Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 434 - 78 Exam Content

Chapter 434: Chapter 78 Exam Content

After parting with the others, Yuki followed Xiang Shan with a pained expression on his face.

Xiang Shan then threw a USB-shaped storage device at him, "This is the exam paper for this time. Install it on yourself."

Yuki plugged the device into a port at the back of his head and said, "Master, why do you always seem like you want to kick me out of the sect?"

With his hands clasped behind his back, Xiang Shan walked ahead of Yuki and replied, "What’s so good about being my disciple, after all?"

"Eh? Master, your true identity..."

"You know my real identity, don’t you? My name," Xiang Shan said. "Do you know about my previous disciples?"

"Huh? Are you suddenly telling me that I actually have senior brothers and sisters?" Yuki was shocked, "Brothers and sisters..."

"Ah, no, they’ve actually been gone for a long time. They died two hundred years ago," Xiang Shan countered, "Isn’t ’The Legend of Martial Ancestor’ known as the most famous collective creation of this era? Your cultural life is quite dull, Yuki."

"Ah? It’s not ... that ..." Yuki was deeply puzzled. "It sounds a bit far-fetched. I think it would be better to wait for you to regain your memory ..."

"Forget it, I was just teasing you. It seems like you really didn’t take that as actual history. That’s good."

"No... forget it."

—I just feel that the image of the Martial God in that story is quite different from what I have seen in reality.

That’s what Yuki thought to himself.

"Actually, I’ve never formally taken on a disciple," Xiang Shan said. "As long as they’re not lapdogs, I’ll teach anyone who comes to me with questions about martial arts. Whether they are my disciples or not, I teach the same content. From this perspective, except for the old pals who first started ’Reopen Heaven and Earth’ and recreated a new genre of martial arts with me, all martial artists are my disciples. I... ah, might as well assume I am him. To be precise, the first ’Xiang Shan’ was called ’Martial Ancestor’ because all of his martial arts were open source. Now the memories are almost entirely open source too."

"From that perspective, whether you’re my disciple or not, I will teach you all the same until you graduate or something happens to me. You’ve been partnered with Liu Ri for three years; you know well that I have no ’secret techniques’ hidden up my sleeve."

After pondering for a moment, Yuki asked, "So, Master, do you think it’s dangerous to be your disciple?"

"Anyone who’s interacted with me gets moved up a level on the government’s wanted priority list. Not to mention close friends and family. Let alone ’disciples.’ If your identity as a disciple is exposed now, there’s even a slim chance you could command a following. Who else would the government go after if not you?" Xiang Shan paused for a moment and added, "And you don’t currently have the charisma to command heroes. If some foolish heroes took up your call, that wouldn’t be great either."

With the corners of his mouth turned down, Yuki said disdainfully, "But that’s no reason to kick me out of the sect now, is it? At least find some sectarian rule or something, right?"

"Very well, now there’s a rule. If you fail the exam, you’ll be encouraged to leave," Xiang Shan turned around and patted Yuki on the shoulder. "Don’t think I was just joking with you earlier. I’m seriously notifying you that you are indeed at risk of being encouraged to leave."

In the midst of their conversation, they had arrived at the entrance to the Pine Eagle Building.

The Pine Eagle Building, the core structure of Pine Eagle City, where the City Lord’s Official Residence is located. However, no one lives in the first one hundred floors of the building. Whether it’s because those Lords disdain living at such a height, I don’t know. The first floor actually has only a small door, like the entrance to a single-unit building.

Xiang Shan had to sidestep to get in.

Yuki exclaimed with a "Huh?" "Master, this... what you’re installing on me..."

"It’s reinstating an older version," Xiang Shan nodded. "You remember what happened over three years ago, right? Back then, in Recycling Station Town, I prepared this installation package. You can quickly uninstall those hero features and reinstall your own civilian system. I still have that backup file. Also, the plugins assisting the operation of the prosthetic body were downloaded from the government websites, probably around a hundred and fifty-year-old stuff."

Yuki felt as if the world was spinning.

That system... and those extension plugins, they were riddled with who knows how many government surveillance backdoors.

Even the conversation they just had could have been monitored.

Although he and Xiang Shan had been using infrared to transmit audio data for their conversation, with these patches installed, nothing was safe anymore.

It was just like his past self.

But...

Yuki, who had been a hero for three years, couldn’t adapt at all.

The feeling was like being stripped of all armor and thrown into a hail of bullets.

Yuki felt completely unprotected, even his prosthetic limbs trembling slightly before the auxiliary program instantly corrected it.

"These plugins are outdated and are only for dealing with clueless brats. You’ve studied for three years, write some patches yourself, or disable some functions using commands; the method’s up to you." Xiang Shan said, "We’re going up to the hundredth floor now. There, you have to take one look outside the window. If this action triggers any backdoors in your current system, you fail. If you haven’t prepared yourself before we reach the hundredth floor, you fail. Only if you use ’your own created view’ to see the world, will you pass this exam."

Yuki suddenly felt dizzy.

The city’s map was carefully designed. The shadows of Pine Eagle City’s five superstructures, together with the city’s main thoroughfares and the array of anti-air electromagnetic guns on the ground, combine to resemble several QR codes. These patches of color can be combined into several different QR codes.

And QR codes come with a powerful error-correction algorithm, even if you only see part of it, you can still pass on the correct information.

When the prosthetic eye touches these QR codes, the backdoors within the prosthetic body are triggered. Soon, the government will know that someone is surveying the entire city from within the Pine Eagle Building.

Ordinary people wouldn’t do such a thing.

Therefore, the government will quickly get involved.

And there’s a completely cyberized Martial Artist next to Yuki.

The government would instantly realize that a hero has been exposed, along with their real-time exact location.

Right in the city center.

Yuki said, "Master... this... you’re risking your own life by proctoring this exam, aren’t you? If I mess up, you’ll be discovered too, right?"

"Hmm, it’s the thrill that counts," Xiang Shan slung his stick over his shoulder. "Plus, you installed the package without even checking its contents; that’s a big deduction. Previous Internal masters weren’t like this. If it was your Martial Ancestor... um, that part of the memory is still unclear, we’ll talk about it next time. Anyway, keep up. If you’re a man, climb to the hundredth floor."