Legend of the Cyber Heroes-Chapter 53 - External Sect Auxiliary Line

53: Chapter 53 External Sect Auxiliary Line

53 -53 External Sect Auxiliary Line

Yuki’s physical body actually wasn’t substantial.

His limbs were originally prosthetic body parts designed for children, and he had already replaced some of his internal organs.

After the incident with Lev, he had replaced most of the remaining organs.

Just now, even his lungs had been swapped out.

To facilitate movement, Xiang Shan had also replaced Andy’s limbs for him.

For Yuki, most of the muscles on his body were now superfluous.

A few blood-forming organs and an artificial heart pump and prosthetic lungs, sufficient for maintaining brain energy, were essentially enough.

Also, there was a digestive and absorption system that was less than one-tenth the size of that of a Natural Person.

After the battery was replaced, Yuki had almost regained his ability to move.

The strength of his limbs had nothing to do with his injuries.

This was one big advantage of a Prosthetic Body.

For a Natural Person, if their internal organs were damaged, insufficient energy supply to their limbs would naturally lead to weakness and difficulty in moving.

However, the strength of a Prosthetic Body depended on its integrity and the electrical energy of the battery.

A Cyberman, no matter how severe the injury, could still move as long as the Prosthetic Body was intact.

The most extreme examples were probably Gleayard, or the brothers Ali and Andy.

After Gleayard was defeated, his Prosthetic Body could still accept external commands to move and even throw “Iron Dust.” And those brothers, even after their brains had been destroyed, their bodies could maintain their original movements.

Despite his serious injuries, Yuki had indeed regained basic mobility.

The boy hesitated, “Master, the person who killed my mother should have been…”

“Yes, that Green Forest thug has already paid the price,” Xiang Shan looked into the distance, nodding: “But the ones who killed your mother, they weren’t just that person.”

“Who else is there?”

“The Green Forest, and this world,” Xiang Shan said: “Now that you understand this sorrow, you shouldn’t let it befall others.

You should eliminate those things—that is our Heroes’ ‘revenge.'”

“And the first step is to obliterate Gleayard’s stronghold.”

The boy nodded.

“I have absorbed the memories of Lev…

that is, the tall man who wielded the stick,” Xiang Shan said: “These past few days I’ve also absorbed some of Gleayard’s memories.

I already know where their fortress is and how to get in.”

Yuki was somewhat apprehensive, “But, the stronghold…

there are a lot of people, right?”

“A lot of people…

Hmph, nothing but a rabble,” Xiang Shan said calmly: “Indeed, having many people lends them strength.

But Martial Arts can disintegrate such ‘momentum.'”

Only then did Yuki nod, his eyes filled with excitement.

Xiang Shan crouched down and said to Yuki, “Kid, since you are set on this path, there are a few rules I need to lay out clearly.

Before you truly enter our sect, you must follow these rules.

If you disagree, I can send you to a safe town.”

Yuki nodded, “Master, go ahead.”

“Firstly, until you complete your training, whatever I say, you must do,” Xiang Shan spoke gravely: “What we do is always life-threatening.

The slightest slip can cost both of us our lives.

So, you must obey commands.”

Yuki nodded, “I understand.”

“Secondly, although I talked about revenge, from today until four years from now, I won’t let you personally kill anyone—even if they are scum—unless I am not by your side and you are attacked and need to defend yourself.

Understand?”

Yuki was taken aback, lowered his head, and clenched his teeth, “Why!

Why can they…

those thugs come to kill me, and I can’t…”

“Stop.” Xiang Shan put a hand on Yuki’s head: “Yuki, first I need to tell you, no person should have dominion over another, no person should judge another.

Only ‘law’ can judge.”

“But Master, didn’t you say that ‘law’ is a force that oppresses people…”

“It’s ‘law can become a force that oppresses people’.

Don’t half-listen,” Xiang Shan interrupted his disciple’s retort: “Taking a person’s life, no matter how you look at it, is not good.

It’s just that now ‘law’ lacks the strength to protect people, allowing those evil to exist will only lead to greater disasters.

We are simply out of options, so we draw our swords.

But that doesn’t make it ‘absolutely right’.

It is only relatively less bad than ‘letting the wicked go free’.”

“If you don’t grasp the nuances well, how are you any different from those Green Forest thugs?

You don’t have to understand this right now, just keep it in your mind and think about it slowly.

I’m just letting you know.

Got it?”

Yuki stiffened his neck but still nodded.

“Good.” Xiang Shan stood up, opening a hidden compartment in his External Armor.

Xiang Shan took out three chips from the compartment: “Your Brain-Machine Barrier has reserved interfaces, right?

Put these chips in.”

Yuki nodded, opened his skull, and did as instructed.

The three chips, two from Andy and one from Ali.

Xiang Shan nodded, “Normally, these Martial Arts should be taught after settling down.

But we’re about to attack a fortress soon.

You still have a long way to go to learn about ‘Sneaking’ and ‘Assassination.’ I’ll have to leave you alone outside the fortress for a while, so I’m passing on some survival techniques.”

Yuki’s eyes lit up, “Martial Arts?

Can they help me defeat the Green Forest thugs?”

“Wishful thinking,” Xiang Shan scoffed: “At most, they’ll let you hold out against the lackeys for a few more minutes, so I can get there in time.”

While speaking, Xiang Shan moved with intention, using a signal transmitter to directly issue a command to the chips inside Yuki’s brain.

[Activate “Intermittent Auxiliary Thread Protocol”]

Suddenly, Yuki found something amiss about the world before his eyes.

For some reason, there seemed to be many colorful blocks appearing in his vision.

Yuki exclaimed, “Master!

There seems to be something wrong with my eyes!”

“Relax, it’s not a bug,” Xiang Shan shook his head.

“This is more or less what the world looks like through the eyes of a Martial Artist.

Of course, you can’t accept too much information at once…

take it one step at a time.”

As he spoke, all the color blocks in Yuki’s vision but white disappeared.

There were only two patches of white.

These two patches of white were hemispheres, centered on Xiang Shan’s shoulders, spanning out on either side of him.

“This white area—see?

This is the range my ‘hands’ can reach,” said Xiang Shan.

“Now, try hitting me.”

“Oh,” Yuki nodded and raised his fist to strike at Xiang Shan.

Just as Yuki’s fist was about to enter the white hemisphere area, Xiang Shan’s hand suddenly flicked out, lightly tapping Yuki’s wrist.

Yuki swung his fist again, but the result was the same.

Each time Yuki’s fist entered the white area, it was met with a counterattack.

Xiang Shan asked, “Do you know how you can avoid being attacked?”

Yuki thought for a moment and pointed behind Xiang Shan: “That gap?”

Xiang Shan shook his head, stepped back half a step with his right foot, turned it out forty-five degrees, twisted his body to the side, lowered his center of gravity, and assumed a basic defensive stance of Jeet Kune Do: “How about now?”

The overlapped portions of the two hemispheres separated, almost forming a complete sphere, now enveloping Xiang Shan’s upper body.

“How about now?”

Yuki scratched his head: “Attack the legs?”

Xiang Shan let out a sigh: “Why don’t you try?”

Yuki bent down, intending to throw a punch, but at that moment, a red area suddenly appeared near Xiang Shan’s legs.

Xiang Shan kicked out, sweeping low, stopping his toes beside Yuki’s cheek.

“This is the area my leg kicks can reach,” Xiang Shan explained.

“I had only removed the other ‘guide lines’ earlier, leaving only my hands’ ‘Air Control Circle.’ That doesn’t mean there are no guide lines in other places.

Take another look at this gun by my waist.”

Instantly, the “guide lines” around Xiang Shan’s hands and feet vanished, and the short gun he had taken from Andy began to glow.

From the barrel of the gun, a line extended outward, its color deepening as it stretched.

Beyond this solid line, there were also several dotted lines.

In addition, there was a line connecting from the handle of the gun to Xiang Shan’s wrist.

Xiang Shan picked up Li’s steel rod from the ground; the guide lines on the gun disappeared, and the area covered by the long rod appeared.

It turned out to be a circular zone around Xiang Shan.

Due to the principle of leverage, the middle part of the rod couldn’t deliver much power, so at very close range, there would surprisingly be a “safe zone.”

The saying “An inch longer, an inch stronger; an inch shorter, an inch more dangerous” applies here.

“Now, you need to make sure you don’t get hurt at all.

So, the best way is to avoid intersecting with any ‘guide lines,'” said Xiang Shan.

Yuki asked, “Master, do you need to watch so many things?”

“This device is just a tool.

It’s meant to give you a visual understanding of ‘spacing,'” Xiang Shan shook his head.

“Once you engrain this system into your thoughts, this kind of visual aid will become unnecessary.”

The “Spacing Guide Line Program” for “External Martial Arts” is similar to “training wheels” for “riding a bike”; it’s just a tool to help you get the feel, not an essential item.

Sometimes, overly complex visual information can make the biological brain miss out on some information.

A truly well-trained Martial Artist can operate a “background process” in their subconscious to handle such judgments.

Or rather, it’s like when high school students use “auxiliary lines” to break down complex geometry problems into simpler ones, organizing their thoughts in the process.

Just like Martial Artists of the Old Era, relying on “experience” to judge each other’s spacing and adjust the rhythm of offense and defense.

Of course, measuring tools like Prosthetic Eyes, as well as algorithms that include advanced geometry, are only going to be more reliable than the natural human eye and experience.

Xiang Shan removed most of the guide lines, leaving only those for “Footwork,” “tires,” “arms,” and “Firearms”: “This gadget is useless if the difference in prosthetic body performance is too great.

You haven’t even maxed out your enhancement rate; at best, you can only contend with lackeys.

I’ll give you some time to get more familiar with it.

In an hour, we’ll leave here and head to that Z-organization stronghold.”