Cyber ​​Heroes

Chapter 1178 Wake up, the Hero
The Protector stood in a dim, yellowish light. Before him was a huge tank filled with a highly transparent liquid; it was unclear whether this was the liquid's natural color or the yellow light used by the Knights for illumination. The dim light shone through the transparent observation window and fell upon the Protector.

This object, resembling an old-fashioned aquarium, is the core of the Knights of Light, their deepest secret.

At the same time, it is also one of the core projects of the Six Dragons Sect, "Tianyi".

The Protector had never entered this area before. Even though he was a high-ranking protector of the Six Dragons Sect, he had never heard of any information other than the code name "Tianyi".

He couldn't help but look at the huge water tank and peer inside.

Between the bright yellow water and light, numerous pink objects extended upwards from the bottom of the tank, resembling a dense forest of aquatic plants. The liquid within the tank showed no apparent movement, so these delicate, pink, aquatic-plant-like threads barely swayed.

Among the dense pink "aquatic plants," there are a few things that look like "trees"—should they be called "trees"? Tihufa's impression of the planting area is already very vague; the most memorable "tree" is probably a "tree diagram."

The pink "small tree" within the yellow halo does indeed resemble a very messy tree diagram, branching out again and again.

At the end of each branch is a pink and white "flower" with "petals" that are still slowly wriggling.

“Ediacara…it’s a real shame sometimes. Ediacara is a talented man.” The Six Dragons Cult Leader emerged naturally from the shadows, as if he had been there just moments before.

The Protector asked, "That is...which knight?"

“The Knights of the Forge of Life.” Xiang Shan’s hand gently pressed against the transparent observation window. “His proudest achievement is finding specific signaling factors that cause microglia to produce sufficient myosin, which then re-weaves with the original actin backbone and connectives to form movable colloidal tissue—although it cannot form complex structures or support very strong power. But thanks to him, we can create some… ‘flesh-and-blood machines’ with a little bit of autonomy. We can use cells cultured in vitro.”

“Sometimes I feel sorry for him because he dedicated such crucial achievements to our ascension cause. If he were released, he would even be qualified to compete for his own seat at the Round Table in the Galapagos Temple.”

The "creatures" in the tank are actually...

Human nerve cells.

Neurons form the nucleus, while specialized "muscle-like glial cells" envelop the neurons and grow slowly...

Yes, growth.

Neurons are originally permanent cells, with proto-oncogenes dormant and tumor suppressor genes active, and they basically stop growing after a certain life stage.

Huandanase can partially recall the early state of neurons, allowing them to regrow.

The Six Dragons Cult went a step further, removing the restrictions on neuronal growth.

If this technology is applied to the human body, it can lead to brain tumors that are highly susceptible to malignancy.

Within the Six Dragons Cult, this is the most important application scenario for this technology.

"Wildly growing neurons".

"It's a pity. After Ediacaran returned to Earth, it immediately lost contact. The Furnace of Life is probably in grave danger now." Xiang Shan shook his head and sighed. "It's such a waste of such a talented person."

The Dharma Protector said, "That does sound like a real shame..."

"He made many outstanding contributions to the cause of ascension. The Celestial Path has a backup of him from six months ago. Perhaps his personality can reappear in the world in the future," the cult leader said.

"Come on. I need to help you understand your position more deeply."

The cult leader walked ahead with his hands behind his back.

The lighting here is intermittent, seemingly unable to illuminate every corner. This is unavoidable. Most of the modern facilities originally located at the Soul of Light's stronghold were connected to AI. Now, with the AI ​​exhibiting widespread anomalies, the Six Dragons Cult has urgently shut down and destroyed all AI-controlled components.

These lights are all emergency lights.

Xiang Shan, the leader of the Six Dragons Cult, even joked that this made it look more like a poorly lit villainous organization's base.

The two walked along a suspended steel corridor. The cult leader's footsteps were reassuringly steady. The Guardian Spirit carefully shifted their steps to avoid resonance that could cause the corridor to collapse—among the research knights who routinely walked this corridor, there were no Heavenly Warriors.

The quality of the first-level prosthetic body differs greatly from that of a regular prosthetic body. In this daily environment where few martial artists come, this aspect is rarely taken into consideration in the design.

Although this caution of the Vijaya was mostly unnecessary, he had grown accustomed to it.

After passing twenty emergency lights, the two approached the second sealed water tank.

The classified project, "Secondary Copulation".

This water tank is exactly the same as the previous one, the same size, and the same dim yellow color.

However, the content inside is quite different.

Large clumps of pink tissue, reminiscent of sponges or coral, accumulate on the bottom of the water. The color is no longer pure pink, and occasionally the colors of other metallic ions appear.

“Unfettered neurons,” Xiang Shan said. “This is part of the exploration of life forms.”

The Protector nodded. His level of education and refinement did not allow him to comment on the matter. He did, however, know that it was a significant affair.

"Humanity actually only had one chance to make contact with extraterrestrial life. But on that occasion, humanity didn't even come into contact with a single extraterrestrial cell... no, a single extraterrestrial organic macromolecule. That strange civilization, which humanity named 'Oloren,' sent us a memory device containing genetic information using a unique and ingenious method."

"Therefore, all speculations about life in Ororon are based on discussions following the idea of ​​'reconstructing genetic material with carbon and metal ions and implanting it into Earth's cells.' But three hundred years ago, we... or rather, the Father of All Machines, right there at a dining table, proposed a hypothesis..."

Xiang Shan couldn't help but recall Yogemov when he was still a person. The undisguised contempt he could feel when he pulled a fork from his plate, pointed at himself, and called someone an "anthropocentric."

"We've always been curious. The level of civilization in Ororon is only slightly higher than that of humans three hundred years ago, and not as advanced as that of humans two hundred years ago. Yet, they were willing to pay a huge price to create a system like 'Ogon' just to transmit this little bit of information..."

"We inferred the behavior of the Ororon organisms based on human behavior patterns. However, Yogemov proposed another hypothesis. Based on the living conditions of metal-based organisms, Ororon must be a planet closer to its star, where more solar energy could be obtained. Considering the characteristics exhibited by metal-based organisms, the energy released from the collision of solar wind and planetary magnetic fields might also become a source of negative entropy."

"On this planet, massive amounts of 'producers' die and accumulate and decompose in the ocean. The fixed solar energy is not fully utilized by the decomposers—these remains are rapidly hydrolyzed in hot water into monosaccharides and phenols, which are further broken down into small organic molecules. Light organic matter such as alkenes and alkanes float on the ocean surface, forming large clumps, or even oil films covering the entire water body. And at the bottom of the water, there may be a loose and porous carbon layer."

"The so-called 'organic fuel that fills the entire ocean'—the Ororon civilization lived in an environment where obtaining fuel was extremely easy from the very beginning. Two hundred and fifty years ago, it would have indeed bankrupted an entire society if humans had built a spacecraft like the Ogon based on Earth's environment. But for Ororon, it was a resource that could be squeezed out with a little effort."

"Once you accept this hypothesis and start thinking based on it, you will find that the 'underlying driving force' of the Ororon organisms is destined to be different from that of humans—even greater than the gap between humans and AI."

"You mean... in such an environment, the producer's advantage would be enormous, and the best survival strategy would only be 'to acquire more solar energy'?" Tihufa quickly offered his insights based on evolutionary thinking.

“Someone said the same thing three hundred years ago,” Xiang Shan sighed. “This is actually easy to answer—selective pressure doesn’t just come from the planet’s environment. Competition between species can also create selective pressure, prompting biological evolution. When producers proliferate, it’s very likely that organisms that feed on producers will emerge—that is, consumers. With such a crowded track for producers, the competition for consumers’ niche is extremely low, so organisms will spontaneously seek a way out.”

"Consumers compete with each other, and there is also competition within a species."

"The real reason why 'we' and 'Oloren organisms' might differ in behavior might lie at a deeper level—our ancestors, early eukaryotes, may have been chemoheterotrophs that decomposed organic matter, or they may have been omphatrophs. However, the genetic code that Oloren sent to Earth, which revealed the movement mechanism, included an 'electroautotrophic' enzyme system that does not exist on Earth."

"Does the Ororon civilization believe this to be their core characteristic? Have they never lost the potential for 'electroautotrophy' as they evolved into higher life forms?"

"On Earth, the miracle of life has only happened once. That miracle, which has continued to produce countless living beings, was 'heterotrophic' from the beginning, obtaining energy by decomposing organic matter. Ophelia that have never acquired chloroplasts—we animals, or chondrocytes—have never acquired chloroplasts and have never had the opportunity to be autotrophic."

"And in Ororon, every living being possesses the ability, or at least the potential, of electromagnetic autotrophy. The common ancestor of all life on their planet was an electromagnetic autotrophic cell."

Their planet's magnetic field was likely quite active, or perhaps the higher temperatures and higher water content resulted in a more violently moving atmosphere, with friction from water storms generating numerous bolts of lightning. For the creatures of Ororon, 'electromagnetic force' had always been an easily accessible energy source—creatures that lost relevant genetic fragments would inevitably face a competitive disadvantage and be naturally eliminated. They did not lose this ability until they developed an advanced civilization.

"The difficulty and stability of energy acquisition are among the key drivers shaping the differences in immune strategies between autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms. On Earth, the mainstream autotrophic organisms, as producers, obtain energy stably but inefficiently through photosynthesis. Heterotrophic organisms, on the other hand, acquire food by taking high risks in exchange for the possibility of obtaining high-density energy in a short period of time. Plants invest a large amount of energy in defense structures that are difficult to move or recycle—namely, the cell wall, or substances harmful to invaders such as phenols, alkaloids, and terpenes. These compounds exist even in the absence of pathogens, representing a huge upfront investment."

"When faced with pathogens that are truly insurmountable, plants will actively wither away the affected parts, sacrificing the local to preserve the whole. This is their evolutionary strategy. Animals do not do this."

“An animal’s immune system seeks speed and precision in defense. Adaptive immunity provides highly specific recognition and powerful clearance capabilities. Although the initial reaction is energy-intensive, once the memory is established, the subsequent reaction is more efficient and faster. This is a strategy of ‘spending all means to save lives in order to quickly restore the ability to forage.’”

"It's like the difference between military killing techniques and conventional martial arts," Protector Ti remarked with a sigh.

Xiang Shan even pondered for a second before exclaiming, "Interesting insight. Indeed, henchmen can acquire resources more reliably, but a chivalrous person can immediately obtain a large amount of resources by killing a master at a relatively low cost—that's spot on, my protector."

The protector was somewhat puzzled: "But what does this have to do with our ascension?"

"In the ancient times when animals were just emerging, cells had just begun to specialize and differentiate. At that time, a type of cell that could regulate the life activities of other cells was the common source of the nervous and immune systems. The animal's immune system needs to actively intervene in the life activities of other cells. The nervous and immune systems also share many identical or similar signaling factors, as well as a large number of completely identical signal receptors."

"However, the immune system and the nervous system have taken completely different evolutionary paths. The nervous system is very pure in terms of cell differentiation and extremely complex in terms of structure, while the immune system has differentiated into a wide variety of cell types, and the whole is a fluid network... Of course, the human body today basically does not contain this fluid immune system."

The brain's immune system is carried out by its own "royal guard"—microglia.

"The dividing line between the individual and the external environment is actually the immune system. The immune system determines how far the concept of 'individual' can extend. The core function of the immune system is to maintain homeostasis in the body by distinguishing between 'me' and 'non-me'. The operation of 'consciousness' also depends on the function of mirror neurons, which comes from the cognition of 'me' and 'non-me'."

The Six Dragons Cult Leader raised his head. For some reason, his tone contained an emotion that the Protector could not understand.

—I always thought it was just a joke…

The Six Dragons Cult Leader mocked himself inwardly, then said, "A hybrid organism with autotrophic capabilities would have vastly different underlying logic for immunity and evolution of consciousness compared to humans—we are merely humans who have installed electromagnetic autotrophic modules in ourselves, and cannot become Ororon organisms. Our form is regulated by other genetic information."

"Humans have transformed from heterotrophic organisms to electroautotrophic organisms. At present, however, humans' utilization of this fact is limited to the 'disappearance of blood'—artificial neural circuits utilize the remaining blood vessels in the brain to lay out special neurons to achieve special enhancements of certain cognitive abilities. The church believes that this transformation of life form has even greater potential."

"Exploring the possible life forms of Orloren and gaining a deeper understanding of 'non-self' is also a path for us to discover 'self'."

"The interior of the 'secondary alteration' contains modified neurons with active proto-oncogenes. The water tank has a strong electric field, as well as radiation and drug-induced mutations..."

The Dharma Protector was filled with awe: "This can give rise to consciousness?"

"Of course, that's impossible right now. It's just a clump of neurons growing uncontrollably, and it comes with a huge risk of becoming cancerous. But they are also fully functional nerve cells. Even if they are given growth instructions, these cell groups still have the weak functions of firing, storing, and transmitting information. By the way, did you know that a long time ago, scientists believed that some parasites living in fish were transformed from cancer cells of cnidarians? We are also looking forward to seeing what surprises these autotrophic neurons might mutate here."

These jellyfish are actually no different from "putting unripe fruit into a square container to get cube-shaped fruit," except that the technology involved is a few levels higher.

The cult leader continued walking forward.

The third tank, called "Yang," contained pink jellyfish. Dozens of jellyfish twitched weakly and floated in the smaller tank.

“Strictly speaking, this isn’t a jellyfish, a type of cnidarian. All the cells that make it up are from primates,” said the Six Dragons Cult Leader, gazing at the swaying jellyfish in the pool. “We used physical methods to splice neurons and glial cells together, and used chemically graded drugs to induce different cells in different parts of the body to synthesize different proteins. In the end, we painstakingly pieced together this organism…”

The Dharma Protector was shocked again: "What...is the point of doing this?"

“A conjecture about the Ororon organisms…” the Six Dragons Cult Leader sighed: “In an environment with extremely abundant energy, autotrophic organisms are so free. I can even use cloned human nerve cells to assemble such an independent individual—it has no ability to reproduce and will not grow automatically.”

The leader paused slightly, waiting for the Protector to ask, "Why jellyfish?" After a moment, he continued, "The reason for choosing jellyfish is because of their relatively primitive and simple appearance among multicellular organisms—we can also observe how neurons in higher organisms react and what activities they produce within this network structure."

"As for the next classified project, 'Yin,' there's nothing visually spectacular about it—it's all about mechanically piecing together simple neural networks from human neurons and connecting them to smart devices."

The Protector seemed to understand the mode of communication with the leader: "So what is the purpose of this project...?"

"Human consciousness is the 'user interface' of the body, this flesh and blood machine. Beneath the UI lies a program composed of billions of years of code from mountains of excrement, encapsulated by cellular structure, and the physical layering is a kind of encryption—moreover, it has no comments. After a round of cognitive improvement, when internal martial arts practitioners come into contact with this code, their first reaction is either 'confusion' or 'physiological nausea'."

"And 'Yin' is equivalent to us ordinary users who can only perform legitimate operations through the UI, creating our own flesh and blood 'differential machines' and retracing the development path of the birth of consciousness."

"The next step is to use the human brain to connect these non-human neural networks that are pieced together, to observe their reactions, and to observe the impact of this on human consciousness. The skills we have now can at most form networks similar to those of cephalopods or insects, with very low information content—this is the project, codenamed 'Bone'."

"And the changes happening to you are the weaponization of multiple techniques. Master this new martial art, Protector Ti."

"Debate cannot directly lead to the understanding of truth, but in the game of words that is empty talk, one can understand what 'emptiness' is, and then understand what 'irrefutable facts' are."

"The more one understands what is not human, the more one understands what it means to be human. The more one comprehends what is not self, the more one can grasp 'self'."

"I have revealed the direction of martial arts development to you; the rest is up to you."

Suppressing his excitement, Protector Ti bowed slightly to Xiang Shan: "The more one understands the non-human, the more one understands the human. The more one understands the non-self, the more one possesses the self—I completely understand, Master!"

"Seeing you still like this puts my mind at ease. Protector, are you doing any self-examination?"

The protector said, "It has always been there, and the self-offset parameter is completely within a controllable range."

"Yes, the technique I taught you is flawless. Remember, you only have twenty days left. The Holy Maiden needs manpower. I'm too conspicuous to show up in person—you will act on my behalf and help the Holy Maiden with that important task."

After the cult leader finished speaking, he turned around.

He always made sure to leave his followers with a confident image.

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

Central American military attaché Fraser collapsed to the ground, his jetpack ripped off.

His left foot was deformed, and the way he held his hands together revealed his fear.

The man stared at the five-meter-tall prosthetic body in front of him. It was well-proportioned and nearly humanoid, with only the feet being slightly enlarged.

It is equipped with numerous advanced weapons.

That is the prosthetic body of the kings.

An invincible enemy.

That is... the prosthetic bodies of the kings.

Yang Zhenhao said, “I don’t usually give my lackeys a chance. Lord Fraser, you wouldn’t normally have a chance either. However, we were never strong enough to control the restored Earth, so we need some partners. Given your performance in your own territory, I think that person could be you, but it doesn’t have to be you. Do you understand?”

Fraser nodded silently, but then said, "You mean I have to die?"

“I’ve already sent you the installation package. You certainly won’t be killed by King Agni’s backup plan because of your surrender,” Yang Zhenhao said.

"But the king will return sooner or later..."

“Then let him never come back.” Yang Zhenhao said without hesitation. “I believe the knights of Jupiter can do it.”

"Even the God of War couldn't do that..."

"So, you're saying you want to fight me to the very end here?" Yang Zhenhao nodded, spreading one hand in front of him, assuming a fighting stance.

Fraser clenched and unclenched his fists several times.

Yang Zhenhao pressed his advantage: "Think it through. Even if you are going to die, it's the difference between being killed by me now and being killed by King Agni in the future. I advise you not to make a mistake."

Fraser nodded, finally giving up resistance. She opened the data interface, turned off the firewall, and allowed the other party to plant the Gu technique in her body.

"Give me some rocket fuel. I'm in a hurry to get going," Yang Zhenhao said.

A few minutes later, a tank pulled up. Fraser's adjutant, Hamki, flung open the hatch, his subtle movements carrying a hint of obsequiousness.

A flying wing hovered in front of Hamki. Hamki, understanding the situation, proactively attached a fuel injection pipe to the wing.

After refueling, the flying wing docked with Yang Zhenhao's back.

In the blink of an eye, Yang Zhenhao broke the sound barrier and flew into the sky.

Yang Zhenhao is currently using Zhu Anleibin's prosthetic body.

The twelfth War God almost perfectly seized Zhuan Leibin's cybernetic body; the only damaged part was the outer armor on his back.

The diamond-coated magnetic chain weapon pierced Juan Rebin's back armor under pressure, then released an electromagnetic pulse that was converted into infrasound by the metallized spine that is directly connected to the brain, damaging Juan Rebin's brain at the cellular level.

The prosthetic body was almost completely removed.

Only a small number of components showed significant deterioration due to the near-out-of-control fission reactor.

But these all have spare parts.

Yang Zhenhao found the spare parts directly in Zhu Anleibin's flagship.

There is also an externally armed warehouse.

That day, after receiving the message, Yang Zhenhao arranged for martial artists around the world to observe the sky and keep a close eye on the battlefield. The trap was already inescapable, and the most important thing for the Northern Martial King was to minimize losses. He even recalled Matsushima Hiroshi, who was guarding the foundation of the space elevator, and piled the remaining first-level martial artists and almost all the bombs around the Mercury's Eye Knights.

He couldn't do anything about the neutrino detection array in Antarctica for the time being, but he planned to destroy the Eye of Mercury immediately.

However, after the data from various locations was compiled, he decisively chose to concentrate the liquid fuel stockpiled by the heroes and rush to the battlefield with his reserve forces as quickly as possible.

Yang Zhenhao couldn't see the details and could only speculate based on the blurry images. But he guessed right.

The arrival of several first-level heroes completely shattered the morale of the protectors.

At this time, Xiang Shan had already fallen into a coma, and Nia Guti also had symptoms of concussion and mild radiation sickness (mild according to the Cyber ​​Warrior standard).

Yang Zhenhao was the only person with the technical ability to control Zhu Anleibin's prosthetic body. After making only simple modifications, Yang Zhenhao immediately embarked on his journey to suppress the entire world.

Land, release EMP, defeat senior officers, and repeat.

However, the knight-errant had to face a reality—the protectors of Earth were still stronger than him.

There are still more than eighty First Heaven officers on Earth.

If they band together, it will be a huge problem.

However, Yang Zhenhao did not have the option of "killing them all".

Many components of Juan Rebin's cybernetic body are irreplaceable for the hero. The wear and tear on this cybernetic body is irreversible for the hero. Juan Rebin's cybernetic body has an impact on the entire solar system's war situation. The hero foresees that he will not be able to obtain such a complete, high-level cybernetic body in the foreseeable future. It can be said that this is a military weapon comparable to a fleet.

Good steel must be used on the blade.

Yang Zhenhao spent a few minutes discussing with Nia Guti and finalized a list. The more than eighty First Heaven officers were divided into three categories by the two martial leaders: "those who can accept surrender", "those who can accept surrender but must hand over all weapons", and "those who must die".

Neither I nor my direct subordinates have a record of abusing civilians. At the same time, they are fulfilling their so-called "protector" responsibilities by actively eliminating bandit forces. Only high-ranking military officers who have participated in the siege of heroes under orders from their superiors are likely to surrender.

Only about ten met the standards.

Those high-ranking military officers who abused others out of their own will or participated in the massacre of chivalrous forces were all placed on the "must-kill" list.

This is also a kind of helplessness.

If they do not accept surrender, it means that the already small number of heroes will have to risk their lives to make up for the shortfall.

In the end, the knight-errant still couldn't actually control the entire planet.

Yang Zhenhao still had to complete dozens of hunts in a row.

Fortunately, the final broadcast by the Twelfth Martial God brought an unexpected change to the battle.

The Knights of Mercury's Eye were successfully defeated by the Swordsman. Hiro Matsushima played a crucial role in this, unexpectedly providing the Swordsman with a virus he somehow produced, which helped him breach the secret base.

Senior military officers were unaware of the specific parameters of the neutrino detection equipment—these were classified information to them.

But the God of War's final broadcast revealed a truth to them.

—This thing can detect the approximate location of a first-level martial artist.

Senior military officers were alarmed by this and hesitated to immediately band together.

In principle, if a group of people from different realms stick together, they are too easily caught by this detection device.

The worst-case scenario that Yang Zhenhao had anticipated did not occur.

"One against eighty" and "eighty matches one against one" are two different situations for experts. Although top martial artists can use mobile combat to break up a one against eighty into eighty one against one, if they can fight one against one, why break it up on the spot?
"Next... we still need to wait for information from the local heroes." Yang Zhenhao's gaze drifted to a point on the ground.

From space, the Knights' headquarters looked unremarkable, just a large, ordinary building.

"News from Mars... the situation on Jupiter is really not good."

"And that force of self-sacrifice..."

"Xiangshan...when will you finally wake up?"

Just beyond Yang Zhenhao's sight lay a secret chamber, piercing through layers of walls. Nia Guti's brain floated in nutrient solution. This was the core area of ​​the Mercury's Eye Knights.

After occupying the area, Yang Zhenhao commanded the African and Northern Knights to join forces and transform it into a temporary command center for the Earth's chivalrous forces. Due to the fear of aerial bombardment, the Protector's army could not assemble on a large scale, and the chivalrous forces finally had a fortress on the ground.

The neutrino detector array, located underground in the super building, is protected by a series of engineering works.

As long as the passageway can be guarded, this is the safest place.

Niaguti works here now.

Nia Guti was attacked by the falcon several times, suffering a severe concussion. She then fought with the Protectors and was eventually exposed to the violent radiation of the runaway fission reactor. She rescued Xiang Shan but also ingested some radiation herself.

She is currently recuperating in a secluded room with Xiang Shan and Tao Enhai. She is now in charge of maintaining contact with heroes from all over the world and extraterrestrial chivalrous forces.

She coordinates the battles of various heroes, and also appeases those heroes who have clashed with those who surrendered. She is also required to dispatch heroes to resolve urgent military situations.

What worries her most is the war situation outside Earth.

Just before the Fifth War God's uprising—well, that's a rather alarming combination. Just before the uprising on Mars, whether new or old, the Protectors suddenly launched a massive bombing raid on relay stations near Mars, causing an alarmingly high packet loss rate in the network between Mars and the surrounding areas. How much of the complete data was actually received on the other end depended entirely on luck.

It's unclear whether this matter has any direct connection to Xiang Shan, who claims to be the "Fifth Martial God."

When the "Fifth War God" launched his rebellion, the packet loss rate on the Martian network had become so high that communication was impossible. Nia Guti had not contacted the "Fifth War God" directly; her communication was only relayed by the leader of the Utopia Plains District.

However, the Utopia Plains are thousands of miles away from where the Fifth Martial God is located, and Mars itself is in turmoil, with internal communication also disrupted.

The information coming from Mars and Jupiter is also worrying.

The bizarre behavior of the "cybernetics corpses" at the end of the Carmen storyline battlefield, as well as Hartman's sudden withdrawal, have left Earth Knight puzzled.

Considering the extraterrestrial battlefield, it's likely that Zhu Xinyu used some means that Hartman discovered.

Niaguti found it hard to believe. This completely defied the laws of physics—not just the common sense of internal energy, but the laws of physics itself! Zhu Xinyu couldn't possibly influence the Earth's battlefield from several astronomical units away.

But all intelligence indicates that she was the one who did it.

In Niaguti's eyes, the overall battle situation in the solar system transformed into an obscure face—unclear, but undeniably ugly.

Niaguti controlled a prosthetic body and paced around the room.

Tao Enhai said, “There’s no need to feel pressured, Nia. Earth and Mars—we’ve just captured two rocky planets. Even in the worst-case scenario, if King Agni returns and reclaims the Earth-Moon system, he will execute all the officers who failed to resist, and Earth will still fall into a military vacuum. It won’t be any worse than before. Mars is the same.”

Niaguti turned to Tao Enhai: "Enhai, you were active on Mars before. Did you really not hear anything about the Lone Knights?"

“I’ve said it countless times, I’ve traveled back and forth between Mars, the asteroid belt, and Jupiter.” Tao Enhai said with a hint of helplessness, “It’s no secret that some of the higher-ups in the Lone Knights have a tendency to sympathize with the chivalrous heroes; some famous heroes know this. But at that time, the Lone Knights hadn’t released the key information yet! I’ve been on Earth for several years now, and it’s probably only after I arrived that the Lone Knights gradually made contact with the chivalrous heroes.” At this point, Dr. Tao pondered for a moment, “Could it be that the Sword Saint Skun, who has been in contact with me, is actually the Fifth Martial God? Xiang Shan is that kind of person… that seems to make sense.”

Skun the Sword Saint, a mysterious figure who has become increasingly active over the past decade, is likely a chivalrous knight-errant, the kind who operates online while concealing his identity. Based on this characteristic, most people speculate that he is probably a martial artist specializing in internal martial arts.

Sword Saint Skun has long provided the chivalrous faction with technical information on scientific knights.

This also corroborates his identity as an "internal martial artist".

“Judging from the current situation, he probably used methods like cooperation or transactions to bypass internal energy defenses and steal data.” Niaguti nodded. “Then do you think… the Fifth Martial God can succeed?”

Niaguti has interacted with half of the War Gods. She participated in the turmoil instigated by the Second, Fourth, Sixth, and Seventh War Gods.

She had never met the Seventh God of War, because the Seventh God of War was born on the battlefield, and from birth to defeat, he was either fighting or on his way to fight.

After the Seventh Martial God was defeated and killed, she returned to her hometown and has remained there ever since.

She had never met the Fifth Martial God either. This lone wolf Martial God's activities largely overlapped with those of the Sixth Martial God, and during that time, Niaguti had more frequent contact with the Sixth Martial God.

The Fifth Martial God's activities were relatively small-scale, and they were defeated and perished relatively early.

Tao Enhai sighed, "I really don't know. I can't answer this question either."

“The message from Mars…” Niaguti paced back and forth again, “We can only hope they can do it.”

“The key is still Xiangshan—this one here.” Tao Enhai glanced at the other brain floating in the life-support fluid. Now, all three of them were in the same state.

Xiangshan's brain was subjected to intense nuclear radiation, and his chromosomes were no longer formed.

But with current technology, there is still hope.

In the baseline human cell, the processes of cell growth, autophagy, and apoptosis are not actually coordinated. Xiangshan's initial goal was complete prosthetic modification, while nerve cells are permanent cells with relatively little change. Until the next technological innovation, this "incoordination" will not produce obvious symptoms.

Even after the cell nucleus dies, the cells of the baseline human can still maintain their structural integrity for a certain period of time, preventing them from rapidly decomposing. Some cell-level modification techniques can even extend this time.

In this process, substances that can function as chromosomes are re-implanted into the cell, allowing the cell to continue its life activities.
Xiang Shan actually possessed a batch of chromosomes outside the body. He left his biological samples in both the Knights of the Swordsman faction and the Knights of the Life Furnace.

Chromosomes are extracted, cloned, expanded, and then re-implanted into cells with dysfunctional chromosomes.

This is a very cutting-edge medical technology, and it presents many challenges. There are very few people on Earth who can perform this procedure.

However, this is very good news.

A knight-errant nicknamed "King of Instant Explosive Solo Kills" brought along a group of research knights who could meet the relevant needs.

The technical data that Tao Enhai brought to Earth back then, along with the technical data that Xiang Shan open-sourced from the Knights of the Life Furnace, are enough to make up for the deficiencies.

Yang Zhenhao watched as the research knights of the Life Furnace Knights who had surrendered completed their treatment.

However, the research knight who treated Xiang Shan also admitted that Xiang Shan would definitely survive, but how much of his memory and abilities he would retain after surviving depended entirely on luck.

"We've done quite a few modifications at the Martial God cellular level, many of which I've never encountered before. I really don't know how these technological achievements change under radiation," said the member of the Scientific Knights.

Xiang Shan has not woken up yet.

Frankly, this is not a good sign.

If the instruments hadn't shown that Xiangshan's brain was gradually becoming more active, Niaguti might not have held out any hope.

But simply waking up isn't enough.

"Sigh, if Xiang Shan doesn't wake up in time... do we really have to send Zhen Hao?" Niaguti sighed. "Back then, we prayed for a miracle, and people actually showed up to die—but if Xiang Shan doesn't wake up, what about their sacrifices, and what about those on Mars..."

"The Jupiter battlefield—that might be the most important one. It's all to give us this opportunity..."

Niaguti suddenly fell silent and continued pacing.

But at that moment, another voice suddenly appeared.

"Tell me, what's going on over on Jupiter?"

Niaguti suddenly stopped. Her voice was filled with disbelief: "Xiangshan? Is that you? When did you wake up?"

"Actually, I've been awake for a while—no, maybe I've been awake for a while."

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

Xiang Shan seemed to have a very long dream.

He dreamt of 2031, where he talked about "Oloren" with Yogmov, David, and others.

I don't know if it was them. Zhu Xinyu was there too. Teacher Jing was there too. All the friends were in that small park. Although that place was small, it connected the narrow world of humanity with the vast world of the universe.

He dreamed of the night after the "First World's Number One Martial Arts Tournament" concluded, when everyone gathered in the park for a celebratory banquet.

And then there was the time he grabbed Kotonoha Kanbara, a high school student, and took her to the "Rama Project" memorial hall...

Mukaiyama himself had no daughter. Perhaps Kambara Takeru's daughter was like his own child.

His dream continued until the very end.

In his confusion, he saw the glow of plasma.

This is Yogemov's appearance before he became an idiot. A gigantic hand, an independent reactor. It's a martial art that manipulates plasma using magnetic fields; dazzling flames erupt from his fingers like sword energy, a blend of firearms and close-quarters combat.

The palm can also release a neutron beam impact.

If there had been a fission reactor inside the prosthetic body at the time...

The probability of mutual destruction is probably over 60%.

Of the remaining 40%, at least 25% were killed by Yogemov because he was forced to fight back too hard.

What a painful lesson. Even if all memories are lost, this point is still etched into the biological brain.

pain……

The phantom pain of having one's entire head ripped off.

And there's also the King of Speed...

Falcon Foigert's lance planted in the ground.

Then, Xiangshan's consciousness began to rise.

The process was actually quite peculiar. Xiang Shan connected to the data interface that Nia Guti had provided for him, and then connected the input devices, camera, and microphone.

The computer's cache files naturally became part of his consciousness.

Perhaps it was this near-death experience that brought about a completely new change.

Xiang Shan was originally developing in the direction of "integration with AI"—the pseudo-personality mask is a kind of "AI that plays the role of a human," and Xiang Shan is coexisting with this special AI along the path of the Eighth Martial God. He was constantly changing.

This near-death and recovery process seems to have played a role that is difficult to quantify.

Xiang Shan seemed to have been awake for some time. A part of him—his electronic devices—stored cached files. He knew about Nia Guti and Tao Enhai's recent conversation over the past few tens of minutes, but his brain had not yet fully awakened.

Until just now.

Xiang Shan asked, "What happened on Jupiter?"

“Zhu Xinyu has exposed her whereabouts, right in the Jupiter region…” Niaguti said. “Hartman is heading there. If he leads the Celestial Fleet to the battlefield, the chivalrous forces will have to retreat. Whether the Crimson Star Righteous Army and the White Ship Righteous Army can bring Zhu out depends on luck. We need a top-notch martial artist to control a top-notch prosthetic body to change the course of the battle.”

"The heroes' side has no more troops to send to the battlefield. They only have top-tier cybernetically enhanced warriors..."

"What is this now..." Xiang Shan noticed the system time and his tone changed instantly: "This... I've been unconscious for so long? It's too late..."

Xiang Shan never expected that his first emotion upon waking up would be "despair".

The absolute mass of the prosthetic body is almost negligible compared to that of a warship, thus reducing the cost of acceleration and deceleration. Furthermore, the prosthetic body is smaller, making it less likely to collide with small celestial bodies. Many pathways that are difficult for warships to traverse can be navigated by the smaller prosthetic body.

With sufficient propellant, small prosthetic bodies can indeed reach their destination faster than large ships.

However, there are limits to that.

Xiang Shan quickly recalled the relative positions of Earth and Jupiter, as well as King Agni's possible route, and made a judgment.

He simply can't keep up.

I never imagined that when I woke up, I would be faced with the news that my loved one had sacrificed himself far away.

Niaguti shook her head: "There's still time. Disrupting the Celestial Fleet's acceleration process, causing them to miss the window of the light-speed highway, will buy us time. Someone has already done that. Besides us, there are other righteous people in the solar system. We still have plenty of time, several days to prepare."

"We have actually devised an optimal combat route. Xiang Shan, you must choose to depart from Earth alone, carrying only your cybernetic body and no other weapons, and head directly to Mars. A knight-errant on Mars previously stated that he would provide you with the necessary weapons. After that, you must cross the asteroid belt. In this way, you can arrive at the Jupiter battlefield in full force ahead of schedule."

"However, during this process, you have to be on high alert at all times, dealing with tiny celestial bodies—for at least hundreds of hours, you're gambling with your life. You don't even have weapons before you get to Mars."

"You might face interception from the Speed ​​King. In the battle at the Carmen Line, he didn't know your strength, and you had a one-sided advantage in intelligence, but this time you no longer have that advantage. And even if you reach Jupiter, you will have to face two powerful figures, the God King and the Brave King. David and Hartman may also appear..."

Niaguti looked at Xiangshan: "These are the things you will have to face. You might even be killed by a miniature meteorite on the way."

Xiang Shan calmed down at this point: "Is that all? Ha, sounds simple."

A cold, a disastrous gacha pull – these past few days have really been unlucky…