World Peace

The next day, Steve quit his job at the factory and moved into the Martial Arts School to begin his apprenticeship.

What no one noticed was that many newspapers carried the same story that day: "Brooklyn Mafia boss 'Mad Dog' Johnny and more than ten of his men were killed at their headquarters last night."

Chen Mo did not personally teach Steve. Instead, he had Steve first learn the basics from Huang Quan and the others, such as horse stances and standing post training.

Chen Mo's fighting style was built upon his superhuman physical abilities. It incorporated the strengths of many different schools, merging them into a style that was simple, direct, fierce, and swift.

Since Chen Mo's own strength had mainly grown through several bursts of potential, he was not particularly skilled at foundational training. That was precisely what the Boxing Masters excelled at. They had all trained their way up from weakness to strength, step by step.

So Steve trained his fundamentals under the Boxing Masters first, making up for his body's deficiencies and laying a solid foundation. Although his physical condition was poor, he possessed extraordinary perseverance. Even when every muscle in his body ached unbearably and he was barely able to stay on his feet, he would grit his teeth and persist until he completed his training.

These fundamental exercises were a systematic and reasonable method of training, refined through the accumulated efforts and improvements of countless predecessors over many years. They could not only build muscular strength, but also strengthen the internal organs and comprehensively improve one's physical condition.

Even someone in poor health could gradually improve their physique and slowly grow stronger through them. Unlike many fighting schools, which pursued nothing but brute strength and simply squeezed out a person's potential through massive amounts of high-intensity training, easily crippling practitioners and leaving behind hidden injuries.

Several months later, Steve's body had clearly become much stronger. Of course, that was only compared to his former self. Next to ordinary people, he still looked somewhat short and skinny.

Still, he no longer became breathless after running a few steps, and the thin frame beneath his clothes had begun to show the outlines of muscle.

"Shifu, when are you going to start teaching me martial arts?" Steve asked, his face full of admiration and longing as he watched Chen Mo easily defeat all four Boxing Masters.

Ever since Johnny's group had been effortlessly defeated here by Huang Quan and the other three, the Martial Arts School's reputation had spread throughout Brooklyn. Although Johnny and his men had been wiped out that very night, some who had not been at the headquarters had escaped by luck and told others what had happened.

According to the survivors, apart from the four formidable fighters at the Martial Arts School, its owner was an uncanny marksman. In the blink of an eye, he had fired several shots and wounded every gunman on Johnny's side.

Anyone with sense knew that Johnny and the others had most likely been killed by the people from the Martial Arts School that night. The other two major Brooklyn Mafia families were even more certain that Chen Mo and his people had carried out the massacre.

They had long coveted the Martial Arts School's wealth and had secretly kept it under observation. After Johnny's men were injured and retreated, they had people watching it from the shadows throughout the night.

According to their informants, late that night, a figure leaped out from the third floor, bounded across several rooftops, and vanished. The timing matched Johnny and his men's deaths perfectly. Moreover, their surveillance had likely been discovered long ago. Before leaving, the figure had glanced toward where they were hiding, and the men watching had felt their hair stand on end, as though they had fallen into an icy abyss.

It was a warning!

The leaders of the two families tacitly canceled their plans against the Martial Arts School and strictly ordered their men not to provoke anyone there.

As Johnny's longtime rivals, no one understood his strength better than they did. Though he was the weakest of the three major forces, the nickname "Mad Dog" had not been given to him for nothing.

Johnny was crazier and more ruthless than any of them. Beneath his deranged exterior hid fox-like cunning. The men he had gathered were all desperate outlaws, each willing to fight and risk their lives. Under Johnny's leadership, they had pulled off many major jobs, and their combat ability far surpassed that of the other families' men.

Though they had fewer people, they always stayed together and spent the nights at their headquarters. They were extremely cautious and never gave their enemies a chance to pick them off one by one.

Eliminating that group of lunatics completely would have required a considerable price. That was why, despite being far weaker than the other two Mafia families, they had still managed to secure a place in Brooklyn.

Now, "Mad Dog" Johnny, the strongest among the three forces, and his elite men had first been defeated head-on by just a few people, then assassinated one by one after someone infiltrated their headquarters alone. The two remaining factions had no choice but to take seriously the China Martial Arts School they had once regarded as a fat piece of meat.

As the Martial Arts School's reputation spread, people began coming to it by name. After witnessing the Boxing Masters' abilities, they willingly paid the tuition.

As a result, Steve gained several junior fellow disciples.

Seeing his junior fellow disciples begin learning martial arts from their respective teachers while he could only hold a horse stance in a corner of the hall, Steve could not help growing anxious.

Chen Mo felt somewhat awkward hearing a foreigner call him "Shifu," but when he thought about how this was the future Super Hero Captain America, he found it acceptable after all.

"Why are you so eager to learn martial arts?" Chen Mo put on the air of a master.

"To become stronger, so I can enlist in the army." Steve's face was full of longing when he mentioned enlisting. It had always been his dream, but his frail body had gotten him rejected time and time again.

"To join the army and kill people?" Chen Mo asked, looking into Steve's eyes.

"No. I don't want to kill anyone. I only want to protect my country." Steve shook his head.

"What if your country went to war with mine?"

"An invasion? I don't think I would go." Steve answered solemnly.

"What if your country ordered you to go?"

"I..."

Seeing that Steve had been stumped, Chen Mo patted him on the shoulder. "I only want to tell you not to let politicians use you, and not to limit your vision to a single country. I hope you can have a great ideal, like I do."

"Shifu, what is your ideal?" Steve asked curiously.

"My ideal is world peace."

As Steve gazed at him worshipfully and gradually sank into thought, Chen Mo smiled calmly, turned around, and sat back down on the sofa to wait for Old Eddie to make him coffee.

The next day, Steve officially began studying Chen Mo's fighting style.

It had to be said that Steve truly possessed talent in combat. Under Chen Mo's meticulous and unreserved instruction, his fighting ability improved at a rapid pace. Though he was weaker than his junior fellow disciples, he always emerged victorious in their sparring matches.

Fighting technique was only one factor. More importantly, Steve possessed an indomitable, fearless spirit that gave him an innate advantage over his opponents.

Even when he lacked the strength and was forced into a grueling fight, he could always hold on until his opponent fell first. Even if he was knocked down, he would always get back up quickly, refusing to stop until he defeated his opponent.

Gradually, his junior fellow disciples no longer wanted to spar with him. He had no choice but to fight the Boxing Masters instead. Naturally, he was beaten badly every time, but his strength advanced by leaps and bounds, and Steve enjoyed every bit of it.

In the blink of an eye, it was April 1943. Chen Mo had been in this world for more than a year.

Winter had passed and spring had arrived, bringing another new beginning.

Wearing a thin, soft sweater, Chen Mo sat comfortably on the sofa by the window. He looked out at the somewhat chilly streets while holding a cup of coffee Old Eddie had just brewed, taking a sip from time to time with an expression of utter comfort and contentment.

"Where did that kid Steve run off to? I praised him a few times, and now he's already slacking off," Chen Mo joked to Old Albert.

"You've always refused to let him apply for the army. Today, Jack, Huang Quan's student, passed the enlistment examination and officially joined up. Steve felt rather down, so I had him go out and watch a movie to clear his head." Old Albert smiled, affection appearing on his face as well. He liked the pure-hearted and kind young man Steve very much.

"I'm doing it for his own good. The time wasn't right before." Chen Mo shook his head and continued reclining on the sofa, enjoying the peace of the moment.

"But it will be soon."

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