Chapter 44

“Commander, you’re here.” The virtual construct generated by Corona stood before him when he opened his eyes. “I’ve looked into and compiled all the martial arts techniques, both new and old, local and foreign, found online, and I’ve developed a training plan tailored to develop your combat skills. Would you like to begin immediately?”

“Begin.” Zhang Heng nodded.

Countless pieces of wood appeared midair, which were used to construct a massive room with a radius of a kilometer according to certain patterns. Zhang Heng was able to see his surroundings clearly in just the blink of an eye and found himself in a Japanese-styled dojo.

The attire that Zhang Heng and Corona wore changed at the same time, changing into something that resembled a loose-fitting white Judo gi. Both of them were standing barefoot on the squeaky clean wooden flooring.

Corona pulled back her smile and bowed to him very solemnly, before saying, “I’ve designed three classes for you, and every class had three lessons, making nine lessons in total. I shall begin with the first lesson of the first class focusing on military combat, which is developed by combining traits and specialties derived from Judo, Karate, Jeet Kune Do, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Tai Chi, Wing Chun, and some other styles of combat. The combat techniques are tailored specifically for you, and I implore you to master all those techniques as quickly as possible. After you’ve mastered all of that, we shall begin with the second lesson, where I’ll be training and honing your defensive capabilities, as well as to further hone your mastery of the aforementioned techniques. In the third lesson, I’ll fight you using all manner of combat techniques. There is only one thing you’ll need to focus on throughout the lesson, which is to do your best and kill me. Regardless of the tools and methods employed, your goal would be to kill me as quickly and cleanly as possible.”

Corona’s appearance was designed based on a popular Japanese idol, which made her look pretty and weak, which was not all that different from the archetypical girl-next-door. However, everything she said so far would make all who hear her break out in cold sweat.

“In the second class, I shall train you in handling all manner of firearms and how to incorporate them in your fighting arts,” she continued. “I would be having you develop abilities to fight humans in actual battlefield situations. In the final class, the focus will be on training you to fight against extraterrestrial creatures, in this case being xenomorphs, as well as to develop your survivability in extreme conditions, as to increase the chances of you surviving your next mission.”

Zhang Heng nodded, he particularly asked for such training in the third class, as he was making preparations to head to the Alien plane on his next mission given by the Dimensional Star. As such, it was well within reason for him to get used to fighting xenomorphs.

Corona smiled satisfactorily after seeing that Zhang Heng agreed to her plans. “Let’s begin the lessons now. First of all, do you know what the main objective of combat is?”

“I’d say the focus of combat would be doing damage. The more damage one could do, the better one could protect oneself,” Zhang Heng answered after thinking about it for a bit.

“You are correct and incorrect at the same time.” Corona shook head and continued, “There is only one thing to remember when it comes to doing combat in life and death situations—do not use combat techniques unless you’re forced to do so. Your main objective is to kill your enemy using all means available while minimizing any damage done to you.”

Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows and asked, “So you’re saying that true combat means killing your enemies by all means necessary while protecting yourself?”

“Correct, that is true combat. All notions of fairness and ethics, all notions of means being honorable or despicable, hold no meaning in actual combat. What is considered as the best combat methods are what would allow you to kill your enemy.” Corona’s eyes sparkled. “From here on out, all the combat techniques that I will be imparting to you are definitely not ones to allow you to play the cool protagonist in situations favorable to you, but the last resort made available when you become truly backed to a corner. You might find this form of combat to contradict your existing views on combat, but do not forget that you’re not fighting a match on the ring. Your battles are fundamentally different from combat sports meant solely for the ring. These techniques may not have any notions of aesthetics and charm inherent in the ethics of martial arts, but they would definitely be lethal techniques.”

“I know. The goal of making use of fighting techniques is not doing combat for the sake of doing combat, but doing combat for the sake of survival.” Zhang Heng chuckled and nodded.

“That is correct. I’ve looked into all concepts and ideas of combat on the internet and found one human fighter’s words to make the most sense. ‘One should use all that is available and to the best of one’s ability to win against one’s opponent. To fight is to break or shatter the bones or skull of your opponent, becoming the one to decide if your opponent lives or dies.’ Furthermore, I’ve found in data regarding military combat that troops would be frequently seen using shovels, ropes, helmets, and even their own teeth as weapons. While none of such methods look aesthetically pleasing, those methods are nonetheless what would ensure your survival in life and death situations.” Corona then continued, seeing that Zhang Heng had completely accepted the concept of combat, “You should understand that one should use maximum force in battle, to hit the weakest part of the enemy’s body. That is the essence of combat. As a fighter who would be traveling to a variety of planes to do battle, it is of utmost importance for you to learn the vital points of the human body. Be it for offense or defense, what you learn in the coming lesson would without doubt serve you well.”

Corona then pointed at her chiseled, pretty face with her fair, slender finger and continued, “Vital parts of the human body could be divided into those at the front and those at the back. On the front side, there are the eyes, the nose, the temples, the chin, the throat, the side of the ribs, the stomach, the crotch, the shins, and so on. On the back, there are the neck, the spine, the kidneys, the tail bone, and some others. All of those parts would allow you to do lethal damage to your opponent that are also points where you should dedicate your defense to as you absolutely couldn’t afford to allow your enemies to damage any of those parts. Next, I’d like you to attack all those parts of my body. I will not be fighting back. Your first lesson will be considered done if you’re able to hit me in any of those points.”

Zhang Heng was stunned, as he didn’t expect Corona to do it that way. However, due to having survived two life and death situations, he was able to quickly adjust his state of mind, steeling himself and attacked, extending two fingers to go straight for Corona’s eyes. His speed and power, both of which were higher than that of a regular person, would definitely allow him to kill her immediately if his attack were to connect.

However, Corona looked as if she was totally caught off-guard and simply looked at Zhang Heng as he made his move on her, watching his fingers stop less than a centimeter from her eyes. “Commander, why did you not keep attacking?” she asked.

“How should I continue to attack if you’re not even evading?” Zhang Heng asked in a rather exasperated manner. Her image at the moment was completely that of a pretty lifelike girl. Zhang Heng, someone who had never killed anyone before, found it impossible to just land a killing blow like that.

“It isn’t that I’m not evading, but that you’re utterly not committed to the belief of defeating me.” Corona shook her head.

“This is where you get it wrong.” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows and clenched his left fist before throwing a punch with the force of a bullet bursting out of the muzzle of a gun and went for her stomach.

However, it seemed as if Corona had anticipated that all along, as she simply twisted her hips and came to his side like a bolt of lightning. She was moving so quickly that he didn’t realize what was happening.

Zhang Heng was completely stunned. He had a reflex speed of 0.032 seconds, so he went to tense up his left leg and shot his right leg like a cannonball at her stomach, just when she appeared by his side.

“Crack!”

Corona’s frail-looking arms clamped tightly on his knee before he realized it, going along with the momentum of his kick and backing away, retreating outside of his range of attack in an instant.

“That was your attack?” she asked, evaluating his performance in the first test. “I must say that it was utterly childish. You were at an angle that you could have simply shot an elbow at my temple, yet you didn’t do so. What were you being hesitant about?”

Zhang Heng pulled his knee back and looked rather troubled. “Corona, could you take another form instead. I just keep feeling unable to fight at my earnest, having to fight something looking like you do right now.”

“So your male hormones are getting the better of you then?” However, Corona didn’t comply with his order after hearing that. She simply frowned and said, “If you’re unable to keep such instincts in check, then forget about learning combat. It’d be better for you to simply kill yourself before your next mission comes. I could guarantee that you would die a very painful death on your next mission otherwise.”