Steve Beats Someone

At that moment, Steve was facing off against a tall, burly man in the alley behind the movie theater.

The patriotic newsreel before the film had left Steve's blood boiling, and he could hardly wait to enlist and head for the European battlefield. But a young man in front of him had begun shouting impatiently.

"Who cares about this? Start the movie already!"

"Hey, show some respect." Steve disapproved of his behavior and spoke up to stop him.

When the newsreel showed brave soldiers on foreign battlefields, gravely wounded and lying on stretchers, many people in the theater had reddened eyes, and some women had even shed tears.

But the young man started shouting again.

"Enough already! Stop showing this! Start the movie!"

Steve was truly angry this time. "Shut up!"

The young man in front stood up. He was more than a full head taller than Steve, broad and powerfully built.

The two of them then went to the alley behind the theater, prepared to settle the conflict like men. Of course, the burly man had also seen that Steve looked easy to bully and intended to throw his weight around.

The burly man looked down at Steve. This guy was so short and skinny, yet he dared to provoke him. He really didn't know what was good for him. He had to teach him a lesson.

Steve looked up at the burly man. Master had said that when someone made a mistake, if words could not teach them a lesson, then beat them hard. That would help them remember and correct their mistake. Steve himself had often been beaten by Chen Mo, so he understood this deeply. It really did make a person remember.

Seeing that the weak-looking guy in front of him still dared to glare at him, the burly man roared and angrily threw a punch. The old Steve would probably have been knocked straight to the ground, but to Steve now, the man's punch had nothing but brute force and was slow as well.

Steve easily sidestepped it and drove a hard punch into the exposed weak point beneath the man's armpit. The burly man, who had been so imposing moments ago, felt a sharp pain shoot through his armpit. His entire arm went numb and hung limply at his side.

Still unwilling to admit defeat, the burly man turned and threw another punch at Steve with his other hand. With one arm unable to move, he could not keep his balance, leaving him unsteady on his feet. This punch posed even less of a threat in Steve's eyes.

Steve ducked and surged forward. While dodging the attack, he drove another heavy punch beneath the man's right ribs. The impact struck his vulnerable liver, and an unprecedented agony spread through his body. The burly man's face instantly turned pale. He clutched the spot that had been hit and doubled over.

At the same time, Steve moved behind him and kicked the back of his knee. The burly man's knee went numb, his leg gave out, and he collapsed to the ground clutching his stomach.

This time, the burly man truly had no strength left to resist. Lying on the ground, he felt unbearable pain all over and could not move even a finger.

Steve raised his foot again and kicked toward the man's face. Before the terrified man's eyes, he stopped his foot just inches away.

"When you bully the weak with your strength, you have to be prepared to be bullied the same way." Steve slowly withdrew his foot as he spoke.

"The soldiers are fighting desperately for us on the battlefield, while you stay in the rear and use your strength to bully the weak." Steve put on the stern manner Chen Mo used when lecturing him. The burly man on the ground was speechless. I wanted to bully the weak, but how are you weak? I'm the one being bullied!

"When strength is used in the right place, it makes you a respected hero. When it is used in the wrong place, it makes you a tyrant everyone hates. Do you want people to look down on you forever?" Steve turned and left after saying that, leaving the burly man lying there to continue pondering his words.

This was the first time Steve had won when someone tried to bully him. He felt utterly refreshed, as though his body and mind had been freed and elevated. Having strength felt wonderful. Steve could not help thinking of Chen Mo, the man who had given him strength and changed his life. "Master..." Steve murmured.

As soon as he left the alley, Steve saw his good friend, James Barnes. "Hey, Bucky!" Steve called happily. At that moment, he especially wanted to share his joy with his friend.

"Steve, you idiot! We agreed to watch a movie together. I was only a little late, so why did you run off here?" Bucky strode toward Steve, grumbling nonstop.

Only when Bucky came closer did Steve notice that he was wearing a military uniform. "You got your orders?" Steve asked, looking him over.

"107th Infantry Regiment. Sergeant James Barnes. We ship out for England tomorrow morning," Bucky said proudly.

Steve fell silent for a moment. "I should be going too." His tone was somewhat low. Although he had applied to enlist several times before and been rejected because his physique was too poor, he was confident that with his current abilities, he would definitely pass if he applied again. It was just that Master always said it was not time yet.

Steve respected and was grateful to Chen Mo. As long as Chen Mo's words did not violate his principles, Steve was willing to obey. So although he desperately wanted to enlist and serve his country, he did not apply again.

Bucky knew Steve was an apprentice at a Martial Arts School and had heard him several times boast about how strong he was now, saying that none of his fellow apprentices there could defeat him.

But having grown up with Steve, Bucky believed he understood Steve's physical condition very well. He assumed that Steve's so-called "fellow apprentices" were merely a group of children and that Steve was just bragging in front of him.

So when he saw Steve's low spirits, Bucky assumed it was because Steve could not pass the enlistment examination and quickly changed the subject.

"Come on, pal! On my last night before enlisting, let me help you get a new outfit first." Bucky put an arm around Steve's shoulders and led him forward.

"Where are we going?" Steve pulled himself together and asked as they walked.

"The future." Bucky handed Steve a newspaper. Its entire front page was printed with "Tomorrow World Expo."

"Wait, I need to go back to the Martial Arts School first." Steve suddenly stopped.

"What for?" Bucky asked in confusion.

"Master said he had something to tell me this afternoon." Steve spoke as he quickly headed toward the Martial Arts School. Bucky helplessly shook his head and hurried after him. He had no idea what abilities Steve's "Master" possessed to make Steve care so much about his words.

"Master, I'm back!" Steve called out to Chen Mo, who was practicing throwing knives in the main hall, as he returned to the Martial Arts School with Bucky.

Chen Mo flicked his wrist and sent the throwing knife in his hand flying. It sliced through the air at incredible speed and instantly struck the center of a target twenty meters away, burying itself nearly halfway in. The bullseye was already densely packed with more than a dozen throwing knives.