Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 624 - 268 "Child

Chapter 624: Chapter 268 "Child

The child was thin and small. Due to the significant differences in his facial features from East Asians, Lu Xuanyu couldn’t immediately determine his age, but he guessed the boy was probably just over ten years old.

The boy looked very frightened.

This struck Lu Xuanyu as very odd.

Indeed, because his legs were now a bit longer than before, the old pants he wore looked somewhat like capris, exposing the entire mechanical structure of his lower legs. But this shouldn’t have caused fear. Lu Xuanyu’s "fellow patients" weren’t kept in isolation; some of them moved around outside. "Superman Enterprise’s development of prosthetic limbs" was no secret. Modern people shouldn’t be frightened by it.

Moreover, the fact that this child appeared here implied that his parents were probably related to this place, either as volunteers or staff, and thus they should not be surprised by this small matter.

—Could it be that I look very fierce in his eyes?

Although it was strange, Lu Xuanyu still took a couple of steps forward and reached out his hand, intending to help the child up. But the child became even more afraid, struggling to move on the ground, inching backward, while shouting something at the same time.

It wasn’t Chinese nor English, and it didn’t resemble any of the few languages Lu Xuanyu had occasionally heard in foreign countries.

Lu Xuanyu scratched his head and said in English, "I don’t know why, but listen, kid, I just want to help you."

Then, he approached again, planning to lift the child up and leave immediately before attracting anyone else’s attention.

The child made even more exaggerated movements.

Then, just as Lu Xuanyu bent down, the child lying on the ground unexpectedly lashed out with his foot, aiming his toe viciously at the vulnerable parts of Lu Xuanyu’s face.

This strike wasn’t particularly scientific or fast in its exertion, but it was exceedingly vicious and unexpected, carried out without a hint of hesitation.

Lu Xuanyu instinctively reached out his hand to catch the child’s ankle. The child’s other foot immediately followed suit, aiming with the same sinister angle. It seemed that his target was still Lu Xuanyu’s eyes.

Lu Xuanyu immediately flung the child away. The child rolled on the ground, and then, as if something painful had been triggered, he began to sob and cry.

Lu Xuanyu broke out in a cold sweat. He intended to subdue the boy and then interrogate him.

But the child’s crying finally drew the attention of the security personnel.

A man in a security uniform came running over, startled at the sight of the child, and immediately scolded Lu Xuanyu, "Stay where you are! Back away from the child!"

When the child saw someone else coming, he quickly turned over and got to his feet. Lu Xuanyu had spent the last several months in a hospital bed, neglecting exercise, only training his upper body muscles during rehabilitation, so his hands weren’t very strong. Moreover, he was subconsciously holding back. It seemed that the child knew how to protect himself when falling, as he didn’t get hurt.

He ran out quickly, as fast as a gust of wind.

Lu Xuanyu had the intention to pursue, but the security officer immediately blocked his way.

To an onlooker, they would have only seen the child crying after being flung away, and from a logical standpoint, the issue would seemingly lie with Lu Xuanyu, the strong adult, in this situation.

And indeed, the child certainly ran very fast, disappearing from view in the blink of an eye.

The guard also called over his colleagues.

Minutes later, Lu Xuanyu was in Florence’s office, facing Xiang Shan.

Xiang Shan rarely took off his smart glasses, which now hung around his collar. His fingers continuously rubbed his forehead as if he were suffering from a severe headache.

Lu Xuanyu felt a bit panicked. He said, "Mr. Xiang, I’m truly sorry for the trouble. It’s ... It’s unbelievable that this incident alarmed you."

Xiang Shan sighed, "No, I’ve looked into the cause and effect of the whole matter. According to the surveillance data, this was a misunderstanding. Please don’t take it to heart, forget about it. On behalf of the company and myself, I apologize to you."

"No, no, no..." Lu Xuanyu quickly gestured with his hands, "I wasn’t offended or anything."

"On behalf of the company, because our staff restricted you without fully understanding the situation," Xiang Shan explained.

Just now, the security guards were suspecting that Lu Xuanyu was involved in some sort of incident, exhibiting an excessive desire to attack.

Although there hadn’t been any problem, the medical center’s projects all involved operating on the brain, so the staff training manuals included "how to handle patients who lose control of their behavior"—but that was just a precaution.

At that moment, they thought they’d encountered this "just in case" situation.

Moreover, they actually knew the child.

"As for personally, it’s because that child belongs to the family of a friend of mine..." Xiang Shan paused for a fraction of a second before finishing the last word, "adopted."

"Adopted?"

"My friend, Yawgmoth, encountered a local cancerous mutation of the peripheral nervous system a few years ago during the first gene modification surgery. Those cancer cells were later donated by him to the world. To prevent the situation ’where the academic community is not allowed to use the samples because the donor’s descendants want to protect their personal genetic privacy,’ Yawgmoth chose to be childless," Xiang Shan explained.

"Ah?" Lu Xuanyu did not understand, "Why?"

"Donating those cells means donating one’s genetic material as well. Anyone could know what’s in his genes, possibly inferring his private personality traits and the like. Some people mind these things," Xiang Shan said, "And your DNA obviously doesn’t belong just to you. At the very least, you share most of your DNA with your offspring."

"This..." Lu Xuanyu was taken aback, "Does it require such a sacrifice?"

"It’s not so bad," Xiang Shan shrugged, "At least he’s now wealthy; adopting a child is quite easy for him."

Lu Xuanyu nodded, developing a sense of respect for Yawgmoth. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "But, I think there’s something wrong with that child."

Xiang Shan was taken aback, just staring at him.

Lu Xuanyu hesitantly related his conflict with the child and then said, "The way he attacked me... without any hesitation. That kid has definitely been in a lot of fights. I even suspect he has killed someone."

Xiang Shan was startled, "You can tell that?"

"No, it’s just a figure of speech. His moves were all amateurish, but the ferocity with which he aimed for vital spots..." Lu Xuanyu paused mid-sentence, then gasped, "He really has killed before?"

Xiang Shan closed his eyes.

After a few seconds, he spoke in a low voice, "The security here is staffed with retired military police and military personnel. Quite a few of them have taken out criminals with their own hands."

"But, maybe, well, just maybe."

"All the members of this medical center’s security department put together, the number of people they’ve killed doesn’t come close to that of that little