Published: March 2, 2025
“Intrigue is the deduction of reality, and reality arises from information asymmetry.”
“Clap.”
As Black Boy made his move, the white pieces on the board found themselves in a precarious position.
Wen Yu pondered for a long time, and after a while, he waved his hand to mess up the game. In front of him, the giant display screen revealed Lin Haifeng's smiling face. In response to Wen Yu's cheating, Lin Haifeng merely smiled, and as the electronic chessboard made a chaotic noise, all the pieces returned to the box.
Lin Haifeng made another move, announcing the start of a new game. With nothing better to do, Wen Yu also placed a piece.
Winning was definitely out of the question. The only reason he came to this hidden room to see Lin Haifeng the day after the inheritance ceremony was that Wen Yu wanted to learn some experience and tactics from this old fox to deal with the possible events ahead.
“So, the so-called schemes and tricks are really simple in my view. To summarize, a conspiracy is about deception…”
“Deceiving others into believing that they know less than you do. When you have a complete information advantage, you have the premise for a conspiracy to succeed.”
“All along, I’ve always ensured my success. Well, I can't say it's an absolute win; at least, I stumbled when it came to the Sea King. But that’s not important. What matters is that the reason I can use schemes to trap you, trap Tang Haofei, trap the celestial god, and even the earth's will to achieve my goals is fundamentally based on my advantage in information.”
“It wouldn’t be quite right to call it wisdom. To use a trendy phrase, it’s just taking advantage of the fact that you’ve read less and know less than I do.”
“And now, you have inherited my legacy… my wisdom is your wisdom, my intelligence network is your intelligence network. Under your absolute military might and the absolute information advantage of Beijing, even if you are quite foolish, no one in this world will be your opponent…”
Wen Yu remained silent and carefully placed his piece. After another round of Go ended with Lin Haifeng's victory, Wen Yu finally spoke again.
“What if the ones I have to deal with are not the people of this world? What if the ones I have to face are stronger than me and know more than I do? How should I deal with that?”
The spirit of the demon lord was a threat after level ten... The sovereign, however, was already close at hand. Wen Yu didn’t know when the sovereign would return, and it was precisely because of this uncertainty that he felt uneasy.
Even with Yahagi in his hands, Wen Yu could not disregard the threat the sovereign posed.
He wanted to use Lin Haifeng's wisdom to find a way out for himself, and thus, today’s scene unfolded.
Upon hearing Wen Yu's words, Lin Haifeng fell into silence for the first time.
Lin Haifeng didn’t know about the spirit of the demon lord, but the arrest warrant for Wen Yu issued by the sovereign had already become common knowledge.
This black piece remained unplayed by Lin Haifeng for a long while, and after a while, he finally spoke again.
“Well then, let me tell you a story…”
“This story is called, Sima Guang Breaks the Vat.”
“Stop, stop, stop!”
Wen Yu called a halt to Lin Haifeng’s forthcoming lengthy discourse, his face full of astonishment as he looked at the electronic screen in front of him.
“I heard that story when I was three years old.”
“Then you should know what means Sima Guang used at the crucial moment to achieve this remarkable tale, right?”
Wen Yu fell silent.
“He lifted a stone.”
“Right, he lifted a stone…”
...
“People love to compare wisdom and foolishness, but very few know that the highest expression of wisdom is often seen in great folly.”
“The celestial god is very smart and wise, but he’s not as clever as I am, nor does he have my wisdom. However, you might not know that the celestial god once truly put me in a difficult position.”
“Which time?”