Volume 3 Chapter 37: Elimination

“Junko, didn’t I tell you? Don’t drag me into this!” A figure slowly stood up from behind a large wooden crate, speaking with some helplessness. “Don’t you understand yet? After Mr. Matthew obtained the Phantom Demon bloodline, he already switched sides to the Reincarnators faction!”

“…So you are that Qin Lun who saved Junko? It seems you didn’t go to the Dragon’s Mechanism Room like you said you would!”

Seeing Qin Lun appear, Matthew actually calmed down gradually. What he feared most was the appearance of a powerful expert like Pan Hu. If it was just Qin Lun, then there was no need to worry too much. After all, the young man was originally in their team. Even if he wasn’t a newcomer, his strength probably shouldn’t exceed his own.

“Just because you switched factions… you attack your companions?” A trace of disappointment appeared on the Japanese girl’s cold face. “Matthew, what do you take your companions for?”

“Junko, although Jote was a fool, he said one thing right: you are too naive. You and he don’t even qualify as my companions!” Matthew shook his head expressionlessly, looked down at his own hands, and said calmly, “Actually, I never thought obtaining the Phantom Demon bloodline would make me change my world faction. But, this is fine too. I got another hidden plot.”

“Hmph, your bloodline transformation time is almost up. Once you die, what use is getting more hidden plots?” Junko’s emotions slowly settled, a hint of mockery appearing on her cold face.

“Haha, you who haven’t obtained Bloodline Items can’t comprehend this kind of power. Even after the transformation ends, the basic attributes granted by the Phantom Demon bloodline won’t disappear. I can’t kill you, and you can’t kill me. Continuing to fight is meaningless!” Matthew shrugged amusedly. “I just have some questions I want to ask this Mr. Qin Lun. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be wasting words with you.”

“What do you want to ask?” Qin Lun asked with interest.

“When did you enter the Shipbuilding Room?”

“While you were fighting the two-headed dog!”

“So you held back until now? Your patience is remarkable. Gadurot dropped a pile of items, yet you didn’t come out to snatch them!” Matthew raised an eyebrow slightly, smiling. “Was it you who instructed Junko to search the battleship to stall for time, then hid in here, using the sandbags and wooden crates to avoid my charge skill?”

“Mmm, yes! Although you obtained the Phantom Demon bloodline, your equipment and skill foundation are ultimately too weak. Otherwise, I couldn’t have helped Junko either!” Qin Lun revealed a sunny smile. “You’ve asked so many questions, shouldn’t you answer one of mine now?”

“Of course, ask away!” Matthew nodded without hesitation. At this moment, the white boar bristles on his body had begun to slowly recede, and his stature was gradually shrinking back to his original human form.

“After you switched factions, what kind of mission did you receive?” Qin Lun asked curiously.

Matthew pondered for a moment, then still spoke up: “I fused Gadurot’s Phantom Demon Pearl and received the Undersea Temple defense cleaning mission. Killing members of the Oni Clan, like Oni Warriors and Reincarnators here, will yield huge rewards. It also includes a faction conflict mission; killing Reincarnators from the Oni Clan gives double rewards.”

“No wonder you’d rather gamble on the Bloody Cube to kill Jote, and even didn’t want to let me go!” Junko bit her lower lip until it bled, a trickle of blood flowing from the corner of her mouth, as she glared at Matthew with hatred.

“Junko, don’t hate me! When I first entered the space, I did have thoughts of forming a new team. But after experiencing a few worlds, I understood. The food chain in the DF space is already stable; it’s very difficult for new teams to rise to the top. Rather than living in constant fear, it’s better to join an established major team.” Matthew said indifferently. “I have confidence in myself, but you and Jote are too mediocre. We would have parted ways sooner or later.”

“So, Jote was right! You were using us all along. Once your strength was sufficient, we would become your burdens!” Junko’s shoulders trembled, and she took a step back, unable to accept it.

Matthew gave Junko a cold glance and said no more. Instead, he turned to Qin Lun with a smile and said slowly, “But you, Qin Lun! Your performance has earned my respect. If the two of us joined forces, whether joining another team or creating a new one, we might achieve great things.”

“No, I refuse!” Qin Lun gave a faint smile.

“Is it because I betrayed Junko, so I can’t gain your trust?” Matthew frowned slightly.

“Loyalty is only one reason. The other reason is that you are too full of yourself!” Qin Lun suddenly showed a strange smile.

“I’m full of myself…” Matthew’s face darkened, but he didn’t get angry. “Why do you say that?”

“You clearly knew we were stalling for time, yet you still stood here so confidently instead of running away!” Qin Lun raised a finger and shook it. “Let me guess: after fusing Gadurot’s Phantom Demon Pearl, besides changing your bloodline, did you also gain control over the Undersea Temple?”

Hearing Qin Lun’s words, Matthew’s pupils contracted sharply, and for the first time, he felt a sliver of unease.

“You never gave up the idea of killing us. It’s just that escaping immediately would instead trigger our interception, and your bloodline transformation time isn’t enough to kill us by force. So you deliberately stayed to lull us. Once we leave proactively, you would then use the Undersea Temple’s traps to ambush and kill us!” Qin Lun said with a smile. “Heh, judging by your expression, it seems I guessed correctly!”

“So what if you guessed right!” Matthew took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “I’ll give you a choice. Let’s sign a Soul Contract. As long as you help me kill Junko, I’ll take you into the team, as my real teammate!”

“Heh, you’re not qualified to be my teammate! In my eyes, you’re not even as good as Junko; at least she has loyalty.” Qin Lun sighed, sounding somewhat dispirited. “A smart person like you can actually appear so foolish once you get too carried away. I really don’t understand why you feel we can’t kill you? Could it be that you’ve been judging me based on the standard of your and Jote’s strength?”

Hearing this, Matthew’s face changed dramatically, and he immediately turned and ran without hesitation. He finally realized his mistake. The reason he stayed earlier was indeed because he thought Qin Lun and Junko couldn’t do anything to him.

The Phantom Demon bloodline Matthew obtained didn’t have a period of weakness even after the transformation ended. This transformation consumed half his Health Points as the cost. Before attacking Junko, he had actually already kicked her out of the team, and had been using the remaining food in the Team Warehouse to recover his Health Points.

However, these recovery foods were different from medicine; their recovery speed was very slow. Over ten minutes, he could only recover a small portion of his Health Points. The Health Points he had left now were actually less than 70%.

Matthew didn’t know about the existence of Apostles. He still didn’t believe Qin Lun’s strength would surpass his original self; otherwise, he wouldn’t have been assigned to a newcomer team. However, the young man’s intelligence far exceeded his expectations.

He suddenly remembered one thing: if Qin Lun was this cunning, could he have obtained some powerful equipment in other Quest Worlds? Moreover, Junko seemed to have mentioned that Qin Lun followed them into the Shipbuilding Room, which meant the young man hadn’t consumed much recovery items along the way.

This discovery finally made Matthew feel the life-and-death crisis enveloping him!

Seeing Matthew turn and run before he even finished speaking, a trace of admiration flashed in Qin Lun’s eyes. This guy was indeed very cunning. The moment he realized the danger, he didn’t hesitate at all. But it was too late to run now…

“Matthew!” Junko shouted fiercely and leapt forward. Matthew’s betrayal had deeply wounded the Japanese girl, even shattering the beliefs she had always held. If even loyalty couldn’t earn companionship, she didn’t even have the confidence to live on.

Seeing Junko pouncing from the side, Matthew’s face darkened, and he swept out a whip kick. The Phantom Demon bloodline he obtained enhanced his Strength and Constitution, but didn’t add to Agility. Junko’s speed was still the fastest among them.

Junko nimbly pressed down on Matthew’s long leg, vaulted over his head, and scissored her slender legs around Matthew’s supporting leg, tripping him to the ground. This was one of the grappling techniques from judo, not a Reincarnator skill, but it was suitable for close-quarters combat at this moment.

“Get off!” Matthew struggled to get up angrily. His Strength far exceeded Junko’s; the Japanese girl’s grappling technique couldn’t restrain him.

While entangled with Junko, Matthew still didn’t forget to observe the approaching Qin Lun out of the corner of his eye. Only when the young man pulled out a strange large-caliber hand cannon from his chest did he relax slightly.

With his current Constitution defense, he wasn’t afraid of pistol bullets. Besides, Junko was a close-combat fighter type; the hand cannon’s accuracy wasn’t high, so friendly fire was likely. If Junko got accidentally hit, he felt he wouldn’t have to fear a shooter anymore. If Qin Lun came too close, he could attack him directly.

“Shoot! Don’t worry about me!” Junko yelled coldly to Qin Lun, her eyes shooting out looks of hatred as she pounced on Matthew again.

“Bastard!” Matthew’s face twisted ferociously, and he turned to lunge at the Japanese girl. He realized that if he kept running, he might actually become more exposed to Qin Lun’s gunfire. It was better to deal with Junko first, then deal with Qin Lun.

Seeing the two fighting again, Qin Lun sighed, feeling both amused and exasperated.

“Bang!” With a gunshot, a burst of blood bloomed on Matthew’s ankle. The large dark-skinned man immediately staggered, and was then slammed to the ground by a knee strike from Junko.

Matthew shook his dizzy head and was horrified to find his right ankle mangled, tendons severed by the shot, trembling exposed to the air.

“This kind of power… a Dark Gold Firearm! The first shot hit the ankle… a super shooter?” Matthew looked up at Qin Lun in disbelief, his face instantly turning pale.

“This gun is called FN-500. It has an instant shot skill; the bullet appears directly in front of the target, equivalent to a guaranteed hit property!” Qin Lun seemed to know Matthew’s confusion and introduced it with a smile.

Qin Lun’s recovery items were actually not plentiful, and his physical attributes were indeed not as strong as Matthew’s. However, with Junko and the FN-500 present, the outcome of this battle was decided even before it started. For a Reincarnator like Matthew who lacked defensive equipment, a Dark Gold Firearm basically erased any suspense from the fight.

“Mr. Matthew, have a good journey!” A few minutes later, the FN-500 was finally pressed against Matthew’s forehead.