“What…” David Cooper, As I Am Present’s expression changed slightly. Did this mean that more people knew about the incident of being instantly defeated?

In fact, David Cooper and As I Am Present were somewhat overthinking it. Two-star fighters weren’t exactly top-tier on the Sky Martial Arts Network; people usually focused their attention on higher-level fighters. Except for the two-star fighters themselves, very few paid attention to recordings of two-star battles.

The post titled “Shameless person, runs away after winning!” carried a strong tone of condemnation, but in the vast sea of the forum, it was like a tiny ripple, barely making any waves.

The only interesting thing was that almost everyone who saw the post replied to it—the reply rate was over ninety percent.

Of course, most people were highly skeptical about the authenticity of the video.

“Is this for real? Why does it look like it was rehearsed in advance? Otherwise, how could both sides coordinate so well?”

“Is this still fitness exercise disguised as boxing? Even if you’re faking it, there should be a limit, right?”

“Could it be that a three-star fighter cheated and joined the fight?” This opinion gained some support. In reality, there had been cases where people suppressed their strength to participate in lower-level battles, but those were extremely rare. After all, most people came to the Sky Martial Arts Network to improve their skills and gain combat experience, not to bully others.

Soon, the post was moved to the two-star fighters’ forum, where it did rack up quite a few clicks. However, people were extremely doubtful about its authenticity. For two-star fighters to instantly defeat each other was almost impossible, and for it to happen in two consecutive matches was clearly a ploy to fake views.

Brian Carter turned on his second-hand, battered desktop computer, quickly finished writing reviews for three matches, and found that the sleepiness that usually hit him by now was still absent. Feeling a bit bored, he wandered into a forum he rarely visited.

Soon, he saw the post about himself. He carefully read every reply, and for those expressing doubts, he actually agreed with them. Even now, he didn’t understand how he could have executed such smooth attacks. Although he was confident he could beat David Cooper, that should have been a battle decided after at least five hundred moves.

After reading over two hundred replies, Brian Carter felt a slight jolt of excitement.

“Excellent combat awareness, timing as precise as a computer, skillful use of boxing techniques—this is almost the limit of what a two-star fighter can achieve! If this person really is a two-star fighter, their future is limitless! I’d be very interested in sparring with you.”

Looking at the commenter’s ID: Young Wind. Brian Carter felt it was familiar, as if he’d heard it somewhere before.

Young Wind! That’s right! Brian Carter clapped his hands together—one of the top hundred two-star fighters on the rankings!

Is it really him? Brian Carter was a bit excited. If he could spar with one of the top hundred two-star fighters, it would be even more thrilling!

Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, Brian Carter simply pulled up some battle videos of the top hundred two-star fighters to watch.

New martial arts techniques clashing in exciting duels, ancient martial arts battling fiercely against each other, dazzling fights between new and ancient techniques—these scenes should have been blood-pumping, but Brian Carter found them a bit dull. Except for a few matches between top fighters, Brian Carter could usually predict the outcome after watching just a few seconds. Fast-forwarding to the end, it always matched his guess.

After correctly predicting the outcome of over a hundred matches in a row, Brian Carter felt puzzled again. Anyone with a bit of sense would have a general idea of their own strength.

Brian Carter knew that even though he never actually fought, he definitely wasn’t weak among two-star fighters. Even against the top hundred two-star fighters on the Sky Martial Arts Network, he was confident he could hold his own. As for who would win, that could only be decided in a real fight—there was no way to tell just by talking.

But for some reason, watching these top hundred two-star fighters on the Sky Martial Arts Network today, they all seemed less impressive than before.

Chapter 7: Two Strange Friends (Part 1)

There were many whom Brian Carter was confident he could defeat within a hundred moves; only a handful of the very top fighters were ones he wasn’t sure about, including the commenter Young Wind.

Could it be because he lacked real combat experience before? Now that he’d fought personally, did he understand his own strength better? Brian Carter shook his head slightly, dismissing this idea. If he couldn’t figure out his own level among two-star fighters, he’d really be an idiot.

Could it be that liquid titanium metal? Brian Carter felt a bit uneasy. He turned off his computer and decided to go to the hospital for a quick checkup. If there really was a problem, it would be better to solve it early—after all, you only get one life.

Feeling a bit pained by the high cost of hospital tests, Brian Carter withdrew some money from his suddenly swollen account, which had increased by over ten thousand yuan, and quickly walked into the hospital.

Blood test, X-ray, and radiography!