Ark Chess Player.

Hoshiguma's lips seemed to be filled with honey, and her smile was especially sweet.

“If I don’t go, you’ll definitely think that as long as you can save Lungmen, you’re willing to sacrifice yourself. If I go, it’ll be different. You’ll think about how to keep me alive, so… your fighting style won’t be as aggressive. Don’t look at me like that, I know you quite well.”

Hoshiguma reached out and gently wiped the dust off Chen's face. She pursed her lips and chuckled, "I've always been watching over you from behind."

"Star Bear..."

"Old Chen..."

"Enough! Get out! Get out!"

Swire let out an indescribable roar, then parted to make way for him, no longer obstructing his path.

"Get out, get out, stop flirting here, or I'll chop someone up!" Swire felt the veins on her forehead bulging, and despite the cold weather, she felt as hot as if she had swallowed some Sichuan-style dog food, and she was on fire.

"Sorry, Miss." Hoshiguma smiled sheepishly. "Let's go, Old Chen."

Chen Huijie nodded and pulled a helmet out of the trunk of the dune buggy. It had a special opening on it.

There was also a sticker on the helmet with four words written on it.

For Hoshiguma's exclusive use.

"Old Chen, did you intend to take me there from the beginning?" Hoshiguma took the helmet and carefully put it on her head. She found that her demon horns fit perfectly through the hole. The opening of the helmet was stuffed with cotton and cloth, so it wouldn't be uncomfortable to wear and would also keep her warm. Of course, there wouldn't be any helmets on the market specifically made for demons; it was obvious that Old Chen had made it himself.

“…Isn’t your birthday January 20th?” Chen Huijie whispered. “This car was originally intended to be bought to take you for a drive…I had even prepared to apply for annual leave in advance. If it weren’t for the Reunion Movement, the car keys would already be yours.”

Hoshiguma's eyes were brimming with tears; she was so moved she almost cried.

“Old Chen——!”

"Star Bear!"

"That's enough! If you don't get out of here, I'm calling the police!"

Poetic and elegant, I wanted to fly over and kick him. Is this ever going to end?!

The seats on the dune buggy were quite spacious. Hoshiguma sat behind Chen, holding Chen Huijie's dragon tail with considerable skill.

"Shi Huaiya."

Chen Huijie put on the helmet, lifted the goggles to expose her eyes.

"After I leave, please go to the slums for me. The residents there are still shaken, and someone needs to represent the Guard Bureau to protect them. Alexander Swell should still be there; I saw him fighting Black Cloak to protect the slum residents. Although he seems a bit unreliable, like a spoiled brat, he's still quite capable. The Guard Bureau only has you two senior superintendents left, so feel free to use him and get him involved in the Lungmen reconstruction work."

"Hmph, we'll rebuild Lungmen when you come back. If you don't come back, Lungmen will probably be finished too." Swire rolled her eyes at her. "Even if we can't beat them, it doesn't matter. Just remember to stay alive. If all else fails, come work as a security guard at my house. My Swire Group needs someone like you."

"Really? Sorry, Rhodes Island offers better deals."

"Aha?!"

Swire's eyes widened, but before she could even start cursing, Chen Huijie had already driven away.

Hoshiguma, sitting in the back seat, turned around, waved, and said sorry.

"Really..."

Poetry and elegance sighed deeply.

"All you do is leave me with a mess... what are you waiting for?"

The Royal Guard officers, arriving late, saluted breathlessly and exclaimed, "Superintendent Shi Huaiya! Was that Commander Chen just now?!" The Royal Guard members pointed at the figure that had vanished in a cloud of dust.

"It's a piece of iron, get out of here! Don't you have anything better to do? Why are you taking a stroll here?" Swire widened her eyes and said righteously.

The officers from the Guard Bureau exchanged bewildered glances, and one of them, defiant as ever, stepped forward and asked, "Superintendent... are you implying that you're protecting Commander Chen?"

"..."

Swire calmly took out a small notebook from her pocket, bit off the pen cap with her teeth, and wrote down the police officer's number. A serene smile graced her face, radiating ladylike elegance. Her gaze swept over the faces of the officers, and the pen twirled in her hand.

At first, the young officers didn't understand what this meant, but they soon felt a chill run down their spines!

This is a list!

And they hold grudges so openly and righteously in front of everyone!

"Superintendent Shi Huaiya, what is this...?"

"nothing."

Swire smiled, a smile that held a deeper meaning. "It's really nothing."

The officers shivered and quickly shouted, "Let's go! What are you doing taking a stroll here! We're like bricks in Longmen, we'll be there wherever we're needed! Get to work, everyone get to work!"

Swire then put down his notebook and nodded.

"good."

Chapter 437 Zoya Awakens

4:57 am Cloudy, visibility 17 km.

Four kilometers outside Longmen, it's a desert.

Rhode Island private ward.

"Well……"

Lin Lu slowly opened his eyes. His digitized spiritual domain was in a dormant state, and it would take time to restart whenever he woke up from a deep sleep.

Chaotic memories swirled through Chen Doudou's mind. He remembered things from five years ago, but couldn't recall anything from before that, or even from the years before that. The gaps in his memory created a vague sense of not existing in this world, filling him with...fear.

"So I can be scared too..."

Lin Lu murmured to himself, then chuckled self-deprecatingly.

This was the first time he had felt fear so clearly since the stone coffin had been awakened.

Lin Lu slowly closed his eyes. About three hours and fifty-five minutes had passed on his body. He had rested quite well.

"So... who's the little cutie in my bed today?"

Although the digitized spiritual realm is in a dormant state, Lin Lu is not a vegetable.

It's a bit too much to expect him to have no reaction at all when such a big person is lying on top of him.

Lin Lu lifted the blanket and looked at the girl lying face down on his chest.

"What a rare guest..."

Lin Lu murmured.

"Dong dong!"

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The medical operative on night shift, Susuru, gently pushed open the door. She stood on tiptoe and looked around, only to find that the doctor was sleeping soundly.

"Why did Dr. Kal'tsit say she might be here...?"

Susuru muttered to herself, turned and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

After Susuluo left, Lin Lu, who had been pretending to be asleep, quietly opened one eye and observed the movement outside the door. Only after confirming that no one was there did he lift the heavy blanket, look at the Ursus girl in front of him wearing a thin hospital gown, and smiled faintly.

Good morning, Zoya.

The gray-haired, red-eyed girl leaned half her body against Lin Lu, looking at him like a small animal.

Zoya is the girl that Lin Lu risked his life to save from the upper town of Chernobog.

She is also the girl Lin Lu cares about the most.

Those who were rescued back then—Sonia, Anna, Rada, Rosalind, Natalia… even Yanke has woken up.

Only Zoya lay unconscious in her hospital bed. She was utterly exhausted. During her time in the upper city, Zoya had gone for long periods without food or water, huddled on the rooftop of the Ursus military police headquarters, forcing herself to use magic to defeat the crazed infected. Finally, in order to activate the Chernobog defensive equipment, the Originium silencing device, she severely overexerted her mental energy and collapsed to the ground.

"..."

Zoya clutched Lin Lu's clothes, pursed her lips, hesitated as if she wanted to say something, but still couldn't bring herself to speak.

She was scared.

I woke up to find myself in a completely unfamiliar place, surrounded by infected people.

In Zoya's subconscious, the bloodthirsty infected she encountered in Chernobog's upper city were not much different from ordinary infected. Because those who invaded Chernobog, killed her mother, and caused her father's death... were Oripathy infected.

She ran away.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Zoya pulled out the needle from her arm without hesitation, got out of bed, and fell directly to the ground.

Zoya's body, which had not been active for a long time, was so stiff that she almost lost all feeling. This was only because Rhodes Island had medical operators who massaged Zoya's muscles every day; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to move at all.

Lin had been lying in the stone coffin for three years. Even with his willpower, when he crawled out of the special ice coffin inside the stone coffin, he felt as if his whole body had been torn apart. To give an analogy, it was like sleeping with your head on your arm for three years, and when you woke up, your hand didn't even feel like your own.

Leveraging her experience evading the rampaging infected in the upper city, Zoya's stealth abilities were exceptional, allowing her to successfully escape the hospital room. If Sussuro hadn't discovered a malfunction in the sensors on Zoya's bed during her night shift, perhaps no one on Rhodes Island would have noticed her escape.

Zoya, who had escaped from the ward, didn't know where to go, but she had one peculiar trait: the more panicked she became, the calmer she remained.

Finally, following the familiar scent, Zoya arrived at Lin Lu's hospital room. Just then, she heard hurried footsteps in the corridor. Without thinking, she ran to Lin Lu's bed and crawled under the covers.

"Lin...Law".

Zoya called out Lin Lu's name indistinctly, her eyes softening considerably, and even her tense nerves relaxing slightly.

Although she slept for a very, very long time, fortunately she did not suffer from amnesia like Lin. She remembered everything... or rather, that was the most unfortunate thing.

"Where is this?"

"Do you remember Rhodes Island that I told you about back then?"

Lin Lu raised his hand and ruffled Zoya's hair, smiling as he said, "Welcome to Rhodes Island, Zoya."

Perhaps it was because the temperature of Lin Lu's palm was quite comfortable, or perhaps it was because Lin Lu's words had a reassuring power.

Zoya's shoulders trembled.

She didn't want to cry.

She had been holding back her tears, even when she woke up to find herself in a completely unfamiliar place. But now, because of Lin Lu's words and words of comfort, Zhuoya felt her vision blur. By the time she came to her senses, tears were already welling up in her eyes, and she hugged Lin Lu tightly, crying.

Even when Zoya cries, she maintains the habit of not making a sound.

Because in Chernobog, she couldn't make too much noise, lest she implicate Uncle Valery and the others...

Uncle Valery?

Zoya hurriedly raised her hand, ignoring her ugly, red-faced crying, and asked anxiously, "Lin Lv, where is Uncle Valery?! I can't smell his scent, is he..." As she spoke, Zoya's voice choked up, and she couldn't continue.

At that time, Zoya and Uncle Valery were the only Ursus survivors on the military police rooftop. She had lost consciousness and didn't know what happened next. Uncle Valery was like family to her. During the worst days, if it weren't for Uncle Valery, Zoya might have been devoured alive by the crazed infected.

Lin Lu took a deep breath.

Even now, Lin Lu still has a deep impression of that simple and tough middle-aged military policeman from Ursus.

Valery, a true hero.

Perhaps he was not born into a noble family, or perhaps he did not do anything earth-shattering in his life.

But to this day, Lin Lu still cannot forget the image of him wielding a hammer with one arm, carrying the Originium Silencing Device, leaping high from the rooftop, and charging towards a monster ten or a hundred times stronger than himself.

If there was any gain from that impulsive, reckless journey to the upper city of Chernobog, besides bringing back the Ursus girls and incidentally acquiring a Sarkaz mercenary, it was meeting this commoner hero.

Lin Lu gently wiped away Zhuoya's tears, erasing her tear stains, and embraced her.

"Valery, his war is not over yet."

Chapter 438 Kal'tsit's Word Counts (3K)

Zoya cried herself to sleep.

She was sleeping soundly, but a faint trace of fear lingered on her young face, making one want to hold her in their arms to comfort her.

Lin Lu gently patted Zoya's back, maintaining a steady rhythm, singing a lullaby as if soothing a child.

The door was quietly pushed open.

The person who walked in was not Sussurro, but Kal'tsit.

"Shhh."

Lin Lu raised his right index finger to his lips, signaling Kal'tsit to be quiet.

He gently placed Zoya on the bed, then made up the quilt for her and put his outstretched hand back in.