Chapter 2 Mechanical Arm

  This is a tent of less than fifteen square meters, with a long spear standing upright at the corner, a long knife wrapped in a worn-out leather scabbard, and a similarly worn-out round leather shield. There are no tables, chairs, or benches, only a rush mat with severely damaged edges, and a roll of felt that smells musty when sniffed, which is said to be used as bedding and quilt at night.

  At this moment, Ma Xun had no mind to think about these things anymore. He was sitting cross-legged in front of a ceramic basin filled with clear water, staring blankly at his reflection.

  This is a very young face, no matter how you look at it, it won't be more than twenty years old. The skin is white and delicate, the outline is clear, the facial features are deep, extremely rich in three-dimensionality, especially a pair of eyes, shining like a layer of mercury, extremely lively.

  Ma Huan was stunned, not because the face didn't look like him, but because it looked too much like him - just like he did over a decade ago! When he had smuggled himself out of the country back then, wasn't his passport photo exactly like this? In other words, this time-traveling adventure had completely transformed him, sending him all the way back to when he was twenty, or maybe even eighteen.

  Seeing such a face, he finally understood why Zhao Yun would call himself "little brother".

  Ma Hu slowly stood up, taking off his tattered camouflage uniform to reveal a black tight-fitting vest. As the vest came off, a robust and muscular physique was revealed: 1.9 meters tall, with a neck almost as thick as his face, solid neck muscles bulging out, two large steel-like chest muscles shining brightly, six distinct abdominal muscles... from top to bottom, forming an inverted triangle with great visual impact.

  Broad and robust shoulders, two arms with bulging muscles, a streamlined beauty - what surprised Ma Hong the most was that the original scars on his body, those knife wounds, burns, bullet holes, shrapnel, and various injuries from this battle with mercenaries... all new and old wounds had disappeared, not even a scratch could be found, the entire body seemed to be filled with infinite power, as if it had been reinforced and remodeled.

  Apart from this arm...

  Ma Han's eyes fell silent as he stroked his right arm, and the bloody scene that had just passed before him reappeared in his mind.

  Ma Hon was the second-in-command of the Chinese-American gang "Hung Shan Tang" in San Francisco's Chinatown before he turned thirty. This was a position he achieved through ten years of hard work, relying on his fierce determination, iron fists and quick thinking, rising from being a low-ranking member to vice president.

  "The Great Name of Hong Shun Xing Long", Tang Ren Jie 13th District, who doesn't know, which one isn't aware?

  One day, he was suddenly ambushed by the Black Hand Party. To protect the financier's daughter who was with him, Ma Xinyi had his right arm blown off by a bomb and suffered serious injuries.

  Later, Ma Yun was sent to South America for treatment and refuge by the daughter of a wealthy family. After recovering from his injuries, he learned that the gang had been cracked down by the Black Hand Party and the state government, who were now hunting him down everywhere. He then went into hiding in the jungles of Central America's Guatemala, never to reappear again.

  Five years later, when the financier's daughter found Ma Huan again, he had become a guest of honor in many jungle tribes and was known as the "One-armed Wolf". With nearly a hundred men under his command, he dominated the jungle, and wherever he went to spend the night in any tribe, there were always many girls who came to cling to him.

  The daughter of a wealthy family found him, apart from the emotional entanglement between them, more importantly, to give him compensation.

  The Krupp Group has successfully developed a bionic mechanical arm with a special alloy frame that is ten times harder and more flexible than ordinary steel. The wrist and elbow joints use nano-hydraulic actuators, which can produce a thrust of one and a half tons, and the grip force of the palm is half a ton. The surface of the mechanical arm is covered with artificial skin, which has elasticity comparable to composite steel mesh and can self-repair when damaged. The subcutaneous tissue and muscle tissue are both high-energy polymers that can withstand pressure of around three tons.

  "We've already developed a finished product - an arm, the size, dimensions, weight and shape of which are all tailored to your lost arm. Don't you want it back?"

  The daughter of a wealthy family says so.

  To be honest, Ma Xun didn't believe in such a half science fiction thing at that time, but he still went, just for a glimmer of hope, and the sincerity in her emerald eyes.

  When Ma Huan was in the underground laboratory of the Krupp Group, he saw the chief doctor in charge of research and development use a special alloy wire as thin as hair to easily cut off a steel bar as thick as a thumb. He was half-believing and half-doubtful - the special alloy had been heard to be developed years ago, but it was very rare, not that there wasn't any, but a mechanical arm that could connect with nerves and move freely was too sensational...

  Then, Ma Xun saw the doctor bring out an arm that was exactly the same as his left arm.

  "Congratulations, Mr. Ma, your new arm also has the same cutting function." The doctor said, circling the fingernail at the tip of the arm around the steel bar, then pulled out a ballpoint pen from his shirt pocket and lightly tapped it.

  What a great shot! The steel bar fell to the ground, with a smooth break like a mirror.

  Ma Huan's heart, which had long been tempered like a walnut, was thumping wildly and uncooperatively...

  The mechanical arm was successfully installed and underwent an eight-week test, with good rejection reaction, good neural connection, good bone and muscle fusion, and good functional use. Everything is just like a real arm. As for its lethality, the doctor's evaluation is "like half a Terminator".

  Newly hatched "Meta-Morph" Mahna also intends to fulfill her promise to the Kruber Group: to obtain a sacred artifact from a certain tribe in the Guatemalan jungle.

  This jungle tribe, the Miao, had never been in contact with him before, and were said to be cannibals, but he knew how to get there. Moreover, with his mechanical arm, he could take the sacred object by force without bringing any weapons, making the cannibal tribe completely let their guard down.

  This is the price Ma Huat has to pay, and the true purpose of installing this mechanical arm worth 700 million US dollars for him. In this world, there has never been a free lunch.

  Ma Xun accepted the task, entered the jungle alone, and found the cannibal tribe. Taking advantage of his reputation in the area and his proficiency in the local language, he gained the trust of the tribal chief and waited for an opportunity to enter their forbidden land, where he finally obtained the sacred object - a crystal skull.

  Unlike the crystal skulls in the British Museum and others that have surfaced around the world, this crystal skull does not appear to be a human skull but rather one of an alien as revealed at Area 51.

  After getting the skull, conflict still inevitably occurred, "Class Transformation Steel" became "Killing Armor". Ma Xun finally broke out of the siege and rushed to the designated location. After handing over the sacred object, he was immediately trapped in the firepower of the mercenaries.

  In a critical moment, it was the sacred object in his hand that saved him - what he had handed over earlier was just an empty box for holding the sacred object. Ma Xun had mixed with so many years of **, how could he not know the principle of leaving one hand?

  In the end, one side trying to seize the sacred object and the other trying to save their lives, they compromised with each other until they boarded the helicopter, when the conflict broke out again. In the struggle, a bomb was accidentally detonated, causing the helicopter to disintegrate in mid-air.

  At the moment of his impending demise, Ma Han's crystal skull in his hand turned to dust and formed a sphere of light that enveloped him before vanishing into the flames...

  When Ma Yun regained consciousness, he was plummeting through the air and arrived in the Three Kingdoms of the Great Han. Unfortunately, as soon as he opened his eyes, what he saw were knives and arrows "welcoming" him.

  Ma Xun let out a long sigh, threw off the tattered and worn-out camouflage uniform that was covered in knife scars and bullet holes, and put on his newly issued military uniform - whether it's good luck or bad luck, since I've already come here, then I'll live well if possible, and make a big move if conditions permit!

  Now he knows which side he is on and has figured out who that general is.

  Great General of Dahan, Governor of Liaodong, Marquis of Ji, and the most powerful warlord in Youzhou - Gongsun Zan!

  This was during the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period, when he coincided with a turning battle that decided who would be the northern champion - the Battle of Jieting.

  In the original history, Yuan Shao, who was then Grand General of the Han Dynasty and General of Chariots and Cavalry, led 20,000 troops to battle against Gongsun Zan's 30,000 troops at Jieqiao (now Weixian County, Hebei Province), twenty miles south.

  Gongsun Zan sent out his most trusted elite archer cavalry "White Horse Volunteers" with a thousand riders as the main force, assisted by two thousand light cavalry. He appointed Yan Zhuo, the governor of Ji Province, as the commander-in-chief and divided them into two waves to attack from both wings. Unexpectedly, they encountered their lifelong nemesis, Yuan Shao's general, Ma Yi. This outstanding general of the Xiliang Jin City Ma family had a thousand strong crossbowmen ambush behind eight hundred elite swordsmen. When Gongsun Zan's cavalry approached within tens of steps, they suddenly rose up and launched a fierce attack. The White Horse Volunteers, who shook the land of Youyan, suffered a devastating blow and never again appeared in Gongsun's army battle sequence. And those eighteen hundred crossbowmen and swordsmen earned a reputation that echoed throughout the Three Kingdoms as "First-to-ascend Death Warriors".

  In this battle, Gongsun's army lost nearly 3,000 cavalry and infantry, including 2,000 armored soldiers. His general Yan Guang was captured and killed. Gongsun Zan himself was pursued by Ma Yi's army for hundreds of miles, from Jieqiao to Nanpi.

  This battle completely changed the fate of Gongsun Zan, foreshadowing the rise and fall of this White Horse General, and also showed the emergence of Yuan Shao, a new generation of northern warlords.

  Of course, Ma Hu did not know any of these things. His knowledge of the Three Kingdoms history was superficial. He knew what ordinary people knew and didn't know what they didn't know. As for the Battle of Jieqiao Bridge, he only had a vague impression and didn't know the details. Even the title of Gong Sunzhen and the fact that the person he accidentally killed was named Mai Yi, a general of Yuan Shu's army, were all told to him by Zhao Yun.

  Of course, he didn't know that he had slightly changed history.

  Yu Yi died, and the attack of the vanguard suddenly stopped. Although Bai Ma Yi was shot and killed by more than half, he was still wounded but survived with hundreds of riders, and his son was still there. However, Yan Guang could not escape death, and the Youzhou army suffered heavy losses again. Yuan Shao lost his general, and his momentum decreased. The vanguard soldiers were disheartened and did not want to fight anymore. As a result, Jieqiao was unexpectedly preserved. In the original history, it was Yu Yi who broke through Jieqiao, the main camp of Youzhou army, and drove out Gongsun.

  Ma Huibo's appearance changed the local war situation.

  However, Gongsun Zan did not know; Yuan Shao did not know; he also did not know.