Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 656 - 300: This is the Mystic Gate Orthodoxy Martial Studies

Chapter 656: Chapter 300: This is the Mystic Gate Orthodoxy Martial Studies

"Anything you ask for" might have been the most enticing phrase since the birth of language.

If there had been a qualifier in front of it, such as "as long as it’s something we can do," making it sound more believable (as well as more like a promise that can’t be kept), its allure would have even grown just a bit more.

The Child King Yuan had also felt somewhat tempted.

He asked, "Really... anything at all?"

Liu Ri spread his hands, "Only if it’s within our power. For instance, we don’t engage in killing people. We won’t rob others of their possessions for you. You need to think this through."

On Child King Yuan’s biomaterial face, indecision piled up.

But in the end, he still shook his head, "I can’t do that."

Liu Ri said, "Why not? Can the town mayor even kill you?"

Child King Yuan replied, "He can’t kill me. But, the villagers keep a tight watch over that stick. If it disappears from there, they’ll notice right away. Then you’d become suspects, and then I’d be suspected... these guys definitely have a way to recoup their losses. You wouldn’t want to face a dozen guns, would you?"

Liu Ri and Yuki exchanged a look, sharing a bit of their thoughts.

Then Yuki said, "It seems you have a wish you really want fulfilled. Even facing ’a dozen guns,’ you still hesitated for a moment."

Child King Yuan hesitated, "Is that not possible?"

He seemed to feel that these city dwellers looked down on him, his tone unkind.

"No, no, no..." Liu Ri waved his hands, "How could that be? You just helped us a lot. If your wish isn’t too excessive, and we can’t help you directly, we’d still try to guide you to a possible solution!"

Only then did Child King Yuan’s expression soften somewhat, "I want to go to the city and become a martial artist."

Yuki’s first instinct was to refuse outright. He felt that with Child King Yuan’s temperament, if he acquired martial arts skills, he would only intensify his bullying of the weaker, which completely contradicted his master’s teaching that "martial arts is about the weak overcoming the strong."

However, Han Zhun was somewhat curious as he took over the conversation, "But most people only think of moving out of the city, right? Many lower-tier martial artists might not have it as good as you."

It was the truth. If life in the city were that great, there wouldn’t be so many wilderness settlements in the world.

In ancient times, human habitats contained many "villages," because many places considered suitable for living by the ancients—in regions like fertile lands, free of bandits and warriors—were seen by modern people as completely unfit for economic development (for instance, if tourism couldn’t be developed, such places were regarded as worthless).

Although many people were willing to leave their hometowns to develop in big cities, there were always those who preferred to live in familiar environments.

However, in this era, it was the opposite. Rarely were wilderness settlements "from time immemorial." These settlements were the result of urban population out-migration.

The reason was simple: the urban per capita land area was too small, and many people could not deploy solar panels.

This kind of population migration also easily led to relatively independent communities, contributing to the enhancement of genetic diversity, so the Protectors tended to encourage such behavior.

For most people, life in wilderness settlements was far better than in the cities.

You say wilderness settlements were easily plagued by brigands? There were gangs in the cities too!

Although this was Han Zhun’s first time leaving Pine Eagle City, he had seen similar discussions online many times before.

Child King Yuan raised his arm. Yuki almost thought the guy was going to throw a punch. But he just shook his limb, "I can’t feel comfortable with this kind of stuff attached to me. I’d rather join the Guard Squad, fight against the bandits of Green Forest, or simply go to the city and become a martial artist."

"Life as a martial artist is very tough..." Liu Ri said.

"You’re just a martial artist, aren’t you?"

Liu Ri shrugged his shoulders, "Actually, I was a mining worker for a while. Being a mining worker wasn’t that bad, and being a martial artist wasn’t that great either."

"But after all is said and done, didn’t you end up becoming a martial artist?" Child King Yuan was somewhat annoyed, "If you don’t want to help, just forget it."

As he spoke, he turned around to leave.

Only then did Liu Ri speak in a leisurely manner, "Actually, becoming a martial artist is very simple. Just go to any Martial Arts School in the city, and if you have the courage to step into the dojo, you’re already halfway there."

"Bullshit, how could it be that simple?" Child King Yuan cursed as he left.

The other novice workers followed him.

After Child King Yuan had gone a good distance, he turned his head and shouted from afar, "You guys, this lousy town, and those damn Green Forest bandits, all go die together!"

Liu Ri shrugged his shoulders, and after the other party had walked far away, he asked Yuki, "What do you think?"

"It seems that guy is really worried about the Green Forest situation," Yuki said. "There is a group of Green Forest here; they might be newcomers... If they are new, they might be strong."

Three years earlier, an incident had occurred—an activist from the Old Continent’s Green Forest, guided by Xiang Shan’s supervision and their own chivalrous spirit, had sacrificed themselves. Yuki had briefly traveled with that person, who had let him know that the Green Forest of the Old Continent had taken an interest in this area.

—Of course, what Yuki didn’t know was that just two days ago, the leaders of those Old Continent Green Forest had all perished.

—But what’s more curious is that most of the mid-level Green Forest were unaware of this news.

Han Zhun asked, "So what do we do now? Go back?"

Liu Ri thought for a moment, "Knowing that an area might be attacked by the Green Forest... Should we try to lend a hand?"

"Lend a hand?" Han Zhun’s eyes lit up, "Sounds good!"

Yuki was the slowest to nod, "Of course!"

Han Zhun said, "Should we find a place to stay?"

Liu Ri shook his head, "Wait a minute, let’s go to the edge of town first, I’ll show you something cool."

The three soon arrived at the edge of town, next to an array of solar photovoltaic panels. The panels, towering like fields of uniform crops but interspersed with tall, clearly rusted surveillance equipment—were probably the scarecrows of the new era.

Liu Ri waved his hand, and a device on his wrist immediately loosened, unfolding its rotors swiftly in the air.

It was a tiny drone, less than five centimeters long.

And super-fast at that.

"Seen anything like this before?" Liu Ri boasted proudly, "I even specifically trained in drone control for a while! This martial art is quite an intellectual pursuit."

’"This counts as a martial art?" Han Zhun scratched his head. "The Legends of the Martial Ancestor" is one of the few historical tales that won’t trigger any government alert systems. Perhaps some dojos no longer teach about the Martial Ancestor, but the Iron Block Style Dojo is known for "Mech Armor Iron Fist", a boxing technique in jianghu also called "Martial Ancestor’s Long Fist". Many Iron Block Style dojos keep the stories of Martial Ancestor alive through the study of the intent behind the moves.

Han Zhun knew that the Martial Ancestor disliked both the Military Martial Path and the Firearms Path.

"Mmm, drone formations are indeed military martial... but the Martial Ancestor himself was a master of this path!" Liu Ri said.

Yuki nodded with a complex expression, "I know."