Ark Chess Player.

Lin Lu shook his head helplessly. He understood that Yinlianhua was trying to ease the awkward atmosphere by acting silly. After all, he had gone a bit too far before, tearing living people to pieces in front of an artificial idiot and breaking the attacking city defenses in two, as if possessed by a demon. Perhaps even the Originium monsters were not as cruel as him.

But Lin Lu has no regrets.

He was convinced of one thing when he woke up.

There are only two kinds of people in this world: his people and his enemies.

Of course, Lin Lu himself is not included in this category; what he needs to do is take care of his own people and eliminate threatening enemies.

“Doctor, we are about to arrive at the mobile city of Chernobog. I suggest you slow down and turn off the headlights. Anemone hereby requests permission to drive the Noah Motorcycle independently. I will be responsible for the rest of the journey and will ensure your safety.” Anemone offered, extending her hand.

Although most of the time Anemone acts like his ex-girlfriend, she always manages to be intelligent enough to provide Lin Lu with necessary assistance when it comes to being serious.

"That's right."

Lin Lu confidently removed his hands from the Noah motorcycle's grips and slowly moved his aching wrists.

The headlights of the Noah motorcycle gradually dimmed, and the autonomous driving route was marked on the ground in the Lingyu data display field of vision.

Lin Lu remained silent for a long while before slowly asking, "...Why didn't you tell me from the beginning that this thing could drive itself?"

"Doctor, life is short, so take it easy. Slacking off is so much fun, don't you want to?"

Lin Lu nodded with deep feeling: "That makes sense. I'll leave it to you on the return trip. It's better to touch it together than to touch it alone."

"Doctor Onore! Aren't you afraid I'll drive in the opposite direction all the way to the Reunion Movement's home base?!"

"How dare you, you beast! You traitor! You artificial idiot!"

"Go ahead and curse me again!"

The Noah motorcycle suddenly stopped, nearly throwing Lin Lu off.

Fortunately, he possessed exceptional waist strength, managing to withstand the momentum. He didn't end up flying into the air like Esby, who became a blurry, pixelated mess, only to be pulled heavily back to the ground by the tactical ropes that bound him, making a dull, lifeless thud.

"Anemone, are you trying to kill me so you can inherit my Alipay Huabei account?!"

Lin Lu clutched his waist and said fiercely, but before he could recover, the Noah motorcycle's engine suddenly started and sped off to the left.

Just as Lin Lu's upper body was thrown back by the reaction force, his dizzying perspective caught a blurry outline, and he realized that a black shadow had appeared in his original path.

"--hiss."

A muffled breathing sound arose, and a deformed monster attacked at high speed from the shadows, bringing with it a surging, damp smell.

Lin Lu decisively drew his tactical short blade and, almost the instant the monster charged, severed the tactical rope connecting the back of the vehicle, abandoning his stand, Esby, on the wasteland.

The Noah Heavy Machine accelerated to its highest setting, the roar of its engine filling the air once more. At this point, it no longer cared about being discovered while stealthily moving. These indescribable, bizarre monsters were far more threatening than the Reunion soldiers of Chernobog. Anemone used almost all of its processing power to accelerate the Noah Heavy Machine, leaving behind illusory afterimages.

Even from a great distance, Lin Lu could hear the bizarre sounds of human bodies being chewed.

Lin Lu took off his helmet against the wind, the damp smell still lingering in his nostrils.

Chapter Ninety-Six: Just as I wished

"What the hell is this...?"

Lin Lu frowned and couldn't help but swear.

Anyone else would have been stunned into silence upon seeing the strange creature Head & Shoulders charging at them, falling into a disadvantageous position and completely at their mercy. But Lin, at least, remained calm and collected, analyzing the situation with sharp insight.

Lin Lu narrowed his eyes slightly, and the area covered by his spiritual domain expanded further, tentatively extending towards the location where they had been before. He found that the mutilated corpses were still on the ground. In the end, Esby still couldn't return to his hometown alive. It was truly a sin, a sin.

Strangely, the monster that had appeared earlier was no longer there; it had vanished without a trace.

No, to be precise, it was the first time the ever-reliable Spirit Realm had failed, unable to read this kind of information.

Is it because of the anemone's celebration? Well, anemone, that poisonous milk has killed someone! You'd better shut up from now on!

...That's what they say, but if Anemone doesn't react in time, Lin Lu might fall into an ambush due to his overconfidence.

In a sense, it was the anemone that saved his life, and the Paw Patrol made a great contribution.

"Doctor, are you alright?" Anemone asked, her voice less silly and more calm.

"According to the data, your heart rate is fast, your blood pressure is high, and your mental state is unstable. Anemone suggests, would you like me to tell you a corny joke to calm you down?"

"I'm fine... fine my ass." Lin Lu let out a sigh of relief, waved his hand and said, "Fine, go ahead and tell me."

Anemone blinked and said, "You have a strong smell of Bilibili on you."

"Are you going to scold me again?"

"Please, you're so Bilibili-like."

"Alright! Enough! Stop talking! Can't you have any survival instinct? Can't you even add a dog emoji?"

Lin Lu's tightly furrowed brows twitched painfully. "Excuse me, where did this lame joke come from? It's so lame."

"If you don't like this joke, Doctor, I have an updated version of the news. Raytheon Heavy Industries recently filed a lawsuit against a well-known chili sauce brand company in Yan Country, and applied to freeze its bank account deposits or seize and detain other assets of equivalent value. Raytheon Heavy Industries responded that the chili sauce brand company placed a weapons order with them worth tens of millions of yuan, but ignored the contract and has been in arrears for a long time. Raytheon Industries was forced to sue and apply to freeze the amount owed by the other party. According to the Yan Country Supervision Department, the chili sauce brand has not signed any business contract with them. After being cheated, Raytheon Industries claimed that they were honest and simple and were bullied."

Anemone added, "The people of Yan Kingdom were plunged into a sea of ​​laughter and joy. Someone even wrote a book about it, titled 'Honest and Simple.' Everyone expressed their approval of Thor's misfortune. Thor was tricked, and laughter filled the air. The trading city-state of Longmen applauded this."

"Who would understand this?! Can't you do something more down-to-earth?! Forget it, just stop talking and let me have some peace and quiet."

Lin Lu gave up helplessly. Sure enough, even when Anemone gets serious, it's still Anemone; an artificial intelligence is still an artificial intelligence.

Suddenly, the headlights of the Noah Heavy Machine slowly dimmed, and the sound of the Originium engine was also reduced, with the driving speed dropping to three steps per second.

Before the silver lotus could even speak, Lin Lu had already sensed what had happened and couldn't help but exhale a breath of anger.

"Hold."

In the distance lay the mobile city of Chernobog, but countless black shadows loomed on the road leading ahead, seemingly unaware of Lin Lu's approach.

If there were only one or two, Lin Lu would accept it; the world is full of wonders, and it's not impossible that he might happen to encounter a few monsters targeting him. But the reality is that these monsters seem to be mass-produced, possessing their own consciousness as they guard this mobile city overrun by the infected.

The current situation in Chernobog is probably much harsher than Lin Lu imagined.

Anemone asked, "Doctor? What should we do?"

Lin Lu closed his eyes and extended his spiritual domain all the way to the high side wall of Chernobog, charting an unforeseen path.

Anemone wasn't lying; she said she was like a tapeworm in the doctor's stomach, knowing everything he was thinking.

In fact, she instantly understood Lin Lu's thoughts and almost blurted out, "You're so slutty."

Lin Lu raised his right eyebrow: "Yiku, let's go?"

The anemone's virtual humanoid form shouted excitedly, "Iku Iku!"

The Noah Heavy Machine started its engine again, a roar that seemed to shake the entire earth, instantly drawing the attention of all the monsters. The pure Originium, capable of providing energy for an entire factory, emitted a dazzling light in the Noah Heavy Machine's central hub, its power continuously increasing, and the rapidly spinning wheels emitted a screeching sound on the ground.

The headlights came on, dazzlingly bright, like a magnificent pillar of light rising from the ground.

Lin Lu seemed to hear a mysterious whisper in his ear, that the adult was telling him that turning on the high beams when transforming was part of the tactic, and if he didn't like it, he shouldn't play it.

This time, Lin Lu finally got a clear look at what these monsters looked like.

Each of the shadowy monsters varied in size, some tall, some short, some fat, some thin, but all shared a common feature: black vines extending to the ground from their heads. The dense black vines hung from the ground, leaving scratches as they moved. They all had nearly humanoid bodies; some monsters had long, spear-like arms and four extremely sharp claws. Dragging along the ground, they produced a chilling sound like fingernails scraping porcelain. Other monsters had thick limbs, crawling on the ground like wild beasts, their decaying mouths revealing crooked, interlocking teeth—a repulsive sight.

These monsters seemed afraid of light, raising their arms to cover their faces, but still tried to walk towards the light source.

They roared, emitting chilling howls, and a damp atmosphere filled the air.

Lin Lu squinted; he seemed to see fragments of cloth on these monsters.

"PhD!!"

The anemone transformed into a 1.6-meter-tall virtual humanoid figure, sitting in Lin Lu's lap, her hands gripping the handlebars of the Noah motorcycle.

"Are you ready?!" Anemone exclaimed excitedly, probably because she felt she needed a bit of a ritual to transform into her original form.

Lin Lu raised his left hand and pointed forward.

"It has been prepared for a long time."

"Go, go, go!"

Anemone pressed the accelerator, and the Originium engine, heated to its peak, instantly reached its zenith. Blue-white breath spewed from the Noah Heavy Machine's exhaust, and a terrifying roar seemed to tear through the air. The Noah Heavy Machine accelerated instantly, transforming into a fleeting flash of light, and sprinted at full speed. Even if there was a piece of iron blocking its way, it could easily overturn it.

The oncoming hurricane whipped at Lin Lu's clothes, causing his black trench coat to billow high. Beneath the various exquisite tactical tools at the bottom, the Ark Drive wrapped around his waist emitted a chilling light.

Lin Lu slowly pulled open the side of the Ark Driver, and the central core slowly turned around, like a long-dormant dragon awakening and opening its eyes after a long time.

The class card that Lin Lu had taken out at some point was twirled between his fingers. He carefully pressed it against the interface of the central card slot, but failed to press it down immediately.

Kroos's words echoed in Lin Lu's ears: the Ark Driver was not fully repaired and was very likely to malfunction.

"Once it's damaged, there may be no going back."

Lin Lu took a light breath, tilted his head back, and smiled arrogantly, looking down on everyone else.

He pressed the class card down deeply, gripped the handles heavily with both hands, and pushed it forward in a crisscross motion.

"That's exactly what I wanted."

Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Ark Knights (Two Chapters Combined)

A dazzling light illuminated the night sky, and a black and gold heavy motorcycle roared as it sped toward the outer walls of the mobile city of Chernobog in the distance.

The black, twisted monster was forced back by the blazing white headlights and fell behind the car, disappearing back into the darkness.

The monsters emitted a series of obscure and shrill cries, using both hands and feet to try and keep up with Noah's motorcycle at an incredibly terrifying speed.

While maintaining a human form, it also resembles a wild beast, brutally blending humanity and bestiality, making one involuntarily feel a chill down their spine.

"Doctor, the Noah Armed System is ready. Please take protective measures."

Anemone reminded her that although she had already pressed the start button when she spoke, at least she mentioned it this time, which can be considered an improvement.

The Noah Heavy Machine's built-in combat support equipment now came into play, its bulky armor slowly opening to reveal its ferocious true form. A brilliant stream of light swirled around its dark gold body, and wisps of white mist rose gracefully. Like a fully clothed beauty removing her heavy coat, revealing her perfectly fitted black evening gown to the air, glistening with sweat, every inch of her exposed, crystalline skin a deadly weapon.

Under the multi-pronged operation of the anemone, the armory storage compartments on both sides of the heavy motorcycle rose high, and the smoothbore of incendiary bombs, made of a mixture of white phosphorus dust and Originium dust, were positioned. A muffled mechanical sound rang out, the conductors contracted and compressed, propelling the explosive launch! The Originium incendiary bombs transformed into sharp whistles, and the data-driven spirit domain simultaneously locked onto each enemy, striving to gain the greatest advantage.

"Boom bang bang-"

The monsters, sprinting like ghosts on all fours, were nearly overturned by the oncoming kinetic energy. Unaware of what had burrowed into their bodies, they quickly rose and continued their pursuit of the Noah's heavy machine. Countless white plumes of smoke silently bloomed, like the arms of death embracing them, leaving wisps of phosphorescent dust in the air.

The Originium dust, heated to its ignition point, erupted in destructive flames. The violent explosion generated immense heat and light, igniting the white phosphorus that filled the air. The sea of ​​flames engulfed the monsters. Those monsters whose bodies were embedded with Originium incendiary bombs were visibly entangled by the swirling fire serpents, immediately emitting a putrid stench.

The scorching airwaves suddenly spread out, and the Noah motorcycle deployed its securing straps on both sides to help Lin Lu stabilize his body and prevent him from being overturned by the wind.

Lin Lu let out a sigh of relief, tightened the restraints, turned to face the monster, and entrusted his back to the silver lotus, essentially entrusting his life to her.

The blinding flames, the monster's frantic roars, and the secondary effects caused by the Originium dust made everything before our eyes appear incredibly ugly.

Since the Spirit Realm cannot detect the attribute values ​​of monsters, Lin Lu can only rely on his naked eyes to observe them.

Six monsters were hit head-on, and nearly twelve were burned, with the vast majority suffering serious injuries.

The remaining monsters displayed considerable intelligence, scattering in a semi-circle to surround their target after discovering it had the ability to retaliate.

Moreover, these monsters possess incredible resilience; unless burned to a skeleton, they can continue charging. Furthermore, what's most troublesome is that… they seem to have no pain response. This means that even being drenched in flames won't force them to retreat an inch; as long as they have a breath left, they will never stop, relentlessly extending their path towards their target.

If they could work in power plants, constantly clattering away in hamster ball-like machines, it might solve Rhodes Island's long-standing power problem.

Just as Lin Lu was unconsciously thinking about how to improve the Rhodes Island ship environment and wholeheartedly contributing to the operators, a thin, dark monster leaped up from the shadows and approached Lin Lu at an astonishing speed, moving with a ferocious pace that even caused the surrounding flames to flicker.

It was the most agile of the monsters, with fingersless hands and two sharp arms like two iron spears, their edge gleaming. The monster's upper body was bent at almost a ninety-degree angle, but its lower body was incredibly thick. Its hind limbs had mutated into a locust-like, segmented shape, and its astonishing jumping power allowed it to leap into the air and plummet down to launch an air-to-ground attack on Lin Lu.

Yinlian instinctively wanted to activate Noah's anti-aircraft interception weaponry, but Lin Lu raised his hand, signaling her to focus on piloting and not worry.

Lin Lu looked up at the monster that was plunging down at an extremely fast speed, slowly raised his hand, and clenched his fist tightly as if he wanted to crush something.

"Arknights!"

The naturally accumulated Cost value has finally reached the prerequisite amount to trigger the class permission.

"Defender (reloaded)"

A clear, mechanical female voice rang out from the Ark Driver, sounding more human than before, rather than cold and impersonal.

Cobalt blue light flowed along the intricate patterns, and the icon symbolizing the Heavy Armor class replaced the spiral tower symbol, surging forth with dazzling brilliance at the central core.

The Ark Driver flashed by with a silvery-white halo, like water seeping into paper, spreading and leaving a distinct mark.

After being coated with forbidden blood, the Ark Driver did undergo some changes, but Lin Lu did not yet know whether these changes were good or bad.

However, Lin Lu had already made up his mind, otherwise he wouldn't have brought the driver to Chernobog.

"Aurhorize (Authorization Successful)"

A dazzling light shot into the sky, a golden beam of light striking the alien insect monster from below, forcefully blocking it in mid-air.