Circa 190 CE – The Three Kingdoms, China
Now this was more his style.
China was in chaos, and Lu Bu was slicing through armies like a demigod reborn. Marcus wanted to see it for himself. He arrived in Chang'an just before the infamous betrayal of Dong Zhuo.
"Who are you?" Lu Bu growled the first time they met, blood on his blade and fire in his eyes.
"Just a traveler with good boots and a better swing," Marcus said, knocking over three soldiers with a single punch.
They sparred. The earth shook.
They drank. Entire taverns were destroyed.
They laughed. The mountains echoed.
Marcus became a strange kind of friend to Lu Bu—not an advisor, not a rival, but something in between. He tried to temper Lu Bu's rage, channel it toward protection instead of destruction.
"You could be more than legend," Marcus told him once. "You could be a hero people remember fondly."
Lu Bu didn't answer, but his eyes softened—for a moment.