Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 289 - 289 69 Degradation

289: Chapter 69: Degradation 289: Chapter 69: Degradation Borshu remembered that after he brought the girl into the city with him, he didn’t bother about her anymore.

After entering Domingo City, he accelerated directly into an alley and left the woman behind.

Since then, he had started to challenge local gyms and gather information about the local gangs.

The Green Forest and the gangs were inherently connected.

The transformation of the gangs into the Green Forest Stronghold marked a new ecosystem within which a “stronghold master,” having enhanced his Martial Arts to a certain level and acquired an isotopic battery, could call himself a “Great Hero of the Green Forest.” This status allowed him to roam freely across the planet, continually converting those who shared his ideals into Green Forest Members, spreading like a walking contagion.

This process was akin to the metamorphosis stages of an insect: larva, pupa, and adult emergence.

By then, Borshu had reached the Third Level of the Green Forest, but the vast shared memory also made him familiar with the operational style of the first-level gangs.

He quickly identified the local gang and even committed assassinations to acquire supplies.

Meanwhile, he openly challenged others to duel and set wagers.

Borshu’s goal was to stir up trouble in this area, making the local gang leaders and the people of Jianghu aware that the “Legacy of the Eighth Martial God” was being coveted.

In this process, inevitably, someone would stumble upon relevant clues.

He just needed to assimilate those who held the clues into the Green Forest later on.

Yes, Borshu knew that such actions were not in line with the Path of Chivalry and were typical of Green Forest thinking, but he couldn’t control himself.

His desire to “break free from the Green Forest” drove him to blindly follow the Green Forest’s instincts.

He couldn’t control himself.

In the process of setting up this situation, he had long forgotten about the woman he used for training himself to “suppress his killing intent.”

He really hadn’t expected to meet him again.

Borshu grabbed the girl abruptly, “Who are you…

No, how did you find me?

Who sent you?”

“Wh-Wh-Wh…” The girl cried while wiping her tears, “I just watched you from afar…

Great Hero!

I just saw you enter this alley.

Thank goodness.

Maybe only you would come to rescue me…”

—This is absurd…

Borshu let go of her hand.

He found the girl utterly unreasonable.

What kind of person would seek help from the Green Forest?

Hero Yuan turned around and walked away.

The surrounding areas of the alley were residential.

It was now nighttime, the working hours for the cybernetically enhanced people, so there were few people around.

But if they continued to make a commotion, it could potentially attract attention.

If the government really intended to investigate, they could utilize any civilian’s Perception Prosthesis.

Only heroes or members of the Green Forest with illegal prosthetic eyes and firewalls could barely escape.

These thugs, who had forsaken the protection of civilization and betrayed the world, had to learn to hide themselves and avoid excessive scrutiny.

The girl still followed on her own, still wiping her tears, “I’m really useless, Great Hero, I feel like I can’t live without you…” she sobbed.

Borshu suppressed the rising killing intent within him, “Live your life as you did before!”

Without my dad and mom, I can’t venture deep into the wilderness alone…” the girl said softly, “And the only uncle who had a mechanical body also died, and with a big haul, I can’t transport it back…”

—How can this person be so foolish?

Apart from scavenging, she knows nothing else?

Borshu thought to himself.

The brain of a Benchmark Man was slightly more evolved than that of a Natural Person, and if studied diligently, she should have been able to acquire more skills…

Borshu turned his head and evaluated the woman.

She seemed about fifteen or sixteen years old.

Surely she ought to have some life skills?

—Or could it be because she sees me as a “Great Hero” and plans to stick with me, taking advantage of me?

Indeed, the kind are often taken advantage of…

Suddenly, Borshu knocked his own forehead with his fist.

The girl was startled and screamed, “Great Hero?”

“It’s nothing…” Borshu waved his hand, stopping the noise maker from screaming further.

He planned to continue to practice controlling his killing intent.

But at that moment, he sensed something was not quite right.

After a while, Borshu suddenly asked, “Are you hurt?”

He noticed dark bloodstains on the ground behind them.

Normally, the girl should have had a somewhat prominent smell of blood, but Borshu had not installed an olfactory prosthesis—more specifically, a chemical component perception prosthesis.

He had only just realized this.

The girl nodded her head, then shook her head, “It’s nothing…”

Borshu examined her closely.

He retrieved data from his brain for comparison and noticed that the food-carrying backpack the girl had and several water bottles she had picked up from deceased family members were missing.

The girl found Borshu’s gaze somewhat terrifying.

She stepped back and said, “It’s really nothing big…

I’m still alive…” she sobbed, but before she could finish, she started crying again.

Borshu did another data comparison.

He noticed that the girl’s walking posture was somewhat strange.

He approached and roughly flipped the tattered fabric she was wrapped in.

There were wounds on the girl’s legs and stomach, seemingly not from sharp weapons but rather slightly sharp protruding angles, not very deep, with traces of flesh turned outward.

Most of the area had started to scab over, but her recent running after him had reopened these wounds.

“What’s going on?”

Borshu realized he seemed to have completely lost control of his speech functions.

He had no idea why he had asked that question.

The girl seemed to be saying something, and it was as if Borshu was listening, yet not listening.

He didn’t want to listen, but his brain processed it automatically with sentimental logic.

His Inner Strength also operated on its own, driven by some terrible emotion, swirling towards the surrounding private servers.

—No…

this is wrong…

there’s no need…

—The law should prevail…

the law…

The last of these emotions also fell into darkness.

Borshu turned his head and left.

During this minute, perhaps a Jianghu person had really died.

A few minutes later, Borshu placed a backpack with some blood stains and several water bottles in front of the girl.

Among the items he threw, there were also bandages and topical ointments.

The girl was overjoyed yet horrified to see the “Great Hero” kneeling on the ground, sobbing.

…………………………………………

Yuan Wenren re-entered the slums of Domingo City.

This area was made up of makeshift homes built with large pieces of plastic waste instead of proper building materials.

She had seen the photos online.

Seven people were dead.

Yuan Wenren had specifically come because she felt something was off about the photos.

This didn’t seem like the work of gang members.

The Female Hero spotted a blood-stained translucent plastic from afar.

That must have been the crime scene.

She approached quickly but soon halted her steps.

There were two men, who appeared to be government agents, recording something.

Yuan Wenren didn’t get closer but changed her direction.

As a sniper, her prosthetic eye was very effective.

So, she saw the tragic sight inside the “house.”

“Green Forest…” Yuan Wenren clenched her fist.

“Hero?” At this moment, a voice appeared beside her.

Yuan Wenren immediately looked in the opposite direction, and only then looked around, pretending to be confused.

The person speaking was fully cyberized, draped in a white lab coat, with a featureless curved face.

This was an official Scientific Knight.

“You don’t need to be so guarded,” shrugged the Scientific Knight.

“It’s not mandated that we must kill a Hero upon seeing one.

I don’t intend to kill a Hero right now, so no need to be so wary.”

Yuan Wenren didn’t respond but pretended to retreat clumsily.

The Scientific Knight made a “sighing” sound, saying, “Fine, I’ll just straight-up mention something of interest to you Jianghu folks.

The deceased are from two families, very close neighbors.

Each had more than ten blunt force trauma wounds, likely killed by a martial arts master in a flurry of punches.

However, the only good news is that these lowlifes had no civil protection.

They were deprived of protection years ago due to looting others’ survival supplies.

So this isn’t a failure of the authorities.”

—What kind of good news is that…

As Yuan Wenren maintained the appearance of a panicked retreat, she cursed inwardly.

But she slowed her steps slightly.

“My mentor, Mr.

Wang Yi Emery, specializes in medicine.

I came to see if there’s anything worth salvaging.

That guy, who I don’t know what he’s up to, is also a menace.

If we just let him roam around the city, who knows what else he might trigger,” shrugged the Scientific Knight.

“If you Heroes are free, maybe you could try killing him?”

The flippant tone of the Scientific Knight almost made Yuan Wenren want to punch him in the face.

But…

—Even if it benefits the government, I must first kill that member of the Green Forest.

Yuan Wenren, not looking back at the Scientific Knight again felt like her cybernetics packed a combustion engine, with an explosive rush of heat surging towards her brain.

The Hero’s mind was full of the bloody carnage she had just witnessed.

Yuan Wenren had intended to wait for Xiang Shan to wake up before deciding anything.

But she couldn’t hold back any longer.

She didn’t even return to the base, she executed her Inner Strength on the streets, searching for evidence.

The family of seven, indeed as the Scientific Knight had said, had some dirty dealings.

But as far as she could find, there was no record of murder.

Yuan Wenren recalled the appearance of the Green Forest member dueling with the martial master from the martial arts school.

—He had concealed his intent to kill, but for what purpose?

Did these two families do something he couldn’t tolerate?

But was that a crime, needing to be paid for with “death”?

Was it a sin that required the lives of seven people to compensate?

Probably not, right?

While hiding her tracks, Yuan Wenren returned to the base.

She took the box containing her weapons, bowed to Xiang Shan’s closed-off carriage, then turned and left.