Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 426 - 70 How terrible

Chapter 426: Chapter 70 How terrible

Hiroshi Matsushima was awakened by a series of knocking sounds.

It was now daytime, a time when everyone was starting to recharge. Hiroshi Matsushima had kept a regular schedule for decades; unless he lent his prosthetic body and biological brain to TX-0, he would usually be asleep at this time.

He maintained a calm demeanor and opened the door.

Then, he saw Xiang Shan followed by several others.

"Hey, Matsushima, I went to promote your course for you," Xiang Shan came over with a roguish grin, whispering as if sharing a secret, "These are the people who came here admiring your reputation and want to take your short course. I’m the one promoting it. What do you think, should I get a commission?"

Hiroshi Matsushima looked at the cybernetically enhanced people behind Xiang Shan, who were all cloaked in black robes.

Just by their posture, these individuals were experts. Moreover, their seemingly casual stances were the kind that could instantly shift into several starting positions for combat. It appeared they were constantly vigilant of their surroundings.

These were the Martial Artists who had fought on the line between life and death.

In other words, they were the typical people of Jianghu.

Hiroshi Matsushima felt as if his peaceful life was slipping away. He stepped back to close the door.

But Xiang Shan used his foot to stop Hiroshi Matsushima from closing the door. After all, this prosthetic body could trigger an intense sensation of discomfort from its pain system, and certainly, his foot’s external armor was harder than Hiroshi Matsushima’s door.

Xiang Shan said, "Can you give me some face? You used to lecture for those from the vocal cord surgery underworld when they came for courses, right?"

"That was purely a transaction," Hiroshi Matsushima replied, his expression unchanged, "They sign up by themselves on the website, purchase the highest-level VIP course, and that’s it. The discounts are calculated the same way. I don’t see the need to give private lessons outside the dojo. This place isn’t equipped for teaching."

Implicitly, he was saying he did not want to encounter Heroes here.

Or rather, he did not want others to know he had connections with Heroes.

"That’s no fun, is it? Aren’t you aware of what you do?"

At that moment, Hiroshi Matsushima stiffened and changed his posture.

In the eyes of an expert like Xiang Shan, it seemed as if Matsushima’s external strength became visibly weaker in an instant through the prosthetic eye.

TX-0 had come online.

TX-0 scratched his head and raised his voice slightly, "Well, everyone, come in."

He was using the same voice pack that Hiroshi Matsushima had just used, so they sounded identical, and everyone thought it was Hiroshi Matsushima speaking.

In an instant, Hiroshi Matsushima regained control of his body. He asked TX-0 in his mind, quite annoyed, "What are you doing?"

"My mission was to wait for the Mona Knight Order project to reach its later stages and then seize their experimental data all at once. Now that this mission is completed, I don’t need to hide everything like before. If it really comes down to it, I could delete myself now without issues. How about you?"

"If you delete yourself, I won’t have any flaws left, and I could live peacefully in this city," Matsushima countered.

"Listen, Hiroshi, that’s just wishful thinking. You know it yourself, don’t you? You can’t live like that forever. Your martial arts are too advanced. Even if you carefully contain your own strength, it’s inevitable that you’ll accidentally cross the invisible lines set by the Protectors. Besides, you’re a person with pride. You couldn’t erase your character to become a worm crawling under their feet. You have killed Protectors with me before. If one day, you had to confront the Protectors over something, you would kill them without hesitation, right?"

After a moment of silence, Hiroshi Matsushima surprisingly did not deny it.

But he said, "Yet having Heroes come here is just increasing the risk that I’ll be added to the Protector’s elimination list."

"However, you’ve gained channels and relationships among the Heroes. Should a day come when you must leave the city, they will offer you assistance. Considering this benefit, taking on the ’risk of being discovered’ is quite worthwhile." TX-0 paused for a moment, "Do I need to list out the expected value for you?"

"Forget it." Hiroshi Matsushima bowed his head, looking at his fists. He clenched them and then relaxed, "I don’t plan to become a Hero yet. What can someone like me, who hasn’t mastered Inner Strength, do anyway?"

Meanwhile, on the other side, Ai Tielang, Gaoqiao Ziyi, Kiambang, and the accompanying Yadali, Brady, and Babbitt were all carefully observing the Martial Arts School Boxer.

The reason they had come was actually because of Babbitt.

On the way to Pine Eagle City, Xiang Shan had talked about their respective purposes with Babbitt. Babbitt knew that Xiang Shan came to a Martial Arts School in Pine Eagle City to refine his external strength. This was not uncommon in Jianghu, but based precisely on this, Babbitt mistook Xiang Shan for a "somewhat formidable Hero."

After all, it’s rare to hear of Great Heroes practicing in Martial Arts Schools.

So, when Xiang Shan demonstrated his level of external strength, Babbitt was astounded.

After Xiang Shan had made deals with other Heroes, Babbitt naturally asked about Xiang Shan’s true intentions for coming here.

After a brief contemplation, Xiang Shan told the truth.

In his own words, he was helping Hiroshi Matsushima sell classes.

The Heroes here were the allies he would need for his future battles in Paradox City. Enhancing their Martial Arts Cultivation was indeed necessary.

Zero had already completed his mission on Earth, so there was no need to be as cautious as three years ago. Moreover, Hiroshi Matsushima did indeed possess an extremely high level of external strength and a wealth of teaching experience.

The grandmasters of Jianghu truly couldn’t match Hiroshi in these two aspects. After all, there are specializations within trades.

Still, even though Xiang Shan said Hiroshi was trustworthy, the Heroes remained somewhat wary.

Many athletes actually look down on Heroes. They view Heroes as rootless drifters, individuals without stable possessions or steadfast hearts, lacking in ethical notions, or supporters of the bizarre philosophies of Martial Ancestors in their later years—basically, the whole spiel promoted by the Protectors.

Moreover, the truly skilled among these competitive Martial Artists are indeed not very afraid of Heroes.

The vast majority of Martial Artists cannot use the technique of witnessing in an unexpected combat situation to defeat their enemies. This is already quite an advanced form of Internal Martial Arts. Ordinary practitioners of Internal - such as Vigorous Kui from the Green Forest Thugs, whom Xiang Shan had encountered long before - would need to team up with the likes of Lev with the Silver Transmission Shaft. Vigorous Kui would remain motionless, completely focused on hacking.

And even for someone like Xiang Shan, to subdue a Houndhawk with Inner Strength in an instant, like he did yesterday, he’d first need to locate that Houndhawk and ensure the direction of its gaze before he could make a successful strike.

The top competitors among Martial Artists can withstand an Inner Strength hack and even manage to counter-kill average Heroes.

Especially those who’ve been Bounty Hunters and obtained firewalls from the Protectors.

They were unclear about the attitude of this Martial Arts School Boxer, but from the words of the Nameless Senior, they knew his external strength was truly formidable.

Far stronger than theirs.

Even in the moment he invited them through the door, he could disguise himself as an ordinary Martial Artist.

How terrifying!