Legend of the Cyber Heroes

Can Martial Artists fall down?

Impossible. The technology to balance robotic limbs using algorithms was developed in a distant era. For the prosthetic bodies of Cybermen, the gravitational acceleration of 9.8m/s^2 is just too insignificant. The speed at which this acceleration causes one to "fall" is so slow it's like a Natural Person walking. As long as the built-in gyroscope isn't malfunctioning, Martial Artists can stabilize their posture under any conditions.

This process can even be automatic, unless there is already an intention to issue a "Command" to "ignore this imbalance."

But...

Ronconi doesn't do ground lying blade, bionic fist, or any ground techniques—he has no reason to lie down on purpose.

—Why...

Why did he fall when he landed?

Why did he drop frames just now?

Why... why... these noises in his head?

—It's hot... so hot...

—What is it... my brain...

—So hot... it hurts so much...

Gradually, Ronconi's senses started to drift away.

The last thing he heard was Paulus's terrified shout, "Inner Strength... this is Inner Strength! An Internal Strength Master!"

....................................

Paulus was terrified beyond measure. He began to detest the Town Mayor named Schultz—it was because of that Town Mayor that he ended up in this situation.

The technique of witnessing is an attack only those who have attained mastery in Inner Strength can unleash.

Inner Strength... Inner Strength!

Several years ago, an outsider Hero accidentally exposed himself. A large number of Martial Artists in the city, in order to challenge themselves, aimed to confront this outsider Hero to prove their valor. Paulus also participated in that initiative.

But it's embarrassing to say... he actually never threw a punch at that Hero.

The Hero was merely sitting in a service station, calmly savoring adrenaline.

But all the Martial Artists who showed a hint of attacking intention lost their ability to move, all controlled like puppets by the Hero. Those Martial Artists who had been too extreme in their words, suspected of disrespecting the Ancestors of the Martial Path, received special treatment from the Hero—they were suddenly knocked down to the ground by the fists of their peers.

Before that, they had simply made eye contact with the Hero.

That was definitely not a human method.

No such methods should exist in the world of humans.

It was on that day that Paulus heard a sigh from the Hero, "Practicing Martial Arts without Practicing Skills leads to nothing in the end..."

"To nothing in the end"—in the eyes of a real Internal Strength Master, the splendor earned by these Martial Artists at the Paralympics and other competitions was nothing but vanity.

Even though he'd heard that the Hero was captured and executed by the Lord not long after, the incident still left a psychological shadow on him.

Paulus covered his eyes with his left arm.

Lev was somewhat surprised, "Eh, turns out to be a guy who knows his stuff? Not bad, much better than those idiots."

Just now, the moment he made eye contact with Ronconi, his Prosthetic Eye had already hacked into the other's Prosthetic Eye using infrared signals—most Martial Artists choose to activate the infrared vision feature of their Prosthetic Eyes to guard against enemies lurking in the shadows. The infrared reception ports of civilian Martial Artists are almost undefended.

Depending on the functionality of the Prosthetic Eye, the speed of signal transmission can vary between 64M per second and 16T per second.

Implanting a command, stopping warning signals from popping up, terminating processes, disrupting the opponent's operations...

For a traditional hacker, perhaps this would take several minutes?

In the brain of an Internal Strength Master, this process is reduced to one-hundredth of a second—it's a well-trodden technique.

Simply by closing the Martial Arts competition process, the opponent would experience a momentary "distraction"—when "thoughts" lose the push of electric current in a good conductor and can only spread in the form of bioelectric signals, the "mind" and "intent" can't keep up with the "fist."

Although the chip will quickly restart the process, for Cyber Martial Artists, the time taken for "a thought" can be fatal.

With a signal transmission speed varying between a maximum of 100 meters per second and a minimum of one meter per second, this is much slower than the punch thrown by a Cybernetic Limb.

It's as simple as that.

While talking, the Thug used the tail end of his steel rod to crush Ronconi's knee joint. The Prosthetic Body that Lev was currently using was already more powerful than Paulus's, and combined with the steel rod, which was no ordinary product, the two together possessed the power of an industrial press. Ronconi's kneecap deformed rapidly.

"Why..." Paulus was filled with grief and indignation, "Why would a regular Martial Artist Prosthesis attract a master of Inner Strength?"

Paulus had already figured it out. The inconceivable techniques of the other party could all be explained by "Inner Strength".

Why did he, a close-combat Martial Artist, have a better field of vision than Anthony of the Firearms Path?

Because his Inner Strength had already covered the surrounding cameras. This kind of Heavenly Vision and Earthly Hearing was beyond the imagination of ordinary Martial Artists like them.

He just didn't understand, why would such a small town attract such a high-level powerhouse?

"Hahaha, Mr. Lev is happy, so he came!" Lev was very proud. He lifted his stick, but after hesitating for a second, he hoisted it back onto his shoulder: "However, that you could make me grasp the weapon with my hand—this achievement is quite impressive among lackeys. As a reward, I'll give you a chance. Attack me with all your strength, okay? If you make it interesting for me, I might let you live."

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

His Prosthetic Ear wasn't particularly good quality, and the corresponding drivers and auditory signal processing software were just of ordinary level. He knew that some Martial Artists could determine the position, shape, and even texture of surrounding objects simply through the natural airflow, but he could not. He only had a pair of eyes that had undergone specialized training. He couldn't afford to lose sight. However, he was unclear about the techniques the enemy used and didn't know how to close the port that allowed the enemy to invade.

All he could do was avoid making eye contact with the enemy.

Lev turned sideways, poking around aimlessly with his stick like he was playing with a child. He asked his partner in his mind: [Why did you stop me just now?]

Vigorous Kui: [Isn't our goal to increase manpower? Whether it's herding one sheep or two doesn't matter.]

Lev: [This guy in front of me?]

Vigorous Kui: ["Main Battle Tank" Paulus, I just looked up his information, he's a good prospect. At least he's close to the First Layer Heavenly Land of the external strength "intention precedes movement".]

Lev didn't know where Vigorous Kui was hiding. But since the radio communication was still smooth, he must be within thirty meters. Vigorous Kui's Armor specialized in stealth, with external optical camouflage, almost invisible,

Lev's own Inner Strength was only at the introductory level of "the realm of command" which was sufficient for self-protection and to shake off the oppression of those in power, but not enough to invade the sensory organs of an enemy during high-speed combat. If the Inner Strength of the realm of command could do that, then the martial trend led by the Father of All Machines would not have caused any ripple.

No, even a master of Inner Strength of the Linguistic Realm would need time to identify the ports that could be invaded on the opponent's body. Moreover, during the invasion, his computational resources would be occupied, which would slightly weaken the "Martial Arts contest" carried out by his limbs.

And in the blink of an eye, a Martial Artist who only knew External Martial Arts could seize the opportunity and deliver a fatal blow.

Even after being infected with a virus, there was a chance for External Martial Arts to counter-kill before the virus fully erupted.

So...

Lev and Vigorous Kui had always been together. Lev connected to Vigorous Kui through an encrypted WiFi signal. He opened up permissions for certain organs on his body, allowing Vigorous Kui to use these organs to infiltrate other Martial Artists.

And Vigorous Kui, not proficient in External Martial Arts, could leisurely prepare to invade.

To cooperate with his teammate, Lev, who was not skilled in Inner Strength, even intentionally practiced techniques related to "witnessing".

Two second-rate individuals had thus stepped into the realm of the first-rate.

Of course, without a doubt, by doing this, Lev had put his entire fortune and life in Vigorous Kui's hands. Two people who did not fully trust each other would never do such a thing. At this moment, with just a little manipulation, Vigorous Kui could shut down the cooling device for Lev's internal chips, then make the chips perform a large number of pointless calculations.

Writing and erasing information both require energy. And according to the Second Law of Thermodynamics, any movement causes energy loss, resulting in meaningless heat. Once the cooling device was shut down, the heat would build up until the chips themselves burned out.

But Lev believed that Vigorous Kui wouldn't do that.

All members within a thug organization trusted each other.

And Vigorous Kui indeed had never invaded the privacy of his companions. He only issued such commands to enemies.

Just like he burnt out Ronconi's chips.

Those who didn't understand Inner Strength had no chance of resistance.

Lev's Prosthetic Body used for enjoying entertainment services in the city was very weak, and there were times when he encountered Martial Artists that he couldn't resist at that time. But it didn't matter, Martial Artists who did not understand Inner Strength had no resistance against masters of Inner Strength.

A completely different realm.

After playing around for about a few minutes, Lev stopped his offensive. He asked Paulus, "I have the data, but I want to confirm if it's true—how old are you this year? How many years have you practiced Martial Arts? To what extent have you had hormone and neurotransmitter adjustments?"

"Twenty-five..." Paulus's face was a mix of astonishment and the euphoria of surviving a disaster. He didn't know if this meant he had passed the test, his mind hadn't even processed it, and the words just flew out: "I've practiced Martial Arts for eleven years, and I've had one Piaget adjustment..."

Cyber Martial Arts have very low age requirements. After all, Cybermen don't have the problem of "tendons and bones set in position, unable to adjust". Aside from the brain, all organs can be treated as disposable goods—what's truly essential is just the brain.

And the "age" of the spirit not only relates to experiences but also to hormones. The puberty that everyone experiences, the menopause unique to women, are all due to changes in sex hormone secretion leading to changes in neurotransmitter production, ultimately affecting personality.

After removing most of the hormone-secreting glands, Cybermen step out of their natural cages. They can adjust their psychological age and mental state to a certain extent.

"Ho, you know to keep your Creativity at its peak..." Lev expressed his admiration: "And to attain such an understanding from Steel Fist in just eleven years of training... you're indeed a promising talent. It would really be a pity to kill you. After all, algorithms are easy to come by, but a brain that matches the Martial Path is rare."

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

"Go? Who said you could go?" Lev's mouth curled into a sinister smile: "Mr. Lev only said he'd give you a way out, but he didn't say you could leave—The way out I'm giving you is to join us."