Chapter 107: The Power of Money

With dead, hollow eyes, a blade shimmering with murderous intent slashed toward the man in gold-rimmed glasses.

Chen Qi had been acting for a long time to set up this strike, holding his ground even as the man walked three steps closer, waiting until he was within arm's reach.

The strike was steady—lacking the frantic desperation of a last-ditch effort and the erratic instability caused by excessive speed. It possessed only the absolute confidence of a guaranteed hit.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses took the toxic blood directly into his eyes. His body stiffened instantly, his face contorted in agony, and he could not even retract the hand he had reached out to receive Chen Qi’s blade.

There were no surprises. Before the surrounding crowd could even react, the crimson blade sliced horizontally across the man’s waist.

Indeed, Chen Qi intended to cut him in half. While not necessarily the most painful way to die, it was certainly the most reliable.

"Hmm?"

Chen Qi’s right hand, gripping the sword, felt a slight jolt. The sensation of the strike was not that of hitting flesh and bone, but rather like cutting into a mass of cotton.

Moreover, this mass was expanding, forcing Chen Qi’s blade to recoil.

A pale blue energy shield had manifested around the man in gold-rimmed glasses. It had taken the full force of Chen Qi’s long-planned strike, with only its surface rippling slightly.

The man finally recovered. With one hand, he wiped at his eyes, trying to clear the toxic blood, while his other hand produced a precision-engineered metal token that glowed with a rhythmic red light.

His triangular eyes, hidden behind the gold-rimmed glasses, were filled with lingering shock and disbelief.

If not for the precious, passively triggered defensive artifact granted to him by his brother, he would have already been reduced to two piles of rotting meat!

How could someone of his noble status have been so close to perishing here?

That ant-like creature had actually forced him to burn a life-saving trump card!

His face, previously twisted with obscenity, instantly transformed into a mask of pure fury. He slammed his thumb onto the metal token and hurled it away.

In an instant, the token expanded and enlarged, transforming into a mechanical spider roughly a meter in diameter.

As soon as it materialized, the mechanical spider locked its crimson sensors onto Chen Qi, clearly intent on protecting its master.

Chen Qi watched this scene coldly and swung his blade again.

Unlike the first strike, which had been executed without a wind-up to ensure an element of surprise, this blow channeled the blood from his entire body.

Unlike any of his previous full-force attacks, the blood this time was thicker and more crystalline, causing the blade to radiate a scorching heat, as if it were about to burst into flames.

This burning strike slammed into the energy shield once more. Instead of being easily deflected like the previous one, this blade embedded itself deep into the barrier, the blood-energy on the steel constantly eroding the pale blue light with a sharp, hissing sound.

The energy shield shook violently, flickering with the instability of being pushed to its limit.

The man in gold-rimmed glasses watched this in disbelief. This Tier 1 energy shield was capable of holding out for nearly ten seconds even against a Tier 1 boss—how could it be failing so quickly?

After the shock, he finally remembered to put some distance between them. He scrambled backward, shouting for his teammates to save him, while a new object appeared in his palm.

It was a frost-blue metal sphere, the size of a watermelon. Made of an unknown blue metal and covered in a layer of icy mist, it clearly cost an exorbitant amount.

Even Chen Qi, who was gathering strength for his next strike, felt a hidden, dangerous aura emanating from it.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Two gun barrels suddenly emerged from the mechanical spider’s body, and in the next second, a barrage of bullets swept toward Chen Qi. Not only that, but the spider began to crawl rapidly toward him while firing, showing no fear of close-quarters combat.

Ignoring the incoming bullets, Chen Qi sidestepped the less agile mechanical spider, his focus entirely on the pathetic figure ahead.

Seeing the opening left by the man in gold-rimmed glasses as he fled in a panic, Chen Qi offered a cruel smile and delivered another horizontal slash, fully charged with blood-energy.

This strike was no less powerful than the last, fueled by the blood-energy of most of his body, the arc of the blade cutting through the air like a rainbow.

The man’s dimming shield shattered like a bubble, though the impact depleted most of the blood-energy from the blade.

Undeterred, Chen Qi thrust the remaining momentum of the sword through the man’s midsection, simultaneously detonating the blood-energy to blow the bleeding body flying.

Looking at the fountain of blood spraying through the air, a hint of fortune flashed through Chen Qi’s mind. Had the man not walked right up to him—had he stopped three or five steps away—this strike might never have landed, or even if it had, it likely would have missed.

But there were no "ifs"! He had gotten too close!

Seeing the man’s health drop rapidly to 8% and continuing to slide toward certain death, Chen Qi turned his attention to the mechanical spider.

As for that barrage of bullets, it had only caused a stinging pain and knocked his own health down to 92%.

Without realizing it, the once-tender youth had grown to a point where he no longer feared ordinary gunfire.

At the same moment, a figure wrapped in tight leather armor appeared behind the mechanical spider. Seeing the fountain of blood erupting from the man, Liu Luo’s face was filled with shock, but her dagger did not hesitate as she thrust it toward Chen Qi’s waist.

Because she was the fastest, she had arrived first, yet it seemed she could only watch her teammate perish.

Though the man disgusted her to her core, he was a member of the Mad God Adventure Team; if he were found dead within her party...

At that thought, Liu Luo’s dagger moved even faster, a faint, eerie blue light clinging to it—it was clearly a skill imbued with lethal poison.

Not expecting Liu Luo to arrive so quickly, Chen Qi instantly shifted his blade from the mechanical spider to parry the incoming strike.

In his view, the man in gold-rimmed glasses was about to die; perhaps these mechanical constructs would lose control once their master was gone? They were not worth the effort of a dedicated fight.

The mechanical spider had no such psychological processes. It shifted another thick gun barrel into position and began spraying flames at Chen Qi.

"Clang!"

Enduring the searing heat of the flames, Chen Qi’s sword met the dagger. The contact felt incredibly light, and he realized instantly that something was wrong.

Sure enough, Liu Luo’s rapid thrust was merely a feint. The moment the blades touched, she withdrew, launching her body into the air while a crimson blood-mist erupted from beneath her dagger.

"Cao Mo’s Upward Strike."

Liu Luo hovered briefly in the air, a stream of deep crimson blood-mist surging toward Chen Qi, which he deflected by repeatedly parrying with his sword.

Seeing that her attack had been ineffective, Liu Luo’s expression remained unchanged, though her body suddenly stiffened.

Chen Qi found this scene familiar. His brain instantly recalled a similar image, and a sense of impending danger struck him.

In mid-air, Liu Luo’s speed increased, and she collided with Chen Qi, her dagger delivering a light flick that carved a deep, bloody gash.

A powerful aura surged from behind, but Chen Qi had no time to spare.

Facing an assassin who had already closed the distance, the situation was turning against him, and he needed a way to break the deadlock.

He did not recklessly swing his blade to cover his exposed flanks. Instead, he twisted his torso slightly to dodge the flames that were still scorching him.

It was strange—why did the mechanical spider show no signs of stopping? It remained locked onto him with single-minded focus.

The doubt passed in a flash. A wave of immense blood-energy erupted from Chen Qi’s body, causing Liu Luo, who was preparing to strike again, to stagger.

Taking advantage of this brief window, Chen Qi retreated rapidly, soon reaching the side of Yun Tianxin.

Maintaining distance was the key to fighting a dagger-wielder with a long blade, and protecting Yun Tianxin was the purpose of this battle. Chen Qi had always been able to grasp the essence of a fight.

Liu Luo quickly dispersed the shockwave of blood-energy. Her eyes flashed, but she did not rush forward, choosing instead to wait.

Soon, two teammates appeared on her flanks. The contractor on the left pointed a long spear directly at Chen Qi, while the tall, muscular man on the right pulled out a large axe, swinging it through the air with a whistling wind.

The mechanical spider crawled between Liu Luo’s legs, appearing eager to rush at Chen Qi once more.

"Something’s wrong! Why is that mechanical spider..."

Chen Qi’s mind was filled with renewed doubt. He suddenly noticed that the man in gold-rimmed glasses behind the crowd had somehow stanched his wounds and stood up.

He was pale, his eyes fixed on Chen Qi with deep, burning hatred.

"Bang!"

The malice was almost tangible. The man’s left hand crushed an empty small porcelain bottle, while his right hand pulled out a dark gold pistol, aiming it at Chen Qi.

At his feet crawled a mechanical giant wolf, covered in frost and glaring at Chen Qi, ready to pounce at any moment.

Even now, he gritted his teeth to remind his teammates:

"Don't hurt that woman. It's best not to kill the man yet either; I want to torture him slowly!"

Ignoring what he considered to be an incredibly brain-dead statement, Chen Qi glanced at the man and couldn't help but mutter to himself:

"Holy crap, he’s still not dead? Is this what they call the fabled 'money-power'?"