Chapter 22: Cyber Warrior

"Master!" Youji asked suddenly while helping Xiang Shan adjust his circuitry. "Wait a moment, may I go out for a bit? I want to go and see what's happening outside..."

"Go out?" Xiang Shan looked puzzled. "You are free to go out, of course. But isn't it quite chaotic out there lately?"

Xiang Shan had not stepped out of the house in days, focusing all his efforts on reconstructing his cybernetic body. However, he could still hear the commotion outside.

Over the past two weeks, the mayor had been quite busy. He had taken one-third of the town’s workforce and organized them into a combat-trained unit—he called it a "self-defense organization."

Naturally, this was one way to go about it. Martial artists were not omnipotent. At least in Xiang Shan's understanding, even a powerful martial artist could indeed be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. If a group of heavy industrial machines were lined up to execute synchronized offense and defense, any martial artist would be wary.

The problem, however, was that "lining up for coordinated offense and defense" was itself a form of martial art. Xiang Shan still remembered that "the martial arts of controlling multiple machines or large warships" was the third major school, distinct from the External and Internal sects: the "Military Dao."

Alternatively, non-martial artists could rely on firearms for suppression fire, using saturation attacks to counter martial artists who did not specialize in gunnery.

But based on Xiang Shan’s observations, the only firearm that had appeared in this village was the single assault rifle in the mayor's possession. If that was the extent of their firepower, let alone suppressing a martial artist, even one with slightly thicker external armor could stand still and let the mayor shoot at will.

This was the difference between a cybernetic body and flesh. When flesh is injured, the whole body is affected. Pain in any area interferes with the body’s ability to generate force. A torn muscle in one spot makes certain movements impossible. Even if adrenaline allows one to ignore the body's self-preservation mechanisms, the hypoxia caused by blood loss is not something one can overcome through sheer willpower alone.

Ultimately, this was a material world. Without oxygen, cells cannot obtain energy. Even a glancing ricochet could prevent a human of flesh and blood from performing at their peak.

Cybernetic bodies, however, were different. As long as critical transmission components were not damaged, the operational capacity of a cybernetic body would not be hindered. If a bullet's caliber was small enough, the external armor of a cybernetic body could block it entirely.

Cybernetic bodies also did not need to "recover from injuries." As long as one could afford it, one could simply replace the broken parts with new ones.

This gave martial artists a higher margin for error on the battlefield and required far more from the users of firearms.

Xiang Shan hadn't even heard the sound of gunfire in the village. It was unlikely there were any masters of the Gunnery Dao here who had trained by burning through ammunition. He even suspected that the mayor might be using this opportunity to form a private army under his own control.

Youji’s expression was full of anticipation. "Master, do you know that Mayor has paid out of his own pocket to hire three martial artists from the city!"

"Martial artists?" Xiang Shan was somewhat surprised. "I heard that martial artists are highly respected... Is the mayor that wealthy?"

"Ah, they can't be the kind that make it to the Paralympics, but they are at the level of regional leagues!" Youji said, his face glowing with excitement. "Those are professional martial artists! Professional ones!"

Xiang Shan muttered, "Professional martial artists? Are they really that impressive?"

—Cybernetic martial arts are a form of assassination art. Are those who compete in arenas also practicing assassination arts?

"Master, we people here have been... well, why don't you go take a look at those martial artists too? Maybe it will help you remember things from the past?" Youji kept persuading him.

"Forget it, forget it." Xiang Shan waved his hand. "I happen to be planning to absorb the memories from that dog today, and I need a quiet environment. It's perfect for you to go watch the spectacle—just remember to tell your mother."

Youji nodded. "Understood!" He then ran off, his footsteps echoing.

Xiang Shan fell into deep thought. He knew very well that cybernetic martial arts were designed specifically to resist tyrants. As long as martial arts and chivalry existed, the common folk would have a chance to assassinate a tyrant. This was the only purpose for which martial arts were designed.

He found it hard to imagine what kind of development martial arts had undergone during his time in slumber. Why had things like arena duels emerged?

—No, it seems they did exist before...

Xiang Shan looked at the two hard drives by his side.

At this moment, his appearance had changed completely. He was suspended above a table—unlike natural humans, cybernetic bodies have no blood circulation, so prolonged binding does not cause necrosis. Streamlined external armor, resembling light plate mail, outlined the contours of his torso—though, judging by the thickness, even the heavy armor of ancient knights could not compare to this.

A brand-new alloy skull was fused perfectly with his original cranium. A data cable extended from the skull, connecting to Doctor Schultz's medical terminal.

The fur of the canine cybernetic body covered his hands. This fur would hinder heat dissipation but could provide some limited protection.

Directly below him were two legs. These legs were the result of gathering all the artificial muscle fibers from that dog. Xiang Shan had completely rearranged the layout of the muscle fibers. They could generate force in any direction. Traditional joint-locking techniques could not restrain these legs. If those massive amounts of artificial muscle fibers were to contract or release at full power under high voltage, the accumulated kicking force would be measured in "tons," enough to kill an elephant with a single kick.

However, this method of concentrating artificial muscle fibers made heat dissipation a major issue—after all, the Will-Grand-Dog’s canine body at least spread these muscle fibers across the entire flesh, providing a much larger surface area for heat dissipation than these layered, stacked legs. Xiang Shan had not even added extra armor over this layer of artificial muscle, using only a specialized plastic with excellent thermal conductivity and low specific heat capacity—something that could be found in the village—to cover it.

Within these artificial muscles were several cooling liquid circulation systems, similar to "blood vessels."

These two legs were not yet fully connected to his body; only the hoses for the cooling liquid and the circuits had been connected.

"Alright, this is basically finished. The welfare officer is coming today, and the thugs will surely wait until after the welfare officer leaves before showing themselves..."

Xiang Shan connected a memory storage drive to the terminal.

"There's still some time. It's a perfect moment to read these memories. I hope there is something of value in here."

...

Outside the town, many residents had gathered.

The authority of a welfare officer was much lower than that of a tax collector. A tax collector could decide how much genetic tax to levy; one could say that the life or death of a settlement could be determined by the tax collector. But a welfare officer was only responsible for distributing genetic welfare. Even if they didn't distribute it, the worst that would happen to the town was that they would raise fewer infants.

Therefore, the ceremony to welcome the welfare officer was much simpler than the one for the tax collector.

However, the mayor still brought a large crowd to wait in the same plaza as before.

Youji squeezed through the crowd in the plaza, wanting to get a closer look at the martial artists. Of course, he knew his master was likely a martial artist, and he knew the martial artists the mayor could afford to hire couldn't be top-tier figures.

But this was the first time he would ever see a proper martial artist! Not the inconspicuous animal-form ones, and not the semi-crippled form of his master, but a true martial artist with a complete cybernetic body!

How could he not go and take a look?

Just then, dust began to rise. Metal-based plants grew more slowly than in the past, especially woody plants, so vegetation was scarce in this era, and dust was everywhere. Ground-effect vehicles could even kick up a dust storm.

Youji suddenly heard a loudspeaker behind him shouting: "Youji! Come here!"

Youji turned around in a hurry, wanting to stay away from his mother. However, some well-meaning villager grabbed Youji’s upper body and laughed, "Kid, your mother is calling you!"

Youji bumped into Yulia's tire. After standing straight, he felt too embarrassed to move around and looked down. "Mother?"

"Youji! What on earth are you thinking?" Yulia was very displeased. "Lately, you’ve been spending a lot of time with 'Shan.' I saw that he was indeed teaching you some repair skills, so I didn't interfere too much. But what are you doing now?"

Because of work, Yulia didn't have much interaction with the man staying at her son's place. Occasionally, when she came home, she did see Youji learning how to repair machinery. This was a very noble craft nowadays, so she hadn't interfered much. But in her heart, a martial artist of unknown origins like Xiang Shan was ultimately dangerous.

"I just wanted to see those martial artists..."

"And what will you get out of seeing them? Can you afford a martial artist’s body?" Yulia criticized him mercilessly. "The path of a martial artist is very difficult, and it's easy to turn into a thug. I advise you not to hold any curiosity about martial artists..."

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

"Curious? Do you know why the mayor invited those three martial artists back? They are prepared to enter combat at any moment. If you get too close, and something goes wrong..."

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

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

...

The mayor had been waiting here since early today.

Behind the old man stood three people from outside the town. Unlike the town residents, these three had a high degree of cybernetic integration, but they were not the angular, industrial-type bodies. Their steel forms were practically works of art compared to the crudely made bodies of the townspeople.

These three martial artists were all figures of some reputation in the outside world.

Among the three, the leader had impressive arms. He had only a pair of arms, but their size was such that one might mistake them for industrial heavy machinery. These arms weighed nearly a ton, yet he could throw punches with a velocity exceeding 200 meters per second. Such a punch could even total a main battle tank.

"Main Battle Tank" Paulus.

Just like his moniker suggested, the "Engine Fist" technique this martial artist excelled in could deliver the crushing force of a main battle tank’s charge.

The second martial artist was not as eye-catching as the first. He had no exposed skin, his entire exterior shimmering with a silver luster. His waist was extremely slender; to balance speed, he had discarded as much weight as possible. On the martial artist's back, roughly where a natural human's shoulder blades would be, two extra arms extended. These arms did not resemble human hands, but were closer to a mantis, completely integrated with blades.

This martial artist had completed the practice of "Human and Blade as One" through a technique that only existed in this era.

"Torrent Blade" Ronkoni.

The third person looked completely unremarkable, but he carried a Vulcan machine gun on his shoulder. He was presumably a practitioner of the legendary Gunnery Dao.

"Explosive Shell" Anthony.

All three were martial artists from a nearby city.