Shackles of Humanity

Far from the hustle and bustle of the world, Luo Kai lived a comfortable life, spending his free time training in Body Techniques. However, both the Soft Body Technique and the Mighty Dragon Fist grew stronger along with his physical condition. Since his body had yet to fully recover, he could only focus on honing his skills.

Over the past few days, he had indeed devised a new technique—one he had used before. It was somewhat similar to the Long Arm Fist described in martial arts novels. By extending and contracting his bones and tendons while unleashing his Fist Power, he could achieve the effect of a surprise attack. This technique certainly had great potential for development, but its true effectiveness would have to be tested in actual combat.

One day, Luo Kai was hunting in the wilderness with a wooden staff. The area teemed with animals: deer, wolves, and even bears. He even saw a massive tiger. Man and beast faced off for a brief moment before both retreated. Luo Kai was reluctant to harm such a spirit of nature, while the tiger instinctively felt that the human before it was dangerous and best left alone.

As he walked, he suddenly noticed the vegetation growing sparse and the ground pitted with artillery craters. Luo Kai paused. A burst of intense cannon fire from ahead shattered the tranquility of the mountains, followed by the ceaseless din of dense gunfire and exploding shells.

Unlike the fields of corpses he had imagined, the two warring factions had each occupied a hilltop, firing at one another from a distance.

Luo Kai climbed a large, dense tree and looked toward the battlefield. The two sides wore very similar uniforms—khaki military fatigues and green steel helmets. Even the rifles they carried were identical. This made him scratch his head. ’Could it be a mutiny?’

After a while, a few small black dots appeared in the sky. They were several dragonfly-shaped fighter jets that swooped down, dropping bombs on one of the hilltops. For a moment, the entire mountain echoed with the sound of explosions. When the smoke cleared, the hilltop had been razed to the ground.

Witnessing such an explosion up close was far more shocking than anything in the movies. Luo Kai couldn’t help but feel his scalp tingle. ’If I had been caught in that, there’s no way I would have survived.’

’Humans are, after all, made of flesh and blood. Even if I cultivated the Skin Refining in the Body Techniques to an extremely high level, it would only be like wearing an extra layer of body armor. It might stop a sharp weapon from piercing my skin, but it couldn’t block the immense kinetic energy. A bullet from a large-caliber firearm could easily send a person flying, its kinetic energy shattering their bones and internal organs. And that’s not even mentioning artillery shells.’

It was best not to get involved in this war business. Any lingering ambition Luo Kai might have had was instantly extinguished. He slipped away dejectedly.

On his way back, he caught two rabbits, roasted, and ate them. As usual, he practiced the Soft Body Technique by a small creek. This technique required tempering the body through extreme methods, and the torture he had endured in the pirate camp had, paradoxically, raised his Soft Body Technique to a new level. Before, his muscles and bones were like rubber bands; now, they were like soft clay, able to fold, contract, and expand like a mollusk.

The forest was silent at night. When the moon was high in the sky, an unusual commotion from the dark jungle startled Luo Kai from his sleep. He frowned slightly. For the past several days, few animals had dared to venture within a one-kilometer radius of his location.

After a moment’s thought, he leaped onto a tree trunk and bounded through the forest like a leopard cat, heading toward the source of the sound. As he drew closer, he saw a man covered in blood in a small grove, besieged by three wild wolves. Judging by his attire, he was a soldier, perhaps in his thirties. His bullets were spent, his chest was riddled with several bullet holes, and his body was covered in shrapnel wounds. He was a spent force.

At Luo Kai’s appearance, the three black-backed wolves growled and scattered. They recognized him; this human had stolen a good deal of their prey recently.

Luo Kai paid them no mind and walked up to the blood-soaked man. The man was delirious. Sensing something approach, he immediately swung his knife.

Luo Kai reached out, snatched the weapon away, and said softly, "Don’t be afraid. I’m human."

The blood-soaked man heard his words, and a sliver of clarity returned to his bloodshot eyes. "Who... who are you?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Your wounds are severe. If you want to live, stop talking," Luo Kai said. He picked the man up and ran toward his shack. In the distance, the black-backed wolves could only whimper and leave, dejected.

Long-term illness makes a fine doctor, as the saying goes. Since Luo Kai was often injured himself, he had figured out some simple methods for emergency surgery. First, he tied off the man’s major arteries with strips of cloth, then used the short knife to remove the shrapnel. Unfortunately, the man’s constitution was nothing compared to his own. He passed out from the rough treatment, his breathing grew even fainter, and it seemed he wasn’t going to make it.

Luo Kai stopped, helpless. After thinking for a moment, he waved his hand, summoning streams of water that wrapped tightly around the man, pressing against his wounds to stanch the bleeding.

A short while later, the young man awoke. His face was ghastly pale from blood loss, but his eyes were exceptionally bright.

Luo Kai knew this was the final burst of energy before death. He sighed. "Sorry, I can’t save you. You’ve lost too much blood and need an immediate transfusion, but we don’t have the means here."

The young man looked at the clear streams of water coiling around his body, then at the military uniform Luo Kai was wearing. The light in his eyes grew brighter. He struggled to pull a blood-soaked piece of paper from an inner pocket and shakily handed it over.

Luo Kai hesitated for a moment before taking it. The writing on the paper was obscured by blood and completely illegible, though he could just barely make out the three words: "Military Punishment Department."

Seeing Luo Kai accept the note, the young man’s entire life force seemed to vanish in an instant. He opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. His breathing faded, and then he was gone.

This was a huge headache for Luo Kai; he hated trouble more than anything, and the note in his hand was clearly big trouble. He could only tuck it away for now. First, he dug a pit and buried the young man’s body. Then, he placed the note in the creek, manipulating the water’s flow to dilute the bloodstains.

It was a secret dispatch—intelligence obtained by an undercover agent of the Military Punishment Department embedded in the Nanzhao Kingdom. It contained a shocking piece of information: there was an enemy spy within the Xingma Kingdom’s military, one who had already reached a very high-level position and could even influence the outcome of battles.

Luo Kai was caught in a dilemma. It didn’t matter much to him who won or lost this war. However, if the Xingma Kingdom suffered a crushing defeat, the regional powers within the country would surely fight endlessly among themselves to claim the title of Great Lord. In the end, the common people would be the ones to suffer. After agonizing for a long while, he finally gritted his teeth. ’Fine. I guess I’ll pay the military camp a visit.’

...

The main forces of the Xingma Kingdom were stationed at a mountain fortress called Ironwood Castle. Along with two other mountain peaks, it formed a mutually supporting horn-like formation, perfect for both offense and defense. Not only did it have a railway connecting it to the heart of the kingdom, but it also boasted a military airfield on the mountain, allowing for the rapid deployment of supplies and troops. In its countless years of war, it had never been breached. The Nanzhao Kingdom called it the Iron Castle.

Luo Kai followed the tracks of human activity and eventually arrived at the fortress. He first circled the perimeter cautiously. The entire fortress was surrounded by a massive concrete wall nearly twenty meters high. The wall was covered in dark-red bloodstains and pockmarked by gunfire and artillery, giving it a weathered, historic air. The fortress had only one entrance, through which a steady stream of steam-powered trucks and trains passed. It wouldn’t be difficult to slip inside.