Ark Chess Player

"Hahahaha!! What is this? What is this?!"

Mephistopheles let out a laugh as if he'd been shoved by a pig, clutching his stomach, seemingly amused.

"Does Rhodes Island intend to raise the white flag and surrender? Fine, fine! We, the Reunion Movement, solemnly promise that we will not mistreat prisoners."

"..."

Doberman rubbed his eyes, wondering if he had overheated.

Doctor, how did you become the Vanguard Operator Myrtle?!

"They're quite cute."

Lin Lu, holding a white flag so clean it reflected his own image, sighed.

Red hair, blue eyes, pointed ears, an innocent, childlike face, and sparkling white teeth. But something's off about the clothes; this little white shirt is way too revealing for a child! It even shows his little belly! Thankfully, the belt covers it up, otherwise he'd catch a cold… catch a cold my foot!

Lin Lu silently turned to look at the serious-looking artificial intelligence.

Anemone noticed the doctor's gaze, and the solemnity on her face grew even more intense, though the corners of her mouth kept involuntarily turning upwards.

"I suspect you're acting against me."

"Pfft... How could that be, Doctor! I'm your loyal henchman, Anemone!"

"If you don't explain yourself by the time I count to three, I'm taking the drive apart."

"Once it's demolished, you'll never be able to go back to the way you were, but I don't mind."

Anemone gave a thumbs-up, revealing her bright white teeth, her smile incredibly radiant.

Lin Lu stared at her in astonishment. What kind of new scam was this? It didn't steal money, it just stole her body.

Sure enough, it was a trap. I was too naive. Rhodes Island might as well just be finished.

Just as Lin Lu was lost in confusion, information about the vanguard operator Myrtle flooded into the Spirit Realm.

"This……"

"Doctor, the Ark Drive suffered a devastating impact, resulting in the loss of past operator files and accumulated Originium energy. The stronger the operator, the higher the Originium energy required. During your natural energy accumulation process, I believe the Vanguard operator Myrtle can help you accumulate Cost for your future battle plans. If you think my judgment is wrong, I apologize. You can uninstall me at any time and execute me yourself."

It is logical, well-founded, and convincing.

With her hands folded in front of her abdomen, Anemone said righteously, "It's absolutely not because I want to see the once invincible Doctor turn into a little girl, absolutely not."

Chapter Thirty-One: Knight's Ride

"I thought Rhodes Island would have some real trump card, but it turns out it's nothing special."

Talulah raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that she would waste time and emotions on such a farce.

"Resistance will bring hope to the world, but resistance will not change your fate," she said coldly. "You will meet a tragic death in such a ridiculous manner."

The surrounding scenery distorted again, and heat gathered in her hands, casting a faint white glow on the firelight.

Talulah raised her hand, and the heat gathered in her palm was released directly without any modification, simply by compressing it once through Originium Arts.

The scene of Lin Lu devouring her magic was still vivid in her mind, absorbing all the raging flames, which reminded her of someone.

A person who should have died, who should have ceased to exist long ago...

"You can look down on me, it doesn't matter to me." As the raging flames surged forth, Lin Lu stretched out his left hand and grasped the flames, which were enough to burn a person to charcoal on the spot. "But if you look down on my operatives, then don't blame me for cracking open your skull and letting your brain, which is only the size of a ping-pong ball, bask in the sun."

The surging flames struggled in Lin Lu's hands. He clenched his fist, crushed them, and extracted the purest source stone energy.

"Remember this: there are no useless Pokémons in this world, only incompetent trainers!"

Lin Lu said fiercely, but with his current childlike appearance, no matter how fierce he was, he was still cute and fierce.

"Humph……"

Talulah kept a straight face, thinking to herself that the other party did indeed possess the power to counteract Originium Arts. In that case... she would kill him using the purest means.

"Danger!!"

Anemone suddenly held up a sign with a large character written in red ink and two exclamation marks on it.

Unable to obtain any information about the other party, Lin Lu subconsciously assumed that Talulah was a mage capable of casting Cataclysmic spells, but he did not expect Talulah to move so quickly. The black greatsword arrived in front of him almost in the blink of an eye, its sharp blade radiating the cold luster unique to Originium.

"My lord is here!!"

Lin Lu raised the white flag high, a golden apple materializing in his left hand. Behind him, a pair of butterfly-like transparent wings emerged, radiating light. The soft light spread to every corner of the plaza. A Rhodes Island Vanguard team operator was surprised to find his injuries healing and his toothache, which had bothered him for days, disappearing.

"what?!"

Talulah's sword pierced Lin Lu's neck, but the outcome was not as expected.

Her sword seemed to strike the air, receiving no response whatsoever.

"I told you not to underestimate my operators! So what if they're French?! Can't this world be any better—so white!" Lin Lu's voice rose unnaturally. Given Myrtle's height, his gaze could only reach Talulah's skirt. Holy crap, how can her legs be so white! Wait, it seems like it's not just her legs that are white!

Talulah frowned, took two steps back, and felt a chill run down her spine, seemingly unable to comprehend what had just happened.

"It seems I underestimated you."

"You know you were wrong, right?"

Lin Lu covered his feverish nose and groaned.

The Cost value was almost accumulated… Lin Lu looked at the data box in the Spirit Realm perspective; the numbers had reached a considerable amount. For some reason, the Silver Lotus seemed quite angry. The artificial intelligence lifted its long skirt, revealing its long, white legs, and shouted at Lin Lu, “Are other women prettier?! Are other women prettier than me?”

"Let's use this card from now on."

Lin Lu ignored the silver lotus and took out a pure white card from the card box hanging on his waist. The white card had no class symbol on it, and the silver lotus had not given him any hints, but he had a familiar feeling that choosing this card at this moment would have unexpected results.

Lin Lu pulled the side of the driver, threw the card into the card slot, and gradually became arrogant as he pushed the side of the driver with one hand to complete the transformation.

"Prog Rise!"

Golden light shimmered across the low-visibility plaza, while white shadows were projected from the Ark Driver's central hub.

Talulah's eyes narrowed slightly. She stepped forward again, raised her sword, and swung it, but the blade was blocked by an ethereal white shadow.

"...Didn't anyone tell you that you're invincible when you transform as a knight?"

“Ark Ride Grani”

Under layers of shadows, Lin Lu's appearance changed once again.

Compared to the previous operator, Myrtle, Lin Lu's height has increased significantly, growing from 131cm to 154cm, evolving from a shorty to a dwarf.

His clothes had also changed, from a shabby white shirt to a commanding mounted police coat, with close-fitting gauntlets on his arms. The leather buttons on the uniform could be used to expand equipment, and overall it was fine, except for the pants. He discovered that the sides of his pants had been cut off, and his thighs felt cold, revealing pale skin.

Well, in a sense, these pants are very convenient for couples on dates.

"Doctor, he... he's turned into Grani?!"

As a new instructor at Rhodes Island, Dobermann felt conflicted, as both of them were acquaintances.

"Ah, he seems like a very serious and hardworking child."

Lin Lu twirled his light cavalry lance. This weapon was designed to fold; when unfolded, it could be used as a tactical short gun, and when unfolded, it could be used as a standard light cavalry lance for charging. Compared to Grani's somewhat slender and petite frame, this lance was clearly too large, and in many ways, it seemed an ill-suited weapon, but…

Lin Lu sternly twirled his spear, the long spear dancing in a powerful, swift motion, a flash of silver light disappearing from the tip.

Grani must have put in a lot of effort to master this weapon.

With the help of the anemone, the data of the vanguard operator Grani flowed into Lin Lu's spiritual domain.

Although she may seem silly, Anemone is never careless when it comes to serious matters, giving people the impression that she would be a beautiful, static woman if she just kept quiet.

"Then, let us enumerate your sins."

Lin Lu unfolded his folding spear and charged forward. Unlike Myrtle, Grani was like a warhorse chosen from among hundreds! Lin Lu leaped with all his might, soaring four or five meters through the air. The cool breeze brushed against his coat, and the sensation of it brushing against his thighs was inexplicably addictive.

"Can we even finish counting all these things now?!"

Talulah swung her greatsword, and the flames wrapped around its blade splashed out as she swung it upwards, igniting an inextinguishable fire on the ground.

The spear and the greatsword clashed, sparking dazzling flames. Lin Lu and Talulah were so close they could see each other's eyes.

"The leaders of the Integration Movement were corrupt all along."

Lin Lu blocked the spear, turned around and delivered a spinning kick to Talulah's abdomen.

"Each each other."

Talulah dodged to the side, and as she deflected the spear that was pressing down on the greatsword, she swung it upwards again, almost splitting Lin Lu in two from bottom to top.

The two weapons were not even in the same league. When the heavy greatsword clashed with the light lance, the overwhelming force of the former almost slammed Lin Lu to the ground. But in the continuous clash of swords and spears, Talulah gradually fell into a disadvantageous position. She could feel her opponent's attack power rapidly increasing, its momentum overwhelming, each spear thrust as heavy as a mountain.

Lin Lu's fighting spirit intensified, his steps were light yet steady, and his dark blue coat fluttered in the wind.

A hazy shadow overlapped with his, and together they brandished their spears.

Never back down!

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Person Who Trusts You Most

"PhD……"

Amiya slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurred, a burning pain shooting through her chest, and her breath carrying the smell of rust. It was as if she had just woken from a nightmare; she couldn't remember anything from the dream, but the signals of fear from her brain lingered, reverberating in her hazy memories.

What I'm doing is... Oh right, we're surrounded by the Reunion Movement, Talulah, the leader of the Reunion Movement—

"PhD!!"

Amiya finally came to her senses. She covered her head and struggled to get up from the ground.

Amiya, are you alright?

"I'm...I'm fine, Ace. How are you doing?!"

Amiya was anxious to confirm the information, but Ace gently pressed her shoulder down.

"Amiya, don't rush, calm down. You need to recover now. The Doctor is fighting Talulah, buying us time."

"What?" Amiya gasped, quickly pushing Ace's hand away and standing up despite feeling dizzy. "Ace, you don't know, you don't know... The Doctor just woke up from the sarcophagus, he's still very weak, he's been enduring it! I have to go help the Doctor, I can't let him be in danger."

Amiya stumbled forward two steps, nearly falling to the ground, but Ace caught her just in time.

Ace sighed softly, picked Amiya up with one hand, and carried her back to the temporarily cleaned floor, which was covered with several layers of newspaper.

"Amiya, trust the Doctor."