Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 647 - 291: Return Home to Visit

Chapter 647: Chapter 291: Return Home to Visit

Ai Tielang asked, "Are you a local?"

When Hiroshi Matsushima suggested to Yuki that he should visit his hometown, Ai Tielang was there.

While handling a little girl clinging to him, Yuki nodded and said, "Yes, I’m from around here, a local."

Ai Tielang nodded and said, "Being local is good, local. Do you want to go back and visit?"

Yuki scratched his head, "Actually, I haven’t decided yet..."

Recycling Station Town... To be honest, that place hadn’t left him with the best impression. As a child without a father, he was always bullied, and although his mother, who worked with heavy machinery, earned quite a bit, she hardly had chances to take care of him.

He would be lonely until he picked his master from a pile of garbage.

People of this era didn’t really understand why one should go somewhere specifically to commemorate the dead. The related culture had been destroyed. Although the lower classes reinvented fantasies about the "afterlife" time and again, such fantasies were erased by the officials before they could become customary.

Although over the years, Xiang Shan kept instilling the significance of "commemoration" into Yuki, and Yuki had witnessed Heroes commemorating the deceased several times, he only understood these acts intellectually, not fully embracing them spiritually.

"I must advise you, if you can go back, you should," Ai Tielang said, calibrating his firearm’s barrel with a laser measuring device, "not every Hero gets the chance to return to their past places. Look at Liu Ri, he broke away from his Burrowing Dragon Community, and now, he still has a little connection, but who knows when that will end."

The Burrowing Dragon Community of the Black Valley Lineage, where Liu Ri came from, was managed by Trace, who had been an assistant to the Eighth Martial God. The Eighth Martial God had entrusted his "legacy" to Old Trace. Old Trace voluntarily gave up that memory afterwards. But no secrecy could counteract King Aqini’s relentless searches, regardless of cost.

During the retreat, Old Trace dispatched Liu Ri to notify the surrounding Cooperators, letting them escape as well.

Liu Ri took on this life-threatening task and shifted from being a Burrowing Dragon to a Hero.

Of course, due to Xiang Shan’s intervention, the situation was satisfactorily resolved, and the legacy of the Eighth Martial God was secured by the side of righteousness. The Burrowing Dragons of the Black Valley lineage successfully evacuated to another mining area.

Although Liu Ri knew the current location of the Black Valley Lineage, there was no telling when these Burrowing Dragons might move again. The next time they moved, Liu Ri’s chance to see his kin would depend solely on luck.

Moreover, even if they hadn’t moved, Liu Ri couldn’t frequently visit the mining area where the Black Valley Lineage currently resided. That would only increase the risk of exposing the Burrowing Dragons.

Carrying Panic, Yuki walked away from the door and found a spot facing the entrance to sit down, cradling a rifle he had placed on the ground in his arms: "Liu Ri wanted to be a Hero himself."

"Wanting to be a Hero is one thing, wanting your kin is another," Ai Tielang had finished maintaining his main weapon. He put the large gun back in its storage box and turned to Yuki, "and life in the settlements out in the wilderness isn’t easy. What if it disappeared one day?"

Yuki said, "It’s pretty stable though. Anyway... if it weren’t for that idiotic Tax Officer stirring up trouble, my settlement wouldn’t have had issues for over a decade."

More than three years ago, Yuan Wenren led an assassination on the Gene Tax Officer of Pine Eagle City. Afterwards, an unloved son of Lord Zhao inherited the position. To vent his frustrations, he targeted weaker towns.

Of course, of course, the Zhao family loved the people. Actually, if someone hadn’t shown up that day, things wouldn’t have escalated to the worst-case scenario—just a few more workers would have died. The young master would have felt a bit better, and the Gene Tax would still be collected.

In fact, this so-called collective protection logically works like this.

Firstly, the Gene Bank Defense Forces must maintain human diversity and ensure human lives.

However, they are not omnipotent rulers; they reject personnel beyond the bare minimum. The Protectors always seem to be short-handed.

Reality dictates that the Gene Bank military cannot protect the entire planet simultaneously. Thus, they give priority to protecting certain people.

And who gets priority? Naturally, those who are easier for them to manage.

If someone willingly wants to risk their lives in a danger zone, the Protectors don’t care. They aren’t obligated to.

It is for this reason that the Protectors voluntarily reduce their authority, concentrating it within "safe areas."

In the subsequent interpretations of the "Dyson Principle" by Yawgmoth and the Kings, it was mentioned that when a region has enough personnel willing to maintain human genetic diversity, it should be considered a "safe area."

The standard for judgement is "the number of newborns."

Of course, if the infant mortality rate in a region is too high, it could mean that the people there are unwilling to fulfill Green Star’s duty to maintain human genetic diversity or that the genetic mutations in that region are too disadvantageous for the environment.

But overall, the majority of villages smoothly pay the Gene Tax and receive "protection" to continue surviving in the wilderness.

Yuki knew of several outdoor settlements that had existed for over eighty years.

Ai Tielang sighed, "Don’t be too optimistic. People live too long these days, and many don’t die even when old. When a village has too many elders who have lost their capacity to work, the entire village’s survival pressures increase, and the young people are more likely to move to other areas. And since the Gene Tax is calculated per capita, if too many young, eligible people leave, the settlement will lose its protection."

"By that time, the raids of the Green Forest wouldn’t just end with stealing some materials," he added.

Yuki looked at Ai Tielang, "Elder Ai, did your previous settlement also disappear like this?"

"I reckon it did," Ai Tielang replied, "After fifty years in the Jianghu, I remembered this matter. But when I calculated it, my birthplace existed for twice the average duration of a settlement. It’s no surprise it’s gone. Besides, as a Famed Hero, returning home also carried the risk of being reported by ordinary people on the streets. It’s definitely gone now."

Ai Tielang sighed deeply, then reached behind his back, pulled out two large-caliber handguns, pushed them on the ground toward Yuki.

"Rifles are fine in the Martial Arts School district, but they’re too conspicuous once you leave this street. Take these two for your protection. Go back and visit, you might remember ’why you wanted to become a Hero.’ Go have a look."