Chapter 184: [London]

London.

Among the major cities in the UK, Glasgow is almost located in the north, while London is almost located in the south, with a distance of more than 500 kilometers.

With the speed of trains in this era, even without considering the time for stops and transfers, a trip would take more than ten hours.

In fact, this bumpy journey became the longest train ride Ma Shao had ever taken. Neither in his past nor in this life, he had ever taken a train for twenty or thirty hours in a row.

When we arrived in London, it was early morning. The fog covering the streets gave Ma Shao a glimpse of the charm of the "City of Fog".

Just slightly.

In later generations, the well-known smog incident caused the deaths of thousands of British people and shocked the world.

But in 1848, the Second Industrial Revolution was just beginning and the smog in London was not so exaggerated.

However, Ma Shao was not sure how severe the smog was, so he still put on a mask and asked others in his group to wear them as well, to provide some protection.

Thanks to the popularization of advanced hygiene knowledge among the Apache tribe, Ma Shao's subordinates were happy to wear masks.

Of course, even if they don't understand, they won't question Ma Shao's decision.

Thomson was a little puzzled. He pointed at Ma Shao's face and the mask handed over, and asked, "Why are you wearing this?"

"For the health of our respiratory tract," Ma Shao explained. "Smog is essentially a kind of dust, so it's better to breathe less."

Thomson obviously didn't care and smiled: "Maybe, but this is making a fuss out of nothing!"

"You know, the fog in London is a great sight. Some people who come to London for the first time, the first thing they do is to take a deep breath and taste the fog," he added.

Thomson was telling the truth.

As the absolute core of the British Empire, London, the world's largest city, can be described as "sacred" in the minds of many people.

In such a sacred city, even a fart smells fragrant, and a group of people gather together to inhale it.

Some people in later generations said that the air in the United States is sweet, which is nothing.

At this time, and for the next hundred years, even the smog in London smelled sweet.

Ignorant people choose to succumb to the romantic experience of the senses and worship the dopamine secreted in their brains. In their opinion, being able to breathe in the London smog is the greatest honor.

"I know a nice hotel. Come with me," said Thomson. "We'll stay there for a few days, and then when Joule arrives, we'll set off for Cambridge together."

"Okay." Ma Shao nodded.

Led by Thomson, everyone checked into a hotel which was not luxurious but quite comfortable.

Then Thomson went out to visit friends.

Ma Shao and others mostly stayed in the hotel waiting for him to come back and for Joule to arrive. Apart from that, they sometimes went out for a walk.

Ma Shao originally thought that with his amazing size, most of the troubles would be nipped in the bud.

The very few that are not strangled should be presented in a more obscure and restrained form. No one wants to get into a physical conflict with a strongman weighing more than 200 pounds.

However, it turned out that Ma Shao was wrong.

Or, in other words, London, a megacity with a population of over two million, is full of talented people.

On the morning of the third day after arriving in London, he left the hotel with Dr. Mayo and Messy Hair and went to a nearby bookstore.

Unexpectedly, when passing a somewhat remote street, a voice with a hostile tone came from behind: "Hey, that yellow monkey!"

Ma Shao frowned, turned his head and looked, then saw several men walking towards him.

Among the few people, except for a middle-aged man with a beard who was dressed in a suit and looked quite decent, the rest were basically dressed like gangsters, untidy and sloppy.

The one who made the rude remarks was the bald man who was in the lead. He was in his twenties. Although he was not tall, he was still quite strong, especially his thick neck.

The bald man had a scar on his face, and when he spoke, a half-broken front tooth was exposed. He had obviously been through a lot of fights and looked quite fierce.

"Yellow monkey, where are you from?" The bald man was not afraid of Ma Shao, who looked unusually strong, and used this malicious word again.

Ma Shao looked down at him and said, "If I am a monkey, what are you, little guy?"

For men, the word "little guy" is obviously more intolerable.

The bald man immediately became angry, walked up to him, pointed at him and said, "What did you say!"

His gangster friends also laughed and said, "Hahaha, his name is Abe the kid."

"Abe, if I were you, I would never be able to stand this!"

"Show him some color, let him know how powerful you are!"

"Abe, hit him hard! Ward must want you to do that!"

"Abe?" Hearing this name, Ma Shao couldn't help but smile and naturally had some associations.

His smile made Abe even more annoyed, and he immediately turned his body to the side and made a boxing-like posture.

Seeing this action, Ma Shao probably understood why Abe dared to speak rudely to him. It seemed that he had probably practiced some boxing and might even be a master.

It might seem a little strange that a street thug is a good boxer.

But at this point, it's a real possibility.

At this time, boxing was far from being a standardized sport. It was basically illegal and entangled with street fights. Boxing matches were also a gathering place for gambling and corruption, and could almost be said to be notorious.

To a boxing master, big guys are really not that scary.

However, Ma Shao is not a big fool. After long-term practice and exploration in the army, Apache Military Boxing has become a mature practical fighting technique.

At least it was much more mature than boxing of this period.

Abe struck a boxing-like posture, but the details were quite different. His legs were straightened, his head raised, and his chest puffed out. It was far from the standard standing way of later generations, and it even looked a little funny.

"Chief, he's a boxer, I think we'd better not mess with him," Mayo whispered.

"In fact, I really want to learn about this sport in the UK." Ma Shao said, "It seems to be illegal?"

"Nominally, yes," Mayo said, "but in reality, it's very popular. Even some nobles participate in gambling on underground boxing matches."

"Everyone knows that this is a dirty activity, with violence, bloodshed, death, gambling, match-fixing, blatant fouls...but many people are still addicted to it."

Ma Shao nodded, then waved to Abe: "I hope your pride is not arrogance."

"I'll make you kneel on the ground and beg for mercy!" Abe snorted.

Before he finished speaking, he started with a left jab!