Infinity, The Arcade Age

Inside the tunnel, footsteps echoed as a figure strode in with hands behind his back.

The experimental subjects crawling along the walls and floor tried to attack him, but before they could get close, a sharp whistling sound rang out.

Two blood spheres shot through the air like lightning, tracing curved paths midair before slamming into the monsters.

With violent explosions, the creatures were blown apart. The spheres then swiftly changed direction, weaving madly through the crowd and taking down one target after another.

Qin Ming walked forward with large strides while the Killing Intent Tracking Blood Orbs cleared the area. In mere moments, the tunnel was swept clean of monsters.

Once nothing living remained, he raised his hand and caught the blood spheres as they spun back into his palm, absorbing them completely.

Looking at the carnage all around him, Qin Ming nodded slightly. After personally testing the Tracking Hadouken, he was very satisfied.

His blood manipulation had always been powerful, but its only flaw was a lack of flexibility.

Now, the Tracking Hadouken had perfectly filled that gap, granting him absolute control over his power—as natural as moving his own arm.

With that, his last shortcoming was finally resolved. He was now a perfectly balanced six-attribute warrior.

Well, not perfect just yet—true perfection would be upgrading all his skills to SSS-rank. But that would take time. Although his Blood Buddha bloodline could stably fuse other bloodlines, it could only do so one at a time. He'd have to wait.

Reaching a lab, he frowned at the sight of dead scientists and soldiers strewn across the floor.

After surveying the area, he determined that the experiment must have gone wrong, causing the test subjects to go berserk and slaughter everyone.

He waved his hand, and a blade formed from blood shot forward.

With a shrill slicing sound, the blood blade, empowered by Killing Intent, sliced through the sealed door like it was tofu.

Qin Ming walked through the newly made gap and raised an eyebrow as he saw a cave tunnel leading outside.

He had found the rebel army's main base!

At the exit of the cave, a field of pure white snow stretched outward. The only access was a series of swaying suspension bridges, hanging in midair.

With strong winds howling, the bridges swung wildly. Not only would walking on them be difficult—just standing was nearly impossible.

What's more, spaced along the path were fixed stone pillars topped with bunkers—capable of attacking incoming enemies or blowing the bridges if necessary.

This single path to the rebel base could only be described as a natural fortress.

But that only applied to ordinary people. For Qin Ming, it was meaningless—because he didn't need to walk.

With a twist of his figure, Qin Ming exploded into blood mist and soared through the hail of bullets, heading straight for the military base in the distance.

Behind him, the hound soldiers who had emerged from the tunnel did the same. After exchanging glances, they too turned into blood mist and charged ahead.

In the midst of the wind and snow, a tide of blood mist surged forward like a tsunami. No matter how dense the bullet rain was, it had no effect—they were completely immune to physical attacks.

By the time they reformed into human shape, they were already inside the base.

Just as Qin Ming—hands still behind his back—was about to lead his troops in, a piercing creak broke the silence.

The next moment, the heavy steel gate slowly opened, revealing the interior of the mountaintop military base.

Inside was an entire army—a large, well-equipped force.

Leading them was none other than the man Qin Ming had briefly encountered once before—General Morden!

He was riding in a sci-fi-style circular flying pod, half his body emerging from the top hatch, his face solemn as he looked toward Qin Ming.

When General Morden saw Qin Ming, his pupils constricted violently.

"You?!"

"It's me."

"I remember you… I've heard about you. The commander of the Hound Unit, Major General Hyena of the Third Star!"

"Soon to be a five-star general."

"I've heard all about your recent deeds, Hyena. Choosing to help the people… that proves you're not completely corrupted. So why oppose us? Why not cooperate instead?"

With eyes wide, General Morden grew somewhat emotional as he spoke.

"You and I, working together—toppling the Federation! You can be whatever kind of general you want! Isn't that better? Why fight for a rotting Federation?!"

Qin Ming blinked at his words, paused in thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Your offer is tempting. And honestly, I don't care who I fight for… but I have to think about my men. Their families live in the Federation. They hold ranks within it. Their lives are stable now. Morden, I can't just destroy everything they've built for my own sake. I'm a general. I can ignore the lives of strangers—but I can't ignore the lives of my own soldiers."

Hearing that, Morden gave a bitter smile and nodded with understanding.

"I see now. We're the ones who've been driven to a dead end, while you all still have a path to retreat. You truly have no reason to join us. In that case… let strength decide!"

With a wave of his hand, the soldiers around him raised their weapons, aiming at the opposing side.

General Morden's face was resolute.

"Then let me show you the power of our new ally's technology… Martian Tech!"

With a loud buzz, the sci-fi hovering platform beneath him lit up and slowly ascended into the air.

This completely vertical flying machine was clearly beyond the tech level of the Federation Army. Behind Morden, several strange-looking square mechs also emerged—each one unlike anything the Federation had seen.

Qin Ming couldn't help but look stunned as he watched.

Inside his craft, General Morden burst into wild laughter.

But before the laughter could finish—a beam of light suddenly dropped from the sky, striking the flying device dead-on!

In the next instant, the entire craft exploded on the spot, and the wreckage—along with General Morden—was dragged upward uncontrollably, levitating toward the sky.

At that moment, the clouds parted above.

From the clearing skies, a gigantic flying saucer descended slowly!

Its size stretched for over ten kilometers—like a floating island in the sky, glowing with multicolored lights below.

Through the translucent, glass-like material at the bottom, one could see strange jellyfish-like creatures piloting the massive vessel!

These were the rebels' newly found allies—the Martians—finally making their grand entrance!

…Or rather, former allies. Because from the beginning, their true goal had never been to help Morden. They had only joined the rebellion to study this planet's technology and combat style.

Now that they had finished gathering data and were confident they could defeat this world's enemies—the Martians finally made their move!

They were the true final bosses of Metal Slug 2!

As the enormous saucer descended, the rebel soldiers below screamed in panic, and even the Hound Unit warriors stood dumbfounded.

Only Qin Ming, after a moment of realization, shook his head with a smile.

"Fighting aliens to save the world… what a cliché."

BOOM!

Just as he finished speaking, a beam of light rained down from above—striking him squarely.

(End of Chapter)