Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 101 - 101 84 It's Time for the Mighty Witch to Return

101: Chapter 84 It’s Time for the Mighty Witch to Return 101: Chapter 84 It’s Time for the Mighty Witch to Return Matteo was chopped in half, his upper body rolling to the ground, his lower half collapsing similarly like a puppet whose strings had been cut, scattering across the ground like a puddle of humanoid electronic waste.

As the body was severed, the main electronic components and circuits were cut off, making the power supply plummet dramatically, until finally the electric arcs flickered a few times, and the machinery completely shut down.

“Clean up the scene,” Xu Yang instructed, “Collect anything useful, load it all up and haul it away.”

“Let’s get to work,” Asa Katsuragi called out to Kong Tai, who nodded and followed, pondering his new fate.

Watching Matteo be shattered in an instant inevitably filled him with a flicker of fear; a slight mishap could result in his own explosive death like the others.

A single life wishing to achieve immortality or a similar form of undying existence had two options: either digitize their consciousness and upload it to servers or create a myriad of frozen clones, awakening a new one upon the death of the previous, a process known as the Phoenix Program.

To 101, Matteo’s death left her feeling numb and somewhat mournful, knowing that her next master wouldn’t be any better than the last, just different in the way they would exploit her.

She looked at Xu Yang with complexities stirring in her heart.

Meeting her gaze, Xu Yang too saw 101’s true face under her mask for the first time.

She and 102 both had delicate, youthful features, fair and tender skin, deep blue eyes, and light brown hair, like two little goblins wary of the outside world while under the shade of trees, adorable enough to evoke pity, except one would just gaze at you and then run away, while the other would punch you.

“That son of a bitch is finally dead!” 102 strutted around the remains of Matteo.

Black Fire Innovation treated witches much like the other mega-corporations did: control, enslave, and dominate, with even harsher measures than those applied to ordinary people.

“It should be familiar with a kind of punishment,” Xu Yang picked up Matteo’s head, “Erasing the intelligence and emotions, creating a personality matrix devoid of free will.

For humans, it means removing the brain; for a synthetic human, it means removing the consciousness chip and modifying it, leaving no part that can act independently.”

Lila entered the factory with Cassandro Comet on her back and when she saw the remains of Matteo, she scanned them subconsciously.

“Operational capabilities lost,” Lila determined, “Many data chips archives recoverable.”

“The advanced toys of Black Fire have fallen into our hands, they are of great value,” Xu Yang said as he personally recovered Matteo, then turned to 101 and 102, “What about you two?

Any plans?

Black Fire Innovation remnants are being sought after everywhere, and you know what kind of reputation your company has globally, other corporations will flay you alive.”

“Of course, we’re done with Black Fire,” 102 said with disdain, “after all, we’re just experimental products.”

“Are you really called 101 and 102?” Xu Yang questioned out of curiosity.

“We were manufactured,” said 101, “Unit 101 and unit 102.”

“Do you want new names?

Numbers are not very distinctive and can be easily confused,” Xu Yang inquired about their intentions.

“That would be great,” 101 said, “We never wanted to be remembered in the first place.” And they never intended to be born into this world to begin with.

“However, how could witches possibly be manufactured?” Xu Yang felt a hint of skepticism.

“The technology that created us is called ‘Phantom Light’,” 101 looked up towards the sky, “Witches have an unrealistic pursuit of the sky and stars because our powers come from beyond the ground.

Black Fire Innovation utilized this trait to create artificial lives with witch characteristics.”

“You mean…”

“The Galaxy cast their power into the children, thus creating new witches,” 101 said softly, “Now, Black Fire has the ability to create children with such potential; the Galaxy doesn’t distinguish between artificial and natural, still endowing them with power.

We were made following this concept; ‘Children of Phantom Light’.”

“And they can be duplicated,” Xu Yang recalled something Matteo had said.

“By decrypting the human genome, Black Fire Innovation locked onto a series of gene codes that help infants become blessed as witches and deliberately created these ‘Children of Phantom Light,’ who have a high probability of becoming witches.

For those of us who were produced as expected and became witches, our genes were already recorded and archived for comparison with other witches to continue tracking and manufacturing based on the repeated gene codes, even possibly creating twins or triplets with identical magic power types,” 101 remembered the thousands of cloning chambers waiting for girls to form, with the inferior ones discarded in the settling ponds, wet and not yet opening their eyes, covered in each other’s fishy, sticky filth.

“An uncountable number of witches…” Xu Yang felt horrified by the thought, Black Fire Innovation had broken the secret to creating witches, “Is this the confidence behind their provocations…”

If Farosa knew about this, they would be even more furious.

“I know very little; now, all I ask is that you provide us with protection, remove the chips and bombs implanted in our bodies,” 101 bowed to Xu Yang, extending a hand in a plea for shelter.

“Don’t worry, you all will survive,” Xu Yang said as he lightly gripped 101’s hand, “The Children of Phantom Light…

must also have their drawbacks, right?”

101 walked to Xu Yang’s side, leaned in close to his ear, and whispered, “We can only live for 10 years, and it’s already been 5 since we were born.

102 doesn’t know yet.”

Xu Yang nodded, and 101 looked down as he left.

“Is it true that there’s a lot of money to be made with little trouble?” 102’s eyes widened in wonder.

“You’ve got to put in the effort first,” Xu Yang gestured, “Get the goods all moved.”

Xu Yang turned towards the direction of Anonymous, just in time to see Farosa standing on the street, evidently having descended from the Shuttle Machine at some point, her face full of anger.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Yang approached her, feigning nonchalance.

“Daring to deceive the will of the Galaxy itself, humans have indeed reached the end of their reckless ways,” Farosa said, her back turned as she boarded the Shuttle Machine, “It’s time for the world’s most powerful Witch to return and set things right!”

“This moment has finally come,” Xu Yang took a deep breath in his seat, “No telling if it’s good or bad.”

“It won’t be good, nor will it be bad,” Farosa embraced him, giving Xu Yang a deep kiss, “…only madness, despair, and an endless descent into chaos.”

“You won’t go mad.”

“I’m not talking about myself—I’m referring to humans.”

After storing the goods and leaving 101 and 102 in a large warehouse rented under the name of Jumen Commerce by Lila, and leaving Asa Katsuragi and Kong Tai to guard it, Xu Yang then took Farosa towards Suzuki Springs, with Lila driving.

The large electronic billboards hanging on the buildings were broadcasting the news.

“Earlier, Aizu City, the focus of global attention, was invaded by a B-5 level biological disaster.

A tremendous number of Ratmen emerged, causing chaos in Aizu City.

Now, the Corporate Alliance has reassessed the situation, declaring the biological crisis to be over, with the large-scale activities of the Ratmen having ceased.

In their place, a mysterious force used a radioactive weapon at Shenkong Tower, utterly destroying this significant landmark of Aizu City.

Shenkong Group’s stock prices have hit rock bottom, already subject to division and acquisition by several large corporations.

Black Fire Innovation is considering whether to acknowledge their actions; it all depends on their marketing department’s next plan of action.”

Through the porthole of Anonymous, Xu Yang’s gaze pierced the scene.

The power had been restored to the dilapidated Underground City, and the giant screens high up had finally begun to operate, displaying false pale blue skies and the massive dark golden sun.

If one ignored the huge crater where Shenkong Tower once stood, the people could still accept this beautiful scene.

However, Aizu City had always been poor and disorganized, and now, further plagued by radioactive contamination, it was even more desolate with the massive exodus and relocation of its residents.

Pockets with any signs of life were rife with chaos, as fights and looting were commonplace.

“…Mayor Oohara Nobuhiko of Anjiu City, along with the entire city government leadership, has issued a formal apology, expressing a commitment to addressing the aftermath, to locate the remaining Ratmen colonies, and to establish contact to build good diplomatic relations, to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.

As for the insurance claims of the companies in the disaster area, the Mayor will also coordinate to ensure that the companies receive the full compensation due to them.”

“Now, the area around Shenkong Tower is contaminated with radioactivity.

The Mayor has announced that with a significant investment from Kyoto Infinity, a special fund will be established to buy a large number of robots for environmental restoration.

Without a doubt, Kyoto Infinity still possesses immense wealth and is thriving in business.

During the cleanup process, to avoid secondary contamination, Aizu City will be locked down for two weeks.

Citizens of Aizu City can prepare their living supplies accordingly, but the operations of the companies will not be affected for the moment, as long as they strictly comply with the special activity rules set by the Corporate Alliance.”

A two-week lockdown…

Once again, Aizu City’s connection to the Ground had been severed for two weeks, during which the residents could only move within the underground area and could not return to Anjiu City, allowing the chaos to continue.

However, companies could operate as usual, which was perfect for Jumen Commerce to work through.

The citizens’ demand for supplies would surge, providing an excellent opportunity for reconstruction and a swift turnaround from losses to profits, preventing Xu Yang from depleting his resources.

On the other hand, although Farosa was about to regain her Power, she could not directly confront the companies; she would definitely need to find a safe, hidden place where she wouldn’t be discovered, one that could shield her from attention until everyone’s focus shifted away from Aizu City, safe from searches, Secret Agents, and spies.

A hidden place…

a refuge from the storm…

The Ratmen’s nest seemed to fit the bill.