Chapter Summaries

Xiang Shan rebuilt his systems and began constructing a combat prosthetic body while preparing Youji for the possibility that their protection would be revoked. After thugs killed Vili and pursued a martial artist prosthetic body, Scrapheap Town organized to defend itself.

• Xiang Shan warned Youji to erase the reconstructed driver chip if anyone tried to inspect it and discussed fleeing into the wilderness if their protection ended.
• Xiang Shan implanted Will's driver chip, restoring his computing ability, and used it to design a new prosthetic body before the welfare officer's announcement.
• Xiang Shan sent the mayor a set of parameters, and the mayor delivered armor, supporting framework, and alloy leg bones for his new body.
• Xiang Shan rebuilt his legs, torso framework, heat engine, battery, and prosthetic hands while continuing to plan for combat.
• Enoch returned to Scrapheap Town with a blown tire and reported that thugs had questioned him about Shan and a martial artist prosthetic body and killed Vili.
• The mayor rejected blame against Shan, fired his rifle to quiet the crowd, and called on Scrapheap Town to organize a self-defense force.

Youji went to see the three martial artists hired by the mayor, while Xiang Shan stayed behind to study a memory drive and finish rebuilding his prosthetic body. The welfare officer arrived in a dust storm, and the chapter ended with the town awaiting the visitors as the three professional martial artists stood behind the mayor.

• Youji asked Xiang Shan to let him go watch the martial artists, and Xiang Shan stayed home to study Will Grand Dog's memories while completing his new legs.
• Youji joined the townspeople gathered to greet the welfare officer, but his mother Yulia scolded him for getting too curious about martial artists who might be sent into battle.
• A dust storm rose as the welfare officer arrived, interrupting Yulia's warning to Youji.
• The mayor waited with three hired martial artists: Main Battle Tank Paulus, Rainstorm Blade Longkoni, and Blossom Bomb Anthony.

Recycling Station Town lost Civilization Protection after failing to pay its full Gene Tax, leaving the settlement exposed. A mysterious armored giant intervened to deter the welfare officer, then defeated Anthony with a single blow as the martial artists faced him.

• The welfare officer distributed infants but refused to renew Recycling Station Town’s Civilization Protection because the town had not paid its full Gene Tax.
• The mayor and Doctor Schultz worried about the town’s exposure while Anthony, Longkoni, and Paulus questioned whether Shan could help.
• As the welfare officer formally ended the town’s protection, a mysterious voice challenged him from within the dust storm.
• The welfare officer withdrew rather than confront the newcomer, who approached the three martial artists in heavy armor.
• Anthony opened fire at the giant, but the giant dodged the bullets and struck him in the face with a steel rod, declaring that he had won the first round.

Leif dismantled Longkoni and Paulus’s coordinated attack with a steel rod, revealing how badly their combat instincts and techniques fell short of his skill. Longkoni crashed to the ground with his mind blank, while Paulus lay thrown more than ten meters away.

• After Anthony fell, Longkoni charged Leif with four vibrating blades, but Leif used the rod on his shoulder to unravel Longkoni’s attacks.
• Paulus attacked with Mecha Steel Fist and followed with a barrage of See All Beings, while Leif redirected his punches through the rod and into Longkoni’s blades.
• Paulus’s punch shifted the rod’s balance, allowing Longkoni to brace it with his damaged shoulder blade and leap toward Leif’s exposed head as Paulus launched See Heaven and Earth.
• Leif turned his head, disrupting Longkoni’s perception, then seized the rod’s tail and swung it to knock Paulus away and send Longkoni’s attack off course.
• Longkoni crashed to the ground, unable to understand what had happened.

Leif and Jingbao Kui used Inner Power techniques to defeat Longkoni and overpower Paulus. Leif spared Paulus only on the condition that he join their organization.

• Leif disrupted Longkoni’s prosthetic-eye systems, causing him to fall, and then crushed his knee with a steel rod.
• Paulus recognized Leif’s abilities as Inner Power and recalled a terrifying encounter with an Inner Power master.
• Leif and Jingbao Kui discussed recruiting Paulus, whom Jingbao Kui judged to have promising martial arts potential.
• Leif tested Paulus’s age, training, and mental adjustment, then told him he would have to join their organization to live.

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.