Infinity, The Arcade Age

Current World: Metal Slug 1

Main Mission: Join either the Regular Army or the Rebel Army and achieve the rank of Sergeant or higher (Completed)

Reward: 5000 points, 5 free attribute points.

Optional Mission: Join either the Peregrine Falcon Squad or Modern Special Ops Team (Completed)

Reward: 3000 points, 3 free attribute points.

Green Title: Captain (Completed)

Green Title: Officer (Completed)

Blue Title: General (Completed)

This round granted 8 free attribute points, 8000 points, and three titles (two green, one blue).

The familiar spinning screen once again played before stopping at a final image: Qin Ming aiming a gun at General Modern, silently locking eyes with him.

Unlike other worlds, Metal Slug 1 was a unique open-ended large-scale war world without distinct levels, offering players a free exploration format.

With the capture of General Modern, the game was considered fully cleared.

However, Qin Ming neither triggered the overarching world lore nor received a completion bonus, so the points and attribute rewards were relatively modest.

That said, he had taken down plenty of adventurers along the way.

And most importantly, the spoils were anything but disappointing.

The golden satellite phone, though costly to use, was a valuable tool Qin Ming would save for dire situations.

Beyond the phone, Qin Ming had dismantled several boss-level tanks and defeated numerous adventurers, earning himself plenty of story and blood keys.

Instead of merging the blood keys, Qin Ming decided to open them all separately.

Merging only allowed choosing two out of three reward options (points, equipment, or inventory slots) instead of just one.

On paper, this seemed like a good deal since using a trash key to unlock extra options on a top-tier key would be highly profitable.

The problem? All the blood keys looked identical!

Since Qin Ming had mixed them all together, he couldn't tell which belonged to top-tier or trash-level adventurers.

Accidentally fusing good keys with garbage ones would be a disastrous loss.

Thus, he opted to open every key individually, focusing solely on equipment or inventory slots.

Most of the loot was junk, but two items stood out:

Name: Fragmented Invincibility Gold Star

Category: Consumable 1/3 (Common Silver Grade)

Usage Requirement: None

Effect: Grants 1.5 seconds of invincibility upon activation.

Description: Mama Mia!

Name: Billy's Baton (KOF World)

Category: Weapon (Common Silver Grade)

Requirement: Strength 20

Effect 1: Attack Power 10–15

Effect 2: Baton Spin Tornado (Consumes 5 Mental Points per use. Manipulate the baton for extended strikes, causing wide-area damage. Damage equals Strength x2. Can be used up to three times consecutively, with each additional strike requiring 5 more Mental Points.)

Description: Thrust, thrust, thrust! Longer reach equals stronger hits! Even if I only know this one move, I can still beat the game! Haaa-taah!

A baton and a gold star—both excellent items.

The gold star, in particular, was incredibly potent due to its invincibility effect.

Most likely, that Power King adventurer who tanked seven charged sonic hand strikes without a scratch had this item to thank.

Unfortunately, two of the three uses had already been consumed, limiting its value as a simple life-saving trump card.

Adding to the Kusanagi Gloves, the valuable items contributed by adventurers totaled only three.

Beyond adventurer spoils, the real highlight was the story keys.

The Valley King Tank alone granted Qin Ming a Dim Gold Key!

Additionally, the Mini Bat Tank he destroyed on the way and the final Rehe Bomber provided a Dim Silver Key and a Regular Silver Key, respectively.

With other war spoils collected from battles along the way, Qin Ming managed to fuse his rewards, ultimately obtaining two Brilliant Silver Keys and one Dim Gold Key!

Gazing at the three valuable keys, Qin Ming's eyes gleamed as he decisively chose to open them.

With a flash of light, three brand-new items appeared before him.

Name: Portable Dual-Barrel Cannon (Metal Slug 1)

Category: Vehicle Attachment (Dim Gold Grade)

Requirement: Vehicle-equipped

Effect: Fixed Attack Power: 150–200 (15-second charge time)

Description: An experimental dual-barrel energy cannon mountable on vehicles. Despite the power reduction due to miniaturization, its destructive force remains formidable.

Name: Mini Bat Tank (Metal Slug 1)

Category: Special Vehicle (Brilliant Silver Grade)

Effect: Summons a Mini Bat Tank equipped with one train cannon and a heavy machine gun.

Description: A reinforced Mini Bat Tank with vastly improved firepower and defense, though it still lacks a roof.

Name: Modern's Aerial Combat Suit (Metal Slug 1)

Category: Upper Garment (Brilliant Silver Grade)

Effect 1: Flight Mode (Allows high-speed flight via back thrusters. Fuel: 500/500, auto-replenishes per world)

Effect 2: Bombardment Mode (Equipped with 12 mini missiles for large-area bombardment. Missile damage: 80–100. Can deploy thrusters for explosive attacks, with damage based on remaining fuel, maxing at 250.)

Description: Developed by the Rebel Army's research division as an escape tool for their general, though General Modern never actually used it.

A gold-grade vehicle attachment, a brilliant silver-grade super vehicle, and a brilliant silver-grade special combat suit!

Qin Ming's luck had been excellent this time, drawing the highest possible grade equipment from all three keys.

Of course, this likely had to do with the high value of the keys themselves.

The suit and vehicle attachment were decent enough, but the Mini Bat Tank...

Staring at the tank model in his hand, Qin Ming looked exasperated.

A tank with no roof? It didn't matter how strong its firepower or armor was—it was still useless!

One grenade tossed inside, and boom, game over!

That's exactly how Qin Ming had blown up the Mini Bat miniboss earlier!

Shaking his head, Qin Ming, unimpressed with this vehicle, hesitated for a moment before pulling out his bronze gong.

The Black Rabbit had performed admirably during this mission, living up to its title as Red Hare's Cousin.

Most importantly, while it wasn't as durable as steel vehicles, its agility was unmatched.

Thus, Qin Ming made a bold decision: to upgrade Black Rabbit into a Gold Warhorse!

As for the base material for the fusion?

The useless Mini Bat Tank—because it had no roof!

(End of Chapter)