Legend of the Cyber Heroes

"Master!" Yuki suddenly asked while helping Xiang Shan adjust the circuits, "Wait, can I leave for a bit? I want to go out and see…"

"Go out?" Xiang Shan was a bit puzzled, "Going out is your freedom. But hasn't it been quite chaotic outside recently?"

These days, Xiang Shan hadn't left the house, focusing solely on reconstructing his prosthetic body. However, he could still hear the noises from outside.

In the past half-month, the town mayor had indeed stirred up some actions. Xiang Shan heard that he had organized one-third of the town's people, assembling everyone for combat training—he called this "Self-defense Organization."

Of course, this was also a method. Martial Artists weren't omnipotent. At least in Xiang Shan's understanding, even powerful Martial Artists could indeed be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. A crowd of heavy industrial machines lined up, executing uniform movements for offense and defense—this made even a Martial Artist apprehensive.

But the issue is, "lining up for coordinated offense and defense" itself is a form of Martial Studies. Xiang Shan still remembered, "the Martial Studies that involve controlling many machines or large warships," distinct from the External Sect, Inner Strength, was the third major path, "Military Path."

Alternatively, non-Martial Artists could also rely on firearms for suppressive shooting, using saturation attacks against Martial Artists not skilled in firearms.

But from Xiang Shan's observations, the only firearm in the village was the automatic rifle in the hands of the town mayor.

If that was the extent of their firepower, never mind suppressing Martial Artists, perhaps even a Martial Artist with thicker external armor could stand still and let the town mayor shoot at will.

The difference between a cybernetic body and a flesh body is right here. The human body, when injured, often triggers a reaction that affects the entire body. Pain anywhere can interfere with the body's exertion. Muscle rupture in one area could prevent some actions from being completed. Even if adrenaline could truly allow you to ignore your body's self-protection mechanism, the oxygen deficiency caused by bleeding is not something that can be endured by sheer willpower alone.

This ultimately is a material world. Without oxygen, cells cannot get energy.

Even a ricochet that grazes can cause a human of flesh to be unable to exert full strength.

But it's different for a cybernetic body. As long as the key transmission components are not damaged, the operational ability of a cybernetic body would not be hindered. If the bullet's caliber is too small, the external armor of a cybernetic body could completely block it.

A cybernetic body also doesn't need "recuperation". As long as you can afford it, you just replace the damaged parts with new ones.

This gives Martial Artists a higher margin for error on the battlefield and also makes firearms demand higher from its users.

Xiang Shan had not even heard any gunfire-like noises from the village. It seemed here it was unlikely to have any firearm expert trained through ammunition consumption.

He even suspected at one point whether the town mayor simply wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to form a private army under his own control.

Yuki looked very excited, "Master, do you know? The town mayor personally paid out of his pocket to hire three Martial Artists from the city!"

"Martial Artists?" Xiang Shan was somewhat surprised, "I've heard that Martial Artists are highly respected… The town mayor is that wealthy?"

"Ah, it can't be those who'd qualify for the Paralympics, but they are at the level of local league competitions!" Yuki said excitedly, "They are professional Martial Artists!"

Xiang Shan muttered, "Professional Martial Artists? Are they so impressive?"

—Is cyber Martial Arts a form of Assassination Techniques, and those who compete in the arena too?

"Master, people here have been… eh, why don't you also go see those Martial Artists? Maybe you could remember something from the past?" Yuki kept persuading.

"Forget it, forget it." Xiang Shan waved his hand, "I just want to try absorbing that dog's memory today; I need a quiet environment. You go enjoy the spectacle—just remember to tell your mother."

Yuki nodded, "Understood!" Then he dashed off.

Xiang Shan then sank into deep thought.

He was well aware that cyber Martial Arts were designed to combat tyrants. As long as there were Martial Arts and chivalry, there remained a chance for common people to assassinate tyrants. This was the sole purpose for which Martial Arts were designed.

He found it hard to imagine what kind of developments Martial Arts had undergone during the time he was asleep. Why had arena contests emerged?

—No, there indeed were such contests in the past…

Xiang Shan looked at the two hard drives beside his hand.

At this moment, his appearance had completely changed. He was suspended over a table—not like a natural person, cybernetic bodies do not have blood circulation, and thus prolonged binding wouldn't result in necrosis. Streamlined external armor like light plate armor sketched the lines of his torso—of course, by thickness, even the heavy armor of ancient knights wasn't as heavy as this suit of armor.

A brand new alloy skull cap, fitting snugly against his original skull. A data cable extended from within the skull cap, connected to Dr. Schultz's medical terminal.

The fur of a canine cybernetic body covered his hands. This fur would hinder heat dissipation, but could also provide some limited protection.

Below him, were two legs.

These two legs were the result of pooled artificial muscle fibers from that dog. Xiang Shan had completely altered the arrangement of the muscle fibers. They could exert force in any direction. Traditional joint techniques could not restrain these legs. And when these large quantities of artificial muscle fibers contracted or released under high voltage, the accumulated kicking power, calculated in "tons," could even kick an elephant to death.

But this method of concentrating artificial muscle fibers together also made heat dissipation a major issue—after all, Will Grand Duke's canine cybernetic body had these muscle fibers spread across an entire body, providing far greater surface area for heat dissipation than this layer-upon-layer of double legs. Xiang Shan didn't even add external armor over this layer of artificial muscles, only covering it with a special plastic that had excellent thermal conductivity and a low specific heat capacity—this material was available in the village.

Within these artificial muscles, there were several tube-like structures for circulating cooling fluid.

These two legs were not yet fully connected to the body; only the hoses transporting cooling fluid, and the circuits were already connected.

"Alright, this is essentially done. Today the Welfare Officer is coming, and the thugs wouldn't show up until after the Welfare Officer has left…"

Xiang Shan connected a memory storage disk to the terminal.

"There's still some time left, so let's read this memory. I hope there's something valuable in it."

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

Outside the town, many residents had gathered together.

The authority of the Welfare Officer was much lower than that of the Tax Officer. A Tax Officer could decide how much Gene Tax to collect, effectively controlling the life and death of a settlement. A Welfare Officer, however, was only responsible for disbursing gene benefits. Even if he didn't disburse them, at most, fewer babies would be nurtured in the town.

Therefore, the welcome given to the Welfare Officer was much less elaborate than that given to the Tax Officer.

Still, the Town Mayor was waiting in the plaza with a large group of people.

Yuki squeezed through the crowd in the square, trying to get a closer look at those Martial Artists.

Of course, he knew that his master was likely skilled in Martial Arts. He also knew that the Martial Artists the Town Mayor could invite weren't likely to be top-tier figures.

But this was indeed his first encounter with real, proper Martial Artists!

Not the inconspicuous animal forms, nor his master's semi-crippled form, but true Martial Artists with complete prosthetic bodies!

How could he not take a look?

Just then, the dust gradually began to rise. The growth of metal-based plants was slower than in the past, especially for woody plants; therefore, vegetation was scarce in this era, with dust everywhere. Ground effect vehicles could even stir up a dust storm.

Suddenly, Yuki heard a loudspeaker from behind shout, "Yuki! Come here!"

Yuki hurriedly turned around, trying to stay away from his mother. However, a nosy citizen from the town grabbed Yuki's upper body and laughed, "Kid, your mom is calling you!"

Yuki crashed into Yulia's wheels and after regaining his footing, he stood still, embarrassed to move, and looked down, "Mom?"

"Yuki! What are you thinking?" Yulia was clearly upset: "Lately, you and 'Shan' have been in close contact. I see he really is teaching you some repair skills, so I haven't interfered too much. But what are you doing now?"

Due to her work, Yulia didn't interact much with the man who was staying at her son's house. However, when she did occasionally come home, she indeed saw Yuki learning about machinery repairs, a highly esteemed skill nowadays. Therefore, she hadn't interfered too much.

But in her heart, a Martial Artist like Xiang Shan with an unclear background was ultimately dangerous.

"I just wanted to see those Martial Artists..."

"And what good will looking do? Can you afford a Martial Artist's prosthetic body?" Yulia criticized harshly: "The path of a Martial Artist is tough, and they often turn into thugs. I advise you not to be curious about Martial Artists…"

"Mom!" Yuki stomped his foot: "I am just curious!"

"Curious? Do you know why the Town Mayor invited those three Martial Artists here? They might be called into battle at any moment. If you get too close, and something happens..."

Right then, the dust storm suddenly reached its peak. Visibility dropped sharply.

The Welfare Officer finally arrived. Yulia instinctively stopped speaking.

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

The Town Mayor had been waiting here early today.

Behind the elderly man were three strangers from outside the town. Unlike the town's residents, these three had a high degree of cyberization, but not the sharp, industrial-type prosthetic bodies. Their steel bodies, compared to the crude prosthetics of the townspeople, were practically masterpieces.

These three Martial Artists each had a noteworthy reputation in the outside world.

Among the three Martial Artists, the leader had impressively large arms. He had only one pair, but they were so large one might think they were part of heavy industrial machinery. These arms, weighing nearly a ton, could deliver punches at a speed exceeding two meters per second.

Such fists could even destroy a tank in one blow.

"Main Battle Tank" Paulus.

Just as his title suggested, this Martial Artist's specialty, the "Mechanical Fist," could deliver the force of a main battle tank's charge.

The second Martial Artist was less eye-catching than the first. Not a patch of skin was exposed; his entire appearance gleamed silver. His waist was very slender, sacrificing body weight for maximum speed enhancement. The part of the Martial Artist's back, roughly where a Natural Person's shoulder blades would be, extended two additional arms. These arms, unlike human hands, were more akin to a mantis', completely integrated with blades.

This Martial Artist had mastered the technique known in this era as "Man-Blade Unity."

"Torrential Rain Blade" Ronconi.

The third person seemed ordinary, but he had a Fire God machine gun perched on his shoulder, presumably a practitioner from the renowned Firearms Path.

"Explosive Bullet" Anthony.

All three were Martial Artists from nearby cities.