Ark Chess Player

“Rhodes Island people, I won’t let you kill her.”

She said coldly, even though she knew the difference in their strength, she still stepped forward.

"Okay, I won't kill her."

"Even if it costs me my life—wait?"

Unexpectedly, Lin Lu readily agreed.

This left Frostnova bewildered for a couple of seconds. When she came to her senses, she instinctively raised her staff, and six black ice spears materialized out of thin air.

On the battlefield, being distracted for two seconds is equivalent to dancing a crazy dance face-to-face with death.

"...Long time no see, Yelena."

Lin Lu gazed at the white rabbit and murmured softly to himself.

He flung the longsword to the ground, and it silently dissolved, turning into a puddle of mud.

"Tell your men to behave themselves. If they dare to chase us, just try."

Lin Lu said calmly, turned and left, openly exposing his back to the enemy.

Froststar watched his retreating figure. She was 90% confident that she could successfully launch a sneak attack, but she couldn't even keep her breathing regular.

Her palms were sweaty from fear and tension.

She arrived late and witnessed the pillar of light shooting into the sky.

The dazzling sword light tore through the meteorite, pierced through the disaster clouds, and brought sunlight back to the world.

If the sword light were not aimed at the falling rocks, but at the throng of Reunion soldiers... she had no confidence in blocking it. Even if she unleashed all of her Originium Arts, the erected wall might be able to hold out for a few more seconds before collapsing.

She lacked confidence that she could keep him.

Froststar sighed deeply, raised her hand, and six ice spears shot out through the air.

Mephisto, who was hiding behind the heavily armored soldiers, was prevented from casting spells by the ice spears and immediately started cursing.

"Froststar, what are you doing?!"

"Don't be impulsive, Mephisto."

"That guy actually dared to hurt Sister Talulah, he actually dared to—"

Another ice spear pierced the air, grazing Mephisto's ear before embedding itself in the ground and solidifying into large patches of black ice crystals.

“If you want us all to die here, keep shouting, keep shouting.”

Black icicles formed around Frostnova, and if Mephisto opened her mouth again, she would shove them into it without hesitation. Mephisto didn't care about the lives of the Reunion soldiers, but she did, even though she had no authority over anyone here.

Froststar stared at the sharply defined silhouette of the armored figure, and suddenly felt a little dazed. In her mind, another person's silhouette overlapped with the black armor.

"How could this be? How could it be? That person, he, he... he's not..."

Froststar looked somewhat bewildered, unconsciously rubbing the signet ring on her right middle finger.

This ring was a gift from that person, a beautifully designed and meaningful Originium Arts trigger device.

"……law?"

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Mid-Door Sniping Match

"PhD!"

Surrounded by the admiring gazes of the Rhodes Island operators, Lin Lu walked with heavy steps, his eyes slowly sweeping around.

The menacing mask was as fierce as a demon, and the pitch-black armor exuded an ominous aura, radiating a dangerous aura that inspired fear.

Looking at the operatives who were cowering with fear, Lin Lu couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

His current state is strange; fragments of the past and his lost self are fused together, creating a blurred state. He knows who he is and what he is doing, yet he feels as if his thoughts are submerged in seawater, the steps of his thinking are infinitely extended, and he fights entirely on instinct.

Lin Lu slowly raised his right hand and gave a thumbs up.

The operators were taken aback for a moment, then broke into smiles and gave each other a thumbs up.

Got it, keep a bearish view on me.

Lin Lu nodded slightly, walked straight to Amiya, leaned down and whispered in her ear.

Amiya's eyes flashed with worry for a moment, but she quickly cheered up and her rabbit ears perked up.

"Everyone, let's go home! Back to... Rhodes Island!"

"oh!!"

The operators couldn't help but cheer loudly. Even though they were veterans of countless battles, they had never experienced such a grand scene. They had teetered on the brink of death, encountered monsters that could easily annihilate them, witnessed a catastrophic meteor hovering above their heads, and held a terrifying scythe of death to their necks, only to be severed by the Black Knight's sword in the end.

When they get back, they can brag to Rhodes Island's reserve team members for a whole year, and incidentally slap those who opposed rescuing the Doctor across the air.

The Reunion soldiers, who had been ordered by Mephisto to surround Rhodes Island, trembled under Lin Lu's pressure as they watched them leave.

The entire rescue team evacuated towards the south exit in an orderly manner, but there were still fewer people than when they initially assembled...

"Ace, is that you?"

Lin Lu looked up at the real, muscular man walking towards him, his left arm wrapped in white bandages.

"Yes, Boss."

Ace smiled, raised his right hand and slapped it against his chest in salute to Lin Lu.

"It's so good to see you again... I'll leave the rest to you."

The black knight let out a very lonely sigh, pulled the side of the Ark Driver, and deactivated the transformation.

This battered body had long since reached its limit and could no longer bear the weight of its former glory. Black and purple lightning crackled and surged across Lin Lu's body, billowing thick smoke. A black card popped out of the Ark Driver and was caught in mid-air by Amiya.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!"

The overloaded black card bounced in the little rabbit's hands, and was finally held up by her coat, still emitting white smoke.

Exhausted, Lin Lu collapsed to the ground, but Ace reacted quickly and caught his shoulder.

"Thank you for your hard work, Doctor."

"To serve...to serve the people."

Lin Lu slowly opened his mouth and exhaled black smoke.

His hooded coat was tattered, and a corner of his mask was torn, revealing his dark eyes. He looked somewhat frail and smelled of roasting.

Just then, a silent purple crossbow bolt shot out from the distant ruins, heading straight for Lin Lü.

Faust, who had been secretly observing from afar, patiently endured and waited.

A natural disaster struck; a meteorite destroyed the plaza, crushing every building in its path. The target, desperate to save people, stumbled into the collapsing building, brazenly exposing his back to Faust. It was an opportunity, but Faust didn't fire.

As Talulah led the Reunion Movement to suppress the plaza and unleashed flames upon the Rhodes Island personnel, the Rhodes Island operators focused their attention on the immediate crisis. The target stood alone, unattended, lost in thought. This was an opportunity, but Faust still didn't fire.

Time and again he had the chance, his finger pressed the trigger again and again, the wound simply bandaged with cloth continued to bleed, but the Originium Arts never showed a trace of its power.

Faust knew that there was only one real chance.

—Now!

His Originium Arts had reached their peak; even his Originium-infected lungs felt scalded. Faust was so exhausted that he couldn't even check if he had hit the target, and he collapsed to the ground. His wounds were torn open, and he no longer had the strength to fire a second crossbow bolt.

Faust didn't actually care whether the arrow would kill his target, but he wanted the other person to know that he was watching him all along.

Things happened so fast that even Ace, who was closest to Lin Lu, couldn't react in time. By the time he realized the danger, the purple crossbow bolt had already pierced through the air!

"PhD!!"

Ace instinctively lowered Lin Lu's body, using his own body as a shield to block him.

"Don't be nervous..." Lin Lu chuckled softly, patted Ace's arm, and said calmly, "Do you think I didn't expect this?"

"clang--!!"

The purple crossbow bolt was deflected by the incoming source projectile from afar, the spell wrapped around it dissipating and sending debris flying. The flying stone fragments scattered and struck Ace on the back, tearing his coat to shreds; the aftershocks alone sent chills down one's spine.

If the purple crossbow bolt hits Ace directly, even he wouldn't be confident he could keep it inside his body and prevent it from piercing through and harming the Doctor.

"This……"

Ace was somewhat bewildered.

The ability to anticipate and successfully hit Faust's crossbow bolt in mid-air is a feat of marksmanship that only that person could achieve.

Following the trajectory of the crossbow bolts, Ace looked ahead. Near the south exit of Chernobog, members of the Rhodes Island operations reserve team and reconnaissance squad were approaching them. One of the men, wearing glasses and a mask with horns piercing through his hat, slowly lowered his smoking sniper rifle and nodded to Ace.

"Scout, captain of the Rhodes Island reconnaissance team, reporting for duty. Long time no see, Doctor."

“…Maybe it’s been a long time, or maybe it’s our first meeting. Hello, Scout, thank you for your help.” Lin Lu turned to Ace and joked, “Should I put up a ‘amnesiac’ sign so I don’t have to tell everyone I meet about it?”

"The Doctor has amnesia?" Scout blurted out. "That's great!"

“…Huh?” Lin Lu was dumbfounded.

"No, well, cough cough, I mean... this is terrible!"

Scout feigns a cough to cover up his recent involuntary outburst.

Did this person owe me a lot of money in the past?

Lin Lu tilted his head in confusion, but didn't think too much about it.

He's in terrible shape; he can't even activate his spiritual domain, and his body is completely numb—the most dangerous sign. Even though he can smell the aroma of roasted meat, he feels no pain whatsoever. He's probably close to death; if this continues…

Ace asked, "Why couldn't we get in touch with you? What happened? How did your injuries get so bad?!"

Scout shook his head slightly and sighed softly: "We were attacked by Sarkaz mercenaries. To prevent them from joining forces with Reunion, my team and I broke through the enemy's lines and repelled their reinforcements. But... we also suffered heavy losses as a result. If it weren't for the infighting within Reunion, we might all be stuck there."

"..."

Lin Lu's gaze sharpened as he scanned his surroundings, but he found no trace of the King Killer.

—It was he who asked the Kingslayer to support the reconnaissance team.

"That lonely wolf, have you seen her?"

"You mean..."

Scout recalled the thick fog that had enveloped half the city, and the figure that had flashed past him, shielding him from the Sarkaz samurai's blade.