Makoto Kyogoku

"The Karate Club?"

Thinking of Mouri Ran's fighting ability, Lin Xinyi immediately understood:

A train car full of high school students ×

The Eighteen Bronze Men of Shaolin Temple √

"But..." Lin Xinyi still hesitated. "That criminal has a gun."

Although Mouri Ran's Conan-science combat power had already shattered his worldview, he instinctively still believed that humans could not fight firearms with their bare bodies.

"It's okay."

Mouri Ran smiled and shook her head, answering calmly:

"Since the car is carrying Beido High School's competition team, their Karate Club captain and Japan Karate Champion, senior Makoto Kyogoku, must be here."

She had not yet met that senior Makoto Kyogoku in person, but she had already heard countless stories about him:

"Handgun bullets aren't that fast. With the Beido High School captain's abilities, he could dodge one even with a gun pointed at his head."

As she spoke, she sighed softly.

"I'm still too weak right now. Even dealing with handgun bullets is a little difficult for me."

"And that senior Makoto Kyogoku has supposedly trained to the point where he can dodge rifle bullets at close range."

Lin Xinyi: "..."

Don't say something so unscientific in that serious tone people used when top students claimed they had failed an exam!

Rifle bullets generally left the muzzle at more than twice the speed of sound. Dodging one at close range would probably require reacting within a thousandth of a second and moving one's body at nearly the speed of the sound barrier.

Did people like that really exist in this world?

If they did...

Lin Xinyi suddenly had a bad feeling.

On the first day, he had encountered Mouri Ran, who was close to the "dodge handgun bullets" realm. On the second, Makoto Kyogoku, said to have reached the "dodge rifle bullets" realm, had appeared out of nowhere.

Combat power was escalating at breakneck speed, and every new character instantly crushed the old ones into dust. Wasn't that exactly the possibility he feared most?

Damn it... Next, wouldn't some reclusive master who could "dodge anti-materiel rifles," "dodge autocannons," "dodge rockets," or "dodge railguns" suddenly appear without any buildup?

What if that really happened? When he officially escaped the Organization, what if some ancient hidden monster suddenly emerged from within it and killed him with one palm strike from hundreds of miles away?

The more he thought about it, the more nervous Lin Xinyi became.

"I need to hurry up and train..."

While reminding himself with a deep sense of crisis, he stared intently at the train car nearby.

He wanted to see with his own eyes whether that legendary karate master could really dodge bullets at close range.

Unfortunately, Lin Xinyi did not get that chance.

Because the criminal never had the opportunity to fire.

After the lawless bastard used his gun to force back the police and hurriedly retreated into the train car—

The dozen or so high school students inside all gave him meaningful looks.

Those looks were like hungry tigers at The Zoo gathering around to watch some tourist who had just climbed over the wall.

Then, a boy stepped out from among the students. He had bronze skin, a tall and muscular build, and a resolute face.

He was also wearing a high school uniform, with a pair of thick black-rimmed glasses on his nose that made him look quite harmless.

He was Makoto Kyogoku, a humanoid Gundam who even Mouri Ran considered herself inferior to.

At that moment, Makoto Kyogoku's footsteps caught the criminal's attention.

"Who's there? Don't come any closer!"

The criminal abruptly turned around, preparing to point his gun at the man approaching from behind.

But before he could complete that one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn—

Makoto Kyogoku's figure flashed. Like a hunting cheetah, he leaped through the rushing wind and afterimage, arriving in front of the criminal in an instant.

He seized the criminal's arm before it could turn around, then twisted it lightly as though wringing a towel. The criminal suddenly lost control of his arm, and his whole body spun before crashing to the floor.

The next second, Makoto Kyogoku surged forward, straddled the fallen criminal, bent down, and unleashed a heavy punch.

The punch stirred up a howling gust, its force aimed straight at the criminal's face.

Yet at the instant his fist was only an inch from the criminal's face, Makoto Kyogoku withdrew his force and stopped the punch dead. In the end, the only thing to strike the criminal's face was the fierce wind stirred up by the blow.

"This guy really is something else."

Lin Xinyi silently marveled.

He had practiced karate too, so he knew that Makoto Kyogoku was demonstrating the karate principle known as Sun-dome.

Sun-dome meant stopping at the point of contact—pulling back a punch when it reached within an inch of the opponent, or merely touching them lightly.

It was a competition rule created to prevent opponents from being injured during karate matches.

Most people who mastered Sun-dome were actually all flash and no substance. They trained specifically for competitions, deliberately softening their punches to meet the Sun-dome rules. Their movements were precise and attractive, but their power was usually quite ordinary.

But Makoto Kyogoku was different.

That punch of his had been faster and more powerful than even Mouri Ran's Wall-Shattering Iron Fist. Its force was so fierce and rapid, yet he could still stop it perfectly just one inch from his enemy's face.

That was the mark of profound skill, bodily coordination, and complete control over the release and withdrawal of power.

This Makoto Kyogoku was strong.

"You've already lost."

Makoto Kyogoku held his fist suspended above the criminal's face and spoke in a calm tone.

The criminal fell silent.

Everything had happened too quickly just now. He had barely processed it.

But after realizing that he had been tackled to the floor, his first reaction was—

To raise his handcuffed hands and fire back.

Bang!

Makoto Kyogoku's fist came down directly.

The gun did not fire. Instead, the criminal's head was embedded in the train floor.

Fortunately, he did not live in a scientific world. Otherwise, that blow would definitely have killed him.

"Gasp... terrifying!"

Lin Xinyi sucked in a breath and resolved to build a good relationship with Makoto Kyogoku.

If he could spar and exchange ideas with a master like this regularly, it would surely benefit his training enormously.

And if they became close enough, then when he had to fight the Organization someday, he might even be able to bring such a powerful expert into the group battle.

Thus, the way Lin Xinyi looked at Makoto Kyogoku immediately changed.

After Makoto Kyogoku subdued the criminal, the scene quickly returned from chaos to calm.

Having once again been saved by high school students, the Japanese police began expertly cleaning up the aftermath.

The frightened crowd was comforted, the badly injured unconscious criminal was hurriedly dragged away, and Makoto Kyogoku and the others, who had been accidentally drawn into the incident, temporarily got off the train to discuss their statements with the police.

"Um, Mr. Makoto Kyogoku?"

Seizing an opportunity, Lin Xinyi took the initiative and approached Makoto Kyogoku.

He deliberately put on an enthusiastic smile, showing a friendly attitude as he said with utmost sincerity:

"My name is Lin Xinyi. You could say I'm half a fighter myself."

"If possible, could I discuss some training matters with you?"

With one hundred percent sincerity, Lin Xinyi extended an invitation to add each other as friends.

"Um..." Makoto Kyogoku gave an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, I don't have time."

His tone was tactful, but his attitude was firm.

He directly rejected Lin Xinyi's friend request.

It was not that Makoto Kyogoku was arrogant because of his talent or lacking in human warmth. He simply had no time to spare.

Training in karate already consumed a huge amount of time, and now he was also a famous rising star in the fighting world.

As the renowned Kickboxing Prince and Japan Karate Champion, he encountered fighting enthusiasts like Lin Xinyi every day—people who came to him on their own asking to spar or receive guidance. Put them all together, and they could circle Tokyo.

If he agreed to every request, even shadow clones would not be enough for Makoto Kyogoku to handle them all.

And even accepting one or two requests occasionally was not an option.

The fighting world had its share of murky waters. Many so-called fighting enthusiasts were not interested in exchanging martial arts at all; they only wanted to latch onto his fame.

If he truly agreed to spar—

If he hit too hard and made them lose too badly, people would say he lacked martial virtue and showed no consideration.

If he held back and deliberately gave them a few openings, people would say he was all reputation and no ability.

Worse still, some people with ulterior motives would boast to the media after sparring that they were "evenly matched with Makoto Kyogoku" or that "I spar with him all the time," using his fame to boost their own dojo's reputation.

Makoto Kyogoku had been thoroughly frightened by all those freaks and opportunists.

So now, whenever anyone came to him seeking a sparring session or exchange, he refused without hesitation.

"I still need to take my teammates to the competition, and afterward I have to go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to complete my statement. My schedule is completely full." Makoto Kyogoku awkwardly made his position even clearer. "So, if you don't have anything else..."

"Mm... Can't you reconsider? I really do want to be friends."

"Sorry."

"..."

Rejected so decisively, Lin Xinyi did not know what to do.

He had never been good at dealing with people.

Sigh...

Dealing with living people was such a hassle.

Dead people were better. After only a few words, they would bare their hearts and souls.