Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 500 - 144 Hunting Heavenly Machine

Chapter 500: Chapter 144 Hunting Heavenly Machine

When the gun fired, Xiang Shan felt a sense of relief.

It was like suddenly being struck with inspiration after being stuck on a paper or code for ages, or the moment the back of one’s head touches the pillow after working for thirty consecutive hours.

Xiang Shan took another look at the brain that had been utterly destroyed by the bullet, its tissue now evenly scattered across the ground. Though it looked a bit gruesome, the process really didn’t involve any unnecessary pain. Xiang Shan adjusted his Prosthetic Eye to observe these tissues for dozens of seconds.

The cells were dying quite normally, and aside from a few fragments of artificial organs, it was all the typical glial cells and neurons. It seemed that the glial cells had undergone a secondary modification to allow the Martial Artist’s brain to withstand higher acceleration. But there was no high-tech component to speak of.

Xiang Shan breathed a sigh of relief.

It looked like this guy didn’t have a very close connection with the Six Dragons Sect.

Xiang Shan was still curious about the real purpose behind the Six Dragons Sect, the hidden Black Hand.

More than three years ago, after Xiang Shan had defeated "Chain Missile" Gleayard, he found tentacles directly connected to the brain’s nerves within his body. The tentacles themselves were secondary; the key was the large ganglia unique to cephalopods found within them.

According to the records Xiang Shan found afterward, the Six Dragons Sect had hired Gleayard as a "volunteer" in exchange for the Sonicon Blade equipment, to explore "the changes in human thought after connecting an external neural circuit."

And that "Hermit of Heavenly Machine," who had a very high level of Internal Strength and had even developed a powerful patch, also had suspicions of involving the Six Dragons Sect.

Xiang Shan had originally thought that the Hermit’s goal was to conduct similar experiments.

But he had not found traces of such modifications on the bodies of several Green Forest members he had killed previously.

Sky Fierce had already become a core member of Heaven Hero’s forces—at least, that’s how it was in Heavenly Ingenious and their memories.

And on Sky Fierce, there was not much evidence of Six Dragons Sect technology either.

Aside from that patch which was technologically a whole generation ahead of these Green Forest members, there didn’t seem to be any other Six Dragons Sect products.

This caused some concern for Xiang Shan.

It was very likely indicative of one thing—the Six Dragons Sect didn’t just have one research direction.

Their accumulated strength could support at least two completely different projects. The one led by Heavenly Machine was different from the one carried out on Gleayard’s body.

This... I don’t know if it could be considered bad news.

If such a large organization as the Six Dragons Sect could exist, it meant that the control of the Protectors over the situation was not strong.

But the Six Dragons Sect itself was not a force of chivalry either.

There’s also the "Sword Envoy."

All signs indicated that the Sect Members of the Demon Sect that he encountered years ago, Daijiu Tai’a, was the one who made the deal with Gleayard.

And now, a person suspected to be Daijiu Tai’a was communicating with Heavenly Machine.

Perhaps the "Sword Envoy" was a position specifically responsible for liaising.

And the Six Dragons Sect even needed to set up a special position to move between various projects and coordinate?

—Heavenly Machine must be captured.

Xiang Shan carefully preserved Sky Fierce’s memory and then quickly followed in the direction from which they had come.

Heavenly Machine was not weak. Judging from that patch, his level of Internal Strength was quite terrifying.

Apart from Xiang Shan, other Heroes facing Heavenly Machine were in danger of being instantly killed.

Xiang Shan had to pursue him alone.

—Heavenly Machine must be captured.

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

The Hermit of Heavenly Machine was running smoothly.

After splitting up with Sky Fierce, he had run several kilometers in this direction. At this distance, he could only faintly hear the gunfire.

Just now, sporadic gunshots came from afar, lasting only for a while.

"Nameless Hero" was more terrifying than expected. Sky Fierce’s tactics had failed in an instant.

There was no sound of Heaven Hero’s sniping rifle, nor was there any flash of light on the high ground.

It was clear that Heaven Hero had been defeated without even firing a shot.

This effect was mostly likely the result of an inner strength attack.

The Hermit of Heavenly Machine was somewhat surprised, but not taken aback.

Any patch could only be effective as long as it remained secret.

And that Hero, he could even fully capture those of the Fiend Earth Green Forest without missing a single one.

After capturing those people, he could completely dig out the patch code from their systems.

After that, whether he chose to crack the patch or use other curse skills in his possession to circumvent it, either was possible.

Or perhaps the patch itself had a backdoor. Many internal masters would leave backdoors when bestowing patches. These patches could cover up defensive vulnerabilities yet create a more concealed trapdoor.

If the level of inner strength of the person cracking the patch was higher than that of the patch’s creator, this concealed trapdoor could be used to their advantage.

He was just surprised at "how quickly" it had happened.

This was, after all, the work of the Iron Heart Dharma King.

——Overwhelmingly powerful in both internal and external skills.

——An opponent not to be engaged with brute force.

But at the same time, a surge of furious indignation brewed among his nerves.

——Ah...

He didn’t even know what he was angry about. The whole process was just baffling. Yet this rage ripped apart his consciousness.

It was as though his brain had split into several different threads. Only a fragment of it continued to maintain the action of "running", while another part was fully invested in that particular patch.

The patches he had provided to the other Green Forest members were edited versions, missing a lot of code compared to the one the Iron Heart Dharma King had given him.

Those crippled patches were no use against "Nameless". Likely, the complete version wouldn’t take effect as well.

However, given a bit of time, he could deduce several paths from it and create new curses.

He didn’t know why... He simply didn’t understand the significance of doing so.

Yet his emotions compelled him to seize any "opportunity for counterattack."

——This humiliation... This sense of being hurt...

From the corner of his eye, the Hermit of Heavenly Machine spotted a drone.

He was certain, the lens of the drone was focused on him.

The Hermit of Heavenly Machine fired a shot and blew up the drone.

He recognized that drone; it was part of Heaven Hero’s Drone Formation. Each sniper had drones to help them observe distant targets and monitor atmospheric movements.

This was why long-distance sniping was possible.

Since Heaven Hero had been defeated without firing a single shot just now, it was self-evident who was controlling the drone now.

The Hermit of Heavenly Machine had no intention to counter-manipulate the drone and engage the internal strength master. His internal strength was far too inferior compared to his adversary’s, even though he was only a few hundred meters away from the drone, while the Hero could have been several kilometers away.

So he simply shot and destroyed that drone.

But the Hermit of Heavenly Machine also keenly sensed an anomaly.

——The drone maintained a distance of over seven hundred meters from me...

Just then, a bullet grazed his shoulder.

The Hermit of Heavenly Machine was flung out heavily.