Black and white chess, black and white chess again, this ancient board game seems to hold some deep significance in this treacherous and chaotic Extraordinary World, one that Geoffrey is yet to comprehend.

Geoffrey gazed at the Astronaut, the golden glass visor emitted a piercing light, and Geoffrey couldn't help but let the corners of his mouth curve upward.

The Astronaut asked, "What's the matter?"

"Just thinking how absurd this all is, absurd enough to be laughable."

The pressure had reached its limit, and instead, Geoffrey relaxed; if the Astronaut before him truly was the Devil who traded for his soul, the immortal power the Astronaut granted him showed enough of his favor.

Yes, he had immeasurable value to the Astronaut before him, and before his value was drained dry, Geoffrey wouldn't be abandoned.

Thinking this, Geoffrey felt incredibly relieved, saying, "In this afterlife, amidst this bizarre scene, I find myself playing chess with a Devil... It's utterly insane, like something out of a movie."

"A movie scene? Well, you're not wrong, we are indeed filming a movie."

The Astronaut looked toward the screen ahead, the timeline disorder event had concluded, and what surfaced on screen was a grayscale, lifeless world; soon another screen appeared within the screen, continuously overlapping and collapsing, stacking into a vortex resembling an Abyss.

Geoffrey averted his gaze, but the screen's image didn't change; the picture wasn't from Geoffrey's sight but from some invisible camera recording everything in real-time.

Geoffrey had enough of strange experiences today; the real-time filming before him stirred little emotion.

He had encountered similar anomalies before, but it seemed the Astronaut and those lunatics from the Unfettered Poetry Society weren't of the same ilk.

"I'm starting to hate the afterlife."

Geoffrey muttered to himself, once believing the afterlife was his absolute safe haven, only to realize it was the most treacherous realm.

The Devil he had long pursued awaited him here.

"The afterlife? You mean Between Nothingness?"

The Astronaut mused over Geoffrey's words, laughter echoing beneath his helmet; he hadn't expected Geoffrey to interpret it as an "afterlife" scenario, but technically it wasn't incorrect, considering Geoffrey briefly arrived here each time he died.

He murmured to himself in a low voice, "So that's how you understand it?"

Geoffrey didn't notice these anomalies, and every time he left the afterlife, it was through self-resurrection; now, Geoffrey wasn't even sure what his "body" had been through, having not resurrected for so long. Besides, he didn't possess any means to actively leave the afterlife – at least for now, it seemed this way.

He couldn't escape, nor did he need to; Geoffrey had always been chasing this Devil, hoping to gather more useful intelligence from it.

Geoffrey retorted, "Between Nothingness? Is this place called Between Nothingness, then?"

The Astronaut silently nodded, snapping his fingers again; these Devils loved using such graceful yet frivolous means to interfere with reality.

In the blink of an eye, a drink appeared in Geoffrey's hand, slightly shaking, the sound of ice cubes colliding heard within.

Geoffrey processed this massive amount of information, feeling his brain could explode.

His gaze landed on the chessboard between them; Geoffrey, playing white, picked up the White Pawn in front of the White King, moving it forward two squares.

The Astronaut picked up the Black Pawn in front of the Black King and, like Geoffrey, advanced it two squares.

Geoffrey slightly raised his head, the golden glow from the visor reflecting in his eyes; Geoffrey placed his hand on the White Pawn on the King's side, pushing it forward two squares, aligning with the first pawn, resembling a shield wall erected at the center of anticipation.

"King's side pawn sacrifice? I like this ancient opening."

The Astronaut's voice carried a tone of intrigue, "I didn't expect you'd start with that."

"Just basic knowledge."

Geoffrey replied while seriously observing the chessboard, his gaze splitting the board along the center, the King's side known as the King's Wing, the Queen's side as the Queen's Wing.

The first time Geoffrey encountered black and white chess was shortly after joining the Order Bureau, when Palmer played a match with him, explaining the tiers of Condensers on the black and white board.

Feigning calm on the surface, Geoffrey already felt slightly tense; ever since Palmer explained the ranks to him, Geoffrey hadn't touched black and white chess again; his knowledge of it came only from rulebooks, as for King's side pawn sacrifice, Geoffrey could only attribute his memory to being good.

Geoffrey recalled the rulebook's explanation of King's side pawn sacrifice in his mind, "Sacrificing the White Pawn for advantage on the King's Wing."

"It's a good choice, yet a bad choice."

The Astronaut placed his hand on the Black Pawn isolated before the white shield wall, "Advancing to gain advantage, risk and benefit coexist."

The Black Pawn advanced diagonally, colliding with the White Pawn, which disintegrated into ash and scattered across the board.

"I accept your pawn sacrifice."

As the Astronaut spoke, the Black Pawn and White Pawn stood side by side, like Knights about to face off.

Looking at the dust on the chessboard, Geoffrey's mind couldn't help but conjure strange fantasies, as if the board itself were a real battlefield, and Geoffrey had just sacrificed someone...

It was Geoffrey's turn to make a move, yet this time, Geoffrey hesitated, unable to recall the subsequent moves no matter how much he tried to remember.

But Geoffrey had to act.

Picking up the white Knight on the rear wing, it leaped forward.

The Astronaut immediately saw through Bologue, "I was mistaken, you're actually a novice."

"Am I a novice, can't you see?"

Bologue gestured to the screen on the side, no longer pretending.

"I don't constantly watch you... at least I don't when you're living your personal life," the Astronaut shook his head, making his words seem somewhat humorous in this scenario, "Not like my brother, who's obsessed with 'stories' to a crazy degree."

The Astronaut picked up the black Empress and continued, "But it's reasonable, given his natural disposition."

The black Empress charged at the corner of the King's wing, losing the protection of the white Pawn, leaving the portal to the White King wide open, locked by the black Empress.

"General."

The Astronaut's voice struck Bologue's heart; now Bologue understood the risk of rushing forward.

Bologue raised his hand and pushed the white Pawn forward a square in front of the white Knight on the King's wing, blocking the attack route of the black Empress, saving the White King.

"You should practice this game more; I find it quite interesting."

The Astronaut said lightly, then the black Pawn continued to advance diagonally forward, crushing the white Pawn Bologue had just maneuvered, scattering gray-white dust and a few drops of blood this time.

"I find it rather boring."

Bologue lifted and placed down the white Knight again, this time entering the attack range of the black Empress, with faint hoofprints hovering above, waiting to strike fiercely.

"Our interests unfortunately don't align."

The Astronaut advanced the black Pawn further forward, now only a step away from the baseline.

Bologue had already sensed the Astronaut's intention, but it was too late. As the Astronaut said, Bologue was a complete novice, and under all these bizarre and intense pressures, Bologue's energy was almost depleted.

There was no choice; Bologue moved the white Knight, choosing to capture the black Empress. At the moment the pieces collided, Bologue vaguely heard the roar of a Knight drawing a sword and the wailing of a woman dying in pain.

The black Empress disintegrated into dust and disappeared, but at its original position and now the position occupied by the white Knight, a crimson blood hole appeared there, with fresh blood gushing out, staining the King's wing side.

Beneath a heavy helmet, a mad laugh echoed. The black Pawn continued to advance diagonally forward, this time crushing the white Rook in the corner and killing to the baseline.

The Astronaut and Bologue whispered in unison.

"Ascension."

This time, no bizarre, bloody anomaly appeared, instead a touch of golden brilliance covered the black Pawn, the white Rook shattered into dust, and this dust rose up, covering the black Pawn, amidst faint psalms, forging it into a new black Empress.

"I concede."

Bologue gave up, his King's wing had been breached, and the pieces were in disarray. Continuing was just adding to the Astronaut's amusement.

Bologue didn't want to satisfy the Devil so easily.

"Bullying a novice isn't fun."

The Astronaut nodded, and the entire chessboard dissolved into dust returning to the earth.

The two returned to their original states, only the chairs were spaced considerably apart.

Bologue had fantasized countless times about what he would do when confronted with this Devil, draw his sword and shout... these things he had considered, but facing the Devil truly, Bologue rationally realized he was powerless to act.

At least, for now, it was like this.

Bologue felt the Astronaut wouldn't mind if he punched and kicked him a bit, but that seemed like a child's impotent rage, and Bologue didn't want to become so pathetic.

The silence between them lasted for a long time. In the silence, Bologue remembered the Tyrant, that rare Devil he could rationally converse with, then he thought of Palmer.

If Palmer were here, what would he do?

Bologue sighed deeply, speaking to himself, "If you're my boss, then I'm an employee owing you a lot of money. But I can't understand how I got into this relationship with you."

"Hmm... I know," the Astronaut nodded, "Are you asking about the trade part?"

"Of course," the conversation between them was smooth, Bologue began to see the Astronaut as another Tyrant, one who liked chess, more mysterious, "but before that, there's one thing."

"What?"

"How to address."

The Astronaut froze, Bologue was sure he had completely frozen, the Astronaut's movements halted entirely, the bulky helmet turned to him, and after a long pause, an uncontrollable laugh echoed.

"You really are the most interesting one, Bologue!"

The Astronaut laughed heartily, and the chair beneath Bologue uncontrollably bumped towards the Astronaut, bringing their positions closer once again. He pulled Bologue into an embrace, the helmet even bumped into Bologue's head, pressing closely as if they were long-lost good brothers.

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