Infinity, The Arcade Age-Chapter 339: Wind-Up and Drained

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The tank, continuously having its blood drained, suddenly realized something was wrong. Noticing that his supposedly reliable defense was completely ineffective, his expression changed, and he finally chose to let go. In that very moment of release, Qin Ming sensed the opening and delivered a swift kick that sent the tank flying four or five meters away.

This tank was like a solid block of metal—hard to an absurd degree. Even though his blood-leeching ability could normally break through defenses, taking him down was by no means an easy task. So, forget him for now—first, deal with the others!

Quickly assessing the battle situation, Qin Ming, surrounded by swirling blood mist, used one hand to catch the long leg kicked over by Mustafa and with the other, forcefully hammered down. A piercing sound of bone cracking rang out as Mustafa's leg, struck hard, twisted his features in immediate pain. Before he could even scream, Qin Ming hoisted up his thigh and then kicked squarely into his groin, sending Mustafa flying as well.

As Mustafa tumbled to the ground and Qin Ming moved in for a follow-up, suddenly a tight grip appeared at his back. It turned out that Jack had pounced from behind, locking his arm tightly around Qin Ming's neck in an attempt to execute a bare-handed chokehold.

The chokehold—truly a move where the small overcomes the big, a lightweight tactic against a heavyweight—worked because, although a larger body can take more punishment, the human head's ability to absorb impacts is inherently limited. And the neck, especially its blood supply routes, is extremely vulnerable. Even if your body weight is twice that of your opponent, once caught in a bare choke, you wouldn't last more than a few seconds.

Jack was undeniably a skilled fighter: quick, precise, ruthless—aiming straight for the vital points. Unfortunately, this time he was facing not a normal person, but a monster whose body had been filled with long-term excess blood. With his S-class Blood Leech skill activated, the "blood" in Qin Ming wasn't just blood—it acted as a cushion, a living bulletproof vest.

The dual protection of damage immunity plus blood-charging turned him into a human infantryman clad in triple-layered armour—a true walking tank. Jack's surprise bare choke, with all its impact, was completely absorbed by the surging blood inside Qin Ming. Not even a cough came from Qin Ming; instead, he grabbed Jack's hair from behind, yanked him hard while Jack cried out in pain, and flung him upward.

With a loud "bang," Jack, having been tossed in a circular arc mid-air, crashed heavily to the ground. Before Jack could struggle to get up in front of Qin Ming, who still clutched his hair tightly, Qin Ming swung again with full force. Another thunderous "bang" rang out as Jack was hurled sideways, smashing against a nearby tree. Leaves exploded into the air, and with a muffled groan, Jack tumbled away.

As for Qin Ming? Staring at the large clump of hair that had been violently ripped from his head, along with a patch of scalp still attached above, red light flashed in his eyes. He had been working hard lately to control his temper, to prevent his abilities from affecting his emotions. But now it seemed that control had finally failed.

So, since that was the case...

"Ah!!!"

BOOM!

Suddenly, Qin Ming raised both hands and pounded the ground with tremendous force. As his roar echoed out, torrents of furious blood sprayed in all directions, forming a crimson shockwave.

Imitating a "Fighting Qi Storm!" Under the overwhelming blast, trees were snapped, the earth was ripped up—and centered on Qin Ming, a ten-meter radius clearing was blasted out.

Before the debris had time to settle, Qin Ming, trailing red light, accelerated and charged at the injured Mustafa. Control your emotions? Forget that—time to slaughter them!

He activated his Heaven Slide!

Grabbing Mustafa by the head and shoving him forward, Qin Ming darted wildly through the trees, smashing through over a dozen large trees. After a relentless series of four sprints, he ignited the blood inside Mustafa, triggering an explosion, and then didn't miss a chance to deliver a vicious kick right to his face.

As Qin Ming unleashed his warlike stomp in a frenzy, the tank—previously flung aside—finally pounced again. Like a raging bull, it crashed into Qin Ming from behind, sending him flying once more. Yet before he could stop, Qin Ming steadied himself in mid-slide, spread his arms, and began unleashing a furious barrage.

His Blood Leech skill was now fully activated—an infinite bombardment mode was in full swing! One massive blood ball after another erupted, blasting through trees, hurling everyone aside, and generating successive shockwaves. Transformed into a human artillery turret, Qin Ming managed to launch over forty blood balls in one continuous burst before his mental energy was completely exhausted and his assault halted.

When he finally ceased firing, the surrounding woods had been reduced to ruins. Broken trees lay everywhere, scattered shards of rock littered the ground. Mustafa, who had already been battered by a flurry of combos earlier, was now utterly obliterated—his body fragmented into pieces.

Originally, Mustafa wasn't meant to die. It was just that the tank's stubborn absorption of the blood ball barrage failed; upon discovering that these blasts could break defenses, the tank had foolishly pulled Mustafa up to serve as a shield. That left Mustafa as the primary target, and, frustrated, he was killed by his own comrades.

At the scene, besides Mustafa's death, the other three weren't faring any better. Jack was severely injured by the blasts, and although the tank had terrifying defense and its meat shield had absorbed some damage, it too sustained injuries. Only Monkey, the sole woman, relying on her A-class Mind Transfer (teleportation) skill, managed to nearly escape all attacks unscathed.

Space teleportation—truly unbeatable.

Amid the ruins, Qin Ming, who had ceased firing, slowly stood up, his eyes still gleaming red. Staring at the three people on the opposite side, their faces full of astonishment, he suddenly grinned widely, flashing a set of white teeth that looked exceptionally intimidating.

"Tank, you say that every Intermediate Adventurer has a couple of tricks up their sleeve, right? That's true—there are no useless ones among Intermediate Adventurers. But you are Intermediate because your strength has reached that level, and I am Intermediate! That's because the area I'm in is called Intermediate! You pathetic toothbrushes—can you even scrub iron? Huh?"

"Four against one! Within three minutes! One death and three injuries!"

Looking around at the chaotic battlefield and then at Qin Ming on the opposite side, who appeared nearly unscathed, Monkey's face turned deathly pale. At that moment, she clearly understood that she and her teammates had run into a steel plate.

Even among adventurers of the same rank there are clear tiers, and the guy before her was obviously an elite! Although Monkey couldn't understand why such a terrifyingly powerful elite would end up as a lone wolf rather than be officially assigned to a team to complete missions, she knew this time they were doomed. She had originally hoped to exploit the conflict between the protagonist and the enemy, catch him, and force that greedy little bastard to cough up the benefits. Now, it looked like she wasn't even going to be able to catch him—in fact, not being caught would be a blessing!

High defense! Ferocious attack! And fast speed!If he were caught, he'd probably be squeezed until he spat out blood on the spot!

With her face changing expression, Monkey suddenly backed away while shouting, "Something's not right! Everyone! Wind-up, get ready!"

"Wait a minute! Monkey! Monkey!"Hearing this, the Tank's face changed as he hurriedly turned around, trying to stop her. But before he could finish his words, Monkey's figure had already disappeared in a bizarre flash.She—ran away.

She, who could teleport instantly, truly couldn't beat Qin Ming in a fight. Yet if she were determined solely to escape, even if Qin Ming sprouted two extra legs he still wouldn't be able to catch her.In the end, neither side could force the other to yield.However, because Monkey's ability was special, her rapid escape only brought suffering upon her teammates. The Tank, who wasn't particularly adept at speed, was not built for running!

Looking up at Qin Ming with an embarrassed glance, the Tank's expression turned extremely stiff."Hey, Hyena—there might be some misunderstanding between us. Look, you can't beat me, and I can't beat you. There's no need for us to fight to the death, right? Isn't that exhausting? How about I help you kill Jack, and we'll be even?"

Seeing that his teammates were either dead or had run away—leaving only a Tank with Jack—the Tank decisively chose to back down.After all, if you can't beat someone, backing down isn't shameful. This was a "peace mode" situation; there was no benefit to him if the enemy killed him. When both sides realized they couldn't really handle each other, it was normal to part on good terms.

The Tank was an old hand, with very accurate judgment. When faced with an enemy whose killing offered no benefit—and who was extremely hard to kill—it wasn't necessary to fight to the bitter end.Under normal circumstances, Qin Ming would have agreed with him; everyone could part on good terms, especially since Qin Ming was in a hurry to complete missions and clear the game.But unfortunately, the Qin Ming facing him now was not the normal version—he had completely activated his skills and stopped suppressing his blood, causing his emotions to be affected by his abilities.

Negotiate now? At this moment, with Qin Ming so exhilarated that he'd even crashed into a utility pole—so much so that he'd have to break the pole and curse it for blocking his way! Even passing dogs would inexplicably get smacked!It's easy enough to get beat up if you don't provoke him; but if you provoke him and then try to run?!"I'll talk to your grandmother!"Without giving the Tank any chance to negotiate, Qin Ming, who had just downed a bottle of high-grade spiritual recovery potion, instantly accelerated toward the Tank.

Initiating his Heaven Slide, he grabbed the enemy and charged out over a dozen meters. After igniting his blood, he clutched the Tank's neck with one hand while his other hand began launching a frenzied assault to the face.After a continuous series of over a dozen punches—each thudding with a "bam bam"—the Tank seemed almost unscathed.He relied on a meat-shield style, with equipment focused on defense, and had the innate talent that doubled his defensive power.This meant his defense had now reached a terrifying 76 points! Even if some was reduced by the corrosive effect of White Flame, he still remained above 50 points!Not to mention that ordinary punches and kicks—even a standard blood barrage from Qin Ming—couldn't break through his defense.

The only threats he faced were the true damage from the Blood Leech skill and the ultra-large blood ball bombardment released when Qin Ming went into a complete berserk mode.But the problem was, the former's absorption was too slow—probably slower than the rate at which the enemy recovered by taking potions.The latter's duration was too short to kill the enemy in one explosive burst.

Indeed, as the Tank had said, he and Qin Ming truly were evenly matched!Staring at the Tank, who had absorbed over a dozen punches with almost no injury, Qin Ming looked utterly shocked.Such a tough enemy—this was the first time he'd encountered one so solid.

After being hammered from the front for what felt like ages, the Tank was now hoisted up by Qin Ming with one hand, and he struggled to speak."Brother! We were taught by the same master! You can't break my defense! I say let's just call it a draw and part on good terms!"

The Tank's words made Qin Ming's eyes twitch, and the veins on his forehead bulged."After a sneak attack, you still want to call it a draw? I'm going to make you disperse!"

As he spoke, Qin Ming suddenly clutched the Tank's mouth, then reached down at his waist and pulled out a small black cloth bag, straining with all his might to stuff it into the Tank's mouth!And that little bag was, by its proper name, a C4 bomb!

He was eager to see what was inside the Tank—whether it was just as hard as it appeared!

(End of Chapter)