Chapter 82: A Can of Spinach

It turned out that when Elliot underwent demonic transformation, Wang Ling had already prepared by taking out his white iron musket. Seeing the transformed Elliot’s strength soar, Wang Ling unleashed another Flaming Rising Dragon Fist, smashing the hefty hippie man into a near-death state. He and Blue Moon immediately closed in swiftly. As they restrained the fat man in his dying moments, Wang Ling fired the musket’s powerful skill: Fireball!

Don’t forget, the fat man’s body was still smoldering from the previous Flaming Rising Dragon Fist. The nearly extinguished flames were reignited and expanded by the explosion of the fireball, greatly enhancing the inferno’s power.

At that moment, another red object, resembling a firecracker or small cannon, appeared in Wang Ling’s hand: the Flame Incendiary Bomb he had obtained in the Double Dragon world!

Boom!

A violent surge of fire erupted from the ground. Together with the embers of the Rising Dragon Fist and the expanding fireball, they turned Elliot’s location into a blazing inferno! Taoxian immediately drew a deep breath, his cheeks hollowing sharply, and then spat forth a fierce jet of flame. The resulting fireball was twice the size of his usual Yoga Fire, its incandescent white hue shining even more brightly as it plunged into the raging blaze.

This was Taoxian’s all-out Yoga Fire. After spewing out the fireball, the man—who was usually sporting a fake smile—could no longer even maintain his grin, left only with deep fatigue.

“Ah…”

Elliot’s agonized scream rang out within the flames. The continuous elemental attacks and the unrelenting fire took a heavy toll. With a violent shake, he broke free from the fat hippie’s grip, tearing the already dead man’s chest nearly in two, and prepared to escape the fiery ground.

But just then, a green shell the size of a millstone burst through the flames and struck him. As soon as he was hit, Elliot’s movements froze, and a ring of golden, spinning stars appeared above his head.

A sliding turtle shell from the Mario world!

Thanks to his attributes, Elliot’s resistance to abnormal status effects meant the shell’s stun lasted only a second, but a second was enough. Five throwing stars flew toward him—four bounced harmlessly off his high-defense skin, having struck his forehead and nose, but one found its mark in his vulnerable eye, the sharp edge piercing his eyeball and embedding itself.

Blue Moon’s throwing stars!

The young woman, carrying five of the deadly stars at her waist, took advantage of Elliot’s immobilization and stun, launching all of them at once, hoping to blind both his eyes—but only one struck true.

Another green sliding shell appeared before Wang Ling. He gave it a hard push, sending it gliding into the flames. The moment Elliot recovered from the previous stun and tried to escape, he was struck again, plunging him back into a daze.

A total of four sliding shells kept Elliot pinned in the flames for four whole seconds. When the fifth shell came sliding his way, he finally couldn’t bear it any longer and used an item to cure his abnormal state.

He staggered out of the fire in utter disarray: his clothes were burned to rags, his once-green skin scorched black, his hair reduced to charred dust, and a throwing star was still lodged in his left eye, leaking cloudy vitreous fluid.

Gasping for breath, Elliot quickly used a medium health potion. The relentless fire—Rising Dragon embers, Fireball from the white iron musket, the Incendiary Bomb, Taoxian’s all-out Yoga Fire, and being trapped by the sliding shells—had cost him nearly half of his 400-plus health points!

The medium potion, with a cooldown of one hour, was far superior to the small potion that restored only 50 points; its 200-point recovery was enough to make up for his lost health. Yet, after using the potion, his health bar still wasn’t full.

He was wounded.

A throwing star remained embedded in his left eye. The potion could restore health, but it couldn’t heal such injuries.

Seething with rage, Elliot yanked the star out; to his horror, his eyeball came with it. Seeing the viscous orb on the star, his pain gave way to a howl of even greater fury.

Blood trickled from the black hole of his left eye socket. At that moment, Wang Long, Chen Heng, Taoxian, along with the Brute and the Mop-headed Dwarf, all launched a fierce assault on the wounded Elliot. Even Blue Moon, the young woman, joined in, leaping through the air to deliver a flying kick to his head.

Wang Ling watched the situation closely, ready to act if needed, but noticed that the demonically transformed Elliot no longer seemed so menacing—facing this joint assault, he clutched his left eye with one hand and drew a shield with the other, resuming full defense.

“What’s going on?” Wang Ling was deeply puzzled. Many of the other Dreamers outside whispered in shock at the sudden turn of events. Bai Feng, her beautiful face dark as a thundercloud, was trembling—a reaction she hadn’t shown even when facing powerful angels.

Wang Ling and other low-level Dreamers didn’t understand, but Bai Feng did. She saw a faint, dark red glow on Elliot’s body: he was suffering from the “Burn” status effect.

Burn reduced physical attack power to half and significantly weakened hidden defensive stats. Like paralysis, freezing, and poison, it was a dreaded abnormal state—potentially fatal in a crucial fight! The duration was uncertain, depending on the degree of the burn and the victim’s resistance. If it lasted several minutes, the weakened Elliot might not survive the siege.

“Damn it… Why did I agree to that contract…” Panic began to well up in Bai Feng’s heart.

Now one-eyed, Elliot endured behind his shield, truly trapped by the burn status. He had some healing items from various story worlds in his pouch, but none that could remove abnormal conditions. His only Lum Berry from the Pokémon world had already been used to recover from the turtle shell’s stun.

“This damned burn! Damn these summoned characters! And damn Wang Ling most of all!”

With his defense reduced, even behind a shield his health was steadily dropping under the combined assault. As his life ebbed away, rage clouded Elliot’s mind: “No, I can’t hold out. I have to use that item… But that rare, precious item is meant for promotion tasks or desperate battles. How can I waste it here? Yet these damned people are so troublesome—even if I wait for the burn to pass, I might not survive…”

“To escape, I must use that item! To kill these people, I must use that item!” A predatory green light shone in Elliot’s only remaining eye. “To avenge my lost eye, I must use that item!”

He pulled his hand from his face, and in his grasp appeared an object.

It was a small round tin, its surface green, with a line of English letters:

“SPINACH”

With trembling hands, he held the tin before him and squeezed hard. The tin was crushed flat, and a lump of green vegetable matter burst out, shooting straight into Elliot’s mouth.

“Wang Ling… Just wait. You’ve forced me to waste my precious item. I won’t kill you quickly. I’ll cut off your limbs, make a human stick of you, and torment you slowly!” Burning with hatred, Elliot opened his mouth wide and caught the green mass.

Outside the arena, the orc team captain Visak’s face was grim. The use of this item was not just a loss for Elliot—it was a huge loss for the entire orc team! In future team battles in the quest worlds, they would be missing a trump card that could turn the tide!

This item came from the world of the classic game Popeye.

Its name was “Popeye’s Spinach”!

It had to be eaten to take effect. After consumption, strength increased by 66 points, but the user’s maximum strength could not exceed 100. Even without demonic transformation, Elliot’s strength would soar to 90, and with his formidable stamina of 91, he would become a terrifying force! A top-tier tank would become a top-tier powerhouse in an instant! In the beginner zone, except for a few super-strong individuals, no one could face Elliot after he ate the spinach. That’s why this rare and precious item had been entrusted to him.

“Still, if we can kill that kid and claim a large share of his inheritance, and win Bai Feng’s friendship, there’ll be at least some compensation,” Visak sighed.

Inside the coliseum, Wang Ling’s nerves were taut. The moment Elliot produced the green tin, he grew wary. When he saw the English letters on the tin, he was puzzling over their meaning when Elliot opened his mouth to catch the vegetables. Suddenly, a thought flashed through Wang Ling’s mind:

He must not let Elliot eat those unassuming greens!

“Troublemaker! Sneeze!”

Because entering the arena restored Dreamers to their peak, Wang Ling’s innate skills had reset. He wasted no time activating the skill! Just as Elliot caught the spinach in his mouth and was about to swallow, he felt an uncontrollable surge of air rush up from his throat:

“Achoo!”

The force of the sneeze was so great that it even sent a spray of blood from the empty socket where his eye had been! The spinach, now moistened by saliva and sliding toward his throat, was blasted out by the violent airflow, flying three meters away and landing on the ground!

The sudden turn left Elliot’s mind blank. Almost by instinct, he ignored the cudgels and meteor chains raining down on him and lunged desperately toward the fallen spinach. But someone was faster.

It was the mop-headed dwarf, swift as lightning!

The small, disreputable summoned character snatched up the saliva- and dust-covered spinach and, without hesitation, stuffed it into his own mouth.

“No! That’s my spinach!” Elliot’s furious, anguished, despairing roar shook the arena—a mad howl laden with shock, grief, rage, and hopelessness.