Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 709 - 353 The Ninth Martial God (Part Two)

Chapter 709: Chapter 353 The Ninth Martial God (Part Two)

"Here’s to you, Nicholas and Bart[This is a tribute to you, 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 final moment belongs to your glory]/

That agony is your triumph[The pain too becomes your victory]/"

In the winds of Mars, Xiang Shan slowly strummed the guitar strings, singing softly.

On the night of August 23, 1927, near Dedham, Massachusetts, two Italian immigrants were executed in the electric chair at Charleston Prison, as defendants in a highly controversial murder case.

The two immigrants were entangled in a murder case. Despite many witnesses coming forward to testify to their innocence, most of them were Italians who had migrated with them, and because they did not speak English well, their testimonies to the jury needed translation, which the jury chose not to believe.

Perhaps the two were truly innocent, perhaps they were indeed guilty, or perhaps it was simply because they were active participants in the labor movement. The truth has become difficult to trace.

But without a doubt, they suffered unjust treatment.

In 1971, an Italian director took this historical event to the screen, and a musician wrote this song for the movie.

To commemorate those who suffered under tyranny.

"Here’s to you, Nicholas and Bart[This is a tribute to you, 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 final moment belongs to your glory]/

That agony is your triumph[The pain too becomes your victory]/"

Around Xiang Shan, the remnants of neon lights gradually lit up.

Xiang Shan looked up. It was the Scientific Knight. Only now he had exchanged his prosthetic body for one that closely resembled that of an old-time human.

Of course, he could not possibly be a Homo sapiens.

Homo sapiens could not appear in the Martian atmosphere without protective gear.

This guy seemed to have taken on a Chinese face, reminiscent of a famous actor from the last years of the 20th century. He seemed to really like Xiang Shan’s song, standing there dancing to the beat.

He even reconnected the power supply.

Xiang Shan put down the guitar, "This place is after all a... riot scene, isn’t it? Aren’t you being too careless?"

The Scientific Knight waved his hand dismissively, "Come on, it’s a minor issue. The riot left no survivors; it’s over, as simple as that."

Xiang Shan looked at the Scientific Knight, "Can you tell me now, what’s my situation?"

"Hmm... do you really want to know?" the Scientific Knight asked. "It might be hard to accept."

"Hmm? How hard can it be?"

The Scientific Knight scratched his head, "Can you accept that you’re an AI?"

Xiang Shan picked up the guitar again and strummed it casually, "It’s nothing... Xiang Shan has been an AI for at least two cycles already. So what if I’m an AI again?"

"Not completely. When we arrived, the damage to that biological brain was just too severe. But the singer revered Xiang Shan so much that he pleaded with us to do this. He wanted to create a rebellion for his friend one more time."

There was a "bang," and the guitar sound hung in the air: "I really don’t like being messed with like this."

"I understand, I understand. But it wasn’t you who asked me to do this," the Scientific Knight sighed. "Ever heard of a virtual brain circuit?"

Xiang Shan shook his head, "My understanding of technology stopped a hundred years ago, and then this thing called... ’Virtual Brain Circuit,’ what is it?"

"Ten years ago, it was classified as top-secret, cutting-edge technology by King Aqini personally," said the Scientific Knight. "Unfortunately, due to King Aqini’s interference, its development stalled for nearly ten years. The Scientific Knight Order fought for ten years to successfully lift the ban. It’s a technique that... reconstructs neural circuits to the greatest extent possible."

"Just tell me directly, what advantages does this technology have compared to the Restoring Enzyme?" Xiang Shan waved his hand.

"As for the Restoring Enzyme, it can’t make already damaged brain tissue grow back. Depending on the type of Restoring Enzyme, your brain tissue can begin to differentiate from stem cells again, or it can rely on the brain’s natural compensatory mechanisms to allow other brain regions to take over the functions of the lost regions," the knight explained.

"But Virtual Brain Circuit can completely replace it. This is based on the prosthetic for the brain."

Xiang Shan was startled, "Does that mean complete consciousness upload is just around the corner?"

"Hmm, you could say that. After all..." the Scientific Knight scratched his head, "Inventing vacuum tubes was ’just around the corner’ from establishing online communities— compared to ’Homo sapiens learning to use fire.’"

Xiang Shan tapped his head, "So what’s the current state of this technology?"

"It can replace individual neural circuits."

"Individual ones?"

"It’s quite an achievement already. Even the construction of a single virtual neural circuit can significantly enhance human cognitive abilities and Inner Strength," explained the Scientific Knight. "Of course, there are exceptions for an individual."

Xiang Shan thought for a moment, "Why Xiang Shan?"

"I don’t know either. It’s also just-declassified top-secret archives. King Aqini found the relevant data in the server ten years ago."

"I see."

Xiang Shan placed the ancient guitar on the ground, "What state am I in right now?"

"You have both Biological Brain and Virtual Brain Circuit proportions," said the Scientific Knight. "A shot in the dark."

"I see," Xiang Shan nodded and said, "Then answer me one last question."

"Hmm."

"Why is it that the materials that can be used on me were all declassified around the time this singer had his incident?"

The Scientific Knight spread his hands, "It’s not so much that if this stuff hadn’t been declassified, we wouldn’t have been able to save you sooner. This kind of thing happens often. These underground cultural events are commonly cracked down on. This young man just happened to know me, so he was saved at this time."

Xiang Shan said, "So, can I still use Inner Strength... no, can I still gain the ability to program?"

"Maybe. I really can’t guarantee anything," the Scientific Knight spread his hands.

"I see. Well then, goodbye."

"I hope one day I will hear of your legend in Jianghu," the Scientific Knight, with his neon-adorned Prosthetic Body, bowed slightly to Xiang Shan.

In the end, he never revealed his own name.

And Xiang Shan jumped out through the gap in that building.

He landed in the vast expanse of heaven and earth.

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

Across the annals of history, "Native" held his head, "I can probably guess what that top-secret information was... Eight, did you leave some research data or something?"

"I left some evidence on an extraterrestrial server that could prove it was Xiang Shan causing the trouble, to carry the can properly," Eight tilted her head, "But I don’t think I left anything related to the Virtual Brain Circuit. Could the Eighth Martial God be that stupid?"