Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 708 - 352: The 9th Martial God [Part One]

Chapter 708: Chapter 352: The 9th Martial God [Part One]

The Ninth Martial God’s memory began on Mars.

He awoke in an unregistered laboratory. The "unregistered" here does not refer to the decoration of the laboratory, but to the fact that it was not officially registered.

This was a laboratory beyond the jurisdiction of the Sanctuary.

Xiang Shan stood up blankly, examining his own reflection in the mirror.

"So... it’s this setting, huh."

He was Xiang Shan, but also a nameless singer.

At that moment, a Scientific Knight who was crouched in the corner of the laboratory playing games in an ancient way asked, "Hey, did you become Xiang Shan today?"

Xiang Shan silently nodded.

The Scientific Knight set aside the game console he was holding, stood up in surprise, wrapped in a thick protective suit. It was even of the hermetically sealed type.

In the era of Natural Persons, such a chemical suit was known as an A-grade protective suit. It needed to be used in combination with an air respirator, chemical protection boots, and gloves. Such a level of protective suit did not even dare to use filtered external air but had its own oxygen supply.

But for humans who were completely cyberized, this was meaningless. No protective suit’s capabilities could compare with those of the prosthetic body itself. Moreover, after complete cyberization, humans no longer relied on respiratory functions and could last quite long on electricity alone.

It was a sort of adornment, just as ancient Samurai liked the most magnificent armor.

Many knights of the Galapagos Sanctuary regarded such protective suits as a garb of honor.

The Scientific Knight was quite astonished, "Martial God... Xiang Shan?"

"Don’t call me Martial God," Xiang Shan gestured with his hand.

This Scientific Knight was one of the fans of that nameless singer.

At least that’s what he claimed to be.

The last memory of the nameless singer was of a strange Cybernetically Enhanced Person who burst into the concert and killed everyone.

Afterward, several young Scientific Knights, who were late due to an experiment, saved the remaining Biological Brain.

Thanks to the strong damage resistance of the Benchmark Man, the nameless singer somehow held on till the end and lived.

No, it can’t really be said that he lived.

The nameless singer had gone mad. Because he worshipped "Xiang Shan" as a symbol of rebellion, advocated "revolt," the severely brain-damaged him only hoped to use his life... to use everything he had for his mother’s revolt.

The young Scientific Knights accepted this request. For Xiang Shan, the days that followed felt as if he was in-between dreams and wakefulness.

He spent a long time in this hazy state.

And now, Xiang Shan had awakened from over a hundred years before.

"Why." Xiang Shan looked at the Scientific Knight and pointed to his head, "This youngster, he can sing okay... damn, I don’t even know if it’s really okay, but that’s what he thinks. He thinks it’s fine."

"But surely, these crappy songs couldn’t have persuaded you to do this, right? Yawgmoth would never tolerate such a thing, even if he is lenient toward the Scientific Knight Order."

The face inside the transparent visor of the protective suit, fashioned like the image of the Madonna, had eyelids that drooped slightly.

The Scientific Knight spread his hands, "As long as you don’t get caught, it’s fine. And besides, everyone has their own thoughts."

"So, what are your thoughts?"

The Scientific Knight dodged the question, "After you leave here, sooner or later, you will confront a secret force lurking within the Scientific Knight Order. Such people exist."

Xiang Shan continued to ask, "Do you want to be a Hero? Do you want to start a rebellion?"

The Scientific Knight raised his hands, "No, no. I can only work for humanity within the Sanctuary of the Scientific Knights."

Xiang Shan stroked his own forehead, "What I am now is..."

"We have to go," said the Scientific Knight. "Since you have completed your rebirth, we must leave now. Give me some time to destroy the physical evidence..."

With those words, he dismantled a nearby mainframe, forcibly removed the hard drive, crushed it, and threw it into a small barrel, then grabbed a bottle of solvent and poured it in.

He quickly did the same with the other devices.

Xiang Shan just watched him silently.

.....................

A few days later, Xiang Shan, carrying a bag, arrived at the middle section of a certain building.

It was around the seventieth floor.

The place looked like the scene of an explosion. From the outside, it seemed as if a Behemoth had bitten a chunk out of it. Inside, it was chaos, with pieces of building materials mixed with parts on the floor and dismembered limbs. You could vaguely make out half of a smashed stage.

Xiang Shan caressed the shattered edge of the stage. It had been smashed by some kind of cold weapon.

Xiang Shan put down the black parcel he was carrying and leaned against the half-collapsed stage, "I really fucking don’t want to make friends this way after I’m dead... Charlie, Carlori, Lucy, James, Noli... my newly met friends and companions, I pay tribute to you..."

Then, he tapped his head, "And you... what was it again? Kass, I pay tribute to you too."

Xiang Shan slowly opened a parcel.

Inside was a guitar, an ancient one at that.

The feeble but crimson sunlight beamed through the broken holes of the building. Xiang Shan could even see the blood-red horizon in the distance. Unlike Earth’s pattern of a superstructure surrounded by countless lichen-like dilapidated buildings, the architecture on Mars could be considered uniform, with dense forests of buildings, mostly three to four hundred meters tall.

Inside such buildings, there were also poorer people. But after all, Mars is the stronghold of the Scientific Knights. And the Scientific Knight Lords are the most free group under the command of Yawgmoth. Therefore, Mars is not as harsh as Earth.

Furthermore, the sunlight on Mars was quite weak. The pattern of "Wilderness Settlement" was difficult to establish on Mars.

Among this level of population, there are many custom entertainment projects designed by Scientific Knights.

With this relationship, Protectors wouldn’t inspect too closely.

So this incident was very strange. It was spreading online that the King of Godspeed presided over this roundup. But Xiang Shan really couldn’t remember any audience members or band members who had committed such a serious offense at that time.

Looking at the view of Mars, Xiang Shan’s fingers moved over the guitar strings.

This was the only Legacy the unnamed singer had left him. Xiang Shan himself didn’t know this craft. Although after his Cyberization, he had performed playing various instruments at the annual conference of the live broadcast company, that strictly speaking had nothing to do with his Biological Brain. It was the computer that had recorded the actions of master musicians and then reproduced them on his Prosthetic Limbs.

But now, he was singing and playing by himself.

"Here’s to you, Nicholas and Bart[This is your tribute song, Nicola and Bart]/

Rest forever here in our hearts[You will forever be remembered in our hearts]/

The last and final moment is yours[The last moment belongs to your glory]/

That agony is your triumph[The pain has turned into your victory]/"

Xiang Shan played and sang for the departed.