Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 1172 - 903: Will You Follow Me to the End

Chapter 1172: Chapter 903: Will You Follow Me to the End

The man with a pig’s head and large chin, self-proclaimed descendant of the Habsburgs, Maximilian IX, sets off back to the palace.

Xu Cheng and Bubble imitate his guard’s movements, marching behind his carriage like two sprightly little attendants.

They encounter Lianhua and Shahua at the crossroads, lock eyes, and awkwardly smile.

"Where did you go?" Shahua shouted, "Don’t leave me behind!"

"You look just like the patrol!" Lianhua laughed.

"Gua!" Xu Cheng salutes Lianhua, eager to show off her new title.

Now, she has been appointed Baroness of Hexton Town, presiding over 100 households, 2,500 acres of land, and 200 dairy cows.

Her elaborate certificate of honor will be printed, set in a hard plastic board, along with a QR code that, when scanned, jumps to the Habsburgs’ family website to admire their extensive lineage, a vivid yet disastrous display of hereditary illnesses dating back to the Middle Ages.

The carriage and crowd of citizens parted on the street, reporters from the local tabloids itching to act, Xu Cheng and Bubble exchange a glance and decide to flee with Lianhua and the others, avoiding getting entangled with the reporters.

They dash along the cobblestone street, duck into their room, and Lianhua closes the door.

"Rumor has it that Seven Hills is full of vampires," Bubble recalls Maximilian IX’s words.

"What should we do? I heard you defeated a vampire, but what about a thousand?" Lianhua asks.

"Hey, it’s alright." Xu Cheng first needs to see what gift she received from the big-chinned King of Laetania.

She strokes the smooth box, her fingertips tracing the golden embossing. It’s the "Divine Daylight" brand, highly sought after by the wealthy.

Xu Cheng knows nothing about luxury items, but upon opening the box, she can’t help but feel a rush of excitement.

It’s worth more than a lifetime’s earnings for most people. Xu Cheng muses, while cutting the ribbon with a small knife, the blade slicing through the ornate embroidery and design, evoking a slight pang of regret.

"Don’t be fooled—the old noble from the Taixi Continent wants to buy your loyalty, how self-important." Lianhua says disdainfully.

"This is our first time receiving an expensive gift, it’s incredible." Bubble maintains a positive attitude; she also has a box.

As envoys risking their lives traversing restricted zones, shouldn’t they deserve rewards commensurate with their dedication?

"Gua!" Xu Cheng carefully opens the box, the hinge creaking softly.

They can’t help but focus their gaze on the treasure inside: a deep blue cloak nestled amidst the folds of silk below.

The cloak’s edges are embroidered with silver thread, patterns resembling falling meteors. Xu Cheng’s breath quickens as she lifts the cloak from the box, holding it up in front of her.

Her fingertips gently rub along the fine silk edges, Lianhua looks on, lost in envy, wishing this gift was hers.

Almost on the verge of tears, Xu Cheng dons the blue cloak. It’s so quiet, like an artist stitching dreams into the fabric under midnight... she feels enshrouded in mist, as if dusk approaches.

She looks at the others, feeling well guarded by the cloak, her gaze like nobility from a throne, filled with noble distance.

Perhaps Xu Cheng is but a child, but when draped in the blue cloak, she feels as noble as Farosa.

No longer ordinary.

"Does it look good?" Xu Cheng pinches the cloak’s hem, awkwardly tugging the platinum shoulder fastener. She feels like she might float off the ground. Anyone wearing an item priced at three million would be awed by the complete protection consumerism provides: status, security, value, all within.

"A-ma-zing..." Bubble is entranced. Xu Cheng needs the glory and miracle.

"Luxury goods aren’t durable." Lianhua manages to say after holding back for a long while.

"What about yours?" Xu Cheng looks at Bubble.

Bubble carefully opens her box, revealing a silver necklace.

"Put it on, quick!" She eagerly points to her neck, asking Xu Cheng to help her put it on.

"Oh, come on, enough..." Xu Cheng personally helps Bubble put on the silver necklace.

Each chain of the silver necklace resembles a crescent moon, ending in a drop-shaped amber, clear as honey. Through its semi-transparent texture, one can see an ancient life trapped deep inside—a primordial little fly, holding spots of leaf stem between its claws.

Bubble dons it, barely feeling its weight. Instead, she mostly feels Xu Cheng’s breath and focused gaze, prompting a subtle smile.

"Does it look good?" Bubble asks.

"Gua." Xu Cheng nods vigorously. Maximilian IX certainly lavishly bestows gifts; perhaps this is part of his vast collection.

"I’ll retire, filled with immense jealousy." Lianhua extends her tone, pulling Shahua away.

Shahua, who needs to sleep on the corridor, starts searching the hotel for unclaimed blankets.

Xu Cheng and Bubble exchange smiles, turn off the lights, and crawl into bed.

...

The next day, they return to the Sky Patroller to reunite with Ming Gongqiao.

"Are we heading to Seven Hills?" Ming Gongqiao inquires.

"Hmm! The final mission!" Xu Cheng still wears the blue cloak, her cherished favorite, wherever she goes.

Bubble suspected that Xu Cheng might dirty it, receiving a major lesson, henceforth only wearing the blue cloak on significant occasions.

She noticed that Xu Cheng was talking more, and after the long journey, Xu Cheng’s attitude towards the human world seemed more positive. Perhaps another emotional knot had been untied? Bubble was not sure.

"Once we reach the Seven Hills, our mission will be over. As long as we find Shallow Dream and hand over the cargo to her, our expedition will be concluded," Bubble sighed with relief.

Looking back at the long road, what a magnificent journey it had been.

From Jialong Slope, Budan Snow Mountain, Sevaburg on the Crimean Peninsula, to Netanya, next, the Sky Patroller would head straight to Seven Hills City—one of the oldest and most famous cities on the Taixi Continent, the Eternal City!

At the very beginning in Jialong Slope, no one thought they could travel so far, how many miles... over 25,000 miles!

"Before you came, the local officials at New Eagle Fort replenished our weapons and ammunition. Upon hearing that we were heading to the Seven Hills, they doubled the supplies. I have a weak ability to recognize human emotions, but I sense that they are sympathetic, thinking we are doomed," Ming Gongqiao opened the cabin, displaying boxes of brand-new supplies.

"If the Seven Hills and indeed all parts of Italia are disturbed by vampires, wouldn’t we have no place to land?" Lianhua climbed in, stuffing her pockets with new 10mm bullet boxes and small energy batteries.

"We have to make an emergency landing in some remote wilderness, without backup, surrounded by vampires, Shallow Dream might have already escaped to some unknown place," Ming Gongqiao said simply.

Xu Cheng furrowed her brows, and the atmosphere in the team turned silent.

Yes, finding Shallow Dream was the most crucial.

The Seven Hills had already been controlled by vampires, and Shallow Dream was probably hiding or wandering somewhere, the worst news for the envoy, meaning they had to search for Shallow Dream over tens of thousands of square kilometers of vast land, an almost impossible task.

Xu Cheng couldn’t contact Shallow Dream at all, not even through the Nestor Corporation. Shallow Dream was a mystery, one of the Seven Witches, the controller of time, who had traveled to Italia two years before the outbreak of the Heavenly Tribulation and had since disappeared.

And at this moment, establishing effective contact was even more impossible.

Even reaching the Seven Hills wouldn’t mean finding Shallow Dream under the shadow of vampires.

"Let’s... go back," Lianhua sat at the back of the cabin.

"Go back?" Xu Cheng repeated.

"Go back to Jialong Slope, I mean wait for some time until the mist isn’t so active, perhaps we can take another route. You saw it yourself, the mist between Sevaburg and Budan has such a huge monster beneath it, possibly beneath its belly was the past Britannia, and also the place where the Heavenly Tribulation began earliest. We need to take another way back. Anyway, do you think you can find anything in the Seven Hills? Shallow Dream has completely vanished," Lianhua said.

"And all luck will eventually run out... Can you guarantee next time... we won’t have bad luck? Can you guarantee... that every time you toss a coin, it will be heads?" Shahua stuttered.

Xu Cheng looked towards Bubble, deeply disappointed to see Bubble giving a weak smile: "Yes."

"What?" Xu Cheng wanted to confirm Bubble’s opinion.

"Let’s just go back, or we might as well stay here," Bubble caressed the silver necklace she received, "forget about anything else, let’s first go check out Little Gua’s new territory, there are so many cows."

The symbol of cows and fresh milk flashed into Xu Cheng’s mind, she blinked, and they disappeared in an instant.

There are more important things in the world than milk. Xu Cheng felt a wave of melancholy, how would she persuade them to follow her to the end?

Xu Cheng climbed into her cockpit.

The others were startled, thinking she was leaving on her own.

"Don’t do this!" Lianhua shouted, "You can’t possibly go to the Seven Hills alone!"

"Yes!" Shahua followed up with a shout but then quickly changed her mind, "No... maybe it’s better without me..."

"...!" Bubble was even more surprised; she leaned forward, crawled into the cockpit, and squatted beside Xu Cheng, tearfully asking for forgiveness.

Ming Gongqiao said nothing.

Xu Cheng stared blankly at the glass; she raised her hand, looking at her five fingers.

How strange.

Did others really think she wanted to drive the shuttle alone to the Seven Hills? Is this how Xu Cheng appeared in others’ eyes?

She didn’t look at Bubble but ordered Bubble to wipe away her tears and stand up.

"Bubble, you will go with me to the Seven Hills because you are my best friend and will undoubtedly see this through to the end with me," Xu Cheng looked at the glass.

"Yes!" Bubble wiped her tears with the back of her hand.

"Lianhua, you will go with me to the Seven Hills, because I promised you 30 million in funds to you and your sister once the mission is completed, allowing you both to live anonymously for the rest of your lives," Xu Cheng said.

"...Yes!" Lianhua shakily climbed into the shuttle, not even knowing where her courage came from.

"Shahua, you will go with me to the Seven Hills, because I need your magic power to deal with vampires, and you can’t possibly leave your sister," Xu Cheng said.

"Yes—yes!" Shahua boarded the shuttle, disheveled, in stark contrast to her elegantly dressed sister, yet clung to Lianhua like a mangy dog.

"Ming Gongqiao, you will go with me to the Seven Hills. Because Chishiki ordered you to protect me," Xu Cheng said.

"Yes." Ming Gongqiao boarded the shuttle, performed the final checks, and saluted Xu Cheng, "Let’s set off, Captain."

Xu Cheng closed her fingers into a fist, started the engine, and gripped the control lever, pulling it down.

The shuttle soared calmly, moving like a flying dragon.