Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 166 - 144: Solving the Existential Problem

Chapter 166: Chapter 144: Solving the Existential Problem

The sincere words and confessions made Sally blush. Xu Yang leaned in to look at the message content, but before he could see it, Sally hurriedly turned off the page.

"Don’t worry about it, just a quirky little essay," she said quickly.

"It’s positive, isn’t it?" he guessed.

Sally scratched her hair, her rat ears trembling, annoyed, pressing her forehead.

"Although it’s positive, I can’t take it anymore," she complained. "Maybe some people support me, but... there are a lot of rats constantly charging at me, calling me a liar."

"They can’t see you through the signal, only hear your voice, skepticism naturally arises," Xu Yang said, "but there must also be some ratmen who truly adore you."

Having used the addiction remedy to free herself from the physical and mental devastation of stamps, Sally now seemed especially endearing.

She was petite, not even five feet tall, with velvety rat ears and some fur on her skin, which was not dense, and bright amber eyes - she was entirely a dark-skinned, rat-eared beauty. When the company eventually advances its plans for development, upgrading the signal transmission equipment and venues, perhaps they could create a virtual avatar for her, and she could step onto a larger platform.

In the following period, the ratmen’s passionate feedback did not stop. The email inbox of the radio station accumulated more and more messages, with the ratmen exerting all their efforts to send a variety of messages. This was difficult for them, but they wanted to express their opinions.

The contents of these messages were very choppy and stuttered, in line with the thinking habits of ratmen. They tended to repeat the same idea over and over, creating a unique effect. If they hated something, it was extreme hatred; if they loved something, they would praise it with all their might.

Sally deleted all the insults about herself, incessantly reading those praises for her.

The messages were distinctive with a humble tone, simple content, and plain language, lacking logic and coherence, making them very strange. The rats also knew they couldn’t write clearly, so they kept apologizing, expressing their reverence, love, and sincerity to Sally with their clumsy, unique ratmen penmanship.

"Look, many ratmen are thinking of you," said Xu Yang.

Sally felt a sourness in her heart.

What kind of lives did the ratmen lead... Alienated from civilized society by humans, suffering immensely, without a shred of salvation. Yet even those ratmen, living such hard-pressed lives, tried everything to send her messages, as if she truly could save them.

She really wished she could do it... could help them, even if just with her voice and regular companionship.

"I need to prepare for the second broadcast," said Sally, standing up to run and prepare her material. She had mentally prepared herself—she would steadfastly continue the broadcast for those tiny ratmen who truly loved her, protecting their little hopes.

"Since ratmen communicate through pheromones," Lila deduced, "the next broadcast will likely reach around 7000 connections, with even more ratmen participating."

"I hope Sally can keep it up," Xu Yang said as he took the Golden Branch and went to visit Rat Village.

The pathway was winding, heading south from the fork. Xu Yang entered the Rat Paths. Already familiar with Xu Yang’s presence, the sentinels guided him, Guan Wancang emerging from the shadows. It was taller and slimmer than the other white-haired rats, with eyes glowing blood red.

"Sally gave you the communicator," said Guan Wancang, still wary. The Ratman Communicator had been the foundation for the Rat Sentinels to keep Rat Village undiscovered for decades, using them to warn their kin to stay away from the rat eradication squads and to lead them away before they could approach Rat Village. Now, thanks to Sally’s kindness, a human had finally obtained a communicator.

"I have a gift in return," Xu Yang said, displaying the Golden Branch in the Rat Paths, "It is the Golden Branch, a mysterious artifact that can promote land morphing and enrich the soil. I want the secluded Rat Clan to care for the Golden Branch well, to let it grow, and then obtain new branches and leaves."

Guan Wancang had not seen the Golden Branch demonstrate its power before, and so remained quiet. It led Xu Yang back to Rat Village, where shabby huts were densely spread, the air pungent with odors, and enormous fields of glowing mushrooms where rat women and young worked diligently, a busy scene.

Under Guan Wancang’s guidance, Xu Yang planted the Golden Branch in the area where the mushroom fields were most concentrated. As soon as it entered the soil, it began to stabilize itself, the light becoming brighter and steadier, forming a halo about one meter in radius. Bathed in it, one could feel warmth all over, as if enveloped in natural light, occasionally hearing the fantasy of birdsong and wind.

"In the future, it will become a Golden Tree underground," Xu Yang said, looking up. The rock ceiling of the underground cavern was high enough to allow the Golden Branch to grow to a height of 10 meters,

"Is this useful for solving our existential problem?" Guan Wancang asked anxiously, "Once the next generation grows, a new round of conflicts will erupt. We achieved some victories in the past Rat Tides, but as soon as humans came to their senses, all my peers of the same generation died in battle. When the Reality Manipulator arrived, everyone was frozen in place, everyone... was blown up."

Xu Yang was moved. The Reality Manipulator mentioned by Guan Wancang still had information available for public access.

Currently, there are two Reality Manipulators at Kyoto Infinity.

One was the "Sakura Witch," Kirino Reisei, whose power was unknown. She sat in the shrine alongside each president as part of an ancient ritual.

The other was the Reality Manipulator who interfered with the great Rat Tide 50 years ago, Tenjouin Shino.

The Tenjouin family is a long-established noble house in the Archipelago Continent. The "Demons-Banishing Book" also praised the Tenjouin clan for their past care for warlocks.

In the past, the Archipelago Continent was ruled by shoguns and noble families. After the spread of the corporate system, the nobles also joined the power ranks. Zina, who grew up in a privileged environment, was fortunate to grow and develop her magic power with the benefit of special rights.

As a middle-generation witch, her power was "All Directions Stop," which could render every living being within a designated area unable to act. This ability was difficult to interpret on a technical level, and therefore, categorized as reality manipulation.

Although reality manipulation wasn’t particularly destructive, her strength had exceeded that of the high-ranking witches and entered the level of Dominator Witch. Hence, her range of influence was vast, making it a special strategic weapon.

If used on Anjiu City, it could lock down the entire city, including all life in Aizu City’s Underground City, paralyzing them for up to 30 minutes, leaving them in a terrifying state, at the mercy of others.

During the great Rat Tide, Ratmen launched attacks worldwide. In Anjiu City, it was Zina’s release of magic power that easily halted the surging Rat Clan. The company’s armed forces then rushed in, killing about 30,000 immobilized Ratmen and recapturing the corporate city.

Zina was also an enthusiastic anime fan, working as the animation director for Kyoto Infinity’s monthly new releases. She had high standards for anime quality, ensuring that the style was uniform and strictly prohibiting any quality breakdown in the animation.

However, this also suppressed the individuality of the original artists. Zina rigidly maintained all the artwork at the same level, blocking the artists’ personal creativity and designs of brilliant scenes, leaving behind only industrialized anime series of uniform quality in every frame.

With these two Reality Manipulators, along with other Battle Witches, Kyoto Infinity also had a certain combat strength.

"Giant corporations focus on the nurturing of witches and combat weapons," said Xu Yang. "However, Ratmen are different. They lack the strength to prevail, both in terms of witches and individual combat. They must adopt a strategy of seclusion and self-governance, and Golden Branch has given you this possibility."

"A secluded Rat Clan..." Guan Wancang muttered, "But we are very poor."

"You and your companions were workers before turning into rats," said Xu Yang. "Obviously, you’re aware that workers are much more productive than farmers. Thus, the best approach is to introduce industrial production machinery, using mushrooms as raw materials for processing."

"But that requires starting capital, a company," Guan Wancang pondered.

"Based on information from the White Elephant Continent, Ratmen are often employed by unscrupulous companies. So, Nestor Corporation could also hire you, to be a local version of the ’unscrupulous company,’ setting up a mushroom processing factory to provide jobs. Of course, the treatment will be much fairer."

Currently, Ratmen are particularly well-suited to industries with low technical content but high labor intensity. Although it’s hard work, it held much more promise than mere farming. It not only improved productivity but also greatly increased the return on labor. With surplus funds, it was possible to invest in the education and health care of future generations.

"I see." Guan Wancang leaned close to the Golden Branch, scrutinizing it intently. He could almost see the glows entwining the mushroom roots, ripening them at a visible rate. "Is this some kind of witchcraft?"

"Based on the information we currently have, it’s a projection of some divine power, possessing the ability to make the land fruitful." Xu Yang thought of Sun Biotech using Golden Branch to produce the harmful Summer Pill. "...We took it back from those of ill intent, and it should come in handy."

"We used to be humans, but now we have become this." Guan Wancang stood upright. "We might be able to rejoin humanity, to be looked upon with respect by humans."

Xu Yang planned to spend the night in Rat Village.

The Ratmen were terrified and eager to please. They immediately cleaned up the houses, found the best bed in the village for him, and prepared clean water and uncontaminated food. The only two de facto powers in Rat Village were the spiritual leader, Sally, and the eldest elder, Guan Wancang. Xu Yang had a significant relationship with both, so naturally, the Ratmen did not dare to neglect him.

After finishing her work in the industrial park, Sally returned to Rat Village. Learning that Xu Yang was there resting, her heart skipped a beat.

She tiptoed to the place where Xu Yang was sleeping, peering inside, she quietly entered. Xu Yang had already gone to bed. She gazed at his face for a good while, first filled with happy thoughts, then became saddened soon after. She bravely sat by the side of Xu Yang’s bed but didn’t have the courage to wake him.

Nervous...

Sally quietly ran out and went to the mushroom fields, plucking some mushroom fibers. Sitting in the middle of the mushrooms, under the glow of the Golden Branch, she carefully wove two identical little keepsakes.

She put one in her pocket and left the other for Xu Yang.