Chapter 321: Chapter 321

321: Chapter 101: Subtext 321: Chapter 101: Subtext “Get over now, get over pain, get over mind, Jump up Geed!

Xiang Shan had once tried his best to encode memories of “events and experiences” and write them onto a hard drive, keeping purely academic memories in his mind.

He would remember “the fact that the entropy of an irreversible thermodynamic process is always greater than zero,” but he wouldn’t recall where he had learned this or who had taught it to him.

However, back then technology couldn’t precisely differentiate and sever memories “like a surgical operation.”

In order not to damage important “knowledge,” Xiang Shan’s mind still retained a few fragments.

These fragments, along with the things associated with the knowledge, became a sort of special “interface” that could be used to validate those uploaded memories.

He remembered this song.

He didn’t know what song it was, nor did he remember when or where he had seen or heard it.

But some fragments were gradually awakened.

— Remembering childhood, huh?

Any problem with that?

— This isn’t my childhood!

Have you lost your childlike innocence already?

— Being a grade-skipping student, I was about to graduate from junior high at the time…

It’s really embarrassing to talk about watching Ultraman…

your Jinling accent with Japanese-English is really awkward.

— That’s the flavor of my childhood!

— It’s even harder to get used to after spending a lot of time with Inga and Kanhara.

You do know how to speak proper English…

You’re praising another woman in front of me!

You dead straight man!

Eat my Cross Impact Wave!

Xiang Shan reached behind him and supported himself on some device.

In his memory, he should have been overwhelmed, his head hitting the sofa, and then…

It was a very joyful memory, nonetheless.

That emotion, like little bits of real gold, filled the void in his spirit.

But apart from these small fragments, Xiang Shan didn’t remember anything else.

He even had to extract the image of “Zhu Xinyu” from those memories of the Six Dragons Sect to complete the figure of the person in front of him in his mind.

The girl who pretended to be very angry just to have physical contact…

The girl with both hands on his neck, her face close to his…

Xiang Shan was engulfed by a vast sense of loneliness.

Yuki and Borshu almost simultaneously noticed something off about the person next to them.

Yuki quickly stepped back, positioning himself behind his master, away from Borshu.

He knew this guy was completely untrustworthy.

Borshu’s hands started to tremble.

It seemed he was struggling with some thoughts.

“No, this Hero is terrifying.

There’s nothing here that could expose any weaknesses.

He might just be pretending.

I shouldn’t make a move rashly…

I shouldn’t make a move rashly…

This is the Scientific Knight Order’s territory; there’s no escape if I’m exposed…”

He whispered emphatically to himself, his right arm lifting and then lowering, and then lifting again.

But his forearm was immediately seized.

Xiang Shan looked at him, his tone half-mocking, “What are you thinking about?”

Borshu sighed, slightly annoyed, “Human nature can’t withstand temptation.”

In that moment, Xiang Shan too broke out in a virtual cold sweat — just simulating the sensation signals of a cold sweat.

Indeed, he hadn’t expected the song to shake his spirit so profoundly.

It seemed connected to many joyful, wonderful memories.

The heart, lacking those memories, desperately called forth whatever it could.

He had indeed lost his composure just now.

Although he could still have fought back if Borshu attacked him, he couldn’t ensure the safety of Yuki, the girl there, and Doctor Hu under those circumstances.

The reason this song survived into future generations…

Xiang Shan pressed his temples.

The reason seemed simple enough.

“Turing” used to hum this song, so even though most of the Old Era songs were forgotten, this song was preserved to the present.

Was it a coincidence that the doctor was humming this song?

With no change in his expression, Xiang Shan expanded the focus ring of his Prosthetic Eye, broadening his view.

He noticed, a camera in the room seemed to have inadvertently shifted towards him.

— Was this camera at this angle just now?

This room had many cameras set up to record or live stream surgeries.

For apprentices, observing surgeries was an opportunity to improve themselves.

However, since Doctor Hu was performing a minor surgery, he did not start a live broadcast—after all, medical skills targeting the physical body were utterly useless in the Protector camp, and probably not many apprentices were eager to research it.

Before entering the room, Xiang Shan had scanned the surroundings with a glance.

Years of being a Hero had made him extremely sensitive to cameras.

Although the “avoid surveillance” instinct had been dulled by the Restoring Enzyme, upon realizing this, he had re-strengthened it through VR technology coupled with meditation.

He realized that someone had just glanced at him through this camera.

And the current controller of this camera…

“Hmm?” The person did not look up, seemingly putting all his focus on the surgery.

But he had stopped humming.

——This guy definitely noticed my reaction just now…

Well, waiting here for me…

Is this a problem left by that guy?

Xiang Shan looked at Doctor Hu and asked, “Doctor, do you have any relationship with the Eighth Martial God?”

Doctor Hu stopped his movements.

A few seconds later, some mechanical arms continued suturing the wound.

But two mechanical arms, whose tips were surgical scalpels, silently moved up, positioning themselves on either side of the girl’s forehead.

This was clearly not a standard surgical procedure.

Doctor Hu said, “Ah, this patient might need to have more devices implanted…”

This was blatantly a threat.

It was as if the actions of Xiang Shan and his companions displeased him, and those scalpels would kill the girl.

Borshu trembled, almost rushing forward in anger.

But Xiang Shan moved first, grabbing his shoulder.

Borshu had just lifted a foot when his balance was disrupted.

At the same time, Xiang Shan’s Inner Strength stripped him of control over parts of his Prosthetic Body.

Xiang Shan pinned him against the wall with one hand and then said, “That doesn’t match what you just said.

‘Do not commit harmful acts, do not take or use harmful medicine’, I thought that was a basic procedure?”

“This is just self-preservation,” Doctor Hu said calmly.

“Everyone who mentions the Eighth Martial God to me brings me unpleasant memories.

Many of them are people I cannot confront in terms of Martial Power.

This is just a necessary protective measure.

If I don’t do even this, I wouldn’t have survived till today.” ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ novel※fire.net

I’m going to kill you!” Borshu roared, “If you dare touch her!

——Something’s not right…

Xiang Shan held onto Borshu, retreating while thinking.

Doctor Hu did not have a strong intent to kill.

He did not show any signs of fear.

The operation of the surgical arms was not affected in the slightest.

He was calm, and he did not seem to believe I would truly erupt into violence.

Moreover, there were no signals going out.

Did he realize that he was inferior in Inner Strength to me, or did he feel that self-help was unnecessary?

——Was the doctor using this method to send a signal?

——Was he telling me that he indeed had a connection with the Eighth Martial God and had suffered because of something related to the Eighth Martial God?

By the time he had backed up to the wall, Xiang Shan had already dug out the log files for null Hall.

These files showed that Doctor Hu hadn’t clocked in here for the past few days.

Originally, this particular log didn’t alert Xiang Shan.

Having been a big boss himself, he understood that the leaders of laboratories didn’t need to come in every day; they just needed to provide ideas and inspiration at critical moments.

It was normal for Doctor Hu to have his own projects elsewhere, being a minor boss himself.

However, after searching through Doctor Hu’s logs from the past six months, Xiang Shan found that this man had come here every single day for the last six months.

Furthermore, the log files for the past few days showed that the management of null Hall had descended into chaos.

This indicated that Doctor Hu hadn’t made proper arrangements before leaving.

This was not the behavior of a responsible person.

He had disappeared suddenly.

And he had been kidnapped by those searching for information on the Eighth Martial God.

So, who could be searching for information on the Eighth Martial God in the past few days?

Perhaps there were others a few days ago.

But even if those Treasure Hunters truly existed, they would certainly have been taken apart by King Aqini’s subordinates.

Borshu had gone far to Domingo City to look for clues; they had even sent a squad to eliminate him.

If there were others in Delacruz City looking for this information, they would certainly have been dealt with as well.

The disappearance of Doctor Hu these past few days, then, was a result of being kidnapped by them…

——He hadn’t been killed outright?

Was it because this man was an Official Knight, so it wasn’t good to kill him directly?

With this, the doctor’s strange behavior all made sense.

He might have surveillance on him, so he couldn’t pass information in a normal way.

King Aqini, being a master of Inner Strength skilled in monitoring, having subordinates adept at this was only natural.

So, the sequence of Doctor Hu’s actions was his answer to the question, “Do you have any relationship with the Eighth Martial God?”

Xiang Shan cautiously said, “I have no interest in this so-called ‘legacy of the Eighth Martial God.’ Doctor, this girl no longer needs further surgery, so to avoid any accidents, please move the scalpel away.”

Doctor Hu moved away the scalpel, saying indifferently, “I’m well aware of your tricks.

Don’t think about playing any clever games.

As long as you do nothing, like now, we are merely a doctor and patient, with family members.

But if you step out of line…

heh heh, making a move now, you probably don’t know what kind of enemies you’d attract.”

This statement was laden with irony.

If King Aqini’s subordinates heard it, they probably would think he felt “now he can protect himself under King Aqini’s command” and find it ironic.

But Xiang Shan had understood the message.

He already knew how to find those people.