Infinite Nightmares

Tan Yougen showed no intention of accepting Zhang Wenda's proposal. His hand, pointing toward the door, did not lower. "Leave."

However, the more Tan Yougen said this, the more determined Zhang Wenda was to stay. "I'm only missing yellow now. As long as the Bureau can help me find yellow, I can manifest my own Thought Wave and fill the position left by Big Circle Leopard."

"So if that's the case, you'd better stop standing by and watching coldly. Have the Bureau use all its resources to help me walk the rest of this path."

"Don't give me that nonsense about how Trial No. 2 can only be walked alone. I know that. I just need some help in other areas."

Zhang Wenda finally revealed his true purpose. He was trying to use this opportunity to make this old fox, Tan Yougen, an asset to him.

"I've already found red and blue. I've demonstrated my potential. If you're not even willing to pay this small price, then I'll start to question your intelligence."

After saying this, Zhang Wenda leaned forward, staring intently into the other man's eyes, awaiting his reply.

After a long moment, Tan Yougen spoke. "Go on back. I'll figure out a way to have someone help you."

Finally hearing a satisfactory answer, Zhang Wenda stood up and walked out the door.

Once the door was closed, Tan Yougen looked back at the chessboard before him. He thought for a moment, then took a red Soldier piece from the board and tossed it into a drawer. Immediately after, he pulled a red Horse from the drawer and slapped it down hard onto the board.

And this entire scene was seen with perfect clarity by the Wai Mouse, who was hiding outside and peeking through the crack in the door.

When Zhang Wenda got home, he didn't waste a second. He immediately raised his right hand toward the wall. As the red in his mind stirred slightly, his right index finger instantly transformed into a sharp, black scythe.

Amidst a spray of fine powder, the concrete wall was sliced open as easily as tofu before Zhang Wenda. Soon, he had more or less replicated Tan Yougen's chessboard on his wall.

'From the moment I walked in, I felt there was something unusual about that chessboard. Now, it seems my guess was right.'

'A red Soldier for a red Horse? That undoubtedly represents me. So that proves red is our side, and black is Big Circle's side.' Zhang Wenda looked at the board and began to deduce.

Then, the image of the captured red Chariot flashed through his mind, along with the memory of Tan Yougen glancing at that same red Chariot when he mentioned Big Circle Leopard's death.

'Does the red Chariot represent Big Circle Leopard? No, it's not just about Big Circle Leopard. If I represent a Horse, then the Chariots must represent Thought Wave Strong Persons of an equivalent rank. Why are there only four? Aren't the others in the game?'

Just then, Song Jianguo walked over, holding a jar of sugar-roasted chestnuts. She stuffed them into her mouth by the handful as she looked curiously at the chessboard on the wall. "What is all this mess?"

Zhang Wenda ignored her, but her black cat ears kept swaying back and forth in his face like pillars, completely blocking his view.

"Can you please not get in the way?" Zhang Wenda reached out, grabbed a cat ear, and pulled it to the side. "Where'd you get the roasted chestnuts?"

"Xiaohua left them for me before she left. She even peeled them for me ahead of time. M-hm, that's right. She said they were all for me and didn't mention you at all." After speaking, she nodded her head vigorously to emphasize her point.

To avoid Song Jianguo's disruptions, Zhang Wenda went straight to his bedroom, shut the door, and drew a new chessboard.

This time, on the newly-placed Horse, he wrote the name "Zhang Wenda." He relabeled the captured Chariot as "Big Circle Leopard," and on the other Chariots, he wrote the word "Strong."

Through a long process of deduction and judgment, Zhang Wenda soon figured out the general details of the current situation from this chessboard.

First, his own strength was that of a Horse, while a Thought Wave Strong Person's strength was a Chariot. That meant the Generals on both sides must represent extremely important targets.

It was even possible that the survival of the Generals would determine the outcome of the entire battle.

The black side had three Generals. 'Undoubtedly, one of them is Qianxi.' Thinking this, Zhang Wenda relabeled one of the General pieces as "Qianxi."

Then he looked at the red side. Red had two Generals, but he didn't yet know what they represented.

'It can't be that one of them represents Tan Yougen himself, can it?' Zhang Wenda pondered, but then thought it was unlikely. Tan Yougen was a deputy director.

'Excluding the disbanded Bureau 749, the Third Line has three full directors and three deputy directors. Or maybe each bureau has two deputies... No matter how I count it, the numbers don't add up.'

'Logically speaking, a large organization like the Third Line must have a single overall head. If one really exists, then they would definitely count as a General.'

Next, Zhang Wenda began to carefully study the endgame situation before him. Although he knew how to play Chinese chess, his skills weren't very good. It was only with the boost from "blue" that he could barely manage.

After studying it intently for a while, Zhang Wenda could just barely determine that the red side's situation was not looking good, especially after one of the red Chariots—capable of charging deep into enemy lines—had been captured.

But instead of defending in this situation, the red side seemed to be using offense as its defense. Several moves had been very aggressive. The player seemed to be in a hurry.

'What's Old Tan so anxious about?' Zhang Wenda stared at the board and began to imitate the red side's moves, trying to predict what Tan Yougen would do next.

'If I were playing...' Zhang Wenda stared at the board, lost in deep thought. He became so absorbed that he almost lost track of time.

An hour later, he twisted his sore neck, picked up the red Horse, moved it across the river, and basically offered it up to the black side.

If black's Cannon dared to take it, then red could immediately use a Chariot to take the Cannon. Trading a Horse for a Cannon would be a huge win.

"Huh?" Zhang Wenda suddenly realized what he'd done. He slapped his thigh hard and said resentfully, "That's not right... Holy shit! Why did I just sacrifice myself?"

The moment the words left his mouth, Zhang Wenda froze and began to think it over seriously.

'Tan Yougen agreed so readily this time... he isn't really planning to sell me out, is he?'

He seriously mulled over Tan Yougen's earlier words. The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed, especially considering the guy's nasty track record of doing this time and again.

"Don't worry about Big Circle Leopard for now. You attacked him together, so Qianxi has definitely marked you this time. Stay away from Thought Wave No. 13 from now on."

Those were his exact words. Since Big Circle Leopard was already dead, if Qianxi had the chance, he would definitely make a move on him.

Although Tan Yougen told him to stay away from Thought Wave No. 13, did he even need to go there? As long as he was out on a mission, a casual leak from Tan Yougen would be all it took for Qianxi to find him.

At this thought, Zhang Wenda's sense of crisis shot through the roof. 'It's true what they say: lean on a person and they'll leave, lean on a mountain and it'll fall. In the end, you can only rely on yourself.'

Just then, he heard Song Jianguo's voice from the living room. "Haozi! Someone's here to see you! Are you going to see her? She didn't bring a gift!"