Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 146 - 146 128 Curtain Call of the Shadow Justice

146: Chapter 128: Curtain Call of the Shadow Justice 146: Chapter 128: Curtain Call of the Shadow Justice Arm blade dripping with blood.

Seeking Shadow believed none of the souls under her blade were wronged.

After slaying Gaoni, Seeking Shadow coldly tossed his heart aside and reclaimed the fragments of his Linen Clothes that held mysterious powers.

The patterns on the fabric resembled the art of deep-space species, possibly hiding unknown secrets.

Only the disruptive effect of an energy sword blade could destroy them; her arm blade made a cut but failed to tear them.

Then there was Gaoni’s Magic Wand, which Seeking Shadow had seen outside of animated works for the first time.

She found the remains of a book on the ground, half of the scroll already soaked with blood.

The chaotic bloodshed at the scene had reached an extreme, with Gaoni cut to pieces.

A normal person would feel horror and fear, but Seeking Shadow felt nothing out of the ordinary.

In her concept, a corpse was the dead male Homo sapiens, and blood was the liquid tissue circulating in the circulatory system.

“Why…” Tulisha sobbed with tears of blood, “Gaoni…”

Tired of the screams coming from the screen, Seeking Shadow sliced the screen to pieces with a stroke of her blade.

The offspring of the wicked invariably carried innate evil.

Had it not been for physical distance restrictions, Seeking Shadow would surely have eradicated the problem at its root.

She turned to the wall-mounted screen in the room and, as usual, uploaded the pattern stored in her database into it, leaving a huge symbol on it.

Seven-pointed Star, Crossed Cross, and Roaring Evil Spirit.

The murderer, the shadow of the Cyber Specter!

After leaving the scene, Seeking Shadow used her grappling claws to climb up.

The owner of the external liquor stall had been woken by the noise and was frantically hiding in the back.

Only when a crowd gathered did he muster the courage to approach.

By then, Seeking Shadow had already fled, disappearing into the dark, complex Rat Paths, while the Rat Sentinel closed the grid well door to the entrance.

Having understood the full picture of the scene and the entire process of Seeking Shadow’s independent actions, Xu Yang was satisfied.

It seemed the shadow of the Cyber Specter was gradually growing into a dark hero, Xu Yang mused.

That was a positive change.

As her power, armament, and awakening progressed, the heights she could eventually reach were boundless.

Xu Yang instructed Seeking Shadow to remember to bring the spoils of war back to the industrial park and then cut off contact, busy with his own affairs.

Seeking Shadow continually analyzed and reviewed the recent battle, and the affirmation of spreading Good and stopping evil solidified her certainty of existence.

This “existence” didn’t refer to the operation of her mechanical body maintained by electricity but rather allowed her self-awareness module to run very smoothly.

From the moment she parted ways with the other Synthetic Women and resolved to avenge her fate, Seeking Shadow’s self-awareness module was unlocked.

The “self-awareness” module was designed to confirm a Synthetic Human’s human-like identity and was an experimental feature only enabled on 3rd generation AI Synthetic Humans; 2nd and 1st generation AIs could not perceive it.

Most critically, the self-awareness module was generally in a disabled state, and its unanticipated unlocking was often viewed as a hazardous flaw, signifying a certain level of awakening in the Synthetic Human.

Seeking Shadow, time and again hunting down criminals, proved she could carry out independent actions and had self-respect as a “person”.

Her self-awareness module showed no defects or bugs, only a series of elegantly coded sentences that ran swiftly, boosting her confidence.

Should Seeking Shadow fall or fail, the self-awareness module would encounter a fatal error, revealing to her she was not sufficient to act as an individual with independent will, forcing her to revert to her state as “it”, that is, to operate according to the logic set at the factory and be no different from other Synthetic Humans.

…Previously, she had been a service Synthetic Human, and reverting to that state would mean she could only conform to male users’ desires.

Whether she could maintain this sense of “existence” was key to whether Seeking Shadow could continue to execute shadow justice.

Racing through the Rat Paths, Seeking Shadow ran fast, but she felt it wasn’t enough.

Why could she only avenge the victims after tragedy struck?

Why couldn’t she prevent the tragedy in advance, or appear instantly at the scene of suffering?

Synthetic Humans don’t tire; they just need to recharge to keep fighting.

With this thought, Seeking Shadow decided to keep running through the darkness of Aizu City.

“Summon me with the communicator whenever there is an act of oppression,” Seeking Shadow said to Perry, lifting the Rat Communicator in her hand, “I want to prevent tragedies from happening, to stop them right as they occur.”

Perry hesitated.

To the Rat Sentinel, the situation was completely different.

Although it was utterly shocked by Seeking Shadow’s strength and determination and wanted to be an ally of justice, it knew it couldn’t let Seeking Shadow do such a thing.

Because carrying out justice is a very difficult task.

“You…

can’t possibly arrive at every place the moment things happen,” Perry sighed.

“What?” Seeking Shadow pressed, “Why?”

“Every day, every moment, there’s chaos – slaps, fights, murders, plus gangs clashing and extortions,” said Perry, “How can we possibly handle it all?”

“You—just stay out of it,” Seeking Shadow’s self-awareness module started to collapse, “—I am the shadow of justice, I am—I can carry out my—”

It stumbled, its body tilting heavily with each step as if it would fall to the ground at any moment.

Perry was uneasy but dared not get close, letting Seeking Shadow continue toward her destination with her fumbling gait.

Seeking Shadow returned to Cui’s Advanced Prosthetic Treatment Center.

With Xu Yang’s investment, Cui Junyou built a large-scale comprehensive prosthetic medical service facility, which had already begun operation.

The place was bustling; the guide robots at the entrance directed visitors to different areas to meet their diverse needs for fitting and removing prosthetics in an orderly queue.

Quite a few bipedal combat robots equipped with rotating machine guns patrolled the lobby, warning off any petty thieves.

Private medical security was fierce these days; troublemakers were dealt with lethally and hauled away.

Indeed, the prosthetic center was hugely profitable.

Each transaction raked in substantial surgery fees, and the profits from the implants themselves added up.

In the first week of operation, revenues reached 980,000 Funds.

Cui Junyou hired a large number of apprentice workers to assist him.

He himself was overwhelmed with work, having to perform surgeries on seven beds daily, but the lucrative returns made it worthwhile.

When Aizu City was closed for two weeks, many suffered from not having a proper place to repair and replace prosthetics.

Cui Junyou heeded Xu Yang’s warning and did not rush to begin work.

Instead, he didn’t stay idle but contacted many important clients in private, building relationships and cultivating a loyal customer base.

With their word-of-mouth, his reopening attracted many visitors, and business was booming.

According to the previous agreement, by the end of the month, he estimated that he could give Xu Yang a dividend of 240,000 Funds.

Correspondingly, Cui Junyou also had to be cautious about his relationships with the gangs.

The gangs in Hui City District were not like those small-time gangs in Katagi District; they were powerful.

The local corporate territories were intertwined and complex, and the gray areas narrow.

Any gang that could start up here had the backing of large enterprises, many of which were agents cultivated in the underground city by Anjiu City.

Above all, the largest gang, “Chainsaw Angel Gang,” constantly thought of shaking down Cui Junyou to get a share of the profits from the treatment center.

For now, he adopted the strategy of paying to avoid trouble, shelling out substantial protection fees, but he resented them deeply.

At the moment, Cui Junyou could only hope that Xu Yang’s Nestor Corporation would expand to Hui City District soon to take down the Chainsaw Angel Gang, saving him the hassle they brought.

Seeking Shadow had no interest in Cui Junyou’s business; she went to Nidelaide’s room.

At that time, Nidelaide was intently downloading cutting-edge research on implant medicine into his brain, which cost him a lot.

For this, he even had to clear out part of the thousands of anime series in his memory drive, painstakingly choosing which of these quality pieces to delete.

If he just downgraded them all to non-collectible-quality resolutions, he could save quite a bit of space, but a true enthusiast would never settle for less.

“What’s the end for the shadow of justice?” Seeking Shadow asked.

“What end?” Nidelaide paused his download, “Wow—you seem to be armed with even more weapons.”

“Don’t mind that.

What’s the outcome for such dark heroes in those anime works?

The heroes who do whatever it takes to enforce justice, what happens to them in the end?

You never let me see the final part,” asked Seeking Shadow.

“Hmm…” Nidelaide reflected and summarized the possibilities, “I don’t show you the ends because they’re generally not good.

Actually, there are mainly three types of endings…

The first is being persuaded by the main hero and then joining their team to contribute to the main plot and the big events, losing their individuality.

The second type is being corrupted by violence and darkness, losing oneself, the justice mission misunderstood, entangled in negative press, and finally having to retreat into obscurity or being hunted down by the whole world.

The third kind is dying a tragic death in a fierce fight, elevating and solidifying the character’s image through death, making the fans love them even more.”

“So, this justice won’t lead to a good outcome, will it?

It’s either twisted into something unrecognizable or ends in death,” Seeking Shadow murmured, her self-awareness module decomposing further.

“No, not at all,” Nidelaide hurriedly said, “Besides those endings, you can always come here and help out in the clinic; we can learn and live together!”

“Stay with you?” Seeking Shadow looked at Nidelaide, “Live with you guys?”

“That—that would be quite nice,” Nidelaide felt a sincere eagerness from within, “Why can’t we live together?”

“You’ve changed completely, Nidelaide,” Seeking Shadow turned away, leaving the room.

Nidelaide was taken aback.

—It was you who insisted on knowing those endings.

He felt a sense of loss and returned to his desk, picking up a pair of gelatinous prosthetic eye models, finding some solace in his work achievements.

Nidelaide had consulted numerous patent documents and developed his own inexpensive imitations, priced at less than 1500 Funds, one-fifth the cost of equivalent-quality prosthetic eyes.

He wanted to enable the poorest blind people in Aizu City to see again, to leave behind eye diseases and visual impairments, bringing color back into the sight of every blind person.

He firmly believed that implant technology could change the world and make people’s lives better.

Yet deep down, he couldn’t help but worry about Seeking Shadow.

If only she would stay at the clinic…

There must be a way to keep her here.