Ark Chess Player

Chapter 101 Ursus Student Self-Government Group

"Haa...haa...ha..."

The girls were running around, playing hide-and-seek in the dimly lit factory—a hide-and-seek game where getting caught meant death.

Their throats were hoarse, as if they were on fire. When was the last time they drank honey water? They had forgotten.

Moreover, these girls, who are in the midst of physical development, haven't had a proper meal in a long time. Now, in order to survive, they have to run with all their might, further exhausting their weakened bodies. Their limbs feel like they're filled with lead, and every time they lift their arms or take a step, the thought of giving up crosses their minds.

If it weren't for the loud explosion outside a few dozen seconds earlier, which drew the monsters' attention, they wouldn't have had the chance to hide in the narrow room. This room appeared to be a sterilization chamber; food processing plant workers often need to change into uniforms and prepare for disinfection before commencing operations.

"Shh!"

The Ursus girl named Sonia put her index finger to her lips, a strand of long red-streaked hair falling in front of her eyes, which she impatiently brushed aside.

She had shoulder-length brown hair, which was now covered in blood, as were her school uniform top and skirt. The main reason was that ten minutes earlier, she had used a short axe to cleave open the back of a mutated monster's head, splattering blood all over her, thankfully without it getting into its mouth.

"Ha...ha...tsk."

Sonia looked at her companions and couldn't help but grit her teeth. Two of them were badly injured and had clearly lost their ability to fight.

A girl named Rosalind, to distract the monster, charged at it with her bare fists. Without her bravery and skill, Sonia wouldn't have had the chance to decapitate the monster. Another girl, Natalia, with white hair, was found by Sonia in hell. The ground was littered with countless monster corpses, and the noblewoman, her eyes devoid of light, knelt atop the pile of corpses, covered in blood, looking as if she were dead.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the quiet factory. Several monsters seemed to have been drawn to the sounds outside the door, but two remained, eager for battle.

The constant, piercing sound of sharp objects rubbing against each other was deafening, sending chills down one's spine and filling one with dread. These incessant, shrill noises made it impossible to discern the monsters' proximity, demonstrating their formidable intelligence. Underestimating them would surely result in being torn to shreds.

"Anna, Rada, you stay here and guard this place. I'll go and lure those mud monsters away."

Sonia made up her mind and addressed her two companions, while gripping the handle of her short axe tightly.

If this drags on, the monsters will soon find them, and everyone will die here.

Anna and Rada are Sonia's longest-time companions. As the leader of the Ursus Student Self-Government Group, she would do anything to protect her friends, even at the cost of her own life.

“...Sonia.”

A girl with blue hair and blue eyes, wearing a monocle and a braid, reached out her hand, but he didn't know how to stop her from leaving.

She knew she couldn't persuade Sonia, but she wasn't willing to watch the girl go to her death. She pursed her lips and exhaled softly.

"I'll go with you."

"No way, that's ridiculous! With your physique, you'd be out of breath after just two laps!"

Sonia opened her blue eyes wide, turned her head and glanced at Rada, signaling for Rada to stop her.

A young Ursus girl with soft, short, golden hair was tearing her shirt into strips. As a former runner-up in the junior division of the All-Ursus Boy Scouts Competition, Rada knew a little about battlefield medics. She was busy stopping Rosalind's bleeding. Four vicious claw marks remained on the girl's right arm, a bloody mess where bone was vaguely visible.

Even the Ursus people's innate strength and robust physique could not withstand a single blow from the monster.

After all, these monsters were once Ursus people.

"It's okay...it's okay..."

Rosalyn said softly, her voice trembling so much she could barely speak, but she was still trying to comfort Rada.

Rada wiped away the cold sweat that Rosalyn couldn't stop from sweating from the excruciating pain, then turned to look at Sonia and Anna, her bright orange eyes brimming with tears, as if she might burst into tears at any moment. But she raised her arm to wipe the corner of her eye, stubbornly clenching her teeth, swallowing all her unease and fear.

"Sister Sonia, Sister Anna... let me go instead."

Rada lifted her "shield," which was actually a vault safe door she had picked up from the war zone, and she could easily lift it with one hand with her arm strength.

Although she was the youngest among them, she was the most experienced in survival skills and first aid. Having received Boy Scout training, she was actually the most suitable candidate to lure the monster away, provided she could overcome her fear of it…

If Rada hadn't hesitated when facing the monster, Rosalind wouldn't have rushed to the front for her sake.

She should be the one who's injured and lying on the ground; it's because of her incompetence that Rosalyn is in so much pain now.

A strong sense of self-blame almost broke Rada's sensitive heart. She bit her lip and told herself not to cry.

The people of Ursus may bleed, but they cannot shed tears!

"This isn't a good thing, so why are you arguing with me?"

Sonia nearly screamed, but the commotion inadvertently attracted a monster, and about six monsters followed them into the factory. The girls did their best, managing to take down one even with one member severely injured. The remaining five were beyond their reach, even if they risked their lives.

Even if three of the five monsters were taken away by the noise outside, the remaining two were still beyond their ability to deal with.

The monster started running, its speed noticeably increasing, seemingly having a clear target and no longer having time to dawdle!

Sonia decisively gripped the short axe tightly with both hands, took a deep breath, and propped herself up. But to her surprise, Anna, who seemed the most docile, was even faster. The Mint Bear Girl, carrying a teddy bear on her back and clutching a book with a red cover in her hand, had eyes that shone as if she could see the glory of a red flag. The girl exuded a fearless aura, like a warrior heading to battle.

Sonia grabbed her arm, and if she weren't worried that speaking too loudly would attract more monsters, she would have immediately sworn an Ursus curse.

Neither of them dared to make a sound, but neither was willing to give in, because they both knew how dangerous it would be.

As the leader of the Ursus Student Self-Government Group, Sonia has a responsibility to protect her fellow students; this is her principle.

Anna, however, didn't want to see Sonia risk her life any longer. Sonia was the only one among them who had awakened Originium Arts. With the book in her hand, she could wield magical power, surpassing most, even if not as powerful as the thugs' sorcerers. Therefore, Anna believed she was better suited to lure the monster away. In terms of the will to survive, she was second to none.

Just as the two were struggling, a small figure stepped over them. The figure was so thin, yet it looked incredibly determined.

"Sister Sonia, Sister Anna, please don't always treat me like a child. I'm a soldier!"

Lada said softly, her voice trembling, but she stood ramrod straight.

Boy Scouts are also soldiers.

"Radamanthys, come and protect us!"

After Lada finished speaking, he closed the door tightly from the outside.

Chapter 102 The Trump Card

"Tsk, it's really annoying that I can't find it in the Spirit Realm."

Lin Lu flexed his wrists, looking at the monster in front of him that seemed to be cautiously observing him.

The monster resembled a werewolf in its beastly form, its mutated and expanded chest cavity bursting through its skin and flesh to reveal its gleaming white bones.

Its entire body was covered in jet-black fur, clearly indicating extremely poor fire resistance; unfortunately, incendiary bombs were unsuitable for use in the city. The monster's arms were nearly two meters long, and its hind limbs were bent out of shape. Its wolf-like head slowly opened its mouth, its entire face almost splitting open, releasing a foul stench, and a sticky, glue-like substance slowly dripped down.

After Anemone informed him that a survivor was being chased by a monster, Lin Lu immediately focused his spiritual domain on the survivor's location and rushed over.

What forced Lin Lu to stop was that he couldn't pinpoint the monster's location. Even the Silver Lotus could only sense a vague outline, not be 100% certain. Otherwise, no matter how mischievous the Silver Lotus was, she wouldn't have risked Lin Lu's injury by concealing the fact that a monster was attacking while traveling across the wasteland.

This means that one of Lin Lu's trump cards has been significantly weakened, and his long-held intelligence advantage will become useless.

These monsters seem to possess a unique ability to block searches of the spirit realm, making it impossible to detect any data about their affiliation.

So much so that when Lin Lu was riding Noah's motorcycle and preparing to rush into the food processing plant, he turned a corner and encountered love. He was so frightened by the sudden appearance of a werewolf that his blood pressure rose and he almost lost his grip on the handlebars.

Since awakening in the stone coffin, Lin Lu has maintained a superior position in all aspects thanks to his information processing capabilities in the Spirit Realm. He can always easily understand his opponents' thoughts and formulate countless winning strategies to defeat them. What goes around comes around, and now it's finally his turn to suffer a setback. Lin Lu probably didn't expect his knight protection period to expire so quickly.

"...Luckily, I was able to mark the target after spotting it. I didn't bring any dyeing jade, otherwise it would have been a problem if it got away."

Lin Lu twisted the handlebars of the Noah motorcycle, producing a roaring sound that echoed through the street, proclaiming its presence.

Lin had no intention of sneaking around at all... No, as long as he killed everyone and no one noticed, wouldn't that count as a successful sneaking around?

—I'm so clever.

"Snoring."

The werewolf monster growled from its neck, glaring menacingly at Lin Lu, its swollen skeleton slowly shifting to the side. It howled warily, its mutated, interlocking teeth spitting out disgusting saliva. Cautiously, it hid its body around a corner, only its head peeking out.

The werewolf's dim, unfocused eyes were fixed on Lin Lu, refusing to look away.

Looking at its appearance, Lin Lu couldn't help but laugh out loud, his laughter full of sarcasm and mockery, like that of a villain.

Even an ordinary person, with considerable strength, would instinctively focus their attention on meeting the gaze of a monster. There's nothing wrong with that; when dealing with intelligent beasts, making them realize they're a tough nut to crack is a good strategy. They need to understand that even if they want to tear a piece of flesh from me, they'd better be prepared to lose half their life.

However, those who can only think of the first level often fall into the trap of counterattacks they cannot defend against, and ultimately lose their lives in vain.

Lin Lu knew very well that these monsters were prepared from the beginning to leave him alive even if he died a gruesome death. The crude plan before him was so naive that it made him laugh.

Tactically despise the enemy, but strategically take them seriously—this is the law of survival.

"The wolf is feigning sleep."

Lin Lu said softly, then suddenly pressed down hard on the accelerator!

The werewolf, which had concealed most of its body, narrowed its eyes, its vertical pupils staring intently at Lin Lu. Its two-meter-long forelimbs were pressed deeply into the ground, as if preparing to meet the attack.

—It's so realistic.

"This is a ruse to lure the enemy!!"

Lin Lu suddenly spurred the Noah Heavy Machine to drift 180 degrees, the Originium engine roaring loudly, seemingly radiating a stream of light.

The rear wheel, almost ignited from friction, slammed another werewolf that had leaped into the air behind it back to the ground. Blue and white flames erupted from the exhaust port of the Noah motorcycle, and Lin Lu suddenly lifted the front wheel and charged straight ahead. The black and gold heavy motorcycle roared, bursting out with a thunderous sound that tore through the air, and instantly attacked the werewolf that had been knocked away.

The wheels of history crushed the werewolf's head, and Lin Lu, expressionless, pressed the accelerator hard and refused to let go, showing no mercy.

With the speed of the Noah Heavy Machine, the raised wheels were like a cutting machine, tearing apart the werewolf's fur, teeth, muscles, and skull layer by layer! After crushing the werewolf's skull into smooth ruts, the Noah Heavy Machine had no choice but to continue forward, but Lin Lu knew how tenacious these monsters were, and this was not enough to kill them.

Lin Lu acted decisively, slamming his leg into the ground and spun the Noah motorcycle around, almost tipping it over, as he ravaged the werewolf's body. The rapidly spinning wheels scraped sparks from the werewolf's back, creating a gruesome scene. Just before it lost its balance, Lin Lu spun around, raising the front half of the Noah motorcycle high, and delivered the final blow with the rear wheel.

The rear wheel, the main power source of the heavy motorcycle, kicked up flames, eroded the iron frame, and completely separated the werewolf's body, crushing it into two pieces before driving away.

What does it mean to be an experienced driver?

What is meant by "Akina Mountain Speed ​​God"?

Lin Lu eased off the accelerator, lifted his left leg, which was fractured from using it as a fulcrum, and glanced sharply at the werewolf hiding behind the wall.

If they neither flee nor evade, neither attack nor dodge, there must be a trap.

"How much cunning can beasts possess? They only add to the amusement."

Lin Lu sneered and took out a black box containing Origin Stone fragments and steel balls from his trench coat.

The fragmentation grenade, independently developed by Rhodes Island's engineering department, draws its design inspiration from a notebook left by a young Sarkaz mercenary long ago. Small in size but powerful, it's versatile in both offense and defense, making it perfect as an appetizer. Highly favored by chemical defense operators affiliated with Blacksteel International, it's always in high demand on the wish lists of Rhodes Island's frontline combat operators.

If it weren't for the fact that high-quality products require certain specific materials, Kroos, that shrewd merchant, would never have let this business opportunity slip by. It would ensure the combat capabilities of the operators while allowing her to make a fortune—why wouldn't she?

Lin Lu gripped the black cube-shaped box tightly in his hand, recalling his previous deductions and guesses that these monsters might be using Originium as their energy source.

To confirm his suspicions, Lin Lu deliberately injected the energy of the Originium into the black box before triggering the fuse, essentially wrapping it with a membrane.

As expected, when Lin Lu transferred the Originium energy to the black box, the werewolf reacted instantly. Its pupils dissipated into black dots, and its bestial nature devoured the last vestige of its humanity. Like a traveler lost in the desert finding water, it lost all ability to think and charged wildly towards Lin Lu.

"Come on, try my trump card."

With a confident smile on his lips, Lin Lu raised his right arm and threw the black box directly into the werewolf's mouth—then without looking back, he pressed the throttle grip on the Noah motorcycle and sped back.