgment meeting were to be held, most people wouldn't vote to expel him."

The priest stood quietly in place, seemingly accepting the outcome with a calm demeanor, as if it didn't matter to him at all.

Something was off. Why was he so calm?

It was as if this punishment was insignificant, yet he still denied the murder of the Night Watchman, as if being expelled was the only thing that mattered to him.

Black Cat furrowed his brow. He wasn't swayed by the priest's words; the other party hadn't killed out of emotion. He had slaughtered the Night Watchman and the Bell Ringer solely to drag the entire town into hell! It was too dangerous to stay here.

"…But I said that you also killed the Night Watchman."

The priest suddenly smiled. "Your reasoning is amusing. You've deduced me as the murderer of the Bell Ringer because no one could leave their house at night. But have you considered that, since I couldn't leave my house at night, I couldn't have possibly killed the Night Watchman who died in the middle of the night."

Indeed, the tricky part about these two cases was that they initially seemed impossible to be committed by the same person. If the killer had murdered the Bell Ringer indoors, they couldn't have gone out at night to kill the Night Watchman.

Unless they didn't need to leave the house to commit the murders.