Ark Chess Player.

Valery's gaze was firm, and he nodded, indicating that the girl should go first.

Zoya then made up her mind. She put away her revolver staff, pressed her hands against the ladder made of welded steel pipes, and climbed towards another building.

Her gaze drifted unconsciously to the ground, seven stories high, littered with blood and corpses. The dim black and glaring red mingled together, creating a dizzying sight. Zoya abruptly tilted her head back, staring straight ahead, and continued climbing. She was a very strong girl; she wasn't too frightened to move.

She needs to climb faster to buy time for the others!

As soon as Zoya thought of this, courage welled up in her heart, and her trembling hands gradually became steady.

A distance of five or six meters is neither long nor short.

Time passed quickly, but for the girl, it felt like an eternity.

When Zoya finally reached the rooftop of another floor, she clenched her sweaty hands, forgetting her fear.

The girl reached for her waist, took out her revolver staff to provide support, but the old man did something completely unexpected.

Old Fei pressed his hands against the steel pipe, loosened the fixed steel pipe, and threw it down from the sky without hesitation, cutting off his way to survival.

"do not want!"

Zoya reached out but grasped nothing, watching helplessly as the ladder to heaven collapsed, her red eyes flickering with unease and horror.

"Old Fei! What the hell are you doing?!"

Montagni roared, so agitated that he almost lost his voice.

He never imagined that this old geezer would dare to do such a thing! How could he dare?!

"Valery, tell me, what's next—wait a minute?"

Montagnier glared angrily at Valery, seeking an explanation, but to his surprise, Valery smiled.

"You're all in cahoots! You weren't planning on running away, were you?!" Montagni was so angry he wanted to throw his shield on the ground and quit, but this stitched-together monster was still there, and he couldn't retreat mid-air. The two of them barely managed to hold off the monster by supporting each other. If he escaped, Valery would probably die on the spot, and he would be next to die.

Valery glanced at Federer, who gave a wrinkled smile. The two old foxes exchanged a knowing smile, their understanding unwavering.

Someone had to stay behind to hold off these monsters, and clearly, they couldn't let Zoya face all of this.

Although their actions may be even more difficult torment for the girl.

Old Fei raised his hand and waved, leaving the girl with only his back turned.

"Don't let us down, live on, little girl."

Zoya looked at them; the five or six-meter distance between them felt like a separation between life and death.

She silently withdrew her outstretched hand, and tears she had been holding back finally streamed down her face. She fiercely wiped them away, telling herself...

Can't cry.

You can't cry yet.

I want to be like my dad, I want to...

Zoya raised her head, stubborn as a little brown bear, and turned to leave.

We must not let them down, we must survive, no matter what it takes.

Even if it means living alone in this city full of monsters, you must survive, you must survive.

Zoya started running. All the monsters and infected were drawn to the military and police building, while the municipal building where she was was quiet and sparsely populated.

The dim surroundings made it impossible to see anything. Zoya tripped over something and fell to the ground. She tried to get up, the heavy backpack pressing on her shoulders, a sharp pain shooting through her abdomen, and her fingers bruised. Hunger and fear threatened to overwhelm her. She bit her lip, a habit she had developed over the past few days.

When I'm scared, I bite my lip.

I bite my lip when I'm about to fall asleep.

When you feel like crying, bite your lip.

Her once beautiful and moist lips were bitten raw and torn, as if all the blood had been drained.

Zoya stood up in a daze and continued walking, trying not to think about anything, not daring to think about anything, and only moving towards one goal.

When people are lost, they subconsciously head towards places that make them feel safe. She walked for a long, long time. Along the way, she consciously avoided the few monsters and infected people. She was very good at this kind of stealth, concealing her presence so that she wouldn't be discovered by others.

When Zoya looked up again, she saw the charred ground and the coke deposits piled up like small mountains.

This is her home.

This used to be her home.

Her mother was buried here, and her father's remains were never found.

In her memory, before she started school, her father secretly told her mother that when winter came and the weather warmed up, he would take her dancing. He would bring her mead and cookies, and sweet happiness, and the two of them would quietly enjoy their time together without telling Zoya.

Zoya knew that she was squatting in the living room at the time, feeling somewhat embarrassed by her parents' loving and harmonious relationship.

All happy things may erupt intensely at that moment, demonstrating an unparalleled sense of presence.

Or perhaps it always seemed so ordinary, but only when we look back do we realize what kind of time it was.

It was just an ordinary conversation, just a monotonous daily routine.

It's as if we assume that spring will come as usual, the snow in the suburbs will melt, people will gather dry grass to make straw figures, and tread on muddy ground amidst the aroma of light mead.

It's only natural to say good morning, good night, hello, and goodbye.

Until the very end—

Twisted and deformed, it melted into ash in the intense heat of the fire and dissipated with the wind.

"Who... will save us... who..."

The girl knelt helplessly on the ground, cupping a handful of scorched earth in her hands and holding it tightly in her palms.

Under the moonlight, a black shadow passed over her body and was reflected on the charred wall.

Zoya turned around abruptly, her bright eyes reflecting a dazzling white, like the snow of the North.

"Ah You……"

"I've found you, Zoya."

Lin Lu crouched down and gave the girl a warm smile.

"I have indeed received your wish."

Chapter 126 The Mother of the Herd

Caught up.

Great, I made it in time.

Looking at the gray-haired, red-eyed girl in front of him, Lin Lu suddenly felt that all his efforts had been meaningful.

He did nothing wrong, he did the right thing... Even though Lin Lu kept telling himself that, he still needed facts to prove that his impulsiveness was worthwhile.

As Lin Lu sped towards the abandoned military and police building, the spiritual domain detected a faint sign of life. Lin Lu immediately stopped the vehicle, took the twin katanas of the Sarkaz, and tucked them into his waistband. He then used the PRTS system to directly control the Noah's Heavy Motorcycle, transforming it into Train King, and swam in the opposite direction, drawing away the infected and monsters that had been attracted along the way.

As he searched for the girl, Lin Lu's heart pounded. He had never been this nervous, not even when facing a slime monster covered in hot, explosive mold.

Following the girl's silhouette, he finally stopped on this street, at this place that had been ravaged by fire.

"Who are you?"

Zoya instinctively stepped back, her hands, covered in charcoal and ash, reaching for her waist where her Originium Arts trigger device was located.

Zoya once firmly believed that good would prevail over evil, and that justice would inevitably drive out wickedness. Now, everything she believed in was crumbling. In these brief three days, what she feared most was not the monsters or the infected who had lost their minds, their humanity, and turned into beasts… what she feared most was the people who were still alive.

She didn't know if these people were like her, willing to do anything to survive.

"Don't be afraid."

Lin Lu reached into his pocket, a move that made the girl even more nervous.

But what Lin Lu took out was a card, not a dagger, and certainly not the sharp-edged Originium fragments that those irrational citizens were clutching as they attacked the military and police.

Zoya took the card Lin Lu handed her and, with the help of the bright moonlight, she could see the words on it.

"Rhodes Island... Doctor..."

Zoya looked at the picture on the Rhodes Island employee information card; it was a person completely covered in protective clothing and wearing a black hood.

She looked up again and saw the white-haired, black-clad young man in front of her, who looked to be just over twenty years old, overlap with the person in the photo. Their demeanor was completely different.

"Clothes make the man, and a saddle makes the horse; there's only a word to distinguish between a photo and a fake one. It's common for someone to be more handsome in person than in their ID card..."

Lin Lu noticed the girl's doubts and silently put his employee card away, leaving the girl's gaze fixed on him.

“I’m sorry, I’m not a garrison of the Ursus Third Army. Those people won’t come, no matter how many times you plead, how many times you ask, how many times you ask, how many times you ask… they won’t come. It’s not that they didn’t hear you, it’s not that they don’t care, they’re just domestic dogs with collars on. How can domestic dogs dare to disobey their masters?”

"..."

Zoya wanted to refute this outsider, but she couldn't find any words to say.

Because Attorney Lin was simply restating the facts, making it impossible for anyone to refute him.

“However, your call was not in vain, your voice did indeed travel. I heard it, I came to find you, I found you.”

Lin Lu carefully observed the girl: her messy short hair, the Ursus military uniform that didn't fit her body, the heavy backpack, and the black pantyhose with many holes.

The burden of overusing Originium Arts was evident in the girl's eyes; her left eye was bloodshot, as if it were about to burst.

Lin Lu's eyes also bore similar marks, but his cobalt blue eyes were too deep, concealing this weariness.

"These past few days must have been very tough."

Lin Lu murmured to himself, suddenly realizing how wonderful it was that he had come over tonight.

If the girl is left to eke out a living alone in the city, even if she manages to hold on, she will eventually break down.

Fear and obsession can make a person strong, or they can make a person less human.

Recalling the girl's earlier mutterings, Lin Lu asked, "You have companions here, right?"

"……Um."

Zoya wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. She was somewhat dazed and couldn't believe it.

Her appeals failed to summon those who should have had the responsibility and obligation to protect the entire city.

But there was one person who heard her voice, so he came; his meaning was that simple.

The true weight of the hidden meaning remains unknown.

"Let's go pick them up."

Lin Lu extended his hand to the girl and smiled, "At least within the reach of my hands, I can still protect you."

According to the safest plan, Lin Lu should recall the Noah Heavy Machine now, take the girl away from here, and return to Rhodes Island.

However, merely saving the girl's body cannot save her heart... and then this adventurous journey will lose half its meaning. Lin Lu doesn't mind trying a little harder; he still hopes that this world can give the girl a little more warmth, otherwise she will become less and less afraid of the cold, and sooner or later she will become so numb that her heart will stop beating.

Zoya nodded. She didn't know whether she should trust the person in front of her, but she... had no choice.

She wanted to live, but she wanted even more to live with everyone else.

She placed her hand on Lin Lu's palm. Lin Lu's hand was fair and slender, without any calluses, and he didn't look like a warrior at all.

Yet it was precisely these soft hands that brought her a familiar, warm, and nostalgic sense of security.

"dad……"

Zoya whispered, as if talking to herself.

Lin Lu smiled slightly, helped the girl up from the ground, pulled her behind him, and looked around coldly.

Just as Zoya was about to speak, he carefully covered her mouth and leaned down.

Lin Lu raised his hand and pointed to the road they had come from.

Zoya followed her gaze and saw a layer of dark gray mist spreading out, which was difficult to discern against the backdrop of the night.

"!!!"

Lin Lu's digitized spiritual domain issued an alarm, with four deep red dots appearing at the edge of the gray fog. He focused his mental energy on his eyes, enhancing the spiritual domain's concentration. Through the dense gray domain, he saw four infected individuals dressed in Reunion Movement white uniforms walking in bizarre postures, sometimes bending low, sometimes leaning back, moving their bodies stiffly like puppets.

Their backs were replaced by black Originium clusters. Their human consciousness had long been replaced by the will of Originium, or rather... they only obeyed the orders from Mephisto and had no other thoughts. They wandered around this abandoned upper town of Chernobog, spreading the seeds of evil throughout the city.

They are dyeing every living human being to resemble them, just like... the source of infection.

"The mother of the herd."

Lin Lu placed his right hand on his waist. With the Ark Driver unusable, he could only rely on his own strength.