Infinity, The Arcade Age-Chapter 340: Settled Grudges

Tank's defense was indeed high, and he had successfully pushed his innate abilities to the extreme.

However, in his pursuit of maximizing defense, his strengthening method had become excessively biased. His extreme focus on defense had left his speed and strength severely lacking. Against native bosses, this wasn't much of an issue, but now that he was facing another adventurer—especially one who could completely ignore his attacks—Tank, whose attributes were utterly crushed, had turned into nothing more than a live target.

Of course, if he hadn't focused so much on defense, he might not have even forced Qin Ming to use explosives. His reinforcement path wasn't necessarily wrong; he was just unfortunate to run into an opponent who countered him completely.

Ignoring Tank's desperate struggles, Qin Ming forcefully shoved the C4 explosives into his mouth and immediately detonated them.

A blinding explosion erupted, and the immense power of the C4 created a visible shockwave in the air.

Qin Ming was blasted three meters into the air, sent flying far away.

As for Tank? It turned out that even his insides were incredibly tough!

Unfortunately, he still wasn't tough enough to withstand a C4 detonation.

The massive explosion tore his upper body into pieces, though his lower half remained intact and upright.

Looking at the half-shattered Tank, who had taken a C4 explosion at point-blank range and still wasn't completely obliterated, Qin Ming, who was struggling to his feet, couldn't help but feel amazed.

Such an incredibly tough opponent—he hadn't encountered one like this even among bosses.

In fact, Tank's normal defense might have even surpassed Qin Ming's!

Shifting his gaze away from the shattered corpse, Qin Ming quickly scanned his surroundings and saw that the flying drake, realizing the situation had gone south, had already started fleeing into the sky, with Kasamoto Eiri chasing after it with a machine gun.

Whether the drake lived or died didn't concern Qin Ming. He only cared about one target...

Deep in the forest, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed as Jack ran for his life.

The five-man group that had come for an ambush had, in the blink of an eye, lost one and had another flee. Judging from Tank's state, he was as good as dead.

Realizing how dire the situation had become, Jack didn't hesitate to run.

As he sprinted, his mind went blank.

He couldn't comprehend why that scrawny brat he had parted ways with not long ago had suddenly become so terrifyingly powerful.

He couldn't understand how someone once small and frail had turned into a massive juggernaut.

And he especially couldn't fathom why Hannah, who had worked alongside him for years and had built a good relationship with him, had suddenly fallen for that guy and abandoned him so quickly.

There were too many things Jack couldn't understand, but he didn't have the luxury of time to figure them out.

Because right behind him, a streak of crimson light was rapidly closing in!

Qin Ming was never the type to forgive and forget. Words like "let bygones be bygones" or "better to resolve enmity than deepen it" had never existed in his vocabulary.

If someone insulted him, he would stay up all night just to run over and slash their tires. His grudge against Jack had been formed long ago—how could he possibly let it go now?

The sound of heavy footsteps suddenly reached his ears. Jack's face paled as he turned to look behind him in panic.

What he saw was the forest shaking as a massive figure charged forward at full speed.

Like a raging bull, Qin Ming crashed through tree trunks without hesitation.

Amidst the flying wood splinters, he swiftly closed the distance, suddenly leaping into the air and forming an arc as he shot down toward Jack like a missile.

Seeing this, Jack's face turned deathly pale. He let out a desperate roar, spun around, and threw a punch—activating his trump card!

Spinning Rising Dragon Punch!

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This was a B-rank skill, though its power was only average. In fact, its damage output wasn't necessarily higher than regular punches and kicks.

But the reason it was classified as B-rank was because of its incredibly broken effect—it granted invincibility the moment it was executed!

The invincibility only lasted for about a second, but a second was still invincibility!

Forget Qin Ming's meteor-like descent—Jack could take a nuclear bomb to the face and still survive for that brief moment!

The airborne Qin Ming crashed directly into Jack.

The impact felt like slamming into a mountain. Qin Ming's momentum was completely nullified, and he was sent flying backward from the counterforce.

Jack, watching Qin Ming tumble to the ground, let out a deep breath, though he still coughed painfully.

The Spinning Rising Dragon Punch was indeed strong, but it had significant drawbacks. It didn't consume mental energy to activate—it drained blood. For NPCs in the game world, this was a classic Seven Injuries Fist—hurting oneself before hurting the enemy.

After using his trump card to break the deadlock, Jack knew that he couldn't outrun Qin Ming. So, with a furious roar, he launched himself forward instead.

"QIN MING! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Hearing this enraged shout, Qin Ming, who was struggling to his feet, suddenly had his eyes flash red and threw a punch in return.

"That's MY line!"

With a thunderous boom, their fists collided in midair.

A shockwave rippled outward. Qin Ming stood firm without moving an inch, while Jack staggered back two steps, his entire arm trembling violently.

It wasn't because he had lost in strength.

Jack, being a well-rounded fighter, wasn't necessarily weaker than Qin Ming in terms of raw power.

He didn't lose in strength—what he lost was defense.

After exchanging a single hard punch head-on, Qin Ming, thanks to his damage immunity, was completely unaffected. Jack, on the other hand, only felt as if he had struck an iron plate—his entire arm nearly breaking in the process.

For a moment, with his right arm numb, Jack was thoroughly outclassed. Before he could even recover from the excruciating pain, Qin Ming, riding the momentum, launched a textbook combination of punches at him.

Straight punches! Swing punches! Hook punches! Elbow strikes! Knee strikes!

In a lightning-fast military boxing routine, Qin Ming managed to land over twenty blows on Jack.

Jack, forced to continually retreat, couldn't block all of the attacks even if he defended desperately—in the process, he took four or five more brutal punches.

When it came to raw attributes, he wasn't higher than Qin Ming.

When it came to abilities, he didn't possess nearly as many skills as Qin Ming.

When it came to defense, it goes without saying.

Even if it were a contest of technique, at this moment Qin Ming, armed with his A-rank martial arts, was far superior to Jack in combat skills.

Overwhelmed on all fronts, Jack was left battered and in disarray. The one thing he might have had that was marginally better than Qin Ming was his one invincibility move.

Can't beat him? Unleash the ultimate move!

Being suppressed? Unleash the ultimate move!

Want to counterattack? Unleash the ultimate move!

Jack, relentlessly forcing breakthroughs with his finishing moves, managed to repel Qin Ming's onslaught several times—a small consolation.

But there was also a downside: Jack had been using his ultimate moves in succession, and before Qin Ming could deal a decisive blow, Jack was nearly on the brink of killing himself.

Once again forced to retreat, Qin Ming slid and steadied himself. He looked up at Jack, who, although he hadn't even landed many hits, now staggered as if his life was nearly over. Qin Ming couldn't help but let a wry smile creep at the corner of his mouth.

There was a time when Jack's B-rank finishing move was a skill that Qin Ming envied and coveted.

But now, it seemed, while the move was powerful, it wasn't all that practical.

Standing straight, Qin Ming suddenly swung his arms, flicking the blood off, and fixed his cold gaze on Jack as he spoke in a chilling tone:

"Jack, since we've known each other for so long, I'll give you a chance to save face—why don't you just leave?"

Jack was taken aback by Qin Ming's words. After a moment, his forehead veins bulged, and he roared in anger as he charged toward Qin Ming.

A flying kick connected! Then followed a series of punches and kicks!

Desperately attacking, Jack's fists rained down on Qin Ming's chest with a series of dull "bam bam bam" sounds.

Unfortunately for Jack, Qin Ming absorbed the entire barrage without so much as flinching; his eyes merely narrowed gradually.

"want to save face? Then I'll help you save face!"

A roar suddenly burst from Qin Ming's throat! The next moment, Qin Ming—his arms still streaked with blood—delivered a rising dragon punch from below, connecting squarely with Jack's jaw.

After sending Jack flying, Qin Ming leaped forward and mounted him, beginning a relentless onslaught.

After landing over twenty successive punches, an exhausted Qin Ming finally ceased his attack. Meanwhile, Jack, his face now smeared with blood and barely able to breathe, struggled to rise. With blood streaming from his unceasingly bleeding eyes, Jack, sprawled on the ground, reached out and clutched Qin Ming's collar tightly, leaving a bloodstained handprint.

"Give me a... reason..."

From the moment they first met, the two had never seen eye to eye. Jack's animosity toward Qin Ming was largely because Qin Ming was always too close to Hannah.

But Jack couldn't understand why this guy would go out of his way to oppose him—why when he couldn't beat him, he would still oppose him, and even when he could, he'd continue to oppose him—as if he harbored some deep-seated grudge.

Jack wanted to ask for a reason—the reason why Qin Ming was determined to fight him to the death. Qin Ming, hearing this, immediately gave him his reason:

"Because I'm petty! Jack! That kick you gave me back then—I'm still holding a grudge for it!"

As he spoke, Qin Ming, now standing, suddenly raised his leg and delivered a vicious kick to Jack's face...

Ten-plus minutes later, Kasamoto Eri, having failed to catch up with the flying drake, arrived carrying a machine gun. Following the tracks into the woods, the first sight she beheld was the mangled corpse of Jack lying on the ground, his features barely recognizable, and Qin Ming sitting silently beside his body, head bowed.

Staring at the silent woods, Kasamoto Eri gradually halted her run and slowly approached Qin Ming.

"Boss? Are you alright?"

At her inquiry, Qin Ming glanced at her, shaking his head as he rose to his feet.

"I'm fine. Let's go—let's meet up with the Wild Wolf."

With that, Qin Ming cast one last glance at Jack's corpse, then withdrew his eyes, and with resolute determination led the way toward the distance.

Why did he have to oppose Jack at every turn? A rookie who'd suddenly arrived in a strange land, constantly at risk of dying, yet who was threatened and opposed by a BOSS-level enemy capable of killing him effortlessly—how could he not oppose him?

If he didn't oppose him, would he just act like a coward and get bullied? That would only mean a quicker death!

Back in the day, their deadly hostility, the explosive clashes—they were all because Qin Ming was afraid, afraid that Jack might actually kill him, so he had to act ferociously to prove that he wasn't someone to be trifled with.

But now, he no longer needed to bluff.

Now, the one who should be afraid was someone else.

"Game over, protagonist."

(End of Chapter)