Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 569 - 213 Revealing Taksaka’s True Intentions

Chapter 569: Chapter 213 Revealing Taksaka’s True Intentions

There is a mechanism in the brain of living organisms. Upon sensory perception of information that is "very likely to threaten life," the brain suppresses a large number of higher functions unrelated to life and death, focusing the neural network’s computational resources on that event and swiftly entering the "fight or flight" stress response.

"Fear," along with "running away after fear" and "hasty attacks amidst panic," are applications of this mechanism.

And passive evolution often can’t keep up with environmental changes—especially at the pace of human-driven modifications.

In the wilds of Earth, all snake species had become extinct. Many ordinary Benchmark Men would never encounter snakes in the wilderness, but this instinct could not be eradicated in just a few generations.

And to some extent, "Taksaka" capitalized on this point.

After the Prosthetic Body accelerated, the nanometal particles would lag behind the Prosthetic Body due to resistance. However, the kinetic energy imparted to the particles by the magnetic field, along with the vortex created by the advance of the Prosthetic Body, would passively cause the Metal Aerosol to move forward, following the Martial Artist’s footwork.

In this process, the Metal Aerosol would be stretched out, resembling the shape of a snake.

Moreover, Xiang Shan even knew some tricks to adjust the distribution of the magnetic field by swinging his arms, subtly tweaking the magnetic field on his body, to change the shape of the tip of the Gang Qi Sphere into something closer to the triangular head of a Poisonous Snake.

The moment the enemy Soldiers saw this scene, their brains would initiate a process to determine whether it was a "Poisonous Snake."

Even though Poisonous Snakes had been extinct for over two hundred years.

Even though there was no Poisonous Snake capable of poisoning their metallic Prosthetic Bodies to death.

Although this instinctive response would end very shortly, and most Soldiers wouldn’t attack wildly,

The higher the Martial Arts of the Martial Artist, the more they could overcome this instinct.

But for Cyber Martial Artists engaged in high-speed combat, this momentary lapse could determine a lot of things.

It was like the mythological Taksaka that could kill livestock just by looking at them.

This was indeed the essence of the martial technique "Taksaka."

Xiang Shan plunged into the midst of the enemy, lowering his center of gravity, crossing his hands, then quickly morphing, the right hand protecting his neck, the left hand swinging forward into a starting pose.

The leading Military Officer was the only one not deterred by "Taksaka." This kind of Exotic Martial Arts that exploited the human brain’s own flaws was rare, but the Protectors at least knew how to deal with it. Visualization and deep breathing could quickly break free from its influence.

But in front of Xiang Shan, "breaking free from the influence" was rather luxurious.

Xiang Shan leaped forward, his hand-chop slicing through the Officer’s extended gun barrel, while his right hand which protected his neck, stabbed out lightning-fast, slicing into the opponent’s neck.

There was a "snap" sound.

And then, a silver mist suddenly emerged.

While using "Taksaka," the devices in his lower body that generated magnetic fields had attached a small portion of the metal particles to the External Armor. With a thought, these magnetized metal particles were given kinetic energy by the rapidly changing magnetic field and scattered in all directions.

Several wisps of mist cut through the vision of a small team of Soldiers. Everyone felt that in the direction of their comrades, "something was obstructing" their view.

Xiang Shan’s whirlwind Sweeping Leg knocked down two men, then he backhanded, channeling the Metal Aerosol into the cooling vents of two Martial Artists—his Prosthetic Eye could lock directly onto these Soldiers’ cooling vents based on thermal imaging.

And these Soldiers were all using standard Prosthetic Bodies, with cooling vents mostly concentrated in those few areas.

Only then did "Taksaka" finally make its belated entrance, engulfing this small squad.

Amidst the silver mist, screams, metallic clashing, and explosions incessantly erupted.

Several seconds later, Xiang Shan used a move called "Spirit Turtle Drains the Sun’s Blood" to gather the dispersed Metal Aerosol back together.

Meanwhile, on the ground, all the soldiers lay collapsed due to the overheating of their Prosthetic Bodies, with some even having sparks flying from their bodies.

After pondering for a moment, Xiang Shan nodded, "Not bad."

This indeed was an incomparably suitable martial art for fighting the many as the few.

On the defensive level, scattered Metal Aerosol could attract most of the attention, concealing one’s true position. It could also make the enemy hesitant to attack, avoiding the risk of injuring allies potentially hidden within the Aerosol. This provided Heroes with the confidence to face an army alone without worrying about sniping.

On the offensive level, the Metal Aerosol could also achieve "neutralizing the enemy’s combat ability with the least cost."

The quantity of Metal Aerosol that Xiang Shan propelled into the enemy’s body with a single strike was far less than "a bullet."

But the damage it could inflict was far greater than "a bullet."

A mass amount of Aerosol could also do this, but that was simply too wasteful of resources.

And the magnetized metal particles that were not immediately consumed could be recovered by a magnetic field and reused.

"Gang Qi Martial Studies" could enhance a Hero’s endurance without increasing the load on the Prosthetic Body, which was quite resource-efficient.

Of course, there are no strategies in the world without a cost.

Compared to gunpowder martial arts, Gang Qi Martial Arts required more computational resources, which was a test of the computational unit’s lifespan.

From a conventional perspective, Inner Strength attacks, which seemingly consume only cheap "electric power," might be more suited for use against groups.

But the account cannot just be settled superficially.

Inner Strength attacks, although appearing to only consume energy, in reality, every Inner Strength attack could potentially expose the backdoors and vulnerabilities used by the Internal warriors—mathematically speaking, the resources consumed by Inner Strength attacks are the "Mystery" that allows for "curses" to exist.

As the firewall’s patch collection continues to expand, the difficulty of developing a "universal curse" will only increase.

Additionally, the powerful impacts of external strength attacks would reduce the lifespan of the External Armor and Prosthetic Body framework. In the heat of battle, a Martial Artist’s External Armor might not even last through a single fight. In contrast, so long as it wasn’t a direct Inner Strength attack, the computational load of Mystic Tortoise True Gang wouldn’t warrant the loss of even a few chips.

Compared to "getting shot by a nobody because of weakened External Armor in the late stages of a retreat, resulting in a downfall," it’s more acceptable to "find ways to source new chips a few years later."

Xiang Shan clenched his fists. According to the feedback from the sensors, the move he just performed did not put any significant pressure on his joints.

——It seems that as long as I don’t encounter a high-level military officer, I can definitely break through the soldiers’ lines.

——The Dense Formation has been somewhat overcome as well.

Xiang Shan flipped through the belongings of those soldiers with ruined Prosthetic Bodies and replenished some Metal Aerosol and ammunition.

Footsteps echoed through the stairwell once again. A small squad must be arriving to provide support.

Xiang Shan shrugged helplessly.

Under the terrified gazes of the wounded on the ground, the grey mist spread again.

Xiang Shan became a meteor.

Moments later, the stairwell returned to silence.