Chapter 331: Chapter 331

331: Chapter 111: Task Without Explanation 331: Chapter 111: Task Without Explanation Decades ago.

“…Just one more time, let a miracle happen… Please give me the power to retrieve the pages of memories lost in the past…” A cybernetically enhanced person hummed this obscure song while carving something at the corner of the corridor.

“A heart that believes it can penetrate the darkness… Searching for the place where the soul rests…”

“Cough cough…” A man beside him couldn’t help but interrupt, “What song is this?

The lyrics are rather ominous.”

Xiang Shan scratched his head, “Honestly, I don’t quite remember either, my memory isn’t exactly complete… but my wife is a nostalgia buff, I just passively remember it.”

“Ah, from my memories, she is definitely my wife,” Xiang Shan nodded confidently.

The man sighed, “Are you sure about this…

geez, if Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan was , how did he ever trigger a huge revolution in the Old Era?”

“Right time, right place, right people,” Xiang Shan responded.

“Seriously, leave me some illusions about the Old Era…”

“You’ll forget anyway,” Xiang Shan shrugged, “Besides, I am indeed constructing my own tomb, this is literally the ‘place where the soul rests.'”

“That sounds like you’re searching for a place to die.”

Xiang Shan tapped his forehead, “I remember…

the story corresponding to this song seems indeed to be like that.”

“That does sound like a tragedy,” the man shook his head.

“No, my intuition tells me it should be a story full of hope.

The dead rest, the living move forward,” Xiang Shan stood up from the rock wall, “Well, that’s about it, just two more spots to handle.

What about you, old pal?”

I made sure to erase the memories of my companions.

I’ve also fully suppressed the activity in the hippocampus.

Just need to delete the memory files, and no one will remember anything about this.

Everyone will remember that sections E3~E6 are a deserted area with ‘no mineral veins, just some ordinary traps.'”

Xiang Shan asked, “How’s your Inner Strength, buddy?

Can you manage such delicate operations?”

The man lowered his head, “Maybe there will be a strong impression left.

I might remember bits and pieces.

Of course, the enemies won’t be able to obtain any information based on such vague impressions.”

“With current technologies,” Xiang Shan emphasized, “you might get unnerved by inexplicable emotions, right?”

“No worries,” the man said.

Xiang Shan nodded and walked towards the upper paths.

The man suddenly spoke up, “Hey…”

“Is it really necessary to do this?”

“Xiang Shan has already died at least seven times.

What’s stopping him from dying an eighth time?” Xiang Shan said, “Better safe than sorry.”

“Then what about the other…

the other Martial Gods?

Did they also leave something behind?”

Xiang Shan shook his head, “Probably not.”

“Unspeakable, unspeakable,” Xiang Shan shook his head.

After a moment of hesitation, the man said, “I hope you win…

Not as one of the ‘Martial Gods,’ but as the ‘final victor.'”

“Hmm, the first time you call me Xiang Shan, that’s a good sign,” Xiang Shan nodded, “Every Xiang Shan hopes to be the victor.

Every defeat means a bit of progressive force is exhausted.

Nobody wants to lose.

But indeed, it’s not something one can decide themselves.

The only consolation is…

even if this current me dies, it probably won’t demoralize humanity’s resolve to resist.” Thɪs chapter is updated by ɴovelfire.net

“I can only say, I’ll do my best to win,” Xiang Shan gestured something with his hand, incomprehensible to the man—probably some Old Era cultural thing.

“Win,” the man didn’t follow Xiang Shan, but instead turned around.

His finger pressed on his forehead, he silently commanded himself, activating his Inner Strength to shatter the memory file.

He would soon forget about being here.

Xiang Shan continued walking forward.

Probably eighty years have passed.

The man had grown old.

The elderly man staggered forward.

A sense of guilt gnawed at his soul.

He had abandoned a fellow Jianghu comrade in his stronghold.

But he still very much wanted to live.

He didn’t know why, but he just wanted to keep living.

The elderly man actually had a vague idea about it.

It was probably a few years before the Eighth Martial God sacrificed himself.

During that period, many memories were unclear.

Not only that, but the records within the Burrowing Dragon Community were also vague.

While the historical information in these records appeared detailed on the surface, the elderly man, who had managed this community for decades, knew that there were too many “blanks”—only someone very familiar with the Burrowing Dragon Community could achieve such level of alteration.

Even every elderly person over a hundred years old exhibited this phenomenon.

The elderly man also secretly conducted an investigation within the community but could find no trace of any insider.

Moreover, the government hardly ever had any insiders in the Burrowing Dragon Community.

Any support base providing radioactive elements to the Heroes was identified and erased.

So, there was only one answer left.

He had done it himself.

He had deleted his own memory and altered the community’s historical records.

Upon realizing this, the old man stopped his actions.

He no longer conducted secretive investigations, nor did he continue searching.

Since it was his own choice to forget, it meant that “forgetting this matter” was itself very important.

Yet, there remained a faint impression in his heart.

It was about “something entrusted by a friend.”

Who that friend was, he couldn’t remember.

What was entrusted, he couldn’t remember.

Of course, of course, the old man had suspected Xiang Shan of the Eighth Martial God.

But there was no evidence to prove this.

In his memory, the Eighth Martial God was just a common Hero who had come to pre-order radioactive elements; their connection was mere brief exchanges of words.

It was even after the other’s sacrifice that he found out that the young Martial Artist, who often came to help him, was the seventh reincarnation of Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan.

Despite not knowing what the “mission” entailed.

“If there’s no need…” the old man murmured, “I really would like to hold out until the very end.”

The old man’s body emerged from the dark, narrow cave.

Then, he was stunned by the scene before him.

A data cable, wriggling forward like a centipede, was already moving right in front of him.

The part that resembled the head of a vacuum cleaner was already swinging.

The old man made a split-second decision and powerfully slammed his staff down.

No matter how much his Prosthetic Body shrank, it was still a humanoid body with various functions.

Entering too narrow a space could mean getting entangled by this kind of linear robot.

He didn’t dare to move forward until he had dealt with this robot.

This staff, though appearing delicate, was filled with nanometal particles inside; its center of gravity could be adjusted at will, just like a heavy War Hammer.

The old man immediately smashed the head of the data cable into junk.

The data cable shrank momentarily, then a stronger electric current transmitted from the other end.

It rose like a cobra in the space, and the portion behind it also formed some kind of topologically rational entangled shape, covering it like a net from heaven and earth.

The old man reached out with his staff, tapping it several times on the data cable like a Long Spear.

Each time, the data cable would suddenly coil like a reflex action.

After just a few taps, he had disrupted the data cable’s topological arrangement.

The old man pulled out a small knife and chopped it into more than ten pieces.

Then, he heard footsteps from afar.

The old man once again entered a narrow cave.

But within the darkness of the cave, there were other sounds that shouldn’t be there.

But these were insect-like.

The old man prayed that the drones weren’t carrying micro high explosives.

Those Mobile Cavalry didn’t care about the overall structure of the cave and used explosives to clear paths randomly; areas without cracks developed many.

Perhaps small explosives could collapse the cave.

Other sounds continued in the cave, those of comrades, some kind of cipher.

The Burrowing Dragon Community didn’t lay communication lines; firstly, resources were limited, and secondly to avoid giving enemies a lead wire to follow.

Yet in the sprawling tunnels, these sounds could travel very far.

But that was not good news.

Signals of “last stand” came from all directions.

The old man felt as though comrades were under attack everywhere.

The old man sighed again.

From those insect drones, it seemed he was being tracked down.

This time, the government’s Houndhawk really were fearsome.

Their Combat Power was high enough.

Apart from those who had already been moved, half of the remaining Burrowing Dragon Community escaping would be fortunate.

“Fortunately, the Smelter has already moved, and then those young administrators.” the old man sighed, “They will be lacking Martial Artists…

I hope there won’t be frictions with other Martial Artists.”

It was merely a question of where to die.

Was the choice to die with a certain comrade, to hand in hand go to Hell with an old friend?

Or was it to see the “matter” he was guarding through his amnesia?

If it was really as Scott said, that these people were here for the legacy of the Eighth Martial God, and if his forgotten mission was indeed “to protect the legacy of the Eighth Martial God,” then was it his responsibility to destroy that legacy at this time?

A strong will drove him.

The old man thought to himself.

A5, D9-P, E3~E6, G2, G3…

These areas were all potential locations for the “Eighth Martial God’s Legacy.”

These areas had been marked as “no valuable ore veins, low-threat traps.”

These areas were the least frequently visited by the Burrowing Dragon Community.

Perhaps being too focused on his thoughts, the old man overlooked a faint piece of troubling information amongst the cluttered intelligence.

“Reinforcement is coming!”