Martial artists can never be ultimately insulted

Looking at Garuda, Kozue was initially worried because of Garuda's and Feng Shui's dark irises, but she relaxed after discovering that it was just a simple bloodline inheritance.

Because, judging from their appearances, both Wu Fengshui and Wu Jialouluo look like normal girls of the same age.

In comparison, Han Zhuli gives off a somewhat... ghostly girl vibe.

However, Han Zhuli clearly didn't care about Shaojiang and was preparing for school with a disgruntled expression.

"Okay, study hard." Yuan Chen gave a simple instruction.

Han Zhuli simply rolled her eyes and then said, "Alright, let's go."

Due to the unique nature of the fighting world, almost all schools in the city are located in the central school district, including the Royal Sakura Girls' Academy.

However, the Central School District is quite large, so we only walked together for a short while at the beginning, and then we each went our own way.

Yuan Chen simply shrugged, and then the group set off together.

With more people around, especially with tough-looking guys like Baki and Gentsugu by her side, Kozue relaxed a lot and had the leisure to observe her surroundings as she passed through the old city.

The old town in the early morning and the old town at night are completely different places.

The thugs and bikers who used to loiter on street corners at night have long since dispersed, leaving only cigarette butts and empty cans scattered on the ground. In their place are elderly people going out to buy groceries, part-time students delivering newspapers on bicycles, and housewives drying quilts in narrow alleys.

As Yuan Chen walked by, several old men who were squatting by the roadside playing shogi waved to him.

"Is the young boss going to school?" the old man asked curiously.

“Yes, I still need to study.” Yuan Chen nodded.

"Then... will the restaurant still be open for lunch today?" the old man asked with some concern.

"Open for business," Yuan Chen said. "Everything is prepared in advance. Remember to buy lunch today; it's Tang Guo braised pork set meal."

"That's wonderful!" Upon hearing this, the old man breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I've been having lunch at your place every day lately, and I feel much better... Oh, and I have some dried fish here; I'll bring it to you later!"

Upon hearing this, Koe blinked curiously.

Book 1: 118 Albert Payne

Following behind the group, listening to Yuan Chen and the old men playing shogi chatting back and forth, Shaojiang's expression gradually changed from initial tension to confusion.

Subconsciously, she tugged at Baki's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Senior Yuan Chen... are you familiar with the people here?"

“You haven’t been running this shop here for very long,” Baki scratched his head and replied in a low voice, “but it seems like everyone on the street knows him.”

Wu Fengshui, who was standing nearby, overheard their whisper and slowed down to walk to their side.

Although he was born into the Wu clan, Wu Fengshui looked no different from an ordinary high school student with a schoolbag slung over his shoulder. However, the light and shadow reflected by his dark irises in the sunlight made Shaojiang instinctively stand up straighter.

"Yuan Chen's shop sells set meals at noon, one serving costs 250 yen," Wu Fengshui said without hesitation.

"If it's a yakiniku set meal... it comes with rice, miso soup, and two side dishes. Putting aside the taste, the portion size alone would cost at least 700 yen, even in a school cafeteria."

"Two hundred and fifty yen?" Upon hearing this, Koji subconsciously repeated it, silently calculating in her mind.

Although she is still very young, Kozue has managed the food budget for Baki and is much more sensitive to food prices than the average high school student.

Two hundred and fifty yen is equivalent to about ten yuan in RMB.

"Pork now costs...that price doesn't even cover the cost, right?"

“Brother Yuanchen didn’t open the shop to make money,” Wu Fengshui shrugged.

"Most of the residents in the old city are elderly people who are reluctant to leave their hometown. Although the security has improved a lot now and there are more young people doing odd jobs, lunch is often the only proper meal they can have all day. So Brother Yuanchen doesn't charge much... Of course, he charges the normal fee when he's open for business in the evening."

It was far from a normal charge, because after eating there the first time, Wu Lei'an and the others simply threw a bank card at Yuan Chen.

They didn't say how much money they had saved, and Yuan Chen was too lazy to ask. After all, the proceeds from the auction of the contracts after the Kengan match were enough for Yuan Chen to maintain this charitable business model.

But when she first learned of this, Shaojiang looked at Yuan Chen's back in surprise and didn't say a word.

With 250 yen, even if it's a discounted bento box from a convenience store, you can only buy a relatively cheap chicken bento box, right? Even a very cheap fried pork cutlet bento box would cost at least 350 yen... about 15 RMB.

More importantly, what Yuan Chen sells is clearly not a simple bento box, but a set meal.

Although it sounds the same, according to what Koji just heard, Yuanchen's set meal is quite complete, consisting of a main dish, a miso soup, a side dish and a side dish, plus a serving of rice. It perfectly meets the requirements of a set meal of one soup and three dishes.

A meal like this, even if it tastes slightly better, would cost over 1,500 yen, and 250 yen wouldn't even cover the cost.

Although he looks tall and fierce, he surprisingly seems to be a very kind person.

Thinking this way, Koe relaxed a lot.

A moment later, upon arriving at the school district, Wu Jialouluo and the others went to Huangying Girls' Academy and parted ways on the spot. A moment later, Shaojiang also went to her teaching building, leaving only Baki by Yuan Chen's side.

Seeing that Kozue had left, Baki breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing this, Yuan Chen raised an eyebrow and asked, "It seems like you've been wanting to say something but haven't said it yet?"

"Hmm." Hearing Yuan Chen's question, Baki nodded vigorously, then said helplessly, "Mainly... Kozue, she doesn't want me to continue fighting..."

"Is it because it's dangerous?" Yuan Chen said unhurriedly, "That girl looks like she knows a lot about fighting, especially underground fighting."

"……Um."

Upon hearing this, Baki nodded quietly after a brief silence.

Kozue's father was a fighter in the Tokyo Dome underground fighting arena, which is one of the reasons why Kozue cannot understand fighting.

One of the most important points is that for a long time, the Tokyo Dome underground fighting arena was a place with absolutely no bonuses.

In other words, even a champion like Baki, a king of underground fighting arenas, has to pay for all his pre-match preparations and post-match recovery himself.

For the first time, the bloodthirsty car man Tokugawa Mitsunari broke with tradition and created a pure gold championship belt worth one billion yen for the champion, which was prepared for the strongest elimination tournament on earth.

As for Kojima's father, he was once a member of the Tokyo Dome underground fighting arena. He also participated in the underground fighting purely as a martial artist, without any benefit to him, in order to pursue combat.

In comparison, the money given by the Kengan Association was real, hard cash...

“Then try talking to her about your purpose and meaning in fighting,” Yuan Chen said. “If you believe in yourself as much as she does, then she is the best girl you can ever meet.”

“…Hmm.” Upon hearing this, Baki nodded quietly after a brief silence.

He then scratched his head sheepishly and said, "This is the first time someone has talked to me about these things... It seems like you know a lot about this period."

"Of course, I'm a master of relationships." Yuan Chen nodded matter-of-factly, then patted Baki on the shoulder and said:

"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me. If I can help."

"Oh, thank you so much!" Baki flashed a bright smile.

Although he became the king of the Tokyo Dome underground fighting arena at a young age, unfortunately, compared to his unparalleled talent in combat, he lacked in emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills...

At least before the elimination tournament for the strongest creatures on Earth, no elder had ever truly taught Baki how to handle emotional issues.

Needless to say, the father, Yujiro Hanma, as the "strongest creature on earth," is most concerned with power rather than Baki's emotional growth. Consequently, the only way the father and son communicate is through "fists."

Baki's mother, Akazawa Ezu, saw Baki as a "tool" to challenge Yujiro. Before her death, she wholeheartedly supported his training and growth with money. After her tragic death, Baki's way of responding to his mother's love became to become stronger.

As for the other elders... whether it's Tokugawa Mitsunari, the organizer of the underground arena, or Retsu Kaioh, who hasn't appeared yet but will be both an enemy and a friend in the future, their interactions with Baki revolve around fighting and martial arts, never involving emotional guidance.

Baki's emotional world is a process of self-exploration in a very isolated environment.

It encompasses the confusion of youth, the budding of emotions, the pursuit of beauty, and the yearning for instinct...

But... there's no need.

"Anyway, stop being so long-winded," Yuan Chen said as he walked towards the teaching building.

"Once you've made up your mind, just do it! Let Kozue know what she doesn't know! In the end, accept the outcome regardless of success or failure!"

"Oh!" Baki responded enthusiastically.

Forget about whether your teaching is right or wrong, just tell me whether you've taught them anything at all!

After saying goodbye to Baki, Genjin found his class by following the record on his student ID.

"Once a year, specializing in physical therapy."

Looking at the nameplate, Yuan Chen shook his head with a sigh. He could only say that some chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) is etched into the nation. Just looking at this nameplate was enough to make one feel somewhat indescribable.

Although he found his class, Yuan Chen did not go in, but went to the office to find his advisor.

"Oh, you must be Yuan Chen. It's a pleasure to meet you."

An elderly professor with white hair who looked like Einstein also lit up when he saw Yuan Chen.

“My name is Albert Payne. You can call me Professor Albert. If there are no problems, I should be your mentor.”

As he spoke, Professor Albert also looked at Yuan Chen with great interest.

"Ha, as expected of a powerful warrior capable of defeating Sagat and Baroque! Just by looking at you, I can already feel the vibrant life force hidden beneath your skin, the life force of all things vying for dominance!"

Upon hearing Albert's words, a look of surprise flashed across Yuan Chen's face. He then fell into a moment of thought and quickly remembered who the old professor was.

Albert Payne, although he looked familiar to Yuan Chen at first glance, like Einstein, and his name was the same as Einstein's name Albert, was actually a character designed by Ban Yuan from all aspects of name, appearance and profession.

In the setting, he is a Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, but he has no fighting ability. He is just a pure mad scientist who does not participate in the battle in Baki's story and only conducts observation and research.

And... a weak sense of scientific ethics.

In the Pico the Primitive Man story, Pico is an extremely fanatical fanatic who regards him as a unique scientific treasure in human history, completely ignoring Pico's many behaviors such as injuring people, violence, and anti-humanity.

In order to maintain Pique's condition, they even offered to hunt Siberian tigers and feed them to fighters, so as to ensure that Pique could maintain the physical condition adapted to prehistoric hunting.

In the Miyamoto Musashi arc, in order to stop Musashi, he even drew a pistol to threaten Musashi... In the end, Musashi broke his wrist in an instant and disarmed him.

As the saying goes, "If you're not crazy, you can't live."

It was precisely because of this madness and obsession that Professor Albert gained the appreciation of many people. For example, Tokugawa Mitsunari would often invite Albert to experience things that ordinary people would never have the opportunity to learn.

However, Yuan Chen still felt somewhat puzzled...

That is, it is completely unreasonable for Albert to appear in such a school.

Putting everything else aside, just his status as a Nobel laureate in medicine and biology alone would attract countless large companies, corporations, and government organizations willing to help him build an experimental team centered around him.

It's important to know that because of the existence of martial artists, medicine and biology have always been extremely popular fields in this world.

In Yuan Chen's previous life, the research on superhumans, special abilities, and superpowers that was prevalent during the Cold War ended long ago with the end of the Cold War.

But this world is different. Even now, related research shows no signs of stopping. In fact, with the development of the information age, more and more people are noticing the immense power of martial artists, and similar investments are increasing...

Looking at Yuan Chen, Albert only observed him briefly before an excited look appeared on his face.

Without saying a word, Professor Albert simply stood up, circled Yuan Chen twice, and finally stopped behind him. He stared at the trapezius and latissimus dorsi muscles peeking out from the neckline of Yuan Chen's vest for a good ten seconds, then took out a pair of reading glasses from his pocket, put them on, took them off, and put them on again, as if to determine whether what he was seeing required more precise optical instruments.

"...Is there a problem?" Yuan Chen asked curiously.

"Nothing much... it's just because I've met Sagat." Professor Albert replied with great interest upon hearing Yuan Chen's question:

"In the scientific community, the 'qi' of martial artists has always been a focus of research for all biologists, doctors, and even all scientists, because according to a lot of data, and even archaeological discoveries, it can be confirmed that qi existed long before the birth of human civilization. It is a mysterious power that is older than human races, but can be mastered through training."

"And in this, I have met many people, and many powerful martial artists... including even the Muay Thai emperor, Sagate."

Albert looked at Yuan Chen: "And according to my observation, powerful, observable Qi, as well as 'intention' which is difficult for ordinary people to understand and cannot be observed, can actually affect a person's development and growth."

"Based on historical data and my later measurements, the values ​​of that Sagat's wingspan, leg length, and bone density exceeded the theoretical values ​​by 30 percent."

"Unfortunately, due to my status and schedule, I can't conduct targeted research for an extended period of time..."

"Fortunately, I heard about you!"

Albert's eyes blazed with intense light.

"To defeat Sagat at such a young age, whether through drug stimulation or the unleashing of your inner potential, undoubtedly proves that you possess extraordinary hidden potential! So I braved all odds and came here! Haha, now it seems my decision was indeed correct!"

Albert then added:

“Your scapular adduction angle is practically perfect, and the origin and insertion points of your latissimus dorsi muscles are lower than in any body I have ever dissected—and this is not a pathological low attachment, but purely biological growth, developmental advancement, and genetic expression advantage!”

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chen was also taken aback.

Even though he had gained some understanding of human anatomy and related physiology through his spiritual practice, he still felt a bit lost after hearing Albert's technical terms.

"What are you... saying?"

“I’m talking about your body!” Albert said excitedly. “I came back to this school for you! And now it seems I was right!”

"The difference between your scapular adduction angle and the origin and insertion points of your latissimus dorsi muscles means that your shoulder joint range of motion is at least seven to nine degrees greater than that of the average person. This translates to your arms having 4% to 5% more range of motion than others! More flexible, more powerful, more unpredictable, and more heavy and powerful!"

Volume 1: Chapter 119 - Hanzo Shiranui