348 Chess Master.
Theseus led the team away from the chaos and then they came to find cover in the forest and hid while waiting for the opponent teams to arrive. Vanessa asked, “What is the next move?”
Theseus replied, “Wait and watch what they do. Never move before your enemy has made his moves clear.”
Quo Lina asked, “What if we are too late to make a move?”
Theseus shook his head and said, “A war does not end till the enemy is destroyed, even after the surrender the cunning of an enemy can leave us in shambles. Never let down your guard and never think it is too late. When the enemy is face to face with you, even till your last breath you have a chance to take them down. War is not something like a covert strike.”
The students nodded at this, and they agreed with his words. After this, they began to wait and regain their energy from the early attack.
Theseus was not wrong at this point, the earlier team they had taken on was defeated quickly because they were too quick and unexpected. The other party did not anticipate their attack, while Theseus had a brilliant vice commander by his side and they altered the plans at the last moment possible.
…
The people in the observation pavilion heard this and nodded, the command shown by Theseus was impressive, and even more than that, Vanessa was able to keep him in check was what they liked most in this situation. Without restraint, abilities can backfire.
The teacher from the defeated team asked, “Sir, may I ask what is the ability of this young man?”
This question was directed to Shi Lang, the rest of the people here were similar in rank. The young general looked at the man and said, “I call his ability the chess master. If you can discern anything from that, then be my guest.”
He did not want to leak the secrets of his students too early, abilities were a sensitive topic and Shi Lang was careful about whom to trust and who not. The officers understood this and did not blame him but they began to speculate what the meaning of this term mean.
At first, they thought that the Chess Master was something that allowed the young man to calculate different strategies in a war situation. But since they did not know much about this ability they could not derive a conclusion.
Shi Lang did not bother to help them, he was enjoying his time watching the competition proceed on the screen.
…
Shi Tao was sitting with Amelia in the VIP observation box with the other top brass of the military. Even Charlotte Knight was present at the occasion, and they were all here because they knew that Shi Lang was the training in charge of a batch from the Federal Star Academy.
Charlotte said, “This young man in the lead of the FSA team seems to have awakened a calculative ability. He will be a good seed for administrative positions.”
The others nodded, but the next moment, Shi Tao, who was standing in the front with her eyes locked on the big screen turned to look back at them and said, “Excuse me, Sirs, forgive me for speaking out of term but my father said that elder brother Theseus will be a commanding officer at the front.”
She had enough knowledge to know, who these people were, and what they were talking about. It was only normal for the children in the federation to know such things at this age, but the remark still surprised the batch of old people. Charlotte Knight was aware of the identity of this girl and she did not approve of this adoption, after all, her daughter was still young and she could have a child of her own.
She did not want to interact much with this child and her daughter was upset with her, but she stuck by her choice, now that this pipsqueak has dared to speak in the matters of the high table, she wanted to see what was so special about her. She asked, “Why did your father say that? Do you even know what an administrator means?”
Shi Tao did not falter from the pressure and Amelia did not come up to help her. She wanted to give her daughter room to grow. Shi Lang had been training this little one, and despite his love and care, he did not spare her when it came to training.
Shi Tao replied, “Ma’am, an administrative officer is someone who is capable of commanding entire fleets in wartime situations. They are also the officers who facilitate foreign relations with other species on the basis of their calculative abilities.”
Charlotte nodded at this textbook definition, she was relieved that this child did not shame her daughter and son-in-law in front of the entire peanut gallery. She asked, “Then why do you say that Theseus will be more suited for a commanding ability?”
Shi Tao smiled and said, “Because brother Theseus does not have a calculative ability.”
This surprised the people and they did not understand. Charlotte asked with narrowed eyes, “What do you mean?”
Shi Tao shook her head and said, “Cannot tell you, dad will get upset with Tao.”
That said, she turned around and watched the screen. She did not give a damn about the thoughts of these old people, all that mattered to her was the thoughts that Shi Lang had and her own opinions. How can she stand and listen to these people thinking they know everything and can be superior to her father?
Amelia acted like she did not know anything the entire time. She was the commanding officer of the Ace division and dared the council to bully her. Even if Shi Lang did not do anything, they still had a stigma of his prowess in their minds.
…
Theseus suddenly said, “Divo, go and replace a guy from any of the teams, and then seed discord.”
Divo replied, “On it leader.”
Vanessa and the rest did not react, they knew what was going to happen after this command. Divo was the shapeshifter of their team. Yes, it cannot be simpler than this, Theseus wanted Divo to swap places with a guy from the opponents and then showcase a scene of discord.
…
Divo circled around the parameter and positioned himself behind the two opposing teams. They have all just arrived at the location of the shootout and found the unconscious team. They were obviously shocked at the sight. The fact that the entire team was taken down without any casualties made them all become more alert.
They did not think that anyone here from the enemy team was taken away to create an illusion. There were no traces of such manipulation at the scene, no matter how skilled the other party was, they will have to leave some trace in such a hurry, but there was nothing, meaning this was an ambush and made the people raise their vigil.
Divo gave off his position and triggered the scanning devices of the opponent team. He did this intentionally so that the people would come over and check the situation.
The leader of the opponent teams reacted and sent out a group of soldiers closest to the end, and the team of five responded quickly. Divo moved around the forest and the team leader said, “Split and search, do not engage the target, we do not know what can they do.”
The team nodded and split up. They did not manage to violate the safe distance, where they could reach to support each other, but Divo did not need anything more. He was watching the situation from the cover of thick tree leaves. As soon as the opponent passed from below his position. He jumped down and with a quick dagger strike at the back of the head disoriented the guy.
The helmet was good enough to prevent knocking out in case of a head strike, then Divo took out his handgun and stunned the enemy. Then he looked at the guy on the ground and quickly took off his helmet and uniform. However, before putting up the helmet, his face squirmed and his physique also changed to fit the suit on his body.
He looked exactly like the person on the ground. The guns were made to stun the targets, but they still gave off minimal sounds that will be picked up by the Terran cultivators in battle suits. This was not all, Divo replaced his communicator with a broken one.
In less than thirty seconds, everything was finished and settled, at this moment, the enemy team leader arrived and found Divo standing over an unfamiliar guy on the ground. He asked, “Tsumu, what happened?”
Divo replied naturally, This guy attacked from above.” he pointed at the tree crown and continued, “Damaged my communicator, I stunned him.”
The surprising thing was that the person on the ground looked exactly like Divo.
…
Theseus said, “Move successful. Now, wait for the chance.”
The team nodded. However, his remark shocked the people outside.
…
Charlotte asked in disbelief, “How can he tell what happened from this distance?”
Shi Tao replied in a happy tone, “Because the chess master knows everything that happens on the board and he knows what is the status of his pieces.”
The people in the peanut gallery were shocked, they did not expect the Chess Master to be something like this.