“…” Hearing Yang’s words, Sagat was momentarily taken aback.
Although what Yang described sounded grim, it…
didn’t actually seem all that hard to accept?
At the very least, Sagat asked himself honestly: if it were him—though going a full month without food or water would leave him extremely weak and on the verge of death—relying on the powerful body he’d trained and the qi within it, so long as he prepared properly, it didn’t seem impossible to last out a month.
But soon, Sagat realized there was a flaw in his reasoning.
Hunger and being on the brink of death weren’t the crux of it; the crux lay in the changes to Yang’s mental state over the course of that ordeal.
Perhaps it was just as Yang had said—it required certain necessary qualities, plus luck?
Which was why he had accidentally awakened such power?
Just as Sagat was still hesitating over whether this was actually true, Chun-Li, standing to one side, seemed to remember something and said: “Hold on—before you start trying this, you’d better be mentally prepared.” Although she found Sagat thoroughly distasteful—especially since he’d nearly killed Yang just days ago—when it came to a matter of real consequence, Chun-Li didn’t let her wariness and aversion toward Sagat lead her to conceal anything.
Instead, under Sagat’s puzzled gaze, she said: “Back then, Yang hadn’t undergone any training at all—he was just an ordinary person.” “…Hold on?” Hearing Chun-Li’s words, Sagat was momentarily stunned, then turned to look at her, his face full of suspicion as he said: “You mean Yang only started becoming a fighter three years ago?” “To be precise, it was a year ago.” At this, Gen, beside them, said with a chuckle, “The first two years were spent making up for the physical deficit Yang suffered from his prolonged starvation, tempering the basics.
His real training only began about a year ago.” “…” Hearing Chun-Li’s words and Gen’s addition, Sagat drew a deep breath, then couldn’t help rubbing the bridge of his brow as he said: “Is this…
really something a human being can accomplish?” A powerful martial artist, even when pinned immobile beneath rubble, could still tough it out thanks to superb physical conditioning, and could even prolong survival by exerting subtle control over the body to reduce the unnecessary activity of its internal organs.
But an ordinary person, without any training, not only couldn’t sense the state of their own body—they might not even be sure whether their heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys sat on the left or the right inside them.
To say nothing of all the energy-wasting behaviors that come with extreme panic—needless struggling, thrashing about, shouting and screaming, and the like.
Thinking this, Sagat rubbed his brow and said, “A person who’s never trained…
no matter how you look at it, there’s no way they could endure a whole month, is there?” “Who knows~” Yang spread his hands.
“In any case, I made it through.
Maybe it’s some kind of quality you need before life energy awakens?
It just doesn’t show in everyday life.” “Hah, can’t be learned.” Shaking his head, Sagat said, “But regardless, if you need it, I’ll teach you Muay Thai.” “I’ll be in your debt,” Yang said in thanks.
“It’s nothing,” Sagat replied, shaking his head.
With Sagat’s matter settled, Yang turned his curious gaze toward Dorai, the windfall uncle standing nearby.
“By the way, Uncle—how’s the handling of the Shadowlaw organization going?” “Mm, it’s being dealt with.” At this, Dorai nodded, a trace of lament on his face, then couldn’t help sticking a cigarette between his lips.
Only, hemmed in by Chun-Li’s piercing, watchful gaze, he didn’t light it.
“Once the investigation here is more or less wrapped up, I should be transferred elsewhere to keep working…
As for you and Chun-Li, you two should head to the fighting world together when the time comes.” Dorai went on, “That way the two of you can look out for each other.
But since what happened here in Hong Kong is rather complicated, it’d be best to keep a low profile when you go.” There was a certain helplessness on Dorai’s face.
“That fellow Vega’s spiritual power has reached the point where, even if his physical body dies, he can keep his spirit from perishing and then be reborn through a genetic clone body.
Although Interpol has been carrying out covert arrests all this time, as of now…” Not continuing, Dorai merely shook his head and let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
At this, Yang nodded in understanding.
For all that Vega sounded like a bit of a clown—Akuma’s perennial number-one punching bag— well, what kind of being was Akuma?
He splits the earth, splits the seas.
In Capcom Brawl, when a colossal, world-ending meteor that current human technology couldn’t deal with was about to slam into the Earth, Shin Akuma leapt straight out of the atmosphere and kicked the meteor to pieces with a single Dai Sekien.
Going by the manga’s sheer expressiveness, that kick could just about shatter the entire planet.
Having lost to Akuma that many times and still being alive—and continually reborn at that—already spoke to Vega’s terrifying power.
Setting aside the physical combat capability his enhanced spiritual power granted him—a body that not even a nuclear bomb could obliterate—the mere fact that he could forcibly brainwash, remotely manipulate, and sense the thoughts of others left no opening whatsoever for any spy who tried to get close to him.
It’s true that, in principle, a person of firm will could resist the erosion of Vega’s spiritual power; but the very fact of being able to resist that erosion would, in itself, mean drawing Vega’s attention.
Just as Yang was still mulling this over, a waiter beside them pushed open the door.
Meeting everyone’s puzzled looks, the waiter instinctively shrank his neck a little, then said, “Um…
someone’s here.” “Someone?” At this, Chun-Li blinked, then asked curiously, “Aren’t we closed for business right now?
How is there still someone coming by?” “Apparently they’ve come to give their thanks,” the young waiter said sweetly.
“And they were very insistent—saying something like they wouldn’t leave unless they could thank you in person…
They even brought a whole lot of gifts…” At this, everyone exchanged a glance, and Yang said, “Then let’s go take a look.
It works out nicely—I could use a bit of moving around anyway.” “Eh?!
You?” Hearing Yang’s words, a flash of astonishment crossed Chun-Li’s face, and then she frowned and said, “You only just woke up.
You should be resting properly and getting your nutrition back, not casually getting up and walking around.” “I’m pretty much fine already.” Hearing Chun-Li’s words, Yang merely smiled, then raised his left hand—encased in a thick plaster cast—and applied a touch of force, whereupon cracks spread across the cast.
By Yang’s reckoning, the Sun Crest was definitely not something he’d only gained after waking up— In the gap between dimensions where Ingrid resided, there was no concept of time or space.
And when he had entered that place, Ingrid had perhaps already inscribed the Sun Crest upon him; it was simply that after returning to this world, the drain on his body and spirit had left him asleep for two days before he finally woke.
And now, by converting the power absorbed through the Sun Crest into life energy—though it couldn’t be circulated in the form of qi—directly reinforcing the body could achieve the same physical-enhancement effect all the same.
____ 👻🔥Here: Walnut-chan🔥👻 🔥 New history: A Martial Arts Master Will Never Be Humiliated We have set new community milestones: