Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 233 - 233 13 Chase

233: Chapter 13 Chase 233: Chapter 13 Chase “Ranger?

Are you talking about that assassin?”

The term “Ranger,” he had heard for the first time.

“Yes, if it suddenly appears, with no reinforcements, and retreats far away after a missed strike…

that should indeed be a Life Chasing Ranger,” Jader analyzed.

“‘Life Chaser’…”

Xiang Shan always felt that the name sounded…

very familiar.

It was probably from some influential martial arts work.

Moreover, this title should be paired with other titles…

“Indeed, if it’s acting alone, then it’s unlikely to be the ‘Merciless Cavalry’ that move in squads and have the authority to take command of small military units on the Military Martial Path.

‘Iron Hand Cavalry’ specialize in Inner Strength and wouldn’t operate in sandstorms that interfere with Inner Strength.

‘Cold Blooded Cavalry’ might appear, but their prosthetics are stronger, and they’re more often involved in frontal assaults.

Only the Life Chasing Ranger acts swiftly and with great freedom,” Jader continued his analysis.

Yuan Wenren also spoke up, “Then we should leave this place quickly.

Although the Life Chasing Ranger acts alone and gathers intelligence as a guerrilla force, this area is, after all, a gathering place for the government’s forces.

That Life Chasing Ranger might bring a squad of Cold Blooded Rangers or soldiers at any time.”

Xiang Shan pondered for a moment.

Through the vehicle’s audio system, he could hear the little girl’s crying.

It seemed she was frightened by the sudden jolting a short while ago.

Xiang Shan said, “How about this, I’ll take one vehicle with a spare power supply and go on my own.

You guys find another way.”

Yuan Wenren was startled, “Eh?

Senior, what are you…?”

“Wasn’t the original plan ‘to get a piece of isotope battery’?” Xiang Shan said, “Well, we have one right in front of us.

We shouldn’t let it slip away.”

Since the Life Chasing Ranger was a unit that operated alone over the long term, it wouldn’t have many opportunities to replenish its energy supply.

For such a unit, the isotope battery was a necessity.

“Do you realize what you’re saying, Senior?

He might lead more troops to us…”

“No.” Solo Kill King spoke up, “This might be our only lead.”

“What?”

“That Life Chasing Ranger might be able to lead us to the main forces,” Jader said.

“The Protectors may not have captured the old hero, but they certainly know more than we do.

In that case, finding them is also a good choice.

That’s better than us wandering aimlessly in the wilderness, crashing like a buggy navigation software.”

“Besides, even if we can’t find the old hero, we might be able to distract the Protectors’ attention a bit.

That way, we’re indirectly helping the old hero as well.”

Xiang Shan didn’t agree or disagree.

“How skilled is that Life Chasing Ranger?” Yuan Wenren, understanding this point, asked further.

“Mmm…

Just now he probably used the ‘Four Layered Waves’ against me—hand four stages of power release,” Xiang Shan vaguely remembered.

He must have arbitrarily given it a martial arts-style name, “It’s also possible his actual level is higher and that he didn’t fully exert himself.

But it should be about that.”

If Xiang Shan possessed a sufficiently powerful central system and high-grade prosthetics, he should be able to perform over nine hundred stages of exertion.

And his theoretical “realm” at that time should be called “Thousand Waves Layered”—the “thousand” being figurative.

As if it were a sort of rank and achievement.

—Hiss…

I’m actually more used to the quaint term ‘multi-stage exertion’…

The Solo Kill King immediately held the Old Senior in higher regard.

After contemplating for a moment, he said, “Right now, the strongest in external strength should be the King of Godspeed, but no one knows what level he can reach.

As for the recorded, it should be the Tenth Martial God’s limit of one thousand three hundred and ninety-four stages.”

“Wow, that is impressive,” Xiang Shan nodded in approval.

Multi-stage exertion was originally just for eliminating “targets'” bodyguards.

However, once the early Tyrants absorbed Cyber Martial Arts and established guard units, the ranks of ‘multi-stage exertion’ suddenly exploded in growth.

The higher the number of exertion stages, the exponentially more difficult it got, but the payoff became more marginal.

Hence, this technique probably only stacks to about a thousand or two thousand stages—Xiang Shan once thought that “Thousand Waves Layered” was the ultimate realm.

—It seems that fighting among Martial Artists has remained frequent and intense over the years.

That’s what Xiang Shan thought.

“It looks like there are no objections.

Let’s chase after them, then.”

……………………………………

Kan L was somewhat disheveled as he sneaked through the sandstorm.

To reduce wind resistance, he had thrown off his dust-proof cloth cloak before jumping out.

Now, with no protection on him, he could only rely on the airtightness of his prosthetics to fend off the sandstorm’s assault.

“That hero, a bit frightening…”

Kan L thought to himself.

The Four Layered Waves he had just used was the strongest martial technique he could prepare in his haste.

Kan L’s personal best record was achieving thirteen layers of power in the Protectors’ internal dojo.

This was his current limit that his chip could support.

Kan L didn’t know whether he was capable of handling a more powerful chip—and he wouldn’t be provided with a stronger one from above.

That was his current greatest record.

But that didn’t mean he could use thirteen layers of power with every strike.

The hero’s reaction time was after he had lunged—it was something he could clearly see.

In other words, the hero’s reflexes were quicker than his.

Yet, he perfectly deflected his Four Layered Waves and even showed signs of counterattacking.

This was a high level of skill rarely seen in his life.

Among the external strength experts Kan L had seen, perhaps only an instructor from above could contest the hero in close combat.

“Hey!

Command Center!

If you hear me, respond!

If you hear me, respond!”

Kan L continuously sent messages to the command center.

He needed a squad of soldiers or a few Martial Artists.

It was quite difficult for him to take down this batch of Heroes on his own.

They were tough nuts to crack.

But under the sandstorm, whether communication could be established was a matter of luck.

His Prosthetic Body, after all, was designed for Guerrilla combat and could directly send satellite signals, but the signal strength couldn’t compare to the mobile signal stations loaded onto war chariots.

Whether the signal could be received was a question of luck.

This time, it seemed his luck wasn’t too bad.

He felt the return signal.

He couldn’t make out the content clearly, but the verification information reconstructed from error correction codes suggested that it should be from a group of cold-blooded cavalry.

The cold-blooded cavalry and the life-chasing cavalry were both groups of Martial Artists who had long roamed Jianghu.

The difference was that the life-chasing cavalry also handled intelligence gathering and tracking down locked targets, while the cold-blooded cavalry specialized solely in assault operations, thus having more expertise in external strength.

Their Prosthetic Bodies were heavier on average than those of the life-chasing cavalry, giving them greater close-combat advantages.

“It looks like there might be a chance for a counterattack,” Kan L breathed a sigh of relief.

He was not confident that he could kill the Hero in a one-on-one fight.

Especially since the Hero might have two to five companions.

It was a situation that was not in his favor.

Therefore, he needed to summon others to join him in the battle.

Kan L quickly found another piece of spaceship wreckage and sat down there.

That day, after crossing the stratosphere, Tao Enhai ordered his aircraft to disintegrate automatically, a myriad of components scattering in every direction before breaking apart even more in the air.

This was to mislead the Protectors’ surveillance.

Since the Earth Heroes could obtain his information, so naturally could Earth’s Protectors.

Moreover, they would have noticed a large object falling from outer space.

Tao Enhai had tried to fall in areas with dense cloud cover as much as possible.

But within the clouds, he still had his aircraft dismembered to scatter the debris and ensure the safe landing of both himself and the most important part— the Reactor.

Because of this, pieces of the spaceship’s metal wreckage were scattered everywhere.

Within several kilometers of where Kan L was, there were still several large pieces of debris.

He just happened to take shelter from the sandstorm there.

Although he hadn’t transmitted the specific intelligence, but after receiving his signal, the group of cold-blooded cavalry would likely start searching and may even inform other Protectors to come over.

He didn’t need to rush.

But it wasn’t long before Kan L sifted through the wind and picked up on some “meaningful intelligence.”

“Footsteps…

many?”

“No, something’s not right.

These footsteps are too dense and the models of the Prosthetic Legs are not uniform.

These are not the armed forces of the Protectors.”

Kan L listened carefully.

It should be the sound of large vehicles driving Prosthetic Legs.

There are limits to the terrain that tires can conquer.

Therefore, some Jianghu Heroes would also apply Prosthetic Limbs to mobile vehicles— and for them, these limbs could be obtained through confiscation.

As for the Protectors…

the Protectors could build a tank with six or eight legs from the start, so there’s no need for this kind of DIY.

“Other Heroes?

It’s unlikely.

No matter what, it’s too much of a coincidence that two groups of Heroes would pass by such a small area in succession.”

“The same group as before…

they’re chasing me?”

Kan L felt a surge of absurdity.

It was rare for Heroes to chase after life-chasing cavalry.

The life-chasing cavalry’s role was to bite down on their target Heroes.

They would continuously send signals to call in reinforcements.

Around life-chasing cavalry, there would always be either a formal army or cold-blooded cavalry nearby.

The battles between Heroes and life-chasing cavalry were always “momentary.” Whether it was the life-chasing cavalry attempting an Assassination on a Hero or a Hero counter-attacking a life-chasing cavalry, it was the same.

Because the Heroes must evade the brunt of the main army.

And now…

“A life-chasing cavalry like me is actually being chased down by Heroes?”

“Could it be that they think I can’t send out messages in a sandstorm and so they got overconfident?”

The life-chasing cavalry clenched the Firearms at his side.

……………………………

Xiang Shan adjusted his Prosthetic Eye to a frequency band of electromagnetic waves with stronger penetration, striving to search for any movement around him.

His hand lightly pressed on the handgun he carried, fully alert and not daring to relax even a little.