Ark Chess Player.

Rhode Island, meeting room.

A tense atmosphere permeated the meeting room, and even the temperature seemed to drop significantly, causing people to exhale a chilling mist.

Lin Lu smiled slightly, took out his mobile terminal in front of everyone, and casually sent a message to Kroos.

"Kroos!! If you don't turn the air conditioning in the meeting room back up from minus ten degrees to normal, I'm asking Kal'tsit for a huge discount from the purchasing center! I said it!"

"No, Doctor!!!"

After receiving a series of pleading replies from Kroos, Lin Lu calmly placed the mobile terminal on the table, raised his right hand to the Ursus delegation, and waved it gently.

“I would like to have my working conversation with you alone, Major Natasha.”

“I don’t recall ever boasting about my rank, and besides, what can’t I say in front of my subordinates? Rhodes Island… Doctor.”

Natasha slightly raised the corners of her mouth, revealing a faint smile. She was not surprised by Lin Lu's identity.

How could someone who can instantly silence all elite operators be an ordinary person?

“If you don’t want your men to be put in unnecessary danger during the upcoming conversation, I suggest they wait at the door.” Lin Lu’s gaze lingered on Natasha’s lake-green eyes, and he said sincerely, “Rest assured, within my protection, your safety will always be guaranteed, in the name of Rhodes Island.”

The subtext of this statement is that if Lin wants to protect them on Rhodes Island, then it doesn't matter if the sky falls down.

Conversely, if Lin Lu wanted to take action, the presence of the Ursus Emperor would be useless; he might even be able to kill him on the spot.

Natasha narrowed her eyes slightly; she didn't take the remark as a joke. However, the members of the delegation behind her clearly couldn't stand such an arrogant and conceited tone, but they couldn't utter a sound because subordinates couldn't kiss their superiors. They could only stare resentfully at Lin, who had been calling them brothers in the cafeteria not long ago.

"Oguro, give me the data, you and the others get out."

"Yes, sir."

Ogulo showed no negative emotions, but the calmer his expression, the more thoughts he had in mind.

As he turned to leave the meeting room and closed the door, Ogulo's gaze lingered briefly on the hooded man.

Lin Lu noticed Auguro's gaze and waved slightly at him, forcing the other to look away.

"A monster that manipulates people's hearts."

This is Auguro's assessment of the Rhodes Island doctor.

Lin Lu watched everyone leave the reception room. At this moment, only he and Natasha remained in the room, and the tense atmosphere immediately became harmonious.

Just like a blind date, the parents and relatives who are in the way leave, leaving the two people with space to be alone and cultivate their relationship.

"Would you like coffee?" Lin Lu asked. "Or tea? Is black tea the only option?"

"...No need."

Natasha was somewhat intrigued when she heard about black tea. As a noblewoman, she drank black tea almost every day before joining the army. Even on the front lines, during the most difficult times, decent military supplies would occasionally arrive, and drinking black tea was one of her few sources of relaxation and enjoyment.

But she knew that now was not the time to leisurely drink tea.

"Our purpose in coming here is clearly stated in the notification letter, and I believe that Rhodes Island should understand what it means."

Natasha sat upright directly opposite Lin Lu, presenting a formal complaint as an envoy of the Ursus Empire, exuding an imposing and chilling aura.

"Is there any direct connection between Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals and the infected incident in Chernobog, a border city of the Ursus Empire, on December 23, 1096? And what was the purpose and what actions did Rhodes Island operators take when they re-entered Chernobog on December 28, 1096?!"

"Yes, that's right." Lin Lu nodded.

"Even if you try to deny it, it's no use! Your actions have been exposed... What!?"

Natasha's eyes widened. She wondered if she had misheard. Had the other person admitted it so easily?

Lin Lu looked directly into Natasha's eyes and said, word by word, "Yes, that's right. When the Infected incident occurred within the Reunion Movement, Rhodes Island was indeed present and accomplished what you couldn't. Even though we had to fight the Reunion Movement to survive, we successfully eliminated all the enemies who stood in our way. Although it's true that most of our company's employees are Infected with Oripathy, we all know that pure violence can never resolve the situation. Unless it's a fight to the death, and one side—the Infected or the ordinary people—is completely exterminated."

“You guys…” Natasha was speechless.

“I was there at the time. I was the commander of Rhodes Island back in Chernobog. I witnessed the situation firsthand, and I carved out a path to survival for my operators. But I am not a god; my abilities are limited. I can only hold onto everything within my reach. I have no obligation to stop a war that is not mine, a war with no beneficiaries, whose only purpose is to ignite the fire in the hearts of the Infected. The actions of Reunion are by no means righteous, but this is retribution for the tyranny of Ursus.”

Just as Natasha was about to speak in her defense, Lin Lu gave her a sinister glare.

"Stop. Don't give me that nonsense about morality. It's meaningless when war comes. Now, I just want to ask you one question." Lin Lu slowly crossed his left leg over his right, raised his right hand, and pointed at Natasha, asking, "Chernobyl is the territory of the Ursus Empire, and the citizens of Chernobyl are the people of Ursus. Where were the Ursus soldiers who defended their homeland at that time? Where was Major Natasha Andreyevich Rostova, an Ursus soldier?"

"I……"

Under Lin Lu's ferocious onslaught, Natasha was like a leaf swaying on a lake, drifting with the current.

She couldn't refute it, nor could she find any reason to defend herself, because the other party had simply stated the facts in a straightforward manner.

"Natasha Andreyevich Rostova joined the army at the age of sixteen and has now served for twelve years. When she first went into battle, she was a logistics soldier, specifically responsible for managing the armory. She was not proficient in Originium Arts and had only a superficial understanding of military strategy. She had nothing but an indomitable fighting spirit, but no other special skills. If you had to summarize your early days in four words, you would be unremarkable."

Lin Lu paused for a moment, then continued, "It is precisely you who personally experienced the harshest decade of the Ursus military campaign. Yan Kingdom, Victoria, the Colombian Federation, Casimir, Sami... During these ten years, the Ursus Empire's iron cavalry spread the flames of war across the Terra land. Despite being besieged by a multinational alliance, they still possessed abundant military resources. All of this was the glory defended by the former Ursus emperor and the Ursus soldiers."

Lin Lu casually picked up a book and, looking at the blank pages, said in a deep voice, "Major Natasha, even though your rank is only major, you are still known by many soldiers as the Valkyrie of the North. You survived four wars in this brutal environment, a truly remarkable feat. If this is luck, then fate is practically synonymous with you. How many generals can fight for twelve years like you, undefeated in every battle?"

"...Why do you know me so well? What else is written in your book?"

Natasha stared at Lin Lu suspiciously, feeling as if she were completely naked in front of him, with no secrets left.

Lin Lu smiled slightly, closed the blank notebook, and put it away without explanation.

Actually, he wanted to proudly tell those who mistakenly thought he, Lin, was just a simple old pervert, that they were still too young! Hey, clothes! You still need to learn more positions.

Last night, Lin Lu spent a wonderful night in the spa area. He wasn't just enjoying the Valkyrie Natasha's beautiful body; he was doing something good! Doing something practical! Doing something meaningful!

Lin Lu created real value through his hard work. His data-driven spiritual domain received all of Natasha's information, practically controlling her personal data and seeing everything about her. Indeed, when Natasha was in a state of blissful unconsciousness, Lin Lu, in a state of sage-like wisdom, carried her to the bath.

After all, you still need to wash off essential oils after applying them all over your body two hours later, otherwise it will look like you've applied an oily mod to Monster Hunter.

—Okay, so it seems that Lin is indeed a pervert, and those who understand him are also perverts.

However, it was precisely because he understood the other party's character that Lin Lu abandoned his next plan and chose to confront them directly. Otherwise, according to the training manual that Lin Lu had prepared for a whole week, he was confident that by the time the Ursus delegation left, their bodies and minds would have turned into the shape of Rhodes Island.

"I've had the privilege of learning about your fighting style. When food supplies are low, you launch blitzkriegs, prioritizing the plunder of resources. You swiftly crush cities that other generals would struggle for months to conquer, but you don't linger or leave troops to guard the spoils. Instead, you rapidly move on to the next location, sweeping through mobile cities with overwhelming force. When your army has sufficient supplies, you launch an even more ferocious offensive, leaving those enemy executives who once bribed you to buy time dumbfounded. You're like a machine that never stops; your strategy seems to always boil down to one word: recklessness. How did you manage that? Reckless for twelve years, recklessly conquering half of Terra, and becoming plump and healthy from it all."

"...Are you praising me or insulting me?"

Natasha said unhappily, her expression gradually turning cold.

She cursed inwardly, "What's the Ursus Intelligence Department doing with their secrecy?!"

How did they find out about even this? Did they even reveal my period to Rhodes Island?!

—In fact, yes, Lin Lu did indeed have information about Natasha, including her sensitive points.

"Of course this is praise. Surviving on the battlefield is a victory, isn't that right?"

"……snort."

Natasha did not object.

Lin Lu smiled faintly. If someone who knew him well were here, they would have secretly thought something was wrong.

That's just how people are; they always give the other person a treat first. The person who gets the treat probably won't realize there's a knife in the candy until their throat is slit.

"Major Natasha, I've come to a conclusion from your files—that no matter how harsh the environment, it can't break you; you'll always overcome every obstacle." Lin Lu continued in the most calm tone, "Why is it that someone like you, as the commander of the Third Army Group in the Ursus border region, could have watched helplessly as the city you could have saved was destroyed in the flames of war? Your enemy wasn't even a country, not the valiant soldiers of the Yan Kingdom, not the technologically advanced Colombian Federation, not the Victorian Kingdom with its superior steam technology. It was a group of infected people who fought for survival, for revenge, for retribution."

Lin Lu asked calmly, "Answer me, why?"

Natasha was silent.

She first felt angry, followed by a strong sense of powerlessness. The crushing defeat that almost broke her back made her hands feel cold.

Because the other party reiterated the facts: the fact was that she couldn't do anything, and that as a soldier, she couldn't disobey the emperor's orders.

"You can't answer that? Okay, here's the next one."

Lin Lu tapped on the mobile terminal, and the screen, radiating a crystal-clear light, quietly lit up, from which a hoarse voice came through.

"This is the Chernobog Military Police Station... Zoya from Valery's squad..."

Natasha looked up abruptly, vaguely understanding what awaited her next.

"Requesting support from the Ursus Third Army garrison..."

Please stop talking, please stop talking.

"Repeating... Requesting support..."

"do not talk!!"

Natasha cried out and suddenly stood up straight.

She roughly grabbed Lin Lu's mobile terminal, intending to smash it to the ground, but her raised right hand couldn't be swung down.

The mobile device, held tightly in my hand, continuously emitted sound; it was very close to my ear and I could hear it clearly.

"...We were forced to stay on the top floor, and people were dying every single second..."

"Our food supplies ran out three days ago, and we've also run out of drinking water... We request reinforcements..."

"Reply to me...reply to me..."

The mobile device continued playing the entire call log from that evening.

Natasha held the mobile device aloft until the screen gradually dimmed.

She knew it.

She heard it.

She had heard countless requests for backup from the military police, and she stopped the communications officer from attempting to sever the signal connection with Chernobog.

She wanted everyone to hear it, to hear the Third Army and the Second Army, and even to hear the current emperor.

Until four days ago, when the upper town of Chernobog was completely destroyed, she could no longer hear the cries for help from the girl named Zoya.

Natasha bit her lip tightly, a strong sense of powerlessness almost consuming her.

She tilted her head back, her emerald green eyes, determined not to shed a tear, fixed on Lin Lu.

Lin Lu did not look away. Their eyes met, and his cobalt blue eyes remained calm.

"I heard."

Lin Lu slowly extended his left hand to lift Natasha up, and then held her right hand along with the mobile terminal.

“I believe you heard it too.”

Chapter 151 Are We Pawns Too? (4K)

Lin Lu was clear-headed; he wasn't just blaming Natasha.

Why should an honest person make things difficult for another honest person? Why should a reckless person make things difficult for another reckless person? Lawyer Lin just wanted the other party to face reality.

If the Ursus delegation hadn't sent Natasha, but rather Ivan from the Second Army, known for his underhanded tactics, Lin Lu would probably have just gone through a brainwashing process, turning her into an idiot. Why would he need to carefully choose his words here? This was only because Lin Lu subconsciously controlled his speech, not saying anything too harsh, lest he make Natasha shut up on the spot.

The war sparked by the Integration Movement has no right or wrong; it is a collision and fusion of two ideas and ideologies.

The Ursus Empire wants to strip those infected with Oripathy of their human rights and turn them into tools.

Those infected with Oripathy retaliate in the most brutal and direct way, nothing more.

The most innocent people are not the citizens of Chernobog, but the very few ordinary people who stand beside the infected; they are no longer human, either inside or outside the community.

Lin Lu held Natasha's hand, continuously channeling the warmth of his palm into her cold, numb right hand. He said in a deep voice, "I definitely heard that distress signal that night. Your Third Army is the one the citizens of Chernobog are truly waiting for. I was just a passerby, a stranger who learned of this news by chance."

"I hesitated for a long time, I wandered in confusion for a very long time. I am not some messenger of justice, nor do I want to save the world. My thoughts are very simple: I must take good care of the people I cherish. As for the people I don't care about, I won't even flinch if they bleed on the spot. I am just such an egotistical person. What I want, I will fight for myself. What I don't want, if anyone tries to give it to me, I will blow their head off."

"Just when I was about to be locked in a mental prison by the dilemma of choosing between two options, a very stupid girl gave a very stupid solution. She said, 'Since you care so much, why don't you go to Chernobog for a look?' Listen to that, isn't that unreasonable? It's like saying it as if you're just going downstairs to buy a pack of cigarettes, making it sound so easy."

“But she just patted me on the shoulder and said, ‘Lv, go do what you want to do.’” Lin Lv shook his head helplessly and sighed softly. “I was even more stupid than her, so I set off. Whether it was a moment of impulse or madness, my body just went into action. I arrived in Chernobog and did what I wanted to do.”

Natasha listened quietly, looking at Lin Lu who was so close to her, and could see the cobalt blue eyes beneath his armor.

Lin Lu slowly released her hand and instead spread his arms, his figure shining brightly in the sunlight streaming through the window.

“Your intelligence is correct. Rhodes Island operators have indeed set foot on Chernobog’s soil again.” Lin Lu gave a thumbs up, pointing to himself, “That person is me, the Doctor from Rhodes Island! I followed the source of the distress signal all the way from sunset to sunrise, and brought the kids back to Rhodes Island.”

"The little rascals?"

"It's Zoya and the others, the only survivors left in the upper city of Chernobog, which was separated from the plate."

"...That's it."

Natasha shrugged, lowered her head slightly, and after taking several deep breaths to calm herself, she finally mustered her courage.

"I want to go see them."

"You'll be resented," Lin Lu warned.

"Even so, I'm going to go."

Natasha stared intently at Lin Lu, a faint light returning to her eyes.