Cyber Martial Artists

"Master!" While helping Xiang Shan adjust his circuits, Youji suddenly asked, "Wait, can I go out for a bit? I want to take a look outside..."

"Go out?" Xiang Shan was puzzled. "Whether you go out is up to you. But hasn't it been pretty chaotic outside lately?"

For the past few days, Xiang Shan had stayed indoors, wholeheartedly rebuilding his prosthetic body. Still, he could hear the commotion outside.

Over the past half month, the village chief had been stirring up quite a few things. He had pulled a third of the town's people away from their work, organized them all, and put them through combat training—calling it a "self-defense organization."

Of course, that was one way to do it. Martial artists were not invincible. At least in Xiang Shan's understanding, even powerful martial artists could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. A group of industrial heavy machines lined up together, attacking and defending in perfect coordination—any martial artist would have to fear that.

But the problem was, "lining up for coordinated offense and defense" was itself a kind of martial art. Xiang Shan remembered that the martial arts of "controlling numerous machines or massive warships" formed the third major school, distinct from the Outer School and Inner Power: the War Path.

Alternatively, non-martial artists could rely on firearms for suppressive fire, using saturated attacks against martial artists outside the Gunfire Way.

But from Xiang Shan's observations, the only firearm that had appeared in this village was the automatic rifle in the mayor's hands.

With firepower at only that level, let alone suppressing martial artists, perhaps even a martial artist with slightly thicker outer armor could stand still and let the mayor shoot at him as he pleased.

That was the difference between cybernetic prosthetics and flesh. When flesh was injured, it often affected the whole body. Pain anywhere interfered with the body's ability to exert force. A torn muscle in one place could make certain movements impossible. Even if adrenaline truly let someone ignore the body's self-preservation mechanisms, the oxygen deprivation caused by blood loss was not something one could endure through willpower alone.

This was, after all, a material world. Without oxygen, cells could not obtain energy.

Even a grazing wound from a ricochet could keep a flesh-and-blood human from performing at full strength.

Cybernetic prosthetics were different. As long as the crucial transmission components were not damaged, their operational ability would not be hindered at all. If the bullets were too small in caliber, the prosthetic's outer armor could block them completely.

Cybernetic prosthetics did not need to "recover from injuries," either. As long as one could afford it, broken parts could simply be replaced.

That gave martial artists a higher tolerance for error on the battlefield, while also placing greater demands on those using firearms.

Xiang Shan had not even heard anything like gunfire in the village. There probably could not be any Gunfire Way experts here who had trained by burning through ammunition.

He had even briefly suspected that the mayor wanted to use this opportunity to build a private force under his own control.

Youji looked eager. "Master, did you know? The mayor paid out of his own pocket to hire three martial artists from the city!"

"Martial artists?" Xiang Shan was somewhat surprised. "I heard martial artists were highly respected... The mayor is that rich?"

"Ah, they can't be the kind who make it into the Paralympics, but they're still at the level of regional leagues!" Youji's face was full of excitement. "They're professional martial artists! Professional martial artists!"

Xiang Shan muttered, "Professional martial artists? Is that so impressive?"

—Cyber Martial Arts was an assassination art. Were those who stepped into the ring practicing assassination arts too?

"Master, people around here have been raised from childhood to... Hey, why don't you go take a look at those martial artists too? Maybe it'll help you remember something from before?" Youji kept trying to persuade him.

"Forget it, forget it." Xiang Shan waved a hand. "I happen to be trying to absorb that dog's memories today, and I need a quiet environment. You can go watch the excitement instead—just remember to tell your mother."

Youji nodded. "Understood!" Then he ran out with a rapid patter of feet.

Xiang Shan sank into thought.

He knew very clearly that Cyber Martial Arts had been designed to fight tyrants. So long as martial arts and chivalry remained, commoners would have a chance to assassinate tyrants. That was the sole purpose for which martial arts had been created.

He found it hard to imagine what kind of development martial arts had undergone during the time he was asleep. Why had things like arena duels appeared?

—No, it seemed there had indeed been such things before...

Xiang Shan looked at the two memory storage drives beside him.

By now, his appearance had changed completely. He was suspended above a table—unlike a natural human, a prosthetic body had no circulating blood, and prolonged restraint would not cause tissue necrosis. Streamlined outer armor, like light plate armor, outlined his torso—though in terms of thickness, even the heavy armor of ancient knights was lighter than this set.

A brand-new alloy skullcap fit seamlessly against his original skull. A data cable extended from within the skullcap and connected to Doctor Schultz's medical terminal.

The fur from the canine prosthetic covered his hands. It would interfere with heat dissipation, but it could also provide limited protection.

Directly below him were two legs.

Those legs were the result of gathering together all the artificial muscle fibers from that dog's body. Xiang Shan had completely altered the arrangement of the muscle fibers. They could exert force in any direction. Conventional joint locks could not restrain those legs. And once that massive amount of artificial muscle fiber contracted or released at full strength under high voltage, the combined kicking force could be measured in tons—enough to kick an elephant to death with a single blow.

However, gathering artificial muscle fibers together this way also created a major heat-dissipation problem. After all, Will Grand Dog's canine prosthetic had spread those muscle fibers across an entire body, giving it a heat-dissipation area far greater than those layered muscle legs. Xiang Shan had not even added armor over the artificial muscles, merely covering them with a special plastic with excellent thermal conductivity and low specific heat capacity—something the village happened to have.

Inside the artificial muscles were several coolant circulation systems resembling "blood vessels."

The two legs had not yet been fully connected to the body. Only the coolant hoses and circuitry had been linked up.

"Alright, that basically counts as finished. The welfare officer is coming today. No matter what, the thugs will have to wait until the welfare officer leaves before showing themselves..."

Xiang Shan connected one of the memory storage drives to the terminal.

"There's still some time. Perfect for reading through these memories. Hopefully, there'll be something valuable in them."

Outside the town, many residents had gathered together.

A welfare officer had far less authority than a tax officer. A tax officer could decide how much Gene Tax to collect. One could say that the survival of a settlement could be determined by its tax officer. A welfare officer, however, was only responsible for distributing genetic welfare benefits. Even if he did not distribute them, the worst that would happen was that the town would raise fewer babies.

Therefore, the reception for the welfare officer was much simpler than the one for the tax officer.

Still, the mayor had brought a large crowd to wait at the same square as last time.

Youji squeezed through the crowd in the square, wanting to get closer and see those martial artists.

Of course, he knew that his master most likely knew martial arts. He also knew that the martial artists the mayor could hire would not be any top-tier figures.

But this was practically his first time encountering genuine martial artists!

Not some inconspicuous animal-shaped form, nor a half-crippled form like his master's, but real martial artists with complete prosthetic bodies!

How could he not go have a look?

At that moment, dust gradually began to rise. Metal-based plants grew more slowly than they had in the past, especially woody plants, so vegetation was scarce in this era and dust was everywhere. Ground-effect vehicles could even stir up dust storms.

Youji suddenly heard a loudspeaker behind him shout, "Youji! Get over here!"

Youji hurriedly turned, trying to get away from his mother. But some meddlesome townsman suddenly grabbed his upper body and laughed. "Kid, your mother's calling you!"

Youji crashed into Yulia's tire. Once he straightened up, he was too embarrassed to move around recklessly and lowered his head. "Mom?"

"Youji! What exactly are you thinking?" Yulia was very displeased. "Lately, you've been interacting closely with 'Shan.' I saw that he was indeed teaching you some repair knowledge, so I did not interfere too much. But what are you doing now?"

Because of work, Yulia had not interacted much with the person staying in her son's home. Still, when she occasionally returned home, she had indeed seen Youji learning to repair machinery. That was a highly valued craft nowadays, so she had not interfered much.

But in her heart, a martial artist of unknown origin like Xiang Shan was dangerous in the end.

"I'm just looking at those martial artists..."

"What can you do after looking? Can you afford a martial artist's prosthetic body?" Yulia reproached him without mercy. "The path of a martial artist is difficult, and it's very easy to become a thug. I advise you not to be curious about martial artists..."

"Mom!" Youji stomped his foot. "I'm just curious!"

"Curious? Do you know what the mayor hired those three martial artists for? They might be thrown into battle at any time. If you get too close, and something happens..."

At that moment, the dust storm suddenly reached its peak. Visibility rapidly dropped.

The welfare officer had finally arrived. Yulia instinctively stopped speaking.

The mayor had come here early in the morning to wait.

Behind the old man stood three outsiders to the town. Unlike the residents, the three had a high degree of prosthetic modification, yet their bodies were not the angular industrial type. Compared to the crude prosthetics of the town residents, their steel bodies were practically works of art.

These three martial artists were all fairly well-known figures in the outside world.

Among the three, the leader had a pair of unforgettable arms. He had only two arms, but their size made people almost think they belonged to industrial heavy machinery. Those arms weighed nearly a ton, yet they could throw punches exceeding two hundred meters per second.

Such a fist could even scrap a tank with one punch.

"Main Battle Tank" Paulus.

Just like his title suggested, the Mechanism Fist he excelled at could unleash the imposing force of a charging main battle tank.

The second martial artist was not as eye-catching as the first. Not a single patch of skin was exposed, and his entire exterior shone silver. His waist was extremely slender; to maintain speed, he had discarded as much load-bearing capacity as possible. From his back, roughly where a natural human's shoulder blades would be, two extra arms extended outward. Those arms did not resemble human hands, but were closer to mantis limbs, completely fused with blades.

Using a technique that could only exist in this era, this martial artist had completed the cultivation of Man-and-Blade Unity.

"Rainstorm Blade" Longkoni.

The third person looked utterly ordinary, but he carried a Vulcan machine gun on his shoulder. He was presumably a practitioner of the Gunfire Way.

"Blossom Bomb" Anthony.

All three were martial artists from a nearby city.