Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 276 - 276 56 Great Hero of the Green Forest

276: Chapter 56 Great Hero of the Green Forest 276: Chapter 56 Great Hero of the Green Forest “The Green Forest Tiger List,” along with other rosters, were tools utilised by the government to incite infighting within Jianghu and Green Forest.

Despite general knowledge of this scheme, the Jianghu and Green Forest indeed fell for such an overt conspiracy.

The saying goes, “Armed with a deadly weapon, the urge to kill naturally arises.” “Martial power” is truly a form of resource.

Human nature dictates that with resources, the inclination is to harness them.

Evolution has imbued humans with instincts that include “avoiding risks as much as possible” and “utilizing resources to their fullest.”

However, “martial power” as a resource is particularly problematic.

In a sound society, it should serve as a “safety net,” a mechanism for assurance.

It is meant for dealing with “just in case” scenarios.

The allocation of resources towards this “safety net” depends on the probability of “extraordinary times.” Such resources are meant to be idle during normal periods and activated in times of emergency.

The Martial Ancestor created martial arts, allowing individuals to possess immense destructive power.

If one were to heed the instinct to “utilise,” it would only breed boundless disaster.

Despite both Martial Ancestor and Yawgmoth initially emphasising “Innate instincts are despicable to use, one should govern their actions with wisdom and reason.” Despite genetic surgery for Benchmark Man and the cybernetic transformation technology all being technologies to help humanity overcome primitive instincts and tame the restless mind.

Yet even today, humanity still remains far from the “Self-State” of the “Freedom Kingdom.”

Even with the banner of chivalry aloft, there are those in the Jianghu who fight to the death over rankings.

Perhaps the game mechanism of the “Heavenly Ladder” fits well with certain biological instincts of humanity.

If Jianghu is like this, needless to say about Green Forest.

Green Forest is a group bonded entirely by emotional ties.

They are gathered by a “shared collective memory.” When Green Forest Men from different strongholds meet, it is very possible they would instantly erupt into conflict.

Not to mention the competition among the masters for ranking positions.

The lower echelons of Green Forest must rely on the stronghold, while the Great Heroes of the Green Forest have much more freedom.

They carry the entire stronghold’s “collective memory” and maintain a clear mind.

For them, the “Green Forest Stronghold” can be an incidental byproduct of their actions.

They can capture people anytime and anywhere to convert them into Green Forest Men, setting up their own strongholds in various places to secure retreats.

A Green Forest Great Hero of such standing would at least possess a quantum hard drive to store that massive “shared memory,” and would also need to have an isotopic battery.

And a Green Forest Great Hero of this level can be assuredly ranked among the Heavenly Gang positions of the local Tiger List.

At least that’s how the regional lists in the Earth-Moon system are arranged.

There are even rumours that the top ten Great Heroes on the Tiger List are individuals aiming to surpass a major threshold.

The title “Heavenly Machine Star” is typically bestowed by the government upon the Green Forest Great Hero who possesses the strongest Inner Strength.

“Heavenly Machine” takes great pride in this.

Despite warnings that in the Old Era, only fools would feel smug about the rewards listed on their wanted posters.

But a great deed is a great deed indeed.

Heavenly Machine looked around once again—the practical meaning of this “action” being “browsing the user information of others.” It’s just that Heavenly Machine Star associated this action with “the tactile sensation of turning one’s neck” and the “expansion of the visual field.”

He saw nine figures shrouded in the mist.

All Great Heroes of the Green Forest.

All these Great Heroes were obscured in the fog, their specific information unclear, with only their vague outlines visible.

If one tried hard enough to “look,” they could make out some emblematic symbols.

It’s much like the “profile pictures” of the Old Era.

The first to speak was “Heaven Hero”—number one in sniping among the Thirty-Six Heavenly Ganges, shrouded in mist, with only the longbow on his back prominently visible.

He said, “What’s with this never-ending Righteousness Assembly?

It’s like some Jianghu ritual meeting on a schedule, which is truly unbearable.”

Heavenly Machine retorted pointedly, “If you really feel it’s unnecessary for you, then feel free to not attend.”

Heavenly Machine was the initiator of the “Righteousness Assembly.” For each gathering, he would create a cloud server, then allow other Great Heroes of the Green Forest to connect using their own software for communication.

This cloud server was also built using computing resources that were gathered temporarily.

It’s not that they didn’t want to use a more decentralized communication protocol, but those from the Green Forest would find it difficult to trust a communication system constructed by someone whose Inner Strength far surpassed their own.

Heavenly Machine barely managed to earn the minimal trust of these Great Heroes of the Green Forest.

Heaven Hero immediately fell silent.

He only spoke whatever came to mind, expressing thoughts on impulse.

Planet Wealthy, Planet Full, Planet Establishment, and even Heavenly Machine himself, had all proven this point over the years.

Even if Heaven Hero casually complained, he would never truly want to leave the group.

Heavenly Machine chuckled, “Well then, let’s start by exchanging some intelligence.

What noteworthy gains have you made this month?”

“Hmm, the identity of that old hero who fell half a year ago has been confirmed,” Sky Dark said.

“Apricot Forest Duke Tao Enhai, a follower of Martial Ancestor.”

“Oh?

The results are out?” Heaven Hero was somewhat surprised.

“That quick?”

“The battle between Protectors and heroes has ended, and dozens of well-known heroes with names to their credit died on the battlefield.

This is a major event that can be checked.

You can go to the personal pages of some famed heroes and see related content,” Sky Dark said.

“Since the incident is over, the higher-ups of the Protectors naturally wouldn’t keep asking the lower ranks to maintain secrecy.”

Sky Dark seemed to have a certain degree of informants within the lower ranks of the Protectors.

He was quite proud of this.

Every Great Hero of the Green Forest had informants.

These informants were not considered members of the Green Forest.

In their minds, they were just providing bits of information to ‘anonymous accounts online’.

They might speculate about who was behind these accounts, but as long as they were not sure the other party was from Green Forest or a hero, such behavior was in accordance with the Dyson Principle.

However, many in the lower echelons of the Protectors had undergone brain surgery.

Some ordinary Martial Artists were not even quick thinkers, so naturally, they could not become informants.

Developing stable informants within the Protectors was indeed not easy.

“Ha, it’s over?” Sky Fierce Star pressed, “What was the outcome?”

“Don’t know.

The ‘Apricot Forest Duke’ is probably dead.

Last year, the Northern Land famed hero Bai Man, who concealed his tracks, inherited his Pseudo Star Device and some prosthetic body parts, surpassing a major threshold.

He is now akin to a celestial, saintly figure,” Sky Dark said.

“Ah…

Ah!” Sky Fierce clapped his thigh repeatedly, “What a loss, what a loss…”

“Hm?

What happened?”

“You know, I’ve got a new underling, the one who killed Sky Speed a few days ago.

Next month when the rankings update, he should be the new Sky Speed, right!” Sky Fierce said.

“I had him go there to scout around, see if there was a chance to pick up some spoils.

If he encounters someone from another realm, then wouldn’t the effort I invested in him be wasted?”

“Sky Speed” is often the fastest and most reflexive person among the Thirty-Six Heavenly Ganges.

The original Sky Speed Star is named Dark Origin Reid, nicknamed “Dark Night Walker”, an assassin-like figure.

By the way, this guy is not a member of the Righteousness Assembly.

Most members of the Righteousness Assembly support Sky Fierce’s action.

For these small groups that have formed, it is best if the reputation of the Green Forest remains within their small circle.

“Your underling?

A recent recruit?”

“He used to be a somewhat reputed Young Hero, took me quite some effort.

What a loss, what a loss.”

Despite Sky Fierce acting as fussy as a petty vendor, the tone couldn’t conceal the cruelty of his words.

“Hopefully he won’t run into that Northern Land Great Hero,” Heaven Hero said with a laugh.

“Apart from that, the Green Forest Stronghold in the New Continent seems to have suffered a massive blow,” Sky Dark continued.

“If you’re interested, you could go there and develop a presence to fill the ecological niche.”

With so many of the Green Forest’s own gone, those local dogs won’t have many underlings to feed.

Sky Wealth glanced at Sky Dark, “Why don’t you go yourself?

Can’t you spare the time?”

“That’s none of your concern,” Sky Dark responded.

“Why always the New Continent…

although that place never really had many impressive Green Forest figures, right?

‘Northern Wolf’ Tony, ‘Chain Missile’ Gleayard, ‘Silver Transmission Shaft’ Lev…

‘Swooping Eagle’ might count?” Sky Fierce calculated.

“But ‘Chain Missile’, the one with the most potential, died a month ago.”

“Sky Fierce,” Heavenly Machine interjected.

“The parameters for brainwashing that ‘new Sky Speed’ of yours, would you trade them?”

“You haven’t given up on your plan yet, huh?

Heh, the ‘Heavenly King Plan’,” Sky Fierce said.

“Sure, I’ll send it to you afterward.”

The group exchanged some more intelligence.

After that, the Righteousness Assembly concluded smoothly.

The Great Heroes of the Green Forest dispersed.

Heavenly Machine, as expected, was the last to leave.

He was the creator of this cloud server and needed to perform some final tasks, erasing the physical traces of this meeting.

He was, of course, the last to leave.

But, after the Green Forest Men had left, he swiftly altered the previously opened port while unveiling one that had been concealed.

Suddenly, a “Fire Meteor” fell from the sky, plunging into the mist.

Amidst the haze, “A Beam of Light” inquired, “Is the situation irreversible?”

Heavenly Machine replied, “Six Dragons Chariot.”