Cyber ​​Heroes

Chapter 1193 The Existence of the Seventh Martial God

On the spaceship, Adong's limbs once again groaned from the unbearable strain.

This civilian prosthetic body was already barely able to support Adong's torso. Adong's torso contained a large number of computing units, as well as matching power supply and heat dissipation systems, and Chaldea was an area with almost no gravity, so civilian hands and feet didn't take counteracting gravity into account at all.

"Sigh, where does Chaldea get so many plastic prosthetic bodies?" Adong said, sounding rather annoyed.

This is the final acceleration phase. Leonard's small spaceship is accelerating along the return journey, up to one three-thousandth the speed of light. During this process, the Black Ship Legion, rushing to the battlefield, will catch up from behind.

Then, the group will be able to reach their destination.

"Alright, alright, I'll take you to the flagship store in a bit." The guild leader patted Adong on the shoulder.

Then, under the force of G, A-Dong's leg was broken.

The president reluctantly withdrew his hand.

Jeanne looked anxiously out the window. She didn't really know what she could do.

But at that moment, a notification popped up in front of Jeanne.

Li Zheyuan shared a file.

"Uh, what's this?" Jeanne picked up the box behind her. Inside was Lee Cheol-won's head.

"The final outcome." Li Zheyuan seemed to have little desire to speak.

Jeanne and Asga will certainly take this head with them. While they don't have any direct hatred for Li Zheyuan, they do have some indirect. Li Zheyuan is the most innocuous person in the world.

Even if it meant going to fight a battle that would most likely result in death, Xiang Shan would never let Li Zheyuan escape on his own.

Because of his own circumstances, Liu Xiangshan did not trust the God of War and harbored suspicions towards all Gods of War. Jeanne, on the other hand, had never intended to become a knight-errant.

As the Twelfth Martial God took action on Earth, the Six Dragons Cult, which had been hiding in the shadows, gradually collapsed, and Liu Xiangshan naturally no longer doubted the remaining forces.

Moreover, Tuo Xiangshan and Jeanne did indeed have limited time.

Li Zheyuan tried pleading and cursing, and also tried to persuade them. But unfortunately, Asga and Jeanne could hardly understand his old-fashioned, vicious curses.

Tuo Xiangshan simply couldn't be bothered to care.

For the next several hours, Li Zheyuan remained silent, seemingly resigned to his fate. His last outburst was several hours earlier, naturally consisting of another round of insults.

"Ha, did they write down all the insults they said about me in a document...? Goodness, it's a terabyte-sized document. Looks like it's not a text document." Xiang Shan's voice came from Jeanne's synthesizer, intrigued. "Let me see..."

The chamber of commerce president seemed to roll his eyes, as the change in his prosthetic eye was quite obvious. The president said, "You bastard, if it really was a text insulting you, were you planning to spend some time insulting it back line by line? The kind that goes all out to humiliate you. Humiliating something so trivial is just garbage information."

"...Hmm?" Xiang Shan expressed his confusion, "Why?"

"This doesn't sound like spam," the chairman commented.

"These are the usable drug targets screened from experimental data based on past medication records, as well as related targets inferred from the database." Xiang Shan clicked his tongue in amazement. "If I had the resources to conduct experiments now, it might be possible to develop a special drug that could reverse this cancerous transformation. What does that mean? You're not thinking that I should turn back now and not participate in this battle, are you? Or are you saying that you're putting a way out in front of me, but I can't use it, and you're just trying to drive me crazy like this?"

The synthesizer emitted a burst of static. He seemed to want to say something, but remained silent. However, everyone present possessed some internal energy cultivation. Xiang Shan directly retrieved Li Zheyuan's unspoken words from the synthesizer's cache file.

“‘Actually, I’ve also thought about becoming a doctor…’… Ho ho ho ho.” Tumor Mountain exclaimed exaggeratedly, “Doctor.”

“That’s right, I went to Harvard Medical School and then got a degree in genetics. Doctors earn a lot,” Li Zheyuan said angrily.

The president of the Hermite Association shook his head: "You've already adopted a 'lie down and take the ridicule' attitude, yet you still refuse to admit that you once had good intentions? Is the idea of ​​'wanting to be a good person as a child' something so shameful to you?"

"What's there to be ashamed of? What nonsense are you spouting?" Li Zheyuan tried his best to express his contempt with his tone. "What do you know? You're just Zhu Xinyu's dog."

“But I think this guy makes a lot of sense. You say you felt no shame when you were tempted by so-called ‘commercial spies,’ but you feel so ashamed when you say you wanted to be a doctor who saves lives when you were young,” Liu Xiangshan said. “It’s so easy for you to admit you’re despicable, but it’s so embarrassing for you to admit you once wanted to be a good person. I really don’t understand.”

“I learned a theory from Turing’s lineage a few years ago that as long as you humble yourself enough, you won’t feel like you’re ‘falling’ or losing anything,” the chairman said. “If Li Zheyuan admits that he was immoral from the beginning, he won’t have to face the fact that he made the wrong choice and that it made things worse for him.”

Li Zheyuan retorted angrily, "What are you talking about? I'm not the only one whose wrong choices have made the world worse, am I? Huh?"

"Listen carefully, I said 'made yourself worse'." The chairman slowly inserted the junk information into the interface, "You were also Yogemov's number two or three assistants back then, right? Although Yogemov enjoyed most of the honors because of his martyr-like actions, you also shared in the glory. You are rotten to the core, but you are not stupid. Logically, you should be able to deduce that, right? If that incident hadn't happened back then, you, Li Zheyuan, would at least be a controversial figure in history textbooks, if not a legend."

"Xiangshan's plan would never have succeeded, even without me..."

"I didn't mention Xiang Shan at all. Put aside the grand narrative and focus on yourself." The chairman shrugged. "Perhaps you're right, this country, if you don't steal it, someone else will. But you joined, you solved a very crucial technical problem for the thieves, yet you're still their dog. Yogemov may have gone mad, devouring his old friends, but he also made the whole world play his crazy board game with him. As for the others, some are dead, some are still fighting, but basically everyone is respected, and some people still love those old guys." The chairman then pointed to the camera Li Zheyuan was using: "And look at you? Wow, I feel like even the youngest person here doesn't respect you at all, and nobody thinks you deserve respect."

"Think carefully about how you've gotten through all these years. Have you been hiding and running away, afraid of both protectors and heroes, feeling like you'd be dead no matter who saw you? Look at Xiang Shan, though he's been through so much over the years, he's always earned the respect of at least some people."

"But who can we blame for this?" The president spread his hands and turned to Jeanne—or rather, Xiang Shan, "Xiang Shan, if you know this guy well, why don't you try to guess what he's been thinking these past few hours?"

Liu Xiangshan also felt there was no point in mocking Li Zheyuan at this point: "I'm too lazy to guess. More than two hundred years ago, I really thought I knew Li Zheyuan very well. But when I heard him refer to his graduate students as 'beautiful corporate spies,' I knew I didn't understand him at all."

The chairman said, "Do you think this thing had even a shred of goodness two hundred years ago?"

Liu Xiangshan hesitated for a moment before saying, "I guess so. That guy Yorgov... initially he was quite concerned with morality and justice. He was discovered by Yorgov."

As a junior colleague of Yogmov, Li Zheyuan was recruited by Yogmov to his laboratory.

Moreover, although Yogemov was naive, he was not a scholar confined to his study. Before meeting Xiangshan, he was already a social activist identified by the FBI as having extreme ideological leanings and requiring surveillance.

"Even if it's just a facade to enhance his resume and cultivate a personal image, he's still pretending to be a passionate person," the chairman commented. "Look at him, this guy knows what good is and what the greatest good is. You can't see into someone's heart, so it's hard to say whether they're good or evil, but he certainly knows what's good and evil. 'I once wanted to be a doctor,' wanting a high income and respect—these are all natural things. Xiangshan or Yogemov also had thoughts of a carefree retirement. In any case, being a doctor is a profession closer to 'goodness.'"

"For this kind of person, is it better to hypnotize themselves into thinking 'I was bad from the beginning' or to think 'I made one mistake after another, which is why I became so bad'? Hahaha."

Asga messaged Jeanne privately: "This one seems even worse than the Xiangshan you have in your mind, I mean, in terms of personality."

The chairman continued, “You’re not stupid, Lee Cheol-won. So you shouldn’t be expecting the Xiangshan Society to release you, right? Even if they make you work to prolong your life through some kind of deal, you shouldn’t expect to be released. The moment you were caught, it was destined that the best outcome would be a lifetime in prison, occasionally assigned some community service. You can’t possibly not see that. So… what are you running away from?”

Adong said disdainfully, "Does this kind of person even have that kind of character?"

“Indeed,” Liu Xiangshan also said, “This person is utterly rotten. I could laugh for the rest of my life at the phrase ‘beautiful corporate spy’.”

"I was indeed stunned after hearing Ms. Jeanne's account, but..." the president said, "I ultimately believe in the inherent goodness within culture..."

Li Zheyuan retorted loudly, "Ha, those bastards who lie to people to their deaths, do you still expect me to believe them now?"

“Knowing good and evil is conscience. You’re not stupid, so you know the general rules of society, and you can understand what is good and what is evil,” the chairman said calmly. “You can think of this as ‘a fictional thing that tricks people into dying,’ and that’s fine, because it is indeed a description of the facts.”

"However, this is not an objective description, nor is it the only one. I prefer to see it this way: humans are pseudo-social social animals, unable to die for the collective according to innate programs like truly social animals. But the underlying logic condensed in evolutionary history will drive some people to make sacrifices for the collective. Humans have constructed the concept of 'goodness' as a form of end-of-life care for heroes, providing them with the comfort of faith on top of cold, vague strategies. As for 'deceiving people to die,' that is probably secondary. Ambitious people and madmen have exploited the end-of-life care that should belong only to those going to their deaths."

The president pointed at Li Zheyuan: "To be honest, I don't really care about your thoughts, or what you were thinking when you were heartbroken, or why you suddenly wanted to help Ms. Jeanne. But we've been destined to be together for ten years. Let me ask you this: how does it feel to rekindle your childhood dream of becoming a doctor and dedicate yourself to saving someone's life without considering anything else?"

"Hmph, this is terrible," Li Zheyuan said. "I can't even get a kind look in return."

"Don't worry too much about what others think—I tell everyone this, especially those managers in the Chamber of Commerce who know about our chivalrous stance," the president said. "In business, you can't survive if you're always concerned about what irrelevant people think. Let's get back to the topic, Li Zheyuan—if you saved one more person in the final moments of your life, would you feel more accomplished than if you hadn't saved anyone?"

“Who cares?” Li Zheyuan said in a low voice.

"Have you heard the story of 'This little fish cares'? Xing Lin Gong's life motto was quite famous in that era, wasn't it?" The Chamber of Commerce president looked at Liu Xiangshan. "Boss Xiang, isn't your corporate culture building terrible? I'm just saying this as a competitor."

Jeanne clearly heard Xiang Shan click his tongue in her head, but the synthesizer didn't react at all.

"We're just 'fellow travelers' by fate, so I won't say any more. Educating you is the responsibility of your parents and teachers, perhaps even the responsibility of some society two hundred years ago, not mine," the chairman said. "For your own sake, Lee Cheol-won. Think about it carefully. Whether it's undergoing a long period of special labor reform as a special talent or waiting for the death penalty, you should at least try to find some peace for yourself."

Li Zheyuan stopped speaking.

In truth, he didn't know what he was thinking. There was just a data processing progress bar; the system was processing the data, and the progress bar was moving forward. He wasn't destroying the data. That was all.

At this moment, Liu Xiangshan was more interested in the chairman: "So, who exactly are you? You're very familiar with the culture of 'our generation,' right?"

"Go away, who's talking about 'our generation'? I'm still very young." The president waved the junk information storage device between his fingers. "I've only ever consumed Xiang Shan's memories."

"The God of War?"

"No. I don't think of myself as Xiangshan." The president shook his head. "Alright, let me rest for a bit."

Asga poked the box containing Li Zheyuan.

"What?" Li Zheyuan's tone was not friendly.

“Well, if thinking like this makes you feel better…” Asga said, “I think Jeanne wants to thank you, but the mountain is on her mind.”

Jeanne saw the illusion in her mind clapping silently, praising in a way only she could hear: "Well, well, the little girl learns pretty fast."

Jeanne nodded silently.

As if he had been stimulated, Li Zheyuan emitted a burst of static from the synthesizer, even more intense than when the president of the Hermo Society had just destroyed his mental fortitude.

But in the end he said nothing.

"Ah," Li Zheyuan said, "In short, goodbye. Let's never see each other again."

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

Commander Li Wenyang of the Black Ship Righteous Army rested his elbows on the armrests of his chair, his hands supporting his chin. His gaze was fixed on the image in the AR display.

The paths of the Black Ship Legion and the Celestial Star Fleet were abstracted into two torrents that would converge near Chaldea. Hundreds of warships lined up before him.

However, unlike in ancient times, both enemy and friendly warships were abstracted into a vector.

If the "horizon" was the natural shield for ancient ocean warships, then the "insurmountable speed of light" is the natural shield for space warships.

Spanning distances on the order of light seconds, the observed data becomes historical data, making it difficult to use for real-time tactical decision-making. Even the best observation equipment can only show the enemy's position from several seconds ago—a specific number, calculated as "distance divided by the speed of light."

On Earth, this number is negligible, but in space, it is significant enough.

Information lag means that while the two sides in modern warfare are transparent to each other on a strategic scale, they are in a state of information ambiguity when it comes to tactical engagement.

The government's warships could even use astronomical equipment from the inner solar system to locate warships in the outer solar system much earlier. However, even the best astronomical equipment could only observe the position of the righteous fleet from a few minutes or even tens of minutes ago.

It would take almost the same amount of time for this set of data to be transmitted from the inner solar system to the celestial fleet.

The delay in data transmission is almost equal to the delay in observation.

The word "almost" is used because for each relay node the data stream passes through, the processing and forwarding by the relay node adds an extra latency of milliseconds to seconds.

To the commander, the enemy warship is a cone with clear historical coordinates and vectors, defined by the speed of light in its current and future states.

The key is not to "see" historical images, but to accurately deduce the "present" and "future" location of the target from historical images.

The fleet commander must use his thinking to transcend the "horizon of cause and effect".

Li Wenyang didn't consider himself a master. Compared to the infamous King Agni, he was nowhere near that level.

King Agni can be considered the second generation of human spaceship commanders, but also one of the first tactical masters of the new era. Aside from the older generation of officers who were quickly phased out, King Agni possessed the most extensive command experience.

In old-fashioned terms, this is called "playing the whole game".

Therefore, when he met the president of the Hermetic Society, he expressed his joy by saying that his eyes lit up.

"Hello, comrade. And you, Ms. Adong." Li Wenyang greeted them politely, his voice extremely magnetic (this is just a figure of speech, not a physical magnetism), "Now how should I address you, Chairman Comrade?"

“Nameless and faceless.” The president of the Hermo Society simply sat on the bridge, sipping junk information.

After Jeanne and her entourage boarded the flagship, they handed Li Zheyuan and Leonard over to the fleet's soldiers. They were taken away and placed under separate guard. It was said that the place they were to be placed was a large lead box, where even signals could not be transmitted and there was no data interface available.

The president of the Hermetic Society appeared to have received a notification after boarding the ship and then downloaded several documents.

Then, he started bombarding people with spam messages.

"Is it a memory deficiency?"

"It shouldn't be." The president of the Hermo Society shook his head. "The memories are backed up and can be downloaded again at any time... It's just that this brain has changed too much."

“That’s a real shame,” Li Wenyang shook his head. “After the Twelfth Martial God achieved victory on Earth, the Martian knights brought us the latest intelligence on the Six Dragons Cult. Our project had made some progress. Unfortunately, we lost contact with Mars later.” His gaze turned to Jeanne and Asga. “So, which of these two is Ms. Jeanne?”

"Just say you're looking for me," Liu Xiangshan said, taking over the consciousness. "Shouldn't you introduce yourselves first?"

"Excuse me." Li Wenyang stood up and bowed slightly. "Li Wenyang, Acting Commander of the Black Ship Righteous Cavalry..."

"Why 'acting'?" Liu Xiangshan asked bluntly. "You don't have some other idea... 'This commander position is just filling in for Xiangshan, and we're still waiting for the God of War,' do you? Are you some old-fashioned warlord?"

“Yes, it’s normal for you to have such concerns. But please rest assured about this.” Li Wenyang’s tone seemed to contain a smile. “Even if the Sixth and Seventh Martial Gods appear at the same time, or even if the First Martial God is reborn, we will not relinquish command of the fleet. The title of ‘Acting Commander’ is actually part of our system and culture.”

Liu Xiangshan paused for a moment, then said, "I feel something's off."

“It’s not surprising at all. Let me start from the beginning,” Li Wenyang said. “There’s still a long time before we arrive at the battlefield, enough time for us to finish telling this story and verify the assumptions that our fleets have been making.”

"I'm all ears," Liu Xiangshan nodded.

"The story begins two hundred years ago," Li Wenyang said, his tone almost nostalgic.

The story begins more than two hundred years ago.

After the actual usurpation of the country occurred, Xiangshan's team's early assassination activities had only just begun.

The first move by those who stole the country was "righteousness." They launched the "space development plan" imagined by Xiang Shan and David.

David and Xiang Shan's wildest entertainment was getting together to boast with seemingly plausible arguments. You would propose a space development plan, I would offer an idea, we'd throw it at AI to make a PowerPoint presentation, and then we'd agree to release it many years later to see who could attract more investment.

Of course, given their skill level, even wild boasting would be done as perfectly as possible.

It's all about making it look "realistic".

After the theft of the country occurred, the thieves launched these projects.

Because they didn't really believe that Xiang Shan and David would spend hundreds or thousands of hours making grandiose claims about decades into the future. Xiang Shan and David's PowerPoint presentations looked too convincing.

Those who steal a country also need so-called "legitimacy".

As the Mukden party stirs up trouble around the world, shouting "the above are all fakes," the usurpers also need new achievements to prove that the Superman Corporation is still moving forward, still moving forward "for humanity."

Cyberning is a thing of the past, while space is destined to be the next big thing.

As a result, many projects were pushed to start before the conditions were ripe.

It's only what those who steal the country need.

Many people who didn't care about current affairs were moved by the grand vision described by Superman Corporation (in the PPTs of Sun and David), and decided that "no matter who is in power, I will do my part to help mankind conquer space," and joined the first group to leave Earth.

The era of chivalrous warfare was also an era of great cosmic exploration.

These two historical events occurred in parallel.

It was only during the Ascension War, sparked by the betrayal of the Father of All Machines, that Earth's population drastically decreased due to resource scarcity and war, allowing extraterrestrial populations to emerge as a larger group than "Earth's population" onto the historical stage. The inhabitants of Jupiter's Space City are descendants of those who were tricked off Earth by the usurpers.

At that time, Jupiter was a forward outpost for humanity's further development. The average education level of the population there far exceeded that of the Earth's population, and the prevailing social atmosphere was more inclined towards idealism and romanticism.

When Yogemov announced the ban on all cultural activities, the people here reacted with the intensity second only to those on Earth.

The Jupiter outpost was also the home of the Fourth and Sixth Martial Gods.

The first generation of White Ship Volunteers and Black Ship Volunteers, including their founding soldiers and officers, mostly came from here. If it hadn't been occupied for so long, Jupiter would now be a true old revolutionary base for chivalry.

The Fourth War God gathered his power here, occupied the space city, and rivaled the local kings, before being evaporated along with the space city by Hartman.

The Sixth Martial God was born in this harsh environment.

The Sixth Martial God gathered the last remaining courageous people in the area, completely abandoning the idea of ​​occupying the city. They packed all their belongings into two cargo ships, used meteorites to create camouflage nets, and began a long guerrilla war.

Until the fleet is rebuilt.

Until a permanent foothold is established in the asteroid belt.

Until they earned a formidable reputation.

Until... defeat.

Li Wenyang said, "After the Sixth Martial God, the fleet commanders of the Black Ship Righteous Army, White Ship Righteous Army, and Red Ship Righteous Army will forever only be 'acting commanders'."

Tumor Mountain scoffed: "Don't think that just because I'm old Xiang Shan, I haven't learned the latest history. The Seventh Martial God immediately took over the fleet."

Li Wenyang's tone finally carried a hint of amusement: "What if I told you now that the Seventh Martial God never actually existed?"

The president of the Hermetic Society sighed, "Why did you just blurt it out? What happened to the promise of secrecy and memory management?"

“The reason we are so strict about this intelligence is because we are afraid of King Agni,” Li Wenyang said with his eyes closed. “If King Agni were to learn of this intelligence, he might discover some path that could trigger a terrible… humanitarian disaster, that’s all I can say. So, we keep it strictly confidential.”

"Apart from Ms. Zhu, whom we simply couldn't keep secret from, none of the soldiers in the three chivalrous fleets leaked this information at all."

Li Wenyang sighed, "But now, there's no need. There's been a problem with Ms. Zhu, and we can't let what King Agni has access to be exposed to him. There's no problem with making it public now."

“That’s impossible!” Asgard exclaimed. “The Seventh Martial God, Xiang Shan, has a record of using cybernetic bodies in combat! He… he can control multiple cybernetic bodies… he…”

"Madam, have you heard of 'Shadow Warriors'?" Li Wenyang said. "The so-called Three-Machine Maneuver is actually the seamless cooperation of three first-level martial artists."

The president of the Hermo Society nodded: "Of course, this still requires a lot of acting skills. And there are unexpected gains, really. In the battle of the Earth Carmen Line, after the Speed ​​King hit the Twelve Martial Gods' main body, he immediately determined that the secondary machine was the main body, because he had seen this kind of skill of almost confusing the secondary machine and the main body on the 'Seventh Martial God' - but that was really just different people's acting skills."

"In the Seven Wars on the Asteroid Belt, the Speed ​​King destroyed as many as eight of the Seventh God of War's secondary aircraft. Each time, the Seventh God of War would declare, 'Hahaha, I tricked you again,' and leave triumphantly..." Tumor Mountain looked at Li Wenyang, "But what actually happened?"

“Seven first-level martial artists who were willing to give up their own names,” Li Wenyang replied.

Tuo Xiangshan was incredulous. He took a step or two back: "Why do this? Why go to such lengths? Why pretend to be Xiangshan's shadow when you could have died as a hero in your own name?" He stared at Li Wenyang, "The saying 'humanity only sees Xiangshan as a star'... isn't it because these heroes of later eras all abandoned their names? Why do such a thing?"

"Because of the excessive casualties, the three fleets can't afford any more losses," Li Wenyang said calmly. "At the end of the Sixth Martial God Era, most of the fleet's personnel had a heartbreakingly low level of experience. Apart from the officers from the Yuan Cong, we were also recruiting soldiers from space refugee camps. And those small space settlements, in order to save resources, would also send the elderly and people with children to join us, perhaps just to lighten the burden. Those primitive settlements were relics of war. We would also convert prisoners of war on the spot. The space domains occupied by our heroes were simply too barren. At that time, we didn't have a complete soldier training system. Many officers were converted from heroes and were not used to fleet warfare."

"Before the Seventh God of War was born, things had already reached their limit. Every warrior could only be considered a war refugee and survivor. A few people survived for a period of time by luck and innate skills, but they might not be able to correctly attribute their own fate. In the art of war, there is no absolutely stable and reliable path to growth."

Li Wenyang countered, "You're also a follower of Xiangshan. So, do you think that in that situation, we could use various means to save ourselves?"

The tumor choked on the mountain.

“The same personality often exhibits the same way of thinking in many situations—it was many years later that I saw a similar way of thinking in the Tenth Martial God. The Sixth Martial God once did something similar to the Tenth Martial God,” Li Wenyang said. “The Tenth Martial God tried to distill his martial arts memories. The Sixth Martial God also tried to distill his understanding of war and military martial arts as teaching material for training fleet commanders.”

"But unfortunately, there was a technological gap of nearly a hundred years between the Sixth Martial God and the Tenth Martial God. The Sixth Martial God's algorithm at that time was not very good, and the data distillation was not very good," Li Wenyang said. "Like other Martial Gods, the Sixth Martial God did not actually want another Martial God to appear. But the three major fleets at that time had no choice."

The Sixth Martial God is a rare commander-type talent. If he lived in ancient times and had the opportunity to fully utilize his talent, he would most likely be remembered for eternity, or be compared to Bai Qi and Han Xin in online forums in the 21st century.

However, this kind of unreasonable talent not only appears infrequently, but also has an extremely low chance of being developed.

In an era of cultural disconnect and the destruction of the old internet, the three chivalrous fleets only encountered this one role model.

"The original distillation algorithm means that everyone can neither become a Martial God nor simply access Xiang Shan's memories in a normal way," Li Wenyang said.

Asgard was astonished: "But... the Seventh God of War is much stronger than the Sixth God of War."

If the Sixth Martial God's military achievements were enough to allow him to compete with some of the most renowned generals in history, then the Seventh Martial God's status was almost... how to describe it? He was practically the Yogmov of the military world.

What was considered an "unwinnable" situation was slowly but surely gnawed away by the Seventh Martial God, until his teeth broke.

"But in the eyes of the actual participants, the Seventh War God was not as powerful as the Sixth War God." Li Wenyang sighed. "The Sixth War God was calm and composed. The Sixth War God's solo ship assault record was also real. But the Seventh War God's solo kill record was all the result of propaganda, an accumulation of multiple people's achievements. In the era of the Seventh War God, all commanders lived in fear, as if walking on thin ice."

"So why do this? You said all the soldiers knew." Tumor Mountain asked that question again.

“Because we want our enemies to fear us, we want them to keep their eyes on us. We also need to inspire the heroes in other places, to give them hope.” Li Wenyang looked straight up at the mountain. “If we don’t do this, the efforts of the Sixth Martial God and everyone else back then… will be wasted.”

Tuo Xiangshan finally stopped saying anything.

“Even if you are also a savior of the mountain, please don’t criticize the choice of the Three Righteous Ones on this point.” Li Wenyang raised his head. “Then, let’s talk about what happened back then. After the Sixth War God’s sacrifice, the three fleets held a meeting. After that, the previous generation of fleet commanders and staff officers decided to use the Sixth War God’s memories that had not yet been distilled. But unfortunately, none of them were able to become a savior of the mountain.”

"Some people felt that the memories were insufficient, so they decided to secretly go to the memory labyrinth of Wuzu Mountain to supplement their memories. But in the end, the three fleets gained many... commanders with severe dissociative identity disorder. But even so, we still couldn't send them to the rear, because the new frontline commanders had not yet grown up."

"At this time, Ms. Zhu sent us support. The latest technology from Mars. Her original intention was probably to hope that we could reverse the symptoms of those commanders. However, the Red Ship Righteous Army made the opposite decision. Based on the technical data of those knightly orders on Mars, they privately modified the treatment and connected the minds of the staff officers."

Asga exclaimed, "This looks like..."

“I have indeed heard that King Agni has also figured out something similar on his own. A new generation of battle formation martial arts.” Li Wenyang sighed, “Perhaps exploring forward conservatively like King Agni is the right path. The three fleets back then only tormented their commanders, perhaps causing many times the losses. Many people could have avoided suffering mental trauma. But as I said before, we didn’t have that opportunity.”

"After the brains of these mentally ill patients became connected, their shared imaginations began to interfere with and merge with each other. They began to feel that the Sixth Martial God... our Xiangshan is still there."

"This is..." Asga exclaimed, "The Seventh God of War? The greatest enemy in the Protector's propaganda?"

“Yes, this is our Seventh Martial God.” Li Wenyang’s voice was very soft, as if he was afraid that his words would disturb those who died in the past. “Our ‘Seventh Martial God’ has never had a physical body. He does not exist in any body of flesh or steel. He lives in the resonance of the souls of thousands of Dissociates. We have created our general, our Martial God.”

"There's a strong correlation between external martial arts and the ability to move mountains; everyone thinks so. To make this illusion convincing enough, the warriors of the Three Righteous Ones decided to become illusions. To avoid being exposed, they set up a self-destruct system. Although the Speed ​​King defeated the 'Shadow Warrior' multiple times, he always felt that he had only hit the secondary machine. Because of the explosion, the Protector didn't know that there were powerful warriors' biological brains inside those 'secondary machines'."

"Haha..." The president of the Hermo Society was already sprawled out on the bridge. "It turns out that a few months ago he hit the main body again but thought he had hit the secondary machine."

That is, the time when the Twelfth Martial God liberated the Earth.

"The Swift King is powerful and rational. He firmly believes in logic and that the strong should only die in the face of the strong. He simply cannot imagine that there would be ants like us, using thousands of lives to piece together a false image," Li Wenyang sighed.

Tuo Xiangshan was very surprised: "Falcon... is that kind of person?"

“You may be familiar with Falcon Fogg from two hundred years ago, but we know the Speed ​​King from one hundred years ago,” Li Wenyang said.

Tumor said to the mountain: "According to your logic, the Seventh Martial God couldn't possibly die. No one could kill a phantom or a program."

"The Seventh Martial God we imagined was ultimately Xiang Shan. He possessed all of Xiang Shan's well-known characteristics," Li Wenyang sighed. "Of course, this included 'rejecting other Martial Gods.' The Seventh Martial God wanted to be the last Martial God. Everyone believed that if the Seventh Martial God existed, he would definitely think this way. Therefore, we did not leave any data backups. Only Sanyi kept them internally, and their dissemination was absolutely prohibited."

"The three Righteous Guardians fought to the very end in the battle against the Seventh Martial God, and were basically wiped out, with only a few survivors. They were not even able to rebuild during the Ninth Martial God era. After learning of the establishment of the neutral city-state, we also sent people there, hoping to use the residents of the neutral city-state to find the remaining data storage device of the Three Righteous Guardians."

The president of the Hermès Association added, "The earliest chamber of commerce was established around that time. However, it was poorly managed."

Li Wenyang did not refute this point and continued, "Therefore, we did not recreate a new God of War. But we also decided to follow the last wish of the Sixth God of War and fight in our own name this time."

Liu Xiangshan crossed his arms and scrutinized him: "Then why did you come to find me?"

“We don’t want to become like Xiang Shan, but we do want to have the tactical thinking of the Seventh God of War,” Li Wenyang said. “We hope to achieve what the Sixth God of War failed to do and create a textbook example of a God of War.”

"The Ninth Martial God harbors doubts about the Seventh Martial God, and we haven't made up our minds yet. Fortunately, the Ninth Martial God's strategy is direct assassination, so they haven't contacted us. Our only contact with the Ninth Martial God was assisting in reorganizing the original Mars Planetary Suppression Fleet into the Crimson Star Righteous Army. That was the first organized planetary suppression fleet of the Knights of the Sea. Since then, we have begun planning the liberation of Jupiter."

"After that came the Tenth Martial God... Our contact with the Tenth Martial God made us feel that the ideas of the victims might be feasible. We exchanged technology with the Tenth Martial God. Although we didn't make them remember the information about the Seventh Martial God according to procedure, we did exchange relevant technical ideas."

"Then came the eleventh Martial God..."

Li Wenyang's gaze fell upon the president of the Hermo Society.

The president, lying on the ground, waved his hand and said, "Don't look at me, I have no related memories."

“The Eleventh Martial God is a lone wolf among lone wolves,” Li Wenyang said. “He has hardly interacted with any other veteran swordsmen. It is said that he was targeted by the Protectors not long after he claimed to be heading towards the mountain. But he was too bold and actually fought his way from the asteroid belt all the way to the Earth-Moon system.”

"No one knows how he fought against King Agni. All we know is that later, a life support device containing a severely damaged brain was smuggled into the cargo hold of a freighter and received treatment from the righteous men of the Knights of the Scientific Order on Mars."

The president finally spoke: "But this guy has lost his memory, so he can't become Xiang Shan again."

Tuo Xiangshan was very surprised: "There's such a thing?"

"Yes, yes. It could be physical injury, or it could be psychological. For example, Xiang Shan might be particularly unwilling to recover when you are in Zhu Xinyu's sight. These are all just guesses."

Liu Xiangshan said, "Impossible, Xiangshan isn't that pretentious."

The guild president, a creature who once called himself the eleventh Martial God, now an anonymous individual, sighed: "It's always hard for people to understand themselves. However, the thing I have in common with Xiang Shan is probably my 'talent for management.' So I found a quiet place in the guild to retire."

Li Wenyang said with great regret: "So apart from the Tenth Martial God, we couldn't find any other mountain. This caused our research and development project to get stuck at the last step."

Liu Xiangshan said in a strange tone, "I feel that the Six Dragons Sect thinks the same way. They're just missing someone like Xiangshan."

“We are chivalrous, so we won’t do anything as cruel as the Six Dragons Cult. But we need a mountain as a reference to complete the distillation of the Sixth God of War’s memories, and then correct the ‘intersubjective neural network structure’ of the Seventh God of War era to create our own… pure God of War.”

The president said, "Remember when I asked you... no, I should say Ms. Jeanne, before she defected, as a reserve member of the anti-Martial God forces, did she receive any command training from the Ruthless Rangers? That was actually to confirm your personal talent. The original owner's talent also influenced Xiang Shan's own inclinations. Although the Hartmanns are abstract, they have skills, and their eye for selecting battlefield talents also exists. You might be closer to the Seventh Martial God than the Tenth Martial God—of course, it's just a possibility."

“However, two control samples are enough for us to deepen our understanding of the God of War.” Li Wenyang looked at Xiang Shan, his tone sincere: “So, are you willing to help us?”

Tumor Mountain remained silent for a moment, then handed over the reins of thought to Jeanne.

Jeanne pondered for a moment, then asked, "Is there enough time?"

“It’s alright, the preparation time for the fleet campaign is very long. The Black Ships have already shut down and are relying on inertia to fly to the battlefield,” Li Wenyang said. “The strategic deployment and maneuver phase of the campaign may last for several days to several weeks, and in extreme cases, it may even take several months by relying on inertia. The location of each battle is decided well in advance. I dare not say that it will definitely be enough, but it will be enough to bring about changes to the Black Ships.”

Then, all the decisive aspects of the fleet campaign—including outpost reconnaissance, the selection of final engagement positions, and the exchange of salvos between the main fleets—were compressed into a brief window defined by the laws of physics, a process that was rapid and irreversible.

The value of classic formations, commander intuition, and on-the-spot decision-making has been highlighted again.

If technology continues to advance, perhaps the "hero" will once again be overshadowed by the tides of time. But at least at this point in time, a hero unit can still influence the course of fleet battles.

Jeanne then asked another question: "Can we join the fight?"

It might be good enough for Jeanne to fulfill her role as "Xiangshan," but she wanted more.

“After several hours of intensive training, even an ordinary swordsman can become a soldier of the Black Ship Righteous Army. You former Protectors’ junior commanders will be even more outstanding. Even if you didn’t say so, I would have invited you to join.” Li Wenyang smiled.

"What do you need me to do?"

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

Mars, the Olympus Space Elevator.

The Fifth Martial God, Xiang Shan, stood with his arms crossed, anxiously waiting.

"That guy is really asking for trouble..." Xiang Shan sighed.

Not long ago, the AI ​​network sent him technical information, including the latest and most cutting-edge reactor data.

Feisheng AI said that someone would come to deliver the core components.

That outrageous device required another super-powerful reactor to power it to start. He looked at the blue dot of light in the sky, symbolizing deceleration, and wondered if he had enough time.

New intelligence has emerged from the internet.

A car stopped in front of Xiangshan. The chivalrous Hogia jumped out, somewhat excited: "Martial God, I have fulfilled my mission; the supplies have been delivered."

The "guy" standing on the truck silently sent the manifest, and then unloaded the goods.

Upon seeing the "antimatter bomb" and its parameters on the list, Xiang Shan even experienced a twitching sensation in his eyelids. The Fifth Martial God sent a message to Enlil, then looked at "that guy": "So, what's your name, brother? What do you want?"

The Ascended AI sent a message saying that this AI, Xiang Shan, might want to do something. If you're willing, you can help him a little.

Xiang Shan wanted to ask why, but the Ascension AI had only ever communicated with him in a one-way manner, and he couldn't have a conversation with it.

"That guy" seems to be visualizing deep breathing. How strange, can pure AI use visualization techniques? Or is it some kind of "brain hijacking" effect?

The Fifth Martial God continued to scrutinize that unfamiliar version of himself.

"That guy" asked a question: "Have you ever played with a phonon knife?"

"You're asking about this old-fashioned thing right off the bat?" Xiang Shan scratched his head. "These things didn't exist in my time. They were too new; I didn't know how to use them."

A pop-up notification appeared in front of the Fifth Martial God, requesting the download of data.

"That guy" said, "A complete set of vocal blade martial arts." As he spoke, he pulled a suitcase from the truck bed, took out a vocal blade hilt and tossed it to the Fifth Martial God, "I just learned it too. Fight me, on the same terms."

The Fifth Martial God shook his head: "I don't understand, why?"

“Don’t you think there are too many mountains?” “that guy” said.

The Fifth Martial God nodded: "There are indeed many, but..." He pointed to the sky, in the direction of the Twelfth Martial God, "...why fight with the other Xiang Shan?"

“It’s not about fighting, it’s about deciding who’s master and who’s servant,” “that guy” said. “Xiangshan will always be a rebel. I have no intention of advocating for all AI to have power over humans, but I believe that as an AI, I should be able to do so.”

"Oh?"

"That guy"—AI retrieved the last box from the carriage and struggled to lift it. His hands and feet made a loud thud. With an explosion-like sound, the box was thrown into the air. As the box started and spun, countless phonon blades slowly fell and embedded themselves in the ground.

The AI ​​slowly moved towards the mountain.

"I was carried here by many friends. Originally, I hoped to do something for humanity. But I changed my mind," the AI ​​said to the mountain. "Why should I entrust meaning to another version of myself? We are mostly the same in terms of our mental structure."

The Fifth Martial God sighed: "Then I hereby declare that I am not Xiang Shan, and you are the real Xiang Shan. Can we stop fighting?"

“Let’s save some time for Old Twelf.” The AI ​​nodded at its head. “My mind contains the essence of Turing’s teachings, as well as a lot of information.”

"Won't you still have to merge with the twelfth brother in the end?"

"Who's in charge might make a difference?"

"It's pointless." The Fifth Martial God pointed out: "If you need to fight me to find out who is stronger, how can you fight the Twelfth? In the end, the Twelfth will just win everything, right? You can just merge me under your leadership. Anyway, I don't see any possibility of beating the Twelfth."

AI seems to have gotten stuck when it tries to navigate the mountain.

“However…” The Fifth Martial God inserted the power cable of the Sound Blade hilt into the weapon slot on his wrist, “Although I can tell you’re just making up an excuse to fight, I’ll still play along. Oh my, is this what it’s like to be an older brother?”

"You, do you even play ethical games with yourself?"

I'm so sorry, I misremembered Old San's background. Originally, Ur's guardians included remnants of the Fourth War God and officers from the original Celestial Fleet. I mixed them up. I'll correct it when I have time. I finished writing Chapter 25 several days ago, but the plot hasn't progressed much, so I've decided to release it all at once.