Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 272 - 272 52 Missing

272: Chapter 52 Missing 272: Chapter 52 Missing Xiang Shan fell into deep contemplation.

Despite the headache that wrapped around every corner of his mind like a persistent carbuncle, he couldn’t help but dwell on that one question.

— What was the Eighth Martial God really up to?

The papers and data seized from the Mona Knight Order illustrated the characteristics of the Personality Mask.

The Personality Mask could essentially be considered as the “information source individual” itself.

The judgment made by the Personality Mask in specific situations would highly coincide with that of the information source individual.

The information source individual for all Martial Gods was the original “Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan.”

No matter if they were the “Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan” or not, they would almost make the same decisions in identical situations.

Before his sacrifice, the Eighth Martial God clearly said this sentence.

“One day, another person will obtain this Legacy—I will come back.”

That was his or her last words.

The Eighth Martial God had hardly ever left the city where he lived, and his greatest achievement was no more than wiping out the local gang.

He didn’t develop any significant power, he never assassinated any tyrants, nor did he participate in any battle worth mentioning.

Even his last battle was the same.

It was said that King Aqini took hostages to force the Eighth Martial God into the wilderness on a clear day, where he then received orbital bombardment.

If it weren’t for Zhu Xinyu’s acknowledgment, perhaps no one would have thought of him as a Martial God.

But the problem lay right there.

— Why did the Eighth Martial God go to his death willingly?

Xiang Shan pondered this way.

If the Eighth Martial God truly shared the same thought patterns as him, then he would never choose to die no matter what.

No compromise.

Even if the hostage King Aqini captured was Zhu Xinyu… no, even if it were all his friends, he would never yield.

Compromising meant giving up the fight, giving up on all the people who could potentially be saved in the future.

What exactly did King Aqini hold over him that made him submit to such a sanction?

And then, why did Zhu Xinyu acknowledge him as a true Martial God?

What did the Eighth Martial God’s last message mean?

That “another person” will get the Legacy?

And then “I” will come back?

The subject of this sentence was a complete mess.

Why would the “Eighth Martial God” return if “another person” obtained the Legacy?

Was the Eighth Martial God hiding something like a Pseudo-personality Mask?

But wouldn’t it be more convenient to upload this to some cloud server?

Or is it a piece of “memory” that can brainwash someone else into a new Martial God?

But would “Xiang Shan” create new Martial Gods?

Xiang Shan began to suspect that this was just sowing confusion.

Perhaps the Eighth Martial God just casually mentioned something nonexistent, deceiving the Protectors into searching, wasting manpower and resources.

According to his own character, it wasn’t impossible.

But Xiang Shan immediately negated this speculation.

The message had come from the Underground Pixiu.

Clearly, it had been circulating among the Heroes of the local Jianghu for a long time.

If the message were fake, it would have deceived not just the Protectors but also the Heroes.

Certainly, people from the Jianghu would come searching as well.

Both Jianghu and Protectors would be expending manpower and resources in vain.

This outcome would be unacceptable to the Path of Chivalry that advocates “asymmetric consumption,” because, in such a scenario, the resources expended by the Protectors would not be a thousand or ten thousand times more than that of the Jianghu people.

So this intelligence was mostly true, and the item was difficult for Protectors to find, but the Jianghu’s information network could more easily locate it.

But that being said… it was very hard for Xiang Shan to imagine such a place.

Since there might be truth to it, he was now faced with another problem.

This “Legacy”, should he “search” for it or not?

The answer wasn’t hard to imagine.

After the Eighth Martial God, there were the Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh Martial Gods.

Let’s not mention the Tenth Martial God, who was born far away and never set foot on Earth.

The Ninth and Eleventh Martial Gods had both been there.

Among them, the Ninth Martial God had almost fought all the way to the doorstep of Yawgmoth’s Throne.

So, at least two Martial Gods had the opportunity to obtain this Legacy.

The Tenth Martial God could also change his Prosthetic Body, conceal his identity, and come to Earth covertly.

But no one paid any heed to this saying.

“Xiang Shan” did not like Martial Gods.

Even if “Xiang Shan,” making the judgment himself, was a Martial God.

But he was different now.

Xiang Shan knew that the present him was different from all previous Martial Gods.

He had no memories, only the self-identification with the identity of “Xiang Shan.”

Even the name “Zhu Xinyu,” which was crucial to Xiang Shan, was obtained from Tao Enhai’s memories.

If his lover’s memories were so, let alone others.

Now he had no resources, no clues.

If the “Legacy” of the Eighth Martial God contained memories allowing one to become a “Martial God” and well-grade Prosthetic Body materials, that would suit him perfectly.

Only… the “glorious achievements” of the Eighth Martial God really didn’t inspire much hope for this Legacy.

The Eighth Martial God’s sphere of activity in life was just the Mexican Plateau.

Until the last moment of his life, this Martial God was still simply fighting against gangs.

At best, he had eradicated just a small number of Green Forest bandits.

“`

His skill was largely on par with his level before arriving at Pine Eagle City.

With such combat achievements, finding an isotope battery in the Eighth Martial God’s legacy would be considered good fortune.

—Really, how could this man become…

As the thought began to form, Xiang Shan cut it off.

Then, Xiang Shan reflected for a moment.

Xiang Shan did not like the Martial Gods.

But he could only say that the Eighth Martial God was “too foolish.” He was indeed a Hero who fought the Tyrant until the very last moment.

Even if his methods were wrong, his sincere heart alone should not be dismissed with contempt as “this kind of person.”

But…

—Why was he acknowledged as a Martial God?

Intense headaches struck again, nearly disrupting Xiang Shan’s train of thought.

Xiang Shan reinserted the garbage information into his arm.

A flood of jokes streamed through the surface of his consciousness.

The moment Xiang Shan recognized the “humor,” he forgot the specific contents of the jokes.

This at least diverted his attention somewhat.

Xiang Shan got up from the ground, opened the car door, and sat down.

He just sat at the doorway, gazing at the night sky.

Light pollution had vanished along with the collapse of the old civilization.

And with the powerful performance of the Prosthetic Eye, the entire galaxy was visible in clear detail.

The Milky Way stretched across the sky.

So many stars in the sky, yet humanity had truly reached only those within the Solar System.

Xiang Shan quickly found Mars, Venus, and Jupiter.

Then he saw Saturn too.

He also saw many man-made stars.

These were satellites, Space Cities, and Starports.

Zhu Xinyu might be among these stars.

Xiang Shan thought about this.

It wasn’t difficult to deduce from Tao Enhai’s words that Zhu Xinyu wasn’t on Earth now.

She and Xiang Shan were not on the same planet.

The earth they trod and the skies they watched were entirely different.

—I really want to see that woman again…

Xiang Shan thought.

He seemed to have many questions he wanted to ask Zhu Xinyu about the Eighth Martial God…

and other things.

Want…

to see her again.

Xiang Shan’s Prosthetic Eye’s protective mechanism blinked uncontrollably, as if rapidly winking.

Xiang Shan’s instincts felt that tears should be in his eyes right now.

Not just Zhu Xinyu.

He suddenly missed those friends dearly.

Even though he couldn’t remember what his friends’ names were.

Yawill extraction method…

Yawill…

“Yawgmoth’s Will”…

a name jokingly taken by a friend for a moment…

“Yawgmoth’s Will” remains a great medical technique, still benefiting Heroes.

But what about Yawgmoth…

Xiang Shan pulled out the garbage information from his wrist and then sealed the hatch.

Perhaps enough rest had been had.

He thought.

Then, he dived back into his memories.

…………………………………

At the end of March 2039.

Three weeks had passed since Tao Enhai joined “Transhumanism, Inc.”

Tao Enhai felt it was the most fulfilling three weeks of his life.

In the first week, Tao Enhai wasn’t assigned any specific work, but instead took part in orientation training.

Simply put, it was about understanding the various rules and systems of the company.

Also, considering that Tao Enhai had always been involved in clinical work and wasn’t very familiar with purely academic research, he was specially arranged to learn cutting-edge research methods to recharge himself.

It should be specifically noted that the so-called “cutting-edge research methods” meant the “research paradigm used by Superman Enterprise.”

The research department of Superman Enterprise could define the academic ecosystem.

Tao Enhai had a hunch that it was the alien spaceship incident that led countries to draw upon the top scholars who had not yet made a name for themselves to conduct research.

These top scholars from different fields came together because of this unprecedented project, resulting in intense ideological collisions and the birth of newer thoughts—about a general understanding of the universe and of science.

Some of these individuals gathered around Xiang Shan, forming a core team, and then used this team to recruit other scholars.

Without that alien spaceship, which remains undeciphered to this day, it’s possible that these top scholars would never have come together.

It can be said that this supergroup capable of defining the academic ecosystem wouldn’t appear in a “normal history.”

This made Tao Enhai feel incredibly fortunate.

—It’s good that there are aliens…

With this thought, he walked out of the temporary office.

At that moment, he saw Ingrid walk up to a whiteboard at the entrance to the small meeting room and begin writing something with a water-based pen.

Although such teaching tools appeared to be things of the last century, they were quite useful in many ways, at least more energy-saving than electronic screens.

The research department had its share of staunch environmentalists among its heads.

Tao Enhai walked over and said with a smile, “Ingrid, do you have something on your mind to share today?”

“`