Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 217 - 217 137 Waiting for the Wind to Rise

217: Chapter 137: Waiting for the Wind to Rise 217: Chapter 137: Waiting for the Wind to Rise Five days after the assassination of the Mona Knight Order’s leader, and the fourth day after the entire city was under martial law, a rumor surfaced in the northern slums.

A new parts dealer had appeared in the area.

This vendor had a considerable number of parts, and the quality was fairly decent—these were parts without much metal fatigue, which could last for over ten years.

This news quickly caught the attention of the Pine Eagle City intelligence department.

On the sixth day of martial law, they arrived in the slums and used the surveillance system to observe this rumored dealer for a while.

Subsequently, they concluded that this trader was not a Hero but might have some connection with the Green Forest.

Most of the parts in this guy’s possession were semi-new rather than old, some of which were common specifications for Martial Arts prosthetic bodies, but there were very few government army standard issues, so they likely weren’t obtained by killing soldiers.

“Likely old parts discarded by the Green Forest,” one intelligence officer noted in a memo, “Those bandits sell certain parts that are difficult to melt down and recycle as scrap.

This dealer might just be part of their disposal route.”

“The only suspicious aspect is that the wear rate on these parts isn’t very high.

But if the Green Forest Organization pursues Martial Arts, it’s possible that they discard parts more quickly,” he added.

“Considering that the Protector might organize a crackdown on the Green Forest within three months, we should have someone monitor this dealer.

But this person himself does not seem noteworthy.”

That was the evaluation from the intelligence department of Pine Eagle City.

Xiang Shan swaggered under the watchful eyes of these Houndhawk figures, leaning against the small space surrounded by plastic sheets.

He had noticed the monitors a while ago.

He had now stored all suspicious items at Hiroshi Matsushima’s place, carrying only a small amount of parts [casually disassembled from the Green Forest] on him, and using Hiroshi Matsushima’s facial decorations for a more realistic disguise, he was not worried about those guys checking.

He was refraining from looking at the monitors through the semi-transparent plastic film.

This is what houses in the slums looked like.

They somewhat resembled small plastic greenhouses, directly enclosed by mismatched colored plastic sheets to create “private spaces.”

Benchmark men have higher temperature needs.

After cyberization, Cybermen consume significantly less oxygen but are susceptible to windblown sand, so this type of dwelling, which blocks airflow but still allows light penetration and keeps the solar panels working, is particularly suitable for these people who are left with just a bit of solar panel functionality.

Of course, if someone’s cyberization level isn’t high enough, living here could be problematic.

According to Hiroshi Matsushima, people whose cyberization level wasn’t high enough often slept to death from lack of oxygen in these greenhouses.

If cyberization isn’t high enough, one might as well try their luck in the lower floors of buildings opened by the Lord.

Those places might have less access to sunlight but at least have better ventilation.

In this slum, where the poor have nothing to lose, the death rate and population turnover are high.

People with nothing just crawl into any available shanty, which then essentially becomes their home.

This place is perfect for hiding someone.

If Xiang Shan had an isotope battery that could last for “years,” the underground river might have been a good option.

But for now, Xiang Shan still relied on solar power.

And after the assassination incident at Meiyimei Building, most of the underground river mouths or sewer entrances were under surveillance.

Too much coming and going would also pose a significant exposure risk.

Thus, following Hiroshi Matsushima’s guidance, he had come here.

It’s said that Hiroshi Matsushima had also given a heads-up to a small local group of residents banding together.

[These loose organizations hardly have any real power and are difficult to prohibit, so even if it slightly crosses the Dyson principle, the Protectors won’t probe too deeply.]

At this moment, Xiang Shan was completely free from worries.

Xiang Shan was now waiting here for the next sandstorm to arise.

He had no urgent matters to attend to, nor did he need to prepare disposable weapons like bombs or educate disciples.

The research materials from the Mona Knight Order had already been handed over.

Ah, by the way, Xiang Shan had also left a backup of the first generation of Jade Cauldron Fungus at Hiroshi Matsushima’s place.

This backup was stored in a special test tube.

Inside that test tube, yeast absorbed nutrients from the culture medium and grew progressively.

During this process, the water in the culture medium continuously evaporated.

There was a hidden compartment inside the seal of the test tube containing a metal salt that could bond with water molecules.

This compartment would absorb the evaporating water, making the culture medium progressively drier.

When the culture medium was sufficiently depleted, the Jade Cauldron Fungus would cease its life activities and produce spores to continue in a dormant state.

When the time came, just putting it in a fridge for storing medicines would enable it to be preserved for many years.

If there were Heroes in the future who caught his eye, Hiroshi Matsushima could share some of these spores with them.

In this way, this strategic resource could benefit more people.

Of course, it’s not that Xiang Shan didn’t want to directly release it into the wild for all those in need to freely access it.

This approach would have unpredictable effects.

Microbes possess a terrifying mechanism—horizontal gene transfer.

In normal organisms, genetic information can only be vertically transmitted from parent to offspring, from parents to their children.

However, microbes are capable of horizontal gene transfer—not only receiving genetic information from their parents but also potentially from “siblings” or even others.

In the Old Era, the emergence of super bacteria with extreme drug resistance was frequent because bacteria could easily perform horizontal gene transfer.

Once a bacterium acquired drug resistance, this trait would quickly spread to other microbes.

Some parasites also lead to horizontal gene transfer between their genes and those of their hosts.

Reverse Transcriptase Viruses can also facilitate horizontal gene transfer between more advanced organisms, though it’s not as straightforward as between microbes.

[However, there are theories that suggest horizontal gene transfer might be another key driver of evolution—even humans being human because our primate ancestors were infected with a certain virus, acquiring foreign genetic information.]

Jade Cauldron Fungus is a product of high-level intelligent design, containing many genomes entirely original to humans and non-existent in nature.

Releasing it into the wild without extermination could lead to unpredictable consequences due to horizontal gene transfer.

Xiang Shan would certainly not do such a terrifying thing.

He just stayed in the shed, quietly waiting for the wind to rise.

And reading his own memories.

His mind slowly sank, falling once again upon his past self.

…………………………………

December 2043, Haneda International Airport, 12-year-old Kanhara Kotoba glared at the burly man in front of her, tears swirling in the corners of her eyes.

Kanhara Tsun had wanted to lift his daughter up in one swoop, but Kanhara Kotoba angrily shoved her father’s hands away.

“Kotoba!” a young woman nearby said somewhat angrily, “Your father is leaving for abroad now, to a very dangerous place.

Do you really want to send him off with that face?”

“It’s not the first time, anyway.” Kanhara Kotoba growled back, her expression fierce like a small, aggressive dog.

Kanhara Tsun felt quite embarrassed.

He bowed his head and said, “Sorry…”

The little girl still ignored him.

Kanhara Tsun stood up, looked at his wife, pondered for a moment, and then said, “I’m really sorry…”

“No need to apologize, dear.” The woman shook his coat slightly wrinkled from squatting down, speaking gently, “This is an important matter, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Kanhara Tsun sighed, “I can’t even tell you ‘this is the last time’…

I can never make such a promise.

The people on that land, and their language.

My fate has been intertwined with them for a long time.”

“That’s why you never take me to school,” the little girl muttered.

The woman frowned, “Kotoba, you…”

Kanhara Kotoba pursed her lips, turned, and was about to run.

But at that moment, another person grabbed the little girl’s head and stuffed a set of beautifully crafted toys bought from an airport shop into her hands: “Little one, don’t run about!

Stay put next to your mom and dad.”

Kanhara Kotoba paused, “Thank you…

wait, who are you?”

The little girl was guarded, suspecting she might have met the legendary child kidnapper just steps after running away from home.

But her father quickly shattered her delusion.

Kanhara Tsun exclaimed in surprise, “Xiang?

What are you doing here?”

After he said this in Japanese, Kanhara Tsun realized he had used the wrong language and quickly repeated it in a language the little girl couldn’t understand.

“Oh, that.” Xiang Shan indicated the timetable, “A layover.

I saw your news on the official website of your research institute and was thinking if you were also heading to the Federation today.

The moment I got off the plane, I saw you.

Ah, I was just thinking of buying some gifts to catch up, and then I saw you with your daughter…this…”

Kanhara Tsun’s wife, while holding her still squirming daughter, maintained a politely strained smile, “Dear, who is this?

”

“Oh, this is Xiang Shan, my former colleague at the United Nations, from the Republic.

Our project had a not so low level of secrecy when we got married, they couldn’t just leave.

But Kotoba met him once when she was four or five.

You probably don’t remember.”

After introducing Xiang Shan, Kanhara Tsun turned to him and said, “I don’t know if you remember, but this is my wife, named…”

“Long time no see, Ms.

Miku.” Xiang Shan extended his hand and shook hands with the woman.

“Ah, I’m really sorry.

You see, I have a bad memory,” the woman apologized with a slight bow, “I often hear my husband mention your name, just didn’t remember your face.”