You promised steampunk martial arts, but you've got an internal combustion engine in your chest

Baili Jing was carried deep into the ship's cabin, passed through several narrow iron corridors, and finally thrown onto another cold, large iron bed.

His consciousness was blurred by the burning, and in his hazy state, he only heard the clanging of iron chains. Immediately afterward, his hands, feet, and even waist were chained to the bed frame.

He struggled to open his eyes, and then his heart skipped a beat.

The black-clad mechanical master had already picked up several pieces of equipment.

Old Man Jia picked up a hollow steel needle about a foot long and carefully examined the sharpness of its tip.

The woman, with a series of heaves, hoisted a giant iron syringe as thick as a wine barrel onto her shoulder. The syringe was connected to a flexible spring tube about the thickness of a thumb, containing some unknown liquid.

Bing picked up a small, buzzing, vibrating steam chainsaw with his fingers and gave Baili Jing a flirtatious wink.

After selecting the tools that suited them, the three of them turned around in unison, their eyes fixed on Baili Jing, and let out eerie "hehehe" laughs as they approached the iron bed step by step.

Baili Jing's throat was parched, and he shouted in a hoarse voice:

"Numbness... sir/madam, remember to apply the anesthetic! Give me some!"

Old Man Jia chuckled strangely, wiped the large steel needle on his apron, and spoke in an extremely amiable tone:

"Don't be nervous, don't be afraid, the three of us... we're just here to give you a check-up first..."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the three of them pounced on him like hungry tigers!

Baili Jing instinctively closed his eyes, preparing to face the excruciating pain.

However, the expected pain did not come.

He could clearly feel the large needle piercing his lower back, fingers repeatedly pressing and exploring his stomach and abdomen, and even the vibration of the steam chainsaw approaching his skin. Something cool was cutting through his flesh...

But strangely, he felt almost no pain.

Even more strangely, as these three oddballs fussed over him, the burning sensation actually subsided rapidly.

Although he still felt like there was a fire burning deep inside his body, and his mind was still hazy from the high temperature, the intense pain was rapidly subsiding.

After an unknown amount of time, Baili Jing laboriously turned his head and saw that the three black-clad mechanics had stopped operating the equipment and were gathered around the wooden table, arguing heatedly.

Old Man Jia shook his head frantically:

"No, no! In all these decades of traveling the world, I've dissected hundreds, if not thousands, of strange people and beasts! This kid isn't human at all! He's a monster in human skin!"

The young woman, B, cackled wickedly, her tone filled with fanaticism and greed:

"Yes, yes! It's a humanoid monster! Hehehe! What do you guys think? Should we cut off a small piece of its thigh meat while it's still alive and try it? Let's see how different this humanoid monster meat is from the monsters we usually eat!"

The effeminate man, C, offered a different opinion. He picked up a piece of paper with his delicate fingers and looked at the data on it:

"No, no, he is fundamentally different from the demon beasts. The energy circulation path in his body is completely different from the spiritual power flow of the demon beasts. This is clearly a human being, just a bit hotter."

Old Man Jia retorted, "Although the routes are different, the principle of energy conversion is exactly the same! How could an ordinary mortal possibly achieve this level of heat through self-generated heat? The temperature reading in his dantian is far higher than that of a steam boiler! What else could this be but a demonic beast?"

Yi excitedly interjected, "Right, right, right! The characteristic of demonic beasts is that their muscles heat up, rapidly burning their blood and energy to convert it into explosive power! This kid is definitely..."

"wrong!"

Bing panicked and shrieked, "The locations are completely different! The core of a demonic beast's heat generation is in its muscle groups, while its energy bursts forth from its dantian in its abdomen! How can they be the same?!"

"If I say he's a demonic beast, then he is a demonic beast!"

"If I say he's not, then he's not!"

"Hehehe, stop arguing, cut off a piece of meat and try it first!"

The three argued more and more fiercely, each refusing to give in.

Finally, they each pulled out an abacus from their waist and began frantically moving the beads to perform calculations.

As they calculated, the argument turned into mutual accusations.

As they continued accusations, the old man and the woman suddenly started fighting, kicking over the table in the middle, which smashed several glass instruments.

Soon, C joined the fight, scratching old man A's face with his claws. Then, woman B started fighting with C...

Baili Jing lay on the bed, staring in disbelief.

After watching for a long while, he finally couldn't hold back and weakly called out:

"I say... three masters... are you still going to save this person or not?"

His voice was soft and weak, but the three people immediately fell silent, turning their heads in unison and staring intently at him.

After a moment of silence, Old Man Jia put down his abacus, walked to the iron bed, bent down, and spoke in a surprisingly heavy tone:

"Young man, to be honest, this ailment of yours... the three of us can't cure it."

Baili Jing's face turned deathly pale instantly, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets:

"Huh?! You can't cure me?! Aren't you supposed to be some amazing masters? So you've dragged me all the way to this sea just to tell me I'm beyond help?!"

The second woman also came over, rubbing her hands together, her tone more excited than regretful:

"Yes, yes, young man, did you know? There's a self-heating core in your dantian area! There's never been a case like this ever recorded in the entire world!"

She became more and more excited as she spoke, gesturing with her fingers in the air:

"Based on our preliminary calculations and actual measurements, the instantaneous energy output power of your core far exceeds the highest standard of any known steam furnace in the Great Jing Dynasty! The power output of those advanced furnaces in major sects and the military is less than half of yours!"

Old Man Jia took over the conversation and said in a deep voice:

"Your core possesses an assimilation and compatibility. It can absorb and burn almost all organic matter as fuel through the way you eat, and convert it into high-pressure steam energy in a very short time. This energy is then fed back to your body tissues and bones, causing your body's various functions to experience explosive growth."

"Similarly, we have also discovered that your skin, muscles, and bones have an exceptional tolerance to this high-temperature, high-pressure energy, which gives you extremely strong resistance to impacts, self-healing and repair capabilities, and explosive mobility far exceeding that of ordinary people."

"Furthermore, you can also release exhaust steam freely through your pores like a steam engine to relieve internal pressure. In a sense, you are a human steam engine."

Baili Jing's head was buzzing as he listened to the jumble of incomprehensible technical terms, but he still forced himself to ask, "Then... then why did you say there's no hope?"

"That's a real shame, buddy."

Bing sighed and gently tapped Baili Jing's belly with her orchid-like finger:

"Your internal organs' tolerance to this energy is, at present, extremely poor. The specific reasons are still unknown to the three of us."

"Your internal organs are already doing part of the work of providing fuel and energy output to the dantian core. At the same time, they also have to act as containers to withstand the impact of new energy on the body. This workload is far greater than what your body tissues and bones can withstand."

The woman took over the conversation, her tone becoming even more excited:

"Therefore, there's absolutely no way to control the output of this energy! The high-pressure steam energy generated in your dantian core can only spread chaotically and burn wildly to the surrounding organs! If it's not relieved and channeled for a long time, your internal organs will begin to fail completely from the inside out, and then... you'll be cooked alive by your own energy, from the inside out! Hehehe!"

Old Man Jia spread his hands:

"So, based on all of the above, you're beyond saving. While you can still speak, why don't you sign a contract so we can dissect you and study you thoroughly?"

"no!!"

Baili Jing was initially delirious from the fever, but upon hearing the word "dissection," his mind cleared instantly, and his eyes widened.

The three black-clad mechanics exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with disappointment and regret.

Old Man Jia shrugged: "Then there's really nothing I can do. I can only try my best to prepare some pain-relieving and sedative medicine so that you can pass away... a little more easily in your final days."

"no……"

Baili Jing panicked and struggled to sit up, but was firmly chained. He roared in a hoarse voice, "You went through all this trouble, using steam locomotives, hang gliders, and ships to get me here, just to tell me to wait to die?"

Bing sighed regretfully, looking at Baili's chest with a sense of pity:

"Young man, we didn't want this either. To be honest, I really wish I could cut open your belly myself and examine your internal organs... but there's no way around it. Your constitution and blood are incompatible with the steam furnace. In this situation, adding an external mechanical heat source inside you would only accelerate your organ failure. It would be like drinking poison to quench thirst, and you'd die even faster."

Baili Jing was completely dumbfounded.

He was a little out of breath.

Is it really... hopeless?

He had gone through so much trouble to fight his way out of the Blackwater Gang's ambush and survive the warehouse gambling battle, only to end up not dying at the hands of the enemy, but being burned alive by himself?

This is fucking humiliating!

No...this is absolutely not allowed!

At this moment, A and B carefully inserted an energy-conducting pipe into Baili Jing's dantian, seemingly to guide some of his accumulated energy to alleviate his pain.

The burning sensation subsided somewhat, which cleared Baili Jing's mind a little.

The words the three mechanics had just spoken began to echo in his mind.

"In the dantian area of ​​the abdominal cavity, there exists a self-generated, unknown energy core..."

"The instantaneous energy output power of this core far exceeds that of any other steam furnace..."

"It can absorb and burn all organic matter as fuel through eating..."

"It can only diffuse energy randomly into the surrounding organs..."

"You're hopeless, just wait to die..."

Baili Jing suddenly closed his eyes.

In despair, fragments of memories from his past life began to flash wildly back in the depths of his mind.

In his previous life, he was an assistant and driver for his boss. As a professional driver, he must have some understanding of the basic mechanical operating principles of cars.

Since this core within my body is like a runaway high-pressure steam engine...

So, what should be the course of action in this situation?

Bai Lijing's lips moved slightly, his voice hoarse and soft, almost unconsciously murmuring to himself:

"Import...compress...release...it doesn't need to generate heat itself, but rather...directly compresses and stores excess energy..."

He spoke very softly, as if he were just talking to himself.

However, the three mechanical masters in the room who were preparing to euthanize him suddenly froze.

The woman was the first to react, and a piercing glint flashed in her eyes!

She rushed to the iron bed, stared intently into Baili Jing's eyes, and said in a trembling voice:

"What did you just say?! Say those words again! Not a single one is omitted!"