Ark Chess Player.

The two of them strode off with an air of indifference, not like they were heading to a battlefield, but more like overworked office workers preparing to catch the last train.

A rustling sound came from ahead, and a white figure, obscuring the sun, swayed from the billowing dust. A gaping wound, riddled with cracks, appeared on the left foreleg of the skeletal raider. An amber liquid, like battery solution, slid from the wound, quickly spreading into a puddle on the ground, ripples spreading as the earth trembled.

The Sarkaz piercing hand, emerging from the blast, continued its charge under Lin Lu's direction, circling a detour, waiting for an opportunity to strike, maintaining high speed, and constantly accumulating potential energy. This life-or-death suicidal attack could be executed one more time; if it continued to be forced, perhaps the Sarkaz piercing hand would shatter into pieces during the charge, utterly extinguishing the flower of hope.

The skeleton raider's three remaining legs slammed heavily on the ground, barely maintaining its balance in a triangular formation.

Suspended above its head is a bone disc, about 1.2 meters in diameter, resembling an eye totem.

This wheel rotates at varying speeds in sync with the movements of the skeletal raiders, its diameter also expanding or shrinking accordingly. Sharp bone spikes adorn its outer surface, like long needles piercing a human skull, or like numerous antennas connecting a mechanical device to receive signals. Its sole purpose is to act in accordance with the will of someone.

After a rapid extension and retraction of the circular protrusion, the skeletal raider's inverted triangular head rose high, emitting a long, furious roar! It was like two rusty pieces of iron rubbing against each other in a slippery manner, making one's teeth ache and one's heart tremble.

The skeletal raider suddenly crouched down, its triangular head facing the ruins, gazing at Lin Lu at the far end. It had no eyes, or rather, its entire body was made of eyes. Its mode of perception was not the sight, smell, or hearing of ordinary creatures, but a substance akin to electromagnetic signals. Perhaps in its eyes, the entire world had only three hues: black, white, and gray, nothing more.

"Finally here."

Lin Lu had long anticipated that the mastermind would hastily take control of the monster once they realized things were getting out of control. Therefore, he wasn't surprised at all; instead, he mustered a strong fighting spirit and began to get serious.

Mephistopheles.

No matter how many dirty tricks you use.

I will ruthlessly crush you completely.

I will leave the mark of a loser deep in your soul.

I will become your nightmare, I will be the sword hanging over your head, and I will end you with my own hands.

The sentry's shoulders slumped slightly.

Lin Lu's hand, resting on his shoulder, unconsciously tightened its grip, and a surging fighting spirit was transmitted to everyone through the connection of their bloodline magic. Although they didn't understand why the BOSS suddenly felt such a strong desire to destroy this monster, as Sarkaz heroes, it was their honor to be able to slay the enemy for the lord they respected!

The Sarkaz swordsman and the Sarkaz magic swordsman looked at each other again, this time their eyes beneath their visors radiating a fanatical ferocity.

It's like an honest, overworked office worker missing the last bus again, recalling how the company unreasonably forced them to work overtime on New Year's Eve, not only without overtime pay, but also without reimbursement for transportation expenses from the previous two months. The female accountant, always fiddling with her nails at work, would only say, "Go find your supervisor, what's the use of coming to me?" If they went to the manager, the manager would say, "Then go find the finance department! What's the use of coming to me?" This kind of company, these kinds of colleagues, these kinds of superiors, this kind of job—don't look down on people! You bunch of vampires! Die!

At that moment, the military flag held aloft by the sentry seemed to turn bright red, and the shadows of a sickle and hammer could be vaguely seen.

The Sarkaz swordsman dragged his longsword around the skeletal raiders, the crimson blade slicing through the steel landscape that revealed the true nature of the mobile city, sending sparks flying. It was like a butcher surveying pigs and sheep awaiting slaughter, examining the fat and bones, searching for a suitable spot.

His gaze fell on the skeleton raider's left hind leg, just as the magic swordsman arrived at the monster's right hind leg.

The two Sarkaz melee fighters stopped simultaneously, as if they had practiced this hundreds or thousands of times, understanding each other's intentions with just a glance.

The swordsman raised his longsword high, trailing sparks, while the sorcerer swung his crude greatsword, wreathed in black flames, down with a deafening slash. The blinding arc of light made both feel the intense heat. The clash of swords erupted on the skeletal raider, sending up dense sparks and the deafening sound of metal clashing.

The Sarkaz's fighting style has always been about maximizing the simplest attacks. For example, the Sarkaz Piercer, with just one charge, can achieve results that several defensive structures combined couldn't. But no matter how they attacked, the Bone Raiders didn't waver, their eyes fixed on Lin Lu in the distance. A terrifying power gathered, as if they were preparing for mutual destruction.

"Zizzi-"

The sound of metal rubbing echoed continuously, and the bone ring on the top of the skeletal raider's head began to spin rapidly. The bone-spur-like protrusions also transformed into arc-shaped afterimages that appeared when the fan blades started as the ring rotated.

A bright orange flash gathered at the center of the ring, and the air crackled with the sound of an electrical explosion. It was like a high-energy rock concert, the notes rising steadily, the sparks constantly forming like a well about to overflow.

"Sentinel, are you afraid?"

Lin Lu's tone was calm and composed, as if he were asking the sentry if he had eaten, rather than giving his last words.

The sentry gazed at the skeletal raider charging up in the distance. Anyone with eyes could see that the monster was preparing to unleash a powerful attack.

When the sentry arrived from another area, he witnessed the entire Suzaku Squad of the Lungmen Special Forces being baptized by holy light, physically vaporized, leaving no trace of their remains. The monster had only casually tossed its head before releasing such high-risk energy; it was even charging up now, making it unimaginable what would happen next.

"I'm not afraid."

The sentry earnestly questioned his own heart and came to this answer.

Yes, he wasn't afraid. Even though he had witnessed the power of the Bone Raiders and was indeed terrified, his hand holding the banner didn't tremble. It was as if, beside the BOSS, fear was a luxury.

"That's good."

Lin Lu smiled slightly and gently patted the sentry's shoulder.

Sarkaz swordsmen and sorcerers hacked their way through the bone wall before them, sparks flying and deafening roars echoing. The power of the ash etching within them flowed like torches, providing a continuous source of energy, but it would still take time to break through the monster's stronghold.

At that very moment, Arno completely severed the neck of the Bone Raider!

The inverted triangle-shaped head plummeted from the sky, crashing to the ground with a dull thud, splashing out a large amount of solution. Amber liquid gushed out of the gap like a fountain, splattering onto Arno's body, tearing his black coat with tiny, irregular holes from the scalding liquid.

This time, Arno couldn't cheer.

It's good to prohibit it.

Arno tossed aside his tattered black overcoat, revealing a white shirt bound with a leather belt, black trousers, and tall military boots covered in slime. His 3D Maneuver Gear was positioned behind his waist, with hooks and anchors connecting the main shaft and iron wires visible on either side. His sword sheath was strapped to his back.

What upset this straightforward young man wasn't that he'd ruined a piece of clothing he quite liked. Rather, it was that, as he'd noticed, his painstaking effort in melting the monster's neck had only slightly slowed its movements.

The skull raider's head is nothing more than an ornament; the powerful figures above it wouldn't understand.

"If I were a teacher, what would I do..."

Arno fell into deep thought, watching the skeletal predator continuously accumulating energy, sensing the immense power reaching its critical point. He decisively retrieved his 3D Maneuver Gear, lightly leaped, and employed the Lin family's ancestral skill—the Thirty-Six Stratagems: Retreat is the best policy!

When Arno jumped down, the spot where he had been standing was engulfed by a bright flash of light.

It was just a second off.

The night sky seemed to turn into daylight.

By the time they noticed, the Bone Raiders' attack had already been launched.

Like a thunderclap a beat slower than lightning, the violent sound and impact vibrated the air, making it impossible to tell what had happened.

Lin Lu was only about a kilometer away from the Bone Raiders. For the not-so-vast slum, this distance was filled with densely packed buildings. With a deafening explosion, these repeatedly ravaged ruins were completely obliterated, and a beam of light shot straight from the ring. The orange-red light turned the crumbling walls to ashes upon contact, even whipping up the steel ground, and struck the target with unparalleled force.

Coke and black ash scattered everywhere, and a blinding flash of light blinded anyone trying to peek into the battle. Whether they were new students from Lungmen, officers from the Royal Guard Bureau, or shadow guards in black cloaks, everyone's vision was filled with the intense light, and their eyesight was temporarily deprived.

The dust continued to rise until people's vision recovered from the dazzling light, at which point it began to settle. The fire in the slum was extinguished by the impact, and the apparent settling of the dust made one's heart race.

Even at the command post of the Maria Wall defense network, Alexander Swell involuntarily clenched his fists, gripping the armrests of his chair tightly. He saw the pillar of light shooting into the sky and understood that the Vermilion Bird Squad had been destroyed in such an attack.

If Lin Lu dies in the slums, in a sense, Swell might be the biggest winner.

For years, Swell had endured humiliation and hardship, feigning the role of a spoiled brat abusing his power, living a life of listlessness under the watchful eyes of the former head of the family and his half-brother. Now that his two greatest enemies were dead at Lin Lu's hands, he no longer needed to pretend. With Lin Lu gone, no one who could control Swell remained. From now on, he could live a free life! He was free!

"..."

This should be a good thing.

But for some reason, Swell just couldn't laugh.

Alexander Swell clenched his fist so tightly that even his palms felt a piercing pain.

He slowly opened his palm, revealing an exquisitely designed ring stained with blood. His finger was scratched by the hard emblem, and red liquid gradually seeped from the exposed flesh.

This is the patriarchal token of the Alexander family; the holder of the token is the patriarch.

This was also a trophy that Lin Lu had seized from Sodan, the former patriarch of the Alexander family.

But Lin Lu casually tossed the ring to Swell, essentially appointing him as the new patriarch. Swell not only regained his freedom but also achieved his greatest goal in life. It was like a courtesan who had suffered endless humiliation in a brothel being redeemed by a wealthy man she had never met and becoming his mistress—it was like a dream.

"Now you're in charge here."

Lin Lu's voice echoed in Swell's mind.

"If you don't do it well, I'll confiscate it."

A stinging sensation came from his palm. Swell looked down at the bloodstained ring and slowly closed his hand.

Swell didn't know much about Lin Lu, so he couldn't imagine how Lin Lu could possibly stop this monster... but he still sincerely hoped that Lin Lu could overcome the difficulty.

The future of Eagle Pulse Group is now tied to Lin Lu's; their fates are intertwined, one prospers and the other suffers.

While praying for Lin Lu's safety, Swell was completely unaware that behind him, Zhao Zhenglei, the captain of the White Tiger Special Forces team, was secretly eyeing the switch of the city defense device...

Skeleton Raiders' combat zone.

The dust settled in the wind, and the night sky returned to twilight.

The streets of the slums became wider, the crowded buildings disappeared, and even the man-made land was gone.

The flames generated by the Bone Raiders roared in like Originium cannons, the intense light assaulting the road as if countless explosives buried in the ground were detonating simultaneously.

The steel foundation of the mobile city undulates like waves, with tangled power lines everywhere, and debris covering the ground like sand in tiny pools.

The Bone Raider unleashed its full power, gathering all the energy within its body, a strike that even evaporated a lake. Even when struck head-on by such a thing, the dark golden figure standing at the edge of the horizon remained steadfast.

The slums seemed to have been cut apart by an unparalleled blade, with hell on one side and earth on the other.

Before Lin Lu, the land of the mobile city looked as if it had been ravaged by a natural disaster, a scene of utter devastation, with not a blade of grass growing.

Yet behind him, all was peaceful, as if nothing had changed in the world.

The sentry collapsed to the ground, feeling every cell in his body screaming, yet he couldn't utter a single word. He witnessed the terrifying power that could easily incinerate him head-on attacking, only to be caught by the BOSS with a single hand. No matter how immense the residual force was, the flames couldn't harm him in the slightest.

"Sentinel, are you afraid?"

The sentry's head was buzzing, Lin Lu's voice echoing incessantly.

So, what the boss meant by that wasn't whether I was afraid of the monster, but rather...

The sentry quietly raised his head and looked at Lin Lu's tall and straight back.

The answer to this question seems to have taken on a new meaning.

Chapter 330 I'll Make You Celebrate! (4K)

"call……"

Lin Lu slowly clenched his left hand, using his extraction power to decompose and absorb the incoming light cannon, converting it into pure Originium energy and channeling it into the Gluttonous Armor. The dragon patterns on the dark gold armor seemed to become clearer, and a faint dragon roar could be heard echoing through the air. Photon blood circulated rapidly, and white mist spewed from below his ribs, 120%, 160%, 220%... the output power was still increasing!

The dark gold gauntlets reflected a glowing mark, and the back of his hand burned as if on fire, the immense energy radiating the light of dawn during the conversion process. Lin Lu felt as if he had been injected with a stimulant, his heart pounding at its limit. A terrifying aura spread like a tide, hidden beneath the hooded helmet, his cobalt blue eyes burning with raging flames.

"sentinel!"

"Here, I'm here!"

The sentry quickly scrambled to his feet and nervously gripped the military flag.

"Congratulations!"

"what?"

"I told you to celebrate! Didn't you hear me?!"

"Yes!!"

The sentry nearly cracked his voice as he answered, startled by Lin Lu's roar and the flames rising from the hood's eye openings, but more than anything, he felt excited. He'd probably awakened some incredible physique, and he wanted to be scolded again! Just once!

Although they didn't quite know what to celebrate, the sentry understood their role and knew where they could make a difference.

The sentry raised the military flag high, and the ancient bloodline magic, which had stopped in shock, reconnected everyone, triggering a buff miracle!

A crimson aura rose from his armor, and Lin Lu clearly felt his attack power increasing, his defense and attack power both reaching one hundred percent. He clenched his fist tightly; the preparatory work he had laid out was complete, now—

"Let's end this farce!!"

Lin Lu jumped directly off the platform, and a crimson meteor streaked across the sky, catching him perfectly.

This man is none other than the Sarkaz Impaler!

The Sarkaz piercing hand sprinted wildly along the path Lin Lu had laid out, managing to circle the outskirts of the slums before returning. Its charge gradually spiraled out of control, climbing towards its highest peak!

This speed-up has reached 1000% again!

Lin Lu was able to step right on his shoulder, which seemed like a coincidence, but it was actually a preordained decision made by Lin Lu!

First, the movement speed of the Sarkaz Piercer is obtained through the data-driven spiritual domain. Then, the time variable is added, and the simplest arithmetic formula is used to summarize how much distance the Piercer needs to restore the charge energy to its maximum value. For this purpose, a designated route is specified.

That's not enough. Lin Lu also needs to determine how long it will take for the Bone Raider to accumulate energy, the expected destructive power, whether it's within the extraction tolerance range, and whether it will affect the Sarkaz piercing hand that is maintaining its Kachi Escape Technique.

The rules of victory are determined from the very beginning of the battle.

There is never a way to win every battle; only by knowing yourself and your enemy, and constantly mentally calculating the battle process, can you discover different outcomes from countless branching options, and then choose the most suitable and advantageous option from these outcomes.

—Your next words will be, "Don't come near me!"

"Don't come near me!!"

Lin Lu could vaguely hear Mephisto's auditory hallucinations. The skeletal predator, having unleashed its full power, swayed unsteadily, and the amber-colored solution became much thinner, losing its lustrous sheen. In reality, at the moment Lin Lu single-handedly blocked the light cannon, Mephisto, far away, who was mentally manipulating the abyssal monster, had his eyes turn bloodshot from the surging blood, and let out a howl of resentment.

Failure after failure.

It was like a knife piercing into this arrogant person who was outwardly flamboyant but inwardly fragile.

Mephistopheles was nothing but a coward who used medals of victory to mask his strength. Now, his proudest moment had been shattered by Lin Lu, and his mind was gradually spiraling out of control. He hadn't lost yet; he believed he hadn't lost, that he still had a chance, as long as he reached that place—