Ark Chess Player.

Amiya had just opened her mouth when she saw the Doctor walk up to her.

...It was a fury that defied description, like the arrival of a demon.

Lin Lu didn't know why he was angry; he just felt an inexplicable fire burning on the back of his hand, in his chest, and in his heart.

He didn't know why he was angry. Maybe he used to be a dog lover and was angry because he saw dogs being bullied or turned into biological weapons.

Or perhaps...

"Doctor, watch out!"

"Amiya, don't worry, leave it to the Doctor."

Ace stopped the hurried Amiya, a faint hint of reminiscence on his lips.

“Once upon a time, the BOSS… the Doctor, he always had a wolf by his side,” Ace said softly. “You probably don’t know, since we hadn’t met you yet. It was a wolf made entirely of Originium, covered in scars, having endured countless fierce battles. Every battle that didn’t kill it made it stronger. The Doctor once said that the first family member he met in this world was the Originium wolf he named ‘Soujiro.’”

"...I have never heard the professor mention anything about Sojiro."

Amiya lowered her head blankly, looking a little disappointed.

"For the PhD student, it's probably a knot in his heart that he can never untie in his entire life."

Ace was suddenly glad that she was wearing sunglasses, which prevented others from seeing her eyes.

"Amiya, just trust the Doctor. He's the kind of man who can even tame Fenrir."

"...If things don't go well, I will still prioritize ensuring the doctor's safety."

Amiya would not budge on this point.

Ace smiled faintly and said nothing more.

Sometimes, no amount of words can compare to an action.

Lin Lu slowly stopped, his back to Rhodes Island, and took off his hood.

"Hmm?" Ace murmured to himself, watching the Doctor's retreating figure, "White hair...?"

Lin Lu stood quietly in place, watching the hunting dogs surge forward, without making any move.

When the hounds rushed in front of him, something astonishing happened.

All the hunting dogs stopped, obediently lay down on the ground, tongues lolling out, panting heavily, and tails wagging excitedly.

"Eh eh eh?!"

The operators were completely baffled, not to mention the Reunion soldiers.

Lin Lu crouched down, rubbed the hunting dog's head, and ran his fingertips across the sharp mineral protrusions on its body. His hands danced gracefully, gently caressing, twisting, and flicking. His superb petting technique made the dog involuntarily tilt its head back and purr happily.

The hound's shattered eyes gradually regained their original color, and it ran around Lin Lu with great joy.

The other hunting dogs also gathered around, asking for hugs, pats, and to be lifted up high.

Perhaps because the scene was too surreal, the Rhodes Island operators and Reunion soldiers were all stunned and stood there in place.

"Wow..."

The little Filin medical operative hugged her head, and she suddenly understood why it felt so good when the Doctor patted her head.

Even the usually stern instructor, Dobermann, instinctively took a step back. She instinctively sensed danger and something was wrong, which was terrible from a rational perspective.

After Lin Lu had his fill of petting a pack of hunting dogs, he smoothed their backs, removed the surveillance equipment, threw it on the ground, stood up, and stomped on it to pieces.

"Go."

Lin Lu pointed at the Reunion Movement soldiers and gave the order to the hounds:

"Tear them apart."

Chapter Fourteen Liberation

The hounds slowly turned around, and the cheerful and carefree husky faces instantly turned ferocious and menacing.

The memories of being whipped, electrocuted, and forced to kill each other to select superior breeds are all bound to every part of my body along with the pain.

They will never forget the smell of burnt food, the smell of blood, and the smell of these people.

The hounds charged forward, howling angrily.

"What!?"

The soldiers from the Reunion Movement took out the remote control for the electric shock collar and pressed the red button tightly.

However, the electric shock collar, which had always worked in the past, failed this time. The hounds did not stop their actions, nor did they obey orders.

How could Lin Lu not have thought of this? The trigger device on the electric collar around the hound's neck had long been shielded by the strong interference from the source stones amplified on the hound's body.

"Taste what it's like to be torn apart, you scum."

Lin Lu said coldly, putting his hood back on and turning to face the Rhodes Island operators.

"Guard operators, sniper operators, move out! Target: Reunion soldiers. Remember, do not harm the hounds. Caster operators and medics, stand by."

"Yes! Doctor!"

The soldiers of the Reunion Movement never imagined that the hounds they had personally trained would turn on them.

Dealing with the hounds alone was already incredibly difficult for them, let alone the fact that the enemy wasn't just hounds. The sniper operators precisely hit every unarmored spot on the enemy with each arrow, while the guard operators were ruthless and precise, striking and retreating immediately to avoid being caught in the crossfire with the hounds, while simultaneously letting the hounds take the lead in dealing damage.

Instructor Dobermann was the most ruthless; one might mistake these Reunion soldiers for her former subordinates.

Lin Lu watched indifferently as Amiya came to his side and took his hand.

Lin Lu was slightly taken aback. He seemed to hear melodious piano music in his ears, and a gentle breeze blew by, bringing with it a slightly bitter floral fragrance.

"Doctor, we are here, we are by your side."

Amiya spoke softly, her voice calming him and soothing his restless soul.

Lin Lu didn't say much; he simply unconsciously gripped Amiya's hand slightly tighter.

This one-sided crushing victory did not last long. When the enemy was completely wiped out, before Lin Lu could even speak, Amiya released his hand and gently pushed his back.

"Go, Doctor, and do what only you can do."

"Um... Amiya, thank you, I feel much better now."

"Hehe~ I didn't mean for you to praise me, really."

Amiya's face was beaming with joy as she was praised; it was clear at a glance that she was very happy.

Lin Lu raised his hand, barely suppressing the urge to stroke the girl's head, after all, the person in front of him was the leader of Rhodes Island.

It's better to do things that are beneath a girl's dignity in private.

"You've worked hard. How's it going?"

"Doctor, we're mostly unharmed, but these hounds... were they caused by the Reunion Movement?"

Guard looked at the hounds with lingering fear; they were covered in blood, with bits of flesh still clinging to their claws and teeth, making them look incredibly ugly and ferocious.

If the Doctor fails to influence them, then they will become Rhodes Island's enemies, the enemies that their Guard Operators will have to face.

No one wants to fight such a ferocious beast; it's human nature, and it's also a fear hidden deep in our hearts.

"They are not wild beasts infected by nature, but were injected with drugs and mutated into this form because of human madness. Originium grows in their bodies, their reason is devoured by madness, and their spirituality is buried by pain. They are used as expendable tools by the Reunion Movement. As hunting dogs, they are not even as good as wild dogs."

Lin Lu crouched down and beckoned to the hunting dogs. The dogs' fierce faces instantly turned silly, and they stuck out their tongues and babbled.

Lin Lu looked at the knife marks and bloodstains on their bodies, silently reached out and picked them up, completely ignoring the stains on his coat.

Guard fell silent, glancing at the gritting Doberman instructor before looking at Ace.

"Boss, what should we do?"

"Help them get rid of their pain."

"Boss..."

Guard was somewhat saddened, but he also knew that returning to Rhodes Island with a pack of hounds marked with enemy symbols was unrealistic.

Moreover... these hunting dogs have already suffered far too much, far too much torment.

"let me."

Lin Lu stroked the hunting dog's head and said softly, "It's not the first time, is it? Ace."

"..."

Ace didn't answer. He silently gathered the operators and left, leaving the Doctor alone in peace.

Lin Lu hugged the hunting dog tightly by the neck and stroked its back. The spine had basically assimilated into the outline of the Originium, and the penetration rate had already reached its peak.

As he stated earlier, Reunion treats them as disposable expendables, not as allies. When Reunion deploys them, regardless of whether the operation succeeds or fails, these hounds instantly transform into Originium bombs upon death. The scattered ore fragments don't need to kill the enemy; simply scraping a part of their body is enough to achieve their purpose. The highly permeable ore tears through human skin and muscle while also transmitting infectious diseases with a 100% fatality rate.

Even the most formidable enemy can become one of our own because of this.

"Does it hurt?"

"Don't worry, it won't hurt anymore."

“I will not let those who made you like this get away with it. I have made a promise with you.”

The hunting dogs seemed to understand Lin Lu's idea, and sat obediently on the ground, neither running away nor panicking.

The hunting dog, which was being held tightly by Lin Lu, stuck out its tongue and licked Lin Lu's hand, letting out a bark and expressing gratitude with its intelligent eyes.

"Thank you."

It seemed to be saying that.

"You stupid dog, I don't deserve your thanks."

Lin Lu said softly, raising his left hand. A double helix mark emerged on the back of his hand, radiating a blue glow.

"Should we proceed with Originium Energy extraction? 100% success rate."

The data-driven vision of the spiritual realm popped up this framework, familiar yet strange, which made me sad.

Lin Lu reached out and gently comforted each of the hunting dogs until, in the end, he was the only one left present.

"...Doctor, are you alright?"

Ace came to Lin Lu's side and gently patted his shoulder.

"Doctor, we have no time for sentimentality. The calamity is hovering overhead, ready to strike at any moment. No city can withstand it; even Chernobog will be reduced to ruins. Rhodes Island can withstand the Reunion Movement's attacks and operate covertly under the noses of the Ursus Empire, but in the face of a natural disaster, we are ultimately vulnerable."

"It's okay, let's go."

Lin Lu slowly shook his head, stood up, and clenched his left hand tightly.

Inside the pocket of the hooded coat, the Ark Drive, swaying with each step, quietly lit up...

Chapter Fifteen: Who wouldn't love a commander like this?

Black clouds are threatening to destroy the city.

Dark clouds enveloped Chernobog, gradually descending, with orange lightning flashing intermittently in the darkness, accompanied by occasional teeth-grinding sounds.

If it were to rain at this time, it would probably gather into a dark red stream in the dam built of corpses, giving birth to man-eating creatures.

Unfortunately, what this dark cloud is about to bring is far more chilling and oppressive than a downpour.

"How much time do we have left, Doberman?"

"Conservatively speaking, there are two and a half hours left."

At this point, trying to hide it from the operators is useless. Although Amiya and Dobermann didn't want to put psychological pressure on the rescue team, the signs of impending disaster were too obvious. The operators weren't deaf or blind, nor were they oblivious to the impending catastrophe.

“An hour has passed since we rescued the Doctor. It seems Chernobog has been completely paralyzed by the Reunion Movement.” Dobermann frowned. “Chernobog couldn’t possibly be without devices to sense natural disasters. Logically, even if it were a matter of splitting up the mobile city, preparations should have been completed weeks in advance. Could it be that the Reunion Movement had already…”

"I don't think so."

Ace calmly analyzed, "Chernobyl's history is a history of iron and blood. The Ursus people have proven their iron fist through their actions. No matter how intelligent the leaders of the Reunion Movement are, even if they can carry out large-scale infiltration operations in this city, it is impossible for them to replace important local government officials for weeks without being detected. The cost of secretly taking over a city is no less than the difficulty of declaring war head-on. Moreover, the quality of the Reunion Movement's soldiers is far from reaching that level."

"They were just venting their pent-up anger throughout Chernobog, killing and starting fights, trying to burn the city down with them."

Everyone was silent.

Most of the people on Rhodes Island are infected, and naturally, they also have less-than-pleasant pasts.

"What's strange is that Ursus' military forces haven't rallied for a counterattack. Even if there's chaos in Ursus' command system, it shouldn't be like this. The Ursus Empire is a powerful nation in warfare; having experienced countless battles, it's common for them to temporarily lose command on the battlefield, and they naturally have corresponding countermeasures..."