83: Chapter 83 Your Sophisticated Music, My Homemade Bomb

Old Mo looked at the electronic clock on the wall. "Stop dawdling. The broadcast was already urging us just now. The Round of 16 match is about to start, and your opponent list is out."

"Who?"

"Phantom Sound."

Old Mo's expression turned slightly more serious.

"It's a young girl who plays with sound waves and Mental Energy interference. This type of opponent is the most troublesome. Physical defense is basically useless against her, and sound waves are something that can penetrate anything."

Lin Qi's movements paused.

"Sound waves?"

"Correct. If you can't defend against it, your brain will be shaken into mush before you even rush in front of her."

Old Mo looked at him with schadenfreude. "How about it? This time there's no exhaust pipe for you to plug. How do you plan to fight?"

Lin Qi sheathed his heavy sword back onto his back and reached into the pocket of his combat suit, fumbling for a moment.

Several round little gadgets were lying there.

These were also things he had tinkered with in the scrap pile.

He had originally intended to use them for fishing, but he hadn't expected them to come in handy here.

"Sound wave attacks..."

A slightly wicked smile tugged at the corners of Lin Qi's mouth. "As long as the sound is louder than hers, does that count as winning?"

The broadcast sound happened to ring out at this moment.

"Please, contestants for the Round of 8, enter the arena! Contestant 07-44, Lin Qi, proceed to Ring Number Three immediately!"

Lin Qi grabbed his combat suit, put it on, shouldered the "Serrated" heavy sword, and loosened up his right arm.

The soreness and swelling had disappeared, replaced by a fiery, clear sensation.

"Thanks."

Lin Qi touched the round iron lumps in his pocket.

"I've also prepared some local specialties for her."

...

The atmosphere in the arena was even more fanatical than before.

Those who could make it into the Round of 8 were basically the leading figures of their respective disciplines.

As soon as Lin Qi appeared, a wave of mixed boos and cheers erupted from the spectator stands.

"Blank Slate, let's go! Trash these so-called S-Class Geniuses!"

Zhang Wei was shouting at the top of his lungs in the stands, waving a banner that read "Lin Qi Must Win."

The people next to him looked at him like he was an idiot.

On the ring.

A girl in a long white dress was already waiting there.

She held an exquisite silver harp in her arms, her long hair draped over her shoulders, and her temperament was ethereal, making her look completely out of place among the rough, violent people around her.

This was Phantom Sound.

S-Class Talent [Soul Movement].

"Are you that Lin Qi who only knows violence?"

Phantom Sound looked at Lin Qi as he walked onto the stage, her brows slightly furrowed.

Lin Qi smelled of both machine oil and medicinal oil, and with that tattered heavy sword, he looked exactly like a construction worker who had just returned from a site.

"What's wrong with violence? Violence can solve problems."

Lin Qi slammed his heavy sword onto the ground, causing the platform to tremble slightly.

"Vulgar."

Phantom Sound shook her head and lightly placed her fingers on the strings.

"I will make you understand that some powers cannot be resisted by muscles alone. Since you've encountered me, just take a nap and avoid physical suffering."

The referee looked at the two of them and blew the whistle.

"The match begins!"

"Zheng—"

Phantom Sound plucked the strings.

A clear, resonant harp note rang out.

The sound was not loud, but it felt like it exploded directly inside the brain.

A visible ripple spread through the air, like ripples on water, surging towards Lin Qi in overlapping layers.

This was not an ordinary sound wave; it contained vibrations of Mental Energy.

"It's here!"

Someone in the stands who knew what they were looking at exclaimed.

"This is Phantom Sound's opening move, 'Soul-Bewitching Melody.' If you listen to it too much, you'll pass out immediately!"

Lin Qi stood where he was, unmoving.

But his hands moved quickly.

The moment the harp note rang out, he pulled two balls of oil-soaked cotton he had prepared beforehand from his pocket and stuffed them firmly into his ears.

Immediately after, he pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth and drew a breath of True Qi to seal his ear orifices.

The world became quiet.

Although he could still feel his eardrums vibrating, the sound that drilled straight into his brain marrow was mostly blocked out.

Seeing this, Phantom Sound sneered.

"Naive. Do you think plugging your ears is useful?"

"Zheng, zheng, zheng!"

The harp music suddenly became intense.

The originally soft ripples became sharp, transforming into invisible wind blades that sliced through the air and whistled as they arrived.

This was physical damage!

Although Lin Qi couldn't hear it, the hair on his skin stood on end.

That was a signal of danger.

"Whoosh!"

A wind blade flew past his cheek, leaving a shallow bloodstain.

"Interesting."

Lin Qi touched the blood on his face, and his eyes changed.

His legs exerted force suddenly, and he charged out like a cheetah.

Since it was a wave, it traveled in a straight line.

Since it was a straight line, he would just rush over and smash the sound source.

Phantom Sound did not expect Lin Qi to be so reckless, and her fingers danced frantically on the strings.

"Soul Chaos! Absolute Echo!"

Denser sound wave wind blades rained down, and at the same time, a sharp, piercing sensation of Mental Energy penetrated the blockade of the cotton and True Qi, stabbing directly into Lin Qi's brain.

"Hum!"

Lin Qi felt a wave of dizziness in his brain, and his steps faltered.

This feeling was like someone holding a steel needle and stirring his brain matter.

"Wake up!"

Lin Qi bit his tongue hard.

The sharp pain accompanied by the taste of blood spread in his mouth, forcibly dispelling the dizziness.

He was still ten meters away from Phantom Sound.

Phantom Sound panicked a little.

Why hasn't this person fallen yet?

Just as she was preparing to unleash her ultimate move, Lin Qi's hand suddenly reached into his pocket.

"Listen to a bang!"

He pulled out three black, round balls and threw them hard at the ground under Phantom Sound's feet.

These were not grenades.

These were a few high-pressure gas canisters he had found in the scrap yard, filled with metal fragments and a highly unstable chemical reagent.

Old Mo called these "homemade stun grenades."

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Three loud bangs overlapped together.

Intense white light and a massive shockwave exploded in the center of the ring instantly.

This kind of close-range explosion had a decibel level far exceeding the limit that the harp could emit.

More importantly, that kind of irregular noise completely disrupted the frequency of the harp music.

"Ah!"

Phantom Sound screamed, covered her ears with both hands, and squatted on the ground in pain.

Her Mental Energy was highly concentrated on the strings, and suddenly being backlashed by this unreasonable noise made it feel like a rock concert was happening inside her brain.

It was buzzing.

The harp music stopped abruptly.

Before the smoke and dust had dispersed, a large hand had already passed through the mist and seized her neck.

The cold touch made her whole body stiffen.

The chipped heavy sword was hovering right above her head.

Lin Qi pulled the cotton out of his ears and shook his head, which was still ringing a bit.

"I really don't understand art."

He looked at the pale Phantom Sound and grinned, blood from biting his tongue still on his teeth.

"But I know that as long as the sound is loud enough, you can't keep playing."

The referee rushed over quickly.

"Stop! Contestant 07-44 wins!"

The whole arena was silent for a moment, and then a huge uproar erupted.

"This... this is allowed?"

"Throwing bombs? Isn't that a foul?"

"What foul? Those are alchemical items! Have you read the rulebook? As long as they aren't contraband, they can be used!"

"Just like that, he's advanced to the Round of 16."

Zhang Wei was laughing so hard below the stage that the flesh on his face was trembling.

"Did you see that! This is called tactics! This is called wisdom!"