Rifle charge in Ark, but without a mount

The bald man was stunned for a moment. They had been talking for a long time and it turned out that they were talking about completely different things. He was so embarrassed that he kept scratching his head.

"Ah, of course I noticed that too!... After all, that gentleman is quite conspicuous, come to think of it..."

The bald man suddenly looked around slyly. The others had not returned yet. Coincidentally, although their work was quite heavy, they finished very early, while the others often came back half an hour later.

After making sure that there was no one around, the bald man moved twice on the bed, getting closer to him, then lowered his voice and whispered:

"Have you noticed that other cadres seem to be paying a lot of attention to this gentleman... that kind of attention... you know."

Abin reacted immediately, a panicked expression appeared on his face, and he looked around quickly.

"You are crazy, how dare you say such things here! Be careful of being kicked out and go pick up trash!"

The bald man's expression was flustered for a moment, but he quickly returned to smiling.

"Look at how brave you are. Aren't there just the two of us here? And I didn't say anything bad..."

"It's better not to say such gossip. I just had two days of full meals, and I don't want to go hungry again for some random reason."

…………

Although they said so, now that they don’t have to worry about food, people will naturally be interested in gossip, and the two of them still chatted cautiously.

"This is actually quite normal. After all, the general is so handsome. Which girl wouldn't be confused when she sees him?"

"Yes, yes, yes! You're right. I noticed that the eyes of those female cadres kept drifting towards him. Even people like us can see it..."

…………

The whispering continued until the others came back. They had finished their day's work and had the rest of the time to themselves. But for two months, they were not allowed to enter the city of Chernobyl, and there were no entertainment facilities in the resettlement area, so most people went to sleep as soon as they came back.

After the two-month resettlement period, they will be allowed to enter the city, be arranged for jobs, and even have wages and savings, so everyone is full of expectations for the future. Abin rarely laughed before, but he probably laughed more times in the past few days than in his previous half of his life.

These are the best days...if only they could last forever.

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Claude suddenly realized that his spare time was poor. Apart from honing his martial arts and preparing for the next stage, he couldn't find anything he wanted to do. After finishing work, his free time was always dull. Although he had gotten used to it, it seemed that other people had different opinions...

…………

As the magic furnace in his body fluctuated, the huge amount of ether was constantly compressed and refined by him, and its volume was reduced hundreds of times. This process has lasted for a whole year. In order to successfully break through to the fifth stage, Claude made a lot of preparations, just to be foolproof.

The reason why he was so cautious was because the transition from stage 4 to stage 5 was extremely dangerous, and could be considered a gateway to hell. In this process, the ether in the body needed to be continuously compressed and refined, and then the compressed and refined ether was used to strengthen the organs again, thus strengthening the already tough body once again.

This process is a thorough qualitative change and requires countless amounts of energy. The only thing to be thankful for is that although the energy on this continent is extremely complex and cannot be compared with ether in terms of quality, the quantity is sufficient, so Claude accumulated enough energy much faster than he planned.

This was also the most dangerous step. Accumulating such a huge amount of energy in his body almost turned him into a human nuclear bomb. He had to pay attention to the situation in his magic furnace at all times and restrain the violent power in it. This required extremely strong control and mental strength. Although Claude had both, the hard work in this process would not be reduced at all.

Once again, the surging ether tide was suppressed. Seeing the size of the ether shrinking again, Claude, with his eyes closed, smiled. After all, he had done it once in his previous life. This time he was familiar with it. Relying on his experience, everything had been going very smoothly so far.

If nothing unexpected happens, it will only take three months for him to start trying to reconstruct his bones. Based on this, he can repeat the previous process and be reborn.

If it wasn't necessary, he probably wouldn't use his ether for a long time. He had already told other people about this matter a long time ago, and no one objected. Or, as long as he said it, few people would object... Since he came all the way from the northwest tundra of the Ursus Empire, he has never made a wrong decision, which is both a good thing and a bad thing.

The advantage is that when a decision is needed, his orders can be executed quickly. The disadvantage is that if his decision is wrong and others want to question him, he will have to bear a lot of pressure and endure other people's doubts.

Although nothing has gone wrong so far, Claude is also willing to change this organizational method that revolves around him. As a veteran soldier, it is impossible for him to be unprepared in that regard. In fact, he has done the most preparation in that regard.

However, even if he were to do this, he would face huge resistance, so he could only take it slowly.

After a long time, Claude exhaled a breath of foul air and stood up from the floor. Sweat flowed down his angular muscle contours, and even his hair was wet with sweat. The noise made by the running engine next door was deafening, and the heat emitted made this place like an oven. Even the air was fluctuating in this heat, bending the light in it and making Claude's figure blurred.

In such a high temperature environment, even the most heat-resistant Sargon people could not stay here for long, but Claude had already stayed here for a day. The Originium energy easily dissipated by the invisible operation nearby was absorbed into his body without any waste, so that the Originium energy here was always maintained at an extremely low level. Even patients with mineral diseases could stay here without worry, as long as they were not afraid of the heat.

Claude looked towards the door, a little hesitant. He still didn't want to go out.

That's right, Claude was retreating.

Ever since that night, the relationship between him and his companions became awkward and weird, and they no longer had the same mentality of getting along with each other as before... No, maybe it was just that he had lost his sense of propriety. He was the only one who was truly at a loss. The others had often come back to see him in the past two days, and their attitudes were the same as usual, or even more enthusiastic, leaving him completely at a loss as to how to deal with it.

So he could only hide here under the pretext of practicing, hoping that this little time would allow him to think of a countermeasure and think carefully about how to deal with their feelings.

It was not an easy task, but he had no choice but to retreat...

Yan Country, Longmen and Victoria: Chapter 1 Maria's Action ()

Maria is a little fool... This is what her aunt often used to tease her, because when she was little, she loved to indulge in her hobbies and sometimes even forgot to eat. When her mother or aunt came to call her, they could always see that her face was stained with motor oil and she made herself dirty.

Maria never cared about this before, and was even very happy, because her aunt and family loved her so much. She was a completely happy child. At that time, she thought that this carefree life would continue forever, and she would become a great mechanic in the future, just like Master Koval, and a more outstanding sister, who would be able to inherit the family's glory and become a powerful knight.

Their grandfather Cyril was a hero of the whole of Casimir, and their family was also famous throughout the country. At that time, everything seemed bright and traceable. It was because of this that Maria developed a cheerful and optimistic personality from an early age.

When did all this start to change? Perhaps when her sister made up her mind to participate in the knight competition, or when her grandfather often showed a sad face, Maria realized that her life had changed dramatically without her noticing. There were more things to buy, and many goods from other countries could be bought in her own city. This was of course a good thing, and Maria was very happy at first, but then this perceptive child soon discovered that the uncles and aunts who often came to the tavern to drink had become different. They often had sad faces and sighed.

From their conversation, Maria learned of another change in Casimir:

There are more and more companies in the city. This kind of thing that they had never heard of before has somehow flourished in Casimir. Although the whole country has become very lively, they soon discovered that this prosperity seems to have nothing to do with them. Everyone still lives a very hard life. The newspapers talk about the results of economic development every day, but they have never enjoyed it personally. The wages they can get are still the same meager, but the price of goods is rising every day. Many people are now unable to eat enough.

Whether in newspapers or on TV, everyone is singing praises to the prosperity of Casimir, but there are more and more poor people hiding in houses and street corners. Many people enter companies as employees. They have to go to work very early every day and come back very late, torturing their bodies to exhaustion and consuming their last bit of energy. This is still a job envied by others because others do not even have the opportunity to be exploited.

People are becoming more and more lifeless. Neighbors who used to greet us often now have pale faces and lifeless eyes. It seems that everyone is controlled by something and must move according to this specific trajectory.

The knight competition, which once symbolized the honor of the military nobles of Casimir and selected important talents for the country, has completely changed. Only knights who cooperate with companies and enterprises can get a chance to win. Even from the beginning, the winner is designed, and sometimes it needs to be replaced in the middle of the game, trampling the glory to nothing, everything is for money.

For various reasons, such as money and pressure, the knights gradually succumbed to this rule. Gradually, virtue was no longer mentioned, and everything was for profit. Assassinations and kidnappings occurred everywhere in the city. Although those newspapers whitewashed the situation, the blood flowing in the dark corners would not disappear.

Maria didn't like the present situation at all. It was completely different from the hometown she remembered. Her uncle, who was once full of vigor and vitality, had to shoulder the responsibility of the entire family after her parents passed away. In order to maintain their daily expenses, he had to find a job. Everything became gloomy, like being in a wet swamp. Everyone was sinking and could only struggle with all their might, making themselves dirty and smelly in this swamp.

Maria didn't know when this situation would change until her sister decided to take action to change this society that had gone astray. Although she didn't know how her sister would do it, Maria still believed that her sister could do it without reservation.

then……

They originally thought that it would take a long time to achieve their goal, or even that day would never come, but Claude suddenly appeared in front of them...

This person was like a miracle, appearing before them like a comet, smashing all obstacles in front of them in such a simple and straightforward way. He was like a star shining and incredible. Maria was like a demon at that time, and she always mentioned Master Claude when talking to her aunt and sister.

For Maria at that time, Master Claude was a person she respected, even as much as her sister. She was very happy as long as she could be with him. She listened to his instructions, and the combat training was not so boring anymore. It was as if her life had returned to the time when her parents were still alive, so carefree, and she only needed to concentrate on what she liked.

This kind of life lasted for a long time, and Maria thought it would continue forever, but she has become a little worried recently.

He discovered a long time ago that many people in the Reunion Movement and Casimir had other ideas about Claude. These girls were attracted to Claude during the journey and became his companions, but the relationship between them was always separated by a layer of window paper, and no one took the initiative to point it out.

Maria didn't have any special opinion on this situation before, but a few days ago, something big happened...

After learning the whole story from her sister, Maria, who had always seemed to be indifferent to the world, suddenly felt a strong sense of loss, especially after learning that those people all went to Claude's room and she was the only one who missed it because she was obsessed with machinery. This feeling was particularly strong.

All these complicated emotions produced a subtle reaction in her heart, giving birth to a new emotion that was so hard to describe... Maria, who was originally cheerful, became a little depressed these days, and she didn't even visit her favorite machinery manufacturing factory for several days.

But even so, the girl did not try to do anything. Although she looked lively and outgoing, she was actually a passive person. It was difficult for her to decide to do something drastic on her own. She often needed a force to push her to do it, and this force had not yet appeared, so she could only be in a very delicate state...

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Claude began to put on his clothes slowly. He had just finished taking a shower and hot steam was still coming out of his body. His hair had not been dried yet and a few strands were hanging on his forehead. He absentmindedly pushed back the disobedient hair.

He put on a thin silk shirt, black trousers, a leather belt, long leather boots, and finally a windbreaker on his shoulders. After doing all this, he pushed open the bathroom door and subconsciously reached out to touch the side.

The place where his palm touched was empty, and there was no hard and cold metal touch. This made Claude turn his head suddenly. Mercy's bloodthirsty magic sword was indeed not there. He hurriedly took two steps forward, walked around the leg of the table, and found that the sword had come to the corner of the table for some reason, and was still trembling slightly, as if expressing something.

Claude covered his forehead all of a sudden... It seems like he'll have to take this guy with him when he takes a shower next time.

He reached out to grasp the scabbard, and was about to fasten it around his waist along with the belt, when a stuttering voice suddenly sounded in his ears:

"Master... let's go... let's go, to the place of origin... usurper, blood..."

Claude paused for a moment, but soon he put the sword on his waist according to his original plan.

The voice in his head continued to sound, stuttering but continuing. But Claude continued to do his work patiently. A dinner was already on his table. Because of the special circumstances in the past few days, he asked Charles to deliver the meal directly. Today's food was fried steak with butter fried eggs, golden toasted butter bread, and fresh sausages.

There are also fish as food in the water here, and they are widely distributed, but for some reason, these fish are generally called scaled beasts... There are obviously many other things with scales, which is indeed not reasonable.

Claude ate the steak calmly, ignoring the sword's persistent verbal harassment. He was now certain that this sword had something to do with the Sarkaz... After all, there were too many related clues, whether it was the demon skull or the thirst for blood, all pointing to the former master of this land - the Sarkaz.

Maybe he should find some time to visit Kazdel, a land that has been ravaged by wars many times. There might be something important there. After talking with Dr. Kal'tsit, he also learned a lot about Kazdel. Even if he couldn't find anything, there was still value in operating there.

After a long while, the voice that was directly in his mind finally stopped completely, and he had just finished the last bite. During this period of time, this sword always harassed him. Claude had become accustomed to it and could do other things without being affected.

He placed the plate in the food box next to him, and someone would take it away later. Claude stood up and prepared to go to the core city to take a look. Although everything was very stable now and there was nothing important for him to deal with, he had long been accustomed to going there every day, and also to avoid other people.

One of the important reasons why Claude was so upset was that almost every time he returned to his room these days, there was someone waiting for him. Not only Cintria and Tallulah, but even Margaret would sometimes appear in the room. Although they only came to his place to drink two cups of tea and then left, he still felt a little helpless.

So after just three short days, Claude actually didn't want to go back to his room. The situation he was facing now was complicated enough. After all, Claude was not a real piece of wood. He also had normal emotions. It was just a kind of inertia in his thinking that made him completely unable to think in any direction.

But what happened a few days ago removed all the fig leaves and made him completely understand a fact: these girls all had a good impression on him and wanted to have a romantic relationship with him.

This would be something that any man would envy, but if there were several girls like this at once, the situation would be completely different...

There is no good way to deal with this situation. Claude can't think of a solution for now, but he doesn't want to hurt anyone, so he can only hide first, at least not make any mistakes. He doesn't want to disappoint anyone, but how easy is that? ...

But Claude also knew that this method of escape was not a long-term solution, and it was even a bit like drinking poison to quench thirst. In the final analysis, he still had to work hard to move forward to find a solution. And he couldn't hesitate any longer. He had to make a decision today or tomorrow.

Claude, who was worried, was about to push the door open, but he saw the handle turn by itself. His surprise lasted only a moment, and then he realized who was outside the door. He took two steps back and waited patiently for the other party to open the door.

The two pointed little ears popped into the door first, turned alertly, and then the long hair as bright as flowing gold and the clear golden eyes appeared. Maria carefully put her head into the crack of the door, with a hint of nervousness on her pretty little face.

When she saw Claude, a trace of panic flashed in her golden eyes, and she shrank back as if she had been electrocuted. After a while, Maria realized that her behavior was too deliberate, and she stuck her head out again with an embarrassed smile.

"Master, you haven't left yet? I thought you went to work..."

Claude showed a puzzled expression on his face:

"Maria, how did you know I was here?"

That's right, Claude is not in his room now, but a rest area for staff. Logically, no one except Charles should know that he is here. How did Maria find him? And from what she said, it seems that she already knew that I was here.

"Surveillance...! It's just a coincidence, a coincidence! I just happened to see you walk in here, Master, and wanted to ask you if you had lunch!"

Maria panicked all of a sudden, her face flushed red, and her long fluffy tail began to swing rapidly, almost carving the word "guilty" on her face...

Yan Country, Longmen and Victoria: Chapter 2 Maria's Action ()

Although he heard the words that concerned him, Claude still put his plan on hold and let Maria come in. After all, no matter how she argued, after he made way, Maria still came in without hesitation, with a very honest body... and she even closed the door.

Maria was not wearing her work clothes today, but the lining she wore when she was wearing armor. The white dress with a lot of lace designs made Claude's eyes light up. To be honest, he had never seen this little girl fully armed, and she had basically never worn her armor in front of him.

Although he didn't know what the other party wanted to talk to him about, Claude was still looking forward to being asked some questions about swordsmanship. After all, Maria had neglected her swordsmanship for a long time. Although it was also due to his own negligence in supervision, swordsmanship was something that would become noticeably unfamiliar if not practiced for a few days. Although it would not be completely abandoned in this month, it would definitely take some time to get familiar with it again.

Then, under Claude's expectant gaze, Maria, who seemed a little dazed at the moment, opened her mouth with a very conflicted expression. For a long time, no sound came out of her mouth, as if something had suddenly happened to her vocal cords.

At the same time, he held it in until his face turned red, and even his tongue was trembling, which made Claude quite confused.

In fact, even Maria herself didn't know what she wanted to say. She came here completely on impulse. Under the influence of random thoughts, she was guided here by a special emotion. But when she really got here, she found that she didn't know how to express this feeling at all.

A familiar, chilling intuition ran up Claude's spine. This uneasy feeling came so suddenly and so rejectingly, as if it was stating an indisputable fact, causing him to involuntarily think about the terrifying possibility.

"Is it you too? Maria!!"

The scene in front of him was too similar. He could be said to be too confident or his brain was short-circuited, but Claude couldn't help but think of the possibility: the girl in front of him might have the same idea as others, so she came to him in this posture...

Claude's expression slowly changed. His whole face was tense, as stiff as a ceramic sculpture. He was a little nervous. He stared at Maria's mouth, waiting for what she would say next.

Maria didn't notice the change in her master's expression at all. She was immersed in her own world, engaged in a fierce psychological struggle. This look made her look even more stupid, but it also made Claude let down his guard a little:

"Perhaps this child really has something bothering him. I guess I'm overthinking it..."

Just when Claude was ready to rely on his low level of psychological therapy to provide psychological counseling for his apprentice, he saw a hint of determination suddenly appear on the other party's face. His cherry pink thin lips were slightly pursed, and he looked determined:

"Master Claude, you like your sister very much, right?"

Claude was shocked. He never expected that the other party's first sentence would be this...

But then he felt a little confused, because he found that he couldn't answer this question. Did he like Margaret? There was no doubt that he liked her... But was this kind of liking for someone with the same interests as him or was it a love affair between a man and a woman? How should he respond to this feeling?

If one were to describe Claude with something, it would be a sword, an extremely sharp sword, which had a single purpose, to take lives, because it was extremely pure and extremely powerful. A sword should not have any other use, it should pierce flesh and blood, drain blood, and exile and destroy life.

Claude has forged himself into such a sword. He should not hesitate or be hesitant, but he will eventually feel confused when facing the unknown... Claude has never had the experience of love, not even in his first life, when he was still a college student named Xu Lin.

At that time, he was introverted and kind. Because he was not good at communicating with others, he found a job that allowed him to work from home after graduation. Although his parents had been urging him to get married, he was strictly forbidden to have a romantic relationship in his previous life. Therefore, Xu Lin spent his four years in the dormitory in college. When he was suddenly asked to get married as soon as possible, he naturally had no idea where to start. His parents' desire to have a grandchild was too strong. They would mention this to him almost no matter whether they were eating or sleeping, which made him very annoyed and he had no interest in such things.

Not to mention his second life, he was sent to the military camp for training since he was 8 years old, and his whole life was almost rolled in a sea of ​​blood. This period of life polished him to such a pure state that even the little impression left by his previous life was completely covered. Therefore, even though he was a duke, he never married in his life and naturally had no offspring.

Moreover, the situation he faced was so complicated and dangerous, it was just like giving a person with only junior high school knowledge a high-level math problem. Before he gained more knowledge and experience, he could only do nothing...

"I respect Margaret very much... and I really like her, but I'm not sure, Maria, I'm not sure what attitude I should take in this situation."

Claude sighed slightly tiredly. This was all he could say and this was what he should say.

"But my sister really likes you... I know this best. She always talks about you when she chats with me, saying how great you are, Master. When my sister said these words, her eyes lit up frighteningly. She herself didn't notice it, but I saw it clearly."

Maria lowered her head slightly, her golden bangs covering her eyes.

"I never doubted what my sister said, so I was thinking at the time, how could there be such a powerful person in the world? It would be great if I could meet him... Later, when my sister brought Master to our house, I realized that we had met before."

Maria finally raised her head, and Claude saw that her eyes were frighteningly bright...

"Master, do you still remember the first time we went to the tavern for dinner? I was on my way home and happened to meet you at the door. The moon was so white that day, illuminating every corner of the ground...Master, the moon was behind you, and the moon also illuminated you brightly. At that time, I was thinking, how could there be such a beautiful person in the world...It was as if the light of the moon was gathered together."

Maria's face was so red that the last few words were almost squeezed out from between her teeth, but the girl still insisted.