Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 239 - 239 19 Preparation

239: Chapter 19 Preparation 239: Chapter 19 Preparation Tao Enhai was once an outstanding doctor.

He served as the chief physician in the department of neurosurgery at Ditan Hospital.

At that time, he was not yet forty years old, which for a “doctor” could be said to be the prime of life—both technically and physically at the top of his game.

He developed several neurosurgical techniques and published a few papers.

It was also a time of back-to-back surgeries, every day so busy he was close to passing out.

But there was no doubt that he was happy during that time.

Even today, Tao Enhai can still assert that.

With every life he saved, he felt his own value being realized.

Indeed, some research institutions approached him for collaboration, hoping he would transition from clinical work to scientific research.

Once, he was nearly swayed.

He was told that new technologies could save more lives, that this could be more efficient than him working at the operating table.

Tao Enhai admitted that he was indeed shaken then.

The advancement of medical technology is more effective than an individual doctor’s struggle.

Nevertheless, Tao Enhai ultimately refused that opportunity.

He still remembers a short essay he read back in elementary school.

One morning after a storm, a man went for a walk on the beach.

He noticed that many small fish, brought ashore by the storm the night before, were trapped in tide pools, unable to return to the sea.

It wouldn’t be long before the water in the tide pools would get absorbed by the sand and evaporate under the sun, drying out the fish.

He saw a little boy moving slowly ahead, bending down by each pool—picking up the fish and throwing them back into the ocean with all his might.

The man paused, watching the boy saving the lives of these fish.

Finally, the man couldn’t help but approach: “Kid, there are hundreds, thousands of fish in these pools, you can’t save them all.

Who cares?”

And the boy replied, “This little fish cares!

This one cares, and this one, and this one…”

This became Tao Enhai’s creed.

“This little fish cares,” he eventually told the institution, stating that researching new techniques didn’t need such a strong level of clinical practice.

It wasn’t work that only he could do.

However, on the operating table, there were indeed patients for whom it was “only him that was necessary.”

Back then, Tao Enhai was extremely confident in his own skills.

If he were to focus on “saving more people who could be saved by others” at the expense of “the person right in front of him who could be saved and for whom he was necessary”…

Tao Enhai felt, that would mean valuing the “means” over the “end.”

—How arrogant.

As he lay amidst the dust, Tao Enhai’s memories flashed with such thoughts.

Of course, this period in his life didn’t end all that pleasantly…

The deepest memory that hospital left him was a knife.

He was familiar with the knife that saves lives, but a knife that kills…

He had only seen it once before turning seventy.

After that…

Amidst the dust, a person approached.

He saw Tao Enhai, bent down, and said, “Great Hero Tao, how are you feeling now?”

“Not bad,” Tao Enhai waved his hand: “Without the continuous high voltage, the Evolu cells’ erosion wouldn’t accelerate.

They are just stable in eroding my brain.

It won’t be a big deal.”

As he said this, Tao Enhai felt the urge to purse his lips or roll his eyes.

Benchmark Man had one disadvantage—due to the metal-based proteins, they could not undergo MRI scanning.

This could be rather harmful to them, causing severe neural signal disarray, and in serious cases, could even leave permanent damage in the brain.

Moreover, metal-based proteins would also interfere with the results of the MRI.

Of course, his team also developed many other diagnostic methods later on to replace MRI.

For example, taking advantage of Benchmark Man’s stronger radiation resistance to perform radiographic imaging or using their resistance to mechanical injury to conduct invasive diagnostic tests.

Yet, some functions of MRI remain irreplaceable.

Tao Enhai felt that a proper MRI now would allow a more accurate diagnosis.

Rather than waiting like now, to open the tissue and observe the situation.

“What’s the matter?

Is Lv ready now?”

“About that…

Great Hero Lv said he needs a bit more time.”

“Lv” refers to Lucius, the assistant—following the jargon of Jianghu, a “disciple”—whom Tao Enhai took on in the last thirty years.

Lucius would soon be performing the cerebral region separation surgery for Tao Enhai.

Tao Enhai shook his head: “I owe him an apology for this.

According to the old rules, doctors did not treat themselves, and they would not personally perform major surgeries on blood relatives or close friends.

But now there’s really no choice.

I owe him that.”

Due to the limitations of scientific and technological advancements, “medicine,” particularly “clinical medicine,” remains a highly subjective field.

The skill of clinical physicians is unnaturally important.

Often, the complex human body must rely on the judgment of the clinician.

These judgments bear the weight of life.

The decisions of clinical physicians could be said to carry the burden of life—and that is already a terrifying pressure.

If “personal feelings” were to add to this already heavy burden, the physician himself might not withstand it.

So, the unwritten rule in old hospitals was that you couldn’t let a doctor operate on their close friends or family.

In some stricter places, they wouldn’t even allow the doctor to enter the operating room.

Tao Enhai was now free from this restriction.

After several twists and setbacks in his life over the past two hundred years, he had become indifferent to gain or loss, honor or disgrace.

Even if he had to operate on his own son, he could maintain his usual composure.

But his disciples were not yet at that point.

Their experience was still insufficient.

And there were no better options.

Among the Earth Heroes who had come to assist, none were capable of performing such a surgery—there were even only a handful who could do neurosurgery.

“Also, is Great Hero Baiman’s prosthetic body adjustment done?”

“Baiman asked me to tell you that the reconfiguration of his prosthetic body is nearing completion.”

“That’s great,” Tao Enhai said, genuinely pleased.

“That thing is definitely not wasted.”

Inside Tao Enhai’s original prosthetic body was a small Pseudo Star Device—this device could even power an aircraft.

As long as he was seated in the pilot’s seat of a Flying Creation, the ship would have a constant power supply.

His original prosthetic body was destroyed by the King of Godspeed, and naturally, the Pseudo Star Device was lost as well.

Tao Enhai could either turn the device into a nuclear weapon, blowing up a few people in the process, or entrust it to another Hero.

The doctor naturally chose the latter.

A nuclear weapon, even one of low yield in tactical nuclear weapons, wouldn’t make much of an impact on the situation, and a bit more explosive could serve as a substitute anyway.

But a Pseudo Star Device in the hands of a Hero could have a much greater effect.

“Baiman” was the Earth Hero inheriting that Pseudo Star Device.

Having previously been active in the Old Continent, he came to the New Continent a year ago, intending to accomplish a great feat in the South, but he had not found the opportunity.

When Tao Enhai crashed to Earth, Baiman’s timing was just right.

This Mr.

Baiman was also the Earth Hero with the best martial arts among those who came to the rescue.

He was the Hero most likely to master this device.

However, integrating a Pseudo Star Device into a prosthetic body had its intricacies.

The remaining Earth Heroes also put forth their efforts to help Baiman build a prosthetic body compatible with the Pseudo Star Device.

After Lucius completed the brain partition surgery for Tao Enhai, the higher functions of Tao Enhai’s brain would be handed over to Baiman, who would be responsible for breaking out.

The other Heroes would also make their own breakouts.

In a sense, these Heroes could all be considered “decoys.” The most crucial thing was to get such a transformed Baiman, who was on the verge of entering the realm of a Terrestrial Immortal, out.

Such a presence of a Hero could apply pressure to half the guardians on Earth.

The other Heroes could die.

Of course, every Hero knew this.

Every Hero acknowledged this.

“Silly kids,” Tao Enhai shook his head.

“And Tan, the brother in charge of the outer perimeter scout…

there shouldn’t be anyone else coming, right?”

Tan was a Hero responsible for patrolling the outer perimeter.

Their job was to find the arriving Heroes and bring them over to concentrate forces and prevent unnecessary losses.

This was initiated by Tao Enhai first.

The original objective of the Earth Heroes was to create chaos on the outskirts, giving Tao Enhai a chance to escape.

But when the Protectors used the “Fuel-Adding Strategy” to create a web of heaven and earth and encircle the Heroes, Tao Enhai actively sought out those Heroes.

He distributed the technological documents he had brought along to each Hero and agreed that whoever managed to escape would share these documents with the entire Jianghu.

Every Hero had a copy.

In Tao Enhai’s words, you couldn’t let them come for nothing.

“Brother Tan hasn’t returned yet.

But the Heroes who could have arrived in a short time are probably all here already.

Those who didn’t make it wouldn’t come here now.

Instead, like the Hero who assassinated the Vice Captain of the Mona Knight Order, they would engage in guerrilla warfare a bit further away,” the Hero said with a touch of sentiment.

There would be no more reinforcements.

“That’s fine.

By the time Brother Tan comes back, Brother Baiman’s prosthetic body should be ready.

Then my disciple will have to get me on the operating table no matter what,” Tao Enhai said with a smile.

“So I can still lie down for a while now, and remember the old friends a bit longer.”

The doctor continued to lose himself in memories.

—Speaking of which, when I first met the boss, I was eating…

wait, that time was in the conference room.

Ah yes, the first time I saw the two of them, was when eating Peking duck…

…………………………

At this very moment, dozens of kilometers away, Xiang Shan and his party were closing in on the government’s blockade line.

“About thirty-one hours ago, they were in this vicinity,” Xiang Shan said.

“We’ll need to be careful if we want to break through.”