105: Chapter 25: Digging a Well 105: Chapter 25: Digging a Well Xiang Shan was awakened by the gentle patting on his cheek.

He rebooted his vision and found the little girl gently patting his face.

“Don’t be afraid… don’t be afraid…”

She said in a babyish voice.

For a second, she seemed to realize that Xiang Shan was “awake”—although the sleep and waking patterns of cybernetically enhanced people are not limited, she seemed to judge that he was in a “conscious” state based on subtle movements.

The little girl wanted to shrink back.

Xiang Shan’s hands went under the little girl’s armpits, lifting her up.

The little girl still had that trumpet-like mouth, her throat open.

Xiang Shan shook his head.

He had failed to find a proper surgical environment after all.

He looked at the little girl and said softly, “ba.”

The little girl didn’t understand.

“ba,” Xiang Shan repeated.

“ba…” The little girl mimicked.

“ba,” Xiang Shan nodded and repeated.

“ba… ba!” The little girl joyfully repeated the syllable as if it contained infinite fun.

“It seems that children do indeed learn these sounds most easily,” Xiang Shan sighed.

“Then how did you learn to say ‘don’t be afraid’?”

The little girl’s eyes widened, and then she laughed, “Don’t be afraid… don’t be afraid…”

“I wonder if I have any memories of childhood education from my past,” Xiang Shan sighed.

“You’re at the age when you should be learning to speak, aren’t you?”

The past still tangled with his consciousness like a dream talk.

He did not know when a certain memory would surface.

Was the dream just now triggered by this little girl?

Xiang Shan didn’t know.

He finally put the little girl down and stood up.

This was the interior of a “Mule’s” carriage.

Only now, the carriage seemed much emptier, no longer as crammed full as before.

Only a mainframe, a 3D printer, a small amount of materials, and some firearms remained.

The rest had been transferred to the “Mule.”

The “Mule” was the codename for Xiang Shan’s “Mobile Base Unit 2.” The “Mule’s” body was a chassis from the Excavator Group, a prosthesis in the form of a vehicle, with a built-in camouflage coating.

Only minor modifications were needed to turn it into a vehicle suitable for cargo transport.

Xiang Shan had prised off the Prosthetic Eye from the Big Bulldozer, collected some more Prosthetic Eyes, and then made a copy of the “Donkey’s” system.

In addition to that, a 3D printer dismantled from the Excavator Group was also installed on the “Mule.” It was not as good as the one on the “Donkey,” but it was much better than the two smaller ones in the Green Forest Stronghold.

Also, the temporarily unusable Sonicon Blade was simply kept on the “Mule.”

The “Donkey” and the “Mule” always maintained a distance of three to five kilometers and communicated via long-wave transmissions.

These low-frequency electromagnetic waves could not penetrate the ionosphere, making it difficult for satellites to detect any unusual electromagnetic signals in the area.

However, Xiang Shan only occasionally sent a few commands to that side, controlling the turns—of course, steering automatically.

The two vehicles would automatically plan their routes to ensure they kept a distance from each other.

At this range, it would be difficult for someone to wipe out the “Mule” and the “Donkey” in one fell swoop.

If there hadn’t been such a rush and lack of vehicles, Xiang Shan would even have liked to maintain a fleet of three to four.

Of course, there is no solution against a large-scale saturation bombardment.

There is nothing to say about that; a mass of resources is always the bane of a lone operator.

The strategic objectives of a Hero are nothing more than “decapitation” and “asymmetric resource depletion.”

Xiang Shan stood up.

Perhaps the memories from his dream reminded him of more physical habits from when he had a flesh body; he actually felt like stretching.

But such things were of no help to a prosthetic body.

He did not need to stretch his muscles.

“Soth Divine Realm…” Xiang Shan recalled the term.

Soth, the father of modern linguistics, had turned “linguistics” into a scientific study based on “symbols” and meaning through his efforts, separating it from “literature” and the fantasy of literati.

Although language scholars like Chomsky later developed the discipline to heights that Soth never touched, the system established by Soth was the foundation for everything.

Therefore, Ingrid defined “the mental world described by all of linguistics” as “Soth’s Divine Realm.”

And after the advent of “Inner Strength”…

No, that’s not right; it should be before the advent of “Inner Strength.”

The other neuroscience project he invested in involved implanting large-scale flexible electrode arrays into the brains of volunteer Benchmark Men with strong resistance to injury.

They observed their process of learning a second language, and with this research method, they pinpointed the physical form of “language functions” in their brains.

This part was first known as the “Soth area.”

And in order to acquire the ability to “code unconsciously,” the first Internal Strength Masters began with these neural structures.

They undertook targeted training on themselves, allowing the “Soth area” of the neural networks, under the influence of viruses and enzymes, to specialize and obtain functions unimaginable to ancient humans.

In the end, the neural networks in the “Soth Divine Realm” continued to strengthen connections with other functional zones and established many more new connections.

Amidst the brain changes induced by metal-based genetic modifications, they formed a comprehensive structure known as the “Soth Divine Realm.”

The deeper the mastery of Internal Strength, the larger the proportion of the brain incorporated into the “Soth Divine Realm.”

This is not to say that the neural networks merged into the “Soth Divine Realm” could only carry out the workings of Inner Strength.

That’s not the case.

Different parts of the brain play different roles in various mental activities.

It’s like how “processing visual signals utilizes most of the brain”—it’s not that this majority of the brain processes only visual signals, but that “when handling visual signals,” that many neurons are involved in the task.

Many neurons also perform different tasks simultaneously.

However, because “language” and “thought” are related, the development of the “Soth Divine Realm” leads to an “upgrade” of thinking.

Not everyone can endure the pain that comes from within.

This is also known as the “Inner Demon Tribulation.”

Remembering this, Xiang Shan felt his Inner Strength had slightly recovered.

He remembered how to “use” more functions of the brain consciously.

“Speaking of which…

to keep the style consistent, didn’t I suggest calling the ‘Soth Divine Realm’ the ‘Mud Pill Palace’ before…

And then Inga wouldn’t budge on this at all.

What kind of adolescent spirit is this, we’ve already agreed to call the enzyme for reversing neurons ‘Restoring.'”

—No, that’s not right…

When we were jokingly setting these names during the chat, there weren’t just two of us…

not just three either…

—Who else was there…

Xiang Shan once again felt a BUG in the “touch” of his Prosthetic Eye—he now understood that this was the feeling of “wanting to cry.”

Suddenly, the “Mule” stopped.

Then, the vehicle door opened, and Yuki flipped in from the roof: “Master, we’ve arrived.”

“Hmm, good,” Xiang Shan nodded and glanced outside.

His electronic Sextant embedded in his prosthetic eye instantly compared the starry sky.

“Yes, now’s good…

We can wipe out ‘Wild Myth’ now—by the way, what kind of lame stronghold name is that?

A gaming guild?”

Yuki hesitated a bit: “Master, is this…

maybe too hasty?”

“Ha, my disciple, weren’t you in a hurry to eliminate Green Forest just the other day, thinking that the longer they lived, the more likely they are to harm lives?

Why are you advising me to take a break now?”

“Didn’t you say it before?

We have only one miserable life to live, so we should cherish it…”

“We are in full readiness now,” Xiang Shan shook his head.

“Didn’t you see?

Our Great Stockade run by the Excavator Group is full of electricity, and the worn parts have been mostly replaced.

Plus, we have enough firearm reserves on hand.

Isn’t this full readiness?

What’s stopping us from striking?”

The Excavator Group was much weaker than the Z Organization, so the area under their control was also much smaller than that of the Z Organization.

Xiang Shan and the others set off during the night and surprisingly arrived at the “Wild Myth” area by dawn.

“Wild Myth” and Excavator Group tended to form a “Strategic Alliance.” As “Chain Missile” Gleayard’s Martial Arts improved markedly and his forces grew over recent years, he gradually showed signs of uniting the surrounding Green Forest.

Therefore, small Green Forest Strongholds like the Excavator Group and Wild Myth had to band together as well.

Whether to combat the onslaught of “Chain Missile” or to secure a better position after joining the Z Organization, they had to do so.

The people in the Excavator Group generally knew the location of the Wild Myth Great Stockade.

“It should be around here,” Xiang Shan stepped on the ground but felt nothing unusual.

“Let’s start digging downwards, start with about ten meters.” Xiang Shan pulled out an industrial crusher from the Excavator Group’s vehicle and a newly 3D-printed alloy spade: “For the soil layer, use the spade, and for rocks, use the crusher.

Also, there’s rope.

If needed, I can take a moment to print a metal container for moving the soil.

The ‘Mule’s’ wheels could be used as pulleys too…

Well, that should be it for now.”

An experienced Natural Person laborer, using primitive tools, could dig down three or four meters in a day.

Though Yuki wasn’t entirely a Cybernetically Enhanced Person, he had the Martial Artist Prosthesis for limbs, and Benchmark Man strength was greater than that of a Natural Person.

Digging down ten meters in a day wasn’t too difficult for him.

Most organizations’ strongholds were about ten meters underground.

After all, few strongholds truly believed that the soil layer could withstand a government bombardment—let alone withstand space-based kinetic garbage with such a thickness.

Rather than that, once a stronghold was exposed to the government’s eyes, it was mostly doomed.

Thus, the depth of old wartime bomb shelters was about right.

Yuki nodded: “Master, why is there only one set of tools?”

“Of course, I have to print a set of necessary equipment up here!” Xiang Shan shrugged: “As my memories return, I remember more and more engineering products, and I can prepare more and more things.”

Yuki sighed, took up the spade, grabbed the crusher, jumped down from the vehicle, and crawled under it.

Xiang Shan started up the 3D printer.