A Step Away

Xiao He used the Dimensional Walker to bring the three back to the common lounge, and then immediately began to check on their condition.

"I'm fine, just poisoned. I just need to get rid of the poison," Li Zhengliang said, shaking his head. Then he looked at the spore on his shoulder. "Can you... find a way to get this off?"

Xiao He nodded, extended his index finger and pressed it on the spore to activate "Purification." A bolt of lightning enveloped Li Zhengliang's body, and the spore instantly dissipated.

"Phew, thanks. I'll immediately circulate my internal energy to expel the poison." Li Zhengliang said, sitting cross-legged and beginning to circulate his internal energy.

Medical staff checked Yue Feng and Zhang Ming's condition. The two weren't actually seriously injured; their injuries were mostly from beatings and not life-threatening. They were simply unconscious. They were quickly taken to the infirmary for treatment.

Xiao He, on the other hand, used Dimensional Walker to return to the arena, crossing his arms and waiting for the next match to begin.

"Oh! Yinglong has arrived at the arena, as if he can't wait to play the next match!" the host exclaimed excitedly. "It seems Yinglong wants to avenge his teammates. I wonder if the M Country will send the three players from the last match out again!"

"Darling, who do you need as a teammate?" Cui Man asked in the earpiece.

"Just find two guys who aren't very strong," Xiao He said calmly, his eyes fixed on the M Country Team's preparation room, waiting for the next match to begin.

In M Country, in the common lounge, everyone was arguing fiercely about who should play next.

"I'm not going! I'll die if I go on stage, absolutely!" Spore Man protested, waving his hands repeatedly.

"Are you an idiot? Just because someone else went up there doesn't mean they'll die!" Werewolf Victor said coldly. "Didn't you see Yinglong's expression? He's practically insane with rage! You have no real skills, but you love to mock others. Now you've caused trouble, and you want someone else to take the blame? Dream on! Get up there yourself and face the consequences like a man!"

"Then, let's just forfeit!" Spore Man turned to Mike Nader and laughed. "Mr. Mike, you have to help me!"

"Hmph..." Mike Nader sneered inwardly: Last time I was being threatened by these guys, you were watching the show with great amusement, weren't you? Now you want me to help you? Dream on!

"I'm sorry, but that's impossible," Mike Nader said calmly. "This matter concerns the honor of our M Country, and we absolutely cannot back down without a fight. Even if we lose, we will lose with our heads held high. Don't worry, there are rules to the game; you can't kill people."

Meanwhile, Mike Nader was secretly plotting: if Yinglong decided to kill him, he would join forces with major media outlets like DDC and BBT, which never lie, to smear him relentlessly.

"Tsk..." Spore Man spat, then turned to Thousand Magnet and said, "What do you want to say too?"

Thousand Magnet's face was contorted with ecstasy, and he seemed lost in thought until Spore Man tugged at him, bringing him back to his senses. He cleared his throat and replied, "I think everyone has a point. We shouldn't let others clean up the mess we made, right? I've decided to continue playing."

"You fucking..." Spore Man hadn't expected to be stabbed in the back by Thousand Magnet. After Thousand Magnet said those words, he was now in a dilemma. But he knew that if he went into battle, he would be half-dead, and he couldn't just give up.

"Um... Balance Man?" Spore Man chuckled and said, "This is your perfect chance for revenge, or else..."

"My abilities aren't suited for team matches," Sebastian said calmly. "Besides, it only makes sense for me to defeat him in the finals." Sebastian then scoffed, "Racist bastard..."

"This has nothing to do with me," the Lone King said calmly. "I will not accompany you to your deaths. If you want to die, die on your own."

"But... but we need at least three people, right?!" Spore Man saw a glimmer of hope again. "If we can't get three people, then we'll have to forfeit, right? That's not my fault."

"Sigh, there's no other way." Raven sighed, stood up, and said, "I 'Ruiwen do it. I'll take care of all the dirty work."

Spore Man's heart sank instantly; the hope that had finally surfaced was shattered in an instant.

So Thousand Magnet, Raven, and a reluctant Spore Man entered the fray, while on the Dragon Country's side...

Standing behind Xiao He were Zhang Yuxin and Xue Ting: among the Mutant, these were the only two who could be deployed without engaging in combat.

Although Ye Wanqing also lacked combat ability, the identity of "White Marsh" was too important, so it was best not to let her appear in public. Therefore, Zhang Yuxin and Xue Ting were ultimately sent out to "make up the numbers".

"You're here?" Xiao He said casually, stretching his neck. But despite his calm tone, the other five people on the field didn't think so.

The feeling was as if there was a volcano about to erupt in front of me.

"Hey, this is fucking worse than mine..." Ruiwen sneered. "Good luck, buddy."

"Well," Spore Man said with a forced smile, "It was just something that happened on the field, a provocation, that was a tactic, not my true thoughts..."

But Xiao He clapped his hands, and a Perfect Cube surrounded Zhang Yuxin and Xue Ting. Then, a cloud of dust erupted beneath his feet, and he instantly appeared in front of Spore Man, clearly not intending to listen to his explanation at all.

"Fuck!" Spore Man cursed, then his body exploded, turning into a shower of spores. Xiao He was covered in a dozen mushroom-sized spores, but Xiao He immediately turned around and blasted them towards the ground four or five meters away.

"Bang!" Xiao He's punch slammed into the ground, then violently pulled Spore Man out of the ground.

"How did you find me!?" Spore Man asked in horror.

Xiao He relied on "Vector Control." Even without Mechanical Modification, he couldn't use this ability effectively, but through Vector Control, he could sense the "vectors" emitted by enemies, thus finding the location of hidden enemies.

Especially for Mutant, their vector characteristics differ from those of normal people, making them easy to detect.

Although Spore Man appeared to be standing there, that was merely Clone formed from spores; the real Spore Man had already quietly hidden underground. However, Xiao He didn't care about that and immediately pulled him out from underground.

"You guys should help me!" Spore Man cried out in terror to Thousand Magnet and Ruiwen for help.

"Hmph..." Thousand Magnet raised his hand towards Xiao He, but Xiao He's raised fist was immediately pulled back by a powerful force.

But Xiao He just clenched his fist and continued to punch Spore Man. Instead, Thousand Magnet was pulled away and fell headfirst to the ground, leaving a long scratch.

Xiao He's punch landed on Spore Man's chest, sending him bouncing off the ground and flying into the air. The next moment, Xiao He followed up, clenching his fists and slamming them down. Spore Man crashed heavily to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

But he was, after all, a Level 5 Mutant, and immediately raised his hand to Xiao He after falling to the ground. "Explosive Spores!"

The spores in the air crackled and exploded like firecrackers. Xiao He passed through the explosions, landed in front of Spore Man, and threw a punch.

Spore Man screamed in fright and quickly covered his head to avoid the punch, which landed on the ground next to him.

Although the punch missed, the impact still sent him flying.

"Damn monster!" Ruiwen raised his hand to shield himself from the oncoming dust, then turned to Thousand Magnet and said, "Don't try anything funny, you idiot. Right now, you should be thinking about how to survive!"

"I only need one chance to shake hands..." Thousand Magnet said, staring intently at Yinglong in front of him. "As long as I can touch his hand, it will all be over! I won't have to continue this foolish match anymore..."

Spore Man scrambled to his feet, raised his hand to Xiao He, and the spores on Xiao He's body immediately began to glow red. Then, Spore Man attached some spores to his own body, and the spores on his body began to glow green.

Xiao He could feel the spores on his body draining his power, but he didn't care. Instead, he continued to walk towards Spore Man step by step, getting faster and faster, and then leaped to stand in front of Spore Man.

"Drink!" Ruiwen attacked from the side, sending a flying kick across Xiao He's neck in an attempt to slow his attack, but he was immediately shocked: This guy is tough!

Unbeknownst to him, Xiao He and Ye Wanqing had secretly changed his player number to "Lin Tiannan" during their last "practice" session on the island. As a result, Xiao He's powerful physique was triggered when he was on the field, making it impossible for him to defeat Xiao He.

Xiao He completely ignored him and raised his hand to grab Spore Man.

Thousand Magnet raised her hand to him, trying again to use gravity to tear off Xiao He's gloves, but Xiao He forcefully reached out and grabbed Spore Man's collar, causing Thousand Magnet to fall headfirst to the ground once more.

"Idiot! I told you, save your life first!" Ruiwen said irritably, throwing an uppercut at Xiao He's chin.

Xiao He slapped Ruiwen across the face, sending him sprawling to the ground and flying four or five meters. But Xiao He's target wasn't him at all; he grabbed Spore Man from the ground and delivered a knee strike to Spore Man's chin.

Spore Man was sent flying into the air, blood and white teeth splattering from his mouth. Then Xiao He grabbed Spore Man's leg and pulled him down from mid-air, slamming him hard to the ground before kicking him again.

Spore Man flew out like a plastic bottle, and Xiao He leaped into the air and stomped down.

"Toxic Spores!" Spore Man detonated another batch of spores, and the yellowish-green powder engulfed Xiao He.

Xiao He was completely unaffected, simply passing through the poisonous fog and stepping on Spore Man's chest. Spore Man coughed up another mouthful of blood, his expression one of excruciating pain. If it weren't for the spores on his body absorbing Xiao He's life force to heal him, he would probably be dead already.

Spore Man struggled at Xiao He's feet, but Xiao He stepped on his face again and said calmly, "This pose suits you well, don't you think?"

After saying that, Xiao He stomped down again, and a rumble came from the ground. The impact spread out, as if the entire arena shook. Spore Man's body straightened up due to the impact.

For the first time, the people present felt fear towards Yinglong: at this moment, Yinglong was like a wild beast out of control.

This had gone beyond the scope of a competition and was turning into a one-sided massacre. But Xiao He still didn't stop. He raised his foot again, and this time... judging from the movement, he was preparing to use his full strength.

"Old Xiao!" Ye Wanqing called out into the earpiece.

Xiao He suddenly came to his senses, and his foot landed on the cheek of Spore Man, but it only stirred up a cloud of dust.

Spore Man was covered in blood and had already lost consciousness.

"Huff, huff..." Xiao He's breathing was unusually heavy. He turned his head and glanced at Thousand Magnet and Ruiwen behind him.

"Oh... it's your turn." Ruiwen raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "You'd better pray you're luckier than that poor guy, because if he really goes berserk, I can't save you..."

"Help me take off his gloves. If you can do that, we win..." Thousand Magnet whispered.

"You make it sound so easy... You try it yourself if you dare," Ruiwen said irritably.

"I've been trying, okay!?" Thousand Magnet said irritably, pressing her hand to the ground and using repulsive force to fly into the air.

"Troublesome guy..." Ruiwen spat and threw a punch at Xiao He.

But Xiao He immediately turned around and assumed a fighting stance, using the Soul Blade's Twin-Blade Style. With his left hand, he parried Xiao He's fist, while his right hand delivered Russian Swing Punch to Xiao He's chin.

Ruiwen grunted and took two steps back. Xiao He delivered a low kick to the side of Ruiwen's knee, causing him to Ruiwen. He immediately followed up with a mid-range kick. Seeing this, Ruiwen instinctively raised his hands to defend, but Xiao He stopped his attack at that moment.

Ruiwen immediately sensed something was wrong, but it was too late.

Xiao He's mid-range kick suddenly changed to a high-range kick, striking Ruiwen in the face.

Ruiwen staggered two steps backward and fell to the ground, but before he fell, he reached out and grabbed Xiao He's hand, forcefully pulling off his glove before collapsing to the ground.

However, to outsiders, it appeared that Ruiwen had only made a last-ditch effort before falling, trying to grab onto Xiao He's hand to steady himself, but he failed, so no one noticed anything unusual.

"Fantastic!" Thousand Magnet was overjoyed: he was only one step away from becoming a god!

Thousand Magnet was already preparing to take off her gloves and grab Xiao He's hand with all her might.

However, at this moment, Xiao He raised his foot and stepped on Ruiwen's face, stomping him into the ground, then turned to Thousand Magnet and raised his hand.

At that moment, Thousand Magnet felt an invisible force trapping him, and he floated in mid-air. Xiao He's hand was only twenty centimeters away from him, but he couldn't touch it no matter what he did.

"Look at you." Xiao He stared coldly at Thousand Magnet in front of him. "Not only are you a noob, but you're also an idiot, and you don't even have any passion. What's more, you're also annoying... You're utterly useless."

"Utterly useless...?" Thousand Magnet's face twisted completely. "You fucking take back that sentence..."

"Otherwise what?" Xiao He asked with interest, then swiftly punched Thousand Magnet in the face.

Thousand Magnet was sent spinning through the air by the blow, and then Xiao He descended from the sky, crashing into Thousand Magnet. With a loud bang and a shockwave, when the dust settled, Xiao He was standing on Thousand Magnet's face, while Thousand Magnet was still struggling, trying to grab Xiao He's hand.

But in the end, his hand fell limply to his sides.

"Tsk, too much anger." Xiao He shook his head and sighed. "I need my Little Pufferfish to cool me down."