"So I got it just like that?"
The unexpected reward left Ethan somewhat surprised.
He had originally thought that since the Saint of Formations had discovered he cheated, the game had been destroyed, meaning it was over.
He hadn't expected to successfully subdue it anyway.
'Isn't this a little too easy?'
———
[Inside the Chessboard]
The Saint of Formations sat high upon his throne.
The chess pieces that had previously shattered and scattered through the air had all been restored.
The elephant advisor holding a feather fan gently waved it as he said, "My lord, why did you deliberately lose to him? You clearly had a hundred ways to defeat him completely in that game..."
"How much longer do you want to stay trapped in this place?"
Instead of answering the advisor's question directly, the Saint of Formations replied with a question of his own.
Hearing this, the advisor fell silent.
That's right.
They had already remained in this world for several hundred years. They had been here so long that even these stone statues had developed intelligence and become sentient chess pieces.
And their lord had been trapped here even longer than they had.
Their lord no longer wanted to remain imprisoned here, so he...
"I understand," The advisor dropped to one knee, "My lord let him win so he could take you away from this cursed place. But... my lord, don't you feel unwilling?"
"You are such a great figure. How can you serve under someone so insignificant?"
"Serve under him?"
The Saint of Formations laughed, "Although that kid has obtained the chessboard, the world inside it is still my domain."
"If he doesn't treat me with the respect I deserve, then having the chessboard will be useless."
"The same goes for the chess pieces he stole."
"In the end, they'll obediently return to my world."
If Ethan had been there to see it, he would have discovered that the black horse and white cannon he had stolen with the Ghost Hand had already returned to the chessboard, as though they had never been taken.
———
After subduing the chessboard, Ethan didn't dare waste any time. He immediately followed the indicated direction and prepared to leave the gray ore mining area.
But the floodwaters had already spread everywhere.
So, there was no way Ethan could simply walk out.
As for swimming, he had no idea what might be lurking beneath the water.
After all, his combat ability in water was genuinely limited, so he wanted to avoid entering it if at all possible.
As for flying out with the Flying Cloak, the distance from here to the fissure was too far. He definitely couldn't make it within ten breaths. Unless he could glide down from a high enough point, in which case the Flying Cloak could stay airborne for an hour. Then he could even fly all the way back to his territory.
If only he could get to a high enough place first.
The next second, an idea suddenly flashed through Ethan's mind.
"Lord's Domain!"
In an instant, Ethan teleported straight into the air.
He appeared just beneath the turbulent spatial currents near the top of the gray ore mining area. Then he immediately used the Flying Cloak's gliding ability.
Carefully controlling his angle, he glided toward the outside of the gray ore mining area.
But... when he finally flew out of the mining area... Ethan realized the situation was far worse than he had imagined.
The mastermind behind all this was truly ruthless.
It turned out the goal wasn't just to drown Ethan inside the gray ore mining area.
They wanted to flood his entire territory before they would be satisfied.
He saw that, the massive flood inside the gray ore mining area was continuously pouring out through the spatial rift at the entrance.
And by now, the water had already submerged the entire grassland outside the mining area.
Ethan glanced at the trees along the way.
He quickly estimated, the flood had already swallowed at least half of his territory, with the water at least half a meter deep.
He wondered how the people in his territory were doing now.
Fortunately, his territory had multi-story buildings, so his citizens could still go upstairs to take shelter.
But the other players in his territory, they were in trouble.
The weather was still in an extreme cold period.
Even if the players didn't drown in the flood, they would probably freeze to death in the icy water.
After all, people lose body heat at an unbelievable rate in cold water. Forget spending the whole night in it, even half an hour or an hour was enough. Without a way to warm up in time, they would be finished.
Ethan quickly took out his magic book to check the regional chat.
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[Regional Channel]
Player A: "What's with this flood? Why did it suddenly start flooding out of nowhere? My entire stone house is leaking. I just finished blocking the wooden door, and now the mud between the stone walls has been washed away, so water is pouring in again! Boohoo~"
Player B @A: "A little water? That's nothing. The door to my stone house was completely washed away! I'm hiding on my wooden bed now. I've already given up. I just hope this flood comes to its senses and stops soon."
SerpentiCat posted a crying emoji, "What do we do now? Has anyone managed to contact Lord Ethan? If this flood doesn't stop, we're all going to die! Surely the Lord isn't just going to ignore us?"
Rainbow6666: "No way! Isn't this competition about which region can keep more players and citizens alive? If Lord Ethan ignores us, wouldn't that mean he loses too?"
"Losing is still better than dying," Player D said gloomily, "I've private messaged Ethan countless times already, but he hasn't replied once. I'm guessing your great hero saw things were going bad and abandoned all of you."
"That's impossible! Lord Ethan wouldn't be so heartless!"
Player E replied to Player D, "He's helped us so many times already. Otherwise, none of us would still be alive! And haven't you benefited from Lord Ethan plenty yourself? What's wrong with you?"
"Then explain why Lord Ethan still hasn't replied to my messages," Player D sneered.
"This flood didn't just start. It's already been going on for over half a day."
"If Ethan was going to show up, he would've done it already."
"Don't tell me he doesn't know about it."
"Anyway, I choose to believe in Lord Ethan," E posted three spitting emojis, "If you don't believe in him, then get lost. When Lord Ethan comes back, I'll tell him every bit of crap you've been saying. Then when he refuses to help you, you can cry by yourself."
"Help me?", Player D continued to sneer, "If Ethan shows up and says even one sentence before this flood rises over my head, I'll livestream myself fucking an ice gallbladder for all of you to watch..."
Ethan @Player D, "I heard you want to fuck an ice gallbladder?"
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