Study Instincts, Brother B's Overbearing Ways!

"Power starts at the hips, force comes from the waist, qi flows through the arms, and momentum reaches the fists."

"Weapons are extensions of the body. You have to train until they're like your hands and feet, with force flowing through your blood and qi and your intent controlling your whole body. Only then can you glimpse the wonder of the martial arts technique known as 'Man-Machine Integration.'"

Inside the Training Ground.

Cheng Ye darted back and forth like the wind, muttering the mantra Liu Bi had taught him as he practiced with his dagger.

Unfortunately, in his hands, Liu Bi's imposing blade technique felt less like a fearsome martial art and more like chopping vegetables. Aside from the wide swings, that was all there was to it.

His movements were limp, with barely any force behind them.

Thud.

The dagger struck the Ironwood Dummy and bounced off to the side, leaving a barely visible notch.

"Modern people have had all their bloodlust and courage beaten out of them by civilized education. I'd have to spend ages watching short videos before I dared kill a chicken, so swinging a blade at a person..."

Cheng Ye couldn't help shaking his head. "If I rely on self-study alone and don't act like a hotheaded fool, I'm afraid I still won't be able to handle a Common Infected even after a year or two of training."

"But luckily, I have another way."

Cheng Ye put away the dagger, walked to the corner, and opened the panel with a thought.

[Collector: Cheng Ye]

[Current Rank: Lv. 1 Intern]

[Life Level: 0]

[Skills: Empty, Empty, Empty (Available to Equip: Beast Intuition, Basic Strength)]

"Equip Basic Strength!"

The thought flashed through his mind.

Buzz.

Cheng Ye felt as though someone had smashed his brain with a hammer. His vision blurred, and his temples throbbed violently.

It was as if a pair of invisible hands had pried open his skull and forcibly shoved in a memory that wasn't his.

Chops, thrusts, rising slashes.

In the hazy sea of consciousness, a dark-skinned man gripped a long blade and swung it over and over. His movements were clumsy, but there was a fierce, self-taught edge to them.

It seemed to last an instant, yet also a month, a year, several years!

By the time Cheng Ye came back to himself, the man had vanished. Only the dagger in his hand remained, raised slightly.

"This feeling..."

Cheng Ye instinctively gave the dagger a light swing. His movements were still stiff and clumsy, but the way he generated force had changed completely.

From the hips, to the waist, to the arms, and then to the weapon!

The Force Line he had imagined countless times finally connected. With every swing, Cheng Ye felt as though he were taking a running stride. His movements grew more powerful, more practiced!

"Incredible. This is incredible!"

"So this is how you generate force with a slash. You don't just press down. You lead with the hips, use the waist to drive the arms, and turn your whole body into a lever. That creates the sensation of a heavy hammer coming down."

Liu Bi had taught him three moves in total.

A downward chop, a thrust, and a diagonal rising slash.

Each was a move meant to kill the moment it landed. Cheng Ye had thought they weren't anything special, but now that he was using them with the Muscle Memory granted by the skill, every move brimmed with killing intent.

Bang.

The dagger slammed into the wooden dummy, scraping off a spark.

Cheng Ye looked down to inspect it, his pupils contracting. As expected, the slash had far exceeded his expectations: it had cut a full two centimeters into the dummy, slightly surpassing the minimum standard for the Checkpoint's field agents in close combat.

"Too bad. My technique is good enough now, but my physical fitness has become the weak link."

"If I had strength like Brother B, this slash would be at least five centimeters deep. Maybe even six."

After reaching his conclusion, Cheng Ye began trying out the other skill.

But first, he chose to unequip Basic Strength from the Skill Slot.

The tide of Muscle Memory quickly receded. The dagger that had felt increasingly familiar in his hand moments ago once again felt awkward when he swung it.

The fluid force connecting his three moves disappeared along with it.

Thud.

He mimed a downward chop and brought the dagger down on the Ironwood Dummy.

Cheng Ye lowered the dagger and examined the mark carefully. As he'd expected, the first slash had left only a barely visible shallow scratch, but this one had made a clear cut, nearly seven or eight millimeters deep.

"If that's how it works, then my three Skill Slots will be more than enough for me in the early stages!"

Cheng Ye nodded, delighted.

Equipping a skill had given him not only experience in generating force, but also the Muscle Memory to go with it.

When he unequipped the skill, the Muscle Memory vanished with it, but the experience of generating force remained intact.

To put it simply:

Equipping a skill was like having an expert transmit their knowledge to him. He could instantly gain a high level of mastery and the Inner Force to match.

After he unequipped the skill, the Inner Force was withdrawn, but his mastery and insights remained.

"I've already got enough mastery to know how to train and generate force. I can also equip a skill at any time to find mistakes in my training. This is even better than having a Martial Arts Master teach me one-on-one!"

Cheng Ye was immersed in delight.

Liu Bi was undoubtedly an excellent fighter, but he was terrible at teaching.

All he ever said was "learn to be angry" or "give up your reason."

Fortunately, Cheng Ye was good at learning and imitation. Otherwise, his genetic differences would have given him away.

He equipped Basic Strength again, and the familiar Muscle Memory returned.

This time, Cheng Ye only shuddered slightly before taking all the Muscle Memory back into his body.

"Looks like the first time you equip a skill, you have to be somewhere completely safe. After that, reequipping it has a much smaller effect."

Cheng Ye committed that to memory, then quickly tapped Beast Intuition to equip it.

"Hm?"

He was ready for another onslaught of memories, but after a few seconds, Cheng Ye couldn't help letting out a puzzled exclamation.

That was strange. Why didn't he feel anything at all?

He unequipped and reequipped it, but still couldn't sense any difference.

"Could it be a Passive Skill?"

Cheng Ye frowned, thinking it over.

Just then, the Defense Communicator on the ground beside him rang.

[Liu Bi: I'm at the door. Come out and eat.]

To see how the skills changed him, Cheng Ye had gone straight to the Training Ground after clocking out, without even eating.

He hadn't noticed while focused on swinging the dagger, but now that he saw the message, he realized he was ravenous, as if he hadn't eaten in days.

"The new Muscle Memory must have burned through a lot of energy."

Cheng Ye slotted the Training Dagger into its rack and hurried toward the exit. From a distance, he spotted Liu Bi waving to him in their usual spot, a bag in hand.

"Brother B, did you strike it rich? Didn't you say you'd just bring me some Nutrient Paste?"

Cheng Ye took the bag and opened it. He froze.

Inside were two full bags of Synthetic Dried Meat, along with three palm-sized alkaline flatbreads.

The bread had a few mold spots along the edges, but in this Wasteland era, in Xingfu City, they were a rare delicacy—even in the Inner City!

"The dried meat is compensation from Garcia. The bread... Old Ding gave it to me."

Liu Bi replied in a low voice.

Only then did Cheng Ye notice that Liu Bi seemed to be in a bad mood today. He forced out a smile, but the gloom hadn't quite left his eyes.

"What happened?"

"I hung Garcia up and beat him. He's still in the infirmary getting emergency treatment."

Liu Bi's tone was flat, as if he were describing something that had nothing to do with him. Cheng Ye's eyelid twitched.

Seriously, man? You beat him badly enough to need emergency treatment, but you sound like he beat you up.

Wait, why did you beat Garcia? Because I asked him to hand someone over and paid five Contribution Points?

Was that really necessary?

"Wait. This wasn't because of me, was it?"

"It had something to do with you, but it wasn't all about you." Liu Bi shook his head slightly. "The rules allow Inspectors to be replaced, but that old bastard had to start trouble right at quitting time. He went around telling everyone that a brat who hadn't even grown hair yet was using my name to threaten him. He even ran his mouth about how the East Faction had no one worth a damn. What a joke."

"Never mind that Brother Long once saved Garcia's father's life on a mission. With the East and West Factions at each other's throats, he shouldn't have stuck his neck out and made himself the target."

"Did Old Ding tell you to do it?"

Cheng Ye was beginning to understand. His brow furrowed.

His good mood over the sudden increase in strength faded, leaving him calm.

It should have been a minor matter, but with the East and West Factions fighting among themselves, everyone had become a card in Ding Yishan and Halin's hands.

The East Faction was weaker. Since Cheng Ye's card wasn't stronger than Garcia's, it had lost ground. Naturally, Ding Yishan had to play a stronger card to seize the initiative again.

"Forget it. Eat, then get right back to training. Conspiracies and Tricks don't matter as much as hard power."

Liu Bi waved a hand.

The two squatted beside the bus stop. Cheng Ye ate quickly, polishing off both bags of dried meat in no time. He ate two pieces of the rock-hard alkaline bread before stopping.

The poor studied while the rich practiced martial arts. Without enough energy to replenish his body, he'd only grow weaker the more he trained.

"Your appetite's gotten huge. Looks like your training's been doing you a lot of good lately."

Liu Bi was a little surprised, but what surprised him even more was Cheng Ye's performance once they entered the Training Ground.

There was no need to mention firearms training. That took time; even a sharpshooter needed plenty of ammunition to hone his skills.

As for Close Combat, Cheng Ye had attacked while Liu Bi defended yesterday. Today, they switched roles, with Liu Bi attacking and Cheng Ye defending.

"Here I come!"

Liu Bi shouted, putting on a fierce display, though he only put a tenth of his strength into his punch.

Thud.

A dull impact rang out. Cheng Ye caught the blow with his elbow, then used its momentum to drop his shoulder and elbow, whipping his entire arm down like a lash.

"Not bad!" Liu Bi's pupils contracted. He didn't dodge, instead using his forearm to take the blow and feel its force.

Smack!

Cheng Ye's punch lashed across Liu Bi's dark skin, leaving a faint red mark.

His sturdy bones had blocked most of the impact, but the force that got through still felt like a fine needle stabbing into his ulnar nerve, making it hurt.

He's finally got some strength!

Liu Bi narrowed his eyes slightly. Two days ago, Cheng Ye couldn't even break through his defenses. Today, he'd made him feel a little pain.

Such a huge improvement couldn't simply be called a pleasant surprise. It was downright shocking.

"Get ready. I'm going to get serious!"

As he spoke, Liu Bi raised his strength from a tenth to a fifth.

That might not sound like much, but it was twice as much as before. Cheng Ye immediately felt enormous pressure.

"Brother B has spent more than twenty years fighting for his life. He's killed more than ten thousand Infected. He's too strong."

"But I'm not weak today, either!"

Chops, smashes, blocks, swings—the way of generating force granted by Basic Strength played out through Cheng Ye's fists and arms.

An aura as fierce as a beast rose from him.

Liu Bi was slightly startled. He unconsciously increased the force in his hands again and again, each time by half a step.

Smack.

Cheng Ye went flying, slammed hard into the Ironwood Dummy, and nearly threw up the meat he'd just eaten.

"Holy crap!"

Liu Bi's expression changed dramatically. He shot over like an arrow and hurriedly caught Cheng Ye.

For some reason, he'd just felt as if he were facing a Mutated Beast. In a moment of distraction, he'd unconsciously ramped up his strength to forty percent!

That punch had at least twenty years' worth of skill behind it. How could Cheng Ye possibly withstand it?

"Brother B... you're supposed to be my sparring partner. You have to... dock your own pay!"

Cheng Ye retched twice, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

Only after he'd forced down the blood surging in his chest did he manage to complain.

There was no denying it: that punch had felt like getting hit by a speeding truck on the highway. He'd been swept off his feet without any chance to fight back.

What technique? What way of generating force? What Beast Intuition?

No—Beast Mode was a better way to put it.

Cheng Ye thought back to how he'd felt. Once they started exchanging blows, it was as if he'd been possessed. He'd attacked and defended exactly as Liu Bi had said earlier, no longer thinking things through, relying entirely on instinct and intuition.

"My bad, my bad."

Liu Bi apologized repeatedly, his eyes brimming with delight. All the gloom from before had vanished, and he grinned happily.

"Brother Long really did trick me again. Your talent is definitely better than mine!"

3600 words for you! During the new-book period, San Jin's stories are usually 6,000+ words a day. Please toss me a vote~