Recaps

Leif forced Paulus to join his bandit organization, then learned that a child identified in their intelligence was being moved across the village. He leapt toward Yulia and hurled his steel rod as she approached the main road.

• Leif threatened Paulus until Paulus agreed to join the bandits, while Leif believed the organization’s shared memories would prevent him from escaping.
• Anthony rose and fired his Vulcan Cannon, but Leif disabled the weapon and then destroyed Mayor Schultz’s gun hand.
• Paulus asked Leif to remove the Command from Longkoni, but Leif ignored the request while Jingbao Kui reported that a heavy machine was secretly carrying the child elsewhere in the village.
• Leif used his thrusters to leap across town toward Yulia and threw his steel rod as she neared the main road.

Yulia tried to protect Youji when Leif’s gang attacked, but Leif captured the boy to lure the martial artist Shan out of hiding. As Leif threatened Youji outside his home, a stream of silver light erupted from inside and coiled around his steel rod.

• Yulia fled with Youji as three-meter-tall attackers emerged, but a falling steel rod crashed her and left Youji injured.
• Leif grabbed Youji and revealed that he planned to use the boy to keep Shan from escaping and force a Trojan implant on him.
• Leif followed Enoch to Youji’s home while Jingbao Kui infiltrated the surveillance network and prepared to attack through Leif’s eyes.
• Leif threatened Youji outside the shack, but the silent figure inside did not emerge, and the heat source grew stronger.
• As Leif tossed Youji into the air, silver light burst from the house and coiled around Leif’s steel rod.

Xiang Shan struggled to install his legs while resisting the influence of Will Grand Dog’s memories, as violence erupted outside. When Leif threatened Youji, Xiang Shan rushed out before his installation was fully complete and launched himself up Leif’s steel staff.

• Xiang Shan relived Will Grand Dog’s memories of learning cyber martial arts and deliberately used visualization to guard against their influence.
• After hearing gunfire and chaos in town, Xiang Shan hurried to install his legs while suppressing the memories overwhelming his thoughts.
• A man outside called for Xiang Shan to come out and fight, then threatened Youji when Xiang Shan did not respond.
• Xiang Shan saw Leif toss Youji into the air and struck his nearly finished leg installation with a surge of current.
• Xiang Shan charged out, caught Leif’s steel staff, and spiraled upward along it.

Xiang Shan used his artificial legs to rescue the badly injured Youji from Leif and learned that Leif belonged to the bandit Z Organization. Their argument about martial arts revealed how far this era’s ideas had strayed from Xiang Shan’s belief that martial arts should let the weak resist the strong; Leif then invited him to join Z Organization and the Greenwood Road, and Xiang Shan challenged him over the violence behind the invitation.

• Xiang Shan used the artificial muscle fibers in his prosthetic legs to overpower Leif’s staff technique and escape with Youji.
• Xiang Shan set Youji down and found him gravely injured, but alive and capable of receiving treatment.
• Xiang Shan recognized Leif as Silver Drive Shaft Leif Sjelett, a killer and assault captain in the Z Organization.
• Leif argued that martial arts had never truly allowed the weak to defeat the strong, while Xiang Shan questioned whether everyone in this era believed that.
• Leif invited Xiang Shan to join Z Organization and the Greenwood Road, and Xiang Shan demanded to know why people made such invitations with murder on their minds.

Xiang Shan recalled the Three Dragon-Slaying Techniques and returned Jingbao Kui’s malicious code, forcing Leif and Jingbao Kui into a race against overheating prosthetics. Leif continued attacking, and Xiang Shan evaded his blows but ended the chapter with a damaged right arm and Leif’s staff crashing down toward him.

• Leif and Jingbao Kui tried to hack Xiang Shan through his cybernetic eyes, but Xiang Shan instinctively repackaged and returned their code.
• Xiang Shan remembered the Three Dragon-Slaying Techniques and implanted a command that made Leif and Jingbao Kui’s prosthetics consume computing resources until they overheated.
• Jingbao Kui warned Leif that they had fifteen minutes to defeat Xiang Shan before their driver chips degraded, then burned out three minutes later.
• Leif attacked with his steel staff, and Xiang Shan dodged, but Leif hooked him into the air and smashed him toward the ground.
• Xiang Shan redirected the impact onto a rooftop and stopped using his damaged right arm as Leif raised his staff for another blow.

Xiang Shan fought Leif through the wreckage, using his superior martial arts knowledge to survive despite Leif’s stronger prosthetic body. As Leif’s chip overheated and Jingbao Kui demanded an update, Leif warned him to prepare to run.

• Leif smashed a house with his steel staff, but Xiang Shan evaded the strike and kept fighting.
• Xiang Shan recalled that Cyber Martial Arts were designed to overcome superior equipment and concluded that his earlier Returning Their Own Way attack would soon cause Leif’s driver chip to malfunction.
• Leif’s staff knocked Xiang Shan’s damaged prosthetic arm away, but Xiang Shan adjusted his balance and continued dodging and countering.
• Leif realized the fight was consuming more computational resources than expected and overheating his chip.
• Jingbao Kui asked why Leif had not killed Xiang Shan, and Leif replied that they should prepare to run when heavy footsteps approached.

Xiang Shan fought Leif and Paulus while Leif tried to escape, and Yulia’s truck crashed into the battlefield. Xiang Shan defeated Leif, but Jingbao Kui screamed as the fight continued.

• Paulus arrived with Longkoni and received a battle plan from Leif, who intended to use him for a pincer attack before fleeing.
• Leif unleashed his Thunder Rolling staff technique, but Xiang Shan endured the shockwaves and narrowly evaded his follow-up attacks.
• Paulus attacked Xiang Shan with See Heaven and Earth, but Xiang Shan countered with See All Beings and killed him.
• Leif fled, but Yulia rammed him with her truck, and Xiang Shan leaped onto him and knocked him off balance.
• Leif crashed to the ground as Xiang Shan leaped away, and Jingbao Kui screamed.

Xiang Shan defeated Jingbao Kui, Leif, and Longkoni, but the townspeople reacted to Longkoni’s death with inexplicable terror and hysteria. As Jingbao Kui died in the flames, he suspected Xiang Shan’s counterattack had revealed the legendary power of Turing.

• Jingbao Kui paused when Yulia knocked Leif down, allowing Xiang Shan to spot his failing optical camouflage and attack him.
• Xiang Shan destroyed Jingbao Kui’s exposed weapons, then killed Leif before pursuing Jingbao Kui and disabling him through a gap in his armor.
• Xiang Shan defeated Longkoni by breaking his armor and kicking apart his head, leaving the mayor and townspeople terrified and confused.
• The mayor fainted, while Xiang Shan wondered why the residents had fallen into collective hysteria after he killed an enemy.
• As Jingbao Kui died in the burning wreckage, he guessed that Xiang Shan’s technique pointed to Turing and said he could die without regrets.

Xiang Shan considered how the Dyson Principles enabled a tyrannical, fragmented society while Doctor Schultz fitted him with powerful new prosthetic arms. The chapter ended with Schultz reporting that Enoch had escaped and that his uncle had further information for Xiang Shan.

• Doctor Schultz apologized as he installed Longkoni’s prosthetic arms on Xiang Shan.
• Xiang Shan reflected on the Dyson Principles, the townspeople’s fear of authority, and the freedoms and power structures of the era.
• Xiang Shan reviewed the memory devices and prosthetic bodies he had acquired, regretting that the mysterious enemy’s memory device had been burned beyond recovery.
• Xiang Shan tested his new arms and considered how his mismatched prosthetics would affect his fighting.
• Doctor Schultz told Xiang Shan that Enoch had escaped, his drinking companions had been captured, and his uncle had something important to tell him.

Xiang Shan learned more about Enoch’s betrayal and prepared to pursue him after Scrapheap Town regained protection. As he repaired and upgraded his prosthetics, he concluded that battle was helping him recover his past and identified the Father of All Machines as his enemy.

• Doctor Schultz told Xiang Shan that Enoch had arranged the earlier fighting-ring incident and later returned from the city without Vili, claiming that Vili had been killed by thugs.
• Xiang Shan decided to remember Enoch’s name and planned to deal with him after the town’s protection returned.
• Schultz reported that Youji was recovering from extensive artificial-organ replacements, and Xiang Shan learned that the treatment fees had been covered.
• Xiang Shan moved his belongings to the scrap parts recycling station, where he repaired his prosthetic hand and checked it for vulnerabilities.
• Xiang Shan collected Longkoni’s prosthetic body for useful parts and resolved to keep preparing for future battles.
• Xiang Shan decided that the Father of All Machines was his enemy.

Xiang Shan reviewed Leif’s damaged memories and discovered how Z Organization used shared memories of violence to recruit and corrupt people. After deciding to avoid conflict while his killing intent was stirred, he returned toward town and met Youji, who had recovered and learned the algorithm Xiang Shan taught him.

• Xiang Shan stopped the playback of Leif’s damaged memories when their violent content overwhelmed him.
• Xiang Shan realized Z Organization shared collective memories of violence with its members and used them to lure outsiders into the gang.
• Xiang Shan reflected on violence and worried that the memories had stirred his killing intent, so he resolved to avoid talking to anyone that day.
• Xiang Shan left the garbage mountain and ran into Youji on his way back to town.
• Youji told Xiang Shan that he had recovered and learned the algorithm, then demonstrated his calculations.

Xiang Shan refused to take twelve-year-old Youji on his dangerous journey, promising to pass on the foundations of Inner Power and leaving Youji to choose his path when he was older. He explained that he had deliberately sacrificed his ordinary memories to preserve martial arts in his Biological Brain, and the chapter left him describing how that memory-erasing process worked.

• Xiang Shan told Youji their master-disciple relationship might end when he left town, and said Youji would have to find the remaining martial arts methods online.
• Youji asked to join Xiang Shan, but Xiang Shan refused unless Youji's mother agreed and urged him to wait until he was older before choosing the Vagrant's path.
• Xiang Shan revealed that he intended to fight villains, oppressors, the Father of All Machines, and others, but would not expose Youji to the danger.
• Youji challenged Xiang Shan's resolve despite his lost memories, and Xiang Shan said his past self had chosen to keep resisting for an important reason.
• Xiang Shan explained that he had stored ordinary memories on a hard drive to preserve martial arts and combat techniques in his Biological Brain.
• Xiang Shan described how an enzyme could reset parts of the brain and erase memories or skills.

Xiang Shan explained how he had used a Rejuvenation Enzyme and memory storage to preserve technical knowledge while losing most of his memories, and told Youji to trust the choices his past self had made. Ten days later, Apennine finished a game-based martial arts exercise and asked his secretary about Xiang Shan.

• Xiang Shan told Youji that he had transferred movable memories to a hard drive and retrained his Biological Brain to retain the knowledge needed to start from scratch.
• Xiang Shan said he trusted his past self’s decisions and told Youji to return for lessons if he wished, then format the drive after Xiang Shan left.
• Youji stormed away before Xiang Shan finished speaking, and Xiang Shan watched the scrapyard and reflected on his growing attachment to it.
• Over the next ten days, Xiang Shan did not see Youji.
• Apennine trained by playing a difficult action game, disconnected after a notification caused a fatal delay, and reflected on the failure as martial arts practice.
• Apennine asked his secretary how Xiang Shan was doing.

Apennine learned that Shan had killed two Greenwood thugs using the Bionic Fist Technique, but the secretary warned that Shan might be a powerful practitioner of the Martial World Way. Alster Grand Daug asked to hunt Shan down because Shan had defeated his Bionic Fist Technique, and Apennine reluctantly agreed.

• The secretary reported that Shan had killed Leif Sjelett and Jingbao Kui in one stroke, driving off the weaker thugs.
• The secretary explained the purpose and influence of the Civilization Protectors’ martial rankings, then suggested Shan might have reached the Compilation Realm or Assembly Realm.
• Apennine concluded that Shan could not be made his subordinate and considered claiming Shan’s brain lobes instead.
• Alster Grand Daug interrupted Apennine and said he wanted to kill Shan because Shan had broken his Bionic Fist Technique.
• Apennine agreed to let Alster hunt Shan after the welfare officer set out, then smashed the sofa in anger.

Xiang Shan prepared to leave Recycling Station Town and head into the wilderness, but Yulia and the mayor arrived to see him off and return Youji’s spare driver chip. As Xiang Shan set out, an unexpected voice interrupted Yulia’s farewell.

• Xiang Shan prepared his rebuilt prosthetic body and Mule to leave town, wary of orbital surveillance and weapons.
• Xiang Shan reached the edge of the dump and paused to look back at Recycling Station Town.
• Yulia and the mayor arrived with Youji’s spare driver chip, and Xiang Shan formatted it before returning it to the mayor.
• Xiang Shan told Yulia to tell Youji that he was deeply disappointed, while Yulia explained that keeping Youji away had been her decision.
• Yulia thanked Xiang Shan for teaching her son and wished him well, but another voice interrupted and said that everything going smoothly was impossible.

Enoch returned to the town with news from Leif and accused Xiang Shan of causing the deaths and upheaval around him. As Xiang Shan prepared to confront Enoch, Geliad watched from a distant sniper position and fired a drone-guided attack, convinced he had won.

• Enoch arrived in a modified heavy machine and told Yulia that Geliad had promised to teach him a Military Martial Way.
• Enoch blamed Xiang Shan for the town’s troubles and Leif’s death, while Xiang Shan prepared to fight him.
• Mayor Schultz tried to stop Xiang Shan from killing Enoch, but Xiang Shan spotted a drone overhead and struck it.
• Geliad monitored the town from a garbage mountain seven kilometers away and prepared a Gunfire Way attack.
• Geliad watched Xiang Shan leap into the air and concluded that his attack had succeeded.

Xiang Shan dodged Geliad’s long-range gunfire while trying to protect the mayor and Yulia, then charged toward the sniper. Geliad recognized Xiang Shan as a formidable opponent and prepared to face him in close combat.

• Xiang Shan used supersonic footwork to dodge Geliad’s shots and knock the mayor away, but his attempt to move Yulia only sent him crashing into a garbage heap.
• Xiang Shan evaded more bullets and used the terrain and his stored map to estimate Geliad’s sniping positions.
• Xiang Shan realized Geliad was deliberately targeting civilians to pressure him, and he charged through the battlefield toward the sniper.
• Geliad watched Xiang Shan approach and feared his close-combat skill, but saw defeating him as a chance to prove the Gunfire Way.

Xiang Shan used precise changes in speed, direction, and engine output to evade Geliad’s sniper fire while crossing the junkyard. He disappeared in a dust cloud, then resumed accelerating straight toward Geliad.

• Xiang Shan adjusted his running angle and speed to counter the ground’s resistance and evade Geliad’s bullets.
• Xiang Shan accelerated with his heat engine and ran across a section of battleship armor wreckage.
• Geliad lost track of Xiang Shan and fired bullets around the wreckage to trap his route.
• Xiang Shan crossed the top of the wreckage, dropped to the ground, and used the dust cloud to hide his movements.
• Geliad fired blindly through the dust, then spotted Xiang Shan accelerating toward him over the craters left by his bullets.

Xiang Shan advanced through Geliad’s gunfire, identified his position by catching a bullet, and closed the distance toward a decisive fight. Geliad deployed drones and fired two explosive shells as Xiang Shan approached.

• Xiang Shan used infrared vision and his Martial Arts Algorithm to catch a bullet’s trajectory and determine that the sniper was at position C.
• Xiang Shan sprinted through dust and corrective fire, while Geliad recognized his expertise and released hundreds of drones to prepare the battlefield.
• Xiang Shan spotted Geliad’s heavily armored, tank-like prosthetic body and identified him as the leader of the Green Forest Stronghold’s Z Organization.
• Xiang Shan dodged Geliad’s bullets and accelerated toward the range where close-combat techniques could work.
• Geliad fired two shells at Xiang Shan, who veered away as both shells struck the garbage mountain and exploded.

Xiang Shan charged through Geliad’s explosion and gunfire, using precise martial techniques and prosthetic algorithms to survive and close the distance. He reached Geliad’s blind spot and dropped toward his back for an attack.

• Geliad fired sixteen bullets across Xiang Shan’s path as the explosion’s shock waves swept toward them.
• Xiang Shan deflected several bullets with Inch Force and vibrated another with his fingers, changing its trajectory while losing a finger.
• Xiang Shan entered close range, evaded Geliad’s weapons, and used pressure sensors to locate his internal power system.
• Xiang Shan inferred Geliad’s limited field of vision and moved behind him while the tank fighter searched for him.
• Xiang Shan kicked a piece of iron through the air and fell like a cannonball toward Geliad’s back.

Xiang Shan defeated Geliad after surviving his weapons and uncovering the Demon Cult’s hidden tentacle weapon. He retrieved Geliad’s storage unit and martial arts chip, then reflected on the strange spread of military martial arts in this world.

• Xiang Shan dodged Geliad’s gunfire and used pressurized coolant to repel the metal-particle aerosol.
• Xiang Shan shattered Geliad’s armor with high-frequency vibrations, but pink tentacles burst out and bound him.
• Xiang Shan tore through the tentacles and killed Geliad, then removed his storage unit and martial arts chip.
• Xiang Shan checked for hidden brains and a self-destruct mechanism before approaching Geliad’s body.
• Xiang Shan recognized Geliad’s fighting style as military martial arts and wondered how bandits had gained access to War Path techniques.

Xiang Shan salvaged Geliad’s neural-linked cybernetics and commandeered his drone swarm before confronting Enoch, who destroyed Yulia’s vehicle in a confused frenzy. Xiang Shan stopped Enoch, but the welfare officer arrived with armed guards and blocked him from killing Enoch, leaving Xiang Shan openly defying the official.

• Xiang Shan discovered unusual neural and electronic systems inside Geliad, cleared hidden traps from his drives, and restarted his vehicle body.
• Xiang Shan took control of Geliad’s drone swarm, removed its powerful wireless transmitter, and rigged it to nearby drones for transport.
• Enoch rammed Yulia’s vehicle repeatedly, destroying it, while Youji tried to intervene and the mayor held him back.
• Xiang Shan arrived and stopped Enoch’s charge by removing two driveshafts, then told him to direct his anger and courage properly in another life.
• The welfare officer arrived with around twenty armed guards and ordered Xiang Shan to stop, declaring that Enoch could not be killed while still under protection.
• Xiang Shan mocked the welfare officer’s words as the two faced off.

Xiang Shan rejected the welfare officer’s authority and attacked the Human Gene Bank force, using Iron Blossom and a series of feints to break through its formation. He defeated the welfare officer, removed his chip and storage unit, and left the village chief holding the severed head as he picked up Youji.

• Xiang Shan argued that public authority had failed its duty to uphold justice and called himself the number one thug under heaven.
• The welfare officer identified Xiang Shan as a fundamentalist follower of the Martial Ancestor and ordered his guards to attack.
• Xiang Shan used Iron Blossom to disrupt the guards’ coordination, then fooled the welfare officer with thrown prosthetic eyes and Enoch’s drive shaft.
• Xiang Shan charged through the guards, knocked down twelve of them, and brought the welfare officer to the ground.
• Xiang Shan tore off the welfare officer’s head, removed his chip and storage unit, tossed the head to the village chief, and picked up Youji.

Xiang Shan escaped the village with the gravely injured Youji after hacking a ground-effect aircraft, then treated him while waiting for supplies. Grand Daug tracked Xiang Shan’s trail and set out to kill him, while Youji remained unconscious and dependent on Xiang Shan’s battery.

• Xiang Shan decided to take Youji with him, hacked the welfare officer’s driver chips, and fled the village in the officer’s aircraft as an Inner Power expert attacked through a satellite.
• Missiles destroyed the aircraft after Xiang Shan had jumped out with Youji, and Grand Daug dismissed the wounded welfare officer’s account before tracking the knight-errant’s trail.
• Youji dreamed of his mother and woke to find Xiang Shan keeping his damaged body powered with a cable connected to his own battery.
• Xiang Shan explained that Youji’s lungs and blood loss were critical, and Youji cried before falling asleep again.
• Grand Daug found Geliad’s remains, detected a scent trail, and ran after Xiang Shan.
• Xiang Shan examined the items he had taken from the welfare officer while waiting for the drone and Mule to arrive.

Xiang Shan studied the mismatched technologies in the welfare officer’s and Geliad’s equipment, then modified his prosthetic body with Geliad’s transmitter. With Youji near death and Mule missing, Xiang Shan prepared to search for it and left their shelter.

• Xiang Shan compared the storage devices and software used by the welfare officer, Leif, and Geliad, finding that their technologies came from different eras.
• Drones returned with parts from Geliad and Xiang Shan’s finger, and Xiang Shan installed Geliad’s wireless signal transmitter in place of his exhausted engine.
• Youji woke briefly in tears and then fell unconscious again, so Xiang Shan realized he needed to find water, nutrients, and Mule’s backup battery.
• Xiang Shan concluded that Mule had likely strayed from its route and decided not to risk waiting as their shared battery drained.
• Xiang Shan made a crude land mine, connected solar panels to himself, bound Youji to his back, and set out to search the area where Mule might have wandered.