Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 699 - 343 Xiang Shan’s Plan

Chapter 699: Chapter 343 Xiang Shan’s Plan

"In the year 204, the Hero, Yulin, traveled north from here, seeking to assassinate Amilcare."

Hiroshi Matsushima’s fingers gently touched the QR code engraved on the rock wall but did not slide to explore. These rocks were already prone to weathering, and fingers of steel could even more easily erase them.

In order to better preserve the traces of these heroes, Hiroshi Matsushima only lightly touched them.

Unlike Xiang Shan, Hiroshi Matsushima’s brain wasn’t specialized in directly reading QR codes. However, Zero could quickly write a plugin to directly convert these QR codes into text within his field of vision.

For the average person, such a plugin was akin to creating a backdoor in their own system; one mistake could lead to them being hacked by many witnessing techniques they would normally be immune to.

But Hiroshi Matsushima wasn’t overly concerned. His firewall came from the most mysterious internal sect in Jianghu, and its passive defense level was no less than that of the Kings. Moreover, the plugin was provided by Zero. He certainly wouldn’t shoot himself in the foot.

Besides, this plugin could be used once and then deleted.

But without this gadget, Hiroshi Matsushima really had no way to read these messages.

Hiroshi Matsushima sighed, "When will I be able to see these on my own?"

"Expansion of the Soth area of the brain and establishing a deeper connection with the visual processing area. This comes after entering the Linguistic Realm," Zero said. "It’s not easy. Many internal martial artists without a guide may wander in this area for a lifetime."

"Is that so?"

"Did you know, in the old days, there were many different languages in the world. The language we use now is an accumulation of fragments of those many languages." Zero said, "Back then, many people spoke different languages. The first language they learned during their growth is called the ’first language,’ and the more traditional term is ’mother tongue.’"

"Then, the second language other than the mother tongue is naturally called the ’second language.’ For a long time, ’second language acquisition’ was a hot research topic. Many people believed that by learning a second language on their own, humans could deduce the process of learning the first language and explore ’how our thoughts are formed.’"

"In this process, it was also discovered that most people can’t use a second language to the level approaching or surpassing their mother tongue. The mother tongue may be an obstacle to learning a second language. For some, out of certain considerations, they’d force their children, who are still cognizing the world, to learn a second language in sync with their mother tongue. In extreme cases, this could even lead to cognitive disorders in children."

"Learning the Linguistic Realm is a bit more demanding than that. It really depends on talent. Diligent study may compensate for lack of skill, but it often comes at a price. There are also people who have forgotten their mother tongue and then learned a second language," Zero said.

Hiroshi Matsushima remained silent for a moment.

For him, "mother tongue" was external strength.

External Martial Arts, that was his mother tongue.

"Forget it, there’s no need to think too much. As long as you practice enough to get started, ensuring you can use the curses I taught you to correctly play an active defense role in an Inner Strength Battle, that’s enough," Zero said in Hiroshi Matsushima’s mind.

Zero was aware of the importance of external strength to Hiroshi Matsushima. For Hiroshi Matsushima, his martial arts weren’t just tools, they were also emotional anchors of his life, an integral part of his existence.

Although Xiang Shan was the Martial Ancestor, the former number one martial artist in the world, to him, the techniques of martial arts were always just tools. Only when combined with the ideology of Heroism did they become the bridge to his ideal world—but still just a bridge, a more advanced tool.

Xiang Shan could even wash his own life out of his brain like a tool, something a normal person could not accomplish.

In contrast, he did not have the same emotional connection to martial arts as Hiroshi Matsushima did.

In the end, Hiroshi Matsushima took one last look at the record left by the Hero, Yulin. The Hero Yulin must be dead by now. More than ten years ago, there indeed was a martial artist who attempted to assassinate Amilcare and likely failed.

Every few years, Amilcare faced heroes. If these heroes were strong enough, he was very willing to execute them publicly, to educate the residents of his domain; to respect the Dyson principle, not to become anti-human elements.

This was what happened at the Redstone Gate three years ago. A few years earlier, a hero was inadvertently exposed. A large group of martial artists in the city, to defend themselves, wished to defeat this foreign hero to prove their bravery. Hiroshi Matsushima’s Martial Arts School apparently also had disciples who participated in that operation.

It seems... similar incidents had occurred more than a decade ago.

Hiroshi Matsushima didn’t remember very clearly. He wasn’t even sure if this was a side effect of the Restoring Enzyme or if he simply did not remember the event.

"At the time, I thought it was just a hero, saving another hero wouldn’t change much," Hiroshi Matsushima reflected deeply, "I indeed didn’t expect that many years after his sacrifice, I would owe him a favor, see his traces again... "

"If I had turned against the Protector back then..."

"Ah Hong, your mindset isn’t normal, you know?" Zero said. "No one is supposed to bear more responsibility to the world unless they’ve enjoyed more rights than the average person. Everyone bears equal responsibility and duty to the world; no one should be forced to do more."

"If you had obtained the Prosthetic Body from Great Hero A, and cultivated with Great Heroes B, C, and D to develop this level of external strength, and you had committed to uprising when benefiting from it, with those great heroes providing help knowing this, then you should carry more burden."

"Since your martial arts were all fought out on the stage, thought out and researched by yourself, then even if you curled up and lived like a plant, no one should blame you—your talent is merely the result of random numbers. There is no God who has bestowed this talent upon you."

Hiroshi Matsushima laughed, "Which Martial God said that?"

"The first, the Martial Ancestor himself," Zero said. "It was said in one of several passages in response to the group of heroes questioning the significance of our laborious effort when common people live in oblivion. This is the second sentence. In this sense, you started bearing the legacy of Brother Yulin when you acquired his parts."

As they spoke, the two had already walked back to their vehicles.

Several vehicles were connected by cables. Xiang Shan was charging all the vehicles. Seeing Hiroshi Matsushima, he waved at him, "Hey, Hiroki, want to hear some good news? I’m planning to give you a fusion reactor."