Infinity, The Arcade Age

Ka-chunk—

With the mechanism triggered, an ear-piercing screech of metal echoed through the air as Qin Ming and the others followed the hidden passage into the depths of Shadowlaw's headquarters.

After passing through a long corridor, they were met with a massive underground facility.

But the interior was eerily quiet. There wasn't a single soul in sight—only the cold, pale light overhead illuminated the space.

Ten soldiers led the way at the front, rifles raised as they vigilantly scanned their surroundings.

Qin Ming and the others followed closely behind, eyes constantly shifting, alert to every shadow and movement.

Eventually, after another set of electronic doors slid open, they entered the core area of the facility.

And what they saw first were countless glass pods—each one containing a person.

Inside floated muscular men and women, all with oxygen tubes inserted into them, suspended silently in nutrient fluid, sound asleep.

Some even bore visible injuries. Underneath each upright capsule was a detailed profile display.

Date of birth, current age, fighting style, battle records—everything was neatly cataloged and crystal clear.

These were all fighters! Fighters who had been missing for a long time!

Seeing the vast number of warriors trapped in slumber, Chun-Li and the others' expressions darkened.

And just then, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the front. A second later, a large group of people stormed in through the entrance, glaring with hostility, weapons of all kinds in hand.

There were dozens of them—also fighters—each with a vicious expression and cold, dead eyes!

At the very front stood a burly, monstrous man in a military uniform and cap, arms crossed, grinning with a predatory gleam.

To be precise—he was staring straight at Qin Ming.

Vega, the general of Shadowlaw.

He eyed Qin Ming up and down, and the grin on his face grew even more twisted, his gaze brimming with satisfaction.

"So you're Qin Ming? The one who defeated Akuma? Not bad… yes, not bad at all. What a fine vessel. I'm very pleased."

At his words, Qin Ming quietly raised a hand and activated his sunglasses—but the moment he did, deep cracks spiderwebbed across the lenses.

Clearly, Vega's terrifying spiritual power made it impossible to scan him with detection tools.

Seeing this, Qin Ming expressionlessly removed the cracked glasses.

"Shadowlaw's leader… Vega? You're a woman? You? What part of you looks like a woman?"

"Hmph-hmph-hmph… Gender is something only the mundane care about. I've already transcended the mortal realm. My spiritual power is eternal and undying—what difference does it make whether I'm a man or a woman? I can be whatever I want to be!"

Her gaze lingered greedily on Qin Ming's powerful physique, sensing the overwhelming killing intent he emanated. The more she looked, the more thrilled she became.

Because Qin Ming had already slaughtered several of her subordinates recently, Vega had long since taken an interest in him—and had dispatched people to dig up every scrap of information they could find.

Learning that Qin Ming had fought and defeated Akuma… that he possessed immense regenerative power, blood manipulation abilities, and an overwhelming aura of murderous intent…

This wasn't just a perfect body—it was a divine gift!

A body that could regenerate endlessly, paired with her terrifying spiritual power—what sort of monster could they become?

Her dream of world domination… was finally within reach!

Breaking into wild laughter, Vega grabbed her cape and flung it off dramatically, then roared at the top of her lungs:

"Become a part of me, boy!"

Boom!

The moment Vega's voice fell, he flung a spiritual energy orb straight at Qin Ming at lightning speed.

Vega's spiritual power was indeed far superior to that of his junior sister, Rose. At the very least, Rose couldn't launch her spiritual energy outward to such an extent, but Vega could do it with ease.

Watching the incoming energy sphere streaking toward him, Qin Ming's pupils contracted. With a flick of his wrist, he fired back an energy sphere of his own—a homing Hadouken.

The two energy blasts collided mid-air, unleashing a shockwave so fierce that it rustled everyone's clothes with a sharp whipping sound.

The booming clash of the two techniques seemed to serve as the signal—both sides instantly charged into battle, erupting into chaos as they brawled in a wild melee.

Qin Ming and Vega, two muscular titans, simultaneously surged forward, arms slamming into each other with a thunderous impact.

Qin Ming was cloaked in a blood-red mist, his murderous aura boiling over.

Vega, meanwhile, was shrouded in waves of purple spiritual energy, swirling ominously around him.

Their eyes locked for an instant—and then, with grim expressions and twisted smiles, the two men exchanged heavy punches.

Their fists collided, sending a blast of pressure through the ground that shattered tiles and launched debris half a meter into the air.

Once again evenly matched, they quickly moved into a fierce exchange of blows, fists and kicks flying in rapid succession, neither yielding an inch.

Qin Ming, empowered by his Killing Intent Aura, displayed terrifying physical stats.

But Vega's current body had also been carefully selected—it was equally monstrous in strength.

After dozens of consecutive exchanges with no clear victor, both finally opted to use their skills.

Each struck their chest with a fist, skidding back to gain distance, and raised their hands to charge their energy.

Energy spheres clashed again in mid-air, but before the smoke from the explosion could clear, a whirlwind surged forth—and multiple Hadoukens burst through the haze, arcing like crimson snakes, homing in on Vega.

This was Qin Ming's signature move—Phantom Homing Hadouken!

Vega, who had already studied intelligence reports about Qin Ming's abilities, was not surprised. He knew these Hadoukens could turn in mid-air and even lock onto targets.

Instead of panicking, he suddenly let out a wild laugh.

The next second, he flung out several purple spiritual energy balls of his own, each one curving in strange trajectories to meet the incoming Hadoukens in the sky!

Multi-Spiritual Energy Blast! And they were also homing!

Under his powerful mental control, Vega's orbs also curved and twisted!

A barrage of explosions erupted as the two types of projectiles collided mid-air, detonating on contact in a thunderous chain reaction.

Even their skill clash ended in a stalemate.

Through the smoke and chaos, Qin Ming and Vega stared at each other in silence. A few seconds later, a red gleam flashed in Qin Ming's eyes as blood mist violently surged from his body.

Skill: Killing Intent Aura—activated!

His hands curled into tiger claws, gathering energy rapidly as fierce gales howled into his palms.

One of the Assassination Sect's highest secret arts—Annihilation Hadouken!

Extreme killing intent and energy were compressed into a singular blast, fired with full force. This self-developed ultimate technique was an evolved form of the Killing Intent Hadouken.

But it wasn't just about raw power—the key was its speed. Speed like lightning.

And that wasn't a metaphor. This Hadouken literally moved as fast as a lightning bolt—so fast that even Qin Ming's own homing abilities couldn't track it in time.

With both hands thrust forward, the blast was unleashed.

Whoosh! A flash of red light tore through the air, and before Vega could even react, he was hit squarely in the chest and blasted away on the spot.

The wall behind him twisted and exploded from the impact, and the massive detonation shredded through the steel structure, reducing the area to complete rubble.

Still holding the posture of his finishing move, arms extended and body wreathed in crimson smoke, Qin Ming stood like a demon incarnate.

(End of Chapter)