Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 412 - 56: The Cruel Cashier

Chapter 412: Chapter 56: The Cruel Cashier

Listening to TX-0’s story, Hiroshi Matsushima fell into silence.

"The identity of the Kings outside, he is a Martial Artist, right?"

[It seems so.]

"But he abandoned his own fleet?"

[The Sky Star Fleet. Yes, over a hundred years ago, it was the ace fleet of the Protector’s side.] Zero said, [But it still is now. Do you understand?]

"For the Protectors, those soldiers and warships..."

[That’s the army of the Protectors. Each soldier and warship is just a number, just replaceable parts. They just need to provide a quantity. The true soul of the Sky Star Fleet was only King Aqini. King Aqini’s military martial prowess could perfectly command the Sky Star Fleet. All the training of the mid-level military martial experts in the Sky Star Fleet was aiming to maximize King Aqini’s commands. And the staff group of the Sky Star Fleet was selected according to King Aqini’s personality. This is King Aqini’s fleet, a machine activated by the will of King Aqini.]

[So, when King Aqini left the fleet to attack my Mentor, the combat power of the Sky Star Fleet began to plummet and was eventually seized by the opportunity of the Sixth Martial God’s Red Fleet Prosthetics Followers, who approached and eradicated them. If Hartman had been personally commanding, the Sixth Martial God maybe wouldn’t have found an opportunity for boarding combat.]

[But for King Aqini, this could only be considered a trifling matter. Because they held the absolute advantage in resources. The Red Fleet Prosthetics Followers destroyed the Sky Star Fleet, and even killed a considerable part of the staff group. But by the time of the Seventh Martial God, the Sky Star Fleet appeared again. Even the Seventh Martial God heavily damaged the Sky Star Fleet, it was rebuilt again, even stronger than before.]

[In contrast to the Sixth Martial God. Even when reaching the brink of desperation, the Red Fleet Prosthetics Followers were constantly victorious. One victory after another... until the collapse.]

"A minor victory as if it were a defeat..." Hiroshi Matsushima murmured the phrase.

It was a phrase he had firmly memorized when he was young, but had never practiced.

In the boxing ring, there were only "victory" and "defeat." Winning by scoring one point higher than the opponent or defeating an opponent with a punch was also a victory. He just needed to consider "victory"; only "victory" was everything.

But the battlefield Hero faced was not like this.

Minor victories lead to defeats.

A Hero fights those who control resources. The enemy’s strength is a million times, a billion times that of a Hero. If a Hero, before his sacrifice, only eliminates ten times the number of his enemies, it is meaningless, as if he has been defeated.

This is the situation all "Elite Soldier Tactics" inevitably face.

The Sixth Martial God won all the battles. He continuously broke through blockades, tore apart encirclements, successfully retreated in the face of powerful enemies’ pursuits, and even managed to destroy a vast amount of enemy combat power.

But the elite troops of the Red Fleet Prosthetics Followers were also constantly diminishing.

"Minor victories" prevented him from seizing enemy warships to replenish his own forces—he didn’t have the luxury to do so.

So he kept winning, and then the Red Fleet Prosthetics Followers suddenly collapsed at a critical point.

This was the sixth defeat of the War God.

[So when Hartman went after my mentor, for him it was the right decision.]

[At that time, the Sky Star Fleet was completely dominant. Even if he left, the worst-case scenario would just be the Sky Star Fleet getting destroyed in retaliation, then the Sixth Martial God escaping, and the Protector’s side losing an opportunity to exterminate the War God. But, they could easily rebuild the Sky Star Fleet and seize another chance to exterminate the War God through other fleets. At most, King Aqini just hadn’t anticipated that the Sixth Martial God would really bring about this "worst-case scenario" for him.]

[And my mentor was trapped in... ’that place.’ This led to my mentor not participating in the Seventh Martial God’s counterattack. My mentor’s later breakout attempt ironically indirectly led to the exposure of the Eighth War God. And then the Ninth War God too was...]

[For the Protectors, the ’Arethusa Miracle’ scandal in exchange for ’Turing’ being trapped to death was a very profitable deal.]

In this era, the speed of light was still an insurmountable limit. Therefore, no matter how developed human networks are, a top hacker, when networking across planets, must face delays calculated in minutes.

Plus the time needed to process during transfers...

A hacker’s influence is limited.

"Telling me all this, is it okay? After all, I am just a spineless Martial Arts School boxer. If I really get caught, I might confess everything."

[Haha, the issue is not so significant.] Zero sighed, [Actually, decades ago, my mentor developed a technique to mislead others about her location. Ah, I can’t discuss the specifics. This technology wasn’t matured when she first encountered King Aqini... Forget it, it’s best not to talk about that. In short, the Protectors actually were not sure whether she was still at a specific location. Yet, they actually built a fleet specifically to watch over that place.]

Hiroshi Matsushima was momentarily stunned: "That’s so... outrageous?"

[Right, exactly, they have always been that outrageous. To gamble with a middling fleet against the Hero with the strongest Inner Strength—no matter how small the odds, as long as they win, they can cash in that combat power with one fleet.]

Hiroshi Matsushima’s fingers unconsciously tapped his knee. After a moment, he said, "Indeed. The current situation is still pretty bad..."]

[Although my mentor also said that history, like a river, has a definite direction. But individual struggles can determine many details of this river... a lot of details. I have no doubt about the victory of justice. But if we lack technicians like the Mentor, mankind might have to pay an even greater price.]

"I did think too simply before. So, are you going to reject it?"

Any action of TX-0 on Earth could potentially expose its existence. And any clues related to "Turing" could threaten Zhu Xinyu herself.

Zero also fell silent for a while.

[I also need to think about it.]

[After all, the existence of Paradox City is also a blow to the banner of justice. This problem also needs to be addressed.]

Hiroshi Matsushima nodded, "Take your time to think. That friend isn’t planning to go ahead with the plan tomorrow either."

After saying this, Hiroshi Matsushima maintained his sitting posture and shut down most of his prosthetic body, letting his biological brain gradually sink into sleep.

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

In another corner of the Solar System, the core of TX-0 slowly woke up.

Now, he was in a non-human prosthetic body resembling a drone. Just now, he had delegated his actions to the AI and had taken a sleep.

[AI, report location.]