Chapter 24 The Terror

When "Explosive Bullet" Anthony's skull deformed and his whole body hung askew on that stick, "Torrential Rain Blade" Ronconi's mind went blank for a moment.

——What just happened?

——The sandstorm was so fierce, and with the sunlight behind him, he was backlit when looking at us. It was hard enough for us to see him, let alone how could he so precisely plan his attack route to defeat Anthony in an instant?

Cybernetic limbs can withstand bullet damage better than natural flesh, but this doesn't mean Cybermen can ignore bullets.

The transmission components can be deformed and twisted by bullets, eventually ceasing to function.

When sensorial components are struck by bullets, Cybermen will still lose their perceptive abilities.

If the power core is hit, the prosthetic will lose its energy and become a piece of scrap.

If a point on the outer armor is repeatedly struck by bullets, the metal can fatigue and eventually tear.

A Martial Artist who has mastered the Firearms Path, if he controls the space between him and his enemy, then he is invincible.

Ronconi still remembered the carnage Anthony wreaked when they ambushed thugs infiltrating the city: torn battle armor, exploding engines, spurting fluids, scattered parts—an outcome completely different from his martial arts.

They had altogether killed thirty-seven thugs. Ronconi believed that he, along with Anthony and Paulus, could harvest the thirty-eighth, thirty-ninth, or even fortieth here.

After all, a Martial Artist Prosthesis shouldn't attract too strong a thug.

But... what was going on?

Aren't the prosthetic eyes of a Firearms Path Martial Artist supposed to be superior to those of ordinary Martial Artists?

Why was Anthony repelled first?

How on earth did this giant manage it?

"Fact" and "speculation" saw a serious discrepancy. Whenever this happens, humans actually tend to believe "conclusions" made based on "experience." It is a defense mechanism of weaker beings. Human ancestors had to associate "rustling in the bushes" with "predators lurking within," otherwise, they risked death.

Of course, the rustling might be due to the wind or insects. Perhaps your own eyes will observe the swaying grass or insects hopping on it. But even then, you still need to consider, "it could be a beast"—individuals who believe in the latter have a better chance of avoiding predators and thus passing on their genes.

In terms of game theory... "Avoiding risk can mathematically be seen as a type of gain."

Hence, the brain of a Martial Artist organism was frozen by terror at that instant.

But the algorithms of Martial Arts still executed flawlessly. The drive chip processed the "fight or flight" response and instantly came up with a countermeasure. Behind Ronconi, like a praying mantis, doubled blades unfolded, and blades also shot out from his arms. High-frequency vibrations were transmitted from within Ronconi to the blades. These blades were nothing special, not crafted in a lab, far from meeting the standard of a "Sonicon Blade," but high-frequency vibrational cutting was a technology humans had used in the industry even before the new era.

Thanks to this technology, edged weapons could cleave through steel, preventing swords and similar cold weapons from being rendered obsolete by clubs.

As Anthony's legs gave out and he began to fall towards the ground, Ronconi had already charged forward, with four blades open, lashing out like four silver snakes biting at the giant's right wrist. This set of knife techniques was known as "Four Saints Test Zen Heart," with a vicious trajectory, yet they were feints, with the inner engine not running at full power and many variable transmissions primed to rapidly change moves at the slightest alteration in circumstances. The intertwining trajectories of the four blades, among 128 others, belonged to a topological isomorphism, hiding changes with counters for 1,024 common scenarios.

But the giant only sneered, "When the gods scatter, the moves are subordinated to the Turing Machine. A level like this, you dare to face an enemy with it?"

As he spoke, the giant maintained the pose of shouldering the staff, but simply lowered his right wrist and flicked left and right with the midsection of the staff, breaking the topology and scattering the blades' paths. Ronconi felt that the enemy's speed and strength were below his, yet for some reason, he found himself surrounded by stick shadows on all sides; he managed to summon his four blades, barely resisting, as the long staff kept poking along the spines of the knives, never clashing with the blades' edges. Being led by this force, Ronconi had to desperately use the principle of "Borrowing Force to Strike," adjusting his blade's momentum.

The giant kept poking in quick succession, akin to spinning a top.

The staff never even left his shoulder.

"I'll do it!" "Main Battle Tank" Paulus roared and charged with forceful steps, shielding his face with his right arm while thrusting a punch straight out with his left.

This boxing technique was called "Mech Armor Iron Fist." Legend has it, it was the first Martial Art invented by the Progenitor of Martial Arts and Yawgmoth, the father of all machines, when they created Cyber Martial Arts, and it's the most widely spread Martial Arts in the world. Almost every Martial Artist could acquire the Martial Arts Algorithm of this boxing technique.

But the algorithm of "Mech Armor Iron Fist" also included all the basic strategies of the Martial Strategy Group. Masters could deconstruct the wisdom of Martial Arts strategy from the algorithms at the foundational level. Over a hundred years, some Martial Artists even reached the final rounds of the Paralympics using just "Mech Armor Iron Fist."

The giant remained in the same posture, holding the staff, but his lower body squatted slightly, lowering his shoulder height just a bit, using the other end of the staff to lift the punch— the nearly one-ton heavy iron fist!

——I've got him... No!

A strange sensation. The readings of the actuator indicated that Paulus's fist should have struck the giant. But the fist merely grazed the surface of the giant's armor. A true hair's breadth away.

"Borrowing Force to Strike," "Four Ounces Moves Thousand Pounds"—in expressive language, this is like guiding the enemy's attack, personally adding "fuel" to the enemy's "fire," causing the enemy to lose control over the "rhythm," eventually leading to their attack missing its mark.

Of course, that's all nonsense.

Any force can be decomposed into arbitrary components, and any number of forces acting on the same object can be treated as a resultant force. Applying a force to a moving object can change the state of its motion.

As long as the "force" is of the right magnitude and direction, then the trajectory of the object can be altered as people expect.

Even a force much smaller than the attack itself, if properly directed, can deflect the attack's trajectory.

This process does not require mathematics beyond calculus. Computers can easily accomplish this task.

As long as the sensory processor is functioning correctly and the F=ma formula is being utilized effectively, any Martial Artist can achieve this.

Of course, combat between Martial Artists is not that simple; the variety of "moves," the management of "power," and the cunning of battle all involve higher-level strategizing.

Paulus had anticipated this—it was merely an indication that one had reached a sophisticated level in External Martial Arts, something he had expected long ago. His right hand, which was originally protecting his head and face, blocked a thrusting strike with a steel rod, then, in a split second, unleashed twenty-seven punches of "Seeing All Beings."

In the hands of an average Martial Artist, this move would be devoid of any force. But Paulus could work wonders with decay. He had already used the move "Seeing All Beings" to crush five thugs into deformed shapes, their heads blown open.

Every thug's eyes were filled with disbelief as they were killed by "Seeing All Beings"—they couldn't believe they had been defeated by such an ordinary Boxing technique.

But the giant was not like those thugs.

The giant was still resisting with his stick, still not using any moves, still stirring Paulus's punches aside as if parting grass to look for snakes, using the technique of Borrowing Force to Strike.

Paulus's fists smashed onto the stick, with the power transmitted through it to Ronconi. Ronconi's blade countered the stick, and due to the reaction force, the stick sprang back and struck Paulus.

"Your intentions are just too slow," said the giant. "By the time your algorithm prepares the moves, your thoughts have yet to catch up. Your moves are thrown out, and your intent chases after them sluggishly like a tortoise—in the face of higher-dimensional games, your brains provide no assistance. Dare you even step out to throw a punch with such skills?"

Paulus ignored the man's mockery, his steel cast arms still repeating "Seeing All Beings," still launching non-stop punches. The sound of steel colliding drowned out everything else.

About two seconds... or was it three seconds?

A certain balance was abruptly broken. Paulus' punch landed on the tail of the steel stick. When the giant Lev failed to hold onto the stick, it slid along his shoulder like a Siege Hammer and pounded toward Ronconi. Ronconi knelt on his right leg, blocking the blow with the blade on his right shoulder. In one second, the steel arm of his right scapula couldn't withstand it and burst apart. But in that moment of exertion, Ronconi's right leg sprang up, bracing the steel rod with his broken metal arm while somersaulting and changing direction in mid-leap, landing both feet on the steel stick and charging towards the giant's head with superior movement technique.

And Paulus raised both fists, unleashing "Seeing Heaven and Earth."

—This is my method of counterattack!

Paulus knew that there was a vast difference in output between his power-focused Heavy Prosthetic and Ronconi's agility-focused Lightweight Prosthetic. It would have been fine if the giant was merely holding the stick, but even now, he was only controlling it with his wrist, elbow, and shoulder, stubbornly using the technique of Borrowing Force to Strike. It wouldn't be long before the balance at both ends of the stick was disturbed.

That was the opportunity!

Ronconi deployed the move "Two-Faced Triple Dagger." He had already considered the situation of losing one blade and had prepared specific Martial Arts for such a scenario. Three silver flashes, like Poisonous Snakes, aimed for the sensory decorations on the giant's head.

—Going to win!

—Pay the price for your arrogance...

Then, the giant turned his head.

The last frame in Ronconi's consciousness was the blood-red glow of the giant's Prosthetic Eye.

It was as if the time in between had been deleted. Ronconi had lost several frames of imagery. When he regained his senses, he had jumped too high, finding himself in the air above the giant's left side.

And the giant held the steel rod, maintaining a "swinging" posture. Paulus had been flung ten meters away.

A steel warrior weighing over a ton had been sent flying with that swing. Lev's posture was as casual as if he were playing golf.

In the instant that Ronconi lost perception, as the stick was about to slip from the giant's grip, his wrist flipped, grabbed the tail of the stick, then applied a centripetal force, turning the linear motion into circular motion, precisely sweeping away Paulus's punch.

And Ronconi's Cybernetic Limbs, as if out of control, propelled him up, causing Ronconi's killing move to completely miss its target.

—Why… hiss… why…

Ronconi fell to the ground, his mind blank.