Boldness with a Touch of Deception

Xiao He looked at Shel Nash in front of him. This man had a head of short, red hair, and his face and physique were much thinner than the other contestants. He was not fierce, but exuded a cunning and shrewd aura.

Xiao He was quite looking forward to this duel, after all, his opponent seemed very confident.

"Your defense rating is Infinity, which means you can withstand any level of explosion I use, right?" Nash raised his hands, clenched his fists, and laughed.

"That's right, that's how it is." Xiao He nodded. "And you? Can you withstand my attack?"

"I'd probably kick the bucket with one punch, after all, my defense rating is only LV1," Nash laughed. "But that's what makes it fun, isn't it? The feeling of walking on a knife's edge is what makes it exciting!"

While the host was still building up the atmosphere offstage, Nash was taking the opportunity to plant a bombshell on the court.

"Darling, try to fight as much as possible, let Candle Dragon observe the situation," Cui Man reminded her in the earpiece.

"Understood," Xiao He replied. At this moment, the host finally finished his rambling and announced the start of the competition.

Xiao He immediately rushed towards Nash. He knew he was going into a minefield, but he wanted to see if the explosion would hurt him before making a decision.

His task now is not only to defeat Nash, but also to study Nash's abilities so that his teammates can also find a way to defeat him.

Nash began to adjust his position, and Xiao He knew that the other party was leading him into a minefield.

Although Nash would pre-position minefields to create the illusion that "as long as you stay away from the enemy, you're safe," he was actually capable of planting bombs remotely.

For example, when Li Zhengliang jumped into the air, Nash had set up aerial explosion points on the ground, which shows that he could extend the distance of the explosion points to a greater distance.

Xiao He moved as erratically as possible, avoiding straight lines, thus reducing the likelihood of stepping on landmines. However, Nash was also constantly adjusting his position based on Xiao He's movements, relying on small-scale, instantaneous explosions to move.

"Boom!" Suddenly, an explosion occurred to Xiao He's left. The unexpected explosion startled him, and the powerful impact caused him to stagger two steps to the right, followed by a series of explosions.

"This explosion..." Xiao He couldn't help but raise his hand to protect his face, but he was still pushed backward by the impact.

The violently swirling air swept over him like a blunt knife, and this was only the aftershock of the explosion; if one were at the epicenter, how terrifying the power would be...

It is certain that the power of this explosion was far greater than the explosives Nash had previously set up.

"Oh? Even a level 7 blast couldn't hurt you, you really are Yinglong." Nash sneered, an explosion beneath his feet sending him staggering backward, quickly putting distance between him and Xiao He, his hands still waving wildly.

These words made Xiao He realize something: Nash, like him, was someone "bound" by the game.

In fact, Nash's explosive power far exceeded what a normal Mutant could withstand. However, he couldn't kill his opponent during the match, so Nash deliberately reduced his explosive power. Only after Xiao He entered the game did he slowly begin to unleash his power.

"That's rare," Xiao He thought to himself with interest. This was the first time he had encountered someone like Nash, who "couldn't play at full strength," on this court.

Xiao He steadied himself amidst the blast and forced his way forward, breaking through the exploding minefield. However, Nash had already repositioned himself. Moreover, the explosion had obscured his vision, leaving Xiao He completely unaware of where Nash had laid new minefields. The thought gave Xiao He a headache.

He looked down to check himself; Nash's explosion had caused him some abrasions. If the explosive force had increased further, he would have been seriously injured. He had to be careful.

However, the Superpower that someone triggered for him was just right to deal with Nash's ability.

Xiao He used Qin Weize as Trigger to activate Kinetic Energy Absorption, and just then...

"Oh?! I see it..." Xiao He thought to himself in surprise as he looked at the flashing explosion points on the field.

Of course, this is not surprising, because Xiao He estimated that if Nash were renamed "Lin Tiannan", it would most likely trigger the "Kinetic Energy Absorption" Superpower, only it might be a bit more advanced.

However, even though he can see the detonation point, he still can't see the detonation time, so he still has to be careful.

Xiao He rallied his forces and charged at Nash again. This time, he could see the detonation point, making it much easier to avoid. However, as soon as he avoided the first detonation point, Nash became alert, quickly laying a minefield in front of him before retreating to a safer location.

"You bastard!" Nash gritted his teeth. "You saw it, didn't you? My detonation point..."

"What a clever fellow..." Xiao He frowned and thought to himself.

The nickname "Bomb Man" is so well-known for a reason. After all, Bomb Man is one of the few among the first discovered Level 5 Mutant to survive into the next generation.

By now, everyone has realized that the initial batch of Level 5 Mutant, such as Iron Man, were largely overhyped. While their abilities were indeed powerful, they also had significant weaknesses or were not easily countered. Therefore, they were quickly replaced by a new generation of Mutant like Victor Werewolf Makina, whose Superpower were more effective in actual combat.

But Nash was an exception.

The opponent relied not only on Superpower, but also on his keen observation and sharp intellect, which were key to Nash's enduring fame.

But... Xiao He couldn't help but wonder: what's the flaw in this guy's Superpower?

"This is troublesome." Nash's expression also turned serious. "As expected, your bastard's Superpower isn't fixed, right? You couldn't see my explosive points before, but then you suddenly avoided several of them. No wonder when you fought the Balance Man, that guy could only use the Superpower you had used before, because your Superpower is triggered temporarily..."

"Do you know the saying in our country, 'It's rare to be muddleheaded'?" Xiao He sneered. "Those who are clever by nature die quickly, so truly wise people know when to play dumb."

Nash pondered, seemingly carefully considering his next move. But he quickly made a decision and continued to set up numerous explosive charges around him.

Xiao He didn't give Nash much time; his opponent was undoubtedly very strong and deserved respect.

He quickly closed in on Nash, pressing his hand to the ground and sending the impact towards Nash's feet.

Nash detonated an explosion beneath his feet and moved toward the minefield he had previously set.

Xiao He carefully avoided the explosive points he had previously set up and continued to approach, with the explosive points constantly detonating around him.

However, just as Xiao He reached a distance of twenty meters from Nash, the aftershock of an explosion suddenly came from behind him, causing him to stagger two steps.

"Hmph?" Nash narrowed his eyes. "Interesting."

"Damn it..." Xiao He thought to himself, "This is bad." Nash must have noticed that he could only see the point of blast, but not the range or delay of the blast. Based on these two points, he still had a chance to fight against "Yinglong".

"So it's true that smart guys are really annoying..." Xiao He rolled his eyes and thought to himself.

Although he now has the ability to "Kinetic Energy Absorption," passive absorption can only absorb a portion of the impact; the remaining impact will still affect him unless he actively absorbs it.

The good news is that if the detonation point can be identified, precautions can be taken.

"I've figured it out, the next move..." Nash muttered to himself, constantly moving around the field using the impact of the explosions, and setting up a large number of explosive points.

Xiao He knew he couldn't let this guy set up the explosives comfortably, but the thirty-meter distance was so far, and the road was full of explosives.

Judging from the speed at which Nash set up the explosives, this guy's Superpower, like Old Xie's, is of the extremely low-consumption type, and he can almost use it indefinitely. This alone is troublesome, as even just the aftershocks can consume a lot of his stamina.

Therefore, Xiao He needed to disrupt this guy's rhythm. He took the initiative to rush into the minefield, maintaining a distance from the detonation point, and continued to close the distance with Nash.

The battle with Nash boils down to this "thirty meters." If he can get through it, he wins; if he can't, he'll be blown up by the opponent until he loses.

But then Nash suddenly raised his hand and snapped his fingers, "Break!"

A loud bang came from Xiao He's left rear. He immediately turned around and raised his hand to absorb the impact of the explosion. However, this explosion seemed to have detonated other explosive points, instantly triggering a series of explosions. The impact of the explosions instantly engulfed Xiao He.

After a while, Xiao He emerged from the smoke, rolled to his feet, and was covered in blue smoke.

"Damn it, it really can be manually detonated after all..." Xiao He glared at Nash, gritting his teeth.

"To be precise, it's just a matter of uniformly adjusting the detonation time of all the bombs on the board." Nash smiled, opening his arms as if to embrace him. "Come on, the game is set up."

At this moment, Nash was surrounded by a dense array of explosive charges. Xiao He observed that there wasn't a complete dead end among the charges, but he also knew that Nash had likely deliberately left a path for him.

To go in, or not to go in?

"Then let's go from the outside," Xiao He thought to himself. As long as they go around the minefield from one side, it would be easier to actively absorb the impact from the front, but it would be difficult to defend against attacks from behind, and they could only rely on passive absorption.

Xiao He quickened his pace and approached the minefield from the left.

Nash, of course, wouldn't stand still and wait for him. He adjusted his position while setting up new detonation points, and the previously set detonation points began to explode.

Xiao He raised his hand to absorb all the blast impact coming from the front. By this time, he had basically cleared the minefield on the left, but Nash laid new minefields as he moved.

This made Xiao He a little anxious. He took a deep breath to calm himself down: he couldn't be anxious, otherwise he would fall into the opponent's rhythm.

He will patiently deal with the situation and look for opportunities; defeating his opponent will only take one strike.

But at that moment, a loud explosion came from behind. Xiao He felt as if he had been hit from behind, and he staggered two steps.

He turned his head in astonishment and discovered that numerous explosive points had been set up behind him at some unknown time, and the blast radius was extremely wide!

"Impossible! Nash wasn't even in this area..." Xiao He thought in astonishment, then came to his senses: the thirty meters was a decoy...

Nash maintained a safe distance of 30 meters from the enemy at all times, which inevitably led people to believe that the area where Nash set up the explosives would not exceed 30 meters. Therefore, Xiao He thought that he was very safe behind him, but this was obviously an illusion: the distance where Nash set up the explosives was more than 30 meters.

This put Xiao He completely in the middle of the minefield. Wave after wave of explosions came, engulfing Xiao He's figure like firecrackers.

"Oh?!" At this moment, Xie Haining suddenly clenched his fist. "Hmph, I've discovered it, this guy's Superpower a flaw."

"You discovered it!?" Cui Man asked in surprise, "Then you can deal with him now?"

"Not bad, let me handle this guy in the next match, it should be quite interesting," Xie Haining said with a smile. "But this 'flaw' isn't that significant for Yinglong; he still needs to find his own way to win."

"Darling, the intelligence Collection. End the battle," Cui Man said, pressing her earpiece.

The smoke slowly dissipated, Xiao He, standing inside the Perfect Cube, pressed his earpiece and replied, "Received..."

"Tsk, an annoying ability..." Nash spat unhappily, "But it's useless against me."

"Finally... I've been impatient for a long time!" Xiao He was dazed and confused by the explosion, didn't care about anything else. He just wanted to end the battle as soon as possible, so he charged towards Nash while wearing the Perfect Cube.

However, after taking two steps, Xiao He discovered that the blast point had pierced straight through the Perfect Cube. It only began to glow after entering the Perfect Cube, and then exploded with a "boom!" Xiao He was sent flying backward with smoke rising from his body, and the Perfect Cube shattered in response.

Before the explosion, the blast point was just a patch of air, which could not be isolated by the Perfect Cube.

In other words, if Nash simply delayed the detonation time, allowing the explosion to occur inside the Perfect Cube before detonating, the Perfect Cube would become ineffective.

This is one of the few Superpower Xiao He has seen so far that can break through the Perfect Cube's defense mechanism.

"I'll beat your mother! Just go for it!" Xiao He stomped his foot in frustration, then gritted his teeth and charged at Nash at full speed.

"I expected this situation..." Nash's expression also turned serious, and he began to adjust his position: the time to decide the outcome had come.

Xie Haining pondered, "This guy... so he predicts the enemy's movement patterns in advance, and then arranges minefields according to different patterns to deal with various situations. His ability to control the timing of the explosions is really annoying."

Seeing that Xiao He was planning to charge in headfirst, Nash immediately adjusted his position, filling Xiao He's path with the largest number and most powerful explosive charges. At the same time, he continued to add new explosive charges, preparing an escape route for himself.

At this moment, the two were racing against time. Xiao He seemed to be getting carried away, relying on his LV6 physique and Kinetic Energy Absorption to forcibly withstand the power of the explosion and rush forward through the minefield. The shockwave of the explosion caused him to stagger along the way. Although he absorbed all the explosions, there were simply too many blast points in the way.

Xiao He's advance was constantly slowed down by the explosions, and he was eventually completely engulfed by the flames and smoke caused by the successive explosions.

Nash remained vigilant, continuing to set up explosive points as he rushed towards the adjacent minefield, preparing for any possible surprise attack by Xiao He.

Unbeknownst to Nash, a blurry figure quietly appeared behind him, then became clearer.

Suddenly appearing from Dimensional Plane, Xiao He slapped Nash across the face. "Just kidding!"

Nash was taken aback. He hadn't expected Xiao He, who had a look of defiance on his face, to secretly slip into the Dimensional Walker Plane to avoid the explosion and then launch a sneak attack from behind.

After all, Xiao He knew that if he acted too recklessly, his mating rights would be taken away by the leader of his household.

But Nash immediately came to his senses and, the instant Xiao He grabbed him, patted Xiao He's stomach.

Xiao He felt his abdomen swell violently, then he couldn't help but release Nash and take two steps back. "Hiccup--!"

"Damn it! All you did was burp and that was it!? I should have used a stronger explosion!" Nash said irritably, then triggered an explosion between the two of them. The explosion wasn't very strong, but the blast radius covered Nash himself as well.

Using the aftershocks of the explosion, Nash quickly retreated, then detonated another explosive device to create distance between himself and Xiao He, leaving numerous blast points along the way to prevent Xiao He from pursuing him. However, the next moment he discovered that Xiao He had vanished. Then, he crashed headfirst into a "wall."

"Admit defeat, you've played very well." Xiao He raised his hand, grabbed Nash by the neck, and lifted him into the air.

Xiao He didn't make a move. The explosive device Nash planted in his body wasn't the most powerful; otherwise, Xiao He might have been seriously injured. Nash was afraid of killing him, so he showed mercy.

"I... I give up!" Nash said with difficulty, raising his hand.

Xiao He then put him down on the ground, extended his hand to him, and smiled, "You're really a formidable fellow... I admit, you're the strongest person I've encountered so far."

"You fucking... have the ability to stop time, right?" Nash gripped Xiao He's hand and said through gritted teeth.

"Clever," Xiao He laughed, "Too clever can be annoying."

"As if I fucking care..." Nash spat. "Tsk, we'll have to take that into account in the next game..."

What is the most effective counter to Nash? Kinetic Energy Absorption? No, it's "Time Stop".

Nash's strength lies not in his Superpower, but in his intellect, observation skills, and reaction speed, which allow him to predict the enemy's actions, prepare in advance, and change his strategy at any time based on the enemy's movements.

During those two seconds of "Time Stop," Nash couldn't see Xiao He's actions. Nash's observation of the enemy was "glitched" for two seconds, which naturally disrupted his subsequent battle plan. This is why Xiao He was able to defeat Nash.