Ark Chess Player.

Swell's will to survive kept telling him that the best course of action now was to lie still on the ground and wait... for rescue? Whose rescue? Mr. Lin? What right did I have to warrant Mr. Lin coming to save me? What I did to Rhodes Island was enough for Mr. Lin to kill me a hundred times over. The only reason Mr. Lin spared my life was because my identity was still temporarily useful.

A person like me is not worth dying for.

Even so, it doesn't matter.

Tears welled up in Swell's eyes without him even realizing it.

A true man doesn't easily shed tears, but when touched by something painful.

Alexander Swail's relatively short life was mostly spent eking out a living in the shadows. Only now has he glimpsed freedom and ended the bitterness and regret of his mother's persecution and death by evildoers.

Even if the light shines on him for only two hours, it is enough for him, more than enough.

"Tolerance".

This was the first thing Lin Lu said when Swell met him for the first time.

Yes, it's all about forbearance. Isn't that how we've lived all these years?

Now that things have come to this, should we continue to endure this?

no way.

"The person who should receive...the death report..."

The illusory figure before Swell vanished, signifying his loss of composure and his impending cessation of endurance. Even if the excruciating pain spiraled out of control, unbearable agony erupting within him, disrupting blood circulation and causing severe complications leading to death, even if another bullet awaited him, he would still scream.

"You're the ones who should be collecting the death reports!"

With bloodshot eyes and his slicked-back blond hair plastered to his cheeks, the disheveled senior superintendent roared.

He had been waiting for this roar for a long time; if he didn't erupt from silence, he would perish in silence!

"At a time when Lungmen faces life or death, you short-sighted scoundrels only know how to destroy this city for your own selfish interests! Even if I die and am nailed to a coffin, I will shout out—*Lungmen profanities*—from my grave with these decaying vocal cords!!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhenglei frowned, seemingly impatient. He raised his hand and made a tactical gesture as if to execute someone.

The special forces officer who picked up the ring and handed it to Zhao Zhenglei nodded. He then raised his black one-handed gun and aimed it at Swell, who was lying on the ground.

"Do you have any last words?"

The member in the special forces uniform spoke.

Clearly, this is not the behavior expected of a special forces member. They are required to obey orders and follow instructions, not to take unnecessary actions. Such pointless actions only increase the risk of the operation.

Zhao Zhenglei raised his eyebrows unhappily. He was very disgusted by his subordinates going against his wishes. Wait... Does anyone in my team use guns? And the smell in the air is also very strange. It doesn't smell like the smell produced by gun Originium Arts, but like some kind of chemical substance... It's a bit pungent, and I can't figure out what it is.

"Last words?"

Alexander Swell countered with a question.

He scanned everyone present, then he laughed, a particularly hearty laugh that seemed to open his wounds.

“I know that Mr. Lin has no reason to save someone like me.”

Swell stopped trying to stop the bleeding from his wound. He was going to die anyway, so what was the point of prolonging his life? He reached out and grasped the Alexander family ring, stained with mud and blood, and carefully, meticulously, wiped away the grime with his bloodied fingers. Gradually, the mud was wiped away, leaving only the crimson reflection of blood.

“Mr. Lin won’t save me, but that doesn’t mean he won’t avenge me.”

“I am Mr. Lin’s servant, ah, that’s right, I am Mr. Lin’s servant.”

“I am proud of this, and I will have no regrets even if I die here.”

Swell raised his trembling hand, pointed the ring at the dark muzzle of the gun, and clenched it into a fist.

"I'll be waiting for you in hell!!"

Swell died without regret. In his brief day, he had fulfilled his dream of over a decade, witnessing the deaths of two great enemies. To die as the head of the Alexander family, and as Mr. Lin's servant—what more could he ask for?

"That's it."

The special forces officer holding the black short gun tilted his head back, as if he was thinking about something.

Based on Swell's reply, the gunman made a judgment, nodded thoughtfully, and said calmly, "Die."

"Wait a minute, who are you? What's with that gun you're holding?! Why isn't it generating any Originium Arts fluctuations?!"

Realizing that something was amiss with the other party's identity, Zhao Zhenglei hurriedly spoke up while reaching for his weapon.

The next moment, the dark muzzle of the gun was already in front of him, and he pulled it up to the limit at 180 degrees.

"boom!"

Chapter 332 A Swindler's Promise (4K)

A bright flame erupted from the muzzle, and a brass-colored empty cartridge case spun out of the weapon. The bullet shattered the skull, its trajectory instantly becoming a vacuum as it entered the body. Human tissue was then forced into a compressed mass, the brain mercilessly churned by the impact. A mixture of red and faint white matter splattered from the gash in the back of Zhao Zhenglei's head, filling the large screen in the command center.

"It's noisy."

The special forces member scoffed, as if he had stepped on an insect, without making a ripple.

Swell was dumbfounded; he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

He watched as things suddenly took a 360-degree turn. What was this? A sudden change of heart? A subversion of authority?

The two special forces members standing behind Swell stepped forward. One supported Swell's upper body to keep him breathing, while the other slashed Swell's Guard Bureau uniform with a knife, tearing it open along with his bulletproof vest to reveal his bare chest.

The special operations team member who shot and killed Zhao Zhenglei turned and crouched down, injecting an adrenaline needle into Swell's lower abdomen. This brought Swell back to his senses; he gasped for breath, like a drowning person desperately seeking air.

"Who...who are you?!"

Swell's eyes widened in surprise as he asked.

The man retrieved the empty adrenaline syringe, removed his helmet, and revealed a kind smile.

"The Army Without Borders, Combat Team D-07. I'm Captain Kevin, and also your best big brother."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Rewind to the moment when Bai Huang, the leader of the Army Without Borders research team, ended her call with Lin Lu.

Bai Huang is a true doer. Her procrastination habit was completely eradicated after Lin Lu's accident three years ago. The woman who used to be so dismissive of others is a thing of the past. Since Lin Lu has proposed to investigate Alexander Swell, she'll play along to the end.

The combat team D-07, which fought the Sludge Eldrich Anomaly that devoured hundreds, at the Army Without Borders Lungmen Base ST-0133 a few days ago, has just finished two days of rest and is now in a state of readiness.

Considering their experience of being personally commanded by the BOSS, and also knowing that these three had been too active in the base lately, constantly sharing their blissful experiences of being commanded by the BOSS with other combat teams, causing the other team members to become extremely envious and nearly riot. Therefore, Bai Huang assigned this task to them, letting them go out and lay low to avoid the first mercenary shootout tragedy in the secluded paradise.

Upon receiving Bai Huang's orders, Kevin, along with Rijk and Edward, set off from the safe house in the slums of D-07. They even encountered the conman veteran being chased and beaten by a beautiful girl from the Cassius family. True to his seniority, even with his head caught in a grappling hook and his entire body flung against the ceiling, he maintained his composure and greeted them, his juniors, in a friendly manner.

Team D-07 quickly arrived at the designated location. The Borderless Army's research team had already thoroughly cracked the entire Wall of Maria defense system during their spare time, even leaving a backdoor in the code. Thus, Kevin and his team walked in through the main entrance effortlessly, as if they were on a mission, or perhaps on duty receiving orders to buy a strawberry Starbucks from the coffee shop downstairs and deliver it to their superior.

Leveraging their extensive combat experience and standardized stealth training, Team D-07 easily snatched the White Tiger Squad's special forces members by the neck, swapped their clothes with theirs, and checked if their radio equipment was transmitting a signal. After confirming they hadn't been detected by the enemy, they swaggered into the command center, quite pleased with themselves.

Bai Huang, stationed in the command center of the Lungmen base, directly cracked the Maria Wall system and accessed the camera feed from the command center.

The D-07 team members constantly received Bai Huang's commands through their headsets. They concealed their microphones on top of their helmets to ensure that the information Bai Huang received was synchronized with the monitoring footage.

When they saw the target weakly obeying Zhao Zhenglei's orders, they wondered what was wrong with this kid. With this level of skill, he wanted to join the Army Without Borders? He might as well just go to sleep! Even if he was dreaming, he shouldn't be doing it during the day!

It wasn't until Swell punched Zhao Zhenglei at a crucial moment, sending him flying, and then turned around to demonstrate his skills at the command center console that the D-07 team finally showed some satisfaction. Mercenaries are all men of courage; no one wants a coward as a teammate. Compared to a brainless brute, Lao Liu, who only knows how to hide and betray his teammates, is even more despicable.

Seeing that Zhao Zhenglei was about to kill Swell on the spot, the drama queens of the D-07 squad immediately went up to suppress Swell, lest the silly boy be killed on the spot by Zhao Zhenglei in a fit of anger, then there would be no fun... no, cough cough, then the mission would fail.

It was at this moment that Captain Kevin received Bai Huang's order and decisively shot Swell in the liver area.

Through the surveillance footage, Bai Huang analyzed Alexander Swell's movements and physique to determine that he was wearing the Guard Bureau's standard bulletproof vest. Considering Kevin's pistol was a highly accurate semi-automatic, unless it hit other vital areas, he wouldn't be in mortal danger for at least eight minutes. Of course, pain was inevitable, after all, the BOSS had said… Alexander Swell needed to atone for his sins.

Swail's mistakes were enough to kill him a thousand times over.

No one is allowed to harm the BOSS's relatives; violators will be hunted down by the Borderless Army.

Only by letting Swell die once can he be brought back to life and freed from his past life.

Moreover, a dying person's words are often considered wise. Only through a near-death experience can one truly discern whether Swell genuinely submits to the BOSS or is hypocritical, saying one thing and doing another.

Bai Huang decided to use this as a judgment to determine whether this person should be kept or killed.

Looking back, the boss has always been excellent at judging people. He always manages to pick the right talent, using his charismatic personality to win them over!

"You've got a second chance at life, brother."

Kevin took a pink bandage from the first-aid kit and applied the thumb-sized medical device to Swell's bullet wound, patting it down as he did so. The actual steps for removing the bullet and bandaging the wound would require returning to the Army Without Borders safe house; the conditions there were too poor for impromptu surgery, as the wound would easily become infected, potentially jeopardizing his life.

Swell stared wide-eyed at Kevin, thinking, "You bring me a Band-Aid with such a huge wound, and it's even girly pink! Do you think you're funny?" However, the moment it was applied, the bleeding stopped instantly, and it even had a numbing effect; at least his liver stopped hurting. In a sense, this Band-Aid's target market was mobile game players.

"Our medical and research teams have made considerable efforts to improve the quality, reduce the weight, and enhance the portability of medical equipment in order to reduce the number of wounded personnel at the base. It is thanks to their help that we frontline personnel have the best chance of survival. Don't be surprised, we are different from the Guard Bureau. We value every life, and the lives of the Agorians are lives too."

After Kevin confirmed that the bleeding had been successfully stopped, he used a bandage to immobilize the area to prevent the bullet from shifting. This step seemed much more reasonable, yet it left Swell with a shock that was even less than the initial shock of the band-aid... Wait, when did my way of thinking get skewed?

“Ruijie, carry him on your back, we’ll get out of here immediately.”

Kevin gave the order to one of his teammates, who nodded and immediately took action.

Swell hurriedly shouted, "Wait a minute, my mission isn't finished yet, I can't leave! Although I don't know who you are, I'm very grateful to you—wait, why am I grateful to you?! You punched me in the stomach twice, and you beat me up quite a bit, and you too! If you hadn't shot me, I wouldn't be in this state! Oh, and you stepped on my hand twice! Twice!"

Alexander Swail was having some existential questions. He couldn't understand why the other party was going to such lengths to mess with him.

Kevin glanced at the other person, then looked up at the surveillance camera in the command center again, seeking orders.

"Pack it up, take it with you."

Bai Huang's voice came through the communication headset.

Kevin turned his gaze back to Swell, revealing a bright, honest smile.

Swell paused for a moment. As the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face, so he smiled back.

"Boom!"

Kevin retaliated with a punch to Swell's nose, the force of which was precisely controlled, knocking him unconscious.

"You...don't uphold...martial ethics..."

Two streams of blood flowed from Swell's high, straight nose. He felt dizzy and fainted on the spot.

"I'm outta here. That silly kid is really straightforward. I wish he could be in our group," Kevin remarked.

Rijer and Edward exchanged a glance and both agreed.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The Wall of Mary's defense network.

The out-of-control defensive equipment was completely destroyed by the Sarkaz snipers.

The Sarkaz burly man dusted off his giant crossbow, his composure undiminished even after being ambushed. But he was still somewhat displeased; everyone else was doing well, and he was the only one letting things slide.

He also pulled out the Dragonslayer Spear during the battle and used it as a melee weapon; an archer who can't use two swords isn't a good cook.

The Sarkaz sniper silently turned his gaze to the battlefield, placed his crossbow against the wall, and habitually reached into his pocket to light a cigarette... but his outstretched hand froze; he had almost forgotten that he was now a remnant soul.

However, he's already dead this time, so surely his friends won't ask him to quit smoking again?

He claimed smoking was harmful to his health, but after trying to quit so many times, he died not from illness but from exhaustion. How ironic.

"for you."

Someone appeared beside him at some point.

This is a middle-aged man wearing a top hat, a black scarf, and a meticulously groomed mustache.

A member of the Army Without Borders intelligence team, a conman.

He arrived here at some unknown time, covered in dust, with a fresh wound on his scalp covered by a pink bandage.

The Sarkaz sniper stared blankly at the cigarette offered by the conman, lost in thought and bewilderment. As a crossbowman, his hands shouldn't tremble, but his outstretched right hand remained unsteady. The moment his fingertips touched the rolled cigarette, he felt a warm current rise in his empty chest, and like a Parkinson's patient, he cautiously brought the cigarette to his lips.

The conman smiled as he took out a waterproof matchbox, rubbed it to light it, and set the Sarkaz sniper on fire.

The Sarkaz sniper slightly raised his visor, took a puff of the cigarette wrapped with mint leaves and tobacco, and exhaled a long, drawn-out cloud of smoke. His trembling body gradually calmed down, like a heavy smoker experiencing withdrawal symptoms after smoking at least three packs a day.

The conman lit a cigarette for himself and stood beside the Sarkaz sniper, both gazing at the battlefield.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

After saying this, the conman shook his head slightly and continued, "Sorry, you can't speak right now, right? I know, this isn't the first time. It's okay, you don't need to apologize, it's not your fault. Rather, I'm the only one who can have a good chat right now, and you can't argue with me, so in a sense it's a victory for me... So you don't need to apologize, I know... I know."

The swindler took a deep drag on his cigarette, the wisps of white smoke drifting into the night sky. He looked up at the night sky, where he could not see any stars.

"Sometimes I don't even know if I'm the conman, or if you guys are the conmen."

"One or two of them said they wouldn't die, that they absolutely wouldn't die, but in the end, none of them came back."

"Alright, alright, stop apologizing. I didn't come here specifically to blame you. You didn't want to either, but there was nothing I could do. I wasn't strong enough to go to the ancient ruins with you back then. Although, even if I were there, it wouldn't have made much of a difference. I couldn't exactly chat with the monsters that attacked you, could I? My only skill is my ability to lie; I'm useless at everything else. Let me tell you, even the Sentinels are better than me now. It's embarrassing that I was in a combat team back then."

Before he knew it, the cigarette had burned down to the very end, scalding his fingers. The 500-degree cigarette butt emitted a searing heat. But instead of throwing it away, he held it in his hand, cherishing the last bit of time.