Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 167 - 167 87 Stimulation

167: Chapter 87 Stimulation 167: Chapter 87 Stimulation [“Did you just send out a command to the outside?”] the unknown Internal Strength Master asked, [“What’s it for?”]

[“The effect of this string of commands is very obvious, you’ll see it very soon.”]

[“Ah, I’ve already seen it…

So you were the one behind tonight’s gang warfare…”] the Internal Strength Master said, [“Clever move.”]

[“This way we should gain an extra twenty minutes or so, enough time to find an opportunity to retreat.”] Xiang Shan said this while reaching out to push the office door.

When Xiang Shan’s hands touched the thick wooden door, he jumped in surprise: “Are there still trees this large in this era?”

[“Actually, it’s quite common in their gardens.

If they want, they can even grow trees with a radius of over two meters and tens of meters high, imbued with complex aromatic compounds, within a few years.”]

The Internal Strength Master explained.

The vast office was unlit, with light only shining down from a daylight lamp right above a desk at the core of the room, illuminating an area of about five square meters.

Compared to the grand hall of this floor, it was practically “corner”-sized.

“Such luxury, only this tiny spot is actually used, I bet.”

Xiang Shan walked towards the office somewhat speechlessly.

To avoid being observed by someone outside through a window or something similar, both the Internal Strength Master and Xiang Shan opted not to turn on the light.

Xiang Shan walked a few steps, changed his angle, then suddenly perked up, rolled on the spot, and sought cover.

[“What’s wrong?”]

The Internal Strength Master was startled as well.

[“Didn’t you see it?

There’s a damn automatic turret behind that desk!”] Xiang Shan cursed.

He had never heard of anyone keeping one of those in an office environment.

——Are research workers of this era all this hard-core?

The Internal Strength Master said, [“Don’t panic.

That’s an antique…”]

[“The lethality of human weapons has always been excessive!

Even an antique turret can kill!” Xiang Shan said; [“Unless it’s an automatic turret from the 19th century!”]

[“No, you’re mistaken.

That device isn’t for defense, it’s purely a collector’s item.”] the Internal Strength Master explained: [“If the AI installed in this turret is the one Bengel downloaded years ago, then even the Vice Captain himself can’t control it—it would automatically identify members of the Order of Knights as ‘enemies’.”]

[“What?

How does that work?”]

[“Antiques, you know, they prize the original stuff.”] the man said: [“This antique was found years ago in an abandoned early base, one of the first generation of intelligent weapons used by Hero to defend their stronghold.

Its performance is outdated, but it has a high collection value among the Scientific Knight Order.”]

[“Ah…

What’s there to collect about this thing?

Isn’t it put together from junk?”] Xiang Shan was puzzled; [“Back then, times were tough, and it was basically cobbled together from trash and useless parts, right?”]

[“But it’s related to Martial Ancestor—for some within the Scientific Knight Order, that’s where the collectible value lies.”] the Internal Strength Master continued; [“Enough about that.

Let’s steal the data quickly.”]

Xiang Shan nodded and walked straight to the desk, then started searching it.

Underneath the desk was a mainframe, embedded into the floor.

This supercomputer wasn’t connected to the internet; all data had to be transferred to a hard drive first before it could be accessed.

If an Internal Strength Master had enough patience, they could have waited for the moment when the data is transmitted over the net to snatch it—for example, when Mr.

Bengel was finishing his thesis.

However, Xiang Shan’s actions were bound to ruffle feathers, making the Internal Strength Master’s theft operation increasingly challenging.

So, they needed to steal the data in advance.

Xiang Shan connected himself with the computer.

Being “offline” meant, on one hand, that the device was very difficult to “hack” into remotely by an Internal Strength Master.

On the other hand, it couldn’t benefit from the aid of an ally Internal Strength Master.

Xiang Shan circulated his Inner Strength, gave a gentle push, and tore through the defenses, turning off the security protocols.

Then, he took out a signal transmitter from his storage structure at his waist, plugged it into an old-fashioned port, and sent a series of passwords to the Internal Strength Master, saying, “Go in and take a look yourself.”

There were many files and the data was quite substantial.

It seemed to be the accumulation of a decade’s research by the Scientific Knight Order.

Xiang Shan didn’t download it first, a gesture to show “I haven’t tampered with the data.” This was also part of Jianghu’s customs.

If two independent groups of Heroes were targeting different goals in close proximity and one party thwarted the other’s plan, then the one who took action first would do well to assist the disrupted party.

Of course, this wasn’t a strict rule, just a “recommendation.”

Limited by communication conditions and surveillance environments, Heroes couldn’t gather in large numbers but had to act individually.

At most, they could anonymously engage in limited communication on decentralized networks that were hard to monitor.

So, at this time, “consensus” became a very important matter.

Many of Jianghu’s rules were accumulated little by little by Xiang Shan and other early Heroes.

Many of them aimed to prevent the resistance forces from splintering and self-depleting.

Being only aware of this much, the Internal Strength Master didn’t stand on ceremony, boosted his Inner Strength, cracked the encryption, and extracted the contents.

However, the file was so large that it was difficult to upload it unnoticed.

Therefore, he had to copy it over to Xiang Shan, who would then find an opportunity to package and upload it to the network in blocks.

A progress bar suddenly appeared in Xiang Shan’s vision.

It moved slowly; he estimated it would take a few minutes to finish the transfer.

“I’m glad I acquired some decent storage devices after hitting a few Green Forests, otherwise I would’ve been screwed today,” Xiang Shan shook his head.

While waiting, he continued to browse through the Vice Captain’s desk.

There were indeed paper books, but not a single paper document.

“Makes sense, with the widespread adoption of Prosthetic Eyes, paper documents gradually phased out of the office—it’s just so much more convenient to use electronic documents.

These books are probably more for show,” Xiang Shan focused his attention: “Dan Simmons, Vernor Vinge…

not bad taste.

Neal Stephenson…

hey, is John Scalzi just there to make up the numbers?”

Xiang Shan glanced over the row of paper books.

They were all science fiction novels.

The only problem was…

—this garishly colored trash cover design, to think that it ended up as an antique passed down to this era…

If a Prosthetic Eye could roll its eyes, Xiang Shan would certainly have done so involuntarily.

[He really is passionate.] The Internal Strength Master also exclaimed: [He did a good job collecting these…]

[Collecting what?]

[This set of books, it must be from the life photo the Martial Ancestor uploaded to the social network in 2041.] The Internal Strength Master said: [There’s a bookshelf in the corner of the photo.

Many of these books are from there.

It’s not easy to gather a collection identical to Martial Ancestor’s antiques.]

[…]

—I was wondering why all the novels looked familiar to me!

The Internal Strength Master said: [Some researchers believe that this cover design reflects the aesthetics of that era…]

[Have you ever considered that Martial Ancestor might’ve simply chosen these editions because they were cheaper?]

—And paperback books take up less space than hardcovers; you can fit more on the same shelf…

[Are you joking?] The person asked in surprise: [By 2045, the Martial Ancestor had already officially become one of the world’s billionaires.

You might not have a concept of the wealth accumulation of that era.

Back in 41, Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan was already a rich man.

He wouldn’t lack that little bit of money.]

Xiang Shan then fell into contemplation.

—I became a globally known billionaire in 2045?

Thinking about it, I really wouldn’t need to pinch pennies…

—But my first reaction to seeing a paperback is still “it’s cheaper,” plus “it feels better in the hands”…

Xiang Shan once again felt conflicted and confused.

He shook his head, forcing himself to shift his focus elsewhere.

Other collectibles.

He looked at the collectible closest to the desk.

It was a transparent artificial amber, as if embedded in a glass wall.

Xiang Shan had seen this special method of specimen preservation before.

However, the species inside this piece of artificial amber…

“Deep-sea hydrothermal vent tube worms…

Scale-horn Gastropod Snail…” Xiang Shan murmured.

He was very familiar with these species…

for some unknown reason.

It seemed like he had once used incredible power and authority to protect these tiny creatures whose habitats were smaller than a stadium…

—What…

why…

—Their…

foundation…

Many noises surfaced in his consciousness.

He stepped out, sweeping his gaze over the other “antiques.”

Some were completely unrecognizable, but some…

vaguely gave him a headache.

“It’s clear that these guys really like Martial Ancestor and his friends…” Xiang Shan said coldly with a sneer.

Although he couldn’t remember the specifics, many of the “collectibles” indeed related to his life.

[After all, they are convinced that Xiang Shan is the Great Knight Commander of that era, the leader of all Scientific Knights—in fact, this is also true…]

“Completely wrong!” Xiang Shan interrupted.

He seemed agitated, even using the loudspeaker to voice his rebuke.

Then, he shook his head and said, “Sorry, I got a little too excited…”

[It’s understandable.

For someone like you who is familiar with Martial Ancestor’s life and is in Jianghu, it would indeed feel that way.

You would think that the Martial Ancestor you see is clearly not the same person they are extolling, and their way of extolling him is a desecration.]

Xiang Shan shook his head and continued reading.

He wanted to take this opportunity to stimulate his memory a little.