Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 802 - 46 Helpless Souls

Chapter 802: Chapter 46 Helpless Souls

Jeanne felt a stir in her heart and said, "Old man? You’re back?"

The white-haired, gaunt old man appeared before her, "Hmm."

"It seems like you’re not very enthusiastic."

"It’s not some ingenious martial arts design." Tumor Xiang Shan sat beside Jeanne. In terms of physical sensation, it was as if they were sitting side by side. "When I was young... what year was it? A long time ago. I got to know that guy very early. He was a good person... probably not anymore."

"His Highness Conquest Heavenly King, huh." Jeanne laughed aloud.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing." Jeanne continued to laugh rudely.

Tumor Xiang Shan shook his head, "You’re quite cheeky now—I’m almost convinced you are my biological child."

"From both an ethical and biological perspective, you could say I’m your biological child now."

Tumor Xiang Shan was somewhat surprised, "Is this also because of my influence? I’ve been tired of those ’take the opportunity to promote one’s status’ jokes since I was young."

"I don’t know either." Jeanne shook her head, "It just feels... very strange in my heart."

"Very strange?"

"I don’t know, I haven’t experienced it, this kind of emotion..."

Jeanne looked up. Above was pitch darkness, nothing could be seen. The sense of vastness and confinement coexisted in this darkness.

Jeanne changed the topic, "Old man, how did you do it back then?"

"Hmm? Which one?"

"Controlling my prosthetic body to block the magnetic chain weapon." Jeanne said, "Even if I allowed it, you couldn’t have done it to that extent, right? Then, what I saw at that time... those... were those your memories?"

Tumor Xiang Shan had evolved from Jeanne’s basal ganglia, partly infiltrating her limbic system and other lower functional regions, and during the deterioration, somewhat invaded the higher cortex. Just as humans are easily controlled by instincts and emotions, Xiang Shan could do many things in places that Jeanne never paid attention to.

However, Jeanne’s consciousness, despite having "low operating priority," occupied a very high level of authority. Moreover, the first-generation brain-machine interfaces connected directly to the higher cortex.

Tumor Xiang Shan manipulating Jeanne’s prosthetic body faced significant interference from her consciousness.

No matter how calm Jeanne tried to be, she couldn’t eliminate this interference.

"Ah, that..." Tumor Xiang Shan paused for a moment, seeming somewhat hesitant. But he eventually spoke, "I adjusted my mental state to align more closely with yours."

"How did you do that?" Jeanne was quite surprised.

"Nothing special." Tumor Xiang Shan didn’t have any emotion of pride, "You’ve grown accustomed to a sense of ’helplessness.’ So I forcibly programmed to recall the moments in my life when I felt most helpless, putting myself in a mindset similar to yours."

Jeanne said, "So that was..."

"When I was fighting in the universe, I heard about a major biochemical disaster on Earth. I prayed my brothers could come up with a solution, hoping to expel the usurpers from Earth’s gravitational field soon so I could deal with it in peace. When I got back, there was nothing left." Tumor Xiang Shan tilted his head back, his tone calm, "But at that time, there weren’t any microorganisms that could decompose Benchmark Man corpses. So the bodies of those perpetrators were still there, none of them decayed. I sat in their world-destroying laboratory for two days and nights, staring at their corpses, until someone from the launch base came to find me, saying the rocket to take me back to space was ready. I just couldn’t understand. Why did they do it? Although my memory is blurred, I must have had many malicious thoughts then..."

"The Great Infection? But it wasn’t you who caused it."

"I wish it never happened, but there was nothing I could do about it." Xiang Shan said, "The core of it is really ’powerlessness,’ ’helplessness.’ My mother’s funeral, too. At that time, if I dedicated my resources to the cryopreservation of Homo sapiens, there was a minuscule chance to extend the lives of a few elderly, among whom a few might be distantly related to me. But if I stuck to my previous approach, investing society’s resources into the great endeavor of Human Benchmark Humanization, there was a much greater chance of benefiting more people. Every day gained would be a great merit... I really didn’t want to choose. For a moment, I even wished someone with authority would order me to choose one side or the other."

Jeanne was dumbfounded, "Huh?"

She had genuinely never thought...

The Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan, praised by the world, the great man who pioneered a new world above the natural world, could actually also... also...

Could the authority that symbolized the world’s peak and the thug who symbolized rebellion crave submission to others?

"And earlier, too... One of my friends, an incredible person, an inherently good person. Died trying to stop a race-related massacre, in a place that had nothing to do with him. Then... tsk, it was only then I found out he also had such... such an abnormal side. At that moment, he even remembered about organ donation. Among the humans staying in that shithole, he was absolutely one of the few who shouldn’t have died. But he did. I was powerless about all of it... It was right in front of me. My new era. A few more years, and the attack that killed him would hardly have been fatal..."

"I see..."

"I forcibly recalled these memories and then assimilated into your psyche. We synchronized. Just like that."

Jeanne felt both like laughing and crying, "So that means I’m such a cowardly person, huh..."

"You’re not cowardly, but rather too accustomed to despair and helplessness." Xiang Shan said, "From the day you started, the education you received was that the Father of Machines is supreme, King Aqini is the pinnacle under the heavens, and that the protection of civilization represents everything. Suddenly, one day, this power representing ’everything in the world’ betrayed you. But to you, Hero is a thug, an enemy. You’re unsure if they’re trustworthy—all the past Martial Gods could be products of conspiracy, is the world they created truly clear and bright? I, on the other hand, am the disease that might take your life at any moment. If others knew of your situation, they might capture you and push you into some evil plan. The entire world isn’t your ally."

"For over a decade, we’ve been fleeing. From one place to another. In your eyes, all our successes are merely ’successful escapes for life.’ We are just struggling. That girl named Asgard repeatedly experiences the day her partner died, unable to escape. And within your heart, feeling that since you’re coexisting with me, encountering these things is naturally inevitable, is a norm."

When it got to this point, Tumor Xiang Shan paused, rather unusually, "Hmm, that means, I realize I’m quite a jerk. Despite us sharing a significant part of the neurons that generate emotions, it took me so long to understand this point. I lack the comprehension to perceive others’ inner worlds—from this perspective, I am an incompetent partner, Jeanne."