Ark Chess Player.

Talulah narrowed her eyes, her gaze fixed on someone in the back row of Rhodes Island.

The flames unleashed by her second strike caused everyone to bow their heads in submission at her feet, except for one person who remained standing.

The raging flames vanished without a trace when they touched the man, as if they had never existed, without even stirring his coat.

The man, with his hands in his pockets, looked over from a hundred meters away, across the crowd, and from two different perspectives.

"This person... seems familiar. Have I seen them somewhere before?"

Talulah narrowed her eyes, her gaze filled with icy coldness.

—If you used to know someone.

It must be eliminated.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Kamen Rider Doctor

"Rhodes Island, you possess the resilience that liberators should have."

Talulah said calmly, the two-meter-long greatsword felt as light as a feather in her hand, its blade pointing directly at Rhodes Island.

“I’ve heard of you and tried to understand you. I know you’re researching ways to cure Oripathy and have taken in many infected people. I thought you, like Reunion, were working for the future of the infected.”

"Sniper team, aim at the enemy, fire! Interrupt her spellcasting!"

Ace ignored her words and instead issued orders directly, attempting to gain the upper hand.

"Chernoborg has been liberated. We have done a small part for the future of those infected. We could have had a good talk."

Black lines spread across the back of Talulah's hand as she channeled the power of Originium into the sword, causing orange-red flames to rise.

"Unfortunately……"

"You made the wrong choice; you should have stood on the side of the infected!"

A blazing ring of fire spread from her body, instantly covering the entire square and leaving everything it touched with a dark mark.

The crossbow bolts and arrows fired by the sniper squad melted and evaporated in mid-air, burning everything around Talulah to ashes... leaving not even a trace.

Lin Guang's vision went black, he couldn't breathe, and slowly collapsed to the ground.

She clutched the remaining ashes in her hand, tilted her head back, and tried to stand up, refusing to admit defeat despite her severe injuries.

"Amiya, run—this heat and scale, even Ace... E2 Squad! Protect Amiya and the Doctor, now!!" Dobermann practically screamed the last sentence through gritted teeth. This order was tantamount to sending someone to their death, but she had no other choice.

“You will pay the price for killing my people, and I will grant you an ending that I love very much—destruction.”

Talulah swung her greatsword, and the arc of flames resembled a sun rising from the ground, while the sunset was like a meteor falling from the sky.

"come!!"

Ace raised his shield high, stood in front of everyone, and slammed the shield heavily onto the ground.

The moment the Eclipse touched the tower shield, the shield's energy storage device instantly reached its limit, erupting with ripples of air vibration! It slightly reduced the spell's impact, but it was far from enough. Ace's arms were forced to stretch in strange directions, but he didn't give up despite the pain; instead, he straightened up and braced his shoulders against the shield. His feet sank deeply into the thick earth, and a mournful groan emanated from his bones.

“Ace… … ”

Dobermann has never hated his own weakness and powerlessness as much as he does now.

She absolutely cannot let Ace and Nearl down. Even if she dies, she will take the Doctor and Amiya away from here!

"—Amiya?!"

"I won't let you hurt them."

Black air currents swirled up clothes, and the chilling wind melted away the high temperature.

If Talulah is the sun on Earth, then Amiya is the fallen moon.

Amiya's pupils turned pure black, and she raised her left hand, releasing all five rings.

"I will not... allow you to hurt my family!!"

The eerie totem's phantom reflected into reality, and countless black chains surged from the void, rushing towards Talulah's spell like raging pythons. Countless chains fell into the eclipse, dissolving upon contact and releasing fine smoke. While they failed to extinguish the fire, they managed to barely stop its spread.

With the burden lifted, Ace collapsed to one knee, panting heavily, feeling utterly exhausted.

"Amiya... blocked Talulah's spell?"

He exclaimed in astonishment, "Only by experiencing it firsthand can one truly understand how terrifying Talulah's magic is."

"No, even Amiya can't hold on for long. Forcibly unleashing her power will cause her body to collapse! Dobermann, take her away, take her away!"

Ace stood up again, lifted the half-melted tower shield, straightened his back, and attempted to transform it into Rhodes Island's shield once more.

"No problem... I'm fine—I must, I must—protect you."

A faint sound came from Amiya's ring, and a faint prismatic outline appeared deep in her pupils, with black chains churning in the eclipse.

"Even if... I... Doctor, I'm sorry—even if it brings disaster, even if I turn to ashes... I can't... lose the people I care about again!!"

Black currents rose up, transforming into transparent vortexes, stirring up eerie hurricanes, and drawing down the curtain of night.

Amiya floated slightly, still casting her spell, the five rings on her left hand turning crimson. Her eyes gradually lost their emotion, and a voice inside her screamed—not enough, not enough, not enough! I will not only stop her, I will—kill her, kill her! Kill her!!

For Rhodes Island, for the people who are important to me, for the Doctor.

The black chains are burning.

"...Hehe, isn't this a lot of hard work?"

Talulah ignored Mephisto behind her, who was shouting, "How could anyone possibly block Talulah's magic! Impossible, impossible, impossible!"

She watched quietly as Rhodes Island performed its final act in this doomed but ultimately futile battle, and couldn't help but admire it.

"Damn it... if this keeps up, Amiya will..."

Lin Guang coughed up thick, fresh blood, dragging his battered body as he tried to take a step forward.

"Near Light, what are you doing!?"

"Is there even a question? Of course, we should punch that arrogant dragon girl in the face! Destroy her magic!"

"you……"

"O light of Kazimierz, the Radiant Knight will offer you his flesh, his blood, his soul—"

Dobermann stretched out her hand blankly; she was at her wit's end. She couldn't stop Talulah, nor could she stop Nearl's self-sacrifice, nor did she possess the ability to change the situation by sacrificing herself like she or Amiya did. Her efforts, her experience, were insignificant in this battle.

At least……

"Doctor, I'll have E1 team escort you out. We'll stay behind to help Amiya. You must...Doctor?"

Doberman was astonished to find that the doctor had vanished. Had he run away? So fast?!

She looked around and found the doctor in an unexpected place.

"That's fine, Amiya."

Lin Lu reached out his left hand, placed it between Amiya's rabbit ears, and rubbed her head.

Amiya's body trembled violently, and sadness welled up in her dark eyes as she stared blankly at the Doctor.

"You've already done so much, share some of your burdens with me."

"PhD--"

Amiya's vision went black, and the illusory image reflected in reality also vanished, leaving only the remaining black chains that still held the eclipse tightly.

Lin Lu embraced the semi-conscious Amiya, lifted her long bangs, and entrusted her to the catching-up Doberman.

"PhD?"

"Well, it's me."

Lin Lu nodded, turned around and continued walking forward.

"Rinko, thank you for your hard work. It's alright now. Leave the rest to me."

Lin Lu patted Lin Guang on the shoulder, and Lin Guang's body tensed up unconsciously, his face turning red.

The irreversible forbidden technique was interrupted by an unknown force, and her eyes were filled with disbelief.

Lin Lu continued walking forward, with a reliable figure holding a tower shield ahead of him.

A true man who refuses to back down even when faced with a desperate and helpless situation.

"Ace, I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

"Boss?"

"No." Lin Lu gently shook his head, came to his side, and smiled, "It's the Doctor."

Ace looked enlightened and couldn't help but burst into laughter: "Yes, yes, welcome back, Doctor."

"Ah."

Lin Lu raised his hand, and to everyone's astonishment, his palm landed on the Eclipse Sun, which was radiating world-destroying flames.

The next moment, both Amiya's black chains and Talulah's Eclipse shattered and disintegrated into fragments.

The massive Originium energy went out of control on the spot, but it couldn't produce a violent explosion that would engulf everyone present, as it was completely under Lin Lu's control. No energy could dissipate; it all gathered in his hand, absorbed and extracted by the mark that appeared on the back of his hand, transforming into his power.

Ace consciously stepped back, knowing full well that it was no longer his turn to participate in what was to come.

When everything had calmed down, in the place where the magic had converged and was filled with traces of destruction, only Lin Lu stood alone.

"So……"

Lin Lu shook his hand and pressed the Ark Driver against his waist.

The base of the Ark Driver extends into a belt that wraps around the interface at the other end, producing a crisp, pleasant sound.

"I am back."

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Knight System

—Let's rewind a little over fifteen minutes.

After extracting the massive cluster of Originium blocking his path, Lin Lu experienced auditory hallucinations. He heard piercing wails, desperate murmurs, and furious roars—these sounds lasted for several seconds before disappearing, but one distinct voice continued to echo in his ears.

Lin Lu initially didn't take it to heart; his attention was focused on the leader of the Reunion Movement, and he concentrated on thinking of countermeasures. He mentally reviewed the operators who were still capable of action, racking his brains, thinking... about a tactic to get as many people back to Rhodes Island as possible.

The strength of both sides is obvious. Trying to save everyone will inevitably result in losing everyone.

"But are you satisfied with this outcome? Are you willing to be so intimidated by the opponent's strength that you don't even dare to hope for victory?"

...The plans in his mind twisted and turned, and some ominous thoughts surged up. Lin Lu wanted to win, even if it meant exhausting every usable piece on the board. He just needed to win; nothing else mattered.

—Until the noisy voices around him grew increasingly shrill, they distracted Lin Lu from his thoughts of human evil manifesting.

"Hey, are you there? Can you hear me? Are you there? Doctor, I'm a girl too, and I'll get hurt if you don't react at all—I've said all this, and you still ignore me so calmly. You're really something else, Doctor! You're such a straight man. Even a diamond would be more flexible than you."

"How should I put it? I didn't react to that extent at all; in fact, I feel quite refreshed. But if you're deliberately ignoring me, your heart rate and other vital signs are far too normal. Did you really damage your brain when you logged back in, Doctor? I'm very confused. I've been actively asserting my existence for the past five minutes and forty-five seconds, but I haven't received any recognition. If I don't need to use your neural connection to operate Rhodes Island's logistics system, then... I'm not going to serve you anymore! Do whatever you want!"

“…Who are you?”

Lin Lu was dumbfounded, his chaotic thoughts completely forgotten, and he suspected that his headphones were malfunctioning.

"Great! Doctor, you've finally regained your senses. I am your loyal AI maid, Anemone, responsible for assisting you with your work and handling the Preliminary Rodes Island Terminal System (PRTS). I can also record the personal information of every Rhodes Island operator, reducing your anxiety and unease when you're thinking, and reasonably allocating work tasks and taking care of your daily life. When necessary, I can also help you handle daily arguments with your spouse, educate your children, mediate family conflicts between siblings, contact postal and courier companies, develop career plans for operators, organize summer team-building trips, write love letters, and provide sleep-oriented ASMR, etc."

Anemone introduced herself with an overly lively voice that made it impossible to tell it was a synthesized voice, and her tone revealed a silly and goofy quality.

"Ah...this..."

Lin Lu felt that he couldn't adjust his mood. He looked up, casually brushed away the invisible sword energy that was attacking him, and looked at Talulah in the distance.

He felt like something was off about his demeanor. Everyone else was fighting tooth and nail, especially Rhodes Island, where heroic sacrifices and heroic deaths were unfolding. And he was acting like a socially awkward person playing a maid game… oh, he was chatting with an AI maid… What the hell was the difference between this and playing a maid game?!

"Doctor, I can detect that your heart rate is accelerating. Is it because of me? Ugh, you pervert."

"I feel guilty for slacking off! Your AI is just too smart!"

"Doctor, can I take this as you praising yourself in a roundabout way? You are the one who gave birth to me."

"Was I a man or a woman before?!"

"Doctor, is your brain really damaged? I am artificial intelligence, not through physiological means, but through physical means."

"Can't you just talk things out properly?!"

"Doctor, I still remember the days when I lived inside you. At first, there were many brothers and sisters racing against me. Everyone was sprinting desperately, but I was still the strongest! I was the first to reach the finish line! Ah, I feel a little nostalgic. After all, that was our first warm home in this world."

"???"