Nobita's Time Heist

……

"Are there any?!"

Amidst their initial shock, everyone simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief, much like unexpectedly discovering the exam answers just two days before the actual test. If they could memorize the answers thoroughly, they wouldn't necessarily be able to solve the problem completely, but they'd certainly get at least a 60. Against an opponent like Hundred-Eyed King, even a slight advantage was welcome.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Master, have you ever heard the saying, 'Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix'?"

"..." Nobita obviously didn't have one.

But Dekisugi quickly realized what was going on and explained, "So you mean people would rather be leaders in a less capable team than bottom-ranked members in a very capable team?"

After his explanation, Da Xiong inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief—he wasn't worried about that issue anymore. No matter which class he was in, he was always the worst student.

"That guy's only good at showing off on the ground; on the bigger stage..."

"He's nothing but a third-rate nobody who gets chased around."

Chapter 285: Demon God Chess

"I command the Leviathan army, forming a triangular pincer attack!"

"Boom!"

The solid chess piece, cast from black iron, is placed on the crisscrossing chessboard. It is larger than the surrounding "soldiers" and "riders". It has four legs, is covered with a carapace, is half insect and half beast, and looks majestic. At first glance, you can't tell what it is.

The Great Tengu squinted as he watched him place this somewhat unusual piece. Then, the board split open on its own, and several strange, four-jointed long arms emerged from it, quickly piling up a large number of black pieces on the flanks and front, forcing the last remaining white pieces into a corner.

"Just to be on the safe side, let me confirm first. If I lose, I won't need to gamble anything, right?" For the first time, the crimson rage subsided. The Great Tengu looked at the miserable state of his white pieces on the board, still shaken. "I thought it was something similar to shogi..."

"Hahaha, what are you saying?" Hundred-Eyed King's black pieces had clearly seized absolute dominance on the board, suppressing his opponent to the very edge of the corner. "Playing [Demon God Chess] for the first time is like a tutorial; you don't have to gamble anything. If you can memorize all the rules and roughly understand how to play, that's considered exceptional talent."

"That's easy to say. There are over a hundred different types of troops. As the camp is upgraded, the abilities of each type of troop will change, and they can also exhibit different characteristics in different terrains. Even if you ignore everything else, just remembering what each type of troop can do will take quite a while!"

The Great Tengu picked up a [Stranger] chess piece and slammed it heavily onto the edge of the chessboard with a clang, causing the pieces on it to tremble.

"I simply cannot imagine how idle the person who invented this game must have been to expend so much energy to construct such a complex game?"

The corners of Bai Mu Wang's mouth curled up slightly, and he keenly caught the fleeting cold smile.

"why are you laughing?"

"In fact, for the being that invented this game, it was nothing more than a boring pastime in His long years. He had endless time to waste, and the creation and death of life was, from His perspective, just an ordinary breath."

King Hundred Eyes gently stroked the gleaming edges of the Leviathan chess piece with his fingers, murmuring, "Just as its name suggests, 'Demon God Chess'... is a gamble set up between gods and demons. As the odds widen, the final price will be so great that neither gods nor demons can bear it."

"Imagine this, my friend. Everything accumulated over thousands, even tens of thousands of years, will be quantified as chips, stacked on the chessboard. You can see your opponent's chips, and your opponent can see yours. In a game of pure intelligence, the winner takes all and gains everything, while the loser loses everything."

"This doesn't sound like anything serious," the Great Tengu said irritably. "If we lose, wouldn't it mean that all our life's efforts have been for nothing?"

"What if we win?"

The Hundred-Eyed King narrowed his eyes, which were sewn shut with gold thread, and smiled, “The Demon God Chess is absolutely fair. It will automatically assess the most valuable chip for the winner at this moment. Power, status, strength, wealth, it can be anything, depending on the player’s truest feelings.”

"This process is completely irreversible. No matter what kind of god or demon the opponent is, they cannot go against the rules of the game itself. The moment the pieces are placed on the board, everything is already predetermined."

"Clap!"

With the summoned Leviathan army pressing in, completely blocking Bai Zi's escape routes to all his mines, Da Tengu could no longer think of any way to turn the tide. In fact, his mind was already in complete disarray due to these rules, and he had long wanted to quit.

"To date, I have played countless games against other players in the starry sky and have never lost a single game."

"Really?" Ōtengu asked in surprise. "So, you must have won a lot of things using this strategy game?"

The moment the question was asked, the atmosphere inside the hall changed.

A chilling gaze seemed to emanate from his previously sewn-closed eyes, lingering on him. Based on his years of experience as a yokai, Ōtengu instinctively sensed that this might be a question he shouldn't have asked. Unfortunately, this was a private, face-to-face conversation; there was no going back. He could only brace himself, pretending not to care much about the answer, and await his reply.

……

“Well, if you have to put it that way, it’s not entirely wrong. Many of the important moments I’ve experienced are related to this game of chess.” After a moment, he resumed his slightly narrowed gaze, slowly and methodically putting away the pieces one by one, and said with a smile, “But that’s precisely its charm.”

"Demon God Chess is a game of miracles. Once the battlefield is quantified on the chessboard, everything is equal."

"When all conditions are met, even the smallest mouse can bring down an elephant."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Squeak..."

The mechanical mouse scurried back into Nobita's hand, rubbed against his fingers a couple of times, then its eyes widened, projecting a series of light and shadow that outlined a detailed topographical map in the air.

Will-o'-the-wisps drifted in the sky; according to Lingyin, these were all the eyes and ears of the Hundred-Eyed King. Although he could conjure eyes from every blade of grass and tree with a single thought, his pride prevented him from using his eye techniques in such a place, thus subcontracting the surveillance duties. These will-o'-the-wisps flickered with a sinister, eerie green, flashing against the already gloomy sky like flickering, uncertain eyes.

Their presence seemed to severely disrupt the normal operation of spy satellites, effectively banning the once-unbeatable full-map system. Nobita had no choice but to settle for a modified robotic mouse to scout out a rough map of this barren land.

"If Doraemon were here, he'd rather die than agree to use this gadget..."

A fleeting thought brought a slight smile to his face, but Nobita's attention was quickly drawn back to the detailed 2D map before him. Aside from the much-anticipated White Bone Palace, there were almost no other buildings in the vicinity. In the distance, a few small villages dotted the landscape. However, the individual combat abilities of monsters and humans were vastly different, so meticulously calculating their numbers seemed rather pointless.

"There's no mistake, he's still inside the palace!"

Several men lay in a row on a small hill. Fat Tiger, who was in the lead, picked up his binoculars and was excited about the upcoming battle. "The troop deployment around here is very dense... Are those flying in the sky his spies?"

"After crossing the Vicious Mountains, we didn't encounter any monsters along the way, and the journey was exceptionally smooth, but that's where it ends." Rin took a deep breath and walked to the gate of the opponent she had defeated once before. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous and subconsciously rubbed her nose. "Monsters don't have the concept of 'cities' and always maintain loose groups, living a life of their own choosing. Even under the oppressive rule of King Hyakume, they only developed to the level of settlements."

"Even so, there are at least several hundred powerful demons in the settlements surrounding the White Bone Palace. They are all part of the reserve force of the 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons' and can be dispatched by King Hundred Eyes at any time. To sneak into the palace without disturbing these hundreds of demons... is not an easy task."

……

"..." After a moment of silence, Da Xiong held up three fingers, reminding him, "Didn't Musashi tell us about that guy's three weaknesses?"

Chapter 286: In short, it's a very powerful giant cannon.

"First, an excessive saturation attack. Before he realizes the danger or sets up a defense, wipe out his physical body in one fell swoop, preferably leaving not a trace. His body has a strong self-healing ability; even if only a finger remains, he can still return to his original form."

"Secondly, his 'soul' was once attacked with enough force to kill him. According to legend, it was done by a 'horned man' in the starry sky. If we can replicate the same attack, we can severely damage him. This guy seems to be some special race in the universe, and the way his soul operates might be completely different from that of humans. This method is quite difficult, but if we can get the help of 'Tsukumogami,' we might still have some hope. They are all masters of manipulating souls."

"Third, that guy is arrogant and thinks he's invincible in the whole region. Plus, he defeated the previous Ghost King, so he doesn't take anyone seriously. If we really run out of options, his arrogance might become our breakthrough point."

With his astonishing memory, Dekisugi recited Musashi's three tips almost verbatim. Then, he frowned and sighed, "That being said, the third one can only be considered a weakness in character. I don't think it's wise to gamble the entire battle plan on the enemy's character flaws."

“Even if we try to take advantage of it, we only have one chance.” Da Xiong shook his head. Throughout his childhood, he had always played the role of the relatively weaker party, and he had long since mastered this tactic. “Once he realizes that we have the ability to threaten him, no matter how dismissive we are, he will use all his strength to fight back.”

“Assur-chan said before that there are only three ways to completely kill someone. Musashi’s idea is actually the first two, right?” Shizuka counted on her fingers very seriously, “Either use a saturation attack to kill his body, or use a mental attack to kill his soul.”

"The question is, how strong of an attack is considered 'saturated'?"

"Um……"

Everyone tilted their heads and pondered for a long time, but still couldn't come to a conclusion.

“In any case, it’s always safer to be prepared.” Lingyin volunteered. “I’m fairly familiar with the area. Tsukumogami are usually in relatively remote places. Could you two come with me to find the Tsukumogami and ask for their help?”

"Will they agree?" Xiao Fu glanced in the direction of the White Bone Palace, swallowed hard, and sounded very uncertain. "Nominally, King Hundred Eyes is the current ruler of the demon realm, right? This is tantamount to asking them to defy their own ruler."

"The so-called 'Tsukumogami' are actually objects that, due to certain circumstances, awaken their own will. The process of transforming an inanimate object into a living one, from having no soul to having a soul, is much more difficult than the cultivation of a living object. Therefore, they naturally become masters of manipulating souls... By the way! They're just like that big metal lump in your pocket!"

"US dollars?" Nobita was stunned for a moment before realizing that his nature was indeed very similar to that of an ancient monster. Except that while other monsters were spirits of teapots or wooden fish, he was a spirit of a jeep.

"That's why their worldview is different from that of ordinary monsters; they've always been independent and do things their own way. Maybe... they won't be so afraid of the Hundred-Eyed King's authority."

Lingyin's tone wasn't entirely confident either; it was clear she wasn't 100% sure about the operation. Only time would tell.

“Alright, let’s stick to the old plan and split into two groups, each going their own way.” Nobita gestured on the map a couple of times and began to take stock of his forces. “Rinne, take Shizuka and Asur and go find the Tsukumogami. In case our Plan A fails, we can still use them as a backup.”

"Suneo, you stay here... This little hill is quite far from the Bone Palace, a pretty good sniping spot." Nobita patted his pocket and pulled out a white banner. "【Living People Avoidance Banner】—!!"

(Strangers Avoidance Banner: One of the items in the "Carefree New Year's Bag" set. Placing this banner on the ground will keep strangers away, preventing anyone from approaching the user. The user can sleep in comfortably on the first day of the new year, even if they have to get up at 3 pm. It's definitely an essential item for lazy people.)

Nobita slammed his hand on the ground, then pulled out his classic "invention machine," grabbed the microphone, and made a rather "unreasonable" request to it.

"I want a giant turret that's 'super powerful'!"

The invention machine had probably never heard of such an unreasonable request. With a clang, it spat out a stack of instruction manuals almost as thick as a Xinhua Dictionary. Nobita reached out to take it, almost dropping it at first, but luckily Gian caught him from behind.

"Oh..." Suneo watched the process and suddenly realized, "So, back then, that's how we built my and Gian's mechs?"

"And that flower field full of flowers in all four seasons too?" Shizuka also remembered this scene and sighed, "No wonder, I was wondering why that gadget was different from Doraemon's usual style. The gadgets always ended up going wrong..." (This scene is from the slice-of-life episode "The Great Invention of the Invention Machine")

“It’s different.” Da Xiong flipped through the instruction manual symbolically. Just seeing the dense annotations and design drawings made him dizzy. “The little gadgets I make are at most one-tenth the thickness of this book.”

"So, Suneo..."

He turned around and solemnly handed the book to Xiaofu.

"This is yours."

"Really?" Xiaofu took the instruction manual, looking hesitant. After quickly flipping through it, a hint of excitement appeared in his eyes. He couldn't help but ask, "Should I handle this awesome thing?"

“You’re our ‘Minister of Military Industry,’ so just think of this as a giant model. Use your talents and you’ll put it together in no time.” Nobita joked about a small-scale space war, patting Suneo on the shoulder as if to instill confidence in him. “However, we don’t have much time. We have to finish it within 48 hours.”

"【Genius Helmet】—!"

"[Technical Gloves]—!"

"【Materials Box】—!!"

He took out the three DIY gadgets one by one and tossed them all to Xiaofu, instructing him, "This glove can conjure any item, the helmet can automatically recognize blueprints, all you need is..."

"Alright, I know, it's just like when we modified the tank." When it came to something familiar to Xiaofu, he immediately perked up, took the prop without saying a word, and put on the helmet. "It won't take that long. Just see if I can build it before dinner tonight."

He had already begun flipping through the instruction manual at lightning speed, squatted down on the spot, and rummaged through the materials box with his other hand, looking like a model-making expert preparing to assemble the model.

"Then, most importantly... right now, we still don't have enough information about King Hundred Eyes." Da Xiong took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over his companions one by one, and finally said the most important personnel arrangement for this roll call, "Fat Tiger, Kogane, you two will come with me to the White Bone Palace to gather intelligence."

"Whether it works out or not, we'll meet here again for dinner tonight!"

Chapter 287: You're actually a pretty nice person!

"You three! Yes, those sneaking around like that, stop right there!"

The troll soldier, standing four meters tall and with a burly build, wielding a spiked club, opened his mouth wide and roared, causing Da Xiong and his two companions to freeze in their tracks.

They exchanged a glance, both seeing the confusion in each other's eyes—long before infiltrating this place, Nobita had taken out a gadget called the "Transformation Board." It's like a tag worn around the neck; you write the type of monster you want to transform into on the tag, and others will naturally perceive the user as that monster. All three of their tags said "local monster," allowing them to swagger in through the main entrance without encountering any obstacles before being stopped.

That's why being suddenly stopped made them break out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, Nobita had chosen his opponents carefully. Gian was naturally fearless, while Kogane had developed a calm and collected demeanor, so they wouldn't immediately reveal their weaknesses if suddenly startled. They quickly exchanged glances, and Giane instinctively arched his back, ready to run away with Nobita at any moment.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

……

The blue-faced, fanged troll slowly approached, seemingly puzzled. It lowered its head and sniffed the three of them for a long time, its face displaying an expression of "I knew it." It was hard to imagine that such a ferocious, terrifying face with blue fangs could express such a complex emotion.

"Hehe...you little brat, went to steal some food, huh?" He raised his hand and patted Da Xiong's head with a hint of teasing. The force was so great that it almost knocked him down. "You smell like a human."

"Really?" Dekisugi reacted quickly, touching the corner of his mouth and smiling with feigned modesty. "You have a really good nose, you could smell that."

“It’s not a big deal to steal food, but… when you take that scent from your bodies, be careful not to let the boss find out.” The burly green demon looked around, lowered his head slightly, and whispered, “He’s a bit neurotic. Everything has to be done according to his script. Before the ‘Night Parade of One Hundred Demons’ officially begins, we’re not allowed to have our own private meals.”

"Is this really that elaborate?" Fat Tiger couldn't help but complain. "Is he a Virgo?"

"Oh dear, who knows? That's just his personality. He's so fussy and indecisive, not like a local monster at all." The Green Demon seemed to have been holding back his complaints for a long time. He slammed his spiked club on the ground with a clang, then put his hands on the handles and began to ramble on and on. "Sometimes everyone finds him quite annoying, but it's only because he's really strong and they can't beat him, so there's nothing they can do."

"Big brother, big brother, to be honest, we're also from out of town." Despite the difference in race, Da Xiong still accurately caught the guy's urge to complain. He suppressed his disgust and patted the guy's shoulder. "These two are my companions. They are monsters formed from a gorilla and a rabbit. I am a turtle monster."

Gian and Dekisugi turned their heads at the same time, looking at him with expressions that said, "Listen to what you're saying." Their confusion was palpable.

In order to gather intelligence, they'll say anything and everything.

"Right?" Qinggui seemed to have expected this. "I could tell from your appearance that you're from the countryside and don't know anything about the situation."

Seeing that his eagerness to speak was about to become uncontrollable, Da Xiong inwardly cheered and continued to entice him, "It's like this, brother, our village is quite far away, and we don't quite understand some things. I've heard..."

"Is Shuten-dōji no longer the Demon King?"

"Shh—!!" The blue demon's already dark blue face turned even more ashen. He looked around in a panic and quickly pulled Da Xiong and the others aside. "Don't mention that name! At least in this Palace of Bones, it's an absolutely sensitive matter that can't be brought up!"

"Surely not?" Fat Tiger was somewhat surprised by his fearful attitude, which seemed to contrast with his imposing physique. "This monster is too stingy..."

"Heaven knows what's wrong with that guy. He seems to have an innate hatred for the demon race," the Green Demon said with lingering fear. "When our clan saw that things were not going well, we immediately declared our submission to him, which is how we avoided being collectively purged."

Upon hearing this, the three were at a loss for words. The tragic scene of the first ghost village they encountered when they transmigrated to the demon realm flashed before their eyes. If the Green Ghost Clan hadn't decisively played the coward, perhaps their habitat would have been crushed into dust, leaving only ashes and debris.

"Everyone says that guy was originally a monster from outer space. He was severely injured by a horned demon and had no choice but to wander here. The magic he practices, especially the one that kills anyone he glares at, is something we've never seen before!"

"Whoever you glare at dies?" Fat Tiger asked with a suspicious look. "Isn't it about killing with your eyes?"

"Right, right, kill with your eyes... Huh? You guys even know that?" The Blue Demon suddenly sensed something was off. "How come you guys..."

Seeing that she was about to let something slip, Dekisugi reacted immediately, lowering her eyes and exuding a sad aura. "Alas, actually... to tell you the truth, our hometown was also ravaged by him. Because the monsters in the village supported the old king and were unwilling to submit to him, they were directly slaughtered by him. The three of us are the only survivors."

Nobita immediately got into character, also adopting a sorrowful expression, and gently nudged Gian. Unfortunately, this guy couldn't empathize, so he could only try to keep his expression stiff, barely managing to get by.

"I see, sigh..." The Green Ghost seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he just sighed and shook his head. "There's nothing we can do. That guy is really powerful. You didn't come here to assassinate him, did you? Then I advise you to head back home as soon as possible. He killed the previous Ghost King. With your weak arms and legs, you know you have no chance."