Ark Chess Player.

“Why…why do you value me so much? My rank is only major, my noble status…ha, my family’s life ended after the Chernobog Incident.” Natasha stared at Lin Lu, seemingly seeking answers in his eyes. “Tell me, what is it about me that makes you do this?”

"Do you even need to ask?"

Lin Lu slowly raised his index finger and pointed it at the sky.

"Everyone who strives for survival and ideals deserves the utmost respect."

Chapter 157 Tea Ceremony

"gone?"

"Well, let's go."

Rhode Island doctor's office, 2:51 p.m.

Lin Lu sat at his desk dealing with the day's work that had fallen behind. He looked up and greeted Herag, then looked down again to continue working on the mountain of documents.

Helag stood silently with his arms crossed over his chest and his back against the wall.

The office was quiet, save for the soft scratching of pen on paper and the buzzing of the virtual screen as Lin Lu touched it. He meticulously reviewed each task, checking for omissions and filling in any gaps, breaking down the tedious work step by step.

The room was quiet, so quiet it made one drowsy, as if this was the only place on the entire Rhodes Island ship suitable for a nap.

"It's done!"

Two hours later, Lin Lu slowly stood up, stretching his slender waist, which had become stiff from sitting for a long time, making a crisp popping sound.

"Finally, I can slack off! It's so great that Amiya isn't here~" Lin Lu stretched his neck, which was making a sound, and asked the old man who was standing to the side with his eyes closed, "Would you like some tea, General?"

Herag slowly opened his eyes, nodded and smiled, "It's an honor."

"Don't say that. It's my little joy to be able to brew tea for the general. As long as you don't say something like 'I don't have enough tea,' I'll be happy to have such good tea too."

"???"

Hellagur, subway, old man looking at his phone.jpg

"Ah...it's nothing. I just finished work and I'm a little out of my mind. I misspoke, please don't mind." Lin Lu rubbed his temples, indeed feeling somewhat tired.

"Doctor, why don't you let me do it?"

"It's alright, please don't worry."

Lin Lu smiled faintly, turned around and went to the hot water room to fetch water. Following the prompts from the digitized spiritual domain, he poured the hot water into the porcelain teapot that had been prepared beforehand. However, he did not rush to brew tea immediately, but patiently gave the teaware ample preheating time.

In the context of information technology, Attorney Lin is able to prepare things down to the second.

When the time came, Lin Lu poured the water onto the drain in the hot water room, then put the Lungmen tea leaves he had bought from that unscrupulous merchant Kroos into the warm porcelain pot, and slowly poured in the boiling water.

Porcelain teapots can perfectly lock in the fragrance, preventing it from dissipating.

There are also some points to consider when preheating teaware. This can remove lingering odors, raise the temperature of the cup, and, more importantly, ensure hygiene.

Lin Lu covered the porcelain teapot with the matching cloth. When the time reached three minutes and forty-two seconds, the progress bar of the spiritual realm made a loud sound in his mind.

"Hahaha."

The flavor of the tea leaves has been fully developed; if it is left to linger any longer, it will become bitter and unpalatable.

Herag observed Lin Lu's tea-making process quietly the entire time. Every step was taken with such seriousness and meticulousness, as if it were not just a simple matter of steeping tea leaves, but rather a matter of respecting something.

Hrag, a former general of the Ursus Empire, knew absolutely nothing about tea ceremony. In his mind, it was nothing more than child's play among nobles. They would waste half a day on trivial matters before discussing anything, and the tea ceremony itself wasn't even very good. All show and no substance.

It's just pouring hot water into tea leaves and then drinking the mixture, right? What's the big deal?

But now, Helag realizes he was wrong.

He saw a sense of ritual in Lin Lu's back view.

It wasn't a crude performance, but rather a genuine inheritance of some ancient craft.

Lin Lu removed the tea cloth from the tea set, opened the teapot lid, and gently stirred the tea with a slender spoon. He then poured the tea into two pre-prepared teacups, gently swirling them over the filter screen, allowing the rich aroma of tea to permeate every corner of the office.

"Please use it, General."

Lin Lu placed the tea set on the table in the office's reception area, and then held the teacup in both hands and placed it in front of Herag.

Herag quickly took it, and looking at Lin Lu's expectant expression, he smiled somewhat awkwardly. He hadn't expected that a simple tea drinking session would turn into such a serious atmosphere; he knew absolutely nothing about tea ceremony.

In the past, during wartime, tea was used to stay alert, since most Ursus people simply couldn't stomach coffee. Vodka, the "water of life," was a good thing, and it was okay to drink a little to replenish energy while on duty, but not all the time. Drinking too much could easily lead to mistakes, which is why alcohol was forbidden on the march.

Herag raised the teacup to his lips, and before he could even take a sip, the rich aroma of tea filled his nostrils. His stiff expression softened involuntarily, and a genuine, expectant smile appeared on his face.

"It smells good."

Herag took a small sip, the scalding tea moistening his teeth, melting in his mouth, and spreading across his tongue. He couldn't help but tilt his head back, inhaling softly, the lingering aroma still spreading in his mouth.

The day's fatigue seemed to vanish instantly, and the long-standing depression in my heart also dissipated considerably.

"Delicious."

Herag didn't know the difference between different teas; he simply thought the taste was good—bitter at first, then sweet, with a lingering aftertaste. Even after putting down the cup, a pleasant fragrance still lingered in his throat.

"As long as you like it."

Lin Lu sat in the main seat, holding the cup with both hands and sipping it slowly.

Lin Lu's cobalt blue eyes were slightly veiled by the rising steam as he savored the taste of the tea and searched for memories of the past.

He still remembers how to brew tea, but he doesn't remember where he learned the technique.

Even though he had forgotten many things, Lin Lu's body still deeply remembered the precious daily moments.

Lin Lu knew that this tea set belonged to him. As his hand traced the patterns on the porcelain teapot, countless emotions welled up from his chest, and a smile unconsciously appeared on his face.

"Thank you for your hard work, General."

Lin Lu spoke, placing the teacup in front of him on the table.

"If you mean last night when you were getting a back scrub with some Ursus soldiers in the bathhouse, or when you used me as a wingman to lure young girls, then this is nothing."

Herag slowly shook his head, his gaze seemingly passing over Lin Lu and looking into the distance.

-

"What are you willing to lose to heal her?"

"Everything except her."

“I want your dignity, my lord. What the Ursus Empire has taken from us, we will take from you as well.”

"I'm not sure if I have even the slightest bit of dignity left."

"Yes, sir. Welcome to be one of us."

-

From the moment Hrag joined Rhodes Island, he was prepared for the worst.

It's nothing more than being used as a tool.

Now, even if it meant turning against Ursus, it didn't matter. His loyalty and honor had been completely given up during his forty-four years of military service. Now, only illusions and shame remained etched on the blade, each swing revealing his past self. For the children, Hrag would not back down, nor would he surrender to his afterimage.

"Doctor, have you already won over that child? If it is her, she is certainly qualified to be your partner. I remember her; her heroic bearing on the battlefield truly lives up to her name."

Herag remarked that even he rarely encountered such a formidable woman. "She's just too straightforward, but otherwise, there's nothing wrong with her."

"Ugh, what are you saying? How vulgar! Do you think I'm the kind of person who can't resist pretty girls? I'm not lusting after their bodies, I just... okay, I am lusting after them. They're so well-developed, so well-developed."

Lin Lu looked up at the operator information provided by the digitized Spirit Domain and couldn't stop smiling.

Who wouldn't love a six-star vanguard?

Chapter 158 How Does the Player Arrange the Moves?

"Do you mind if I smoke, General?"

Lin Lu asked, feeling a strong urge to smoke after finishing his tea.

“I don’t mind, but as a former clinic director, I can tell you with certainty that smoking is harmful to your health.”

“You need not worry about that, General.”

Lin Lu carefully took the cigar box from the pocket of his hooded coat. He remembered when he bought the cigars from Kroos, the seller had acted as if she were a ruthless merchant, repeatedly emphasizing that if Kal'tsit found out, she absolutely couldn't betray Lin Lu. Otherwise, even if she died, even if she was dragged to the deck and hung on the mast, she would draw a tragic mark on Lin Lu's leg.

"A monster like me could eat Originium without any problems. In a sense, I'm no longer human, and even time can't take me away. If I really die one day, it must be because some existence far beyond natural disasters has appeared, or... the moment when no one remembers me."

Lin Lu held the cigar to his ear, gently rubbing the tobacco stick between his index finger and thumb without making a sound. He smiled contentedly, cut off the cigar tip, and lit it with the iDroid-VER1.02 electronic eye on the back of his mobile terminal. A focused laser slowly dyed the cigarette tip orange-red, and the natural tobacco aroma of cedar filled the air.

Lin Lu picked up a cigar, took a light puff, and seemed to feel his rationality returning.

"General, do you know? We actually teetered on the brink of life and death."

Lin Lu gradually relaxed and slowly exhaled a wisp of white smoke, the wisps of cigar smoke rising upwards.

A subtle bitterness blends with a rich, full-bodied aroma, followed by the fragrance of tobacco and wood, layer upon layer of aroma filling the nostrils. Bitterness and sweetness merge together, transforming into a long-lasting and comfortable aftertaste that spreads in the mouth, like coffee or tea, giving one a feeling of finding joy in hardship.

"An Ursus Empire delegation, what a fine Ursus Empire delegation. If I hadn't received the relevant information from your Azazel intelligence network beforehand, even I would have made a mistake when formulating the plan."

Lin Lu slowly puffed on his cigar, inhaling the aroma of the tobacco before exhaling it gently.

"Natasha is just a shield to distract us. She doesn't even realize she's being used and just followed along without thinking. When will this silly country girl learn her lesson? Maybe she'll even help negotiate a good price if she's ever really sold out."

Lin Lu sighed softly; this was one of the reasons why he was so persistent about Natasha.

A good person like her shouldn't die one day from the backstabbing of the Ursus Empire.

"General, do you remember that young man I asked you to keep a special eye on?"

Herag nodded; he knew who Lin Lu was referring to—a man with short gray hair.

“Ogulo Nikolaevich, I investigated his identity last night. He is a pawn specially planted in the Third Army by the Fifth Bureau, and he is also the real enemy of this Ursus delegation. Calm, composed, and patient, he has received professional spy training and is skilled at seeing things from a third-person perspective.”

Herag said in a deep voice, he had initially thought the mission the doctor had assigned him was a kind of perverse pleasure, but he hadn't expected it to be so complicated.

“Luckily, Doctor, you had the foresight. I kept watch over them all night, preventing him from infiltrating. When you took the little girl to the infirmary, Auguro, who was supposed to be waiting outside the meeting room, secretly left alone and took the forged documents we had prepared beforehand from the central control room.” Herag held his teacup, somewhat puzzled. “I just don’t understand why he’s so familiar with the Rhodes Island ship’s environment? I’ve been on the ship for so many days and I still haven’t fully grasped the terrain. Could it be…”

Hrag's eyes gradually sharpened, like those of a hawk, revealing a solemn killing intent.

"Yes, there's a mole."

Lin Lu said it casually, as if he were describing a trivial matter.

Rhodes Island was severely weakened by an incident three years ago, resulting in a sharp reduction in its personnel. The departure of Lin Lu's private armed force, the Army Without Borders, only exacerbated the situation. Just when Rhodes Island was on the verge of being unable to even maintain its daily operations, Kal'tsit had no choice but to recruit from outside, thus sowing the seeds for various factions.

Even if Kal'tsit goes through screening time and time again, there will eventually be oversights.

"Doctor, judging from your expression, you already guessed it?" Herag asked.

Lin Lu smiled gently and said calmly, "I know a little about judging people."

After all, with the existence of the Data-Driven Spirit Realm, a bug-level phenomenon, Lin Lu could see Herag's personal information simply by sitting in front of him. If Herag didn't mind, Lin Lu could also obtain further data through physical contact. The more private the information, the more thoroughly it needed to be understood…

Lin Lu's body jerked violently, jolting the rosy image out of his mind.

It is unacceptable for filial piety to become corrupted, especially when the other party is an old man.

Herag said thoughtfully, "Doctor, the reason you kept those people alive was to turn the tables on us?"

"The opponent's pieces can become our pieces when necessary, depending on how the player strategizes." Lin Lu swirled his cigar. "This time, our victory was half luck and half skill. We made them lose both their prize and their resources, while gaining a highly capable major for free. But... we won this time, but what about next time?"

Lin Lu took a deep drag on his cigar, filling his nostrils with the strong smell of tobacco, and then exhaled sharply.

“Once we show weakness in diplomacy, the Ursus Empire will cling to us like a bloodsucking worm. With such relentless pursuit, we will eventually run out of steam. At that point, we might really have to choose between two options... no, we won’t even have the option to choose between two options.”

Lin Lu said in a deep voice, "If we choose to give up resistance, not only will we not receive their pity, but we will also be subjected to unbridled invasion. Our people, our ships, our medical resources, and our armed forces will be completely plundered by Ursus, not even a bone fragment will be spat out. Not only that, we will also be branded on the pillar of historical shame, and countless private enterprises similar to ours will suffer suppression from various countries. Once we set the precedent, we will be sinners, not even worthy of being called human beings."

A fire ignited in Lin Lu's eyes as he stared intently at Herag, his unwavering will rising within him.

"As a company where most of our employees are infected, we are inherently on the opposite side of Ursus. General, I remember you saying that no political entity should confront Ursus head-on. Even if its corruption and rage will destroy it, it remains the most terrifying thing on this land."

"Yes, I did say that."

Herag held the teacup in both hands, and before he knew it, the cup had become ice-cold.

“If I told you I had a way…” Lin Lu puffed on his cigar, exhaling thick smoke, his face almost half-hidden in the white mist, a cobalt blue glow flickering slightly. His voice was as cold as a machine, and he said indifferently, “If I could change the current emperor of the Ursus Empire, would you support me in doing so?”

Chapter 159 Kal'tsit praised someone!

"Let the current Ursus Empire have a new emperor."

Lin Lu's tone was as calm and natural as if he were simply stating what to eat for dinner.