Ark Chess Player

"Ok?"

Charlotte suddenly sensed something was amiss.

A bloodstained note was found on one of the unconscious team members, and no matter how strong the wind blew, it showed no sign of being blown away.

"..."

His intuition told him that picking it up would definitely not lead to anything good.

Charlotte avoided the note, but his gaze unconsciously drifted toward the desk.

The power-saving display, which had been in standby mode, inexplicably lit up without being touched, startling Charlotte so much that she momentarily assumed a shooting stance. Her strong self-control prevented her from panicking and firing like a rookie, wasting precious bullets and ending up with nothing but open wounds.

Just like early televisions suffered from poor signal due to the constant movement of mobile cities, the screen was filled with a messy, grayish-white display. The speakers that Wenger had once swept to the ground in a fit of anger emitted an annoying hissing sound, like the noise that appeared when ghosts and demons passed by, making people feel scared.

Charlotte, once obsessed with the occult, felt her heart pounding like she was bungee jumping to its peak. In this mysterious world of Terra, there were always unimaginable, surreal substances. Whether it was the Sarkaz of Kazdel, the Agor of the hellish Iberia, or the Sarkaz of Laterano… these races had truly come into contact with things that shouldn't exist in this world, which was why they were regarded as heretics and kept at a distance by others.

Charlotte spread his legs, ready to break free or launch a spinning kick from behind. He hadn't forgotten that Swire, the woman he'd left behind, could still be a hindrance if she dared to crawl over, especially in this crucial moment.

Just then, the distorted screen on the display suddenly returned to normal.

"You have an unread email."

A message box pops up on the monitor's desktop.

Charlotte's first reaction was to step back and scan her surroundings for surveillance cameras.

Who would send an email at this time? If it's a coincidence, it's just too perfect, isn't it?

Charlotte weighed the options in her mind and made a decision.

He carefully walked to the screen, holding the gun in his right hand and awkwardly gripping the mouse with his left, and clicked the confirmation button.

The unread email was opened, and it contained only one very simple word that anyone in Lungmen could understand.

"Bye."

Charlotte's gaze didn't linger on the monitor, but rather on the power cord on the table.

The display screen... is not connected to power.

Chapter 271 Are you a Doctor from Rhodes Island? (4K)

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

Charlotte staggered back several steps, as if she had seen a ghost.

Suddenly, cracks appeared on the screen in front of him, extending in all directions.

As if it had completed its mission, the machine quietly withdrew from the scene, completely losing its purpose.

Charlotte muttered to herself, "Bye? Bye bye? Goodbye?"

Knowledge of the occult exploded in his mind. The meaning was simple: in Lungmen, this was the kind of blessing people used when parting ways. So who was blessing him? Or…cursing him?!

"Aha……"

Charlotte took a deep breath, gripped his gun with both hands, and carefully steadied himself, heightening his awareness to observe his surroundings.

Even though Charlotte couldn't understand with common sense why the monitor could still function normally without power, and even send him a cryptic email, he knew that his current situation was quite dangerous.

Something bad has already set its sights on him. Even if he wanted to run, he wouldn't dare to walk the pilgrimage route through the main entrance again.

After standing in the corner for about three minutes, Charlotte's tense nerves relaxed a little; he was almost suffocating from the pressure.

"...Am I just being paranoid?"

Charlotte frowned, but the people lying on the ground proved that it wasn't his imagination.

If that's the case, what is the other party's purpose?

He suddenly realized what the problem was.

"Schwarzman!!"

Charlotte roared and rushed back to the secret room, using her arms to form a triangle and aiming her gun at the spot where Swire had been standing. However, the room was completely empty. At the far end of the room, the elevator whose control panel he had shot through had its iron doors shut!

"Shit, we've fallen for their trap!"

Charlotte flipped her hand and pulled out a communicator, cursing, "Run! Go ahead and run! I'll kill all your men right now! I'll let you escape! Hey, Hawkeye, keep a close watch on the east side of the Silverwing Building! There's an underground exit there. If you spot Swire coming out, execute her on the spot!"

"...Hawkeye? Please reply upon receipt!"

"Hawkeye?!"

Charlotte gripped the communicator tightly, continuing to growl, but received no response from the squad members on the helicopter. As he continued to growl, he realized how terrified his voice was, sharp and hoarse like a child crying in the middle of the night, as if the end of the world was imminent.

"Stop shouting, they can't hear you."

A slightly androgynous voice came from behind, making it impossible to tell whether it was male or female.

Charlotte almost reflexively swung her elbow behind her back using military combat techniques. Her arms, along with her upper body, formed a perfect closed loop, allowing her to block and defend against attacks from any direction.

A balance of offense and defense—this is his most proficient fighting style at the Qianlong Base.

"Want to compete with me in CQC?"

Lin Lu laughed, a laugh laced with extreme sarcasm.

"You're not qualified."

Facing Charlotte's elbow strike, Lin Lu slightly turned his body to avoid it, and his right fist struck Charlotte's exposed side waist from below.

"—Bang!"

Charlotte's eyes bulged out. He felt as if he had been hit by a heavy truck at high speed, his entire lower body was numb, and he couldn't even swing his whip kick. All his backup plans were disrupted, and even his attempts to counterattack became much slower.

"too slow."

Lin Lu watched indifferently as Charlotte attempted to change her move after missing her elbow strike, and simply placed his hand on Charlotte's shoulder.

Like a dragon's claw, it gripped the bulging muscles and then exerted force, dislocating Charlotte's shoulder joint along the bone.

There aren't many fancy offensive and defensive techniques, nor are there many complicated moves. Lin Lu's close-quarters combat techniques always have only one purpose: how to find the enemy's weakness in the shortest amount of time, destroy him with the most direct force, and render the enemy unable to fight.

Charlotte screamed as the silver-white gun fell from his limp right hand.

Half of his body was locked up by Lin Lu, leaving him unable to resist.

"Next is the left hand."

"My legs are also in the way, might as well be ruined."

"Don't worry, this process will be incredibly long... Isn't that your catchphrase? How does it sound now?"

"Ah ah ah ah ah!!!"

Charlotte's wails echoed in the secret chamber as he collapsed to the ground, lying there like a lump of mud.

In less than thirty seconds, the only part of Charlotte's body she could still move was her neck; otherwise, she felt as if all her bones had been ground to dust. The intense pain nearly turned her into a screaming idiot; she was going crazy from the agony, yet she just couldn't pass out.

He is the captain of the Hidden Dragon Squad, the rising star of Lungmen, the pillar of the Alexander family, he is...

He is nothing now.

With all four limbs crippled, the mission failed.

The former might leave him bedridden for the rest of his life, while the latter would result in his expulsion from the Hidden Dragon Squad.

Not only that, Wei Yanwu's old dragon will definitely not let him go.

Wei Yanwu, Wei Yanwu… Wei Yanwu!! Charlotte suddenly remembered why Wei Yanwu had specifically reminded him that Swire would be in charge of the entire mission. Taking back the special forces team's unique autonomy and making him obey Swire's orders—did this mean… Wei Yanwu knew what happened at Silverwing Tower from the very beginning? Or was it all a setup?

"Hey, trash."

Lin Lu patted his face, pulling Charlotte back to reality.

“Don’t you like giving people opportunities? Here, I’ll give you one too.” Lin Lu squatted down in front of Charlotte, his dark coat covered in layers of black sludge, making him look like a demon who had just stepped out of hell.

“Speak, what brings you here? You know what I mean.”

"Speak or die."

Charlotte's eyes widened. He hurriedly looked up, realizing he had no chance to fight back against such an enemy. As long as he survived, even if his limbs were crippled, the Alexander family's wealth would ensure his safety.

Lungmen has collaborated with Rhine Labs, and with Rhine Labs' top-tier capabilities, he still has a chance to recover his limbs and rejoin the Lungmen Squad.

Charlotte immediately said anxiously, "I'll talk, I'll talk—"

Seeing his expression, Lin Lu suddenly lost interest and said indifferently, "I don't want to hear it anymore."

"Eh?!!"

Charlotte wanted to speak up, he really wanted to speak up! But the other party seemed unwilling to heed his tattling.

Lin Lu slowly straightened up, flipping through the red notebook in his hand. The name Alexander Charlotte was written on the first three pages. This ledger was the true objective of the Hidden Dragon Squad's mission. Even Swire was merely a dispensable element in this mission.

"They injected special forces candidates with psychotropic drugs, causing them to fail the physical examination and become addicted to drugs, ruining their lives."

"They forced the former leader of the Hidden Dragon Squad to relinquish his position due to serious injury, threatened him with the kidnapping of his wife and daughter by mercenaries from Silverwing Company, peeled off the skin of the former leader's wife and daughter and sent it to his home, and used his power and connections to prevent him from seeking help, making him obedient. Afterwards, they kidnapped the three of them out of Lungmen, which led to the Guard Bureau's subsequent investigation yielding no results."

"As for colluding with Wenger, the president of Silverwing Corporation, persecuting innocent girls to serve powerful figures, and using force to coerce Lungmen citizens to provide conveniences, let's leave that aside for now. Based on just those two points alone, no matter how talented you are, I would never spare your life. Even I, when abducting people, would check their credit history. Even someone who hasn't paid off their Alipay bill for three months is far more lovable than you. People like you should be burning in hell."

Lin Lu acted as if he were a priest meticulously calculating people's sins, exposing Charlotte's evil deeds to the world.

Charlotte's eyes widened. He hadn't expected that Wenger, that bastard, would actually remember everything about him! They were clearly good partners who could share a ride during group activities, how could he betray him like that?!

"Wait, wait a minute, I can tell you about the Guard Bureau! I'll give you any information you want, please—"

"I've already said it, I don't want to hear it."

Lin Lu said calmly, then raised his foot and stepped on Charlotte's head, kicking her directly in the opposite direction.

"Crack."

The crisp, clear sound of the neck breaking echoed in the desolate, secret room.

Charlotte never imagined she would end up like this, dying in this place.

"How much truth can someone who can't keep a secret know?"

Lin Lu shook his head. His gaze fell on the silver-white gun on the ground. He picked it up and examined it. His digitized spiritual domain scanned the gun; there was one bullet left, an etched bullet.

"Cough, cough... Who are you?"

At the end of the secret room, the elevator doors slowly opened, and Swire, disheveled, crawled out.