Chapter 323: Chapter 323

323: Chapter 103 Burrow Dragon 323: Chapter 103 Burrow Dragon In a pitch-dark underground cavern somewhere, a series of electromagnetic waves transmitted rapidly.

Shortly after, an indicator light blinked twice.

A short Cybernetically Enhanced Person stood up from the ground.

His body was coated with fragments of ore.

Coupled with his eccentric prosthetic body appearance, even a Martial Artist with twice-enhanced image recognition capabilities could possibly be deceived.

This diminutive Martial Artist quickly walked out first.

A few minutes later, he returned and made several hand signals towards a corner.

Then, he pulled someone into the depths of the cavern.

The newcomer was entirely wrapped in a gray robe, tall in stature, and had to stoop to walk inside the cavern.

He asked anxiously, “Brother, can you quickly let me meet your leader?

This matter is truly important…”

The small Martial Artist replied, “Please adhere to our procedures, Great Hero.

It is precisely these complex verifications that have allowed us to exist in this area for a long time.” Saying this, he puffed out his chest proudly, “Even King Aqini couldn’t eradicate us back in the day.”

This area, cut off from the external network, is truly an “intranet place.” Hence, even if one mentioned some sensitive terms from outside, it wouldn’t trigger any crawler.

However, if a person’s body is already infected with a monitoring Gu, data recorded might still be exposed upon returning outside.

But most Famed Heroes are not yet so compromised that they can’t control data uploads.

The Famed Hero sighed, visibly distressed.

The two continued downward, perhaps a few hundred meters.

The pathway gradually widened.

There were also numerous side roads, all supported by crudely refined metal frameworks.

The Famed Hero noticed special QR codes on several mining side roads, encoding some kind of covert message.

He didn’t understand their meaning.

The diminutive Martial Artist glanced at him and advised it was best not to record this on any hard drive.

—It must be markings, to prevent getting lost…

The Famed Hero thought to himself and decisively deleted the related memory.

Although “best not to” in the context of Famed Heroes meant “it wouldn’t matter much even if noted,” reducing the risk of their codes being deciphered was always beneficial.

Soon, the two arrived at a three-way intersection.

This three-way intersection appeared wider than usual.

A short Cybernetically Enhanced Person sat cross-legged in the middle of the road, holding a staff.

At the top of the staff hung a lantern, directly connected by a wire from his body, shining brightly.

The Cybernetically Enhanced Person’s head was of normal size, but his stature was short, giving him a somewhat cartoonish proportion.

Yet his “aura,” or rather, “the psychological state reflected by his actions,” was already that of an elderly individual.

The elder fixed his gaze on the Famed Hero.

“May I ask from whence the guest hails?

“I am called Scott, coming from Antarctica.

My introduction was through Burrow Dragon, the Chief Driller Wind.”

The elder showed some surprise, “Is it indeed Southern Heaven’s Single Blade, Scott, who has come here?

You’ve come here as well?

Is it to use radioactive elements to establish a Sect?”

Scott nodded, then shook his head, “No longer necessary.” The Famed Hero earnestly said, “I originally planned to establish a Sect under the ice layers of Antarctica.

I found what might be an abandoned warehouse from the Old Era beneath the ice…

But the comrades who were to establish the Sect with me have already been killed.”

The elder nodded, “I regret to hear that, Great Hero.

However, we do not retain isotopes.

For us Burrow Dragons, the only purpose of coarsely refining isotopes is to deliver them to those in the Jianghu.

We currently possess two portions of roughly refined metallic embryos, which after refining can barely reach the critical mass of a small fission reactor.

According to procedure, you should take one portion.”

This was an internal rule of the Burrow Dragons.

Whenever they accumulated a certain amount of rough metallic embryos, they would discreetly send out a message through their covert channel, allowing Famed Heroes who could pass the password verification to enter and take the embryos.

Typically, the Burrow Dragons would only send messages through familiar Famed Heroes, while the Famed Heroes would only receive information about the Burrow Dragons from trusted sources.

Thus, much of this information remained highly confidential and difficult to disseminate. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ N0velFire.ɴet

When Famed Heroes entered the territory of the Burrow Dragons, they also had to voluntarily suppress the activity of their hippocampus, and were required to delete memories after leaving.

After delivering their minerals, the Burrow Dragons would then lie low for a long period, slowly accumulating radioactive elements from poor uranium mines.

The Protectors, with their advanced exploration techniques and vast fleet of drones, had searched the whole Earth, and most rich mines had already been depleted.

If one couldn’t seize a reactor from upper echelon Protectors who already controlled one, then reliance on the Burrow Dragons was inevitable.

There weren’t many Famed Heroes on Earth capable of surpassing a major threshold.

At their worst, not a single Famed Hero on this planet possessed a reactor—King Aqini’s many years stationed on the Moon had borne some fruit.

The Hero’s logistics were inherently weaker than the Protector’s.

Unless his Inner Strength completely dominated, a Hero without a reactor would never win against a high-ranking officer with one.

As for hacking into the enemy’s logistical system to steal a reactor, one shouldn’t even think about it.

Though King Aqini had many responsibilities, he could still spare a thread of attention to safeguard the logistics chain of the reactors.

As long as the Burrow Dragon existed, Heroes who could surpass a major threshold would always be reborn.

Of course, there would be government Houndhawks disguised as Heroes seeking radioactive elements and others masqueraded as Burrow Dragons, releasing false information to lure Heroes into traps.

But as long as there were people still alive, the flames of resistance would always reignite.

“Radiation is the least of our concerns now, Old Senior,” the Hero shook his head.

“Our group originally had four members, each a skilled veteran.

Their Martial Arts were only slightly inferior to mine.

But since yesterday, they have been disappearing one after the other.

When I met with your guide, my last brother was standing less than twenty meters from me.

Then he disappeared too…

I just looked away for a moment, and he was gone!

I don’t even know what killed him!”

The old man was slightly moved.

To kill someone silently and without trace was not uncommon.

Cyber Martial Arts were originally Assassination Techniques; though they also carried out some “propaganda warfare,” the main focus was correct.

Avoiding sight, striking fatally with a single blow, silently removing Prosthetic Bodies or remotely hacking into them to trap the target were all feasible actions.

But according to Scott’s statements, his brothers were only slightly inferior to him.

To silently kill Heroes of this caliber…

the opponent was definitely not ordinary.

“Have you been targeted by an expert among the Houndhawks?”

Scott shook his head.

“The so-called ‘Southern Heaven Single Blade’ is just a face-saving title my friends in Jianghu give me; I know my own limits.

I haven’t exposed any weaknesses recently, not enough to attract such pursuit from the Houndhawks.”

They are coming for us.”

He shook his body, standing up.

Perhaps from sitting in meditation for a long time, his joints creaked stiffly with a rusted sound.

“Looks like we have to retreat,” the old man sighed as he surveyed the surroundings.

“I have been guarding here for a long time.”

The Hero was anxious.

“Old Senior, we need to hurry.

Those Houndhawks are very powerful…”

“Busy times lead to errors.

Even retreats need to be orderly,” the old man said.

“This tunnel is the least advantageous environment for the government to employ their techniques.

We already hold a significant geographical advantage.”

The underground mine was a special environment.

In this place, the utilization of large Prosthetic Bodies was restricted, firearms could easily trigger collapses, and explosives were absolutely forbidden.

Benchmark Men had already overcome the oxygen deficiency issues Natural Persons faced, and the Burrow Dragons collecting radioactive metals were never short of isotopic batteries.

Here, the government’s resource advantage was minimized as much as possible.

The old man issued several commands in succession.

The mine had metal veins, and the rock walls absorbed and reflected electromagnetic waves well, making electromagnetic radars and wireless communication compromised, but sound could travel far.

Of course, wired communication could be used, but that made it easy for enemies to trace the wires back to their source, so the Burrow Dragons only used this method in a few situations.

The old man gave commands in code.

Scott only heard the old man continually state numbers.

Moments later, small sounds echoed in the darkness.

The old man paused again, then said, “Six.”

A Cybernetically Enhanced Person emerged from the darkness.

“Great Grandfather gives you a deadly mission.

Are you willing to accept it?”

“To rescue Cai and Zhao Lin?” The person nodded.

“Those kids are from the Shallow Soil, but we absolutely cannot abandon them… no, rather we must not abandon them,” he said.

“The legs that Aunt Wu left behind are yours now.

Put them on, change to a matching External Armor, send a message to those two kids, and then make your escape.

If you still have your life, live on as a Hero.”

The young man shivered.

“As per the rules, I won’t tell you where we are going next,” the old man said.

“Go, make a name for yourself in Jianghu, and at least let us know you’re safe.”

The young man nodded and started running deeper into the cave.

“Elder, I could go instead, right?

When I retreat, I could…”

“No, Great Hero, your Martial Arts are much stronger than that kid’s.

That grandson does not have much talent; he might not reach your level.

If really assessed, your life holds slightly more value,” the elder spoke in an even tone.

“Prepare for the retreat.”