#include <algorithm>
#include <complex>
#include <cstdlib>
#include <ctime>
#include <deque>
#include <iostream>
#include <map>
#include <math.h>
#include <queue>
#include <random>
#include <set>
#include <string>
#include <unordered_map>
#include <unordered_set>
#include <vector>

using namespace std;

typedef long long ll;
typedef double ld;
typedef complex<ld> cp;

const ld eps = 1e-9;
std::random_device randD;
std::mt19937 gen(randD());
const ld pi = 3.14159265359;

vector<int> v;
int pr[100010];
int suf[100010];
int s[100010];

int main() {
#ifdef SYSTEM
    freopen("input.txt", "r", stdin);
    freopen("output.txt", "w", stdout);
#endif
    ios_base::sync_with_stdio(false);
    cin.tie(0);
    int n, k, a;
    cin >> n >> k;
    for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
        cin >> a;
        v.push_back(a);
    }
    int minn = 1e9, maxx = -1e9;
    for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
        minn = min(minn, v[i]);
        maxx = max(maxx, v[i]);
    }
    if (k >= 3) {
        cout << maxx;
        return 0;
    }
    if (k == 1) {
        cout << minn;
        return 0;
    }
    pr[0] = 1e9;
    suf[n] = 1e9;
    for (int i = 1; i <= n; ++i) {
        pr[i] = min(pr[i - 1], v[i - 1]);
    }
    s[0] = 0;
    for (int i = 1; i <= n; ++i) {
        s[i] = s[i - 1] + v[i];
    }
    // s[j + 1] - s[i] сумма с i по j включительно
    for (int i = n - 1; i >= 0; --i) {
        suf[i] = min(suf[i + 1], v[i]);
    }
    int ans = -1e9;
    for (int i = 0; i < n - 1; ++i) {
        ans = max(ans, max(pr[i + 1], suf[i + 1]));
    }
    cout << ans;
    return 0;
}