Ark Chess Player

"retreat."

There was no choice but to retreat.

The ruins of the command tower in the core city of Chernobog.

Lin Lu calmed his chest, which was constantly bulging and contracting like a bellows, and exhaled.

"If I had all ten swords back then, perhaps the ending of the story would have been different..."

Lin Lu ran two fingers along the Crimson Sky Sword, the sound of the blade rubbing clear and loud, and the sword trembled uncontrollably.

Chixiao cheered and affectionately nuzzled Lin Lu, but did not scratch Lin Lu's skin.

"Here you go."

Lin Lu handed the Crimson Sky Sword back to Chen Huijie, who was sitting dumbfounded on the broken rubble. She hugged Talulah and took the Crimson Sky Sword with a blank expression.

Chixiao seemed somewhat disgusted with her; its crimson luster dimmed instantly, and one could vaguely sense the intense envy emanating from the Cloud-Splitting Sword.

"you you you……"

Chen Huijie felt her tongue was tied in knots. She finally managed to organize her thoughts and looked at the fractured cross-section of the core city, feeling a sense of bewilderment.

Can a single sword cleave a city in two? Is that something a human can do?

"What kind of swordsmanship is that?"

Chen Huijie asked in a murmur.

"You want to learn?"

Lin Lu clapped his hands lightly and smiled slightly.

"I teach you."

Chapter 453 The Grand Finale!

A ray of sunlight streamed in through the window.

The soft sunlight gently streamed into the white, private hospital room, adding a touch of warmth to this white world.

This is the Rhodes Island main ship, the intensive care unit.

Perhaps it was the warm sunlight shining on me that made me murmur softly.

Froststar's finger joints twitched slightly.

Her childlike sleeping face was slightly furrowed, and her long eyelashes trembled.

Then, her consciousness gradually returned from a scattered state to her mind.

Froststar waited quietly.

Waiting to open my eyes and rediscover this world.

Perhaps only a few seconds passed, or perhaps a few minutes, and she had a dream in that brief moment.

She dreamt of something that happened a long time ago.

It was a quiet night, with only the crackling sound of firewood being added to the campfire and the occasional cold night breeze blowing by.

“Talulah? You’ve worked hard, standing guard in this weather… I know you asked for it yourself, and I won’t stop you.”

Froststar watched Talulah's retreating figure with a sigh. Even on the coldest winter night, she remained strict with herself.

"You know, my fire won't go out until we get out of this winter."

Dressed in military uniform, Talulah looked dashing. She smiled at her friend and sat down next to Frostnova without any hesitation.

"Are the two children asleep?"

Talulah looked at the sleeping Ino and Sasha.

"Shh!" Froststar raised her index finger to her lips, signaling for people to be quiet. "They finally managed to fall asleep."

"I'm so sorry, so sorry." Talulah quickly lowered her voice, pursed her lips, and whispered, "Were they involved in training?"

“Yes, that little boy with dark curly hair is very talented, and he’s perfect for crossbows. The crossbowmen love him and are all vying to marry him to their daughters when he grows up.” Frostnova nodded, her eyes softening with pity. “That white-haired boy has a talent for Originium Arts, but he seems to have experienced something bad. He sleeps very lightly and sometimes he’ll have a strange smile on his face and talk in his sleep… He’s saying, ‘Don’t hit me, Mom, don’t put stones in my mouth…’ I’m very worried about him, so I can only sing lullabies to him to sleep.”

"Time will heal our wounds, and one day he will be able to wake up from the nightmare."

Talulah added more firewood to the campfire, trying to create a warm and cozy atmosphere so the children could sleep better.

"I'll leave first. My body temperature is still too cold. If I stay around them, they'll catch a cold." Frostnova looked somewhat guilty.

"Don't worry, I'm here for you."

Talulah shook her finger, and the temperature around her rose slightly, making up for the low temperature brought by Froststar.

"See, with me here, no one will get cold. You can stay here without worry, just stay with us." Talulah stretched out her arms, lay back on the pile of wood without any regard for her image, and gave Frostnova a big smile.

Froststar shook her head helplessly and sat back down.

"Yelena, is your father still formulating his next strategy?"

"Well... he said that we have too much responsibility now, and we need to think carefully about every step in order to reduce losses."

"Hey, it's so late, have you ever seen him sleeping?"

“No,” Frostnova shook her head. “Not even once.”

"Even the greatest warrior needs rest. Why don't you try to persuade him? I'll teach you. Go and act cute and charming. Or should I demonstrate?"

"Talulah! Go away, instead of thinking about him, think about your own things. By the way, have you contacted those people you mentioned?"

"Of course, is there anything I can't handle? Alright, you go and get some rest, I'll keep watch by myself."

"Fine……"

Froststar then stood up and looked at the tents in the settlement that were still lit up, and was slightly moved.

Talulah sensed her thoughts and sincerely suggested, "You really don't need me to demonstrate for you?"

"No need!" Froststar refused decisively. "I'm going to rest. You should too, get some rest early."

Okay, good night.

Froststar walked toward the camp. She turned around and saw Talulah waving.

The light of the campfire went out.

She was left in the darkness.

"Talulah!"

Finally, Froststar opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was a blurry mist. She blinked, and tears slid down her cheeks.

Froststar closed her eyes again, and after she felt the dizziness subside, she carefully opened them.

An unfamiliar ceiling.

A warm and comfortable cotton quilt.

Soft light spilled into the white room, where sophisticated instruments and equipment were everywhere.

Froststar took a breath; a faint smell of disinfectant entered her nostrils. Perhaps because she was used to it, it wasn't as pungent as she had imagined. She tried to move her hands, her muscles gradually awakening. She successfully raised her hand and touched the stainless steel armrest of the hospital bed. The sensation on her fingers surprised her; she stared blankly at her hands—nothing had frozen.

"I'm alive?"

Froststar recalled what happened before she lost consciousness.

In Lungmen, she overused her magic to protect the Infected members of the Reunion Movement and her brothers and sisters, severely pushing her physical limits. She ultimately collapsed in Lin Lu's arms and closed her eyes.

“律……”

Froststar murmured as she struggled to sit up, pulled out the IV needle, and got out of bed.

She looked out the window; the sunlight shone on the earth, seemingly illuminating tomorrow as well.

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.

"You're really something, Lawyer Lin."

Kal'tsit and Amiya arrived at the ruins of the command tower in the core city of Chernobog, and Kal'tsit spoke on the spot.

"Are you complimenting me?"

Lin Lu was somewhat surprised. He seriously doubted that the Kal'tsit in front of him was a fake. The real Kal'tsit would definitely want to curse at this moment.

"of course not."

"I can rest assured that."

Lin Lu breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, it was genuine.

"You went too far this time." Kal'tsit looked at the other half of the core city, the entire city split in two, the cross-section smooth and flat, the structure incredibly clear, as if it had been cleaved in two by a hundred-meter-tall giant wielding a giant axe. In this situation, even trying to explain it as some kind of weapon wouldn't work, and the nations of Terra wouldn't allow any private organization to possess this level of armed force.

"What is there to worry about now? We were prepared for this when we joined the operation. Now there are two swords hanging over our heads, one in Lungmen's hands and the other in Ursus's."

Lin Lu remained remarkably calm, showing no sign of being aware of the existence of a humanoid walking destructive weapon, and analyzed the situation layer by layer.

"Leaving Lungmen aside for now, as for Ursus... just the fact that we participated in stopping the core city of Chernobog, or rather, participated in the defense of Lungmen and knew about the Ursus officers' conspiracy, is enough to make them send warships to pursue and destroy Rhodes Island. What does it have to do with Lungmen that a private company not registered with Lungmen and not protected by Lungmen collapsed somewhere due to an armed attack by an unknown force?"

"..."

Chen Huijie felt uneasy listening to this.

Kal'tsit looked at Lin Lu, crossed her arms, and gestured for him to continue.

“Therefore, we need to take Talulah away,” Lin Lu said confidently.

Chen Huijie was taken aback, then turned to look at Lin Lu and asked, "Are you sure?"

This sounds absolutely insane.

It is equivalent to Rhodes Island intending to simultaneously

"This is a balance point."

Lin Lu explained, "Whether it's the Ursus nobles or the wealthy merchants of Lungmen, there's no doubt that they won't make peace. Therefore, Talulah, a key witness in this incident, is our foundation. Rhodes Island is in the third camp in this operation, and only with Talulah in our hands will they restrain each other and prevent anyone from easily making a move. After all, the one who strikes first is most likely to be struck by my sword, unless they are confident they can withstand my attack. At least for now, Talulah is very important to us."

Chen Huijie looked around, her bright eyes shining.

She didn't understand much of what he said.