Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 388 - 32 Memory Damage

Chapter 388: Chapter 32 Memory Damage

Xiang Shan quickly confirmed two things.

First, technological advancement was indeed very significant. At least the battleship outer armor from two hundred years ago was no match for the modern sonicon blade, not even as sturdy as wood.

All it took was a gentle touch, and the sonicon blade would leave an ever-extending cut on the battleship outer armor.

The battleship outer armor from two hundred years ago simply didn’t account for defense against sonicon blades.

Secondly, there really was nothing here.

According to Yuki, when he unearthed Xiang Shan back then, it was through drilling into a narrow space resembling a ventilation duct or something of the sort.

For Homo sapiens, this was a highly dangerous operation. Recklessly diving into confined spaces, one could easily die from lack of oxygen.

Although Yuki’s physical body proportion was quite high at that time, he was primarily able to climb out using the prosthetic body of his limbs and feet.

This was also what many children of the Recycling Station Town did on a daily basis. Their prosthetic bodies were small, so they could squeeze in and out.

However, it was not without risks.

Every few years, there would be children disappearing in these spaces.

Xiang Shan just hoped he wouldn’t unearth any fresh corpses. That would be too distressing.

But things didn’t go as he expected. Although there were no fresh corpses, Xiang Shan still dug up an old one.

Xiang Shan sighed, and while giving the sonicon blade a rest, he buried the body.

He didn’t know whose corpse it was, nor did he have the means to find the deceased’s relatives. Moreover, in this era, corpses were simply dragged away to decompose and recycle resources. They had forgotten the cultural practices about funerals.

Then, Xiang Shan continued to work.

Soon, he was going deeper.

"Hmm, it looks like the main gun and power core were blown up," Xiang Shan said, "and then some parts were salvaged. That being said, this..."

"Those legends are full of inaccuracies," Eight reappeared behind Xiang Shan and said, "Not to mention, the era of ’Eighth Martial God’ and that of Seven were only about thirty or forty years apart. Many of the battle achievements attributed to Seven in those legends belonged to someone else, even to the Protectors—where the stances of the two sides were completely reversed. It’s a bit of a daydream to deduce the identity of this warship from the stories in those legends."

This thought process should have actually been "Xiang Shan’s own brain coming up with this," but as Xiang Shan was assimilating the Soth Divine Realm of the Eighth Martial God, it manifested as "Eight speaking."

Xiang Shan slapped his head, "I know... but this damned place really doesn’t seem to have anything usable—speaking of which, those legendary tales, which ones do you think are credible?"

"Hard to say, they’re riddled with suspicions. Four’s actions were publicized far and wide, so there are fewer mistakes. But from Six to Seven... it’s strange," Eight said. "Seven took over the Righteous Army that Six had organized, and the process was just a bit too smooth."

Xiang Shan paused for a moment.

Native asked, "Could it be that Six deliberately created Seven? Was the situation that dire?"

"Based on what I know of myself, it’s basically unlikely. But it’s hard to say," Eight replied, "Involuntary human experimentation—Eighth Martial God was involved with that too. If you really have to compromise with reality... it’s not completely impossible."

"But the problem is, Seven’s talents were manifest in ’commanding.’ But it’s very hard to predict what characteristics a Personality Mask will have," Xiang Shan recalled, "’Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan’... wasn’t completely ignorant in this aspect either. But it shouldn’t be that miraculous."

"No, definitely not as exaggerated as in the legends. Like I said, in my era, several of Seven’s achievements hadn’t yet been written as his own."

Xiang Shan was now in the middle of the wreckage of the warship. This was a place that few people had entered in two hundred years.

Xiang Shan looked around. Massive amounts of alloy were twisted together like maltose, then deformed under high temperatures. The walls still bore traces that hadn’t disappeared in two hundred years.

"Such a disaster. Blown up like this, it doesn’t look like there are any usable parts left. No wonder no one has thought of reclaiming it," Eight said.

"Native Xiang Shan" said, "If there were still something valuable... then it’s not necessarily the case that I was dug out by that lad Yuki."

"True. If it hadn’t been burned to such a state, I reckon other reclaimers would have come a long time ago."

Xiang Shan continued to delve deeper. This used to be the central axis of the warship, the barrel of the high-energy particle stream main gun. The energy of the high-energy particle stream was incredibly high and terrifying, no metal could withstand it, so the interior of the barrel was essentially a vacuum, its inner walls lined with a magnetic field generator, using the magnetic field to contain the high-energy particle stream.

This device could control the energy inside the barrel well. But it had no defense against attacks from outside the barrel.

Everything was ruined.

Xiang Shan turned a corner.

After this battleship had crashed into the atmosphere, it broke into several segments, the front wedged into different parts of the earth.

Xiang Shan even had to dig through some soil to keep moving forward.

Soon, he reached the end.

It was a bridge that only had a small half remaining. The bridge was destroyed beyond recognition, the foremost part crashing into the ground, then its material became scattered munitions that destroyed the rear portion. The few remaining walls also showed signs of high temperatures.

"There can’t possibly be any clues here..."

As Xiang Shan said this, he tried to turn around and leave.

Then, his body went limp, nearly collapsing to the ground.

"What’s... going... on..."

Pain.

Agony.

The agony was like ants crawling out from within Xiang Shan’s body. Xiang Shan didn’t know what kind of feeling this was, but...

But...

But...

But...

Xiang Shan clutched the back of his neck.

—Why...

"You have related memories," Eight’s voice seemed to come from behind Xiang Shan, "But the problem is, your related memories are all recorded in sectors of severe brain damage. This is a memory of pain. As the Restoring Enzyme repaired the brain, this segment of memory was reset, leaving behind only the concept of ’pain.’"

Xiang Shan was stunned for a moment, then slowly stood up, "I indeed came here before... or did I suffer some hardship in other Emperor Shitian-class ships?"

"It’s also possible because you are indeed a clone, and then, it was some Black Hand behind the scenes who sent you here, and you felt the pain," Eight said jokingly.

But this was no joke.

Xiang Shan was very clear about that.

"There’s a problem," Xiang Shan said in a low voice, "Definitely a problem."

.......................................

Hiroshi Matsushima left his martial arts school as usual and returned to his home.

But the moment he pushed open the door, his motion froze. The lights inside his house were on. A man with an unusually burly upper body was sitting on the floor of the living room.

"Yo, Hiroki," Xiang Shan said.