Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 253 - 253 33 Entrusting One's Life

253: Chapter 33 Entrusting One’s Life 253: Chapter 33 Entrusting One’s Life Upon hearing this request, Xiang Shan was also taken aback.

He said, “This should be the prosthetic body you prepared for yourself, right?”

“I’ve killed many houndhawks these days and dismantled quite a few parts to cobble together this body,” Baiman said.

“It’s sort of a collective effort.”

“Truly a patchwork body indeed,” Xiang Shan nodded in acknowledgment.

To assemble a decent prosthetic body, people from Jianghu could only do so by killing enemies on the battlefield and scavenging parts, adding a bit from you and a bit from me, cobbling it all together.

Over the years, the technological tug-of-war over “captured technology” between the “rulers” and the “rebels” had also gone through several upgrades.

At the beginning of the uprising, there was technology to seal the more fragile computing unit modules, including chips, inside a case, leaving only a data interface.

The inner layer of the case was coated with white phosphorus and a heating agent, such that opening it would instantly generate high temperatures, causing a complete alteration in the semiconductor properties and rendering the electronic components unusable.

However, this was considered somewhat primitive technology and rather easy to break.

The more sophisticated method involved creating an oxygen-free environment with nitrogen or rare gases before delicately dismantling it.

If more direct, one could just remove the module whole for use.

Modern Protectors don’t bother with this tactic anymore.

The houndhawks of today are more straightforward.

The prosthetic bodies they use are powerful, but their parts wear out easily and need constant replacement to maintain that power.

Both the sonicon blade and synthetic muscle fibers are like this.

Both of these require extremely high production costs.

It’s difficult for a Hero to secure a steady supply of parts, and naturally, they would have a hard time using them.

Xiang Shan said, “You must have extra scanning devices, right?

Prosthetic eyes and ears, how many can you handle?”

“I have prosthetic eyes under my ribs, on my back, and on the back of my thighs.

The device on my fist may not provide complete vision, but it can use infrared to measure speed,” Baiman answered honestly.

“Then there are prosthetic ears on my shoulders and hips.”

“Hmm, that’s pretty comprehensive,” Xiang Shan said.

“You still need to practice more on mastering the senses—I’ll check out the configuration, you don’t mind, do you?”

As he spoke, Xiang Shan fixed his gaze on the part of the prosthetic body under the ribs.

“Please, Great Hero, be my guest.”

Then, the prosthetic body’s hand trembled slightly.

Xiang Shan had hacked into the prosthetic body, directly testing its hardware.

“Ho ho, not bad,” Xiang Shan said.

“Quite impressive.”

As he spoke, Xiang Shan turned around, patted Great Hero Baiman’s shoulder, and said, “Don’t let down the gift from Doctor Tao.”

Baiman was startled and said, “Nameless Hero, this… You should be more skilled in martial arts than I am, I…”

Xiang Shan waved his hand dismissively, “The arrangement of this prosthetic body really doesn’t suit my habits.

The positioning of the Vector Injector is utterly opposite to mine.

The feet are just a simple support structure.

I couldn’t get used to this kind of prosthetic body in a short period of time.”

“This…”

“Moreover, we’ll have to retreat immediately after the surgery,” Xiang Shan said.

“The sandstorm could stop at any moment.

If that happens, we won’t be able to leave.”

“After all, I’m an Old Era doctor with a license, and if I’m to perform surgery, I must give it my full attention.

Post-surgery, my brain will be greatly strained, and I’ll be mentally exhausted, unable to fight effectively.

That’s when I’ll need you to step in, right?”

It was true.

Although Xiang Shan could perform surgery, he was a bit rusty.

Both publicly and privately, he absolutely could not let anything happen to Tao Enhai.

After the surgery, he would not be able to serve as an effective force in combat.

“Then…

I suppose I’ll just have to use it temporarily…” Baiman said.

“Ha, no, keep it for yourself,” Xiang Shan gestured with his hand.

“It’s not the only Pseudo Star Device in the world, and I can make a Tocamac, given the materials.”

Baiman, somewhat disappointed, replied, “Then I’ll just have to brazenly use it.

Where do you plan to go after this?

What are your plans?”

Xiang Shan counter-asked, “What about you?”

“Me?

Ah, even though this Patchwork Body has granted me a higher level of combat power, it’s still not perfected.

I must roam and battle the government, constantly acquiring actual combat data, while contending for more parts,” Baiman said.

“The Great Hero of the Green Forest is also a target.”

“Not bad, you have a clear goal,” Xiang Shan nodded.

“I originally planned to go south.”

Actually, he did not.

The “go south” mission was entirely a task issued by Tao Enhai.

With no other matters at hand, Xiang Shan naturally set out to do this first.

“Go south?

Are you also going because of the Paralympics?”

“Paralympics…” Xiang Shan muttered, “Also?”

“After all, the Paralympics are a grand event.

A large number of Protectors will attend,” Baiman said.

“The next one will be held in South America.

My original intention was to go there and lay the groundwork three years in advance for another big operation.

But as it happens, I’ve bumped into this.”

“Ah ha,” Xiang Shan nodded.

“That makes sense.”

“Unfortunately, the journey southward is fraught with wilderness, making it difficult for heavy prosthetics to make their way.” Baiman said, “I plan to make a detour and head underwater to the heavy industry areas of Southeast Asia.

I hope to hear of the ‘true name of a hero’ from you one day.”

Xiang Shan nodded and continued sitting by the side, still recalling his surgical skills.

In the end, he even found a preserved 3D printer and a pile of parts, making slight modifications to the medical equipment.

It must be admitted that Xiang Shan’s medical knowledge was somewhat behind the times, and there were many commendable techniques in the experiments conducted by the Demon Sect.

Originally, Tao Enhai was meditating in the operating room, opting for a memory transfer.

Seeing Xiang Shan’s behavior, he was somewhat puzzled.

Xiang Shan explained the contents he had captured and inquired about the Six Dragons Sect.

“Six Dragons Sect?

This is indeed the first time I’ve heard this name,” Tao Enhai said.

“Although there are indeed many sects in Jianghu, in essence, those sects are organizations where heroes group together for mutual assistance based on geographical proximity or similarities in martial arts and principles.

If you put it that way, there are very few with strict rules.

The position of ‘envoy’ is also rarely seen in the organizational structure of Jianghu.”

“Not to mention having ties with the Scientific Knight Order.”

Xiang Shan asked in confusion, “According to the intelligence I’ve heard, aren’t there some within the Scientific Knight Order who have sympathy for Jianghu heroes?”

“Few.

The majority of the Scientific Knight Order wouldn’t betray their own position.

They only revere Yawgmoth, those people ‘as scientists’—and that includes Xiang Shan,” Tao Enhai said.

“At most, they might say they have a bit of the Jianghu air, but they are definitely not people of the Jianghu.”

“Of course, there really are great heroes who have defected from the Order and joined Jianghu, but they are after all a minority.”

“But from your description, that Six Dragons Sect is fundamentally a well-organized group rooted within the Order of Knights.”

Tao Enhai was filled with concern about this speculation, “Having such a team, it’s hard to know if it’s a blessing or a curse.”

Two hours later, Tao Enhai’s assistant came in and injected his biological brain.

This injection pierced through the brain-machine barrier from the back, keeping the puncture pressure low.

Then, eight hours passed quickly.

During these eight hours, worrisome signs began to emerge.

The sandstorm started to thin out gradually.

Although it quickly became dense again, anyone could tell that the sand couldn’t keep blowing endlessly.

Several days had passed since the sandstorm began.

It should be stopping.

It could stop at any moment.

Tao Enhai knew they really couldn’t wait any longer.

He quickly sealed his memories and then entrusted three hard drives to Xiang Shan.

“These are memories,” Tao Enhai told Xiang Shan.

“I hope they can be of help to you.” He paused, then said, “I really shouldn’t say anything.

Not knowing some past events might not necessarily be wrong for you.

But this is your only ‘identity’…

I still hope that you can be yourself.

Everyone in the world should be themselves.”

Xiang Shan opened his skull and secured the three hard drives, saying, “Everyone should indeed be themselves.

But from ‘the beginning,’ I’ve always been like this.

I don’t know if that counts as ‘being forced’.”

Tao Enhai smiled, “Such is life in Jianghu.”

This conversation was shrouded in mist, but Xiang Shan and Tao Enhai both understood.

These memories were what Xiang Shan currently did not know—some history from the Old Era.

Tao Enhai hoped that Xiang Shan would fight not as a “Martial God,” but as a person, a hero.

Yet, aside from “Xiang Shan,” he had no other identity.

Afterward, Tao Enhai took out his prosthetic eyes—those that had belonged to Xiang Shan before and had disappeared in the army of Yawgmoth alongside Martial Ancestor—and handed them to his disciple.

Xiang Shan watched as Lucius fitted the pair of prosthetic eyes.

A secret would be temporarily sealed away.

—Good, this is good.

Xiang Shan muttered to himself.

Lucius, meanwhile, casually discarded his own prosthetic eyes.

Although the prosthetic eyes he previously used were much better than the average level among the Earth Heroes, because Tao Enhai had arranged to give his prosthetic eyes to the assistant, Lucius had long since exchanged his good prosthetic eyes for others.

This pair was the worst in this location.

Then, Tao Enhai’s prosthetic body opened, and his skull along with the spine came out together.

Lucius placed it on the operating table.

Tao Enhai’s condition didn’t seem to be very good.

There were gray-black tissues on his spine, which even submerged the data interfaces.

The first step was to separate the spine and then open the alloy skull to place the brain into the exposed environment.

Xiang Shan picked up the scalpel.

—Health is at stake, life is entrusted.

For some reason, Xiang Shan thought of this phrase.

It seemed to flow directly from his brain.

Memories burst forth all of a sudden.

He inexplicably had a sense of his “hands trembling.”

But soon, this illusion disappeared.

“It’s okay,” he told himself.

Taking the position of an assistant, Lucius said, “Nameless Hero?”

In the assistant’s role, he could find his calm.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Xiang Shan said.

“Let’s begin the spine separation surgery now.”