Chapter 8

Listen, listen, listen, listen! Huang Feihong! This name is known in every household in China!

Zhang Yang suddenly felt elated. Sai Ruofu looked at Zhang Yang and said, "Ever since humans were controlled by machines, the designers created a batch of programs to handle various tasks. My responsibility is to protect important figures. For this purpose, the designers collected all the martial arts masters from humans, carefully selected them, and ultimately chose Chinese kung fu."

"And I was written based on the prototype of Huang Feihong."

"Indeed!"

Sai Ruofu's attire was very Chinese, especially the sunglasses, which were exactly the same as those worn by Huang Feihong. In *The Matrix Reloaded*, when the Frenchman's bodyguard saw Sai Ruofu, he said, "Look, here comes Huang Feihong."

Sai Ruofu continued, "Although I am just a program, I am somewhat different from those fighting discs. Those discs were initially created by the designers and could never truly capture the essence of kung fu. I am special because I once received part of Huang Feihong's consciousness."

"In other words, in a certain sense, my kung fu was learned from Huang Feihong."

"What does this have to do with Sanshou?"

Zhang Yang asked as if it were a casual question.

"There is a segment of code in my consciousness that activates when you appear. It tells me that you might be the only person in the entire Matrix, including the humans in Zion, who can learn the essence of kung fu."

Hearing this reason, Zhang Yang was not too surprised. In this world, everyone is a virtual character, just a program. How could they truly learn the essence of kung fu?

If we exclude Neo, the savior, only Zhang Yang, who came from the outside, has this possibility.

"How can I learn true Sanshou?"

Zhang Yang asked, this was the question he was most concerned about. Neo was still chatting with the Oracle, not knowing what they were talking about, and glanced at Zhang Yang.

Sai Ruofu said, "Actually, I don't know what to do either. All of this is an instruction given by an unknown program. The only thing I can tell you is that to improve your Sanshou level, you must learn from a true human martial arts master."

A true martial arts master?

Zhang Yang thought about it. This requirement was quite reasonable. According to the classification of the movie world, films with master-level martial arts are mostly Chinese and Hong Kong martial arts films.

For example, *Huang Feihong* and *Ip Man* from modern times, and ancient pure martial arts films like *Swordsman*. There are so many of these films. It's just that he doesn't know if the movie world can reach these worlds.

Zhang Yang thought for a long time and fell into deep thought. Suddenly, Sai Ruofu's voice came from beside him, "Time is up."

Zhang Yang came back to his senses. According to the plot, the mutated computer agent Smith was about to arrive, and the Oracle handed a piece of paper with an address to Neo.

"To enter the Source, you need to find a key person and obtain the key from him."

"He is currently controlled by an ancient program. His name is Merovingian, a Frenchman."

The Oracle packed her things and prepared to leave. As she passed by Zhang Yang, she gave him a meaningful look. Before entering the back door, Sai Ruofu patted Zhang Yang's shoulder with his right hand.

"This is a small gift from me. Good luck..."

The door closed, and from the other end of the yard, a white man in a black suit and sunglasses walked over. Neo's eyes turned cold; he was more familiar with this guy than anyone else.

A dangerous guy, an agent, Smith!

Zhang Yang didn't react. He was staring at a prompt in front of him.

"You have received Sai Ruofu's gift—Huang Feihong's Belief (Incomplete)."

"Your Sanshou skill has been enhanced by Huang Feihong's Belief (Incomplete). Skill level permanently +1. Your current skill is Sanshou LV5! (Basic Combat LV2 + Sanshou LV2 + Enhancement +1)"

LV5!

Zhang Yang took a deep breath, feeling a comfortable sensation all over his body. Sai Ruofu's gift was incredibly important, especially since he was about to face dozens, even hundreds, of Smith clones!

Zhang Yang walked to Neo's side, and the two stood back to back. From the surrounding doors, over a dozen Smith clones walked out.

"We all know that without a purpose, we would not exist."

"Purpose created us."

"Purpose watches over us."

"Purpose drives us."

"Purpose guides us."

"Purpose compels us."

"Purpose gives us character."

"Purpose makes us conform!"

...

Each clone that appeared would say a line, then surround Zhang Yang and Neo!

The real Smith stood opposite Neo and suddenly reached out, trying to assimilate Neo. Zhang Yang wasn't worried about Neo; as the protagonist, he wouldn't die here. What he should be worried about was himself.

There were over a dozen clones around him. Although they were weaker than the real Smith, the sheer number could overwhelm him. A mercury-like substance began to emanate from Smith's hand, gradually enveloping Neo. This was Smith's special ability—replication and assimilation.

Under the protagonist's aura, Smith's replication ability was ineffective against Neo. The mercury-like substance gradually retreated and eventually returned to Smith's hand.

The clones on both sides simultaneously pressed their hands on Zhang Yang's shoulders, while the others surrounded Neo. Zhang Yang's shoulders sank and then rose, deflecting the clones' hands and attacking them.

The clones' movements were also very fast. If it were the old Zhang Yang, he might have found it difficult, but now, with the Matrix world's enhancement and Sai Ruofu's skill +1, he was already at LV5 in Sanshou.

Equivalent to Intermediate Level 5 in Sanshou, Silver Tiger!

The two clones engaged Zhang Yang, one attacking his upper body and the other his lower body. Zhang Yang defended on both sides, feeling a bit strained but also incredibly excited.

He was now evenly matched against two clones. Before coming to the movie world, Zhang Yang was just an ordinary person who could be knocked out by a thief with a beer bottle. In a short time, he had become an Intermediate Level 5 Sanshou expert!

Zhang Yang clenched his right hand into a fist and struck a clone's side ribs from below. A dull sound echoed, and the clone's body twisted abnormally, convulsing on the ground before turning into a black man in a yellow work uniform.

These were humans who had been assimilated by Smith. When a clone died, it would revert to its original form.

Zhang Yang didn't expect his full-strength attack to kill a clone. The action was just an instinctive response from his body. His mind hadn't caught up yet.

This was both the advantage and the disadvantage of the kung fu discs. The advantage was that the discs could make the body remember all the moves and techniques in the shortest time. However, the brain needed time to process and digest the information, which meant that Zhang Yang's body often reacted before his brain did.

A woman carrying vegetables entered the building and saw the scene. Her face suddenly distorted, and in the blink of an eye, she turned into a man in a black suit and sunglasses, another computer agent. Another Smith appeared behind him, the real Smith.

"You? (Is it you?)"

"Yes, me. (It's me.)"

The agent was about to speak but was suddenly pressed on the chest by the real Smith. The mercury-like substance reappeared, enveloping the agent, and when it reappeared, it had turned into another face—Smith.

"Me, me, me... (It's me, it's me...)"

The assimilated agent, now with Smith's face, said,

"Me too. (Me too!)"

The two stepped on the tomatoes at their feet and joined the battle.

Zhang Yang performed all the Sanshou techniques, one by one, knocking the clones away, who immediately rushed back. They were just programs, and Smith could replicate as many as he wanted, all fearless of death.

A clone hit Neo, sending him flying and creating a large hole in the wall. Neo then pulled out a metal pole, probably used for a street lamp, along with its concrete base, and swung it from left to right, smashing it into a clone that was charging at him.

"Bang!"

The clone was directly knocked away, and the concrete base shattered from the force. Zhang Yang followed suit. His strength had been enhanced to 6 points, much stronger than a normal healthy man, but not enough to pull out the metal pole. He looked around and saw a clothesline supported by a metal rod. Zhang Yang pulled it out.

The clones surrounded him, and Zhang Yang swung the rod, striking a clone's head with full force. The clone was knocked to the ground, struggling to get up, and then turned into a blonde white woman.

Although Zhang Yang didn't know the techniques of using a rod, he could rely on his strength to keep the clones at bay. Having seen Jet Li's *Huang Feihong*, he naturally remembered the classic scene where Jet Li used a wooden rod to clear a path.

Zhang Yang mimicked this, swinging the metal rod left and right, targeting the clones' abdomens and legs. Clones were constantly flying out but quickly rejoining the battle.

"These guys are endless!"

The iron doors around them opened, and hundreds of Smith clones rushed in, surrounding Zhang Yang and Neo. All dressed in black, they looked like the Axe Gang without the axes.

Neo knocked the surrounding clones away, creating an open space. He grabbed Zhang Yang's collar, squatted down, and the ground rippled like water. Using the rebound force, Neo shot up into the sky.

"Let's go!"

The wind whistled in Zhang Yang's ears, and he couldn't see anything. Neo's flight speed was very fast, but he didn't see a sonic boom, so he must not have exceeded the speed of sound.