Ark Chess Player

Those muscular men who had been lying on the ground pretending to be dead just a second ago suddenly perked up and joined Makarov in issuing his fencing declaration. Ug was so surprised that he looked around and realized that everyone here was a slacker, just going through the motions and dealing with Makarov.

Ron was also surprised to find so many sparring partners in the witness box; he'd been outmaneuvered. Damn it, didn't Alexander say that only one down-on-his-luck officer was troublesome?! How was he down-on-his-luck? That punch even dented a reinforced wall!

"Why are you running? Quickly come and fight me with your sword!" Makarov shouted angrily.

Ron cursed, "You damned sword!"

"Hey!!"

In a fit of anger, Makarov lifted the barbell and removed the three 20-kilogram weight plates from each side, leaving only the barbell bar in the middle.

Ron frowned. He tried several times to raise his arm and fire a crossbow bolt, but his opponent repeatedly suppressed him.

He knew he couldn't continue like this; who knew if this superhuman Ursus man had any other tricks up his sleeve?

"Modley, hurry and help me—Modley?!"

Ron shouted, but no one answered.

The next instant, Makarov attacked with standard military-style stick fighting.

He raised his arm high, sweeping the barbell diagonally, the barbell snaking like a long snake, smashing pieces of the reinforced walls on both sides of the passage into the air. If that had hit Ron directly, he would probably have been incapacitated after about three moves.

Ron suddenly crouched down, using all the skills he had learned in the Guard Bureau over the years to avoid fatal blows. After several rolls, he retreated awkwardly along the same path, luring his opponent into a narrow passage.

"boom!!"

Makarov's barbell slammed into the wall beside Ron's cheek, sending up a cloud of dust that stained his helmet a grayish-white. Ron seized the opportunity, firing three poisoned crossbow bolts in quick succession as his opponent was retracting the barbell.

With nowhere to retreat and nowhere to hide, Makarov surprisingly chose to fight back.

True Ursus warriors always use their bodies to dominate the tower and charge in.

"Hiss hiss hiss—"

Poisoned crossbow bolts rained down on Makarov's exposed upper body, burying him halfway in.

Makarov did not back down; he continued to swing his arms without a care, only this time he swung his fist the size of a sandbag instead of a barbell.

Ron took a deep breath and decisively chose to use his shoulder to take the hit, as this was one of the most heavily armored opponents in the Royal Guard.

Time seemed to slow down. Ron's eyes widened, his shoulders gradually deformed, and his entire body bent, his face growing increasingly terrified. Finally, like an arrow released from a bow, Ron was punched by Makarov, sending half his body spinning three times before crashing into the reinforced wall, bouncing back and forth three times before coming to a stop.

"Fuck you... Modray."

Ron watched the figure flash by at the end of his vision, feeling like he was about to fall apart, and he could no longer feel his left arm.

Modray had already slipped into the room in the passageway, quietly waiting for Ron to lure Makarov away. Only after both of them had moved deeper into the room did Modray seize the opportunity to approach Makarov's unsuspecting back.

A jet-black whip was gripped in Mordley's hand. Taking advantage of Makarov's brief moment of focus on countering Ron, he channeled Originium Arts into the whip. The black whip burned with scorching flames. Mordley leaped into the air, using the walls to his left and right, and directly looped it around Makarov's neck, pulling him backward!

"die!!"

Modley placed his feet on Makarov's shoulders, his body bent like a bowstring stretched to its fullest extent, tearing Makarov's neck backward with all his might.

Even the most physically robust person cannot resist suffocation and strangulation.

Makarov reflexively tried to fall backward, using his martial arts skills to throw the person who had bound his neck to the ground.

If his only opponent were Mordley, his operation would surely have succeeded. Unfortunately... Ron was still alive.

Ron raised his arm, and three crossbow bolts were nocked and released, all burying themselves in Makarov's left thigh.

Due to blood loss and the effects of the toxins, Makarov's backward lean turned into a kneeling position, which made it easier for Modly to strangle him.

In a sense, even if these two people have no chemistry, they are still the best partners.

The burning whip scorched Makarov's skin into a bloody crimson, then formed charred charcoal. The charcoal was then strangled by the whip, cracking and scattering carbon dust.

The former Ursus executive officer's head was now like a ripe, red fruit, ready to explode at any moment. Even though his hands were still making a last-ditch effort, the wounds kept bleeding, and the toxins were gradually taking effect in his body, making his resistance weaker and weaker.

Modley smiled, a smile hidden beneath his Guards Bureau helmet, a smile brimming with joy.

"*Ursus profanity*!!"

Modley, his mind on edge, wondered if he was hallucinating. Makarov in his condition, still swearing? No, the voice wasn't coming from the front, but from behind—

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!"

Modley threw his head back and roared wildly, a scream so shrill and indescribable that it would frighten an infant into stopping crying.

Behind Modley, Edward Ugg picked up the barbell that had fallen to the ground and stabbed it precisely into Modley's groin.

A sharp sword, a sharp eye.

They dared not fight back against me!

Ug's eyes were filled with determination; the effects of his accelerated fitness training were quite obvious, allowing him to easily lift the barbell. Ug took a light breath and, using leverage, lifted the barbell.

what does this mean?

The scene was too beautiful to look at.

The weakest point of his body's muscles was forcibly pushed up, causing Modre to foam at the mouth and his hands to involuntarily loosen.

Makarov didn't let the opportunity slip by. With his last bit of strength, he grabbed the other end of the whip and flung the unsteady Mordley in front of him, where he landed squarely on Ron.

It also blocked three crossbow bolts that Ron fired as he reloaded the bowstring.

Modray clutched the rain-soaked area of ​​his body, then stared wide-eyed at the three crossbow bolts embedded in his flesh, utterly horrified, unable to comprehend how the situation had been reversed so suddenly.

One second he was confident of victory, the next he lost everything.

"Edward... Ug!!"

Ron looked up, his pale face filled with anger.

"It was Alexander who ordered me to escape from prison, why did you betray us—"

“I am from Ursus.”

"what?!"

Edward Ug pulled the crossbow bolt from Makarov's chest, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it.

"We Ursus people will never abandon our brothers!"

"WTM!?"

Ron coughed up a mouthful of blood; it was an internal injury. He was so angry that his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Ug ignored the two attackers who claimed to be on his side and turned to look at Makarov. He wasn't stupid; the reason he had fled to the witness hall was because he was afraid of being purged by the Alexander family. He would be a fool to believe them.

"Brother Ma, you..."

"Shhh."

Makarov shook his head, threw the black whip that had lost its Originium Arts effect to the ground, and pulled all three crossbow bolts out of his leg in one go.

Black blood flowed from the wound, and Makarov swayed violently. Fortunately, Ug caught him in time, preventing him from falling.

Ugh steeled his heart, grabbed Makarov's giant-like body, and helped him back to his room.

Along the way, the lazy, slacking-off guys paid tribute to them, and Ug earned their respect through his actions.

"Little Ug, why are those people looking for you?"

Makarov's voice was hoarse, clearly indicating that he had not yet recovered from the strangulation.

Ug's lips trembled as he murmured, "I used to do dirty work, dealing with data network information. The reason I'm here today is because I know something I shouldn't know. Those people... are here to deal with me."

"I see... then you... ugh!!"

Makarov clutched his chest; the crossbow bolt's venom was far more potent than he had imagined, like a thousand ants gnawing at his heart.

Ug said urgently, "Brother Ma, don't say anything! I'll go find some police officers to help you, just bear with it."

"No, don't go."

Makarov stopped Ugg, who was about to turn and leave. He shook his head and sighed, "You saw those two's clothes, didn't you? I thought... cough cough, cough, I'm fine... I thought the Guard Bureau would be a good place. I didn't expect Lungmen to be just as rotten as Ursus, rotten to the core!"

"Brother Ma, don't say anything! I'll go find a doctor for you right away, you'll be alright!" Ug looked anxiously at the blood on Makarov's body, and at his lips, which were gradually turning gray as the poison took effect.

Makarov shook his head again, but this time he held Ug's hand with slightly less force.

“Listen to me, Ug, listen to me.”

Makarov stopped Ug and said seriously, "Ug, you are different from the others outside, really different. They won't help me, they only follow my orders because they can't beat me. But you are different. You saved me, so I can't let you face danger. I will tell you some things, things that involve a lot, but that can... qualify you to negotiate with Lungmen."

The former Ursus executive's face gradually turned rosy, a final burst of energy before his death, a moment of heightened excitement.

"For your sake, and for mine, okay?"

"...Yes, Brother Ma."

Ug was already in tears. Makarov had shown him the meaning of muscles and given him direction. But now, his mentor was about to leave him, even though they had only spent a day together.

"In fact, a month ago, the infected members of the Reunion Movement had already taken control of several districts in Chernobog, and this was even tacitly approved by the Ursus government! Only a few officials and some nobles knew the whole story. Those people... evacuated Chernobog before the city fell! Leaving only innocent civilians and ignorant military and police personnel to eke out a living in the city."

Makarov's eyes burned with rage; by the time he learned the truth, it was too late.

The Reunion Movement's offensive was swift and decisive; they seized control of the signal towers in the core city, turning Chernobog into a death trap. Like fish pulled ashore, unable to access oxygen dissolved in the water through their gills, they suffocated step by step.

"I don't know why Ursus would sacrifice civilians, but Sergei and I, Sergei, the Royal Scientist of Chernobog, secretly hid the activation key to the Chernobog core city, preventing anyone else from finding out. Without the activation key, the core city's functions cannot be fully activated or stopped. Remember, there are two activation keys in total, and the whereabouts of the other one is unknown; it's not in our hands—uh!!"

Makarov's eyes widened. He felt the poison flowing into his heart, and his blood was boiling, as if it were on fire.

"Brother Ma?! Brother Ma!!"

Uge grabbed Makarov's hand, trying to garner some support for his loyal older brother. Makarov was deathly pale, as if he had fallen into an ice cellar, even his breath was chilling.

"Sergei...Sergei!!"

Despite his excruciating pain, Makarov entrusted his last words to Edward Ugg alone.

“Sergei… for… his family.” Makarov burst into tears. This man, who had never feared death, finally shed tears. For his friend, and even more so for having let him down.

“Sergei committed suicide… He thought that by doing so, he could prevent others from going after his two children. But I… I… did it for myself, to prevent our efforts from being in vain, and to prevent the core city of Chernobog from becoming a plaything of the enemy.”

“I placed the activation key on Sergei’s daughter… Misha.”

Makarov tilted his head back, his azure eyes filled with regret, a tear streaming down his straight nose and into his purplish lips.

"Now you know all my secrets. I only ask one thing of you, Ug."

"Brother Ma, whatever you say, I'll listen to you."

Ug felt his mind was a complete mess. He didn't quite understand what Makarov was saying, but he subconsciously knew it was a big deal. For most people, learning this news would be tantamount to inviting death. But he was already a thorn in the side of some people because he carried the secrets of the Alexander Group and Silverwing Security Contractors; the more secrets he had, the better.