Counterfeit Hero

”Back-step Side-Spinning Counter Kick requires borrowing power!”

In the Puluo Branch Simulation Training Room, Fatty was explaining control techniques to Cosmo, while hundreds of mech knights quietly stood by, attentively watching Fatty’s control demonstration through the virtual screen in the middle of the training room hall.

For the young mech knights of the two major sects, Fatty’s first mecha control class was highly anticipated. Fatty’s legendary feat of visiting each hall in Puluo Town and consecutively defeating nine halls was well-known, and daily conversations where Cosmo and other core disciples expressed their admiration for Fatty’s control techniques had fascinated everyone.

Moreover, the battle in Puluo Town where 120 Bandit Army mechas showcased their formidable combat power had left the mech knights who witnessed it in awe. Everyone knew that those 120 mech knights who swept through the Northern Alliance Armored Group were merely regular warriors at the mecha levels of 4-6 of the military forces and some pirates who rarely participated in ground battles!

Ignoring the seasoned Leray Warriors, even those pirates were mostly lazy loafers who had only learned a bit of the basics of mecha control through various means, which was incomparable to the sect mech knights who had practiced diligently for years!

However, after one to two months of training by Fatty, while they might not yet be mecha masters, their overwhelming and unstoppable combat techniques in life-and-death scenarios left even sect-based Mechanical Knights feeling helpless.

All these factors fueled the anticipation for the first mecha control class. For these mech knights who viewed mechas as their lifeblood, gaining insights and advancements in mecha skills were more enticing than immense wealth and top-tier beauties.

”Watch closely.” Sitting on the simulator next to Cosmo, Fatty swiftly pushed the control stick, his right hand quickly flicked a rotary finger on the virtual keyboard, and the virtual mecha turned gracefully with a spinning step. As Fatty traced a semicircle with the left control stick, his right hand lightly tapped two keys on the virtual keyboard.

On the virtual screen, the spinning mecha suddenly extended its leg in a lightning-fast kick towards the face of the opposing mecha. A loud bang echoed as the unprepared opposing mecha collapsed, with its head, equipped with visual and sensor systems, completely deformed by the kick!

As soon as the demonstration ended, the training room stirred.

Back-step Side-Spinning Counter Kick is a basic technique in mecha control. Even ordinary mech knights without core techniques could easily perform it with around thirty actions per second, combining the spinning and kicking movements into this integrated offensive and defensive move.

However, what shocked everyone was that the move, which normally took them nearly two seconds to complete, could be this fast! From Fatty’s back-step to the side-spinning kick, it took just about one second, and the precision and power aimed at the face were astounding!

A familiar basic control technique, suddenly becoming so dazzling and sharp that it felt unrecognizable, what was going on?

Stunned, the mech knights felt an itch in their hearts, each either deep in thought or mimicking Fatty’s movements on their virtual controls—second gear engine third stage continuous power boost, center of gravity shifting backwards, right leg three-joints seven-degree travel, left leg first and second segment joints sixty-five-degree travel, all of these were well-memorized! The coordination between the control stick and rotary fingers was almost reflexive.

Then the second-gear engine third-level instantaneous power boost, turning, kicking, coordination between control stick and keyboard... how is it completely different?

The mech knights looked at each other in disbelief. The turning operation in this technique was a second-level fixed formation control, followed by kicking, connected with a side-body leg-swinging third-level fixed formation control. This operation required pulling the left universal control stick to third gear fourth-level to boost mecha’s instantaneous explosive power and coordinating with the right hand using a prolonged tapping technique, pressing balance and hip joint transmission keys, then sequentially activating three leg joint keys, completing the kicking motion like a whipping strike.

But in Fatty’s demonstration, the mecha engine did not change gears after turning, the control stick traced a semicircle, which represented the gradual push operation of the engine still in second gear third-level, and his right-hand techniques were so simple it was bizarre—one hip joint transmission change and one knee joint ejection, a first-level fixed formation! How could such simple control achieve the Back-step Side-Spinning Counter Kick? What did Fatty mean by borrowing power?

If it weren’t for the hundreds of people witnessing Fatty’s control simultaneously, everyone would almost doubt their own senses! It was hard to believe that after so many years of mecha study, they might have misunderstood even the basics, which were common across all major sects and mech knights worldwide!

Seeing a baffled and stunned group, Fatty felt quite pleased.

Mecha Martial Arts emphasize continuity. Every move—hook, thrust, kick, sweep, pull, push, hit—must flow like the Yangtze River, uninterrupted. The power and inertia of the previous move guiding the next, that is the key. The reason for starting with this second-level basic technique from the mecha control standards today was to leave a deep impression on these mecha control practitioners of over ten years—just because everyone in the world does it the same way does not mean it’s correct!