Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 721 - 365 Yawgmoth【Part Six】

Chapter 721: Chapter 365 Yawgmoth【Part Six】

"Us?" Xiang Shan laughed, "Brother, how can we be considered ’people who can’t completely come together’? We are the ones who created the most powerful group in the world. We’ve known each other for ninety years and have worked together for over eighty."

——That said, he didn’t show any sign of letting down his guard.

Yawgmoth memorized the memory data flowing from that person’s head while sizing up Xiang Shan.

Hiding weapons behind his back was to conceal their position and his own preparatory movements. This did not count as "an overt display of aggressive posture," which would trigger a fierce counterattack from the opponent. But Xiang Shan was indeed preparing for a fight.

Yawgmoth said, "Is that so. But we often argue."

"That’s what they call ’gentlemen can disagree constructively,’" Xiang Shan corrected.

Yawgmoth stopped in his tracks. Almost simultaneously, Xiang Shan stopped too, maintaining a proper range for attack.

Yawgmoth asked, "Do you intend to share this authority with ’the villains’ as well?"

"No, of course not," Xiang Shan replied. "But a group of just gentlemen won’t do. Our organization must definitely have issues. I’ve thought about it for a long time, this matter of the Usurper of the State is essentially a result of my excessive pursuit of ’organizational purity.’ I simply followed capitalist logic, securing the global capital with the greatest benefit. The ones I wholeheartedly trusted were only the idealists within ’our’ scope——It was only at the end that I realized elitism is unacceptable. Even when we had such an advantage back then, didn’t we still get our peaches plucked?"

Yawgmoth nodded.

He seemed to agree with this statement.

"I have always regretted what happened to Bernard. Because of his poor background, he was a capitalist," Xiang Shan continued. "But, he... in the end, he still asked me, ’You often say that the new society turns ghosts into humans... Do you think I have become human? Boss’."

Yawgmoth shook the head in his hand: "But you were deceived by this one here."

"After all, people can disguise themselves," Xiang Shan looked down at his palm as if recalling something.

But his other hand was still hidden behind him, gripping a weapon.

"If only I had trusted Bernard a bit more back then. That’s why I should trust others a little more too. If there are enough trustworthy people, then the chances of other comrades uncovering those with ill intentions increase. People like us should also be subject to checks and oversight," Xiang Shan looked at Yawgmoth, "We are really too alike. Our gaze is always fixed on the same spot——not just you and me, Inga, David, Xinyu, Tolya, Yang, Chen... all of us are of one kind, always looking in one direction, there will inevitably be things we miss."

"We cannot repeat the same mistake we made when the country was stolen, Yawgmoth."

Yawgmoth sighed and continued walking forward.

Xiang Shan continued to back away.

"So you mean, even with absolute power, one can be undermined in secret?"

"That’s exactly it, pal," Xiang Shan shook his head. "Rather, when a person has immense power but shares too few interests with his subordinates, he’s very susceptible to being undermined. No matter how brutal he is, he can’t withstand large-scale insubordination, widespread passive resistance, or collective superficial compliance from his subordinates. I think the Usurpers, even with absolute authority, had to wear our skin exactly because of this."

"I agree with that point," Yawgmoth nodded.

Xiang Shan spread his hands: "So... right? There’s no point in clinging to this thing."

Xiang Shan was still trying to persuade Yawgmoth.

Yawgmoth nodded.

He could certainly agree with this point.

Xiang Shan always hoped for a society where the people could live happily.

And a society where the people can live happily would not be inefficient——although a high-efficiency society might not necessarily comply with human welfare, human happiness often presupposes the operation of an efficient society.

Rational people would tend to agree with his thoughts.

But...

Did he truly...

For a moment, Yawgmoth did indeed give up.

Xiang Shan also read his mindset through the ability granted by Inner Strength.

The two entered the corridor, maintaining this confrontational stance, and slowly walked towards the exterior.

A series of footsteps suddenly came.

Ingrid appeared at the corner.

Xiang Shan breathed a sigh of relief and turned his body to greet.

But at this instant, Yawgmoth suddenly sent out a communication.

[Be careful, this guy is fake!]

Ingrid, already puzzled by the stand-off between Xiang Shan and Yawgmoth, focused her attention on Xiang Shan upon hearing this transmission.

And the first to doubt Ingrid was Xiang Shan himself. He wondered whether Yawgmoth had noticed some detail he had missed.

What followed was a blur of memory. The surface consciousness of his mind was almost a blank.

There wasn’t much brain resource left for the operation of entertainment apps like "Self-Consciousness," was there?

Yawgmoth only remembered raising his hand to deliver a punch to Xiang Shan’s head. Xiang Shan also turned around, landing a heavy strike.

The two attacks interweaved in mid-air.

Yawgmoth’s fist connected squarely with the side of Xiang Shan’s skull.

Meanwhile, the heavy pile driver in Xiang Shan’s hand missed Yawgmoth’s head by a whisker.

Then, Yawgmoth was prepared for a close-quarters fight with an opponent who was unprepared psychologically and mainly relied on Inner Strength for martial studies.

By the time he came to his senses, Ingrid was already lying on the ground.

He even casually threw a metal aerosol bomb to block the signals.

——What on earth have I done...

Yawgmoth’s hands trembled slightly, then clenched into fists.

He relaxed them again.

And then clenched them once more.

At the moment Xiang Shan turned toward Ingrid and relaxed, a vague thought flared up like wildfire, then explosively burst forth like a chain reaction.

He realized it was his only opportunity.

So he took action.

Yawgmoth turned to Xiang Shan, looking down at this old friend from above.

"You didn’t see me as an enemy at the very last moment. You’re still not cautious enough, Xiang Shan."

It was because deep within his consciousness, the concept of "Yawgmoth" was not associated with "enemy," leading to an added step in Xiang Shan’s thought process to "assess Inga."

Although Xiang Shan bypassed that step as quick as he could. He might have realized it.

But neural reflexes take time.

Actions take time.

If not for that momentary lapse, the best Yawgmoth could have hoped for was a Pyrrhic victory.

If Yawgmoth had hesitated even for 0.1 seconds, the outcome would have been rewritten.

Yawgmoth had nearly convinced himself just now. There was a moment when he genuinely recognized Xiang Shan.

Yawgmoth was also lost in confusion. He could no longer remember whether he truly found Xiang Shan’s ideas to be viable or if everything was just an "act" to set up this situation—convincing himself only to cause a moment of hesitation in Xiang Shan.

Xiang Shan and Inga of the Soth Divine Realm, both were developed enough to read the thoughts of others.

Yawgmoth closed his eyes. Moments later, he dismembered the limbs of Xiang Shan and Inga, tossed the two into an elevator shaft, and then blew up the elevator’s braking system.

In the end, he didn’t kill them. Both were merely knocked unconscious due to concussions.

Yawgmoth picked up the head that was endowed with authority.

He said to Earth, "Now let’s you and I have a fight."