Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 133 - 133 53 Gang Members

133: Chapter 53: Gang Members 133: Chapter 53: Gang Members Lagos Wrench thought he was definitely a goner when he saw the silver, block-shaped object.

It seemed a very natural thing for someone like him, a mere lackey.

Lagos Wrench was well aware that the word “lackey” was tailor-made for him.

He was the quintessential “local”: born in Pine Eagle City, with a father whose job was a mystery, and a mother who also survived on odd jobs.

The most notable person in his family was probably the kid apprenticed at a Martial Arts School—his uncle’s mother-in-law’s place—which basically meant he was “on his own.” He himself had hardly used the content on the “education chip”, and he had never bothered with the exams organized by the Scientific Knight Order targeted at juveniles.

[Of course, this was a voluntary activity.

The Scientific Knight Order organized exams every year, and every person aged ten to sixteen had several opportunities to participate, but it was not mandatory.] After a nondescript first thirty years of his life, he started a family with a local woman to fulfill the “sacred duty of gene continuation”, and then they had two local children.

He was a true blue local.

Just like countless others, even if they joined a gang, they had no future—they were the kind of parts that could be replaced at any time.

However, weakness had its advantages too.

Since he couldn’t adapt to a high rate of cyberization and lacked the resources to customize parts that fully mimicked the sensation of a flesh body, Lagos had always maintained a low cyberization rate.

This unexpectedly resulted in some job opportunities for him.

Of course, Mr.

Wrench knew these “job opportunities” came with dangers.

But he always harbored the hope that he might get lucky and avoid getting hit.

Until that silvery object flew toward his head.

Lagos did the little he had learned during his job training, hugging his head and screaming as he lay down.

His target this time, after all, had bought bombs!

Then, an empty paint can struck him right on his head.

Immediately after, Lagos Wrench was grabbed by the throat by a large metallic hand and lifted up.

An old voice came from under a black plastic hood, “Who sent you?”

“Mercy, hero!

Mercy, hero!” Lagos screamed softly, “I’m just trying to make a living!

I saw the hero being generous…”

“Heh, I really don’t believe that a person with a low cyberization rate would dare to track someone who has bought a lot of weapons and is fully cyberized just because of that excuse,” the old voice said.

“Tell the truth, who is behind you?”

Struggling briefly and finding he couldn’t escape, Lagos screamed, “Murder!

Help!

This guy wants to kill me, a low cyberization civilian!

Help!

It’s against the Dyson principle!”

This was a main artery, close to a residential area where many people had low rates of cyberization.

His shouting might stir up sympathy from others, causing chaos, giving him a chance to escape.

People nearby immediately turned to look.

“What are you looking at?

Do you want to die?”

Lagos had never expected the man to suddenly say something like that.

He shouted loudly, “This is a personal vendetta!

Anyone who interferes gets killed, as simple as that!

I want to see who dares to meddle in the business of the Excavator Group!”

With these words, the restless crowd immediately quieted down significantly.

This man was a Martial Artist, even a Green Forest Man!

This was no joke!

With a sinister laugh, the man said, “Kid, since you dared to track me, you must know a little about the consequences of being caught, right?”

Saying this, he dragged the man into the service station.

This person was naturally Xiang Shan.

This voice-print package was also found in Hiroshi Matsushima’s collection.

Apart from a voice package of a hot-blooded anime protagonist, he had chosen this one as a backup.

The commotion at the door had already caught the attention of the people inside the service station.

Seeing Lagos Wrench being dragged in like this, the store owner’s face changed and said, “Hero, did you forget something?”

“Aren’t you in cahoots with this guy?” the old voice laughed.

“Since you dared do this, why not own up to it?

Tell me honestly, who is behind you?”

Several construction vehicles that were enjoying services heard this and immediately hastily closed the hatches at the fronts of their vehicles, then started their engines and drove out awkwardly.

These seasoned mechanics knew the ways of the city gangs too well to dare stay around at this time.

“Hey…

hey!

You haven’t paid yet!

You guys!

Come back!” The service station owner was getting anxious.

He called out, “Hero!

I really don’t know this person…”

“Ho ho, now I understand why they use you guys with such low cyberization rates for tracking tasks.

It seems you really don’t know who is above, huh?” said the man, “But don’t you know about the methods of Heavenly Vision and Earthly Hearing?”

The service station owner had only had his limbs and some internal organs cyberized, his head still had its scalp, and only had a hatch in the back of his head that could be opened, his eyes and ears were biological, without any input ports for direct command input.

Lagos, on the other hand, had only his legs cyberized, and the hatch at the back of his head was almost entirely covered by scar tissue.

Humans had not completely deciphered all the mysteries of brain activity.

Therefore, even the most skilled hackers could not directly steal memories from the brain.

These people might not know who they were serving.

It was possible that they had been recruited years ago and then received some training.

At most, they would know about the physical characteristics of those “superiors.”

For Cybernetically Enhanced People, such intelligence was meaningless.

Because prosthetic bodies could be changed.

Indeed, there were people who could analyze someone’s identity from video footage, but not based on appearance.

For some accomplished masters within the Soth Divine Realm, they could analyze the “characteristics” underlying a person based on their language or behavioral habits, and then locate someone based on those characteristics.

Those skilled in this believed that a person does not think through an ethereal “self,” but through “language” and “behavior” that truly constitute “thought.”

They could capture the “scent” of someone’s “soul” from their various linguistic and physical actions, a trait that could not be easily concealed even after changing one’s prosthetic body.

However, these lackeys were unable to comprehend this layer, so naturally they could not pass on this level of intelligence.

Also, because their cyberization rates were so low, Internal Strength Masters could not extract video data from their brains for analysis.

Simply put, these guys were ideal as “spies” and “errand runners.”

The only flaw was probably their capability.

Xiang Shan had just been watching the interaction between the service station owner and this man through the camera at the door.

He had originally thought this man was a tough character, so after stepping out, he subtly kicked a piece of trash about the size of the bomb he had just bought, causing the trash to hit the tracker’s head.

In Xiang Shan’s original plan, as soon as the tracker showed a weak spot, he would turn around to deliver a thunderous blow, then twist off the guy’s head and run, digging out the contents of his memory afterward to find those gangs.

But he hadn’t expected the man to simply kneel down.

The service station owner said, “Hero, I’m just running a small station here; I really don’t know anything!

Doing this…”

Just as the service station owner was speaking, a blast of evil wind struck from above.

A brawny man with a build like a truck leaped down from above, wielding a steel bar and smashing it down fiercely.

Xiang Shan stepped back half a step, then fiercely swung his fists up.

His fist struck right beneath the giant’s feet.

The power of the punch just missed the giant’s center of gravity.

Hit by this blow, the giant immediately lost his balance, spun halfway in the air, and his surefire blow smashed into the ground.

Accompanied by a clap of thunderous sound, Lagos, the service station owner, and the nearby workers convulsed and fell to the ground—the giant’s steel bar was charged with high voltage electricity, which was released the moment the bar hit the ground.

The giant was thrown up high by the rebound force, flailing in the air.

Xiang Shan’s cybernetic shell was equipped to withstand electric shocks; ordinary currents couldn’t harm his internal electronics and biological brain.

He reached up with his hand, caught the man’s calf, and with a forceful swing, threw the tons-heavy brawler out, smashing through a wall.

The entire service station shuddered, and strands of dust fell from the ceiling.

Xiang Shan, looking at Lagos with eyes rolled back, turned his gaze to the service station owner still trembling on the ground, and said, “So, you really don’t know anything?”

The service station owner screamed, “Hero sir!

I really know nothing about this!

The most I can guess is that you showed some fear in the black market, and those damned gang members noticed you aren’t a local from Green Forest, just a passerby, so they got ideas about you…”

“Oh,” Xiang Shan nodded, “What do the local gangs feed on?

Do they earn government rewards?”

For some less renowned heroes, the government would also use a “bounty” system, letting the Martial Artists in the city join the siege.

Although athletes who don’t practice Inner Strength couldn’t possibly defeat a hero one-on-one, if many attacked one, and they managed to subdue the hero before he could hijack their prosthetic bodies, then the situation would be entirely different.

Xiang Shan figured that the gangs probably wouldn’t mind taking advantage of this situation as well.

Martial Ancestor actually also knew why he had been targeted.

Simply put, it was intentional.

He had killed many of the Green Forest Men in the wilderness and had gained many memories.

However, he knew little about interacting with local gangs.

Thus, he simply pretended to be a “naive but highly skilled Martial Artist” to draw out the gangs and then make contact with them.