n

n

nTranslator: Legge Editor: Legge

nAs the tourist bus traveled to its destination.

nThe Go board was set up.

nAll of the Qiyuan’s teenagers were very interested in this game that was about to be played. They were chattering as they crowded around, ready to watch Chen Qiqi’s game with that youth.

nZhang Ye was, of course, familiar with China Qiyuan. Be it his relationship with those people involved in the “war between humans and machines” or with his father-in-law, he had always had an inextricable link with the Qiyuan. But he had not met any of these teenagers in the bus before, nor had he heard of them either. He was very sure that these teenagers had turned professional recently in the past year or two. They were all newcomers who obviously did not know about him. Although Zhang Ye had a pair of sunglasses on, he had still been an Asian Heavenly King. Hai, perhaps he had been away for so long that everyone had forgotten about him.

nChen Qiqi asked, “How many stones handicap do you need?”

nZhang Ye smiled and said, “There’s no need for that yet.”

nHuo Yan said, “Big Bro, our Qiqi is a professional player.”

n“I’m not too bad either,” Zhang Ye said.

nChen Niannian asked in surprise, “What rank are you?”

nZhang Ye replied, “9-dan or so.”

nChen Qiqi obviously did not understand this correctly. She said in surprise, “Yoho, an amateur 9-dan? That’s about the same level as our professional 3- or 4-dans then?”

nChen Niannian said, “Then there really isn’t a need for any handicap.”

nThus, Chen Qiqi said, “Come, come, let’s guess the stones 1 .”

nAn amateur 9-dan?

nZhang Ye didn’t say anything to that.

nThey guessed the stones. Chen Qiqi was to go second while Zhang Ye would start with black.

nZhang Ye placed his first stone in a rather casual manner.

nBut the moment Chen Qiqi picked up her stones, it felt as though she had changed into a completely different person. Her playstyle was very solid, and it felt quite different from her personality. She prioritized playing a defensive style and adopted a careful and steady approach. On top of that, her positioning of the stones and opening strategy were all played to perfection and in a very professional manner. Just one look and you’d know that she had had professional training before. Further, Zhang Ye found this approach and playstyle to be very familiar. He kept thinking that he had seen it somewhere before. It was as if he had played a similar opponent before.

nZhang Ye couldn’t help but ask, “Who’s your teacher?”

nChen Qiqi looked up. “My aunt.”

n“Your aunt?” Zhang Ye was taken aback and suddenly thought of someone. “Chen Ying 8-dan?”

nChen Qiqi exclaimed, “How did you know?”

nZhang Ye said, “Your approach and playstyle are exactly like hers.”

nChen Niannian gave Zhang Ye a few more glances. “Impressive, Big Bro, you can even guess something like that? But I need to correct you. My aunt has been a 9-dan since two years ago.”

n9-dan?

nThat’s good.

nZhang Ye was very happy to hear the name of a familiar old friend.

n“In the field of Go, is China still number one in the world?”

n“I suppose so.”

n“What do you mean by you suppose so?”

n“If we’re comparing Japan and Korea, then we are.”

n“Aren’t China, Japan, and Korea the countries that are best at Go?”

n“That’s only true if you don’t count artificial intelligence.”

n“Ah? Artificial intelligence?”

n“Don’t you know about PeterGo?”

n“I know, but didn’t someone already win against it four years ago?”

n“But two years ago, PeterGo reappeared again after getting some modifications and upgrades done by the Americans.”

n“Did no one challenge it?”

n“We did. But in the end, all of our human Go players were thrashed by it. For two whole years, everyone, including Teacher Tian Weiwei, my aunt, and many others, all lost to it. All of the top 100 human Go players couldn’t beat it, including the amateur Go players. During the entire two years, PeterGo’s match records were a thousand wins, zero losses. My sister and I also challenged it. PeterGo is online 24 hours a day on the Go server. Anyone is welcome to challenge it anytime, but we still lost all the same. To be honest, it’s not even on the same level as a human. PeterGo’s Go ability has already far surpassed the reach of humans.”

n“Surely someone can beat it, right?”

n“That’s what everyone had thought as well, but two years have gone by without anyone even winning once, much less winning two games out of three as per the victory conditions. In this past year, there isn’t anyone who can challenge PeterGo. That’s because everyone knows that they can’t win, so they might as well just give up trying.”

nFive minutes.

nTen minutes.

nThey talked and he listened.

nZhang Ye found out about a lot of things from their conversations and realized that so much had changed in the world. Three years made a world of difference.

nZhang Yuanqi had retired from the entertainment circle?

nThe young bloods ruled the industry?

nA change of the guard among the Heavenly Kings and Queens?

nPeterGo had made a comeback?

nZhang Ye sighed. Then he placed a stone down.

nChen Qiqi smiled and said, “So, you should watch more television when you have the time. Otherwise, your news will be too outdated. And you’ll end up getting eliminated from society.” Chen Qiqi then looked at the Go board and froze. She yelped as though someone had stepped on her tail. “Oh damn, y-you played the Cosmic Flow?”

nChen Niannian was dumbfounded!

nHuo Yan was also very surprised!

nEveryone looked like they had witnessed some sort of novel thing.

n“The Cosmic Flow?”

n“It’s really the Cosmic Flow!”

n“Damn, how many years have we not seen this!”

n“There are still people who use the Cosmic Flow?”

n“Uh, this is already such an outdated way of playing!”

nEveryone was speechless and sighed at how the style of play was really a reflection of the person. This was such an old way of playing!

nBut Zhang Ye said, “What’s wrong with the Cosmic Flow?”

nChen Niannian said, “After that earth-shattering war against the machines, the Cosmic Flow became the prevalent playstyle in Go. Be it the professionals or the amateurs, almost everyone adopted this style of play. I don’t remember when it started, but the Cosmic Flow became overplayed and researched, so just about every variation of it got studied to the point where there could be no more secrets behind it. Therefore, almost no one uses it these days. It’s a style that has virtually been eliminated from play.”

nBut Zhang Ye just smiled and said nothing.

nHuo Yan said, “But Qiqi, you’re really in danger this time.”

nChen Niannian also said, “This big bro is very strong.”

nChen Qiqi said dejectedly, “I was distracted and didn’t notice that he was playing the Cosmic Flow. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have played the way that I did. There are so many ways of countering this playstyle.”

nZhang Ye said kindly, “Then let’s not count this game.”

nChen Qiqi resigned and conceded the game. “Let’s play another game.”

nZhang Ye smiled and said, “Sure.”

nThis time, Chen Qiqi played in a more serious manner.

nBut not long after the game started, everyone exclaimed again.

n“What?”

n“It’s the Cosmic Flow again?”

n“Big Bro, just which era do you hail from?”

nBut Zhang Ye played on as usual.

nSoon after, Chen Qiqi admitted defeat in the middlegame. “Aiya, I made a mistake!”

nAlthough Huo Yan was a Xiangqi player, he also knew how to play Go. “Qiqi, you could’ve won.”

nChen Qiqi thought so as well. “Yeah, I made the wrong move.”

nChen Niannian giggled, “Sis, why don’t I play instead. I’ve never lost against the Cosmic Flow. I figured out that outdated style of playing when I first picked up Go.”

nChen Qiqi pursed her lips and said, “Alright, alright, it’s your turn.”

nChen Niannian sat over. “Big Bro, I won’t be going easy on you.”

nZhang Ye smiled. “No problem, let’s just play normally.”

nChen Niannian smiled. “Alright then! I’m gonna show you why the Cosmic Flow has been eliminated from play. You should really change to a new style of play.”

nZhang Ye smiled and said, “We’ll see about that after you’ve won.”

nChen Niannian said, “Alright!”

nHuo Yan said, “You can do it, Niannian.”

nAnother teenager said, “We’re professional Go players, so don’t you embarrass us.”

nHuo Yan said, “Niannian will be fine.”

nIn their group, Chen Niannian’s standard of play was the highest, and her ranking was also the highest. The opponent was only an amateur 9-dan, which was equivalent to a professional 3- or 4-dan. But playing against a professional 5-dan player like Chen Niannian was going to make a difference. Furthermore, the opponent was using the outdated Cosmic Flow, so that would make it really easy to play against. They did not think that Chen Niannian would lose, and neither did Chen Niannian think so.

nHowever, after just a few moves in the opening, Chen Niannian looked suffocated. It was as though she could not muster any strength.

nZhang Ye smiled.

nEliminated?

nOutdated?

nHe had already heard those words too many times today.

nI might really have fallen behind.

nAnd I might really be outdated too.

nPerhaps times really have changed.

nHowever—

nZhang Ye raised his hand to place the final stone.

nAcross from him, Chen Niannian’s game had already collapsed!

nChen Niannian was stunned!

nChen Qiqi was dumbfounded!

nEveryone looked at Zhang Ye in astonishment!

nZhang Ye grinned.

nBut you guys still can’t beat me all the same.

n