Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 162 - 162 82 One Hour Before the Explosion

162: Chapter 82: One Hour Before the Explosion 162: Chapter 82: One Hour Before the Explosion An hour before the explosion.

Hiroshi Matsushima sat cross-legged at the entrance of the martial arts school.

By now, the gang war in this block had entered its final stage.

Those who were destined to die had almost all perished, and those who survived had largely lost their ability to fight.

The area around the martial arts school was never a focal point for gang turf wars.

After all, the school was a force to be reckoned with in its own right, and many gang disciples had originated from this martial arts institution, sharing an inherent sense of solidarity.

Hiroshi Matsushima was initially guarding the entrance merely to reassure the public.

But as the gunfire gradually ceased, he sat down as well.

Behind him, inside the gates of the martial arts school, those who were watching the old boxer’s figure gradually calmed down, far from the panic they had initially felt.

At that moment, Hiroshi Matsushima seemed to sense something and looked into the distance.

Simultaneously, those young heroes had just followed the underground passage into the surveillance-free no man’s land.

One more step out, and they would be in the wilderness.

Even if the enemy mobilized a large army to search and capture, the heroes, with fewer numbers and greater mobility, could still hold the upper hand.

Red Hand A finally breathed a sigh of relief, “We’ve made it out…”

This must be his first experience walking the jianghu since his debut.

Red Hand A had been orphaned, taken in by an elder of the Flash Speed Sect eight years prior and raised in the Arctic Ocean.

This was his first time setting foot in a “city” after coming of age.

It was far from a pleasant experience.

Though he had seen many records of his predecessors upholding justice on the internet, and knew what the “Urban District” entailed, actually entering such an area filled with constant surveillance and formidable enemies gave him tremendous psychological pressure.

To him, the Arctic Ocean with its vast fields of translucent glaciers was natural, open, endearing.

“Scared?” Oko laughed softly, “If we hadn’t encountered the old senior, we really might not have made it out alive this time.

We’re lucky.”

Wandering Soul Palm Gofrey nodded bleakly.

This excursion to practice their valor was to lend support to the old hero who had fallen to Earth from the Jupiter’s universe domain.

They were here simply to draw some attention from the Protectors, to ease the pressure on the southern battlefield a little.

But unexpectedly, they had accomplished nothing, instead repeatedly receiving guidance and aid from the jianghu’s more experienced predecessors.

They ended up hindering the others’ retreat instead.

This deeply saddened Gofrey.

Having shared life and death with him for several days, Yuan Wenren had already grasped the disposition of this new friend of hers.

She smiled, “Don’t be discouraged.

If I’m not mistaken, the senior let us leave early because he plans to do what we wanted to but failed to achieve.”

“He is certain that his actions will alert the entire city’s Protector forces.

It would be unsafe for us to stay, hence he let us go first.”

Oko nodded, “Even if we’ve fallen miserably, if the senior wins, it is still a triumph of chivalry.

We’ve no time to wallow in self-pity, but instead, we should rejoice for the greater good.”

Gofrey nodded, “I understand the rationale…

but…” he kicked at the dust on the ground, “I just feel so incapable.”

Red Hand A then eagerly asked, “What do you think, to what extent will the old senior succeed?

Where will be his assassination target?

Who will he kill?”

Yuki nodded as well.

He was curious about the same question.

For him, barely a few months ago, the “Town Mayor” controlling the distribution of leftover Copper Candy in a small town was an impressive figure.

Each lord in the city seemed like a god from on high—although people of this era didn’t know what a “god” was.

And now, he was discussing the topic of “killing which one.”

Even the young man himself couldn’t quite articulate this change in mentality.

Yuan Wenren shook her head, “That…

I really can’t say.

Amilcare Zhao has taken most of Pine Eagle City’s Protector forces with him, and those who remain aren’t particularly important.

Unless he’s targeting the attention of the Scientific Knight Order.”

Red Hand A exclaimed, “That can’t be possible, right?

The Scientific Knight Order…

”

Yuki was puzzled, “Is the Scientific Knight Order that formidable?”

Oko let out a good-natured chuckle.

Huang Ouguang wanted to offer some explanation, but Yuan Wenren countered, “Yes, how formidable is the Scientific Knight Order?

When one’s martial arts cultivation reaches the pinnacle, how could the local base of the Scientific Knight Order be unreachable?

Remember, Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan once stormed directly into the warship formation.

He almost wiped out the Tyrant in a single sweep…”

Startled to hear his master’s name, Yuki flinched.

Though he knew his master had the title of “Martial Ancestor,” he was unaware of how formidable his master was or what the title represented—in fact, even Xiang Shan himself had forgotten the tales behind his name.

He tugged Huang Ouguang’s sleeve, “Sister Huang, may I ask, what is the story of Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan charging into the warship formation?”

Huang Ouguang looked surprised, “Huh?

That case is well known in the jianghu.

Didn’t your master tell you about it?”

——”I think he probably just forgot…”

Yuki muttered to himself, but outwardly, he still shook his head.

If his heartbeat was still controlled by instinct, then at this moment, his heart should have been racing.

He seemed to have helped his mentor regain his memory.

Cui Hai said, “Little Brother Yuki is probably new to Jianghu, and Old Senior didn’t have time to tell him these stories…”

Gofrey shook his head, “If it was Old Senior, he would probably think there isn’t much to tell about this either.

‘The Only Defeat’, ‘The Only Defeat’…

Martial Ancestor, with the combined force of all of Jianghu, crafted that cutting-edge prosthesis, charging into the bombarding space fleet formation, nearly slaying Yawgmoth, King Aqini, and others with his sword, but in the end, he fell short.

Yawgmoth lost a flagship though.”

“Would the outcome of the world have changed if there had been a second person with that kind of reaction speed at that time?” Yuan Wenren also said, “Originally, cannons and huge warships were the symbols of strength.

Charging with martial arts into a formed military formation has always been suicidal.

This is also the only time in history that a single machine has attempted an ‘assassination’ on a fleet, right?”

Red Hand A said, “But Martial Ancestor can’t be considered alone, right?

If it weren’t for ‘Turing’ suppressing the firepower for him, Martial Ancestor might not have been able to break through the defense line.”

“Only with the best martial arts and the top inner strength in the world, there was a glimmer of hope to achieve that.

In the end, he still lost to the second best in martial arts and inner strength working together.” Cui Hai also thought that this part of the story was quite depressing.

Yuki patted his own face.

He seemed to have realized who his master truly was.

In order not to let others see anything strange, he tried hard to control his expression.

He asked, “So Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan, did he die in that battle?”

“Don’t know,” Cui Hai shook his head.

“King Aqini, under Yawgmoth’s command, after all, was the world’s second-best internal strength master.

Although ‘Turing’ could firmly suppress him, Martial Ancestor ultimately penetrated deep into the enemy’s home ground.

King Aqini, spending all his strength, protected the warship authorization while launching the ship, widening the battlefield distance from ‘Turing’.

When the distance between them reached 0.8 light seconds, Martial Ancestor completely lost support.”

“In the last battle, all the witnesses were the highest echelon of the Human Gene Bank.

No heroes knew exactly what happened in that battle.

It was just announced by Yawgmoth that Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan had been executed.”

Gofrey said, “Heroes, in the end, cannot defeat a fleet…”

“But unless they stay forever in the fleet and refuse any form of external contact, the ‘five steps range’ will never disappear,” Yuan Wenren said.

……………………………………

Mr.

Bengel was doing decompression exercises.

Specifically, this involved disassembling a joint part of an antique, then carefully maintaining, polishing, applying a protective fluid, and then reassembling it.

This mechanical activity was very effective in refining the spirit, bringing a Scientific Knight’s mind closer to clarity.

It was one of Mr.

Bengel’s favorite collections.

It was a fort from before the Sublimation War, controlled by a weak AI, and was said to be the same one used by Martial Ancestor to guard the logistics base.

Its AI was found by Mr.

Bengel in ancient blockchains.

One of the few ancient blockchains where heroes shared martial studies before the Sublimation War.

This AI was indeed used by Martial Ancestor and his peers.

Although by today’s standards, the algorithm of this AI was somewhat backward, it was original which is most important for antiques.

However, a communication interrupted Mr.

Bengel’s original state of mind.

A subordinate reported, “Vice Captain Sir, that mysterious internal strength master seems to be on the move.”

“‘Seems’?” Mr.

Bengel asked in return.

“Yes, that internal strength master is very cunning.

As soon as there’s a slight hint we’ve tracked him, he’ll quickly discard the pawn and then use it as a smoke grenade in the spotlight.

It’s really difficult for us…”

“Sigh,” Mr.

Bengel sighed, “That’s true.

After all, we all have a hard time, right?”

With that, he continued caring for his antiques.

Honestly, there’s not much that can be done about it.

The Order of Scientific Knights ranks its members not by combat prowess, but by research ability, and all the Scientific Knights have severe subject-matter weaknesses.

And most of the members from the Galapagos Sanctuary just happen to be not good at inner strength defense.

Being targeted by an internal strength master, they could only show this helpless expression.

However, the Vice Captain had his own considerations.

The Mona Knight Order was created for the Mona Project.

And the Mona Project is part of a larger scientific endeavor.

Only the part of the Mona Project concerning “Pseudo-personality Masks” is relatively unpopular.

But, having an internal strength master around, possibly of Mathematical Realm, might be a reason to get “higher-ups to take notice.”

Mr.

Bengel wasn’t particularly worried about this situation.

Even if the Mona Knight Order wasn’t given much attention, it still held rank.

If necessary, assistance could be requested from other regions.

According to Mr.

Bengel’s direction, King Aqini, whose ‘three steps claim equals across the world,’ is usually within one light-minute range of Earth.

The only worry for Mr.

Bengel was himself—requesting help might get the higher-ups to think the “Mona Project might be more important than imagined,” but could also possibly result in Vice Captain bearing the blame of “poor management.”