Chapter 133 - Recruiting the Army (2)

Recruiting Jun Le was tougher than anything Scarlet had ever tried, mainly because she was at a major disadvantage with the terms that the chess grandmaster had set. She had to last thirty moves in a single game of chess against him. He said that lasting thirty moves were easier than winning against him but Scarlet didn't think Jun Le was going easy on her at all. Her game usually ended in five minutes at the twenty-something move.

It's been two weeks since Scarlet proposed a deal with Jun Le but she hadn't seen a glimmer of hope since. Every day, she was allowed three games with the chess grandmaster who completely toyed with her and crushed her pride. Scarlet didn't want to give up and continued playing against Jun Le but there was no way she could see victory or any other methods to convince Jun Le. The boy refused to negotiate until Scarlet found a way to last thirty moves against him.

When they first started playing, Scarlet was forced into a corner trying to protect all her pieces. Eventually, she learnt how to sacrifice some to gain something better and buy time. After a week, Scarlet was able to spot the traps that Jun Le had set for her but even then, it wasn't enough for the young writer to hold her own against the scheming chess grandmaster. Jun Le kept raising the bar whenever Scarlet thought she knew how to counter something.

At the end of two weeks, the only thing Scarlet benefited from doing this was her ability to play chess better. She practised against a computer AI when she wasn't playing with Jun Le but lasting thirty moves against the software was way easier than lasting thirty moves against Jun Le.

Scarlet had a habit of not wanting to sacrifice her pieces. However, in a wat, she knew that not all pieces can be saved. There are no victories without casualties. A king doesn't sit on a throne with hands clean from blood. There is a lot more to be lost than won in any victory. War benefitted nobody but yet it had to be done sometimes to protect the things that are much dearer than the lives of people closest to you.

With this philosophy, Scarlet found herself hitting a wall.

"Twenty-right moves," Jun Le smirked. "Too bad you were short of two more moves to hold out against me. You could have earned that victory if you let go of the horse three moves ago. You could have made it further to thirty moves if you didn't stubbornly insist on saving that piece," Jun Le pointed out after the last game for that night ended.

Scarlet sighed and left the game but continued to speak to Jun Le over a video call. "I know. However, I cannot do it, the horse is too important."

Jun Le raised a brow. "More important than the King?"

Scarlet sighed. "The King cannot live if all his subjects die after the end of the war."

Jun Le made a strange expression, trying to think of the deeper meaning behind Scarlet's words. "You know, it's very odd for you to suddenly come up with a request that has no sense. Why are you trying so hard to win the bet? What exactly do you want me to do? I don't like to do favours without knowing the reason behind them. Even if you did hold thirty moves against me, I wouldn't necessarily comply with what you want. Also, did you really think you would last thirty moves against the youngest chess grandmaster in the world? It's naive."

Scarlet didn't say much but told Jun Le to switch their conversation to Elfie's chatroom. This was the first time Jun Le actually spoke to Scarlet after a game that wasn't game related. Scarlet might not have won the battle of chess but she certainly would be winning the war of recruiting this elusive strategist. She wasn't good at chess but she was a writer who was good at research. Of the many things she learnt, there was a strategy of hooking a willing fish. For a slippery fish like Jun Le, the best kind of bait would be something that could pique his curiosity and something that exceeds his expectations. Scarlet wasn't confident of lasting thirty moves against the youngest chess grandmaster in the world and that's why she wasn't hopeful at her quest to win against him. However, she knew that in order to catch this fish she must persist and intrigue him enough for him to make the first move.

"If I told you the game of chess reflects my current war, what would you do?" Scarlet asked in the chatroom.

Jun Le took his time to type his answer and Scarlet waited nervously.

"Will you be the king leading this war?" the chess grandmaster asked.

Scarlet smiled. "Yes. However, I'll only be King of this war. Once it is over I'll retire and lead the simple life of a writer I've always wanted."

"Do you have the other chess pieces yet? Who is the enemy? Why do you want to recruit me?"

Scarlet took her time responding to every question. She had no problems giving information that was enough to satisfy the grandmaster's curiosity but not enough to let him know the full picture. So far, Scarlet was able to secure potential funding and support. In every war, money and information were the most crucial. Following that, Scarlet needed manpower to fight the war for her but she hasn't gotten to it yet. Right now, she needed to gather a small and reliable team to discuss strategies with. While Elfie was very good at finding information, he wasn't the best at making long-term plans. Scarlet was only mediocre at best and when facing Anastasia, not even Wilmer can afford to take it easy. Scarlet knew that her plan wouldn't work without some help so having Jun Le in on the plan is a must.

When the chess grandmaster knew about the members on Scarlet's team, he sighed. It was no surprise that she would recruit Jasper and Elfie. While he wasn't against having Jasper and Elfie as team members, he thought that Scarlet would need a bigger and more well-rounded team. Even if he joined, that wouldn't be sufficient.

"You do realise that you need more people in order to fight a war of such scale, right? Wilmer has an army called the Wilde Empire. Danny has contacts. I don't know who you're up against but if a man can take down the Wilde Empire, he wouldn't be anyone easy to deal with. Your opponent has connections with the top and the underground in places that not even a CEO of a huge company has. It's like an amateur playing a game of chess against a chess grandmaster and hoping to win. It's impossible."

Scarlet grinned and typed quickly. "That's why I'm trying to recruit a chess grandmaster to my side to help me out with the planning."

Jun Le's reply made Scarlet laugh.

"A chess grandmaster is only good at planning strategies. They're not good at fighting the war on the battlefield. You're not going to make it. Unless you're borrowing the army from Jasper's delinquent class or from some unknown sources, I don't see any hope."

"As expected of the grandmaster! How did you know I was hiding an army?"

Jun Le deadpanned. "An army of delinquents against some unknown rich person with powerful connections... I can see where this is going. Seriously, do you even have a plan?"

This time, Scarlet answered seriously. "I have a plan but it's not good enough. I need your help. Elfie has done what he can and I'm keeping everyone else in the dark. My plan has a few stages. Currently, they are all work in progress but I only have six years to put everything together before I go into the battlefield..."

As Jun Le read what Scarlet typed in his room in front of a computer, he started to feel excited. Scarlet's plans were not without flaws but she certainly had done her research well. Her guesses were also quite accurate despite not having enough information due to the nature of her enemy's occupation. Jun Le wasn't able to know exactly who it was but if it was something Elfie had troubles getting his hands on, this person must not be simple. He was also not foolish enough to think that it's merely a business rival. Still, he never imagined that Danny was someone so incredible. He knew that Elfie worked with the Interpol but he didn't think that Danny was in the same circle. Who would have expected a school counsellor to be a spy?

As someone who had only known how to play chess all his life and never had a decent match with his opponents because he defeated them all, Jun Le finally found something that could make his heart beat.

"I'll join you on one condition. You must not keep anything away from me. I want to know everything. It's alright if it's dangerous. As long as I lie low and we keep our communications through this chatroom, no outsiders will know."

Scarlet thought about it for a while and sighed. "You're going to be targeted. We're talking about gun blazing mafia bosses and assassinations like in the movies but less cinematic and more realistic. Something could go wrong, someone could slip up and the whole thing can fail. I don't have anything to give you back in return for risking your life like that even if we're friends."

Jun Le's reply made Scarlet think about how humans truly are unpredictable. Even after the warning, Jun Le insisted that he wanted in. His reason was simple.

"I don't want to live a life not knowing the bittersweet taste of struggling. I've never lost in a game of chess to anyone more than once before. I'd like to see if I will lose the game of chess in life by choosing your side as one of your chess pieces instead of being the player. If you can manage to convince the Special Class to aid you and the E.C. Class to be your army, you might have a chance. I don't believe numbers and statistics are everything. Formations and logic only work in games. In life, I want to witness the power of a miracle created from feelings and only you can show me that. I'll take your victory as payment for this war. Let's do our best together."

Conceding defeat once more, Scarlet welcomed Jun Le aboard, happy that she had another reliable ally but also burdened by the responsibility of needing to win this war. She might have lost every game to Jun Le but the war against Anastasia is one she cannot lose. Failure wasn't an option.