Legend of the Cyber Heroes

——I can actually... understand it all.

No need for flowcharts, no comments... not even the need to use a machine for assistance.

He naturally understood the lines and groups of code before him.

This shouldn't be.

People nowadays have completely forgotten about the "Common Era" and the "Olympic Games", which means, he had been asleep for a very long time.

And judging by the biochemical products mentioned by Dr. Schultz, like the "Reverse Messenger Soaking Agent", the technology of this era is more advanced than the one he was familiar with before—he could even be certain that Will Grand Duke's electronic muscles would have been unimaginable during his time.

But, this computer technology alone...

"You've got to be kidding me, no one even knows what year it is and you're still using C language..."

——Although it's a variant, at its core, the foundation of this prosthetic body's underlying drivers is still a form of C language.

Even if it's more advanced than the C language Xiang Shan was familiar with...

"Has humanity stopped making progress in the field of computer science?"

Xiang Shan felt his chip was overheating again... or perhaps there was something else... amiss...

——Why is there no technological advancement in the most critical field?

——Did humanity climb the wrong technology tree... No, it's probably not that...

——It's not that "computer science has stopped moving forward", but rather... "mathematics or physics has stopped moving forward"?

Modern science is, in fact, an integrated structure. Foundational sciences are like the roots, while other disciplines are the architecture. Only the development of foundational sciences can drive the progress of other fields.

For example, without optics, there would be no microscopes, nor would there be cell theory.

Without quantum mechanics, humans would be unable to touch the realm of atoms, and there would be no molecular biology.

And so on.

What determines the height of computer technology advancement is mathematics and material science—or, in other words, mathematics and condensed matter physics.

Xiang Shan held his forehead.

He didn't know whether to be happy or sad. The remaining knowledge in his mind was still useable, he hadn't lost his means to "fight back", which was a good thing. But humanity...

——Calm down, Xiang Shan.

The man said this to himself.

This is merely the body of a low-level martial artist. Perhaps in the eyes of these villagers, their lord is the supreme authority. But maybe this lord, in the eyes of even higher-status humans, is just a rural wealthy landowner. This dog, too, could only be considered a low-level martial artist... A single chip does not necessarily represent the current pinnacle of human achievement.

Xiang Shan sat in the chair, silent for a short while.

"Master?" Yuki sensed something was off with Xiang Shan.

Xiang Shan waved his hand and looked at the terminal display. He scrolled up and down for a while.

"Even if this guy is just a low-level person... the drivers he wrote are also quite crude. Not only lacking optimization, but even the Encapsulation isn't well done..."

"Encapsulation" is a mysterious programming skill. It can hide a block of code, leaving only the necessary ports for the program to run. This process is like using a seal to confine the source of the program's magic, only allowing it to operate conveniently.

Encapsulation can prevent users with no knowledge of information technology from performing irrational operations on data, as well as enhance the simplicity of use. This process hides the implementation details of a class, allowing users to access data only through methods defined by the programmer.

"Encapsulation is a process that separates the elements constituting the structure and behavior of abstraction." New memories surfaced in his mind. This was what a programmer once said to him: "The task of encapsulation is to separate the interface of abstract concepts from their implementation."

Without encapsulation, not only would the practicality of these drivers be significantly reduced, but illegal intruders who find a way to interface with this chip could arbitrarily rewrite and distort the instructions within.

"Encapsulation" is the Rendu Small Circulation in the Cybermen's Inner Strength.

Only after completing Encapsulation, can the abstract concepts that make up your Inner Strength be considered to form their own domain, unaffected by external evil influences. Only then can one be considered to have reached the entrance of mastery.

Xiang Shan initially thought there would be some traps within.

But there were none.

No traps, no viruses, nothing.

Xiang Shan lowered his head, muttering to himself: "Yuki, do you see... practicing martial arts without cultivating Inner Strength leads to nothing in the end."

A martial artist, even if their External Martial Arts are immensely strong, if their internal drive is only at this level...

Then any hero who has mastered the Internal Martial Arts can play them like a fiddle.

His Prosthetic Eye would only see pre-set images; his Prosthetic Ear would only hear pre-set audio. His memories could be browsed at will, and his voice synthesizer would only play what others wanted him to say.

A powerful martial artist, just a more powerful puppet in the end.

Of course, you can choose not to undergo cyberization. But even the weakest Cybermen martial artist can overpower a Natural Person who is a Martial Arts Grandmaster. The fastest human nerve signal transmission speed of a hundred meters per second simply cannot keep up with the movements of a Cybermen martial artist. Bones composed of protein and calcium would shatter with a light collision against metal or carbon fiber skeletal structures.

Without Inner Strength to resist external evil, one doesn't even have the right to rebel.

I'm afraid the programming of these servants is written in such a way that it doesn't even allow them the thought of rebellion, right?

—And the only thing that's certain is that even among the servants, this dog holds no status.

There are still heroes in this world who resist the oppressors. And most of the heroes are versed in Inner Strength. They too can play with those Martial Artists who do not understand Inner Strength at will.

Either the elites must choose to personally fight with the heroes, or they have a group of well-encapsulated servants at their disposal.

The latter kind of servant may also have encapsulated programming, but this is not "Inner Strength"—they have merely received the "Empowerment" from the powerful, gaining the ability to seal off their self and prevent external evil from invading. They do not understand how to use this power.

Yuki's eyes widened in disbelief, "It... It can't be that horrifying, can it?"

He couldn't bring himself to believe it. A powerful Martial Artist who had strutted around triumphantly and casually ripped open the throats of workers was, in the eyes of the Lords, merely... just...

A servant of such lowly status?

Even though it was his master who analyzed this, he couldn't bring himself to believe it.

"You can't not believe it, Yuki," Xiang Shan said, looking at the empty canine body: "This guy is essentially a weakling... a pitifully weak fellow. But he probably doesn't even feel sorry for himself."

—What on Earth have you turned this planet into!

An inexplicable anger startled Xiang Shan himself.

Who was he angry at? Who had the power to turn the world into this?

"So the most important thing next is to reprogram these chips," Xiang Shan picked up the medical terminal that was set aside: "Yuki, you probably won't understand what's going to happen in the next few hours. You go ahead and dispose of this brain according to your rules first."

"Oh," Yuki obediently nodded, then wrapped the brain in some old plastic fibers and took it outside.

Meanwhile, Xiang Shan took out the information storage device that originally belonged to the Dog Warrior and connected it to the medical terminal. He first backed up the medical terminal's operating system to that information storage device, then he entered the back-end of the operating system.

The speaker emulated a whistle sound.

Thanks to the world's richest man at the end of the 20th century, the founder of Microsoft, and the creator of the Windows operating system.

This system turned out to be a variant of Windows—by this time, Microsoft was probably no longer able to chase after pirated software. The Windows operating system had been the most widespread operating system in computer history, and in the 2050s, Microsoft was also once the most prominent contributor in the open-source world.

Many people are familiar with the Windows system. For programmers, this is an essential Cultivation Technique to learn.

"I will remember your positive contributions to this world, Mr. Gates."

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

Yuki walked cheerfully on the street.

It was very strange. It was just one night, but the world looked completely different to him now. He still didn't have a father, but he had a master. Although his master was a bit eccentric, he was definitely a Great Hero. He would become a Great Hero too.

Those kids who had bullied him approached, but now they just glanced at Yuki and didn't bother him further. They knew that the person Yuki had brought home was formidable.

Yuki smiled, although he had yet to learn much. But now he knew that those kids who had bullied him, all of them were just "weak"—and he would become the sword of the weak, become a Hero!

How remarkable...

"Thump." Perhaps too engrossed in his thoughts, Yuki accidentally bumped into someone.

"Can't you watch where you're going? If your Prosthetic Eye is broken, go get it fixed early!" The person he bumped into seemed unusually angry, even the synthesized voice of the speaker trembled slightly: "You're from Yulia's family, aren't you? What's your problem, huh?"

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Yuki instinctively shrank, protecting his natural body: "I was just thinking about something, sorry?"

"What you were thinking about... you!" The person grabbed Yuki, but then seemed to think better of it and let go: "Be more careful next time!"

Only then did Yuki see clearly that the person was named Willy, a loader in town. When he was young, his family was poor and he hadn't gotten a body well-suited for labor, so life had always been tough for him. He could only assist the heavy-duty workers when work got busy.

But even that work didn't last long.

Yuki remembered even his mother had hired this guy for help before. But later on, Yulia found that he charged too much and lacked enthusiasm for work, so she never worked with him again.

He stuck out his tongue and quickened his pace, arriving at the organic waste recycling tank next to the field.

The organic parts of Cybermen also produce waste. Even Cybermen like Xiang Shan, who had almost his entire body cyberized except his brain, were no exception. Occasionally some liquid would seep out of Xiang Shan's throat. That was metabolic waste.

However, most Cybermen couldn't get away with only such a small amount of waste.

Right next to this place was a public toilet with a decomposition tank underground, which housed genetically engineered bacteria colonies capable of breaking down waste with maximum efficiency, as well as other trash. Additionally, there was a special entrance for other scattered organic matter that resembled a pool. Once the trash was thrown into it, it would sink and then be drawn into the decomposition tank via a somewhat complex piping system.

Water sealed this entrance to prevent external bacteria from getting into the decomposition tank and to stop the emission of harmful gases from it.

Yuki threw the brain along with the plastic wrap into it. With a plop, the brain made a splash.

If it were Xiang Shan, he would probably have put his hands together in prayer at this moment. Xiang Shan was not a Buddhist, but he believed that such gestures inherited from ancient cultures could be used to express respect for an opponent and for life.

But Yuki had no reaction; he just hummed a tune and turned to leave.