Infinity, The Arcade Age-Chapter 406: Overlord

[Name: Sound Nest Combat Suit Type II]

[Type: Top + Pants (Dull Gold Grade)]

[Equip Requirement: None]

[Effect 1: Attribute Boost (All Attributes +10)]

[Effect 2: Bulletproof Material (Defense +20)]

[Effect 3: High-Tech AI Core (Can mimic and perform the target's martial arts, up to B-rank limit)]

[Description: This is the pinnacle creation of the Sound Nest organization, possessing terrifying power.] freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Originally only a Radiant Silver-grade item, the Sound Nest Combat Suit Type II had been upgraded by Qin Ming using his previous bulletproof suit, elevating it to Dull Gold grade.

And the upgraded equipment's performance far exceeded Qin Ming's expectations.

He was now wearing a sleek black bodysuit, with a skirt-like blade attachment hanging at his waist.

Looking at his current appearance in the mirror, a brilliant smile spread across Qin Ming's face.

This final bite of meat before returning seemed especially rich and juicy.

His gear had been updated, his title upgraded, and all his attribute points distributed—he had invested every last one into Strength.

With the boosts from his luxurious equipment, his Strength and Constitution were nearly maxed out, both reaching the threshold for Stage Two—60 points. Agility and Spirit were around 40.

Combined with his set of high-tier skills, Qin Ming wasn't just strong among mid-level adventurers—he could probably hold his own even among high-level ones.

Now, only two things remained to be strengthened: his mount and his skills.

Skills didn't require money to upgrade; Qin Ming already had the materials for fusion on hand.

However, the fame of Killing Intent Wave was just too great, and Qin Ming had only recently learned that S-ranked skills could actually conflict with each other. That made him hesitant to enhance it rashly.

After all, he couldn't be sure whether Nightmare Space could fully protect him.

If it could protect everything, then great. But if it couldn't... he didn't want to die inside Nightmare Space.

In the end, after much hesitation, Qin Ming decided not to fuse the Killing Intent Wave skill for now. He chose to shelve the matter.

He planned to check if he could obtain—or buy—a special skill from another world, one that could either fuse with or balance out the Killing Intent Wave. Something to lay a foundation first.

Only when he had a safety net would he dare to take the risk.

After all, with safeguards in place, a fusion failure would at worst destroy a skill.

But without safeguards, it could really get him killed.

Leaving the room, Qin Ming began scouring the area for the items he wanted. The currency he used was the consumables he'd exchanged for using contribution points from both factions in the King of Fighters world.

After cobbling things together, he finally managed to complete his purchases and returned to his room.

Following a fusion process, his dinosaur mount—which had previously been just a tier below Super Black Horse—finally completed its evolution.

With the fusion complete, a brand-new mount appeared before Qin Ming.

[Name: Super Triceratops]

[Grade: Common Gold]

[Strength: 60]

[Constitution: 60]

[Agility: 40]

[Spirit: 10]

[Skill 1: Genetic Armor (Each point of Constitution adds +1 Defense)]

[Skill 2: Boar Charge (Speed increases steadily during continuous running, up to 3x)]

[Skill 3: Regeneration Factor (Grants self-healing ability)]

[Description: The perfect dinosaur in Dr. Calamity's dreams—too bad it didn't come from his hands.]

Having been upgraded to Gold Grade, and even further evolved to Common Gold Grade, the Triceratops' stats were boosted to outrageous levels.

Self-healing, defense, and speed—its development path was remarkably similar to Qin Ming's own. Even if it were acting solo, it could still serve as a terrifying boss.

The only shortcoming was its Spirit stat. After all, the creature had been born with low intelligence.

Even after its series of upgrades, all other hardware saw improvements—except for its brainpower, which remained absolutely unchanged, showing no sign of evolving.

Qin Ming didn't really mind that.

It's a mount, after all—what does it need intelligence for? In fact, a dumb mount was sometimes better!

Otherwise, if it got scared in a crisis, it could mess up his whole plan.

But this kind of dumb, tough, hulking brute? It didn't even question danger.

It wouldn't just ram into people—it would smash into a wall without hesitation if you told it to. Now that was the kind of mount you could rely on.

With his mount fully enhanced, Qin Ming was finally completely satisfied.

He returned to his room and immediately opened the King of Fighters manual, summoning characters one by one to form contracts.

Don't misunderstand—he wasn't up to anything shady. He summoned these story characters mainly to learn their martial arts.

After all, he had just acquired the Sound Nest Combat Suit, and its effect was too unique not to take full advantage of.

Any emotional bonding would just be a side benefit.

When characters like Mai Shiranui were suddenly summoned into Nightmare Space, they looked around the room curiously.

It was clear they were stunned by this bizarre place.

Mai even tried to step outside for a look—but the moment she walked out of the room, she was forcibly teleported back to her original world.

Normally, adventurers were strictly forbidden from revealing any information about Nightmare Space to story characters—violators would be punished.

However, Qin Ming's method of directly summoning people into Nightmare Space through special means was clearly an exception.

After all, they were already here, so what was there to hide?

Qin Ming could even bring Mai Shiranui and the others through Nightmare Space as a platform to enter other worlds, such as his other secret base: Dream Island.

Imagine the scene when magical fairies and three scheming mermaids collided with a group of female fighters from the fighting world. The spectacle was bound to be explosive.

In addition, the unique Dream Water in Dream Island stunned Mai Shiranui and the others. After a bath, Mai even considered taking some of it back to strengthen her own sect, but unfortunately, she didn't succeed.

While Qin Ming was busy hosting a pool party with his new companions, a huge room in Nightmare Space was also buzzing with activity.

This room spanned thousands of square meters and looked like the heart of a grand palace. In the center, a very tall, emaciated man was seated on a throne, expressionless, his head lowered as he remained silent.

The man was connected to numerous needles and devices, adjusting his physical condition.

He appeared sickly, hooked up to various machines and seemingly frail.

Yet, no one dared to underestimate him. In fact, none of the gathered crowd dared to even look at him directly; they all stood with their heads down in respectful silence.

The man, despite his frailty, was the leader of a powerful faction within Nightmare Space—the founder of the Street Brawler Team: the Overlord!

Wearing an oxygen mask, he emitted heavy breaths.

The man, known as Overlord, weakly lifted his head and glanced at the crowd below.

Seeing over two thousand core members before him, he suddenly furrowed his brows, removed the oxygen mask, and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Rugal is dead?"

Upon hearing this, a mid-level adventurer, who seemed out of place among the group of high-level adventurers, quickly jogged out of the crowd.

"Yes, sir!"

"How did he die?"

"He had an energy backlash during a fight and exploded."

"Hmm? How? Did he face Goenitz Howard?"

"No! He fought an adventurer!"

"An adventurer?"

The unexpected answer caused Overlord to freeze for a moment. Holding onto his respirator, he furrowed his brows even more tightly.

Taking a deep breath from the respirator, Overlord muttered to himself in a low voice.

"A mere mid-level adventurer, yet he could force Rugal—who had already integrated Killing Intent Wave—to unleash his full strength and even attempt to fuse bloodlines. Impressive. It seems Nightmare Space has produced a remarkable newcomer."

Upon hearing Overlord's words, the second-in-command, standing nearby, glanced sharply at him.

"Sir, should we investigate him?"

"No need. Nightmare Space is full of talents like that. I've seen plenty, and I've killed many. Talent? Let him reach the peak and become a top-tier adventurer before talking to me about talent."

Taking another sharp breath from the respirator, Overlord's eyes suddenly became piercing.

"Killing God."

"Here!"

"Go find a batch of newly promoted mid-level adventurers and have them enter the King of Fighters world with the A-rank Killing Intent Wave skill book. Continue looking for Lukal and have him integrate it, then bring him back."

"Yes, sir!"

"Alright, everyone else can disperse. I'm tired."

Leaning back in his chair, Overlord slowly closed his eyes.

Seeing this, the crowd in front quickly turned and left, and the hall fell into a deep silence.

After a long while, Overlord, still with his eyes closed, sighed and suddenly muttered to himself.

"When will I ever find a skill that perfectly balances the power within me..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Overlord suddenly began coughing uncontrollably.

With each cough, a crimson wave of killing intent exploded from his body, rapidly spreading out in all directions.

This was Killing Intent—pure and tangible Killing Intent!

The blood of Orochi from the King of Fighters world! The Killing Intent Wave from the Street Brawler world! The Dark God's power from the Samurai Shodown world! The Dragon Blood from the Dragon Warrior!

Overlord possessed the most powerful skills in existence!

Using a variety of skills, he had fought his way from the bottom to the top of the pyramid, making him the true overlord of his generation of adventurers.

However, as the power within him grew, Overlord found himself restricted by that very power.

He could still control one or two forces using his natural talent.

With three or four forces, his unique skills allowed him to fuse and manage them.

But his control had limits, and now the power within him had completely surpassed his ability to control.

This was why he appeared sickly—his body was being ravaged by the internal conflict of the various powers.

He even dared not casually remove any of the powers, as they had formed a strange balance within him. If he were to take one out carelessly, the entire structure would collapse.

Overlord desperately needed to find a way to balance the powers within him. Over the years, he had continually sent people into the King of Fighters world, using Rugal as an experiment to test solutions.

Having Rugal integrate Killing Intent Wave was just the first step. The real test would begin once Rugal became an adventurer and entered Nightmare Space, where various skill fusion experiments would take place.

As for why Overlord was so fixated on using Rugal for his experiments—why he had relentlessly targeted Rugal, even causing the deaths of countless Rugals—that was because, in the end, Overlord himself was Rugal!

[Talent Skill: Possession]

[Effect: Choose a story character to possess, abandoning your original body and inheriting all their abilities and talents. This can only be used once per world. Once used, the original body will die permanently. (Note: The character must have a goodwill rating of at least 700 points.)]

[Description: Your power is impressive! But soon, it will be mine!]

(End of Chapter)