In the end, Qin Ming had no choice but to release Maki Genryusai. After all, he was outmatched in skill and strength, and there was nothing he could do about it.
As long as he wanted to continue operating in this world, he had to let her go—at least until he could surpass the old man in strength.
Gouken's Shoryuken had finally brought Qin Ming back to reality, making him realize just how vast the gap was between him and the top-tier story characters.
Just as he could crush ordinary soldiers, these major bosses could crush him just as easily.
Therefore, Qin Ming chose to swallow his pride and back down. After all, losing to someone stronger wasn't shameful.
As for the old man's comment about Qin Ming being influenced by his power? Qin Ming had indeed noticed it. Ever since acquiring the S-rank skill Blood Absorption and being in a constant state of blood saturation, his personality had become increasingly irritable.
He had started relying on brute force to solve every problem, avoiding using his brain, and his methods had grown increasingly cruel. Even the tactics he had once relied on for survival had fallen by the wayside.
It seemed as though he had become fixed on, or instinctively preferred, using his newly acquired S-rank skill, Blood Absorption.
Perhaps the old man was right—he really had been influenced by this power.
But so what? Knowing about it didn't mean he could stop using it.
Between being corrupted by power and becoming a brute, or being killed by other adventurers, what would you choose? The answer was obvious, wasn't it? Qin Ming had no choice!
Even if this power made him irritable, or even if it turned him into something else entirely, without a viable alternative, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep using it!
In the Nightmare Space, losing power death meant. Qin Ming had no other option!
Picking up the card, Qin Ming couldn't help but sigh.
"Gouken, huh? One of the strongest in the Street Fighter world. Next time we meet, I'll come find you..."
Tucking the card away, Qin Ming chose to return without hesitation.
After all, he had to leave quickly. He was afraid that Gouken, upon learning about what had happened to Maki Genryusai, would come back to kill him.
Current World: Final Fight
Rewards being calculated... Calculation complete!
Main Quest Completed (Solo Kill a Story Boss): 5,000 points, 5 free attribute points.
Optional Quest Completed (Raise Faction Reputation to 500): 5,000 points, 5 free attribute points.
Hidden Quest Completed (Facilitate Cooperation Between the Mayor and the Mad Gear Gang): 5,000 points, 5 free attribute points.
Total Rewards for This World: 15,000 points, 15 free attribute points.
Detected that the adventurer has become the leader of the Mad Gear Gang and officially controls a faction. Final Fight world officially cleared. Reward: Clearance Treasure Chest x1!
As the voice in his ear faded, Qin Ming was greeted by the familiar slideshow of images.
The final image froze on the moment he charged at Gouken, attempting to clash with the old man's ultimate move.
In the image, Qin Ming looked menacing, his massive frame dwarfing Gouken's, seemingly holding the advantage.
But only Qin Ming knew what came next—Gouken's Shoryuken had crippled him in an instant, leaving him defenseless.
Turning his gaze away from the image, Qin Ming nodded slightly as he reviewed his rewards.
He noticed that since becoming an intermediate adventurer, not only had his benefits improved, but the rewards for completing quests had also increased significantly.
The rewards from a single quest, if fully completed, were now equivalent to what he used to earn from two quests.
In addition to the rewards, he had also obtained a considerable number of treasure chests this time.
One from Guy, one from Cody, one from the corrupt cop Eddie, one from the big boss Belger, and one from his most loyal follower, Abigail, who was also the strongest.
This time, Qin Ming had obtained a total of five keys, all of which were at least Shimmering Silver quality!
Among them, Abigail's key was even Dim Gold quality!
He couldn't help but wonder what kind of key Gouken would drop if he were killed...
Quickly allocating all his attribute points to Constitution to enhance his durability, Qin Ming's Constitution reached 33 points. With his equipment, it even reached 58 points. Satisfied, he nodded.
Then, without hesitation, he opened the treasure chest!
As the light flashed repeatedly, Qin Ming's brows gradually furrowed.
The items he obtained from the keys didn't exceed his expectations.
Since these were keys from a fighting world, many of the items he received were skill books.
Cody's Criminal Upper, the move where he spins like a tornado, and Guy's Bushinryu Hasshoken—both were B-rank skills. While their value wasn't low, Qin Ming had no use for them.
The items that truly held value for him were the following three:
Name: Eddie's Chewing Gum (Final Fight World)
Category: Consumable (Shimmering Silver Quality)
Effect: While chewing, restores 1 point of Spirit every 3 seconds.
Description: This is imported super chewing gum, Eddie's favorite. Known among players as the most absurd healing item in Final Fight, as it's literally taken from the mouth of Eddie, the corrupt cop who's always chewing gum.
Name: Ki Wave (Street Fighter World)
Category: Skill Book (B-Rank Passive Skill)
Effect: Allows the user to learn Ki Wave (B-Rank).
Description: One of the core powers of Street Fighter martial artists, this is the most basic version of energy manipulation. It pales in comparison to the Murderous Intent Wave.
Name: Belger's Bulletproof Suit (Final Fight World)
Category: Upper + Lower Body (Shimmering Silver Story Quality)
Effect 1: Defense +20
Effect 2: Constitution +10
Description: A custom-made bulletproof suit created by Belger for himself. It boasts top-tier impact resistance, though it's useless against blood absorption.
A Shimmering Silver-quality suit with exceptional defensive capabilities.
A piece of chewing gum with a special effect that continuously restores Spirit and can be used indefinitely. And the most core and rarest passive skill in the Street Fighter world—Ki Wave!
Looking at these three items in his hands, Qin Ming couldn't help but show a look of ecstasy on his face. Especially the last skill book, which made his eyebrows twitch. Without hesitation, he learned it immediately. He then took out another skill book and fused it with the Ki Wave, upgrading it to A-rank. After a moment of hesitation, he also upgraded the B-rank ultimate skill, Heaven's Slide, to A-rank. In the blink of an eye, Qin Ming's skill set had gone from 1 S-rank, 1 A-rank, and 1 B-rank to a luxurious configuration of 1 S-rank and 3 A-rank skills.
Standing still, Qin Ming quietly felt the power flowing within his body. Suddenly, he let out a roar and punched forward. As the Ki Wave surged within him, a visible stream of energy erupted from his fist.
Ki Wave! A-rank! The effect is to attach ki to any skill, enhancing the power of punches, kicks, or any other moves! It can also strengthen one's defense! The maximum enhancement is 50%!
This was a power amplifier! No wonder people in the Street Fighter world loved to fight with their fists and feet! With such an ability to enhance their bodies, it was only natural to rely on physical combat to determine the winner!
As Qin Ming familiarized himself with his new power, he suddenly roared again and slammed his fist into the ground. With the surge of Ki Wave, a violent pillar of blood erupted from the ground, instantly destroying most of the room. This time, the skill was no longer just an extension of his fists and feet—its power had not been enhanced at all! With the amplification of ki, Qin Ming couldn't claim to match a genuine Energy Fountain, but he could at least hold his own against it.
Similarly, Heaven's Slide, which had also been upgraded to A-rank, saw an increase in sliding speed and distance. Originally, Qin Ming could only slide up to five meters, but now he could slide up to fifteen meters, and his sliding speed had increased significantly. It truly reached the point where if he saw you, he could instantly close the distance and grab you!
However...
"Not enough! Still not enough! Far from enough!"
Looking at his new skills, Qin Ming's mind flashed back to Gouken's Shoryuken, and his expression turned grim. Even with so many powerful new skills, he still didn't believe he could withstand that punch. The destructive power of that strike was too terrifying.
When he had just returned, Qin Ming had considered upgrading his A-rank defensive skill to S-rank, believing it would undergo a qualitative transformation, just like the Blood Absorption skill. But Gouken's punch had shaken his confidence in defensive skills! This was not a good sign!
With a flicker in his eyes, Qin Ming took off his original jacket and pants and put on the bulletproof suit. He then strode out of the room. He planned to go out and spend some money, hoping to gather some cheap skill books to upgrade his Thick Skin skill to S-rank. With a life-saving skill, he would have more confidence. He no longer cared whether upgrading the skill recklessly would render it useless or make it inferior to the original version. After nearly being killed by that punch, he desperately needed strength to back him up.
If one S-rank skill wasn't enough to deal with Gouken, Qin Ming didn't believe two S-rank skills would fail! If that still wasn't enough, then three, four, or five! He would overwhelm him with sheer numbers!
As for whether he would be influenced by the power? Who cared! Survival came first!
After wandering around for a full day, Qin Ming finally returned to his room. After spending tens of thousands of points, nearly exhausting all the points he had scammed from the King of Fighters team, he finally pieced together another A-rank skill. Without hesitation, he chose to fuse it with his Thick Skin skill.
As the light flashed, Qin Ming's second S-rank skill descended!
(Ding! Detected skill mutation! Please choose the mutation direction! Direction 1: Damage Immunity! Direction 2: Defense Enhancement!)
"Choose Direction 1!"
(Selection complete! Evolution in progress! Evolution complete! Congratulations to the adventurer for obtaining the new skill: Steel Body!)
Name: Steel Body
Grade: S-rank
Effect: Gain damage immunity equal to 1/5 of your Constitution. Additionally, all defense attributes obtained through any means will be converted into damage immunity!
Description: What nonsense are you spouting? Guns and magic? How could they possibly harm my tempered body! The flesh is not so fragile!
With the skill upgraded to S-rank, the original damage immunity effect didn't increase, but it gained a terrifying additional effect—converting physical defense into damage immunity. What did this mean? It meant that Qin Ming, now wearing the bulletproof suit, had a defense of 25 points, and his original damage immunity was 12 points. Combined, Qin Ming could now ignore any attack below 36 points!
And with his new equipment, his total strength was only 31 points! He couldn't even hurt himself!
If he couldn't hurt himself, what about others?
Others... well, they probably still couldn't handle Gouken.
Thinking about how that punch had nearly killed him, Qin Ming felt a toothache.
This wasn't good! What he feared most was explosive burst damage! Even if he ate ten sets of Dragon and Tiger Chaos, the damage he'd take would probably be less than one Galactic Phantom!
Machine guns counter soldiers! Tanks counter machine guns! But rocket launchers counter tanks!
Qin Ming was now a heavy tank! Against ordinary story characters who couldn't hurt him, he could probably chase down a whole group! But against his natural enemy, he was just a sitting duck.
How he had bullied Guy and Cody before, burst damage dealers could now bully him in the same way! And those burst damage dealers, in turn, were easily countered by fast, hit-and-run fighters. After all, no matter how strong your burst damage is, it's useless if you can't hit your target.
This! This is the food chain cycle!
(End of Chapter)