Ark Chess Player

"Perhaps it's been a long time since we last met, or perhaps it's our first time meeting."

Lin Lu slowly backed away, revealing a smile that seemed quite out of place with his lifeless eyes.

"Hello, Lyudmila, or... should I call you the Kingslayer?"

"...Law, what are you saying?"

The regicide took a step forward, but Lin Lu took two steps back, keeping a distance from her.

"You really don't remember me?" The Kingslayer's eyes slowly widened. She pulled off the mask covering her face, pointed to herself, and her voice trembled slightly. "Law, if you're worried I'll scold you, I promise I won't get angry at you. Please don't do this. Have you forgotten everything we went through?"

"Although I don't know what I did to you, I really have no memory of it."

"……fraud."

The regicide lowered his head, clenching his fists tightly. A thousand thoughts converged, ultimately turning into a bitter sense of powerlessness.

She sat on the steps of the mall display stand, curled up, hugging her knees, and even casually placed her short blade on the ground.

"come over."

The kingslayer patted the empty seat next to him.

"What, are you afraid I'll eat you up? You used to be so bold, you even dared to touch Elmoni's horns, and now you know how to be shy?"

"...Come on then."

Lin Lu didn't mind the dirty ground and sat down next to the regicide without any hesitation.

The moment his body touched the ground and his mind relaxed slightly, the pain that had been lingering within him instantly flowed through his veins and bones, causing Lin Lu to let out a heavy sigh. He was simply good at disguising his expressions, so apart from the medical operator, no one knew how much pain he was in.

The two sat side by side, and Amiya's command could still be heard through Lin Lu's communication headset. It must be a fierce battle outside. As the commander of both sides, his men were fighting fiercely in Sha Tau Kok, while he was just slacking off. He was slacking off very well and doing it brilliantly.

"Never mind, it's good that he's still alive."

The regicide broke the awkward silence with his words.

She tilted her head, propped her cheek with her hand, and looked into Lin Lu's eyes.

“During the years you were missing, I considered all sorts of possibilities. Maybe you returned to your hometown. That would be good, at least you wouldn’t have to torture yourself into such a grotesque state just to survive. You told me that in your hometown, as long as you work hard, you can be guaranteed food and clothing, and if you work harder, you can even improve your material life. You don’t have to worry about dying at any moment. Just having the opportunity to work hard is already a blessing, isn’t it?”

"Then... I also thought of some possibilities that I shouldn't have thought of, and that weren't good possibilities."

"Even though you have amnesia, you are still alive... That's wonderful, that's really wonderful."

The kingslayer took out a piece of dark red ribbon from inside his coat lining, his eyes filled with reminiscence.

Lin Lu stared at the ribbon in her hand, suddenly feeling a sense of disorientation, a scene flashing through his mind. It was a Sarkaz girl with horns, wearing a long white dress, with bandages wrapped around her shoulders... but the image was too blurry to capture any details.

"Who is Elmoni...?"

Lin Lu pressed on, feeling that this person was very important to him.

"She is the one who gave you a second life. It seems you don't remember anything. Do you still remember Sojiro?"

Lin Lu slowly shook his head: "No... I don't remember anything right now."

"Hmph, if they were still alive, they'd probably be furious with you."

The Kingslayer stood up. She had originally planned to bring Lin Lu back to the Reunion Movement, but now... she hoped that Lin Lu could stay away from the Reunion Movement and start a new life. Away from his past identity, away from battle, away from death.

Forgetting everything in the past might be a form of redemption for Lin Lu.

“Lv, come closer, I’ll tell you a secret.”

The regicide beckoned to Lin Lu, but seeing that the other party remained unmoved, he frowned.

"What, I'm not really going to eat you."

Lin Lu stood up with some skepticism. With his abilities, even if the King Killer really made a move, he would have a way to protect himself. Besides... he had never sensed the King Killer's killing intent, only a faint sadness and the joy of a long-awaited reunion.

"The secret is... Awoo!"

The regicide bit Lin Lu's face hard, so hard that it would take at least ten days to half a month for the bite to disappear.

"I'll stamp this first, just in case you get amnesia and get kidnapped. It's your fault for always running off with other people without warning."

As soon as the king killer finished speaking, she smacked her lips, her expression changed, and she stuck out her tongue.

"Ptooey, ptooey! Lv, how long has it been since you washed your face!"

"About three years."

"what?!"

Chapter Eleven: Ark Driver

"This is……"

As the smoke gradually dissipated and the fog vanished without a trace, the Reunion soldiers also disappeared.

"The Reunion Movement has retreated? Wait, they took the wounded with them! Amiya, should we pursue them?"

"...All personnel remain in place. Sniper operators scout the movements of Reunion soldiers, and medics treat wounded operators as soon as possible."

Amiya's voice sounded much colder than before, making the operators think that, sure enough, Amiya had matured a lot after rescuing the Doctor.

No wonder he has a doctorate; he's truly trustworthy.

In fact—

"Doctor, put on the hood of your protective suit and the face mask as well."

"Amiya, this..."

"Put it on."

"it is good……"

Amiya's eyes were completely empty. When she saw Lin Lu come out of the department store, she first showed a faint smile of relief, but when she saw the bite marks on Lin Lu's face, her smile disappeared on the spot, and the blue rings on her ten fingers turned into a glaring red for a moment.

呐？

Huh?

Is this a declaration of sovereignty?

Haha, that's really quite funny.

Under Amiya's coercion, Lin Lu was forced to put on Rhodes Island's uniform coat, pull up the hood, and remove the mask.

"Amiya, can I just wear a mask to cover my face? This hat is so heavy."

"No! You have to wear it! Who knows how many more vixens will come... I mean, enemies!"

Amiya's voice became barely audible, but she quickly rallied.

My heart and my actions are as clear as a mirror.

Everything we do is for justice!

"Sure enough, only the Doctor can pull off this outfit; no one else can."

Amiya's gaze swept over Lin Lu for a moment before she nodded in satisfaction. She had forgiven him... no, not at all! It's just that the Doctor is currently weak, so she can't bully him too much. Once the Doctor recovers—well, she'll make sure he makes it up to her!

"Doctor, just you wait and see!"

Before talking to Dobermann, Amiya didn't forget to deliver a harsh remark to the Doctor.

"Waaah, I have a really bad feeling about this..."

Lin Lu didn't quite understand what Amiya was angry about; a girl's mind was indeed harder to fathom than mathematics. He subconsciously put his hands into the pockets of his coat, his fingertips receiving that incredibly familiar touch. Cool and smooth with a metallic sheen, it was far more alluring than the skin of any beautiful woman in the world.

It was as if the soul itself felt joy, and the heart began to beat involuntarily.

Lin Lu cautiously removed both hands from his pockets, taking out an item from each hand at the same time.

On the left is a black card box with obvious signs of wear and tear, and you can still vaguely see a hexagonal pattern as its background.

On the right is...

"Ark Drive".

An incoherent sound came from his throat, and Lin Lu was stunned for a moment before realizing that it was his own voice.

He had no memory of it, but the heavy weight in his hands still stirred up indescribable emotions within him.

Compared to the worn-out card case, the Ark Driver was brand new, as if it had just been manufactured. From a distance, it looked like an ordinary black box, at most with a glossy sheen; it was more like obsidian than metal. Lin Lu held it in his palm, examining it closely. From the extremely detailed engravings to the exquisite mechanical craftsmanship, everything evoked a deep sense of nostalgia in him. Most importantly, it felt cool to the touch, but the act of touching it brought a sense of clarity to his mind.

Could it be made of Originium?

No, no, no, how could that be? Hahaha, hahahaha...

Lin Lu shook his head, took a deep breath, and carefully examined the Ark Driver.

The driver can be moved aside with fingers on both sides, causing the core hub of the black box to rotate half a turn, revealing the card slot inside.

"As for cards..."

Lin Lu unconsciously swung his left hand, naturally unlocking the mechanism on the card box.

Vanguard, Sniper, Guard, Caster, Heavy, Medic, Specialist, Support, White Card, Black Card.

"Ten cards in total?"

Each card has a corresponding icon on the front and a spiral spire symbol on the back. It feels familiar, but I can't quite place it. I understand the first eight cards, which correspond to different positions, but what do the white and black cards mean? What happens when I insert the cards into the drive?

"—!?"

Just as Lin Lu was about to insert the black card into the driver, the digitized world suddenly began to distort. In his vision, the sky seemed to collapse, half of the dark clouds sank, and lightning surged. The ground cracked, and the surrounding buildings stretched out in his eyes, intertwining and overlapping like vines.

The spiral tower stood before Lin Lu, its face obscured by descending dark clouds, with only fireworks intertwining and blooming.

Is this a warning to me?

"Or...are they celebrating for me?"

Lin Lu pondered for a few seconds before putting the crystal-like card back into its case and placing it, along with the Ark Driver, back into the pocket of his hooded coat.

The next instant, the spiral tower collapsed, and the distorted data-driven spiritual domain returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

"I won't let you have your way."

Beneath the mask, Lin Lu slightly raised the corners of his mouth.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the operators had just finished a battle...