Infinity, The Arcade Age-Chapter 396: Generous War Spoils

Whoosh!

Amid the howling wind, a figure shot out at high speed, lunging fiercely at Qin Ming. The moment she got close, she launched the Orochi Dance technique.

However, her execution of the move was clearly lacking. It posed no threat to Qin Ming at all—in fact, he effortlessly blocked it with a casual raise of his hand and then grabbed the attacker by the collar, flinging her away.

With a smack, Sharan landed face-down on the ground, completely motionless.

Qin Ming, who had just effortlessly dealt with her, rolled his eyes, hands in his pockets, looking utterly speechless.

"I'm warning you! For Goenitz's sake, I'm willing to let you off once, twice, even three times! But I'm no damn horsekeeper! It's only because I promised Goenitz I'd protect you. Otherwise, with my temper, I would've torn you apart long ago!"

Just as Qin Ming finished speaking, his ever-present sidekick, Eri Kasamoto, quickly chimed in.

"Of course, it's also possible he might've just slept with you instead!"

Smack!

"Why are you everywhere?! Go do your job!"

"Do who?"

"Your job!"

"Oh."

Scratching her belly, Eri Kasamoto wobbled off behind Qin Ming, leaving behind Sharan, who had launched yet another failed sneak attack—who knew how many times this had happened already—and once again lay motionless on the ground.

Goenitz was dead. Killed by the backlash of his own power, not even a trace of his body remained.

As his adopted daughter, Sharan was spared by Qin Ming. After all, in the final moments, he had agreed to take Goenitz's place in protecting her.

Unfortunately, Sharan clearly didn't appreciate this. To her, Qin Ming was her father's murderer, and her heart was filled with nothing but hatred.

After being brought back to the Iori Dojo, she tried to assassinate Qin Ming at every opportunity, determined to avenge her father.

Too bad she only had a handful of half-baked techniques. She could barely break through his defense, let alone land a lethal strike.

Just as Sharan planted her hands on the ground and struggled to get up, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from ahead.

She looked up to see two women walking toward her—Vice and Mature, members of the Hakkesshu who had switched sides at the last moment.

Both tall beauties wore tight secretary-style outfits. Vice stood with arms crossed, gazing down coldly, while Mature looked down at her with a sly, amused expression.

"Well, well, if it isn't little Sharan. What happened? Got your butt kicked like this? Come on, get up, get up!"

Mature reached out with a cheerful smile, but Sharan slapped her hand away hard.

As Sharan stubbornly got up and turned to leave, Mature exchanged a glance with Vice, a mischievous grin spreading across her face.

"Hey, Sharan, you're never going to get your revenge like this. You can't even beat us—what makes you think you can beat him? Want to know how you can get your revenge?"

The moment the words left her mouth, Sharan's footsteps froze.

Though she deeply resented these two for betraying her father, after a moment of hesitation, Sharan clenched her teeth and turned her head.

"Talk!"

.....

A few minutes later, Vice and Mature strode away, leaving behind a stunned, blank-eyed Sharan standing motionless—clearly shocked to the core.

As they walked away, Vice glanced back at Sharan, frowning at her dazed, confused look.

"Don't you think that was a little too much?"

Mature raised an eyebrow, glaring at her with annoyance.

"What do you mean I went too far? We! It was we, okay?"

"I didn't say a single word the whole time."

"Still counts as we! Don't think you're off the hook!"

"Fine, let's say it's 'we.' But don't you think we went too far? Tricking such a clueless little girl like that."

Mature scrunched her lips in frustration.

"Oh wow, when did Lady Vice suddenly grow a conscience? Weren't you the one in charge of clean-up and silencing people? You didn't think that was going too far when you wiped out entire families. Why the sympathy now?"

"I did think of them."

"Huh?"

"That's why I never left any survivors."

Mature rolled her eyes dramatically at Vice's deadpan reply.

"So what, you think we should've just killed her outright?"

"Better than deceiving her like that."

"Did I lie? Isn't the method we gave her a good one? Doesn't it give her a real chance to take revenge?"

"Well..."

"As long as it helps her avenge her father, then it's a good plan. What happens along the way? That's not my problem."

Stretching her limbs with satisfaction, Mature finally felt free from Goenitz's shadow and the burdens of her so-called mission. Her mood had never been better.

As she passed through the corridor and spotted Mai Shiranui and Blue Mary approaching from the other side, she even gave a cheerful wave and greeted them loudly.

"Yo! Busty girl! Lil punk! Good morning!"

Hearing her shout, Mai and Blue Mary's faces darkened immediately. Neither responded; instead, they quickened their pace, clearly wanting to get away from her as fast as possible.

However, they clearly underestimated the extent of Vice's bad temper. Just as the two of them brushed past, Vice raised her hand and sharply slapped both of their behinds.

The sharp sound echoed, and Shiranui almost jumped in surprise, clutching her behind and turning around to glare at Vice. She looked at the woman with a wicked smile, yet couldn't say a word in anger.

After all, the two of them really couldn't defeat Vice. Even if they teamed up, they might not be able to beat her.

Grinding her teeth in frustration, Shiranui coldly snorted, then turned and walked away angrily, leaving Vice with a smug expression and a still expressionless Maxine, who had her arms crossed.

They passed through the corridor and entered the room. As soon as they heard the noise inside, Qin Ming turned around, his surprised gaze meeting Shiranui's. With big strides, she walked up to him, grabbed his collar, and shook him roughly.

"Get those two out of here! Get them out!"

"Who?"

"Those two, Vice and Maxine! Get these two bastards out! The Shiranui Dojo doesn't welcome them!"

"But they're experts! Didn't you say the Shiranui Dojo is lacking in skilled fighters? You don't want two top-tier experts?"

"I want experts to protect the dojo, not to have them bully me! I'm the dojo master!"

Shiranui shouted, on the verge of breaking down.

After the match, Qin Ming, who had barely earned Shiranui's forgiveness by bringing honor to the dojo, had successfully returned to the dojo. Not only had he returned, but he had also brought back three skilled fighters.

One of them, Sister Sharan, was constantly ambushing Qin Ming and playing deadly games with him.

The other two, though not as bold as to fight Qin Ming directly, preferred to follow Sharan and gang up on him. They liked bullying people—catching whoever they could and tormenting them!

Originally, an lecherous Egami Hiroshi, and Qin Ming, who liked using brute force to bully others, were enough to deal with. But now, two even worse individuals had joined the fray, and they took over the place.

Now, was this still Shiranui Dojo? Was it still the Shiranui family's dojo?

You've never seen a dojo master who gets slapped on the chest and behind as soon as someone sees her, right? The rumors among the female disciples were already circulating that Shiranui had risen to her position by selling her appearance! free𝑤ebnovel.com

The newcomers, Maxine and Vice, liked bullying the weak, which meant they liked bullying Shiranui and her group.

And Shiranui and the others were simply no match for these two members of the Eight Kings. So, they could only vent their anger on Qin Ming.

Naturally, Qin Ming, who had been unreasonably picked on, would not let it go and would seek out Vice and Maxine for revenge.

Then, afraid of offending Qin Ming, Maxine and Vice would retaliate by bullying Shiranui and the others even more.

At this point, Shiranui Dojo had developed into a vicious internal cycle.

After much effort, Qin Ming finally managed to send Shiranui and Blue Mary away, looking at the closed door, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

This time, he didn't rush to deal with Vice and Maxine. Mainly because dealing with them wouldn't make much of a difference.

Those two were the type who wouldn't learn from their mistakes, and their personalities were just that way. Essentially, they were two troublemakers.

Did he expect them to change? The last person who tried to force them into submission had already been backstabbed and killed by them.

Slamming the door shut, Qin Ming turned around and sat back in his chair. After calming himself, he suddenly reached into his chest and pulled out several items.

These were all the spoils from this trip.

Four keys, plus a treasure chest.

It didn't seem like much, especially compared to the loot from other worlds.

But the quality of these spoils was outrageously high.

One of the keys was for the storyline character Cai Baojian, whose key wasn't anything special, only silver-grade quality, even though Qin Ming had defeated him in a one-on-one battle.

Another was a spoils item—Chui Quan Chong's key.

Due to multiple adventurers being involved, this key had lost some of its value, being only a brilliant silver key.

But the rest were the real gems.

Lukal's key! Dim Legendary quality!

Goenitz's key! Dim Legendary quality!

And the final reward from the King of Fighters tournament! A champion chest, also with Dim Legendary quality!

That's right! Qin Ming had become the champion in the final King of Fighters tournament! The reason was that he had foiled Goenitz's plot.

The final prize was certainly well-earned and reflected his hard-fought journey.

Three Legendary-tier keys—this was the kind of terrifying loot Qin Ming had never encountered before. He was so excited that he could hardly control his emotions.

Originally, he had planned to wait until he returned to the Nightmare Space to open the chest, but in the end, he couldn't resist the temptation and decided to open it early.

Qin Ming always waited until he was back in the Nightmare Space before opening treasure chests, not because he couldn't wait to get stronger. The reason was that using items in the field was too risky, and the Nightmare Space acted as a safety mechanism for adventurers.

If you were to use bloodline fusion or items in the Nightmare Space, even if there was a negative reaction, the space would help you resolve it—though it might cost some points.

But in the mission world, you were on your own.

Just imagine if, during the final battle, you obtained a skill and tried to fuse with it, only for it to backfire and injure you, or produce a negative effect. How could you continue the battle?

So, the consensus among adventurers was that it was safer to fuse bloodlines and use items within the Nightmare Space.

If not for the overwhelming urge to see what the chest contained, Qin Ming wouldn't have opened it at all.

He knew himself well. He was afraid that, if he saw something good, he wouldn't be able to resist and would use it immediately.

(End of Chapter)