Chapter 25: Recruitment

Can a martial artist fall?

Impossible. The algorithms that allow a robot to balance its limbs were developed in a distant era. For the prosthetic bodies of cyborgs, the gravitational acceleration of 9.8m/s² is insignificantly small. The "speed of falling" caused by this acceleration is as slow as a natural human walking. As long as the built-in gyroscope is functioning correctly, a martial artist can stabilize their posture under any circumstances.

This process can even be automatic. Unless, of course, there was a prior conscious "command" to "ignore this imbalance."

But...

Lonconi does not know floor-fighting techniques, does not know bionic boxing, and knows no ground-based combat—he had no reason to lie down voluntarily.

—Why...

Why did he fall when he landed?

Why did he drop frames just now?

Why... why... was there static noise appearing in his brain?

—Hot... so hot...

—What is this... my brain...

—So hot... so painful...

His five senses gradually drifted away from Lonconi.

The last thing he heard was Paulus’s terrified scream: "Internal Energy... this is Internal Energy! An Internal Energy master!"

***

Paulus was terrified. He began to loathe the mayor surnamed Schultz—it was because of that mayor that he had ended up in such a situation.

The "Eye-Gaze Technique" is an attack that can only be unleashed by a powerhouse who has mastered Internal Energy.

Internal Energy... Internal Energy!

Several years ago, a wandering martial artist from out of town accidentally revealed his presence. A large group of martial artists in the city, wanting to prove their valor, had sought to challenge this outsider. Paulus had been part of that operation.

But it is truly shameful to admit... he didn't actually land a single punch on that wanderer.

The wanderer was merely sitting in a service station, quietly enjoying some adrenaline.

Yet, every martial artist who revealed an intention to attack lost their ability to move; everyone became like a puppet manipulated by that wanderer. Some martial artists who had spoken too aggressively—suspected of disrespecting the ancestors of the Martial Way—received special treatment: they were suddenly knocked to the ground by the iron fists of their own companions.

Before that, they had only exchanged a single glance with the wanderer.

That was absolutely not a human method.

Such methods should not exist in the mortal world.

It was on that day that Paulus heard a sigh from the wanderer's lips: "Practicing martial arts without practicing Internal Energy is all for nothing in the end..."

"All for nothing"—in the eyes of a true master of Internal Energy, the glory that martial artists like them earned in the Paralympics and other athletic competitions was nothing but empty vanity.

Although he heard that the wanderer was caught and executed by the local Lord shortly after, the incident still left Paulus with deep psychological scars.

***

Paulus covered his eyes with his left arm.

Leif was somewhat surprised. "Oh? So you're someone who knows what's what, huh? Not bad, much better than those idiots."

Just now, the moment he and Lonconi locked eyes, his prosthetic eye had already used an infrared signal to invade the other's prosthetic eye—the vast majority of martial artists choose to enable the infrared vision function of their prosthetics to guard against enemies lurking in the dark. And the infrared receiving ports of civilian-grade martial artists are almost entirely undefended.

Depending on the capabilities of the prosthetic eye, the transmission speed of such signals can fluctuate between 64MB and 16TB per second.

Injecting commands, suppressing warning pop-ups, terminating processes, disrupting the opponent's drive operations...

If it were a traditional hacker, it might take several minutes.

In the brain of an Internal Energy master, this process is reduced to within one-hundredth of a second—a technique already perfected through practice.

One only needs to shut down the "Martial Game" process, and the opponent will experience a momentary "loss of consciousness"—when the "thought" loses the push of the surging current in a good conductor and can only travel in the form of bio-electrical signals, the "spirit" and "intent" can no longer keep up with the "fist."

Although the chip will quickly restart the process, for a cyber-martial artist, a moment of "hesitation" is enough to be fatal.

A signal transmission speed ranging from a maximum of 100 meters per second to a minimum of 1 meter per second is many times slower than a punch thrown by a cybernetic prosthetic.

It is just that simple.

The thug spoke while using the end of his steel rod to crush Lonconi’s knee joint. The prosthetic body Leif was currently using already had a higher output than Paulus’s, and combined with the fact that the steel rod was no ordinary item, the two together reached the level of an industrial press. Lonconi's knee deformed rapidly.

"Why..." Paulus cried out in grief and indignation. "Why would an ordinary martial artist's prosthetic bring about a master who understands Internal Energy?"

Paulus had figured it out. All the opponent's incredible techniques could be explained by "Internal Energy."

Why did he, a melee martial artist, have better field of vision than Anthony of the Gun-Fu school?

Because his Internal Energy had already covered the surrounding surveillance cameras. This method of "seeing through the heavens and hearing through the earth" was not something common martial artists like them could imagine.

He just didn't understand why such a small town would attract a powerhouse of this caliber.

"Hahaha, Mr. Leif is happy! So he came!" Leif said smugly. He raised his rod, but after a second of hesitation, he shouldered it again. "However, the fact that you were able to make me use my hand to grip a weapon—that achievement is quite something for a minion. As a reward, I'll give you a chance. Attack me with all your might? As long as you make me feel entertained, I might just give you a way to live."

Paulus knew that his life was now in his own hands.

His prosthetic ears were not of particularly high quality, and the corresponding drivers and audio signal processing software were only of an average grade. He knew that some martial artists could judge the position, shape, and even texture of surrounding objects based on natural airflow, but he could not do that. He only had a pair of eyes that had undergone specialized training. He could not lose his vision. But he did not understand the methods the opponent used, nor did he know how to close the port that allowed the enemy to invade.

He could only avoid letting his gaze meet the enemy's eyes.

Leif turned sideways, poking around randomly with his rod as if playing with a child. He asked his partner in his mind: [Why did you stop me just now?]

Blast-Kui: [Isn't our goal to increase our numbers? It's as easy to herd two sheep as it is one.]

Leif: [This guy in front of me?]

Blast-Kui: ["Main Battle Tank" Paulus. I just searched his data; he's a good prospect. At the very least, he's approaching the first level of external strength, 'Intent Before Action'.]

Leif didn't know where Blast-Kui was hiding. But judging by the fact that their wireless radio communication was still smooth, he was likely somewhere within thirty meters. Blast-Kui’s armor was specialized for stealth, with external optical camouflage, making him nearly invisible.

Leif’s own Internal Energy was only at the introductory "Command Realm." It was enough for self-preservation and escaping the oppression of those in power, but it was not enough to invade an enemy's sensory organs during high-speed combat. If "Command Realm" Internal Energy could do such things, then the martial arts wave led by the Father of All Machines would not have seen any ripples.

No, even a "Language Realm" Internal Energy master would need time to determine which ports on the opponent could be invaded. Furthermore, while invading, his computing resources would be occupied, and the "Martial Game" performed by his hands and feet would weaken slightly.

And in the blink of an eye, a martial artist who only understood external martial arts could seize the opportunity to land a fatal blow.

Even after being injected with a virus, before the virus fully erupted, an external martial artist would still have a chance to counter-kill.

Therefore...

Leif and Blast-Kui were always together. Leif connected to Blast-Kui via an encrypted WiFi signal. He opened the permissions to some of his own organs, allowing Blast-Kui to use those organs to carry out invasions on other martial artists.

And Blast-Kui, who was not adept at external martial arts, could take his time preparing the invasion.

To cooperate with his teammate, Leif, who was not good at Internal Energy, even specifically studied techniques related to "Eye-Gaze."

Two second-rate goods had thus stepped into the ranks of the first-rate.

Of course, there was no doubt that Leif doing this was tantamount to betting his life entirely on Blast-Kui. Two people who did not trust each other completely would never do this. At any moment, Blast-Kui only needed a tiny bit of operation to shut down the cooling equipment of Leif's internal chip, then force the chip to execute a massive amount of meaningless calculations.

Writing and erasing information both require energy. According to the second law of thermodynamics, any movement causes energy loss, forming meaningless heat. Once the cooling equipment is shut down, this heat accumulates until it burns the chip itself.

But Leif simply believed that Blast-Kui would not do that.

All members of a thug organization trust one another.

And Blast-Kui had indeed never violated a companion's privacy. He would only issue such commands to enemies.

Just like how he burned out Lonconi's chip.

Those who do not understand Internal Energy cannot resist.

The prosthetic body Leif used when entering the city for entertainment services was very weak, and sometimes he would encounter martial artists he couldn't resist at that time. But it didn't matter; a martial artist who doesn't understand Internal Energy has no resistance in front of an Internal Energy master.

It is a completely different realm.

After playing for about a few minutes, Leif stopped his offensive. He asked Paulus, "Although I have the data, let me confirm the truth—how old are you this year? How many years have you been practicing martial arts? What level of hormone and neurotransmitter adjustments have you received?"

"Twenty-five..." Paulus's face was a mixture of astonishment and the ecstasy of having survived a disaster. He didn't know if this counted as passing, and before his brain could even process the thought, the words tumbled out: "Eleven years of martial arts practice, received one Piaget adjustment..."

Cyber-martial arts have very low age requirements. After all, cyborgs don't have the worry of "bones and muscles being fully formed and unadjustable." Except for the brain, all organs can be treated as disposable items—the only thing that is truly necessary is the brain.

And the "age" of the spirit is not only related to experience but more so to hormones. Everyone's puberty, and the menopause unique to women, are caused by changes in the secretion of sex hormones, which lead to changes in the production of neurotransmitters, eventually resulting in changes in personality.

And cyborgs, having removed most of the hormone-secreting glands, have jumped out of their innate cages. They can, to a certain extent, regulate their own psychological age and mental state.

"Ho, knowing how to maintain your creativity at its peak..." Leif expressed his appreciation. "And to be able to realize such changes from Steel Fist in just eleven years of practice... you can be considered promising. It would indeed be a pity to kill you. After all, algorithms are easy to obtain, but a brain that can match the Martial Way is rare."

"Can I go now?" Paulus asked, trembling.

"Go? Who said you could go?" Leif’s lips curled into a sinister smile. "Mr. Leif only said he would give you a way to live, he didn't say you could leave—and the way to live I'm giving you is: join us."