Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 142 - 142 125 The Root of Evil

142: Chapter 125 The Root of Evil 142: Chapter 125 The Root of Evil After the fire, Cemetery Street was surprisingly hot.

The howling wind on the top ensured they didn’t die of suffocation, but it did nothing to lessen the heat wave.

The fire company had come and gone, their contract only covering putting out the fire, not cleaning up after it.

Once they had extinguished the blaze, they drove off, indifferent to what happened here next.

Children injured in the fire lay on the streets, while other children stood around them, helpless and uncertain, looking hopefully towards the cabins next to the apartments, wishing their teachers and principal would come and save them, not daring to approach the charred ruins nearby.

Gang members and street drifters stood quietly nearby, weapons in hand, ready to whisk the children away at the first opportunity, as fresh children could fetch a good price.

“Come with me,” Seeking Shadow said to the Rat Sentinel behind her.

“Humans are strong, rats are afraid,” it said nervously.

“I will ensure your safety, what’s your name?”

“Perry.”

Seeking Shadow leapt down from the pipes, masterfully aware of her surroundings thanks to the information provided by Xu Yang; she was like a true shadow, her movements now impossible to track.

The Rat Sentinel Perry hesitated for a moment before quickly jumping down, landing steadily beside Seeking Shadow.

The residual heat from the wooden structure was scorching, causing it to shift from foot to foot to avoid the heat.

“Who could have started the fire?” Seeking Shadow rummaged through the building ravaged by the fire, crawling down a charred load-bearing wall, the roof already burnt through.

“Black Fire Innovation knew there was a Warlock’s Spellbook here,” Xu Yang sent word.

“Such brutality can only be the doing of Black Fire Innovation,” muttered Seeking Shadow, hating all forms of evil and knowing that Black Fire Innovation was the hidden hand destabilizing the world.

The sheer scale of the fire added a new layer of resentment towards this maniacal corporate entity.

The company’s evils seemed boundless.

If not punished, they would continue their wrongdoing.

She hated that she didn’t have enough Power to completely eradicate the roots of this evil.

Seeking Shadow moved through the scorched remains of the house, relaying what she saw to Xu Yang, who immediately scrutinized every frame with his processor, informing Seeking Shadow of the location of each clue.

Following Xu Yang’s guidance, Seeking Shadow’s efficiency greatly increased.

Ignoring potential red herrings, she made her way to the lower levels, where in a space akin to a living room, Seeking Shadow saw a blackened stove and television.

There was a blackened female corpse on the ground and a male corpse mid-crawl, as if he had been trying to reach the woman but was burnt to death in the act.

The bodies, engulfed in flames, were highly carbonized, with vital organs no longer valuable for examination.

The rest of the furniture had turned to ash and had completely disappeared.

“No survivors,” transmitted Seeking Shadow.

“And the Spellbook is not here.”

“Circle around from the blind spot to behind the street light pole,” Xu Yang, analyzing the data from Seeking Shadow, ordered, “Connect up there, there’s a camera that should have caught some intelligence.”

From Perry’s perspective, Seeking Shadow’s proficiency was impressive.

She moved silently, her actions quick and decisive, her speed lightning-fast, her movements without hesitation!

She seemed to know where her target was without even looking, earning Perry’s profound respect.

Perry hurriedly followed behind, not wanting to be left behind.

Seeking Shadow connected to the streetlight’s camera, using her body as a signal relay to allow Xu Yang to hack into the camera’s storage.

He scanned and analyzed the footage recorded by the camera with incredible speed.

Within one minute, he captured the image of a mysterious figure entering The Tomb Keeper’s Home from four hours prior.

The man wore a large trench coat and was very tall.

More than an hour after this trench-coated figure entered the building, it caught fire.

What raised suspicion was that thereafter, there was no further trace of him; the camera did not capture images of him leaving the building.

It was as if he had vanished into thin air or had died in the fire.

Either possibility was unlikely, and he must have had some means to leave The Tomb Keeper’s Home without being tracked.

In any case, he was likely the arsonist, possibly a special agent sent by Black Fire Innovation, who had plundered important legacies from The Tomb Keeper’s Home.

“Could it be Black Fire Innovation’s doing?” Seeking Shadow inquired.

“We can’t rule out this suspicion,” Xu Yang responded, preserving the images of the suspicious figure.

At that moment, Xu Yang and A40 were at a small gas station on Highway 90.

Xu Yang leaned against the gas pump, multitasking between chatting with the gas station owner about the latest changes in the Highway 90 Community and searching Aizu City’s vast underground network, hoping to find more intelligence about the man in the trench coat amidst the sea of information online.

After paying, A40 picked up a hose from the gas station and poured gasoline into its mouth.

The gasoline transformed into energy in its combustion chamber, making it feel invigorated, eager to find a formidable foe to test its blade.

“Where’s the enemy?” A40 asked after gulping down a liter of gasoline, full of bravado.

“The Militia have leads,” Xu Yang instructed A40 to make contact with the local militiamen.

Eager for action, A40 headed off with its sword in hand.

Ever since postage stamps were banned, many stamp dealers harbored resentment and attempted to retaliate against the Highway 90 Community.

A40’s quick swordplay could teach them a lesson.

After hacking the local security company’s surveillance system, Xu Yang captured images of the trench coat man reappearing in the cameras of a nearby block.

The tall figure in a trench coat walked confidently down the street and eventually disappeared into a motel.

The content that followed could not be checked by Xu Yang, as Seeking Shadow wasn’t close enough.

“He checked into a cheap hostel called ‘Wind Sea Color,'” Xu Yang relayed the message to Seeking Shadow, “but that was an hour ago.”

“We must find this murderer,” Seeking Shadow was determined.

“The opponent might have all sorts of methods,” Xu Yang cautioned Seeking Shadow to be careful, “You absolutely can’t rush in recklessly.

Since the Spellbook can no longer be recovered, you can set this task aside for now and need not continue the pursuit.”

Even though Seeking Shadow knew Xu Yang meant well and that she had no backup, she still wanted to go herself and retrieve the Spellbook immediately.

Justice in the shadows, vengeance is a must!

Never abandon halfway through.

She couldn’t let such a vicious arsonist get away!

Heartlessly harming others, destroying their important possessions and emotions—this was something Seeking Shadow could not tolerate.

She looked up at the children who had become homeless due to the school burning down, huddled in the streets crying, with only a few older children barely managing to maintain order.

However, they were of little use, and many cried along with the younger ones.

The orphans had lost their support, without family or jobs; they could only die violently within the city.

Perhaps she could take on this responsibility!

Seeking Shadow couldn’t help analyzing the possibilities, gathering the children and training them in Martial Arts to become a new generation of justice heroes.

Suddenly, from the other end of the street, a black motorcycle approached, and a brunette with sunglasses got off, chewing pink bubble gum.

With a gun in her right hand, she blew a large Bubble at the children, calming them down for a moment.

“Who’s that?” Seeking Shadow observed.

“No information can be scanned.” Xu Yang only encountered a bunch of intricate implants that blocked unauthorized scanning.

“Someone from Black Fire Innovation,” Rat Sentinel Perry explained, “I often see her mingling with arms dealers.”

Cursed Blackfire!

Seeking Shadow wanted nothing more than to completely eradicate the enemy that had caused all this tragedy.

If not for Black Fire Innovation, who else would burn down the entirety of Aizu City Cemetery and kill the tomb keeper’s family for profit?

Seeking Shadow transformed her right arm into a blade, already entering combat mode.

“Don’t act recklessly,” Xu Yang said, “Always run simulations and calculate conclusions before you act; what if you get hammered?”

“She’s coming this way, let’s hide,” Perry quickly pulled Seeking Shadow aside.

Seeking Shadow lifted the grey-haired Rat Sentinel over her head and, carrying him, moved swiftly to hide behind the construction debris at the other end of the street.

Perry felt as if he was flying, it was magical.

The brunette walked toward the burnt remains while dialing the number for Aizu City’s Child Socialization Care Center.

“…

Yes, hundreds of kids crying their eyes out,” she explained on the phone, “It’s by Aizu City Cemetery, where the cemetery’s elementary school caught fire.

You guys should come and take them, or else they’ll be trafficked.

Oh, and register this, my name is Liu Zhizi, leader of the Black Fire Innovation Office.”

Liu Zhizi?

Searching for the name with Black Fire Innovation’s local office situation, Xu Yang found on the official page that she was a key employee, a mid-level manager tasked with clerical work.

She usually operated in Anjiu City and rarely visited Aizu City.

After hanging up, Liu Zhizi walked towards the burned buildings, frowning and running her hands through her hair in annoyance.

The progress of Black Fire Innovation had suffered another setback, a heavy blow for her.

They had long wanted to invade The Tomb Keeper’s Home to search for the location of the Warlock’s Spellbook.

Unfortunately, Matteo was useless, having used dirty bombs and aggravated the relationship between two mega-corporations.

Since then, Black Fire Innovation had pulled a significant number of combat personnel from Anjiu City to prepare for war, mostly leaving clerical staff behind.

Without enough hands, Liu Zhizi couldn’t reclaim the Spellbook, only the arms dealers had some combat capacity left.

And so the situation had become what it was: buildings burnt by unknown persons, the Warlock’s legacy was obviously lost.

Izumi Yamazaki was an honest and kind person; surely someone else had gotten wind of the legacy, possibly the mysterious forces that had previously captured Matteo, or maybe the Warlock’s own faction.

Faced with this, she had no choice but to come and investigate herself, not even having time to call for security, and she didn’t gain any benefits either.

She had only heard the commotion and come; otherwise, she wouldn’t have bothered visiting this chaotic place.

In the end, Black Fire Innovation’s efforts in recovering three ancient artifacts in Aizu City had been cut short with two, only one secured—that was not good news, this year’s performance goals were unachievable.

Liu Zhizi sighed deeply at the sight of the ruined buildings, and walked back to her motorcycle, head down.

Aizu City was a dangerous place, and now without her security staff, being targeted by bandits was bad news, it would be quite embarrassing for a Black Fire Innovation member to fall into the hands of street rogues.

“We should kidnap her,” Seeking Shadow voiced, watching Liu Zhizi’s movements, “then demand ransom from Black Fire Innovation.”

“They won’t pay for someone like her, but it’s your call,” Xu Yang planned to foster Seeking Shadow’s ability to make independent decisions.

He couldn’t remote-control her forever.

“Yes,” Seeking Shadow resolved, still intending to capture the estranged Black Fire Innovation clerk as a bargaining chip to negotiate with Black Fire Innovation, or at least to extract information through interrogation.

Seeking Shadow and A40 were Synthetic Humans with third-generation AI installed, capable of learning and growing on their own.

Only after trials could they be capable enough to stand alone.

If Seeking Shadow wanted to become a flawless Cyber Specter Shadow, she still had a long way to go.