After an Infinite Flow Player Retires

Chapter 54

The burning fireball crackled in the air. Its terrible heat that could scorch through flesh made the air around it slightly distorted as it flew towards the screaming crowd at an unstoppable speed.

The young man at the front of the crowd raised his eyes and looked at the yin fireball coming his way.

His pale face was illuminated red by the fire and his amber eyes reflected the flames that were getting close enough to scorch his skin and hair.

Blast's eyes widened in shock. He anxiously called out, "Hurry and dodge!""

Wei Yuechu could feel her heart grow tense. She immediately turned and rushed towards the fireball, but it was too late. In less than a second, that fireball would swallow up those people there.

The same thought appeared in everyone's mind at this moment—–

It's over…..

As for Ye Jia, everything was done subconsciously.

Having had his life hanging on a thread for so long, everything seemed to be etched into his bones. He reflexively moved without needing to think.

A cold and bright light flashed, and a faint shape of a blade emerged from his hand. Following that, a crescent shaped afterimage seemed to cut through the air and light, immediately colliding with the scorching fireball.

That ball of fire that was hot enough to make anything that it comes into contact with melt made a loud sound before rising up several feet and bursting into smaller fire particles.

Everyone couldn't help but look away.

When the dust and smoke finally settled, they anxiously looked back.

The young man stood in place unscathed with no traces of burns on him and, about a step in front of him, the floor and ceiling was scorched black. As if a small bomb had gone off, the surroundings had been flattened by the blast but there seemed to be a dividing line right before the young man. Everything before that line was scorched black while everything behind it was still completely unaffected.

As for Ye Jia who stood at this junction between light and dark, his tall and straight figure was like a protection talisman. Reaching everyone's eyes, it was a sight that made their eyes hurt.

"This……"

"What's going on?"

Shocked whispers rang out from the crowd. Everyone couldn't believe their eyes. They couldn't seem to be able to process the scene before them.

What happened just now?

They turned and looked at the others beside them, but they only saw the same confusion and disbelief on their faces.

Blast looked at Ye Jia dumbfoundedly. The red hair that fluttered in the air seemed to have frozen in place. A'Chang who was half the size of a human once again turned smaller and returned into Chen Qingye's sleeve. Together with its owner, they both looked at the young man standing before them.

Wei Yuechu stopped in place. Carrying the large chainsaw that didn't match her size, she looked at Ye Jia in daze. She similarly didn't expect something like this.

"You……"

She took in a deep breath and then asked the question everyone wanted to ask, "How did you do it?"

Ye Jia: "……."

Oh no.

In a spacious conference room.

This was the only room that was not destroyed by Blast and it still had most of the necessary equipment including tables and chairs. The door was closed, blocking out the curious and inquisitive looks from the other employees.

The chains on his clothes clinking, Blast crossed his arms and leaned against the door with a look of annoyance.

Wei Yuechu who stood to the side frowned and fixed her eyes on him vigilantly, "What are you looking for Ace for?"

"None of your damn business……" Blast rolled his eyes and said impatiently, "Why? Only you're allowed to look for him and I'm not?"

The next second, A'Chang stuck its head out from Chen Qingye's sleeve.

Blast's face turned pale and he subconsciously backed away, "Fucking hell…."

Wei Yuechu gloated, "What? Afraid of bugs?"

She laughed happily and patted Chen Qingye's shoulder, "Brother, I'll leave it up to you."

Chen Qingye pushed up his glasses and slowly made a sound of acknowledgement.

The next second, countless gu insects rushed out from his sleeves. Purple, green, blue, those with shells and those without, there were all sorts of gu insects. Just the sight of it was enough to make one's scalp go numb. Even Wei Yuechu who wasn't afraid of insects couldn't help but hide to the side and rub the goosebumps on her arms.

Blast jumped all over the place, his face pale, "Ahhhhhh!"

Seeing that he was subconsciously about to retaliate, Chen Qingye hooked his finger to call back half of the gu insects, leaving the rest hovering not far away from Blast.

Blast's complexion was very poor as he had his back pressed firmly against the wall. He slowly swallowed, "A-a-are……are you a psychopath?"

Chen Qingye acted like he didn't hear him. He continued to sit with his back straight and tall and expressionlessly pushed up his glasses.

Wei Yuechu was a little astounded, "Hey, if you're this afraid of them, how did you manage to survive in the game?"

There were many instances in the games that involved insects. Even if they weren't important existences in the instances, there were also many scenes in there with disgusting bugs like cockroaches and maggots. Those who were afraid or disgusted by them pretty much all had a very difficult time in the game and basically anyone who managed to survive had at some point become desensitised to these things.

Blast smirked arrogantly. A single flame appeared at the tip of his finger, "Can't I just burn them?"

Chen Qingye stared at him. The gu insects flying in the air quietly got a little closer.

Blast chocked. The smile on his lips froze slightly and seemed to be faintly twitching, "K-k-k-keep them away from me."

"Tell me why you're looking for Ace." Wei Yuechi rested her arm on Chen Qingye's shoulder as she said this. Chen Qingye expressionlessly moved away, causing her arm to fall off his shoulder, and dusted the place that was touched by her earlier.

Damned mysophobia……

Wei Yuechu silently rolled her eyes and continued, "Otherwise, I'll ask this Mr. Red here to release some of his insects, follow you home and then have them lay eggs in your ears!"

She deliberately tried to scare him.

Blast's expression was completely green. He gritted his teeth, "You think I would fall for that?"

Wei Yuechu shrugged, "It's up to you whether or not you believe me….."

In fact, she also didn't know whether Chen Qingye could do something like this. In any case, it didn't matter whether or not it worked, it was better to try it anyway.

Blast's gaze moved between the two people present. Finally, he messed up his hair in frustration and said, "Anyway, it doesn't matter even if I tell you. The reason why I'm looking for him is so that I can fight against him again."

His head of messy red hair was like a blazing fire and his eyes carried strong fighting spirit, "I lost to him in the game last time but he left the game before I could challenge him again. This time, I must win back my honour!"

Seeing another fighting fanatic like herself, Wei Yuechu's hand felt itchy, "Why don't you try it out with me?"

Blast glanced at her and stuck up his pinkie with a contemptuous expression on his face.

Wei Yuechu: "…….."

Who are you looking down on?!

Before she could explode in anger, Blast lazily continued, "Besides, I also want to take revenge."

Wei Yuechu let out an 'oh' in understanding. She elbowed Chen Qingye, "He's the same as you."

She said, "Why don't you try and persuade him?"

Blast was stunned for a moment. He looked at Chen Qingye, "Hey you, you also have a grudge against him?"

"Yes……" Chen Qingye thought for a while and after holding back for a long time, he finally added, "But Ace is actually pretty nice."

He rubbed his hair, his face a little flushed. He actually looked a little shy.

Wei Yuechu: "…….."

Why did she suddenly feel danger?

She took a deep breath and looked back at Blast who stood before her, "Why not talk about it? What grudge do you have against him?"

Blast's expression stiffened and even his entire body froze. His eyes drifted around for a while and soon a faint flush appeared on his cheeks. He angrily roared, "It's none of your damned business!"

Wei Yuechu: "…….."

Why did that feeling of danger seem to have doubled?

Ye Jia who hadn't said a word the entire time was happily watching the show —- This continued until their conversation shifted to him.

In fact, the bet that had caused Blast to fall out of the top 30 rankings was because he had run into Ace.

There were various underground black markets and arenas in the game.

It didn't belong to the game itself and was only popular among a small group of players who liked to compete. There were many ways one could gamble; the number of kills in an instance, the longest survival time in an instance, and of course the simplest one was an in-person PK between players. Various items could also be used to make the bets, including points and game props.

Blast enjoyed gambling and had always been reaping large profits until…..he ran into a hard nail.

It was an S-Level prop.

He originally listed it for auction and the highest bidder would receive it, but just before the points were transferred, Blast saw the buyer's real name and instantly changed his mind.

At that time, Ace was ranked sixth and Blast was ranked seventh. He had always wanted to test out the strength of this player who was ranked above him so he challenged him to enter the same instance and compete in the number of kills.

The other young man thought for a moment and agreed.

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The ending was just as you imagined.

But the difference between the two wasn't too big. Blast wasn't satisfied so he proposed a new bet —-A one on one fight.

Ace stared at him silently for a while. His amber eyes flashed thoughtfully.

Blast felt a little unnerved by his stare, "W-what is it?"

Ace retracted his gaze and replied calmly, "Nothing. I accept."

But before Blast could get too happy, he heard the other party add, "However, I would like to raise the stakes."

Blast excitedly agreed, "No problem! How would you like to raise it?"

The young man smiled faintly, "Your hair……"

And so, after that round of betting was over, Blast not only dropped out of the top 30 rankings, he even had to shave off the red hair he was most proud of —- And don a bald head for an entire year.

Blast took in a deep breath and pulled himself out from those memories. He said through gritted teeth, "I want him to pay for what he did to me back then!"

Wei Yuechu and Chen Qingye, "……."

Why am I not surprised?

Wu Su on the other end slowly spoke up, "But there is no need for you to charge into the Bureau and hold the employee's hostage."

Blast pulled a face and said in a bad tone, "I didn't hold them hostage. You can go out and ask whether or not I said that they could go."

Wu Su: "……."

But the problem is, with you acting like this, who would dare leave?

Wei Yuechu frowned, "If it wasn't for someone blocking it, you would have caused a big catastrophe."

Knowing that he was in the wrong, Blast scratched his head awkwardly and muttered, "It was all because of those bugs."

He suddenly remembered something and his eyes widened instantly. He rushed over to Ye Jia who hadn't said a single word until now and looked at him up and down with great interest, "Hey, speaking of which, how did you do that?"

Blast spread open his hand and a ball of fire appeared, "I have never seen anyone be able to put out my yin fire!"

Everyone's attention was now on Ye Jia who had silently shrunk back into the corner of the room, avoiding bringing attention to himself.

Everyone's expressions carried obvious curiosity.

Blast retracted his hand and muttered a little reluctantly, "Of course, except for that person."

Until now, his fire had only failed before one person. It was that wicked and nasty Ace. He didn't expect that he would actually run into someone else who could do it today.

"What?" Wei Yuechu didn't hear him clearly.

Seeing that his cover was about to be blown, Ye Jia's heart fell. He quickly tried to explain, "Actually, this wasn't something I could do alone."

Blast frowned, "What do you mean?"

Ye Jia took in a deep breath and explained slowly, "I believe Cap Wu has already told you about a fierce ghost willing to cooperate with the Bureau."

Indeed, Wu Su did mention that before. A lot of the information they had were obtained from this fierce ghost who was willing to cooperate with them.

Ye Jia continued, "I am his main contact person."

Everyone was shocked.

Ye Jia finished off with the excuse he had prepared beforehand, "Yes, that's right. So, in order to ensure his anonymity and to also ensure his own interests, he gave me a prop that could block a fatal attack."

As he said this, he pulled out the small black hand from his shoulder, "See? It's this one."

The small black hand, "?"

Fuck….

Ye Jia's expression didn't change, "But it's no longer effective now."

He shook the limp small black hand in the air.

Small black hand: "………"

Damned conman!

But the situation at hand was more important. It could only play dead in Ye Jia's hand and let him shake it around.

The small black hand was passed around the people present.

Wei Yuechu poked at it and exclaimed, "So soft!"

She tugged at it, "And it's stretchy!"

The small black hand: "…….."

M.US.T E.N.D.U.R.E.

Chen Qingye lowered his head and carefully examined the small black hand who was still playing dead. He slowly nodded, "It's a very powerful prop. Even if it is now no longer useful, I can still feel strong yin energy coming from it. It's almost at the level of a B-Level fierce ghost."

The small black hand: "………"

Your uncle, I AM a B-Level fierce ghost!

At this moment, A'Chang stuck its head out from Chen Qingye's sleeve and inched closer towards the small black hand.

The small black hand: "!"

Ahhhh Fuck!!!

Seeing that it was about to expose itself, Ye Jia hurriedly took the small black hand back from Chen Qingye and said, "Anyway, that's what happened."

After seeing that very powerful prop, everyone was convinced.

Wei Yuechu breathed a sigh of relief and patted Ye Jia on the shoulder, "Anyway, it's great that you're okay. I really thought that fireball was going to hit you just now. If you encounter anything like this again, you should try and get away as quickly as possible or the outcome would be unimaginable."

Chen Qingye who stood behind her lightly commented, "Why haven't I seen you treat others this nicely before?"

Wei Yuechu angrily turned back and glared at him, "I just like to treat handsome guys nicely, it's none of your business."

"Then what about Ace?" Wu Su asked, "Didn't you say that you wanted to confess to him?"

Wei Yuechu: "……"

She had lost her courage after seeing him and didn't dare mention it.

She looked at Wu Su expressionlessly and gritted her teeth, "If you don't know how to speak, you should just keep quiet."

After walking out of the office, Wu Su pressed the button for the elevator.

"So where will we be working for the time being?" Ye Jia asked.

All the employees had been evacuated out of the building. Because the Bureau had basically been destroyed and also because the yin fire would still continue to release yin energy even after it is extinguished, it wasn't suitable for ordinary people to be there. The building could only be used once it is dealt with by the professional team.

Wu Su, "We'll have to see what the people above says."

The subtext of that was — I also don't know.

Wei Yuechu turned to glance at Blast and said icily, "Look at what you've done."

Blast: "….."

He said half irritably and half guiltily, "T-then I can just help with cleaning up this place, alright?"

Wei Yuechu smiled faintly, "Of course. If you didn't do it, I would've let Chen Qingye's A'Chang have some close interaction with you."

Chen Qingye sent her a look of disapproval, "A'Chang isn't something dirty. Don't talk about him like that."

It seems that Chen Qingye's quirk of raising insects had left Blast with a psychological shadow. He silently stepped back to increase the distance between them and then snorted, "I am a man of his word!"

"A man who's afraid of insects?" Wei Yuechu gloated.

Blast's eyes widened and his handsome face flushed slightly, complementing his red hair, "You!!"

The elevator before them dinged and the door slowly opened.

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Ye Jia turned to look at Wu Su and asked, "Then we won't need to work overtime for the time being, right?"

Wu Su: "Have you been waiting to ask this the entire time?"

Ye Jia smiled shyly, "Yes….."

Wu Su: "…….."

The elevator slowly descended, but it suddenly started shaking!

The lights above them flickered a few times. Soon afterwards, the screen displaying the floor suddenly turned dark and red numbers appeared instead.

Wu Su was stunned, "W-what's going on?"

The expressions of the other people present turned serious — They all felt the sudden surge in yin energy in the air.

At this moment, the numbers on the screen suddenly stopped —–

A bright red '100' was now displayed on the pitch-black screen, resembling half-coagulated blood.

"Damn….." Blast rubbed his red hair in annoyance, "They should just come out instead of playing these stupid tricks."

As he said that, a ball of fire appeared from his hand. He then proceeded to press it against the elevator wall, almost instantly melting a big hole through the thick metal. Golden red melted metal flowed down from that hole, sizzling as it made contact with the ground.

"Wait….." Chen Qingye's words were stuck in his throat.

What appeared outside the elevator wasn't a reinforced concrete wall, but pitch-black darkness. That darkness covered the entire world, the lighter parts and the darker parts mixing together. Above them, a large eye stared down at them. It was a particularly terrifying sight.

"Ghost domain!" Wei Yuechu gasped and tightened her grip around her chainsaw.

— At least S-Level. It may even be one of the lords.

The next second, the elevator they were in seemed to have lost its support and it suddenly fell downwards at an alarming speed. Chen Qingye grabbed Wu Su while Wei Yuechu dragged Ye Jia, and they all jumped out from the hole in the wall.

Behind them was a loud crash. The elevator they were in only moments earlier had crashed into the ground, turning into a large pile of scrap metal.

Everyone managed to safely land onto the ground.

In the dark and barren ground ahead, several cracks suddenly appeared. From those cracks, a terrifyingly large human figure slowly crawled out.

The woman's limbs were thin and pale. Her long, jet-black hair fell onto the ground, every strand curling and slithering around as if they were alive. She slowly raised her head, revealing her face that was covered with numerous eyes and looked towards the people present. Strong, crushing yin energy enveloped everyone, causing all their hairs to stand on end.

Everyone stared warily at the fierce ghost before them with their weapons in their hands.

Wei Yuechu lowered her voice and asked, "Have you seen this one before? This.."

"No…." Chen Qingye slowly shook his head, his expression similarly serious, "It's an S-Level fierce ghost I have never seen or heard of."

Ye Jia narrowed his eyes.

That's right…..

He also didn't have an impression of this fierce ghost.

It was very strange —-Logically speaking, such a powerful existence like this shouldn't have no name or title.

The woman's voice seemed like it was coming out from her all parts of her body. She murmured softly, "Ace……."

Ye Jia: "………" At least he knew who the other party had come for.

The next moment, the woman's hair shot out like arrows, attacking the people present from all directions.

"Hah, at least I can now warm up my body." Blast's eyes burned with fighting spirit. He laughed out loud as flames appeared next to him.

"Would you like to have a match?" Wei Yuechu revealed a slightly crazy smile as she held her chainsaw in her hand.

Chen Qingye didn't speak. He just silently released countless gu insects from inside his sleeves.

However, something unexpected happened.

They watched that woman's hair suddenly make a sharp turn and then charge straight towards Ye Jia!

"Whoosh——–"

Ye Jia raised a brow, a cold light flashing briefly across his amber eyes. Icy cold killing intent was evident.

—- In that case, there was no need for him to continue acting.

His fingers twitched slightly, and the shadow of a scythe gradually appeared in his hands, the crescent shaped blade reflecting a bloody light.

However, without any warning—-

A cold and slender hand held Ye Jia's waist from behind.

The hair missed their target.

Ye Jia's eyes widened in astonishment and the shadow of the scythe disappeared. Following a few faint sounds, those sharp strands of hair fell to the ground and were then slowly retracted back.

The woman's numerous eyes looked in his direction.

The next moment, a man's low and slightly hoarse voice sounded close to his ears. It carried a familiar hint of a smile with seemed to be teasing but also seemed to be showing concern, "Gege, be careful."