Chapter 117: Spirit, Intent, Action. A Martial Arts Master, Deciphering Disguise (part 1)

Martial arts existed in this world, especially within ancient nations that possessed unique combat skills.

However, in this world, where martial arts were regulated by law, the most advanced martial skills were still no match for a handgun. Furthermore, with the challenging nature of martial arts training, its popularity had waned, leaving only a few dedicated practitioners.

This world did not have superhumans or mystical internal energies. Martial arts focused on enhancing physical fitness and technique, cultivating the spirit, will, and action, known as Spirit, Intent, and Action, or Essence, Qi, and Spirit. These three elements formed the core.

To explain it simply, you could identify a soldier by his walk, posture, and movements, a concept encapsulated in Spirit, Intent, and Action.

Powerful martial artists still existed in this world, but their power had limits and could not surpass the effectiveness of a handgun.

However, if a skilled martial artist got close, you might not even have a chance to fire your weapon. Real experts, even when up against world boxing champions, weren’t easily bested because they wield deadly weapons like daggers, long swords, and spiked knuckles.

A ring match was worlds apart from a life-or-death fight.

Captain Mita’s master was the top martial artist in Japan. This call to his master was mainly a plea for help. Though Captain Mita was the champion of Japan’s Swordsmanship Competition, competitions were, after all, performances with many theatrical elements. The gap between him and his master, and even between him and his senior brothers, was vast.

***

Meanwhile, inside the office of the China program special task force, Wu Mingyu and the others were interrogating an employee from Nancheng Bank.

“Do you know why your colleague impersonated Wang Yun? You’re his superior, you might have some insights,” Wu Mingyu asked.

Bank employees were crucial eyewitnesses at this juncture. The arrest operation had to persist, despite Wang Yun’s eliminating a large number of strong members from the Japan team.

But there was no relaxation in their arrest efforts. A new lead had surfaced.

“Captains, I truly don’t know. When we were gathered, we saw ‘Wang Yun’ sitting there, and he looked somewhat similar to my colleague,” the bank employee responded, shaking his head, his expression one of bewilderment.

“Then tell us about everyone your colleague interacted with at work today,” Wu Yaoming pressed, his brows knitting together in thought.

“Captains, I honestly don’t know. I’ve never met Brother Wang Yun and don’t even know what he looks like. But now that I think about it, Zhao Hua seemed distracted while sitting in the bank hall. He was strangely silent and not speaking at all,” the young man said with a tone of bitterness, suddenly remembering something crucial.

“Sitting there, looking lost, not speaking? It’s unusual for someone to willingly impersonate a wanted criminal. He might not have volunteered,” Wang Yue analyzed, “If it was against his will, his state seems somewhat like hypnosis.”

“Hypnosis?” Wu Mingyu and Wu Yaoming echoed, their faces mirroring their surprise at this revelation.

“I’ve encountered hypnosis before, and this does sound similar. However, there aren’t many in the world capable of such advanced hypnosis,” Kolyev, with his extensive life experience and knowledge, nodded thoughtfully.

“Hypnosis is definitely feasible, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Wang Yun used such tactics. He’s just too extraordinary,” Ying Yuezi remarked, slightly awestruck.

“Hypnosis requires prior contact, to lower someone’s guard first,” Wang Yue nodded, then turned to the young bank employee. “Who did Zhao Hua interact with today? Can you tell us?”

“I heard him report that he attended to a customer named Wang Jun today,” the Nancheng Bank employee immediately responded.

“Are you sure his name was Wang Jun? How old would you say he is?” Wang Yue and the others asked, their attention sharpening.

“The name seems genuine. I saw Wang Jun myself. He appeared to be between forty and forty-five years old,” the young man answered.

“Check it out,” Kolyev signaled to his apprentice.

Ames nodded and started the investigation, assisted by the three members of the Red Hacker Alliance.

“There are sixty-eight individuals named Wang Jun in the country, aged between forty and forty-five. Let’s identify which one it is,” a young hacker quickly displayed all the relevant data and reported.

The young man looked at the screen and scanned through the faces, his expression growing uncertain.

“None of these seem to be him,” he said, frowning.

“Look into the road surveillance around Nancheng Bank headquarters. See if you can spot Wang Jun,” Wu Mingyu instructed Ames and his team, his gaze returning to the young man.

The young man nodded.

“Alright!”

The Red Hacker Alliance and Ames quickly agreed to the plan. The four of them promptly began their search.

“This one, this is Zhao Hua’s client, Wang Jun,” the young man said, pointing to a middle-aged figure in the surveillance video played by Ames and his team.

“This middle-aged man? According to our computer analysis, the height and build of this individual match exactly with Wang Yun,” a young member of the Red Hacker Alliance analyzed immediately. “There’s a ninety-five percent likelihood that this is Wang Yun in disguise.”

“So, this is Wang Yun’s ninth disguise? This one doesn’t have an identity, which means he only has one remaining disguise that does,” Wu Yaoming said, his eyes glinting with insight.

“Yes, only one last disguise with legitimate identity remains,” Ying Yuezi nodded slightly. “But with only the last disguise left, he’ll be even more cautious and vigilant. Now that his subordinates are captured, and he’s on his own, he might hide using this identity. If that happens, catching him will become significantly harder.”

“That’s a strong possibility,” Kolyev agreed, his brows furrowing.

This realization caused a brief silence among the group. Wang Yun’s accomplices had been captured, and he was down to his last disguise. It was a positive development. However, the downside was that Wang Yun’s final disguise came with a real identity.

If he chose to stay hidden, capturing him would be a challenge. And in these circumstances, it seemed unlikely that he would willingly expose himself.

After much thought, Ying Yuezi offered her analysis, her gaze filled with uncertainty, “Wang Yun seeks revenge against Nancheng Bank. His strategy this time, distancing himself from direct involvement, is somewhat odd. Did he set something up at Nancheng Bank? If his plan was disrupted this time, is there a chance he might try again?”

“There’s certainly that possibility, but Wang Yun is likely to back off unless he’s absolutely certain of success. He’s intelligent and avoids something he’s uncertain about. Besides, he probably anticipated that his ninth disguise would be discovered,” Wu Mingyu added.

Hong Jian, joining the discussion, “I think it’s unlikely he’ll make a move now. Nancheng Bank has publicly declared that their vault showed signs of an attempted breach, but it wasn’t compromised. Plus, without his subordinates, even if Wang Yun could break into the vault, it wouldn’t be easy to steal much money.”

“Given the current high security standards of vaults, the chances of breaching them without the password holder’s cooperation are slim, less than one percent,” Kolyev also agreed, “It’s somewhat feasible with subordinates, but without them, the task becomes much harder. Based on what I understand, if he tries to hypnotize someone who knows the password, the likelihood of success is minimal. Hypnosis can’t cross a person’s fundamental boundaries.”

Kolyev was well-informed about the difficulties and security levels of modern bank vaults. Penetrating a major bank today was almost impossible. Also, he recognized that hypnosis wasn’t all-powerful. Once it hit a person’s deepest defense, the hypnotized individual would snap out of it.

“So, how do we plan to arrest Wang Yun now?” Wu Yaoming asked, a hint of concern in his voice, “If he doesn’t reveal himself, won’t it be impossible to ever catch him?”

His words caused furrowed brows throughout the room.

With a legitimate identity, if Wang Yun blended into the public, how could they possibly arrest him? It seemed an impossible job.

After a few minutes of silence in the program special task force office, Wang Yue spoke up, “Is there any technology capable of deciphering these disguise masks? The Japan program inspection team’s Tennin Squad has such advanced equipment, surely we can access some technological tools as well?”

“There might be a kind of body scanning device that can scan and match skeletons,” Kolyev said, “But firstly, we need to have access to such a device. Additionally, it must have previously scanned Wang Yun to have his data on record.”

Just then, a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Hmm?” Wu Mingyu prompted, “Please, come in.”

The door opened, and a group of young, middle-aged, and older men, all bald like monks, entered the room.

The unexpected appearance of these monk-like figures left Wu Mingyu and the others momentarily taken aback, their faces betraying their surprise.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay