Chapter 118 The Old Man and the Sea
Hemingway's superpower "The Old Man and the Sea" has a rather simple, even somewhat rudimentary, effect.
"The Old Man and the Sea" will only activate when Hemingway suffers a fatal wound. Hemingway will not die immediately but will gain regenerative abilities, and the speed of regeneration will continuously increase as the regeneration time increases.
Moreover, while his injuries were still healing, Hemingway's physical condition would continue to improve, and his strength would continue to accumulate.
Another drawback of "The Old Man and the Sea" is that the pain from all the fatal wounds does not disappear with regeneration, but rather intensifies over time. This usually leads Hemingway to fall into a self-protective coma due to excessive pain.
Once Hemingway's injuries have fully healed, his pain perception, strength, and regenerative abilities will be lost at a rate several times faster than they would have increased. In addition, there is the pain Hemingway endured before each fainting spell... It can be said that Hemingway is already incapacitated each time he loses consciousness.
“That’s true, but I’ve always just cut my arm to activate my abilities.” Even while maintaining his high-speed punching, Hemingway could still chat with Don Quixote in a sarcastic tone, “Honestly, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a start where they smash your skull to pieces!”
The distance between him and Hemingway was just right for a long-weapon attack. Cervantes, who had already recovered from his brain-dead state—that is, the Don Quixote now—wielded his huge knight's lance and laughed leisurely: "This wound is the glory of a warrior!"
Hemingway didn't say anything, but his expression suggested he didn't agree with the view.
Don Quixote's lance clashed repeatedly with Hemingway's fist, and the sound of their impact was now that of metal striking stone.
As if by telepathy, after another collision, Don Quixote and Hemingway simultaneously jumped back a step and stood up.
“Hiss—” Hemingway shook his hand, the bruises and contusions on the back of his hand were gradually healing. “You’re really as tough as you look.”
“Then what I want to say is,” Don Quixote raised his lance, flicked it lightly with his finger, and the lance immediately shattered into pieces on the ground, “that both the strength and the skill were beyond what was expected.”
Hemingway chuckled: "I have to think of some way to fight back against weapons."
"A marvelous skill, yet a useless endeavor." Don Quixote sang this line with the effect of an aria, while his lance coalesced and reformed once more.
Raising his undamaged lance, Don Quixote assumed a fighting stance, declaring, "I can gather a thousand more."
I don't think so.
Hemingway launched the first attack, suddenly stepping forward and punching Don Quixote's lance at an angle, followed by a straight punch aimed directly at him.
Don Quixote reacted in a split second, immediately throwing out his left fist, which was not holding a gun, to block Hemingway's sudden attack.
At the same time, Don Quixote immediately swung his right hand, which was holding the lance, toward Hemingway's unsuspecting back.
The simple straight punch collided with the armor, resulting in the armor groaning under the strain.
With the "Old Man and the Sea" story constantly evolving, Don Quixote can no longer gain an advantage through sheer strength.
"Don Quixote" has effects including mobility, defense, recovery speed, and attack power, among others. However, being all-rounder also means that he is not outstanding in any single area.
Don Quixote's greatest strength lies in his supersonic charge after accelerating. However, in the current situation, it is Hemingway who has restricted Don Quixote, who initially had the upper hand, and is unable to move at will.
"I don't think it needs to be done a thousand times or so!"
Hemingway launched another attack, his moves appearing to be nothing more than ordinary straight punches. However, Hemingway's current physical condition made the continuous straight punches unavoidable, like a sudden downpour.
Don Quixote swung his lance so rapidly it was as if he were raising a shield in front of him, the sound of metal clashing against metal never ceasing, and as the sounds of the collisions increased, Don Quixote's expression (if one could tell) grew increasingly grim.
Although it is not obvious, Don Quixote is constantly falling into a disadvantageous position.
Hemingway noticed this too, but strangely, he didn't seize the opportunity to intensify his attack. Instead, he slowed down his punches and began chatting idly with Don Quixote.
"Honestly, there aren't many people as strong as you. Why didn't you choose an official organization and instead went out to 'fight for justice'?"
Don Quixote didn't utter a single word, but instead increased the speed of his attack.
Hemingway followed up with a few more questions but received no response. He gritted his teeth and said, "Why are you so quiet now?"
"Because it's all useless and deceptive talk!"
In the brief moment between talking to Hemingway, Don Quixote seized the opportunity and swept his hand across Hemingway's side. The impact was so great that even Hemingway in his current state could not ignore it, and a clear cracking sound was heard from his shoulder to his ribs.
Normally, with internal organ injuries, he should have lost the ability to move and could only wait to die. But Hemingway's actions and words showed no hesitation whatsoever, continuing as if nothing had happened.
"You could 'kill' me hundreds of times like this!"
Hemingway seized the opportunity, sidestepped slightly to dodge Don Quixote's lance, and threw a punch at Don Quixote's abdomen.
That was the part of Don Quixote's armor closest to Cervantes.
Cervantes reacted quickly, immediately turning back to try and force Hemingway back with his gun. However, firstly, the effect of long weapons at close range was questionable, and secondly, Hemingway was indeed strong enough at this moment, and he couldn't dodge the punch despite his injury.
The lance pierced Hemingway's abdomen once again. His previous wound had barely healed before it was reopened, making his situation all the more unfortunate.
Hemingway's punch was also very effective. This straight punch, delivered without reservation, shattered Don Quixote's abdomen and almost pierced through it. It nearly pierced through Cervantes's stomach as well, but still managed to deliver a powerful blow.
The silver armor shattered instantly into a shower of shimmering dust. Even though the armor protected Cervantes' fragile body couldn't withstand the aftershock of the punch, he was sent flying backward and crashed into the wall.
“You see,” Hemingway slowly withdrew his fist, “but I only need to win once.”
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