Ark Chess Player

"nothing."

Swire smiled, a smile that held a deeper meaning. "It's really nothing."

The officers shivered and quickly shouted, "Let's go! What are you doing taking a stroll here! We're like bricks in Longmen, we'll be there wherever we're needed! Get to work, everyone get to work!"

Swire then put down his notebook and nodded.

"good."

Chapter 437 Zoya Awakens

4:57 am Cloudy, visibility 17 km.

Four kilometers outside Longmen, it's a desert.

Rhode Island private ward.

"Well……"

Lin Lu slowly opened his eyes. His digitized spiritual domain was in a dormant state, and it would take time to restart whenever he woke up from a deep sleep.

Chaotic memories swirled through Chen Doudou's mind. He remembered things from five years ago, but couldn't recall anything from before that, or even from the years before that. The gaps in his memory created a vague sense of not existing in this world, filling him with...fear.

"So I can be scared too..."

Lin Lu murmured to himself, then chuckled self-deprecatingly.

This was the first time he had felt fear so clearly since the stone coffin had been awakened.

Lin Lu slowly closed his eyes. About three hours and fifty-five minutes had passed on his body. He had rested quite well.

"So... who's the little cutie in my bed today?"

Although the digitized spiritual realm is in a dormant state, Lin Lu is not a vegetable.

It's a bit too much to expect him to have no reaction at all when such a big person is lying on top of him.

Lin Lu lifted the blanket and looked at the girl lying face down on his chest.

"What a rare guest..."

Lin Lu murmured.

"Dong dong!"

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The medical operative on night shift, Susuru, gently pushed open the door. She stood on tiptoe and looked around, only to find that the doctor was sleeping soundly.

"Why did Dr. Kal'tsit say she might be here...?"

Susuru muttered to herself, turned and left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

After Susuluo left, Lin Lu, who had been pretending to be asleep, quietly opened one eye and observed the movement outside the door. Only after confirming that no one was there did he lift the heavy blanket, look at the Ursus girl in front of him wearing a thin hospital gown, and smiled faintly.

Good morning, Zoya.

The gray-haired, red-eyed girl leaned half her body against Lin Lu, looking at him like a small animal.

Zoya is the girl that Lin Lu risked his life to save from the upper town of Chernobog.

She is also the girl Lin Lu cares about the most.

Those who were rescued back then—Sonia, Anna, Rada, Rosalind, Natalia… even Yanke has woken up.

Only Zoya lay unconscious in her hospital bed. She was utterly exhausted. During her time in the upper city, Zoya had gone for long periods without food or water, huddled on the rooftop of the Ursus military police headquarters, forcing herself to use magic to defeat the crazed infected. Finally, in order to activate the Chernobog defensive equipment, the Originium silencing device, she severely overexerted her mental energy and collapsed to the ground.

"..."

Zoya clutched Lin Lu's clothes, pursed her lips, hesitated as if she wanted to say something, but still couldn't bring herself to speak.

She was scared.

I woke up to find myself in a completely unfamiliar place, surrounded by infected people.

In Zoya's subconscious, the bloodthirsty infected she encountered in Chernobog's upper city were not much different from ordinary infected. Because those who invaded Chernobog, killed her mother, and caused her father's death... were Oripathy infected.

She ran away.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Zoya pulled out the needle from her arm without hesitation, got out of bed, and fell directly to the ground.

Zoya's body, which had not been active for a long time, was so stiff that she almost lost all feeling. This was only because Rhodes Island had medical operators who massaged Zoya's muscles every day; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to move at all.

Lin had been lying in the stone coffin for three years. Even with his willpower, when he crawled out of the special ice coffin inside the stone coffin, he felt as if his whole body had been torn apart. To give an analogy, it was like sleeping with your head on your arm for three years, and when you woke up, your hand didn't even feel like your own.

Leveraging her experience evading the rampaging infected in the upper city, Zoya's stealth abilities were exceptional, allowing her to successfully escape the hospital room. If Sussuro hadn't discovered a malfunction in the sensors on Zoya's bed during her night shift, perhaps no one on Rhodes Island would have noticed her escape.

Zoya, who had escaped from the ward, didn't know where to go, but she had one peculiar trait: the more panicked she became, the calmer she remained.

Finally, following the familiar scent, Zoya arrived at Lin Lu's hospital room. Just then, she heard hurried footsteps in the corridor. Without thinking, she ran to Lin Lu's bed and crawled under the covers.

"Lin...Law".

Zoya called out Lin Lu's name indistinctly, her eyes softening considerably, and even her tense nerves relaxing slightly.

Although she slept for a very, very long time, fortunately she did not suffer from amnesia like Lin. She remembered everything... or rather, that was the most unfortunate thing.

Where am I?

"Do you remember Rhodes Island that I told you about back then?"

Lin Lu raised his hand and ruffled Zoya's hair, smiling as he said, "Welcome to Rhodes Island, Zoya."

Perhaps it was because the temperature of Lin Lu's palm was quite comfortable, or perhaps it was because Lin Lu's words had a reassuring power.

Zoya's shoulders trembled.

She didn't want to cry.

She had been holding back her tears, even when she woke up to find herself in a completely unfamiliar place. But now, because of Lin Lu's words and words of comfort, Zhuoya felt her vision blur. By the time she came to her senses, tears were already welling up in her eyes, and she hugged Lin Lu tightly, crying.

Even when Zoya cries, she maintains the habit of not making a sound.

Because in Chernobog, she couldn't make too much noise, lest she implicate Uncle Valery and the others...

Uncle Valery?

Zoya hurriedly raised her hand, ignoring her ugly, red-faced crying, and asked anxiously, "Lin Lv, where is Uncle Valery?! I can't smell his scent, is he..." As she spoke, Zoya's voice choked up, and she couldn't continue.

At that time, Zoya and Uncle Valery were the only Ursus survivors on the military police rooftop. She had lost consciousness and didn't know what happened next. Uncle Valery was like family to her. During the worst days, if it weren't for Uncle Valery, Zoya might have been devoured alive by the crazed infected.

Lin Lu took a deep breath.

Even now, Lin Lu still has a deep impression of that simple and tough middle-aged military policeman from Ursus.

Valery, a true hero.

Perhaps he was not born into a noble family, or perhaps he did not do anything earth-shattering in his life.

But to this day, Lin Lu still cannot forget the image of him wielding a hammer with one arm, carrying the Originium Silencing Device, leaping high from the rooftop, and charging towards a monster ten or a hundred times stronger than himself.

If there was any gain from that impulsive, reckless journey to the upper city of Chernobog, besides bringing back the Ursus girls and incidentally acquiring a Sarkaz mercenary, it was meeting this commoner hero.

Lin Lu gently wiped away Zhuoya's tears, erasing her tear stains, and embraced her.

"Valery, his war is not over yet."

Chapter 438 Kal'tsit's Word Counts (3K)

Zoya cried herself to sleep.

She was sleeping soundly, but a faint trace of fear lingered on her young face, making one want to hold her in their arms to comfort her.

Lin Lu gently patted Zoya's back, maintaining a steady rhythm, singing a lullaby as if soothing a child.

The door was quietly pushed open.

The person who walked in was not Sussurro, but Kal'tsit.

"Shhh."

Lin Lu raised his right index finger to his lips, signaling Kal'tsit to be quiet.

He gently placed Zoya on the bed, then made up the quilt for her and put his outstretched hand back in.

"She finally managed to fall asleep, let her sleep a little longer."

"it is good."

Kal'tsit responded in a low voice.

Lin Lu and Kal'tsit walked side by side along the corridor of Rhodes Island.

"Are you relieved now?"

Kal'tsit spoke in a flat tone, as if she were asking about something trivial.

Lin Lu was already used to her tone and knew that her meaning was simple and without any malice.

"Okay, I'm relieved."

Lin Lu's lips couldn't help but curl upwards.

Zoya's coma had always been a concern for him.

Zoya has awakened, and Valery's spirit in heaven can find solace.

There's only one thing left to do.

Lin Lu stopped and turned to look.

—Rhode Island Intensive Care Unit.

Froststar has not yet woken up, but her vital signs are stable and all her injuries have healed.

“Go save her…go help her…the real…Talulah who walks on the muddy ground.”

This is Froststar's wish, and also Lin Lu's promise.

Kal'tsit noticed Lin Lu's gaze, but she didn't say anything, only shook her head slightly.

After a simple breakfast at the Rhodes Island cafeteria, Lin Lu and Kal'tsit went to the combat command room.

Lin Lu activated the PRTS system to check the specific details of Chernobog's core city's journey towards Lungmen, including the estimated arrival time.