Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 165 - 143 The 1st Radio Broadcast

Chapter 165: Chapter 143 The 1st Radio Broadcast

After Farosa had dressed and left, Xu Yang paid attention to the time; it was the day of Sally’s first broadcast. As the inaugural hostess of the Rat Witch Radio, Sally had prepared for any and all questions.

The Ratman communication radio had been provided by Selita and her group of avant-garde guerrillas, who were currently based in the White Elephant Continent. Therefore, the signal was mainly connected to Ratman settlements in the White Elephant Continent, where there were still large swathes of towns and rural areas for Ratfolk to take refuge and many Ratmen were illegally employed.

---

Corporations across the White Elephant Continent favored the fast-reproducing Ratmen as laborers. To conceal the truth, like other companies, they denied the existence of Ratmen. The forgotten Ratmen suffered brutal treatment, being treated entirely as slave labor without the most basic right to life, dying off day by day.

Sally was set to face such a large group of Ratmen in dire circumstances. She sat in the broadcast room prepared for her in the industrial park, her heart racing as she prepared countless drafts of her speech.

The only Rat Witch in the world, unique and unparalleled, she believed she bore a mission.

Xu Yang and Lila helped test the equipment backstage.

"Will Sally’s first radio broadcast be effective?" Xu Yang wondered.

"Shantytowns in the city, large Ratman caves, labor markets, agricultural lands, there are Ratman settlements and corresponding communication devices in all these places," Lila said, "There are 150 communication spots. I spread the news as much as possible in advance, to remind them of the fact that the radio is starting up again. According to the estimates, there will be 5,000 Ratmen tuning in for the first broadcast."

"5,000 simultaneous listeners, that’s pretty impressive. It’s a pity they can’t tip Sally," Xu Yang said.

---

"It starts in one hour," Lila said, looking at the broadcast room, where Mouse Witch Sally’s voice would soon spread to countless Ratmen ears.

Under Xu Yang’s guidance, Sally planned to focus on soothing the Ratmen’s fatigue, anxiety, and anger, instructing them on how to better their lives and seek unity and progress.

To keep things secret, Xu Yang had adjusted the environment, and the communication address had been falsified to prevent the source from being traced.

"The first broadcast..." He checked the time difference. It was 11 p.m. in the White Elephant Continent; the broadcast would start at midnight when the Ratmen were likely to have finished their work shifts.

At this moment, in countless remote corners and secret areas of the White Elephant Continent unknown to most, many Ratmen had received this news.

Various Ratfolk groups became animated, dwelling in deserted alleyways of ruined cities and places of sewage and toxic gases. They gathered in groups, sharing a radio in anticipation of the legendary Mouse Witch hostess’s first voice broadcast.

---

In the northern part of the White Elephant Continent, in the Caleb Mountains, Ratmen and human laborers were mixed together, engaged in the lowest level of manual labor—mining.

This mining area experienced extreme heat and frequent geological activity. Hot fluids and natural gases leaked in the mine shafts, making it prone to fires, and the environment was hot and humid. Mining robots were difficult to maintain, hence, compared to them, human and Ratmen labor was even cheaper.

Ratmen activities were made invisible in many parts of the world, but in the isolated and disconnected villages and mountainous areas of the White Elephant Continent, their presence was an open secret, employed by precision mining companies under the Peacock-Tristan Group. Ratmen bred quickly, were docile, foolish, and thus, made the most suitable racial workforce, costing very little.

At this time, the Ratminers from the precision mining company quietly gathered, retrieving the radio passed down from their ancestors from their shanties, inserting batteries, and quietly waiting for the night to arrive.

Previously, a human laborer had gone to town for supplies and upon his return, he talked about this matter with his Ratminers colleagues; he too had heard from the Ratmen’s dens in town that a voice had announced that the Rat Witch would communicate with all Ratmen through the radio tonight.

The grey-haired Ratman Xie Yi, an ordinary Ratminer, was amongst them.

The public debut of the Rat Witch’s radio broadcast! This news caused a stir in Xie Yi’s heart. He had never heard of any radio host, but he had heard that there were powerful witches in the world who could alter reality.

Could there be a witch among the Ratfolk?

He was filled with anticipation for the Rat Witch’s appearance. How beautiful would she be? How powerful? How magical?

Xie Yi’s mother had died from exhaustion the day before, then others dragged her away and threw her into the nutrient paste machine, so at mealtime, he showed up early. As soon as it was time to eat, he hopped off the mining machinery and stumbled to where the nutrient paste was dispensed. The mine lamp swung overhead, illuminating the face of fatigue and dust. He waited anxiously in the middle of the queue, and it took a long while before it was his turn.

When he arrived at the paste dispenser, it squirted out a finger-sized portion of nutrient paste, intermittently, mushy and pink. Xie Yi felt like it was his mother.

Reluctant to eat his mother, Xie Yi ran back to a corner of the mine tunnel, secretly digging at the soft earth underneath the wall. He created a small hole and buried all the nutrient paste in his hand, then refilled it with earth, patting it down gently.

Rest well, Mother...

Since he hadn’t eaten anything, Xie Yi went back to the mines hungry that evening. At midnight, dragging his tired body, he returned to the shanty, where the other Ratmen were nervously gathered around the radio. They had secured the ramshackle doors and windows tightly shut with furniture, their green eyes glowing in the darkness as they stared at the radio, waiting for it to emit the voice of the Rat Witch.

The shanty also housed a number of human miners, nearly equal in number to them, who now curiously joined the excitement, standing on their toes, just outside the circle of Ratmen, straining to listen.

"H-hello, everyone," a nervous female voice began. "My name is Sally. I am a witch among Ratfolk! Welcome to my radio station!"

The Ratmen in the shanty shivered uncontrollably, scratching at their fur. Xie Yi trembled all over, and his mind instantly visualized the image of a cute Ratfolk lady. She surely wouldn’t look just like an ordinary rat, perhaps she’d have a beautiful appearance, maybe she could walk upright, maybe she’d have a pair of huge rat ears, or maybe not.

They had wanted to continue listening, but the lights of a patrolling drone shone through the cracks, prompting Xie Yi to pounce and kill the sound of the radio. The Ratfolk could no longer make out what the Rat Witch was saying, yet they remained dumbfounded, indulging in their own fantasies.

Every Ratman’s fantasy of Sally and her words were different. In silence, they listened to the entire 30-minute broadcast, savoring the care from the Rat Witch without a sound.

The Ratfolk couldn’t help but begin to weep. Even though they hadn’t actually heard anything, they had already found redemption from the Rat Witch in their imaginations, almost as if she had traversed the telecommunications to be by their side.

Sally, take us with you, Sally—

The Ratfolk’s image of the Witch was certainly one of liveliness and brightness, linked to marvelous technology beyond their imaginations, living in utmost happiness.

Once the patrol drone had moved away, Xie Yi crawled to the radio and turned the volume up a notch. The other Ratfolk did not stop him; they merely held their breath, pricking up their ears to listen to every word and action of the Rat Witch.

Finally, they heard the Rat Witch’s voice again, though it was already 30 minutes later. Only then did Xie Yi start regretting that he had missed the content of the first half-hour of the program.

"...Ah, it’s alright; saying weird things is fine too, I will still read them out! After all, I really like everyone, and I want to keep talking with everyone. All of you are very cute little rats, my kindred spirits!" Sally’s voice resounded once again.

The Ratfolk had never heard such sincere words before.

The Rat miners in the shanty looked at each other and emitted small squeaks, some softly sobbing, while the human miners beside them were unaware of their excitement, feeling drowsy and waiting for the next day’s labor.

Xie Yi stood among his companions, staring blankly at the radio that was emitting a heavenly sound, as if his mother had returned to his side. It was then that he realized that there were still those who cared for them, the insignificant inhabitants, and Sally’s voice was like a beam of light piercing their murky lives.

Even the Ratfolk, bent and ugly in their lowliness, could bask in the sanctified light of the Rat Witch’s compassion – what an honor. The Rat workers resolved to listen to Sally’s voice every evening.

Another half hour passed, and the program ended. Xie Yi watched as the radio was turned off, feeling content, crying as he curled up in a corner of the shanty.

I will gather here tomorrow as well, Xie Yi silently wiped away his tears. Miss Rat Witch, I really like you.

He didn’t sleep but instead got up, groped his way to the radio, quietly turned on the power, and stared at the tiny visual interface in the dark, stubbornly starting to type.

"Xie Yi, what the hell are you doing?" A Ratman with patchy fur got up, much smarter than the others.

"I want to send a message to Miss Rat." Xie Yi whispered, "But I can’t read or write."

"You say, I’ll type, keep it short." It knew Xie Yi had just lost his mother and thought the Ratman deserved a bit of concern today.

Xie Yi whispered, his cheeks stained with tears, translating all his thoughts into codes and text, sending them to Sally’s channel.

On the other side, thousands of kilometers away in Nestor Industrial Park in Aizu City, after a long hour of hosting the radio show, Sally had to end the first broadcast ahead of time.

She felt uncomfortable all over, and utterly nauseous.

In the first half-hour, right after her self-introduction, Sally had received countless insults, questions, abuses, and slander from the Ratfolk; the program exploded, almost impossible to continue. The malice and pettiness of the Ratfolk were laid bare, with all the Rats tapping into the radio trying their best to offend her.

She was initially going to end the live broadcast after 30 minutes. Only under Xu Yang’s insistence did she reluctantly continue, saying things against her will—claiming that she would respond to those weird comments, saying how much she liked everyone, saying how cute the little rats were.

Afterward, she no longer received the black mud-like Rat messages, just casually talking about life and everyday matters. However, Sally was just going through the motions, completely detesting those distant, strange Rats.

"No Ratfolk would like it; no Ratfolk wants to listen," Sally complained to Xu Yang.

"There’s a new message," Xu Yang suddenly noticed a change in the radio mailbox.

"It’s definitely another insult," Sally said bitterly.

"Maybe it’s a compliment," Xu Yang said, "Why not open it and see?"

"If it’s an insult, I’ll never communicate with them again for the rest of my life," Sally said uneasily as she shook her ears, looking downcast as she sat down in front of the radio screen to open the message.

...Staring.

A long, deep stare.

Sally had her eyes wide open, silent, her lips pressed tight.