For three days and three nights, Lin Mo worked tirelessly, with stacks of manuscript paper piling up in his room.
He would sometimes write furiously, sometimes close his eyes in contemplation, and sometimes get up to practice, meticulously refining and correcting every detail.
On the morning of the fourth day, as the first ray of sunlight pierced through the curtains into the room, Lin Mo finally put down his pen.
Before him lay two manuscripts, vastly different in thickness, but both exuding the scent of fresh ink.
One of them was thicker, with several large characters on the cover:
『KING Style Esoteric Art · Martial Arts』
This was the martial arts manual he had tailor-made for Mumen Rider.
After completing all of this, Lin Mo let out a long sigh of relief.
Days of intense mental exertion had left him feeling a touch of fatigue, but his eyes shone brighter than ever before.
——
Several days later, Z-City Central Hospital.
This time, he didn't greet anyone but walked directly into Mumen Rider's hospital room.
Perhaps by coincidence, Mumen Rider was the only one in the room, staring blankly at the ceiling with open eyes.
"Feeling better?" Lin Mo pulled up a chair and sat down.
"Ah... Mr. KING!" Mumen Rider was clearly startled and struggled to sit up.
"Stay lying down." Lin Mo reached out and pressed his shoulder. "Your injuries haven't healed yet, don't move around."
Then he took out the [Super Recovery Potion] from his pocket and handed it to Mumen Rider, saying:
"This is a special medicine. Drink it, and you'll recover quickly."
"Yes... Thank you, Mr. KING." Mumen Rider lay back down. Though a bit flustered, he still accepted the potion.
In front of The Strongest Man on Earth, he always felt a bit inferior.
Lin Mo didn't beat around the bush; he placed the kraft paper bag on the nightstand beside Mumen Rider's bed.
"What is this?" Mumen Rider asked curiously, not yet having drunk the potion.
"A gift." Lin Mo looked into his eyes and said earnestly:
"I've always been watching you. Although you are weak, you possess something more valuable than most S-Class Heroes—an unyielding heart of justice."
Mumen Rider's face instantly turned red, and he stammered, "No... I didn't accomplish anything... I just... I'm too weak..."
"Weakness is not a sin." Lin Mo's voice was calm and powerful.
"But to give up because of weakness, that is the true sorrow. What I'm giving you is an opportunity to no longer be weak."
"A path. Whether you walk it, and how far you walk, depends on you."
With that, Lin Mo stood up, said no more, and turned to walk out of the room.
Mumen Rider stared blankly at Lin Mo's retreating figure, then turned his gaze to the kraft paper bag.
He tremblingly reached out his uninjured hand and, with difficulty, took it, opening the seal.
It was a neatly bound stack of manuscript paper.
When he saw the powerful, bold characters on the cover, his pupils suddenly constricted, and his breathing almost stopped at that moment.
『KING Style Esoteric Art · Martial Arts』
And below the large characters, there was a smaller line of text:
"True strength does not come from how much power you possess, but from how much you desire to protect with that power."
In that instant, Mumen Rider felt a rush of warmth to his eyes, and his vision instantly blurred.
He tightly embraced the manuscript, as if holding a brand new world, silently weeping.
"Mr. KING..."
After a long while, he took a deep breath and vigorously wiped away his tears.
"I will, I will uphold that justice until there is peace in the world!"
——
After leaving the hospital, Lin Mo called Genos.
"Teacher is at the supermarket buying weekend specials. How may Mr. KING instruct?" Genos's usual respectful voice came from the other end of the phone.
"I have something for you, regarding a method to improve your combat power."
"!!!"
A sudden burst of static electricity came from the phone, clearly indicating Genos's emotions were fluctuating intensely.
"Please tell me the coordinates! I will arrive within 30 seconds!"
...Z-City, abandoned industrial zone, a towering rooftop.
Lin Mo stood quietly at the edge of the rooftop, overlooking the crisscrossing old pipes and factory buildings below.
He didn't wait long.
The iron door leading to the rooftop was pushed open with a "clang," breaking the tranquility of the dusk.
"I say, KING, you really pick your spots, don't you? Climbing all these stairs is exhausting."
A lazy voice drifted over. Saitama, in his signature yellow battle suit, walked over, yawning.
He was still carrying a convenience store bag, which seemed to contain a few bananas.
Following closely behind him was the upright and solemn Genos.
His metallic body reflected the sunlight in the evening, and each step he took was steady and powerful.
"Mr. KING." Genos bowed slightly to Lin Mo, his attitude respectful.
His eyes gleamed with anticipation and excitement. "Upon receiving your communication, I immediately set off. Teacher heard you had something for me and decided to come along."
"Oh, it's Genos. As soon as he heard you had something good for him, he got so excited he almost smashed the store door down."
Saitama scratched his bald head and said casually, "So I was a little curious and followed along to see. What is it? A new limited edition game?"
Lin Mo's gaze swept over Saitama, finally settling on Genos's face, which was clearly etched with "a desire to become stronger."
"Not a game," Lin Mo shook his head, taking out the manuscript—much thinner than the one given to Mumen Rider—from his embrace.
"It's a secret manual prepared for you."
He handed over the manuscript.
Genos immediately extended both hands solemnly and respectfully received it. Saitama, curious, leaned closer and craned his neck to look at the words on the cover.
"『KING Style · Martial Arts · Mechanical Combat』?" Saitama read out, word by word, a puzzled expression on his face.
"What is this? A secret manual for robots fighting? Sounds pretty amazing."
Genos paid no attention to his teacher's remarks; his entire mind was captivated by the manuscript.
He could feel that this thin stack of papers contained a power he had never encountered before.
"Mr. KING, is 'Martial Arts' applicable to my mechanical body?"
Despite his inner excitement, Genos still posed his biggest question.
Dr. Kuseno's prescribed enhancement route for him had always been hardware upgrades and firepower accumulation.
"Ordinary martial arts, no."
Lin Mo looked at Genos and slowly began, "But this is no ordinary martial art."