Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 629 - 273: Battling Against Heaven

Chapter 629: Chapter 273: Battling Against Heaven

"Strange attitude? Me?" Xiang Shan rubbed his face, "Where is it strange, is it obvious?"

David sighed, "I know. You don’t like that kid."

"The Haoa clan armed group he was with in those days had participated in slaughters," Xiang Shan shook his head. "Due to lack of records... but based on the timing, he could have totally taken part in one... or maybe four or five village massacres, or a frenzy of killings in some border city..."

David sighed too.

Xiang Shan then looked at Lu Xuanyu, "You weren’t there, so you don’t know... Ah, it was really tragic. A friend’s notebook mentioned, there were some survivors in the refugee camp..."

Ingrid took over the conversation, "There was a woman. The murderers broke into her home, forced her son to commit incest with her, and then killed him. Then, they raped her in front of her husband and killed him too. Lastly, her daughter was taken away by those murderers. She was slashed and bled but didn’t die, and was dragged near the Peacekeeping Forces’ station."

"Another case involved a woman... The killers ordered all the women in the village with children to come forward, then used their own children to smash against a pillar until the children were dead."

David covered his forehead with one hand, "I’m going to be sick."

"These are just the parts that Kanhara happened to write in his diary. He wasn’t specifically investigating this," Xiang Shan murmured. "When I went to help him clean up, I also saw the edge of that refugee camp. That stench, that... the ground was covered in blood and bodies. Everywhere."

"Haya, that kid, he might have been a part of those atrocities. He might have cold-bloodedly slaughtered a family... using the most brutal methods."

David spoke up, "But that’s because he’s a Sheluke Midom. He didn’t choose where he was born."

"The ones he killed were also Sheluke Midom."

David laughed in exasperation, "If you’re going to argue like that, he’s firstly Sheluke Midom whose family was killed by Sheluke Midom."

Xiang Shan nodded, "The warlord supplying him with grass... the adult who keeps killing... Really, if you were going to say so, each person is more problematic than this kid. But still, he is part of that mountain of corpses and sea of blood. I can still faintly hear the distant cries. Because you don’t know the people who were killed, you just..."

David shook his head, "Inga’s Ache people believe that a child needs to be able to stand on their own to have a complete right to life, to be considered ’born’ on our side. So, you might as well think he became a person only after meeting Kanhara. Kanhara gave him a chance, and he is trying to live another kind of life."

"I know...," Xiang Shan murmured, "There’s no need to force him to become a terrorist. I know...,"

Suddenly, Ingrid reached out and rubbed Xiang Shan’s head, "Mm, you’re trying hard, Shan..."

Xiang Shan’s eyes reddened, and then he looked at Lu Xuanyu, "Okay, what I just said might also be some phatic talk... I’m not sure. But there are actually other reasons too."

Lu Xuanyu finally understood why he was called here. He was somewhat connected to the kid named Haya, but unaware of the full context of past events, making him an ideal confidant.

It was also the first time Lu Xuanyu saw Xiang Shan in such a volatile emotional state. He nodded, "What else would you like to say?"

"My attitude towards that kid... ah..." Xiang Shan sighed, looking at the ceiling. "The armed forces that stormed into the refugee camp and carried out the massacre were from the Zima Clan. But the one who killed my friend was a person from the Haoa Clan."

"The armed forces conducting the massacre were a motley crew, just a group of Zima Clan farmers who got their hands on firearms. Among the children the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces had brought into the refugee camp, there included a small group of young Haoa soldiers who had been killing since they were little. These kids were disarmed under the supervision of the Peacekeeping Forces and sent to the camp for custody. But the chaos that erupted compromised the Peacekeeping Forces’ control. They used tents to obscure their opponents’ view and attacked from blind spots, seizing guns with rocks and utensils."

"Then, the guns compensated for the physical disparity between the child soldiers and the adult farmers. The Haoa fought back. That kid was previously part of that group. He doubted he could reach the area of the United Nations Peacekeeping Forces in time and felt that the people of the Zima were cold-blooded demons who would definitely kill my friend, so he hoped his ’comrades’ would go and save him."

Listening to Xiang Shan’s narrative, Lu Xuanyu visualized it in his mind. A group of dark-skinned kids crouching in the bushes, hiding behind torn fabric, waiting for the armed adults to pass by and then striking fiercely like predators.

They lacked the direct power to overpower their foes, but if a few of them attacked together, they still had a chance.

There are too many vulnerable parts on a human body. The farmers who had just acquired firearms clearly lacked awareness to "protect their vitals."

Being surrounded by comrades, they couldn’t just shoot recklessly when they were at a disadvantage.

And once those little wild beasts familiar with firearms got hold of modern weapons, those adult farmers were doomed.

Lu Xuanyu felt a chill. If several such child soldiers were to surround him, he could indeed kill a few, but he would still likely be killed easily.

"And then... it’s not hard to guess. My idiotic friend protected a child of the Haoa in front of the Zima and protected a child of the Zima in front of the Haoa. He thought the child soldiers could be reasoned with. Then the bullets taught him a lesson. Just like that." Xiang Shan covered his eyes with his hand. "I don’t really like that kid, whether it’s because he was part of that tragedy, or because my friend died."

As he spoke, he gulped down his second drink.

"He was just that place’s... uh... a tentacle. ’That thing’ is my enemy... Freed from the shackles of the undead, he should have a chance. ’Everyone’ wants to kill ’everyone’... What can I do? Will the tragedy really not happen again..."

David shook his shoulder. "That’s exactly what gives your ideals meaning! Wake up, we are on the brink of sparking the second cognitive revolution of mankind!"

"Ah, right... We must let everyone... regardless of status... regardless of wealth... otherwise, we are just creating new divisions..." Xiang Shan struggled to keep his eyes open. "This is what they call struggling against heaven..."

"I guess what you meant to quote was ’struggle against heaven,’" Ingrid muttered softly.

But Xiang Shan was clearly not listening anymore.

David sighed. "Why did we even think about partying with this guy? Standard ’one-cup collapse.’"

Ingrid shrugged.

"You two still need to go back to the medical center," David said, helping Xiang Shan up. "Xinyu isn’t here either. I’ll have to shove him into a resting room. I’m outta here ahead."