Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 403 - 47: Recounting an Assassination

Chapter 403: Chapter 47: Recounting an Assassination

2071, some month.

In a small Latin American city, an automated delivery vehicle was moving through the city.

It was a fully automated package delivery device. By the 2070s, the global logistics system scarcely needed humans anymore.

Thanks to the expansion of the human cyborgization process, there had been a significant tilt in scientific research resources toward cybernetics and systems theory. The research findings on consciousness controlling prosthetic bodies inspired the study of communication and control in intelligent systems. In short, the automation era accelerated with the progression of human cyborgization.

By the ’60s, Xiang Shan began planning to establish a global logistics system.

This was also a dream of Xiang Shan’s. During his childhood, it was the period of rampant growth in the courier industry of the Republic. The courier business was quite developed during that time, with extremely fast deliveries and low prices, to the point where "takeout was far cheaper than eating in-stores" was a common situation.

For the older generation, this was actually counterintuitive. Because "buying something" and "buying something, then having it specially delivered home" clearly involved more service with the latter. The latter should result in some additional cost.

But the reality was the complete opposite. Since the sellers of goods could save on a range of operating costs like store rent, they could offer more generous discounts.

At the same time, price competition among shopping platforms also forced those merchants to participate in this price war in various forms.

Humans, however, inevitably prefer things that are both high-quality and inexpensive. Only a fool would pass up a bargain.

And during this process, "cheap courier service" was also built upon the sweat of couriers.

Xiang Shan didn’t like this process. But conversely, his common sense and living habits told him that modern life included an efficient and inexpensive logistics system.

Therefore, Xiang Shan funded the creation of a global logistics enterprise—a kind that was legally completely unrelated to the superhuman company.

At that time, he was already a big shot whom every nation had to give face to. The various obstacles that the global logistics system was bound to encounter meant nothing in front of Xiang Shan.

The system was fully comprised of robots, with a significant staff employed to maintain it. The logistics system provided plenty of jobs, including fault checking, repair, and the retrieval of malfunctioning robots.

It was basically considered an industry with low work stress. It was also the "ideal profession" for many people in the 2070s.

At the same time, due to the unified deployment of the computer system and Anatoly’s outstanding theoretical contribution to routing algorithms, the system could always allocate the city’s logistics resources in an almost optimal solution manner, delivering goods to designated clients, so the overall project costs were significantly reduced.

This logistics system consisted mainly of cargo hubs located at global airports, train stations, ports, and highways, fully autonomous vehicles, as well as automatic unloading and loading systems deployed in every community. This system also took into account the reality that half of the world’s communities couldn’t maintain automatic unloading robots, so those communities also hired dedicated personnel to manage packages automatically unloaded by vehicles.

This was an era when humanity was completely standardized and the human cyborgization process was in full swing.

Xiang Shan believed that this mode of production was the future for humans.

As for Zhu Xinyu’s evaluation, "It’s just so-so."

"But no matter what, I still have to thank ’Xiang Shan’," Zhu Xinyu thought, "If this system weren’t set to operate fully intelligently, it would indeed be a bit challenging."

As she spoke, she extended her consciousness and controlled the internal unloading arm to damage a box.

A cybernetically enhanced person, nearly curled into a cube, was thus activated.

Zhu Xinyu blinked the breathing light of the vehicle’s internal camera to communicate, [David, how are you?]

[It’s like being stuck in a can for three weeks; claustrophobia is about to set in.]

He said this and started to destroy two other boxes.

In the meantime, he glanced at the label on the box.

"High-end toys... you really thought this through..." he muttered.

[No problem. After all, it’s not easy to pass through with such big mechanical devices.] Although David didn’t say this to Zhu Xinyu, she could guess David’s thoughts from his actions.

After all, they had been friends for thirty or forty years.

Yawgmoth and Xiang Shan also woke up one after another.

Upon waking, Xiang Shan shook his body, producing metallic clanging noises. In this era, full cybernetic transformation that only kept the brain was very rare. He sighed, "Good morning... By the way, what city is this?"

"The nearest city is San Miguel de Allende, but we are now in the suburbs, and it’s noon, not morning," David corrected.

Xiang Shan said, "I think it’s normal to say ’good morning’ when you wake up."

David sighed, "Yawgmoth, how are you?"

"I’ve reviewed the swordsmanship videos from the ’44 Olympics and learned a lot," the last fully cybernetically transformed individual said.

"Why are you still watching that stuff?" David sighed.

"When my martial power was low, I also thought these natural persons had low combat power. Their combat sports videos weren’t for life-and-death fights and didn’t follow the same logic as our martial arts, leading to skewed practice," Xiang Shan said earnestly, "But as my own martial arts improved, I think it’s fine to watch them. If you ignore the negligible strength and speed, and disregard specific movements, extracting the core logic of confrontation, it might not be impossible to integrate into our martial studies."

Yawgmoth nodded, "Indeed. They have elevated a single attack and defense strategy to a considerable height within limited rules and severe physical constraints. Anything with theoretical depth is worth studying."

As for why it’s the ’44 Olympics... it’s because since the ’50s, the "Number One Martial Arts Tournament" and the Paralympics have far exceeded the Olympics in popularity. Many old athletes discarded their battle-scarred bodies and switched to competing in the unlimited events of the Paralympics or the Number One Martial Arts Tournament. The Paralympics had a higher technical level and entertainment value among the participants.

Xiang Shan and Yawgmoth, of course, also studied modern cyborg athletes, but they themselves were the highest-level martial artists among cybernetically enhanced people. Looking back at predecessors for inspiration to advance might be more convenient.

"Okay, okay, great heroes, turn around for the cybernetic inspection," David intervened.