I am a former Flame Chasers

Perhaps it was fate, but Ryan and Rin only spent a few days together, yet she wasn't reserved at all. She practiced boxing in a sailor suit, and it was only when Master Fu finished cooking that he called her.

"How many times have I told you, change into pants when you practice martial arts! Do you want your opponent to lose focus wearing a skirt?!" Fu shouted, holding two plates.

"Hehe, that's a tactic too, and I'm wearing safety shorts underneath."

"You're asking for a beating!"

The girl stuck out her tongue and quickly hid behind her sister, then peeked out and made a face.

Fu wasn't angry. He placed the soup bowl on the table and stroked his thick beard: "Sigh, every time I see Rin, I feel like I was too strict before. Her mother died early, and I raised her like a boy."

At this, Sakura suddenly realized why Hua was so rigid and particularly disliked wearing skirts or bright clothes. Raised by such an iron-blooded, true man, it would be strange if she were cute. She glanced at the photo, her expression dimming slightly.

"It's okay, I'll treat Sister Hua like my own sister and definitely make her as cute as me." Rin interjected, causing everyone to laugh.

Old habits die hard. Ryan couldn't imagine that wooden post being so lively anyway.

"Alright, alright, sit down and eat. I just butchered two chickens; it should be enough." Fu pulled out a stool, sat down grandly, and took out a jar of wine. "You brat, drink with me. We won't stop until we're drunk."

Ryan generally didn't drink, but he didn't refuse either. He unbuttoned his collar and picked up a wine bowl.

"To Master, to Mistress."

Ryan didn't waste words, tilting his head and gulping it all down, then wiping his mouth.

"Your wine is still as strong."

"Ha, you brat is more straightforward than before." Fu also tilted his head and drank it dry, then refilled two bowls. "You're clearly a top-notch martial artist, but sometimes you're like a scholar. This is more like it."

His thick beard was covered with wine beads. He pointed to the photos above: "The era of martial artists passed long ago. No kung fu is better than a handgun, haha. But what happened? You brat snatched this era back. Before, if a little girl like this carried a sword, she would have been sent to the police station as a lunatic."

"I didn't snatch it back; you could say the era chose it. Without Honkai energy, I couldn't beat bullets either."

"And now?"

Ryan raised his wine glass, a look of disdain on his face: "Hot weapons are all trash. These fists of mine can shatter mountains and split seas. Even Herrschers will be pounded into meat paste."

"Well said, cheers!" Fu laughed heartily. He didn't understand what Herrschers were, but he knew his disciple was awesome. "To think you saw further back then, insisting that Hua continue learning boxing. Now it's finally come in handy."

Back then, he was planning to let Hua study well. In modern society, no matter how good one's boxing skills were, they could at most compete in the ring. It was Ryan's strong opposition that laid a good foundation.

Without using Honkai energy to evaporate it, with two large bowls of wine in his stomach, Ryan was a little tipsy, and his voice gradually grew louder.

"Hua is not weak now. There's absolutely no problem with her holding down a large area."

"Can she beat those monsters on TV? I saw some that were bigger than a six-story building."

"Chariot-class Honkai Beasts, one finger is enough to smash them into meat paste."

Fu's mouth was slightly agape. As an old boxer, it was hard to imagine how a human's fist could smash such a large monster. Immediately, his face was filled with pride.

"The ancestors' techniques are still useful. I'll have to burn more incense later. This girl is really something; she became so strong and didn't even tell me, always just those few words."

"That's just Hua's personality. She doesn't want you to worry, either." Ryan proactively picked up the wine jar and filled two bowls. Suddenly, he remembered something else and turned to look at Sakura, who was whispering with her sister.

"Get your info terminal out and pull up Hua's combat records. The rainforest sweep operation section will do."

Fu didn't understand a single word, but he took the tablet in confusion. Then the wrinkles around his eyes smoothed out, and his eyes slowly widened.

It was footage filmed by a high-altitude drone: a girl in a tight combat suit with a ponytail was sprinting through a dense forest, Honkai energy leaving a crimson trail behind her. Dozens of giant monsters were ahead, making even the towering trees seem small, but the girl showed no fear, only accelerating relentlessly.

This was Hua, his daughter. In slow motion, he saw a meteor stop, and his daughter land on all fours like a fierce tiger.

Bang—

A huge air pressure uprooted trees, causing the high-altitude drone to sway unstably.

"It's 'Shrinking the Ground to an Inch,' followed by 'Crushing Mountain!'"

He saw the girl's elbow smash a monster in half at the waist. She stepped on half a corpse, generating power in mid-air, and her raised fist slammed onto the monster's crown. The force spread from its head to its feet, and the massive body cracked, disintegrating into fragments on the spot.

"Penetrating Force. Shattering Rock? And borrowing the recoil to turn around, this posture—"

A peacock-like monster swooped down from the sky. The girl's feet pressed against the earth, her right fist surrounded by layers of crimson light, as she unleashed this punch towards the heavens.

"Inch Force. Splitting Heaven!!"

Fu roared as if he were there, seeing the monster and the drone explode into fragments together. He put down the tablet, his face flushed, unable to speak for a long time. He had actually believed Ryan's words, but he hadn't seen it so directly. Others might be afraid, but Fu felt only deep pride as a father and a master.

After sitting in a daze for a moment, he suddenly tilted his head back, drained his wine, and quickly walked to the incense burner, lighting long incense sticks and respectfully performing three bows.

"It hasn't been this exhilarating in a long time, even more exhilarating than fighting myself."

What he had held onto finally gained value. A backward thing that people scoffed at was put to use in a human catastrophe, upholding the sect's chivalrous spirit. How could he not be happy?

Ryan looked at the flushed boxer, his heart stirred, but he quickly shook his head gently. Even with his own serum, Fu's chances of surviving the supersoldier surgery were too low; it was better not to do anything unnecessary.

But he wasn't drunk. This watching of footage and loud boasting actually had a clear purpose.

"Master, the current Fire Moth roughly divides combat power into three types: weapons and equipment, ability usage, and combat skills. All MANTIS must practice these three points." Ryan raised his wine bowl, sipping slowly while explaining.

Weapons and equipment are simple: from Soul Steel to exoskeletons and mechas, they are the crystallization of human technology, another tech tree. Ability usage is entirely the product of supersoldier surgery. Even the lowest-tier MANTIS will gain an ability, such as 'Instant Dash' or 'Local Expansion.' Combat skills are the broadest, ranging from various human martial arts to marksmanship, artillery skills, and even piloting 'Gundams' fall into this category. Inch-Heart Fist, in simple terms, is a type of force application technique, but it abandons the profound 'Qi' from novels, directly manifesting Honkai energy when punched out.

"What does this have to do with me? Any of those MANTIS could easily beat me up, right?" Fu was a little confused. He knew very well that youth beats experience, let alone these superhumans.

"But your boxing is refined through countless trials, and you have extensive teaching experience. Think about it: if Rin underwent supersoldier surgery, wouldn't she be stronger than ordinary people under the same equipment and abilities?"

The girl happily gnawing on a duck raised her head and patted her chest: "Of course! My strength isn't as great as those little brats, but I can still beat them until they're spitting teeth."

Skill is the icing on the cake. Seeing Fu lost in thought, Ryan struck while the iron was hot: "So, why don't you join the Fire Moth? For the survival of humanity, pass on the Inch-Heart Fist. It might reduce casualties, isn't that also upholding justice?"

Sakura quietly tilted her head, thinking that she had just been fooled by this man's bold demeanor; he indeed came with a purpose. She had talked with Hua and knew that Mr. Fu was very stubborn, refusing to leave his hometown no matter what. The father and daughter had argued many times. Just as she took Ling away, she truly couldn't bear to leave her family exposed. Previously, she was afraid of them being taken hostage by the Fire Moth Council. Now that the time was ripe, she naturally had to protect them well.

"This... can you make the decision?" Fu was a bit swayed.

"Of course, maybe I can make you the chief instructor."

"You talk big without thinking. Alright, I'll consider it." Fu walked over and pressed down on Ryan, who was about to get up. "Don't even think about running off, you brat! We agreed to drink our fill tonight, just us two!"

The smile on Ryan's face froze. Despite his fierce demeanor, he was one of the people who understood Ryan best in this world, and he was seen through instantly.

The moon was bright and stars sparse, and the cold wind howled. Ryan pressed his hand against the wall, spitting into the gutter, while Sakura continuously patted his back.

"No one would believe it if I told them you actually get drunk."

"If I cheated, it wouldn't have any meaning." Ryan took a tissue to wipe his mouth, then plopped down on the steps, gasping for breath. "My alcohol tolerance isn't good to begin with. The last time I drank this much was to celebrate Kevin getting out of singledom. Even though our strengths are worlds apart now, my alcohol tolerance hasn't improved at all. Oh, by the way, Ling is already asleep?"

"Practicing boxing was too tiring, so she's already asleep." Sakura handed him a cup of hot tea, then sat beside him, looking at the stars in the sky: "Hua should be very happy, finally able to rest assured."

"She's too dull and doesn't know how to play clever tricks. It's inevitable that I, her senior brother, have to worry about her." Ryan took a sip of tea and felt his spirits lift. His physical fitness was there, so he wouldn't feel uncomfortable for too long. "Besides, Fu has been kind to me. Resolving a worry for him also gives me peace of mind. Moreover, it's been a long time since I came back to visit, and I don't know if I'll be able to see it again next time."

One Honkai Beast invasion could turn this Jiangnan water town into a hell. In war, this courtyard was as fragile as building blocks.

"But I can't go back to my hometown anymore." Sakura sighed, her smile turning bitter: "Since leaving, I've wandered through many places. I don't know if that cherry blossom tree is still there. If one day I fall in battle, please bury my ashes there."

There are no flags or superstitions among warriors. Ryan pointed to the inner room where the old man was sleeping soundly on the table, and he gently stroked Sakura's smooth shoulder.

"There's no need for such trouble. Where there are people, that is home. If everyone I know is gone, a broken house and a broken tree are worthless."

Ryan was surprisingly unrestrained, as if prepared to die without a burial place, which made Sakura slightly lost in thought. She nodded gently, as if she had learned something.

"It does seem less troublesome. Oh, by the way, what were you two talking about just now? You seemed very happy."

As soon as she finished speaking, Ryan's expression subtly changed. What could two grown men talk about together? Fu didn't really have the gravitas of an elder anyway.

They talked about Hua, of course. He said he was going to personally conduct ideological work, looking very eager, truly unafraid of being disowned by his daughter.

He certainly couldn't tell the truth, so Ryan had to fob her off with some old stories.

"In a couple of days, send them both to New York to settle down. I'm not neglecting public duty for private matters; Fu can really provide some help. Don't tell Hua beforehand; give her a surprise."

"Okay." Sakura didn't object. Now with a Herrscher of Domination, she felt at ease only if she brought these two, the old and the young, back herself. "I'll leave them with Elysia and come back. She'll definitely arrange everything well. What about you?"

Elysia was excellent at organizing team-building events, so Ryan wasn't worried. He patted the old wall bricks.

"I'm going to find Eden. She's the most dangerous one right now."

"But you can't always stay by her side, can you? It's hard to protect public figures so closely."

"Don't worry, she can protect herself."

Ryan wasn't worried; Eden was more than just a singer. She was a true Flame-Chaser.