Cyber ​​Heroes

Chapter 1179 Reinforcements from Sixty Years Ago

That was three days after the end of the Carmen Line battle.

Niaguti is still undergoing treatment and needs rest, while Yang Zhenhao continues to fight.

Tao Enhai had no choice but to drag his crippled body along and use Nia Guti's account to communicate with the extraterrestrial heroes about information on Earth.

Humanity's current theories still do not show any possibility of exceeding the speed of light; the highest speed of information transmission is the speed of light in a vacuum—and that is only a theoretical upper limit.

Due to the limitations of information transmission speed, real-time communication between Earth and extraterrestrial entities is difficult. Therefore, interplanetary communication mostly employs ancient electronic bulletin board systems or tree-like discussion threads. The asynchronous and structured nature of these systems allows for systematic discussions to take place amidst unstable communication characterized by high latency and high packet loss rates.

But it was precisely because of this asynchronous nature that the knight realized that the process of losing contact with Mars was a step too slow.

It is said that the first to inform the Knights of this news was a sympathetic knight who was lurking in the satellite city's protectorate military. Only then did the Knights realize that the Martian side had collectively lost connection.

The Protectors destroyed all publicly accessible relay stations around Mars on an unprecedented scale, leaving only a few dedicated links for Science Knights and severely restricting uplink signals from Mars.

There are also some privately built signal satellites around Mars. Unlike Earth, Mars has lower gravity and more space elevators. Here, small satellites don't necessarily need to be launched; martial artists can even launch disposable orbital correctors and small satellites from spaceports to achieve orbital insertion.

The data links built by these small satellites, equipped with custom encryption protocols, are exclusively for use by mobile devices and are not connected to the public internet. They can also serve as relay stations in emergency situations.

However, the nature of this satellite dictates that its power is quite limited—after all, on a planet where private astronomical equipment is rampant (the elegance of scientific knights), even a slightly larger power would easily be subject to regulation.

Furthermore, due to limitations imposed by satellite orbits, even those skilled in establishing such private links would only be able to connect for a short period of time after several hours.

Currently, even Mars's most famous heroes cannot reliably access these dedicated satellite links via jump pads as they used to.

After synthesizing information from Jupiter, Mars, Earth, and various locations in the asteroid belt, Tao Enhai and the finally awakened Nia Guti reached a conclusion.

Hartman's sudden departure was due to something Zhu Xinyu did.

What did Zhu Xinyu do that led to a crucial reversal in the Carmen storyline battle?

Zhu Xinyu reversed Yogemov's enraged attack, inflicting a massive blow on the Venus King's fleet. It could be said that she was the most lethal warrior in this battle.

But this also led to the exposure of her true form—this is currently the only piece of information the heroes can obtain.

After the Ninth Martial God's demise, Tao Enhai had several contacts with Zhu Xinyu's disciples and followers. He also learned some hidden information from the asteroid belt's group of martial artists that Zhu Xinyu might be trapped on Jupiter's moons.

For many years, the Galilean moons of Jupiter have been in a state of easy entry but strict exit. Even within the Protectorate, "going to the Galilean moons" is tantamount to "exile," where one can only do maintenance work until death, with no possibility of leaving. The Knight-Errant is not entirely unaware of this situation.

However, even if you knew this, it wouldn't change anything.

Ganymede possesses a magnetic field and a more stable electromagnetic environment, while Europa boasts a vast, cold ocean, giving it a significant advantage in heat dissipation, making it superior to both Io and Callisto. These two moons of Jupiter form the most important hubs in the solar system network, each with its own focus. Zhu Xinyu might be on either of these two moons.

But that's all the chivalrous person knows.

This is equivalent to saying "a person could be in Europe, Asia, Africa, or North America".

Without more information, there's simply no way to find it.

Zhu Xinyu would not reveal her location to the knight.

Unless the Galileo constellation is destroyed, the Protector will surely find her before the Knight-Errant once the news is leaked.

Next, there is data about the chivalrous forces' fleet.

The White Fleet has already been deployed to the Jupiter moons, while the Black Fleet is still active in the asteroid belt, but it will take time to intercept the Celestial Fleet.

The Celestial Star Fleet's route was meticulously planned. At this point, neither side could bring the Celestial Star Fleet within their attack range.

Sending top martial artists to support the Galileo satellite constellation battlefield is one option. However, the chivalrous forces of the outer solar system have indeed staked their biggest bet this time.

While the martial arts masters are indeed far superior to the average government officials in terms of skill, they struggle to acquire the most advanced mechs and equipment.

Furthermore, the Seventh Martial God's largest-scale war and the Ninth Martial God's astonishing assassination attempt both resulted in the deaths of many martial arts masters. Many masters died or were crippled, while the new generation of heroes who have risen to prominence in the last sixty years generally lack sufficient time to develop their skills.

There wasn't a single knight-errant qualified to be compared to "King Agni, who carries the Celestial Star Fleet".

After much deliberation, Niaguti, with no other choice, decided to broadcast a call to arms to inform all the heroes of the current perilous situation.

We must stop the Celestial Star Fleet's advance; the only way to do this now is to mobilize all the heroes.

After the Fourth Martial God, the heroes would avoid large-scale activities in the Space City to prevent government massacres. The chivalrous forces in the Space City were generally small in scale. Just gathering such a force was incredibly difficult, let alone confronting the Celestial Fleet.

At most, they can only hold back the road maintenance troops on the light-speed highway, or throw out some obstacles in the acceleration zone of the Celestial Fleet, hoping that the Celestial Fleet will run into them on its own.

At worst, it would only destroy some large man-made structures and create traffic jams on the light-speed highway.

The effects of these things are limited.

But apart from that, Niaguti and Tao Enhai couldn't think of a better solution.

Earth Knight is powerless in this regard.

Unexpectedly, not long after, Tao Enhai received a message from a private channel he had almost forgotten.

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

"Huh? Wait a minute, this is too illogical!" Xiang Shan interrupted. "Why is there a small fleet in the inner solar system right now? They haven't been active for decades, and now they're suddenly showing up, just to take down Hartman?"

Niaguti remained silent. Tao Enhai sighed and said, "Strictly speaking, they are not a chivalrous force..."

"Huh?" Xiang Shan was puzzled.

"If you have the memories of the Ninth God of War, you should remember the name 'Zhomor Volt'."

In that instant, the words "fanatical" echoed in Xiang Shan's mind.

"Yeah, I remember. When I led a small group up to the sun, this guy was right behind me. He's a real man."

This is one form of Xiang Shan's "recollection." Compared to the normal form of "surfacing into the surface of consciousness," Xiang Shan has become accustomed to using this "inner dialogue" to organize memories from other martial gods.

"I was the drummer for the Ninth God of War's... band for a while." Xiang Shan nodded. "I think he was killed by Falcon."

The Speed ​​King concealed his presence by using the sun's arc. He only arrived on the battlefield after the Ninth God of War launched his desperate charge towards the throne.

In that battle, the Swift King attacked in a total of twenty seconds, passing through the enemy formation twice, causing almost all the heroes to lose their fighting ability.

It seems that Yogemov deliberately allowed Tao Enhai to escape out of some malicious intent. The rest of the heroes were mostly captured alive, some imprisoned and others executed.

Florence was captured and brainwashed during this battle, transforming into the Queen of Beauty, one of the three kings to succeed her.

In subsequent records, only one person was actually killed on the spot by the Godspeed King.

Zomor Volt.

Even at his maximum speed, Godspeed King doesn't actually inflict significant damage on enemies. He's simply too fast, so much of the kinetic energy damage he causes dissipates due to the destruction of the materials themselves.

Within a certain range, the slower he is, the more terrifying his destructive power becomes.

Most of the time, Godspeed King will end the battle as quickly as possible to avoid his speed dropping to a level where he "can kill".

Perhaps he has a set of self-defined principles in his mind.

The Ninth Martial God's final assassination attempt assembled the elite of the Swordsman faction. Falcon failed to finish the battle cleanly at the last moment. His final strike caused Swordsman Zomor's mech to explode.

It was that one strike that made Yogmov say to the Ninth God of War, "Your friends who were killed by the falcon before were fake, but now, you really have friends who have been killed by the falcon."

"He's not dead!" The "fanaticism" from the Ninth Martial God surfaced on the surface of his consciousness, and Xiang Shan was very excited. "So many years have passed, and he's still alive? But... what does 'not considered a chivalrous force' mean?"

“Zhuomo’er said he didn’t want the heroes to know about this, and hoped that everyone could watch them die without knowing about it,” Tao Enhai said. “However, you do possess the memories of the Ninth Martial God, and Zhuomo’er is now following in the direction of the Ninth Martial God… You should know this.”

Xiang Shan found it strange: "Wait a minute, what do you mean? Are you sure this is really Zhuomo'er's message? And not the account inheritance?"

"That exclusive channel, relying on a special communication protocol... was set up by us for the assassination operation. The Ninth Martial God also contributed—now that I think about it, it was probably Hartman's doing. It's surprisingly stable; it's still usable now." Tao Enhai sighed. "Most of the people who participated in that battle are dead, and some of the survivors even betrayed us... Generally speaking, no one would think of using this protocol for communication. I initially suspected that Florence was setting a trap. I just had Zhuomor switch to a new communication protocol."

"Then, someone actually observed the attack on the Celestial Star Fleet."

Sending Hartman to the Jupiter battlefield is in the best interest of the Protectors. They wouldn't use this as bait.

Tao Enhai whispered something that Xiang Shan couldn't understand: "Those who went to their deaths were definitely not a chivalrous force."

"They were originally space greenwood."

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

What is the most unfortunate thing for a chivalrous person?
Is it death?

No, definitely not. Xiang Shan died nine times back then. Why should someone who chose to become a chivalrous knight be so afraid of death?

Zhuomo believes that the greatest misfortune is actually waking up to find someone enthusiastically saying to you, "Hey brother, you're awake! Now you're a bandit too!"

This was the first thing Zomor experienced after his ninth defeat in the Martial God event.

Zhuomo's memory remained on the outer edge of the throne, at the moment when that ominous blue star descended.

He was already one of the few martial artists of his time, yet he could only symbolically swing a sword at the King of Speed.

Only afterward did Zhuomo learn from the information released by the government that he had been presumed dead on the sun.

He roughly deduced the cause and effect of the matter.

The final strike from the Speed ​​King shattered the framework of Zomor's prosthetic body, simultaneously causing the chemical explosives inside Zomor to detonate.

The explosion scattered his prosthetic body. His head, however, flew off in the direction the Swift King's sword had struck.

With the combined kinetic energy of the explosion and the attack from the Godspeed King, this head moved at an absurdly fast speed.

The solar wind severely interfered with radar, to the point that the government was unable to determine where Zhuomo'er's head had gone.

Zomor's head was intercepted by a group of greenwood outside Venus's orbit.

The top-tier bandit stronghold "Liangshanbo" is said to be one of the oldest bandit organizations in the solar system.

While observing his surroundings, a master outlaw accidentally detected an object approaching at high speed.

That was the thirty-seventh day after the Ninth Martial God's defeat and death.

During the thirty-seven days that Zhuomo was in a coma, he miraculously avoided colliding with any micro-meteorites or space debris until he was discovered by Green Forest. "King" Masahiro Masahiro captured this high-speed object.

Then, Green Forest realized, "A head that can fly over at such a speed must be the head of a master."

During his coma, Green Forest tampered with Zomor's brain, using drugs and accessing a vast "bloody shared memory."

When the prosthetic eye was reconnected, an unquenchable, violent flame ignited in Zomor's mind.

This flame urged him to kill, to abuse the weak, and to destroy everything.

I want to smash things, smash walls, smash panel lights, smash prosthetics, smash something.

This is a den of demons. The dilapidated warships of "Liangshanbo" are full of these violent lunatics.

However, their shared memories created a natural bond between them. This positive feeling is the only reason why the outlaws did not perish.

Agitation surged through my body, like a sheep in heat, straining against the fence. This emotion thrashed about, needing an outlet.

This feeling is building up...

It wasn't until sixty days after Zhuomo'er awoke that the "Liangshanbo" fleet approached a satellite city. After three days of slow approach and a sudden acceleration in the final seven minutes, the "Liangshanbo" crashed into the harbor.

That was the first time Zhuomo had left the warship since he became a bandit.

A voice in Zhuomo'er's head was shouting—you can't do that, you'll regret it.

He kept reminding himself not to follow this feeling.

Zhuomo'er once thought he was resisting...

I was merely dealing with the protectors' soldiers... something even a chivalrous hero would do...

He was merely attacking the government's armed forces...

Zhuomo thought he was resisting.

Until he smeared the crushed brains on his visor as paint.

He didn't realize until he realized that his bullets had hit other people.

By then, the battle had even ended.

"Heavenly King" Zheng He Dianxiong laughed and patted him on the shoulder: "I knew I was right about you, brother. From today onwards, you are the Heavenly Star of Dazhai!"

As expected of the oldest bandit group. Before Zhuo Mo'er joined, "Liangshanbo" already had four first-level martial artists: Tian Kui, Tian Xian, Tian Xiong, and "Tian Wang". Zheng He Dianxiong was even a strong one among the first-level martial artists.

That's true. Without such strength, Liangshanbo would never have been able to maintain this way of life in space.

Perhaps it was that killing that allowed him to vent his emotions. From that day on, Zhuomo'er sat in the shadows of the warship, silent and not participating in the conversations within the Green Forest.

It wasn't until his agitated mood resurfaced that he forgot to record the time.

It wasn't until the "Liangshanbo" warships crashed into an airport again.

The symphony of slaughter continues.

--no.

A voice in my head is telling me: Don't take action.

but……

Zhuomo was truly enjoying the sound of slamming his enemies to the ground time and time again.

Upon returning to the warship, Zhuomo was distraught and bumped into a bandit. He almost attacked the bandit.

But a deep, piercing pain stopped him in his tracks. At that moment, he found himself recalling the past—his time performing on stage with the Ninth Martial God in a band—something he shouldn't have thought about.

Because of his considerable internal strength, Zhuo Mo'er could discern from their subtle movements that these outlaws shared similar beliefs with him—albeit imposed ones. Their every breath was in sync with a common theme. They were family, they were partners…

It shouldn't be like that.

Zhuomo'er, in a frenzy, pushed aside the surrounding green forest and rammed into an enemy ship that was still resisting.

He hoped his protector would be a good shot and kill him.

But the first-level martial artists are still too strong.

After waking from his coma, Zhuomo'er realized that he had once again rendered a service to "Liangshanbo". His "self-sacrificing attack" terrified the Protector warships, rendering them unable to perform at their full combat potential.

Several more months passed.

For the past few months, Zhuomo has not said a word—the number of uploaded messages has remained at zero.

He gritted his teeth and fled the third massacre.

Zhuomo had assumed that his actions would displease the bandit leaders, led by Zhenghe Norio. However, in reality, not a single bandit leader approached him.

There was no rule in Liangshanbo that "you must go into battle," only the rule that "if you go into battle, you must obey the leader of the stronghold."

The bandit camp doesn't require its henchmen to fight; more often than not, the henchmen scramble to go into battle.

Prey in space is limited, and there are often only two or three opportunities to fight in a year. According to past records, there have been several times when they couldn't resist the urge to fight, so they attacked government outposts on the light-speed highway, which led to fleet encirclement and suppression.

At this critical moment, "Liangshanbo" had no choice but to sacrifice half of its ships, handing them over to the government to rebuild its "battle record" and cover the escape of the other half of its ships.

The toxic impulses were burning the nerves of the outlaws every moment.

When Zhuomo and the Ninth God of War were performing together in various parts of the solar system, they had seen the old knights eat virtual food more than once. That is, through external devices, the memory of "eating" was forcibly awakened, and even the physiological reactions at the neurological level after consuming nutrients were awakened.

As a new-age cyberpunk, Zomoer doesn't really understand this behavior. In his view, it's completely unnecessary.

Tao Enhai told him that the physiological aspect of "completely unnecessary" was unrelated to the psychological aspect.

Those old heroes who have survived from the time of Homo sapiens to the present day have a deep-seated belief that "humans should eat." If they do not eat for a long time, they will become restless and have a thought urging them to "eat." This thought will interfere with decision-making and crowd out the brain's computing resources.

Making the brain think it has been eating on time is the simplest way to eliminate this problem.

A part of the brain stubbornly believes that "humans should eat."

Zhuomo felt that his current craving for "violence" was very similar to the "appetite" of the old knights.

He knew he could survive without resorting to violence or torture, but a deeper part of his soul disagreed. His beliefs had been permanently altered.

According to the Zhuomo'er Retrospective System, even after the acts of violence had begun, his subconscious mind maintained the idea that he "could not conform to the bandit ideology"—at that time, he was completely unaware that his behavior had already become that of a bandit.

No wonder... there's no record of anyone breaking free from the bandits...

Zhuomo'er considered ending his own life. But the moment this thought surfaced in his mind, it was blown away by the doubly surging killing intent, like a fragile candle flame.

This brain seems to have learned to resolve suicidal tendencies through "violent impulses".

Zhuomo didn't know how to describe his situation. Much later, he recalled a word that the Ninth Martial God occasionally uttered.

--hell.

Unable to escape, they could only endure the torment indefinitely.

Zhuomo originally intended to keep himself on his toes until his sense of self was completely eroded, until only a madman remained in the world.

Then, he waited for the day of the "turning point".

As if the internal reactor had melted, a phantom burning sensation erupted from the body, flowing into the metal and circuitry, and turning into an "error" signal.

Everything looks wrong to me, and I want to smash everything in front of me. I want to hear the sound of things breaking, and I want to see things deformed.

The field of vision provided by the prosthetic eye seems to contain unwanted noise.

Frustration drove him to leave that dark corner.

In the "entertainment area," he saw several mutilated bodies.

Norio Masaga was a rare outlaw with a degree of self-control. At the end of each raid, he would capture a few prisoners as a diversion during the long wait.

Dhomor arrived too late. The victims were already dead.

But the former swordsman was now out of control. He picked something up from the ground…maybe an arm, maybe an empty magazine…

All Zhuo Mo'er remembered was that the thing was metal, not too big or too small, and felt just right.

He staggered over. Only then did the former swordsman recognize the size of the cybernetic prosthetic. A regular soldier of the Protector.

Many martial arts practitioners use this type of cybernetic body as a hypothetical enemy for meditation-based air combat training.

Without thinking, he smashed it down.

"clang!"

A loud bang. The sound was crisp and clean. The sound of metal clashing against metal.

This feeling is right.

It's better than smashing a wall, and even better than hitting someone.

Deep down, Zhuomo still had a chivalrous side; he couldn't bear the cries and pleas for mercy.

The dead body does not beg for mercy; there is only a clean and crisp loud bang.

That violent impulse, like a reactor melting down, seemed to flow down my arm and into that loud bang, and then it just vanished.

A few bandits glanced at the bandit leader, who was theoretically the third-in-command of the stronghold, and then huddled back down. When there was no killing going on, they had no enthusiasm for anything.

Zhuomo knocked a second time, a third time...

It seems he's found a solution.

sound.

What he craved was sound. Sound was the outlet for that violent emotion.

The Ninth God of War's comrades found what they were looking for.

By the time the body had completely transformed, Zhuomo had regained consciousness.

Just as one feels guilty about overeating after a full meal, a bandit can also gain a brief period of rationality after satisfying his violent impulses.

Zhuomor restricted the use of his arms, locking them from exerting force. All the outlaws were his family; he was safe here.

He no longer needs fists; what he needs is a tool to give him a voice.

Zhuomo found several empty fuel canisters in the warehouse. These were basically consumables; the Speed ​​King would discard many of them along his advance. He tapped one with a steel pipe, quite satisfied.

Deteriorated coolant, cloudy and hardened lubricant… these kinds of contaminants weren't hard to find. Zomor filled the fuel tank with these things to alter the relative pitch.

Some dismantled ventilation ducts—possibly spares—were just piled up haphazardly. He managed to bundle them together with maintenance cables.

—What an ugly pair of cymbals.

This is how Zhuomo described his work.

It can't compare to the gleaming set of treasures I left on Mars.

His drumsticks were a steel pipe and a shorter metal rod, like two swords, one long and one short.

At that moment, Zhuomo was unaware of what he was doing.

Making your own musical instruments is completely unnecessary. "Augmented reality instruments" are an ancient technology, and in the hands of the Ninth Martial God, this ancient skill has been further innovated.

Capture movements, simulate performances, and synthesize music based on improvisation.

The Ninth Martial God is very good at "virtual guitar".

If he just wanted to play a musical instrument, he didn't need to prepare one.

This whole process took a lot of time and effort. When it was all finished, that impulse—like a web crawler searching through memories, like a core meltdown—reappeared in Zhuomo'er once again.

So he sat down in the middle of the pile of scrap metal.

The surrounding green forest didn't even glance at him.

Zhuomo gripped the metal rod in his hand. He first gently stepped on the side of one of the fuel tanks with his right foot.

"puff."

A deep, echoing sound. A signal to begin.

With a flick of his wrist, Zhuomo'er sent the metal rod swiftly slicing across a suspended ventilation duct, producing a series of sharp, crackling sounds. The long steel pipe, accompanied by a whooshing sound, slammed heavily onto another fuel drum filled with garbage.

A tremendous roar instantly drowned out everything. The sound was deep and heavy, with a long trailing tone, making the air tremble.

All the bandits focused their attention on this.

But Zhuomo'er seemed oblivious.

His rhythm began.

The musician's right foot was planted on a fuel barrel, producing a steady, rapid "puff, puff, puff" sound, like a heart pounding. Every now and then, his left foot would kick another large barrel hard, with a dull thud.

The metal rods bounced rapidly among the scrap metal cymbals, creating a chaotic yet fine metallic cacophony, like a downpour hitting a tin roof.

Zomor doesn't pursue complexity, only power and timing. A mixture of heavy and chaotic sounds.

Whenever this rhythm rises to its peak with the urge to kill, whenever his illusory core melts and is about to burst through his chest, that all-sweeping heavy blow will appear.

"Bang!"

All the subtle sounds paled in comparison to this one strike. This deafening roar forcefully pulled the rampaging rhythm back onto a dignified path.

In Zhuomo'er's hands, the scrap metal seemed to roar.

He began to accelerate. The pedaling of his feet grew faster and faster, almost becoming one, the continuous bass sound like a divine descent. The strikes of his right hand were no longer visible, only a torrential metallic sound could be heard. Each strike of his left hand was like a cathartic release.

He wasn't striking a worthless instrument. It was as if he were whipping someone else, or perhaps... a part of his own heart.

The performance was forced to stop when a steel pipe became completely embedded in the fuel tank.

Zhuomo's body trembled; his biological instincts seemed to tell him he should quicken his breathing. But the prosthetic body wasn't sending any simulated breathing signals to his brain. The prosthetic body was briefly disconnected from his brain…

The drummer took a few seconds to reconcile his mind with his cybernetics. He turned around and was startled.

In the darkness, more than sixty pairs of light sources—more than sixty pairs of eyes—were staring intently at him.

In that instant, Zhuomo realized what he was doing.

He tried to share the music with the greenwood.

This is an instinct ingrained in our brains by technology, a simple virtue—to share good things with family.

Past memories destined Zomoer to love music.

Zhuomo felt that the joints in his lower back were somewhat rusty—but this was also an illusion. The First Heaven Prosthetic Body generally uses magnetic levitation transmission components, so not to mention corrosion, even wear and tear are minimized.

He slowly raised the remaining, slightly bent metal drumstick in his hand, like a hero raising his sword.

Like raising a torch to ignite the sky.

During this long period of time, all the greenwoods were watching him.

And Zomor finally grasped a glimmer of light in his chaotic consciousness.

He understood what he should do.

He asked, "After listening to Lao Tzu's music, you... felt good? You felt great, didn't you?"

The sixty-odd pairs of eyes flickered slightly. Some people whispered among themselves.

It was as if a gust of wind had scattered the candlelight in front of me.

Zhuomo roared, "Come on, the Heavenly Stars of Liangshan are asking you! Do you like this music?"

All eyes froze. A moment later, a series of roars came from in front of Zhuomo'er.

"Very good... Well then, I'm going to teach you a lesson—delayed gratification."

"The so-called delayed gratification is like having a junk information storage device right in front of you but not taking a bite, waiting for a bigger ticket! Only the truly ruthless can resist the urge to grab something, and they'll have plenty of prosthetic resources in the future! Anyone who's been in the business for a while should understand this!"

"Only by enduring for a while can you experience the ultimate pleasure at the moment of release!"

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

“No…” Xiang Shan was filled with doubt as he listened to Tao Enhai’s retelling of the story. “You mean, Zhuomo’er, in the outlaws’ den, used music to brainwash a small fleet? And then… this…”

He hesitated for a long time before saying, "This is completely unscientific."

Tao Enhai sighed: "You have the memories of the Ninth Martial God, don't you?"

“It’s precisely because of Lao Jiu’s memories that I find this utterly unrealistic,” Xiang Shan said. “Dr. Tao, you know, right? Lao Jiu’s so-called ‘music that could turn a thousand armies against their side’ was the result of over a decade of activities by countless chivalrous individuals behind enemy lines, and Lao Jiu was just one of them!”

"No, perhaps it is possible," the illusion of "frenzy" said to Xiangshan.

Xiang Shan was silent for a moment: "Indeed, I took Xiang Shan too seriously. It's not surprising that others could do what the Ninth Martial God couldn't."

“That was sixty years ago,” Tao Enhai said. “The Zomor brothers took even longer to do this, and the Green Forest has some… unique ecology. So he succeeded.”

"According to the information I received from Zhuo Mo'er, Dazhai 'Liangshanbo' is one of the oldest bandit groups. All bandit groups can be traced back to the four volunteer groups of 'Consensus Therapy'."

"Heh heh, interesting," Xiang Shan said. "Is this an evolutionary tree?"

“From an evolutionary perspective, the Green Forest likely employs an R-shaped reproduction strategy,” Tao Enhai said.

There are two types of reproductive strategies in evolution: R-type and K-type. Simply put, they are "more births" and "eugenics".

The R-type strategy is exemplified by insects and some amphibians, such as frogs. Their reproductive characteristics include high reproductive rates, rapid development, small size, and short lifespans, maximizing population growth in unpredictable or frequently disturbed environments. The K-type strategy is exemplified by mammals, such as humans. This strategy tends towards low reproductive rates, slow development, large size, long lifespans, and high parental investment, efficiently utilizing resources in stable, highly competitive environments.

"Tsk, there are still so few people using the R-type strategy..." Xiang Shan's way of thinking is to start with sarcasm.

But Tao Enhai didn't even need to speak; his "fervent" self—or perhaps the talent from Yorgov—said directly in his mind, "What determines population size is not reproductive strategy, but ecological niche—more precisely, the breadth, quality, and stability of its niche. The R/K strategy is merely a tool used by species to occupy ecological niches. There are countless examples of K-type strategy species that have proliferated across the land, and R-type strategy species that are on the verge of extinction."

The world can only offer so much space for groups like "outlaws"; the mainstream government and chivalrous figures will not tolerate them.

I guess Dr. Tao meant something like...

“Species with an R-type strategy tend to evolve to reduce body size and simplify body structure… This isn’t absolute, but it’s a statistically significant trend—the evolution of greenwoods also followed this direction; while they expanded, they also lost something.” Xiang Shan countered, “Is that what you mean?”

Tao Enhai was somewhat surprised: "You seem to be much more insightful than you were three hundred years ago, which is quite unexpected. Indeed, this is also the most important part of the information provided by Zhuomo'er."

Compared to the bandits of later generations, the techniques mastered by "Liangshanbo" were closer to the original "consensus therapy," which included a complete process of "memory acquisition," "confusion," "packaging," and "injection."

Most green forests—such as those currently on Earth—have greatly simplified this technology. Many green forests have even lost the algorithms and parameters for the memory collection process, leaving only the conventional "collecting memory information" + "compression algorithm".

If this is considered an "evolution," then it could be called "degeneration" in everyday language. But this evolution of the bandits did not actually weaken the bandit groups' insidious vitality.

In most cases, "degeneration" enhances the overall survival ability of the population.

The part preserved in "Liangshanbo" is based on the technology developed in the ancient medical environment, which is used to enhance the mental stability of individuals within the group and the quality of life after surgery.

For the "outlaw" group, this part can indeed be simplified.

"Liangshanbo placed great emphasis on 'memory collection' and 'memory exchange.' The entire stronghold used the same algorithm and parameters for memory collection. The process of selecting memories was completely handed over to machines, and no modifications were allowed. According to the history that Zhuomo had learned, the internal conflicts in Liangshanbo before all came from the technicians' fine-tuning of the memory collection process parameters. Any adjustment would lead to internal divisions within the stronghold. Over time, the leaders of the stronghold banned this behavior."

“That large village not only regularly collects the memories of all the bandits in the village and incorporates them into the collective memory, but also exchanges their ‘pleasant memories,’ which is their most important collective activity. Zhuomo’er took advantage of this. He knew how to cater to the collection algorithm and ensure that the emotions he guided were selected by the algorithm.”

Xiang Shan finally understood how Zhuomo had done it.

"Fanatical" nodded: [I see. Space only has large settlements, not small ones. Therefore, the bandits either attack spaceports or cargo ships with escort vessels—their raiding frequency is far less than that of the bandits living on Earth. Those bandits have a strong need for "emotional release." Zomor found a way to release his emotions through music, so a group of members gather around him… Each of his performances affects a large number of people around him. This ensured the initial numbers.]

During the exchange of memories, this small group achieves internal resonance. Due to the characteristics of "Liangshanbo," this continuously strengthening resonance spreads throughout the entire group.

A sinister figure emerged behind "Fanatic," its expression somber: [The Six Dragons Cult's "Heavenly King Project" failed to locate the Space Outlaws... They ceased operations at least twenty years ago. Otherwise, "Heavenly Mystery Hermit" wouldn't have risked so much to infiltrate Earth's Outlaw stronghold.]

This is a scrap of memory from the "Six Dragon Saint Lord".

The Six Dragons Cult appears to be attempting a project to "synthesize the neural networks of different people to enhance their abilities." However, "conflicts with personal boundaries" remain a significant obstacle. The cult leader has implemented two plans. One is to "mass-produce martial gods," and the other is to explore alternative paths through "ultimate consensus therapy."

Contacting Earth's bandits is actually quite risky. The Earth-Moon system is Hartman's territory, and the Six Dragons Cult doesn't want to expose itself to this top-tier internal martial artist. However, Earth has the largest number of scattered groups and small settlements in the solar system, and also the largest number of small bandit groups.

[The name "Project Heavenly King" didn't come from the Six Dragons Cult Leader, did it?] Xiang Shan, the benchmark, quipped, [I was wondering why; I don't think I'm that fond of Water Margin.]

The Six Dragons Cult researchers, who had contact with the Green Forest, reportedly chose a name based on a meme they themselves were unaware of—"The Heavenly King is the leader of the Green Forest." This meme likely didn't originate directly from *Water Margin*, but rather from "Liangshan Marsh," an early Green Forest group influenced by *Water Margin* memes. This is what the "fierce ghost" said.

"Fanatical" plucked the strings of illusion: [What a remarkable fellow... I mean, Zomor. He must have heard the truth; he knows the assassination plot orchestrated by the Ninth Martial God was a hoax. He has every reason to be disappointed. But even reduced to a bandit's life, he never gave up.]

According to the Six Dragons Holy Master's memory, the Liangshan Marsh stronghold had ceased activity twenty years ago, and the Six Dragons Cult had been unable to locate them. Since then, they have remained silent. Perhaps this is why Liangshan Marsh was able to unexpectedly enter the accelerated trajectory of the Celestial Star Fleet today.

Zhuomor kept a group of outlaws who used to kill each other every three months inactive for twenty years.

"Fanatic" chuckled self-deprecatingly: "Thinking about it carefully, maybe only that guy hanging on Paradox City really cares about this kind of thing, all alone, brooding over it..."

Xiang Shan, the "benchmark": [No, no, no, I think Dr. Tao really cares. Three years ago, the first time we met, he practically wanted to slap me.]

The "criminal" Xiang Shan then emerged: "[That's definitely because that idiot Lao Jiu has some of Yogmov's influence mixed in, which is why the entire Martial God is so weak. You understand, right? Yogmov is utterly pathetic on a mental level.]"

[Hahahahahaha...]

All the personality traits burst into laughter in unison. A wave of joyful neural signals echoed through Xiang Shan's mind.

Tao Enhai sensed something from the changes in Xiang Shan's tone. The guy in front of him suddenly had a drastic change in mood, but then relaxed a few seconds later and started laughing to himself again...

Surprising.

—Looks like I still need to get some medicine prescribed…

There was a slight inconsistency regarding the timing of Florence's capture in this chapter, which has now been corrected. Florence was brainwashed after the Ninth God of War's defeat.

This chapter and the beginning of the next chapter conclude the discussion of the "Green Forest" group in this book.

This book was inspired by *Gunnm*, so there should be truly wicked thugs on Earth. The outlaws initially emerged as a kind of "flavor substance." However, since there was a beginning, there should be an end. The outlaws' ecological niche dictates that they won't be the main conflict faced by the heroes, and the later plot won't focus on them. Therefore, this can be considered their final introduction.

In the next chapter, these "dead" beings in hell will transform into a ray of starlight. Xiang Shan will also officially depart from the Earth-Moon System.