Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 414 - 58 Bonfire

Chapter 414: Chapter 58 Bonfire

After nightfall.

Xiang Shan arrived at the east side of Pine Eagle City as he had planned in advance.

This area was a landfill, where some discarded household garbage was piled up.

Unlike the space warship-grade waste at Recycling Station Town, these were mostly one-time-use, either very thin containers or tools made from carbon fiber materials that were difficult to remelt. Since domestic 3D printers could hardly process them, they ended up piled together after disposal.

Some people specialized in transporting these items to distant landfills. The salaries for these transporters were sometimes provided by the Protectors, who found the trash unsightly, or sometimes by nearby residents pooling resources together—though it was never quite certain.

Mr. Babbitt had arrived early. His prosthetic body was highly anthropomorphic, unlike Crab who had integrated his broadcasting equipment into his prosthetic body, so he had to carry an extra set of equipment with him.

There were also a few young Heroes. Xiang Shan could detect a youthful, restless energy in their posture, a hallmark of young people.

Mr. Babbitt and the young Heroes were following an old tradition, picking up a basin and then lighting a campfire. The fuel was carbon fiber scraps found in the garbage heap. One of the young Heroes dismantled a bullet and used the gunpowder to ignite the carbon fiber waste.

The ignition point of carbon elements changes with the macro and microstructures of the material. If the structure is porous at a macro level and can easily adsorb oxygen, it’s more prone to catching fire. At a micro level, if the carbon contains more substances with low ignition points and has a looser crystal structure, it is also more easily ignited. Charcoal has an ignition point of around 200 degrees Celsius, coal is at about 500 degrees, and carbon fiber is around the same, while diamond is over a thousand degrees.

With a thorough search of the landfill, it was always possible to find some waste that was suitable for burning.

But to Xiang Shan, this practice was... somewhat...

Silent.

Yes, he could understand humanity’s attachment to fire. In primitive times, a million years ago, even before evolving into Homo sapiens, humans had learned to use fire. Humans definitely didn’t have the time to imprint their "monthly salary" lifestyle into their genes, but they certainly had enough time to embed the "fondness for campfires" into their genetic makeup.

Therefore, even Cybers, when having a party, would want to light a fire.

But...

Materials made of carbon fiber didn’t burn very well.

The pale, blazing flames just steadily clung to the large chunk of material, spreading slowly.

There was nothing like the effect of a "raging bonfire."

However, this was also understandable.

In this era, it was difficult to find even a blade of grass in the wilderness. Maybe in the cold zones there were still some green plants, but at least here it was impossible to find better combustible materials.

"Couldn’t we simply connect to a local network and project a campfire AR model everyone can see?" Xiang Shan couldn’t help himself from saying, "Or is this some kind of ancient... uh, tradition?"

Clearly, this tradition wasn’t older than Xiang Shan, since he didn’t create it. It was also not in the knowledge left by the Eighth Martial God, but this could be because the Eighth Martial God was too reclusive to know about it or he knew but didn’t include it in the Personality Mask.

"No, no, no, we just think it’s more atmospheric this way. We can’t be too ostentatious with lighting around here, and even with AR, the effect of the brightness of the flames wouldn’t be portrayed. It’s fine this way," Mr. Babbitt replied and then said, "Hero Noname, you really did come."

The young Heroes all looked his way.

"Is this the Hero Noname that you mentioned, Mr. Ba?" A younger Hero asked with curiosity.

Those Heroes naturally deduced that "Noname" was a pseudonym, or a new alias used by a great Hero. Based on Mr. Babbitt’s description, they could tell that this "Noname" had exceptional Martial Arts and couldn’t be some nameless individual. If such a Hero were active in the New World, they would have heard some rumors about him.

It wasn’t that no one doubted "Noname’s" true identity. But the Heroes still agreed to the visitor’s request to observe.

The reason wasn’t difficult, as the Heroes didn’t fear this form of probing.

In the era of Natural Persons, if a group of Rebels met and a stranger intruded, it would be seriously bad news. But the Heroes weren’t too afraid of such circumstances.

The reason was "Cyber Martial Arts."

Inner and external strength greatly widened the gap between "masters" and "foot soldiers." Every master possessed high mobility and individual combat capabilities and had variable yet extraordinary surveillance abilities, depending on the strength of their Inner Strength and the quality of their Prosthetic Eye.

It was hard for large troop movements to escape the notice of Heroes. They could evade by relying on their higher mobility.

Even if it was a Tactical Missile, these Heroes could dodge it.

If the intruders were Mobile Cavalry hunters, they even had the guts to turn around and consume the scout.

Daring to hold such meetings on the outskirts of the city, the Heroes were also prepared for various eventualities.

Xiang Shan nodded, "Don’t mind me, I’m just here to have a look and gain some insight."

Another slightly older Hero clasped his hands together and said, "Please don’t joke, senior. Mr. Ba has said that a few days ago, senior almost playfully wiped out an entire Green Forest pioneer squad. Your skills already surpass many of us. And senior also fought in places unknown to Mr. Ba, I’ve heard, capturing quite a lot and emerged unscathed."

Xiang Shan waved his hand dismissively, "That was nothing. My name’s Noname, how may I address you, young Hero?"

"I belong to the Flash Speed Sect, named Yadali." The young Hero reciprocated the gesture, then asked, "I’ve heard Hero Noname has ties with the Solo Kill King of the Redstone Gate? Then we can also consider ourselves friends. The Redstone Gate of Senior Solo Kill King and our Flash Speed Sect are brother sects; we have close relations."

Xiang Shan nodded, "Then indeed, we can be called friends. My interactions with Brother Solo Kill King are limited to us having fought the government together a few years back; we’re not very close, but certainly friends."

"Ha, then you can’t favor one side later," another Hero joked, "I’m Brady of the Chaotic Blade Sect, a pleasure to meet you."

Xiang Shan returned the gesture, then inquired, "Are your sects here concerning the division of spoils?

The two nodded in agreement, "That’s right."

Yadali explained, "My Flash Speed Sect and the Chaotic Blade Sect recently intercepted a shipment of goods, only there’s a bit of a dispute over the distribution of it. Moreover, only a master can truly utilize that stuff, so we’re waiting for the seniors of our sects to decide."