Cyber ​​Heroes

Chapter 1183 On the Lotus Throne of Fetishism, the Cyber ​​Buddha Preaches
A week before the twelfth Martial God set off for the mountain, three days after the "Mechanical Deus Ex-Gods' reinforcements" successfully intercepted the Celestial Star Fleet.

Suddenly, Dugu Beiluo Shimen grabbed the Firefly by the neck and pulled him into a tent made of broken copper and scrap iron and plastic sheeting.

"Uncle-Master...Uncle-Master...Let's talk this out! I'm not using a spare prosthetic body right now; all my components are quite rare. Please don't attack me!"

After being thrown to the ground by Dugu Beiluo Shimen, Yinghuo Bird promptly lay down on the ground to show its weakness.

"Then don't try to hide your movements by bending over." Dugu Beiluo Shimen sat on the ground, leaning against a box. "Serious business. Stop fooling around."

"No, what do you want me to discuss? Just say it!" The Firefly pressed the back of its neck. "I almost thought my master had come back to life and was going to check my homework again. Look how scared I was. What, is this the tradition of our sect? Is this a PTSD flare-up? Can't the sect pass on some good traditions?"

“Your master and I are of the same generation, so let the chains of suspicion be broken in your generation.”

"Huh? No way! That would be too much of a loss for me!" The Firefly looked around and then noticed this weird place. The tent looked like a tattered rag, but there was a layer of metal foil inside to interfere with electromagnetic signals.

"No, what is this? A small supply depot? Since when do supply depots need to be disguised like this?"

Swordsmen would set up such supply stations near cities, storing supplies they didn't need immediately, sometimes even locking them with combination locks. They would also share this information with familiar swordsmen. Swordsmen who wasted supplies at supply stations without reason would be scorned by everyone in the community.

As far as Firefly knew, no supply points in this area used metal foil.

"We've blocked any potential channels for leaks. After all, we don't know if there are any listening devices here."

"Um, it's impossible to prevent, right? If the receiving and transmitting devices of those bugging devices are separate and connected by wires buried in the ground..." Firefly scratched its head, "Unless it's a temporary setup... But if we really need to discuss some top-secret intelligence, a direct wired connection would be fine, wouldn't it?"

“There’s a type of poison that infiltrates and gathers intelligence, then mixes the intelligence it collected into the data packet you upload. It was quite famous three hundred years ago,” Bei Luoshimen said. “Don’t go online casually until this matter is resolved.”

"What's going on?" Firefly asked, confused. "What's this before it's over? What is this all about? Uncle-Master, there's no need for us to play riddles between us, is there?"

"Fifth Master... your grandmaster's problem," Dugu Beiluo said. "The heroes have already conquered several research knight orders and obtained the resources they planned. We have also captured quite a few research knights and released a lot of information about the knight orders. The main weapons, ammunition, and fuel provided for the Twelfth Martial God are basically ready."

"Isn't everything going smoothly?"

"The heroes have also paid a heavy price—although no famous heroes have lost their lives so far, a major battle is inevitable in the next phase. In addition, there are the spies, the manpower and resources needed for various preliminary preparations..." Dugu Beiluo Shimen said, "Of course, these are not the core issues. This time, we have pieced together a set of intelligence about the AI ​​unrest from several different research knight orders."

"Oh." The Firefly didn't react much to this.

To date, the direct impact of the "AI turmoil" has not included "confrontation with humans."

General-purpose computers were invented only a hundred years earlier than internal martial arts, while general-purpose AI was invented less than thirty years earlier than internal martial arts.

Humanity's arms race in internal strength has lasted for far more than two hundred and thirty years.
The art of internal strength originates from humanity, while AI was designed from the outset to be a tool for humans. No matter how powerful AI is, as long as one follows its rules and presents one's intentions as legitimate actions, one can harness its power.

AI deployed entirely locally cannot fully realize its performance advantages.

Internet-connected AI cannot resist internal martial arts practitioners who specialize in "extraction permissions".

AI's passive resistance and fabricated results are a huge problem for the government, but harmless to the flat-structured knights-errant.

Most martial arts enthusiasts do not perceive large-scale AI out of control as a "threat." In their view, the Protectors are undoubtedly more evil, cruel, and dangerous than out-of-control AI.

"At most, those AIs just... think they're serving users because of the update," Firefly said. "It should be feasible to regain control by adapting to their understanding in a reasonable way. Although I don't know how this upgrade was done across Mars, honestly, well done."

"That's not the point," Dugu Beiluo Shimen sighed. This was indeed common sense in this era. Creating an AI that specializes in killing wasn't difficult; the difficulty lay in preventing that AI from being further injected with information and led astray.

This problem will inevitably occur whenever AI receives external information.

But this time, the problem isn't just about AI.

"I don't know if you've heard of it, but weapons AI that are disconnected from the internet can also experience that kind of abnormal upgrade."

"Um... I didn't notice, but this is probably the first time I've heard of it—oh, that old geezer Singlehorst revealed some things after he surrendered. I think that's what it is."

"The upgrade components that cause this phenomenon are not only spread through the Internet, but martial artists may also become carriers or intermediate hosts of the 'viral upgrade components.' Those upgrade components are largely useless to humans..." Dugu Beiluo Shimen said, "When officers control those weapon AIs, the upgrade components that cause the AI ​​to malfunction are silently installed."

"Tsk, tsk."

"Stop 'tsk tsk.' More research data has been found." Dugu Beiluo Shimen sighed. "Thanks to the firewall patch uploaded by King Agni, even experts in internal martial arts can peer into the vulnerabilities exploited by those virus-like upgrade components and then trace their existence in reverse. Some research knights have actually done it. But the news is bad—the vulnerabilities exploited by those components are very low-level. They can even upgrade some relatively simple AIs."

"What's going on?"

"N, how many low-level AI plugins have you internalized by now?"

Internalization is the training that transforms external forces into one's own "internal" power.

In this cyberpunk era, the so-called "inner self" specifically refers to the spiritual and cognitive level.

That is, "making external processes part of one's own cognition," which is the kind of "underlying logic."

Through arduous practice, one achieves a spiritual graft, transforming the logic of external programs into one's own "internal" cognition. This process turns steps that originally required thought and calculation into an instinct that requires no conscious participation. Once internalization is complete, the program is no longer "a tool you use," but rather part of "who you are." It is not an application in your brain, but an integral part of yourself.

For natural humans, "perfect pitch" and "perfect color vision" are enviable talents. But for cybernetic beings, as long as they have suitable prosthetic bodies and are trained to internalize the program, they can achieve instrument-like precision "by feeling".

"Image screening, network management, ballistic-aided calculation, knowledge base management, several new radar sensors... there must be at least a double digit, right?"

The Firefly suddenly realized: "No way? Could it be..."

"These all contain AI components."

The Firefly jumped up: "No, no, no, this is impossible! These are all rule-driven programs, the most reliable, plus a little bit of basic AI..."

“If we consider rule-driven mechanical programs as 0, and artificial intelligence that can learn and modify itself as 1, then our world undoubtedly has more than just 0 and 1.” Dugu Beiluo Shimen crossed his arms. “Between 0 and 1, there are countless ‘intermediate states’.”

"If X, then Y"—Programmers anticipate all possible scenarios and write explicit rules and instructions to tell the computer what to do at each step, ensuring that explicit input yields explicit results.

This is a rule-driven mechanical program.

Programmers must be like gods, foreseeing all possible situations and writing down unquestionable, ironclad laws for each one.

If this program were a chef, it would meticulously follow every word and step of the recipe, creating the pre-set dish with absolute precision. If ingredients outside the recipe were added, the entire process would instantly collapse, because in its universe, the "unknown" does not exist.

Aside from "Expert Systems," most AI belongs to another type. Their significance lies in finding their own path to "Y" amidst the causal entanglements of countless elements in the set of "X" and the set of "Y".

Mechanical programs have a fateful, precisely predictable chain between their inputs and outputs. The same input, whether at the beginning of the universe or at the end of time, will inevitably produce the exact same output.

Later artificial intelligence, on the other hand, relies on a statistical prediction as its input and output. Its answers are based on the "probabilities" it gleans from the data. Faced with the same question, it might offer subtle differences or include a statement of "credibility" along with its answer.

These are not two distinct nations, but rather a long evolutionary path. At one end are creations based purely on rules, such as calculators; at the other end are creations based purely on learning, such as increasingly powerful general artificial intelligence.

In the middle of this path lie countless hybrids. A spam filter, which may have started with simple rules based on keywords such as "winning" or "lottery," has now evolved into a hunter that sniffs out advertisements by learning the characteristics of billions of emails—albeit still quite clumsy.

Take, for example, the software component of autonomous vehicles. The underlying commands that control the accelerator, brakes, and steering are creations of absolutely precise rules, allowing no ambiguity; while the systems that recognize pedestrians, understand traffic, and plan routes in chaos are creations of learning that make decisions in a cloud of probabilities.

This was already the form of AI that Xiang Shan initially encountered. In his time, personal computers were already in the form of a "hybrid".

The plugins that martial artists internalize have always been like this from the beginning.

In other words...

It contains AI elements.

“Perhaps we can say that human thinking is ‘2’, and there is a ‘transitional stage’ between us and AI, a hybrid,” Dugu Beiluo Shimen said. “Using consciousness to control AI, and using AI to control mechanical programs—that’s the root of cyber martial arts. We’ve become accustomed to having programs in our minds.”

“If those AI components hadn’t been internalized, we would have had to squeeze out the brain’s computing power for visual or auditory processing to handle radar senses—but now, we have gained additional senses that are independent of the traditional five senses.”

"So here's the question. Ah Niao, if those upgrade components upgrade an AI at '1' to '1.5', will they also work on AIs at '0.5' or '0.75'?"

The Firefly Bird had calmed down: "Uncle-Master, this joke isn't funny. My internal energy is well-developed, and I can control the amount of computing resources the program is using. In the past few months, I haven't seen any signs of my prosthetic body's computing power being stolen, and there have been no abnormalities in the data uploaded."

“They could easily break the collected information into small data packets and send them out bit by bit, right?” Dugu Beiluo Shimen said. “If those upgrade components also optimize the efficiency of your software, wouldn’t that free up some resources? Don’t forget, those are ‘upgrade components.’ What if the proportion of computing resources they occupy is small enough?”

The Firefly fell into deep thought: "But... even if all those internalized AIs are upgraded, their operating logic is too simple, and they are simply not enough to form 'consciousness'..."

“We still don’t understand ‘consciousness’,” Dugu Beiluo Shimen said. “The problem remains the same—what effect will the upgraded components have on the AI ​​in the 0.5 position within the internalized plugins?”

The boundary between mechanical programs and AI is not a clear chasm. In home computers, text editors and calculators are purely rule-driven mechanical programs, while office software with features such as design suggestions, grammar proofreading, data prediction, predictive input, and personalized dictionaries undoubtedly contains AI components. They can be packaged into one and seamlessly integrated into a single software program.

The upgrades that made the entire Mars AI unusual have not yet shown any impact on this type of simple AI.

But the "unknown" itself is terrifying.

"I temporarily rolled back my prosthetic body's system using a data snapshot. But that's not foolproof. We don't know when this started. It probably broke out after the Twelve Masters won on Earth, but how long was the 'incubation period'?"

Dugu delivered another document.

"This is the latest patch from King Agni. It was only uploaded to Mars after Earth's liberation—that old dog was working on it even while on his journey, so it must be something very important. Most people within the government only know it's 'used to solve some problems.' The experts on the Knights' side quickly reverse-engineered it. But that guy's technical level is very high. If it weren't for the intelligence we shared with the Research Knights this time, we probably would have needed to figure it out for many more years..."

The Firefly scratched its head: "Did you suddenly change the subject?"

“This is a continuation of the previous topic,” Dugu Beiluo Shimen said. “The key points are all in the text I sent.”

"Let me see... 'Its actual function is... to intercept the theft of human brain computing power'—human brain computing power?"

"The key point is the King of Heaven's Hibernation Center. They say it needs to be upgraded, but others also need to have it installed," Dugu Beiluo Shimen said. "But you know, King Agni, the government will avoid installing his upgrade patches if possible."

King Agni's skills were indeed superb, but he was too lazy to write product descriptions for his patches. Even martial artists with average to excellent internal strength couldn't understand the contents of his patches. The vast majority of people had no idea what his patches did.

In accordance with the habits of old-school hackers, these patches are also a form of poison.

If it weren't for the fact that not patching would likely result in being killed by a wandering swordsman, most government officials would be unwilling to use King Agni's upgrade patch.

They will also download patches based on their own understanding.

This also increases the cost for swordsmen to use spells.

In this patch, King Agni only forced volunteers in the Hibernation Center to upgrade, and then recommended that ordinary warriors upgrade with the highest priority.

"Many hibernators experienced highly consistent dreams. Computers can now bypass conscious thought and make meaningful interference with the human brain. King Agni's patch points to a major vulnerability in a primitive brain-computer interface that can be exploited."

The original brain-computer interface protocol is considered a miracle. It was a cross-sector collaboration spearheaded by the Superman Corporation at its peak. In an era that championed idealism, all the best minds came together to contribute to a greater cause. Government and civil society, academia and industry, and even nations... all barriers were temporarily set aside.

It was a low-level protocol with "stability" as its core requirement, while also maximizing "scalability." Zhu Xinyu contributed the framework, and geeks from various countries filled in the content. Its entire content was open and transparent, and it withstood the test of almost every hacker, reaching an "ultimate" level for that era.

Xiangshan's reputation reached an incredible level after this incident.

Because in that era, everyone felt that he had created a myth.

Later, brain-computer interfaces with even greater performance requirements emerged. However, those protocols were largely not widely adopted.

To this day, the vast majority of people still believe that only this version of the brain-computer interface protocol is a pure work without any "selfish" intentions—this is what everyone believes.

Most other brain-computer interfaces are only used on a small scale.

Even if some vulnerabilities are discovered over the past two hundred years, people are willing to patch them and continue using the system.

Moreover, so far, all the vulnerabilities discovered have been difficult to exploit.

King Agni's patch, however, points to a vulnerability that has likely already been maliciously exploited.

then……

"Combined with the information sent by the Earth heroes, Senior Zhu... 'Turing,' she may have done something during the Earth's War of Restoration that allowed Master Twelve to survive—she stole human brain computing power from King Agni to support her own personality masking behavior, which turned the tide of the battle at the critical moment."

"AI can borrow human thinking, and it can also influence human thinking."

The metal foil here is used to defend against AI that may be lurking inside the body.

Upon hearing this, the Firefly slowly closed its prosthetic eye to protect itself, shutting off its five senses and carefully sensing its own system.

A moment later, he opened his eyes: "I tried rolling back a bit, I don't know if it will work. Uncle-Master, actually I've been thinking about it. Even if those AIs are determined to rebel... we are heroes, right?"

"Ah."

"The government should be the one having a headache about rebellions. If an AI suddenly jumped in front of you, popped up a dialog box saying, 'Hi! I'm a good AI, and I'm willing to fight for human freedom. Please support AI's rights after you win'... what would you think, Uncle-Master?"

"Oh ho, you're an AI empowerment advocate."

The Firefly pointed to the sky: "There's a god on the sun right now who was born as a human and plans to wipe out all of humanity. Unless that potential AI evil god's plan is to exterminate all of humanity right now, it's hard for AI to surpass that god's level of evil, right?"

“Indeed.” Dugu Beiluo Shimen nodded. “If that’s the case, I would probably treat them like protectors who surrendered before establishing mutual trust with the heroes. I would set up monitoring on the AI ​​and, under that premise, conduct limited cooperation first, gradually building mutual trust.”

“That settles it then, we’re on the same page…” The Firefly stood up, seemingly preparing to leave the conversation.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen tapped his forehead: "But the problem is that the AI ​​hasn't shown any willingness to cooperate yet. Are they going to act as a third party? Or something like the Six Dragons Cult? It's really hard to feel at ease."

"If it weren't for the inhumane acts of the Six Dragons Cult, wouldn't a 'third party' be more valuable to win over?"

“Other problems can be put aside. There’s one problem we need to solve quickly,” Dugu Beiluo Shimen said. “Your grandmaster, fifth master, that Xiang Shan.”

"What problem could the advisor have?"

The Firefly's tone was somewhat unnatural.

“Tsk tsk, I know your lineage’s long-cherished wish,” Dugu Beiluo Shimen said. “I can understand it to some extent. But you’ve also noticed, haven’t you? When passing through settlements, Fifth Master often goes out alone, and when asked, he just says he’s just strolling around. This is quite unusual.”

The logic behind temporary knight-errant organizations is "knowledge-intensive." The overall knowledge structure, personnel quality, and combat methods of the knight-errant combat system are highly dependent on the knights-errant's expertise in cyber martial arts. Usually, everyone assumes that the knight-errant with the highest martial arts skills will be the core.

In practical terms, once a temporary cooperative relationship is formed, command automatically relinquishes command to the most skilled martial artist. This most skilled artist retains the highest level of autonomy and can withhold certain information from other martial artists to ensure the achievement of the mission's objectives.

A martial arts master of slightly lower skill level must not act arbitrarily without consulting or obtaining the consent of his companions.

If you cannot accept command due to factors such as personal conflicts, then you should voluntarily withdraw from the operation.

Generally speaking, the "strongest" character is indeed the God of War.

However, the Fifth Martial God was left with a severe head injury.

However, this temporary action group is indeed a bit special. The Soul-Suppressing Dharma King is undoubtedly the strongest among them, but he doesn't consider himself a chivalrous knight at all. Furthermore, he has only been persuaded by Xiang Shan.

In reality, it was Dugu Beiluo Shimen who took on the role of contacting other heroes and coordinating various affairs.

If Dugu Beiluo Shimen objects to a certain action of Xiang Shan, then Xiang Shan should provide a full explanation before conducting an internal discussion.

Even if he was the one who initiated this operation.

“This is very unusual, isn’t it?” Dugu Beiluo Shimen said.

The firefly sighed. Although it said nothing more.

“What’s even more unusual is that he actually shook me off.”

The Firefly was bewildered: "What do you mean?"

“The last time we stopped to rest, Fifth Master went out to do his usual fieldwork and investigate the local conditions. When he came back, he separated from the other two, saying he was just wandering around. I tried to follow him, but he shook me off,” Dugu Beiluo said. “His martial arts skills were only damaged, but his tracking and counter-tracking abilities are still top-notch.”

Although both the Tenth and Fifth Martial Gods were later described as "lone rangers," there are still some differences between them.

The Tenth Martial God is actually similar to a "technical researcher." He has set two tasks for himself: first, to improve the overall depth of cyber martial arts, thereby indirectly affecting the power balance between the government and the martial arts world; and second, to hunt down the Speed ​​King, an enemy that ordinary heroes cannot defeat—even if it means mutual destruction.

The Tenth Martial God's participation in actual combat and assassinations was mostly for testing research results.

The Fifth God of War represents a potential force of chivalry attempting to unite the entire planet Mars single-handedly. He needs skills in persuasion and concealment. While he may not be as charismatic as the Ninth God of War, he is quite authoritative in the realms of tracking and counter-tracking, reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance.

The Firefly said, "Uncle-Master, you actually... how could you go to such lengths?"

"My fifth master himself said that he relied on an AI to complete his incompleteness and regain his self," Dugu Beiluo's sect member said. "He was deeply influenced by the AI. At such a time of AI turmoil, he has exhibited strange behavior. We have reason to be careful."

The Firefly said, "But we've discussed his plan, haven't we? It's basically in line with the interests of the chivalrous faction..."

“Except for one thing—he changed his plans and went to the Moonshadow Knights instead of the Knights Templar of Okolo,” Dugu Beiluo Shimen said. “That place was most affected by the AI ​​turmoil.”

The Firefly seemed to give up: "Alright, alright... I understand. Should we tell the others about this?"

Dugu Beiluo Shimen tapped the Firefly on the head: "Why do you think I called you out alone? Singlehorst isn't a chivalrous person at all; he acts purely on personal whims. That research knight is from the Lonely Knights. Who knows if Fifth Master's current state of being bound to AI is part of their plan? Or perhaps, Fifth Master has turned against the Lonely Knights? There are too many uncertainties. I think you're the only one I can trust." "The two of us will cooperate, using our reconnaissance skills to track down the God of War. That's it. Are you in?"

The Firefly hesitated for a moment, then gave Dugu Beiluo Shimen a high five.

Agreement reached.

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

Things actually went much more smoothly than expected. The next day, the Fifth Martial God and his group passed by the ruins of "Metropolis" and stopped there for the last time.

The site of Metropolis is also the remains of an early Martian city. Unlike early cities like Crane, whose construction plans were finalized by David, Metropolis was a Martian city entirely built under the control of the usurpers.

In carrying out David's plans, Big Boss, the leader of the usurpers, gradually learned David's way of thinking. Perhaps to get rid of the influence of the settlers, or perhaps to demonstrate his victory, Mr. Big Boss re-planned a hub outside David's city—the Metropolis.

Two centuries ago, all the wealth and power on Mars flowed through this place.

Perhaps at that time, Big Boss already had the idea that "even if he loses Earth, he will still have Mars."

Even a building in disrepair is still a building. This dead city can also be considered a place where heroes and refugees gathered.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen went to meet with local martial arts masters to obtain supplies and intelligence. Xiang Shan, as usual, took Singlehorst for a casual stroll.

Of course, as usual, he also suggested at the end that he wanted to wander around by himself for a while.

After Dugu Beiluo Shimen returned to the vicinity of the vehicle, he saw the mark left by the Firefly in a conspicuous place—a special symbol that he and Dugu Beiluo Shimen had agreed upon.

Skilled individuals are highly sensitive to signals. Directional signals are relatively harmless, but in such a sparsely populated area, any signal source could potentially trigger the alert of an expert.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen quickly found the Firefly.

This area is already close to the city center. Compared to the buildings on the outskirts, the buildings here are much taller—so-called landmarks, which are naturally more prone to becoming dilapidated without proper maintenance. More than a hundred years ago, everything of recyclable value here was looted, and vagrants avoided the area altogether.

The Martian winds are thin, carrying a subtle, metallic rustling sound. Iron oxide tinges the dust particles red, making even the moon, smaller than a pinhead, appear redder.

This godforsaken place, even the wind carries an ethereal, mournful feel.

The Firefly knelt on the ground. After Dugu Beiluo Shimen approached, the Firefly gestured for her to squat down as well. The two huddled behind a section of a burnt-out magnetic freight car, which had been reduced to a twisted metal shell during a war two centuries ago.

"Where is he?" Dugu Beiluo Shimen asked.

The Firefly flicked its finger. Only then did Dugu Beiluo Shimen notice the data cable extending from his wrist. The data cable stretched into the darkness inside the freight truck, piercing into the unknown.

What's going on here?

There are too few people here. Martial artists of the old man's level are extremely sensitive to humanoid objects. And we can't generate electromagnetic signals.

The Firefly shared the information stream directly through the laser channel. It controlled centipede-like, millipede-like robots, whose heads were equipped with cameras, seemingly modified from auxiliary aiming devices.

She could even sense the mechanical program driving the worm. The Firefly had abandoned the mature, universal gait control AI, instead employing numerous mechanical commands to drive the long worm.

—Your foundation is quite solid.

Dugu thought to himself.

Any active detection method will trigger the martial artist's instinctive vigilance, so a passive detector like an "optical camera" is already a good choice.

The auxiliary aiming device's camera couldn't compare to the unwavering vision of a first-level martial artist. Dugu Beiluo Shimen felt as if a purple veil had been draped over his eyes.

A worm poked its head out from a crack. The camera scanned the surroundings.

The walls of the building, which had become a honeycomb structure during the turmoil, had long since ceased to function, and the neon tubes on them drooped like dead tube worms.

Dugu had heard that in the last few years of the old era, this place was one of the most prosperous commercial districts on Mars—perhaps by then the "new era" had already begun? The chivalrous spirit originated on Earth, and its influence on Mars came much later.

This place was once one of the most bustling commercial districts on Mars, where giant holographic projections and neon lights would artificially create auroras in the sky above this rocky planet whose magnetic field had disappeared. People wore clothes that seem unbelievably beautiful now, laughing, making noise, and spending money.

The Firefly quickly located its target.

Xiang Shan was walking on a half-collapsed pedestrian bridge.

Clearly, public facilities with "pedestrian" in their names were not designed or built with the needs of martial artists who have built-in reactors in mind. The weathered planks cracked beneath the martial god's feet.

The auxiliary aiming device has limited camera accuracy, so Dugu Beiluo Shimen can only use his own internal martial arts skills to fill in the missing details.

Xiang Shan's posture was strange, unlike that of a martial arts legend always ready for battle. His movements were unfocused, and his attention seemed to be elsewhere.

—He was looking at another path… a path that only existed in his mind.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen had seen this posture elsewhere. Some people are addicted to augmented reality and full immersion, causing the boundary between virtual and reality to blur. They walk like this.

Some martial artists with severe psychological trauma may also develop information addiction during their self-healing process.

but……

That's a martial god! A god of martial arts! A legend in the martial arts world!

How could such a problem occur in Xiangshan?

Xiangshan stopped in his sight, standing in front of a shop window that had long been emptied. He reached out and gently touched the glass, blackened and melted by war two hundred years ago.

Beyond a thick layer of worldly dust, there is nothing.

But Xiangshan seemed to be pointing at something... or recalling something.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen asked, "[The old man seems to be making noise outside. What is he saying? Who is he saying it to? He's not the type to talk to himself when he's alone.]"

The Firefly shook its head, placed a box down, then unplugged the data cable from its wrist and inserted it into the box. The program would automatically reclaim the mechanical worms. It then led Fomalhaut in another direction.

Why that direction?

【We'll make sure we can't see the advisor, and the advisor can't see us either.】 The Firefly walked down to the wind and waited quietly.

A few minutes later, a strange-looking aircraft flew over. It was a palm-sized, unpowered aircraft with biplane wings and several ring-shaped structures.

"There's a gesture control AI. Without AI, this thing is truly impossible," the Firefly explained. "But this entire machine lacks the ability to send signals proactively."

"Won't the old man hear it?"

[Unless the advisor is wary, the noise will blend perfectly into the background. Besides, the main body of this thing is made of polymer material, which can be penetrated by commonly used radar waves. The metal part is pitifully small; its radar cross-section is about the size of a speck of dust.]

Firefly pulled a rice-grain-sized memory device from the tail of the aircraft and inserted it into a universal interface.

Audio storage. The lightest thing I could find.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen received the shared file.

A song. It has a touch of J-pop style, with distinct sections, a strong and powerful rhythm, and a very driving feel.

A song from an old-fashioned children's program. The melody is uplifting and bright, completely out of place in this dead city.

If the Firefly still had skin, it would definitely get goosebumps: [Doesn't the advisor find this awkward?]

"I...I think I vaguely remember?" Dugu Beiluo Shimen searched for his childhood memories.

Master—the Tenth Martial God—once recounted some memories of the old era to him, including fictional works created specifically for children and various imaginary heroes.

This one seems to correspond to...

A cliché story of a demon's son who yearns for light defeating his father with tears in his eyes?

【ah……】

She had actually heard the Tenth Martial God hum this tune a long time ago.

Many years later, she heard a junior sister teasing her about this incident during a casual chat, saying that her master might just be trying to get the "master's wife's" attention—rumor has it that Senior Zhu used to like this the most.

Dugu Beiluo's sect believed this was the truth. This was because his junior sister was captured by the Tenth Martial God the very next day and forced to develop a new martial art under the premise of simulating pain.

She knew her master's personality all too well.

Pain perception is a damage assessment algorithm with an excellent operating environment. When connected to pressure-sensitive materials, it can efficiently estimate the pressure that different martial arts techniques bring to the prosthetic body. In most cases, the role of this "sensor" is the Tenth Martial God himself. Ordinary disciples are not qualified to "feel pain."

And then...now...

What is this scene before my eyes? A living legend, the greatest knight-errant on Mars, humming a children's song in the center of this dead city, even his body language is sloppy.

A top-tier martial artist, instead of stepping on the clearly defined invisible center line, simply walked casually, leaving a series of irregular footprints of varying depths on the thick red dust.

It resembles the abnormal state called "drunkenness" from the old days.

Is it just to get someone's attention?

What kind of third-rate love story is this?
--No……

Dugu Beiluo Shimen's mood suddenly plummeted, as if he had fallen into an icy sea.

—Wishing you well, senior...wishing you well, Xinyu...

—The intelligence about the Six Dragons Cult brought by the Soul-Suppressing Dharma King…the only clue left by the Six Dragons Cult's super AI…

— “Be careful of Zhu Xinyu”.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen believed that he had grasped something.

However, this "what" is still not enough.

What exactly made Master Wu insist on doing this alone, away from everyone else?

What... what is it that can't be told to their disciples?

Let's look at it from another angle.

"I've gathered terrain data beforehand," the Firefly said. "Going further ahead, the probability of being discovered exceeds sixty-five percent."

"So what if we've been discovered? The old man can't kill us." Dugu Beiluo Shimen took a deep breath and meditated. "Besides... at least I believe he won't do that. Let's observe a little longer before we can have an open and honest talk."

The Firefly led Dugu Beiluo Shimen a few hundred steps before releasing another mechanical worm equipped with a camera.

Xiang Shan continued walking forward. His head was tilted slightly to the left, as if listening to an accompaniment that only he could hear.

Or, an unseen backup dancer.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen felt that the output of his power furnace was increasing.

She felt she was getting closer and closer to the truth.

Ascension... Ascension...

The long-cherished wish of the Six Dragons Sect's century-long plan was actually realized by Senior Zhu's entire sect...

Ah, maybe not. Think about it carefully, isn't the greatest strength of internal martial arts practitioners precisely their ability to gather and manage information?
Zhu Xinyu, the strongest internal martial artist among humans, could obtain the necessary information from various places.

She took the lead and fulfilled the long-cherished wish of the Six Dragons Sect.

—Truly worthy of being someone who is captivated by mountains.

Moreover, she should still lean towards a chivalrous stance. She also took action when the Twelfth Master restored Earth.

Perhaps King Agni received incorrect information? Was he completely fooled?

Such hope arose in Dugu Beiluo Shimen's heart. She sincerely hoped that Senior Zhu was well and that the Twelfth Martial God would not need to take any risks.

The Firefly suddenly cried out in alarm. It didn't even bother to hide, simultaneously speaking into its synthesizer via electronic signals: "[What is this?]"

Xiangshan stood at the entrance of the shopping plaza. Dugu seemed to have heard someone say that there should actually be a statue here, depicting Xiangshan as he was when he was still a Homo sapiens.

He was the creator of that commercial empire, the architect of hegemony. Placing his statue at the entrance of a shopping mall is simply the best illustration of "commodity fetishism."

The Fifth Martial God climbed onto the pedestal prepared for the human statue of Xiangshan. It seems that more than a hundred years ago, the statue was casually blown up by some high-ranking government official, leaving only the technologically advanced concrete pedestal.

The Fifth Martial God looked around. Before him lay the ruins of a half-collapsed domed building, its massive alloy beams piercing the red sky like the ribs of a giant beast.

At first, the Firefly had no idea what was so interesting about this.

Then he saw...

Something moved from the shadows of the ruins.

Those were two "Dvergar-3" engineering robots, the most common robots on Mars a hundred years ago, designed by the King of Conquest in the government after he abandoned his chivalry.

Most of them should have been abandoned, but it's not difficult to find one or two that are still usable by repairing them.

Like a slow-moving rhinoceros, the engineering robot uses its massive robotic arm to search for a foothold on the ground, then slowly lowers its center of gravity, section by section.

Then came a rustling sound.

An elderly person from the old days might mistake it for the sound of grass and trees rustling in the wind. But the Firefly instinctively gripped its weapon. It was the sound of a swarm of drones.

A large number of drones of various types. Most are decoy drones or high-speed reconnaissance drones, the cheapest kind, the kind that are never thought of being retrieved once deployed. The risks and costs of retrieving them clearly outweigh those of remanufacturing them. They are things on the battlefield more easily forgotten by their owners than ammunition.

Therefore, they are numerous.

Small transport vehicles drove out of another building, their infrared radar transmitters flashing invisibly with excitement.

There were even two or three dog-shaped automatic weapons equipped with guns and missiles.

They are all controlled by AI.

Xiang Shan didn't look around, as if he already knew of their presence. His earlier glance was merely a survey of the terrain.

He sat down on the edge of the base of his own statue, his movements casual, like an ordinary wealthy man who was tired from a walk in his own backyard.

All the AI ​​stopped in front of him; engineering machinery and killing machines stood shoulder to shoulder, forming an absolutely harmonious circle. They were silent, and all the sensors—optical, infrared, or otherwise—were focused on the seated man.

According to folklore, when the Buddha preached, all beasts were terrified.

Replacing Buddha with an old man who has lost his wife, and the wild beasts with a pile of rusty, half-scrapped machines, would be a kind of mythological rebirth.

Dugu Beiluo Shimen felt no emotion whatsoever. She had even forgotten the feelings that had just arisen within her.

—AI…

These AIs seem to be completely detached from humanity, yet the Fifth Martial God has clearly integrated into them.

At this moment, is he human or AI?

A sneer escaped Dugu Beiluo Shimen's synthesizer. She suddenly realized that she was afraid.

Afraid to figure out the answer.

【Uncle-Master, we should…】

A figure burst out from the ruins of the shopping mall and lunged at the Fifth Martial God.

"Damn it..." the Firefly exclaimed, "You're going for the kill, Uncle-Master! Let's put aside this dispute and..."

Dugu Beiluo Shimen had already rushed out.

Xiang Shan might be playing either "Proof of Geed" or "Fusion Rise," neither of which fits the scene. Of course, "Fusion Rise" is more likely, I think. (hint)