Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 140 - 140 60 Misunderstanding

140: Chapter 60: Misunderstanding 140: Chapter 60: Misunderstanding After sensing the ultrasonic from afar, the man’s tone instantly became menacing, “So, you are the Houndhawk?”

Xiang Shan immediately retreated and said, “This is a misunderstanding.

I didn’t know such a thing would happen before I came here.”

He turned his body, intending to return to the warehouse.

Cui Hai and several other warriors were still over there; he couldn’t just watch them die.

But the man stepped forward, blocking Xiang Shan’s path, and said, “Want to regroup with your companions?

No longer interested in arresting me?”

“Damn!

This is a misunderstanding!” Xiang Shan exclaimed, but was forced to keep retreating by the man’s rapid punches.

This guy’s prosthetic body looked rather delicate, seemingly not very powerful.

But his cloak greatly obstructed the view.

Unsure of the man’s capabilities, like whether he might suddenly pull out an armor-piercing bullet, Xiang Shan didn’t clash with him directly but kept retreating, saying, “It would be better if we could…”

But the man had already decided that Xiang Shan was the government’s stooge, totally unconcerned with any attempts Xiang Shan made to explain himself.

He kept changing his movement techniques, grappling with Xiang Shan.

However, knowing the man was truly a warrior, Xiang Shan hesitated to strike and harm him, making his hand-to-hand combat strategies more conservative.

As they brushed past each other in an instant, a flash of light gleamed under the man’s cloak from his Prosthetic Eye, and he swiftly sent a command to Xiang Shan using the technique of witnessing in that critical moment.

Almost instinctively, while their gazes were still locked, Xiang Shan countered with “With His Own Way,” sending back reconstructed code using the same method.

Their inner strength collided in an instant, both of them startled.

—Could there truly be such masters here in these streets?

Xiang Shan was genuinely astonished because, during that split second, his computing resources had been drained.

The code the other had injected had indeed breached his body-protecting inner strength.

But his control over his software components was hardly comparable to typical folk.

He quickly adopted a defensive stance, while the Watchdog reset his inner world.

Simultaneously, his consciousness swiftly patched the exposed vulnerabilities.

The man, on the other hand, thought he had encountered a similar technique.

“This guy’s inner strength is that strong?

How is that possible?

How could there be such a master here?”

But suddenly, a blast shook both of them from a distance.

Xiang Shan understood that he couldn’t hold back in this fight.

No matter what, he had to subdue this master first before going to help the others.

Fortunately, the man’s external strength was mediocre, which really did no justice to his impressive inner strength!

In that instant, Xiang Shan broke the sound barrier.

The man’s thoughts raced, and numerous assistive lines appeared in his field of vision.

In a world filled with computational imagery, the man raised his fists in a defensive guard, protecting his forehead, while his leg kicked straight forward.

His hands had already blocked all of Xiang Shan’s potential punching routes.

If Xiang Shan avoided the kick by moving to the right, the man’s prosthetic leg could sweep across.

If he attacked from the left, then his forward-held left hand could snap out like a whip, disrupting the opponent’s balance.

—This way, the most likely possibilities are completely blocked…

In that moment, the man’s consciousness paused for one hundredth of a second.

With a crash, Xiang Shan shattered the ground, lowering his body to dodge the incoming strike, his hands already catching the man’s prosthetic leg, and with a swift motion, flipped him head over heels.

Simultaneously, he swiftly kicked out, his foot landing squarely on the man’s chin.

—Damn…

I was careless…

The man thought to himself.

Xiang Shan had no intention of injuring the man further after that strike and had planned to release the leg of the black cloak.

But the moment he let go, the cloak’s hands supported itself on the ground, and then its legs pressed against Xiang Shan’s chest.

Huh?

In that instant, that was all that crossed Xiang Shan’s mind.

The force of this press perfectly offset the balance of Xiang Shan’s entire body.

Caught off guard, Xiang Shan was pushed backward.

His leg suddenly rebounded off the ground, allowing him to somersault over the man’s counterattack.

But before Xiang Shan could regain his stance, the man’s fist had already pursued him, fiercely targeting his neck.

—What’s going on?

Why has this guy’s external strength suddenly become so sharp?

—Was he feigning incompetence before, deliberately baiting me?

—Is his brain not in his skull, so he isn’t afraid of my heavy strikes aimed at his head, and was the earlier guard just a deceptive move?

Xiang Shan moved his shoulders to sway his head and neck, avoiding the consecutive strikes.

The two maintained a constant distance of one meter, their steps interlinked.

Xiang Shan kept slapping away the other’s punches with his own, and the man in the black cloak was doing exactly the same.

The two rapidly exchanged blows; within seconds, they had thrown a hundred punches.

But suddenly Xiang Shan exclaimed, “Who exactly are you?”

As he spoke, Xiang Shan’s hands moved together, seemingly sealing yet closing off, pushing back the black cloak while also hurriedly taking a step back himself.

The man in the black cloak said, “I’ve told you, you’ve got the wrong person.

I’m just a passerby from a Martial Arts School, uninvolved with the murderous affairs of Jianghu.”

Xiang Shan watched him in confusion.

As this guy demonstrated his “true external strength,” Xiang Shan sharply sensed something was off.

This man had repeatedly deliberately abandoned certain viable attack strategies since the beginning.

It wasn’t “unanticipated,” but “deliberately avoided”—This guy was disguising his personal style of hand-to-hand combat,

What he was really thinking about was not the illusory “Self,” but a person’s “behavior.”

Behavior can be mimicked.

Hence, there are actors who get too immersed in their roles, unable to extricate themselves, and ultimately suffer a mental breakdown—because the “behavior” of the character has, to some extent, replaced their own “behavior.”

The all-encompassing substitution of posture, speech, and action completely immerses the actor in the character, much like the technique of “divine intervention,” or as if taken over by a virtual character.

Naturally, this can lead to mental issues.

Wanting to flawlessly replace one’s own behavior with another “thought” and another “behavior pattern” bears such risks.

But not everyone can achieve this level of “acting.”

If everyone could do so, Stanislavski wouldn’t have needed to write “An Actor’s Self-Cultivation.”

The man in the black robe, however, was merely disguising his own “style.” He deliberately avoided many strategic groups.

Normally, a person’s hand-to-hand combat indeed tends to be personalized.

For example, one who is naturally cautious may lean towards conservatism in their tactics, while one who is impulsive may lean towards aggression.

But even cautious individuals will attempt an attack when they spot an exploitable weakness during an evenly matched situation; the impulsive ones wouldn’t recklessly trade life for life from the start and would defend when at a disadvantage.

Of course, reality is much more complex than mere “impetuousness” or “caution” because personalities are not limited to these dimensions.

“Optimism and pessimism” is another dimension, “compassion and cruelty” yet another…

These dimensions are not either/or.

Just as ordinary people can easily sense whether an actor’s performance is good or not, a master of internal strength specialized in cognitive functions can also sniff out a person’s personality through their behavior.

Xiang Shan had already sketched out the characteristics of this person in his mind.

The man then ceased using hand-to-hand combat techniques and said, “I think you truly aren’t a government hound.

Since our goals align, why don’t we join forces for now?”

—Became so easy to talk to?

Xiang Shan was still filled with suspicions.

This fellow had just been in a “see no evil, hear no evil” posture, yet suddenly, he had changed his tune…

What was this guy really thinking?

At that moment, another explosion erupted.

Xiang Shan then nodded and said, “Fine.”

…………………………………

Gofrey lunged at Cui Hai, ghost-like, striking with his palms.

Cui Hai guarded his face, but with his brain injured and martial cultivation greatly diminished, he was knocked down after a few punches and kicks.

Gofrey yelled, “Is this what you called a ‘noble person’?” He stepped on Cui Hai’s chest and said, “You aligned yourself with the government?

No wonder you survived the ambush!”

Cui Hai replied, “It wasn’t me, it was a coincidence, or perhaps I was followed.

I fled into the wilderness half a year ago and was only recently rescued by a senior warrior.”

Red Hand A also spoke up, “Brother Cui Hai has been our friend for many years; he isn’t such a person.

Besides, if he were really betraying us, why wait till now?

Just using old connections and various codes to continuously lure warriors into traps would have sufficed, why expose himself?”

Gofrey said, “Then outside…”

Red Hand A responded, “We can’t lose our composure!”

Yuan Wenren suddenly said, “Everyone stop!”

Out of trust for Yuan Wenren, everyone immediately fell silent.

Yuan Wenren pulled out a pistol and fired upwards.

The warehouse wall immediately bore a large hole.

Outside that hole, two sparks were approaching from afar.

Yuan Wenren’s demeanor changed drastically, settling down.

He raised his long gun and fired two shots in quick succession.

The missiles exploded just a hundred meters away.

But in that moment, the destructive blast wind still overturned the warehouse, as if it were ravaging a papier-mâché box.

Cui Hai yelled, “You should believe now that I’m not a houndhawk!”

Gofrey retorted sarcastically, “A houndhawk’s life is very cheap.”

Despite his words, he released Cui Hai, evidently not wishing to linger on the issue.

Gofrey ran over to Yuan Wenren, lifting him onto his back.

Gofrey was currently using a civilian prosthetic body, and his combat ability was low.

Yuan Wenren’s movement was impaired and he was unable to give proper commands.

Moreover, rashly activating the automatic mode might expose them to exploitation by the government’s masters of internal strength.

At that moment, a whistling sound came from behind, like some sort of code.

Oko’s expression changed and he said, “So that’s it…

Go ahead, I’ll cover the rear!”

As if mocking his realization, a high-pitched ultrasonic sound rang out once more.

—Leave?

How can we possibly leave?