Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 743 - 387: Turning Into Blazing Fire [Part Six]

Chapter 743: Chapter 387: Turning Into Blazing Fire [Part Six]

"That must have been towards the end of the Chivalrous War." Kanhara Kotoba reminisced, "Kocho Ghana in Africa... Do you remember that city? The one Uncle Xiang invested in building... Are there still records of it online?"

The city was also an initiative started by Xiang Shan in the ’50s to build a "better future." For Xiang Shan, Africa really was a good place. Superman Enterprise had many large biological experiment zones there. This hot and humid region was the most suitable area on Earth for metal-based lifeforms to thrive. Superman Enterprise also produced several researchers who came from here.

However, the main reason Xiang Shan built his "City of the Future" in central Africa was, cough, the relatively lenient political environment.

What these small African nations never lacked were exemplars of sovereigns, providing the world with exceptional samples for human observation. If these guys really died suddenly, their citizens would celebrate by throwing their hats into the air, and the international community wouldn’t pay much attention.

While the major nations often disrespected the sovereignty of others in practice, they always concocted a slew of excuses to justify their actions. "Removing a tyrant ruling a small country" was a low-return, high-cost affair for a major nation, and those who gave the orders and carried them out might even be criticized by their own people.

But Xiang Shan was different. He could indeed bring in a team of mercenaries to change the leadership of a small country. "Planning a military coup in Africa" was mere pocket change to him—David’s funds from a bulk purchase of Red Alliance spacecraft were enough to plan hundreds, maybe even thousands, of coups in Africa.

Xiang Shan didn’t even need to actually implement it; the capacity and intent were enough. Even within several large countries, there were many willing to cover his tracks—indeed, some would challenge his actions, but even more would defend him.

In a city with a near-futuristic style built hundreds of kilometers from where Kanhara Kotoba’s father had died, what emerged was the very first city under the banner of "Chivalry."

Africa was just a raw material base in the world market—merely that, a raw material base. It held the weakest position in terms of influence. If not for Superman Enterprise’s true global deployment, if not for Xiang Shan’s perennial belief in "all of humanity," "not one less," even Superman Enterprise wouldn’t have easily reached this place.

Yet, this was also one of the areas where Superman Enterprise’s control was weakest.

After encountering development bottlenecks in the Eurasian Continent and America, Xiang Shan turned his attention here.

And the liberation of Kocho Ghana marked a significant milestone.

"At that time, the sky was filled with fluttering metal foils... Africa’s scorching winds lifted these electromagnetic interference-inducing items—these were made and cut by the people themselves. Uncle Xiang posted the manufacturing tutorials online. Then there was also the sparse metal aerosol. This was to ensure that the Usurper of the State couldn’t issue a command to kill everyone in the city."

"Tens of thousands of people were on the streets, besieging Superman Enterprise tightly. Uncle Xiang was the first to rush in. He was responsible for beating the people inside half to death before throwing them out. Outside, the League of Heroes would catch them and disengage their command modules. We eventually planned to announce their crimes in a live broadcast to the entire network..."

"Due to the extensive communication interference, remote command was necessary. And we didn’t have enough time to teach the local people to understand flag signals. Uncle Yawgmoth stood right in front of the police forces, questioning them if they intended to massacre the people. The police dared not advance, so Uncle Yawgmoth climbed to a higher spot and started singing. It was quite dangerous, for in that era, it was nearly impossible for a Martial Artist to dodge a sniper bullet from within the atmosphere through mere reflexes. But he was fearless, swaying his upper body while singing loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. The police were so stunned they couldn’t move, and all eyes were focused on him..."

Kanhara Kotoba closed her eyes, her fingers sliding over the strings of her instrument: "The first song at that time was... ’War’? ’Pieces’? They don’t quite fit... Later it was ’I’m not leaving’... Finally it was ’Still Waiting’..."

Kanhara Kotoba seemed completely lost in memories.

She was willing to share this with Levy Envoy possibly because there was something in her heart, some past events she felt compelled to mention.

—How wonderful that time was...

Back then, Yawgmoth hadn’t yet gone insane. Xiang Shan hadn’t turned into the "Undead" he so despised.

Although the Heroes had lost the whole world, they still had hope—complete "hope."

Levy Envoy stood up: "I’m sorry, Holy Maiden, but our conversation has to stop now. There’s new intelligence... I think you need to check the communications records."

The privileges of the Envoy and the Holy Maiden were not the same. When Kanhara Kotoba was relaxing, intelligence of low urgency wouldn’t directly pop up. Levy Envoy had a similar treatment, but this message was clearly urgent enough for his level to read immediately, while Kanhara Kotoba could finish her rest before checking it.

Kanhara Kotoba opened the message, and then she froze.

"The Ninth Martial God, Geng Sheng..." Levy Envoy stared at Kanhara Kotoba, saying each word distinctly, "The Ninth Martial God acknowledged that the Martial Artist as Xiang Shan... That qualifies him to be recognized as a ’Martial God,’ right?"

Kanhara Kotoba continued to read further.

That "Uncle Xiang" had entered Paradox City, liberating the Ninth Martial God.

The Ninth Martial God fought against the city’s Protectors, and in the end, all high-level military officers were slain, and the entire city was reduced to ruins. After seizing sufficient heavy firepower, the Ninth Martial God blasted a route through mid-air, and then five machines headed for space.

The entire process lasted forty minutes.

More than ten minutes later, the remaining five of the Ninth Martial God’s units engaged in combat with King Aqini’s fleet in the southern hemisphere. Observers from Kana noticed the firefight.

After losing three machines, the Ninth Martial God penetrated the fleet’s formation, destroying five heavy destroyers, an assault aircraft carrier, and four small escort ships, with countless small space units.

King Aqini’s fleet formation had a corner brutally shattered.

Although this accounted for less than ten percent of King Aqini’s fleet, the fleet was not at full strength at the moment!

The Protectors never stockpiled finished warships, as doing so would easily provide Heroes with opportunities. King Aqini’s fleet needed time to replenish its forces. During this time, the nearby chivalrous powers and Protector Fleet in the Asteroid Belt would be affected by this intelligence.

After being surrounded and losing the ability to fight, the Ninth Martial God tapped his own chest.

That was a technique of Mech-Breaking Martial Arts, inducing specific malfunctions.

The already damaged area inside the Ninth Martial God was further ignited.

The strong neutron flow generated by the fusion core was injected into the fission fuel collected by the Ninth Martial God in Paradox City. The neutron moderator was rapidly heated and evaporated. The fission material quickly underwent a fission reaction—then this single fission ignited all the remaining fusion fuel inside the Ninth Martial God.

Although it wasn’t as intense as a real nuclear weapon, it was enough.

The Ninth Martial God turned into a ball of fire, a beam of light...

Not only did the people on Earth witness this battle. An hour ago, when King Aqini’s fleet set off, more spacecraft deep in space had their cameras pointed here.

Within the Solar System, many people were already aware of this battle.

The Ninth Martial God’s breaking free from the Twelve Zodiacs...

And King Aqini’s frustration.

Levy Envoy felt a wave of confusion. It hadn’t been long since he had seen the "Martial God"!

"After Secluded Crane City, having a short rest, he went straight to Paradox City," Kanhara Shinhara remarked with a sigh, "The Solar System... is about to descend into chaos again."

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

King Aqini seemed indifferent to the upcoming turmoil. Ignoring the agitated subordinates in front of him, he focused all his attention on five different screens, playing them over and over.

Eventually, he drew a conclusion.

"None of these five units were in complete condition. They had all removed parts of their modules."

Feheart stood in front of King Aqini, slightly bowed: "Your Highness, perhaps it’s the result of the defending army’s efforts."

"Dubious," King Aqini replied. "The external armor shows no significant damage. They packed tactical-grade fission explosives and high-purity fission fuel into their bodies to destroy the evidence. But the missing modules themselves are too obvious."

King Aqini was very familiar with the Ninth Martial God’s Twelve Zodiacs. He had backups of all the designs of the Ninth Martial God’s prosthetic bodies.

At that moment, a series of signals came in.

There were no satellites left at this moment. King Aqini immediately launched a large landing pod carried by the fleet. This landing pod, upon entering the atmosphere, would release a parachute and then inject highly compressed helium into the balloon, ultimately ensuring it stayed in the stratosphere to act as a relay station.

This relay station would then deploy the next wave of landing troops. After completing their investigations, these troops would fly out of the sandstorm area and upload the signals to the relay station, which would then transmit them to the flagship.

They went to collect the "black boxes" from the corpses on the ground. The systems of these soldiers recorded all the intelligence they received through the command system—even intelligence transmitted through sound waves in a metal aerosol environment.

King Aqini’s investigation team would try to collect the latest piece of intelligence available.

King Aqini read it quickly, then issued a command: "Execute the last high-level military officer who fled the battle. Pardon the rest of the soldiers."

Feheart looked surprised: "Your Highness? Facing a Martial God, this result is not so bad, is it?"

"Compared to the records of the military in Paradox City and the combat records here, neither the Ninth Martial God nor the Twelve Zodiacs were completely annihilated. One sniper-oriented assassin-type unit managed to escape."

"Also, has anyone on Earth lost equipment used for satellite camouflage? Execute them too. Before the execution, let them experience the extreme pain of humanity,"

King Aqini said this.