Ark Chess Player

Take Skadi, for example. The moment Lin Lu saw her, he felt a stomachache, a kind of fear akin to a blond-haired guy encountering a pure-hearted goddess of war. If we exclude the possibility that Skadi is an enemy, the only reason for his stomachache is probably the White Album. Damn it, how many emotional debts has this dignified, perfect man like me accumulated in the past? Please, give me more!

Lin Lu put down his cup and asked casually, "Um, Skadi. What was it like when we first met?"

Based on the intimacy between him and her in the shower, even if their relationship wasn't particularly sweet, it shouldn't be too bad... Lin Lu thought to himself.

"Let me think, when we first met..."

Skadi tilted her head back slightly, lost in thought.

Her expression always gave people a feeling of "keep away," but in reality, she was just a bit awkward in expressing herself and always hesitated to speak because she thought too much.

"I met you in the deep sea."

"Uh-huh."

"Then I'll cut you in half."

"Hmm, two halves is good, one half for each of us... Hmm?!"

Chapter 140 Weathering With You

Lin Lu finally understood why he felt a stomachache when he saw Skadi.

The pain of being torn apart was unbearable, even for an ultimate tough guy like him.

"At that time, I was trapped in a kind of spiritual Originium Arts, unable to leave the illusory sea..."

Skadi picked up the straw and swirled the mojito, the ice cubes clinking incessantly in the clear glass.

"Time and space have no meaning; no matter how long I walk, I can never reach the end. The sky is covered with dark clouds, and I can't see the stars or the moon."

Skadi gently bit the straw, the fragrant aroma of rum filling her mouth and causing a ripple in her eyes. She tilted her head, looking at Lin Lu with a faint smile. Her smile was subtle, just a slight upturn of the corners of her mouth, yet Lin Lu felt as if he had been force-fed a large amount of rum, and couldn't help but feel a surge of attraction.

"It was you who, when you ventured into the deep sea of ​​illusion for the second time, drove that area away and tore the night apart. If it weren't for you, perhaps I would still be lost there, wallowing in loneliness. I asked for your name, I searched for you for a long time, so long that I was almost about to give up... but I still found you. If it's you, you can definitely face the boundless darkness with me..."

Skadi shook her head in a daze, not knowing why she would speak so unguardedly to Lin Lu about things she usually kept deep inside.

Normally, she would never have expressed her desire to have friends.

She lacked the confidence to protect her teammates.

Because her enemies are often gods and demons that ordinary people cannot look directly at.

But if it's Lawyer Lin...

Was I really that good in the past?

Lin Lu was somewhat bewildered, but also curious.

Skadi gave a subtle look and denied it: "No, you were very weak back then. I have a hundred ways to make you die before you even realized what was happening."

"Gan."

Lin Lu clutched his aching abdomen, the physical and psychological trauma locked inside his body.

Perhaps Skadi is his nemesis; if the two meet, Lin Lu will immediately be given a debuff.

"You were different back then. You were like an ordinary person, no, even less than an ordinary person. I could barely sense any life signs in you, so weak that I could crush you with a single finger. Why is it that you, in this very state, could do what I couldn't, wipe away the calamity with this hand..."

Skadi murmured, taking Lin Lu's left hand in her hands and gently stroking the mark on it.

To this day, she still cannot forget what happened.

Dark clouds swirled, obscuring the sun.

The torrential rain fell on the turbulent sea, and the cold, fierce wind howled past, stirring up towering waves that rose into the sky.

Dark green blood spread across the water's surface, polluting the seawater, and countless dead giant creatures floated and sank in the rippling waves.

Exhausted to the point of near unconsciousness, Skadi mechanically and numbly repeated the same tasks. She aimed at the enemy, raised her hand, and swung her sword, unleashing a flurry of blades that extinguished the nascent foe. She continued like this until her voice was almost gone, until she could no longer sing the songs of her homeland…

Lin Lu appeared.

He was stunned at the time, just like her; they were similar people.

This time, Skadi observed him carefully. He was very weak, extremely weak. Yet, this very weak person exuded the scent of the deep sea, so strong it instilled a murderous intent. But this time, Skadi didn't kill him as easily as she had when they first met.

Perhaps it was because of loneliness, or perhaps it was because seeing people finally brought a sense of security, or perhaps there were countless possibilities.

Just as she gave up hope and prepared to continue wandering in the boundless, illusory sea, the man clenched his left hand and spoke arrogantly in a tone that looked down upon all others.

"I might know a way out of here."

The next moment, the world seemed to quiet down, and the noisy sounds disappeared.

The rain that fell from the dark clouds stopped in mid-air, leaving glistening droplets in front of the girl.

She reached out and touched the raindrops; the water droplets trembled gently in the air, blooming into a water splash.

Then, as if signaled by her light touch of the raindrops, raindrops burst forth across the entire sea. The crisp, melodious sound became the note that ended the nightmare, and the blooming water droplets rose rapidly into the sky. The dark clouds were dispersed by the rising water, and the magnificent moonlight poured onto the sea, revealing the boundless starry sky, with dazzling stars reflected in the eyes.

Skadi was so surprised she couldn't close her mouth. She gazed at the Milky Way that adorned the night sky, as if she could see the way home.

The gentle waves, carried by the cool evening breeze, rippled across her cheeks and moistened her lips.

Tears and the taste of home are both salty.

As the nightmare ended, Lin Lu's figure disappeared from the sea.

Skadi remembered his face vividly, and from then on, whenever she was trapped in an endless bloody nightmare, whenever she was about to give up, she would always see him appear.

It's like falling from the sky, always appearing without warning in unknown seas.

Through countless battles and the passage of time, Skadi witnessed his growth step by step.

The two met across time and space, cherishing each brief and fleeting moment to communicate. The man progressed from being frail and weak to becoming quite capable, even standing up to her when she was trapped in a nightmare, blocking her giant sword, freeing her from the entanglement of countless tentacles, and shattering her nightmares time and time again.

In Skadi's eyes, the boy had become a man.

More and more scars appeared on his body, and he smiled less and less, until he became taciturn and expressionless.

He felt like he was being chased by something, being pursued by something, unable to breathe, and he was doing everything he could just to survive.

It wasn't until three years ago, when she last saw Lin Lu in the illusory deep sea, that he smiled for the first time in a long time—a rather weary smile—asked her a favor.

"—"

From then on, Lin Lu never appeared in her dreams again, and Skadi was alone once more.

When Skadi set foot on the earth again, she began a long search, following a phantom.

As a lonely person who is not good at interpersonal relationships, Skadi wanted to find Lin Lu simply because she remembered his name. In the vast continent of Terra, this was undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack.

But for Skadi, a bounty hunter, and a top figure in the hunter industry, problems that can be solved with money are usually not problems... Well, this time she's encountered a problem. Even with the bounty hunter's extensive intelligence network, they can't find any clues about Lin Lu, as if he's been hidden by an even more powerful intelligence network.

Skadi gave up many things.

But this is the one thing she has never given up on.

She kept searching for Lin Lu, using money to pave the way without restraint. When she ran out of money, she would take on the most dangerous bounty missions, and use the money she got from exchanging the heads of the bounty targets to exchange for intelligence.

Heaven rewards those who persevere; where there's a will, there's a way.

She eventually found a clue about Lin Lu.

A rising legend in the mercenary world, the leader of an army without borders.

Kazdel's War Myth, the Battlefield Commander of Babel.

The final clue is...

Rhode Island.

Chapter 141 The Doctor is a God

"That person is Skadi, isn't it...?"

"It's her, it must be her, I know her!"

"Who's that man next to her? He's so brave, daring to flirt with her. Doesn't he know the meaning of death?"

"Hey, you don't know who he is? Oh right... you just got back to Rhodes Island today, it's normal that you don't know. Let me tell you, he's the legendary Doctor."

"--What?!"

Whispering chatter drifted from a corner of the bar, and everyone's attention was quietly drawn to the most dazzling focal point.

Skadi's formidable reputation is well-known among combat operators. Even though she claims to be good at teamwork, operators who have worked with her have all complained of stomach aches.

Skadi rarely coordinates with her teammates in battle, or rather, no one is qualified to coordinate with her.

On the battlefield, Skadi was unstoppable; nothing could hinder her advance.

If a mountain is blocking your way, then move it.

If iron is blocking your way, then cut through it.

In a battle of annihilation, Skadi would wield a black greatsword too difficult for ordinary people to handle, charging directly into the enemy camp and wreaking havoc. She needed no heavy armor for protection; the greatsword's parrying power and her own physical strength were enough to withstand most enemies. Arrows would come flying, and she would intercept them in mid-air with even greater speed. When facing multiple opponents and encountering overwhelming attacks, she would use her body to withstand the onslaught. Enemy heavy axes often couldn't even pierce her skin, and she would then counterattack and kill them.

While other operators had to abandon their meticulously planned operations to support Skadi, Skadi had already wiped out the highly dangerous enemy base, leaving no one alive.

These operators could only force themselves to endure their discomfort and come out to clean up the mess, lest the employer mistakenly think that Rhodes Island had used some kind of forbidden biological weapon during the inspection.

If Skadi is dispatched by Kal'tsit to participate in the assault, then Skadi will transform into a happy little orca, which is her favorite thing to do.

Demolition.

Yes, demolition.

In past battles, Skadi had submitted a report to Rhodes Island. She complained to Kal'tsit, one of Rhodes Island's highest leaders, that her preferred tactics were easily disrupted, and that the rule of minimizing damage to local property hampered her, preventing her from unleashing even half her full potential and making it difficult to follow.

Kal'tsit then decisively assigned Skadi to the assault team, while also making her a reserve operator for individual missions.

Skadi would be happy to take on any challenging missions, which means she can act freely according to her own ideas.

Skadi excels at wielding her greatsword to shatter enemy armor, slice through their defenses, and decisively cut through the steel gates of fortresses, much like a true war machine.

This has caused Rhodes Island's frontline operators to develop a cognitive bias towards her. It's like a group of adventurers who have just defeated the mysterious zombie king Jiang Chen in Thunder Ruins and are preparing to head to the Dragon Tower when suddenly a god-like player who can one-shot Prey arrives in the party. Before they can even apply their class buffs, he wipes out the entire screen with a single skill. What the hell is the point of fighting?! What the hell is the point of fighting?!

If it were a game, it would be fine; you could spam the chat with "666" and "Please carry me!" But this is a battlefield!

While feeling a strong sense of security, the operators who participated in the mission also felt a profound sense of powerlessness and a disorienting sense of existential emptiness.

Skadi's cold and sarcastic remarks when rejecting others, coupled with her unparalleled image on the battlefield, led to a lot of bad rumors circulating among the operators.