103: Chapter 23 Traditional Hero 103: Chapter 23 Traditional Hero “This is an execution…” Zhang Xianchong sighed, “What he seeks is not simply ‘to kill the enemy’…”

“What is the benefit of this?” Carolina asked, quite puzzled, “Apart from ‘killing’ the enemy, are there other ways to deal with them?

Torture?

What’s the benefit in that?”

“Indeed, no punishment is greater than death, and no crime can’t be compensated by death, because extinguishing a consciousness, severing its subjective consciousness from all potential influences on the world, is the greatest punishment,” Zhang Xianchong, looking at the hoisted corner of the “Big Bulldozer,” nodded, “That’s what the Martial Ancestor once said.

Therefore, Heroes do not tend to ‘torture the enemy.’ In most cases, it is not a necessary process.

Killing those they identify as oppressors and exploiters is sufficient.”

“However, the Martial Ancestor also said, ‘to amplify righteous cause with a loud voice’…”

Carolina asked softly, “What does that mean?”

“Heroes never deign to hide their views and intentions.

If they kill someone, they want the whole world to notice—they wish everyone to know the reasons why that person was killed, and what purpose the killer had.”

Zhang Xianchong’s spirit seemed to drift to another time and space, communicating with some great personage.

He murmured, “In situations ‘not involving the innocent,’ Heroes always hope that the larger and more attention-grabbing their actions are, the better.

They choose to complete assassinations under the public’s watchful eye, singing songs, pursuing their enemies to the accompaniment of various old tunes.”

“In ancient legends, the Tyrants before the Sublimated Wars were always terrified of songs suddenly drifting out of the darkness—it signified the Martial Ancestor was approaching, signifying the strongest Assassin was drawing near!”

“Cough cough, this actually became a custom in an era where information flowed freely,” said Miss Deborah, interrupting, “It is said that there was once a primeval pastoral period on the internet.

At that time, most of the codes on the network were harmless, everyone was helping and supporting each other.

People relied on this common idea to learn from each other, to enhance each other.”

Old Hammer was quite nostalgic, “If only such legends were true.”

To join a Martial Arts School or dojo, one needed to gather certain resources or obtain recommendations from certain contacts.

After that, one must contribute further to the Martial Arts School to receive martial arts resources.

To obtain “All Transmission” credentialing, one needs to go through rigorous tests.

Within sects, the accumulation of experience is strictly guarded, not daring to share with others.

One is the fear of exposing one’s weaknesses, leading to defeat in the competitions; the other is the fear of being calculated by Heroes.

The kind of internet legend Miss spoke about…

he truly hoped it was real.

“It did exist,” Zhang Xianchong could not help but show a trace of nostalgia.

Although he no longer wanted to believe that “chivalry” was truly effective, the camaraderie connected by magnetic chains within the Sect was absolutely real.

He never doubted this.

“In such an era, the death of a Tyrant could easily spread widely on a decentralized network,” Deborah said, “So, the Martial Ancestor hoped to propagate his philosophy in this way, aiming to eradicate the spiritual world’s Undead, making the Tyrants tremble before Heroes.”

“After all, his internal strength was already enough to overpower the locking mechanisms of most electronic devices.

And making his presence known through means audible to human ears would only serve to ‘demoralize his enemies’,” said Carolina.

This utterance changed the atmosphere around.

Zhang Xianchong turned his head.

Whether it was an illusion or not, Carolina thought she saw his prosthetic eye flash with the infrared light that signifies “targeting,” and Old Hammer’s physical movements also displayed some dangerous signals.

Deborah sternly said, “You cannot speak of this outside, understand?”

Carolina felt a wave of fear, “Miss…”

“How dare you desecrate the name of the Martial Ancestor?” Deborah said, “He was the source of the turmoil, but also our spiritual forebear.

He was one of the founders of the prosthetic bodies, as well as the Great Knight Commander of that era, the greatest leader of the Scientific Knights, the designer of basic martial arts, a pioneer of our world—not to mention, within the Scientific Knights there are still groups that bear his name.

Even though a handful who claim to be his spiritual successors cause disturbances, this should not affect his greatness.”

“If this statement were to be heard by others, you could be at some risk in terms of your position, understand?”

Carolina whispered, “I understand…”

Zhang Xianchong returned his attention to that massive prosthetic body.

Frankly speaking, it was quite an impressive prosthetic body.

The thick external armor was strong and powerful, and the bulldozer blade in front was sharp enough to swiftly build cover on flat ground or quickly reshape the terrain to ensure its own speed of advance.

The nickname “Big Bulldozer” was well deserved.

But now the prosthetic body was as good as junk.

He said softly, “Look at this guy’s external armor…

It’s already badly damaged, all caused by firearm attacks.

These are probably the deeds of the Excavator Group members.

That Hero known as ‘Mountain’ was likely continuously moving on this person’s body.

He created fear, forcing those members to constantly fire their weapons at him, bathing the Big Bulldozer in his own barrage of fire.”

“Then, using this person’s prosthetic body as cover, he continued moving, dodging those attacks, while hijacking Big Bulldozer’s weapon system, turning it to kill the entire Excavator Group…”

“During this process, these enemies were always in a state of fear…”

“The primal ‘blood for blood, tooth for tooth.’ Martial Ancestor believed that if there was no order that truly allowed all villains an equal retribution, then this was the only way to ensure fairness,”

Old Hammer stepped back a few steps and said, “So that’s it…

When he charged in, he must have randomly grabbed a firearm that did not require authentication, then climbed onto Big Bulldozer’s shoulder, and started shooting at his shoulder.

Big Bulldozer tried to throw him off with Inch Energy, so he just backed off…”

This External Martial Artist, while gesturing, continued, “What happened next made Big Bulldozer realize that there was a overwhelming gap between his external strength and that of his opponent, so he employed ‘Turbine Combat Technique,’ and then commanded his subordinates to prepare a firepower position, trying to overwhelm this martial artist with the crowd’s power.

Then, he controlled these chains to attack ‘Big Bulldozer’—next happened just as the lady and Zhang had speculated.”

Zhang Xianchong nodded.

“To ensure accuracy, let’s review what happened before,” Deborah said.

“Bold assumptions, careful verification” is a mandatory quality for a Scientific Knight.

“Bring out ‘my elder martial sister’.”

Carolina again put down the box she was carrying on her back.

She took out something resembling a briefcase.

The box was not big, measuring only about thirty centimeters in length and width.

She opened the box, and inside was a person…

Or perhaps no longer a person.

This entity had only a head and shoulders, with entirely silicone simulated skin, no skull, and the brain-machine interface exposed.

This was a woman.

This woman was a Sect member at the Jianghu gathering, undercover by Deborah, Deborah’s “elder martial sister.” When the Lord charged into that Sect gathering, this woman was terminated.

Although her biological brain was not completely dead, her overall integrity was irreversibly damaged, with almost all higher functions lost, completely devoid of personality.

But miraculously, this Internal Strength Master’s “Soth Divine Realm”—a brain neural network structure specialized through internal strength training based on linguistic functions—was remarkably preserved.

Following the principle of “no waste,” Deborah’s Knight Instructor initiated several research projects based on this brain, as required by the “Project Mona.”

Scientific Knights still adhere to faith and virtue.

They would not kill for research materials.

However, the oath of “Embracing Poverty” also ensured they never wasted any materials or opportunities.

This woman had lost all higher brain functions, her personality had vanished, and from a ethical and philosophical perspective, she was “dead.” They were merely using her body to conduct experiments—just like centuries ago, when ancient Scientific Knights were combating the fictitious organizations called “gods” by stealing dead bodies.

Deborah gently stroked the woman’s face.

She knew that her “sister” had once wondered what it would feel like to live as a Natural Person, so she had equipped her sister’s body with such a vessel.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xianchong found several heads and removed their chips and memory devices.

Memories constructed by a biological brain are difficult to extract with a mere computer.

However, these chips and memory devices contained various Gu Poisons, which they were afraid to access themselves.

But this brain, having lost advanced functions while retaining some linguistic abilities, was quite suitable for this task.

Zhang Xianchong then placed the chips onto the exposed brain-machine interface.

Then, on that silicone face, a frightened plea suddenly appeared: “Ah…ah…no…no…this guy…so terrifying…why is he still singing!

Kill him!

Kill him!”

The cries were piercing!

Zhang Xianchong instantly disconnected the chip, then looked at Deborah.

“‘Loudly proclaiming high virtues’…” Deborah’s advanced voice pack aptly expressed her excitement, “Just like what Mr.

Welfare Officer said, the Ancestor Guidance!”

“A person converses with ancestors through customs…

their external actions are a profile of their inner self.

Language and actions are the essence of thought…”

Deborah softly said, “There’s no mistake, absolutely no mistake.

This is a rare traditional Hero.”