Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 180 - 158 Stance

Chapter 180: Chapter 158 Stance

Lila led the way.

After changing her body, her equipment had also been replaced. She now wore a set of "Night-79" model reconnaissance armor manufactured by Iwasaki Heavy Industries. It was pitch black without any fancy decorations, with a sleek design. The footwear was designed with a sound-absorbing structure, making her steps silent. The armor was a balanced fusion of defense and agility, outlining her slender and youthful figure—she was like a complete black phantom, sharp and lethal.

This reminded her of her past service, when she was a member of the Battle Witches reconnaissance unit of Thousand Lakes Electronics—confident, efficient, and respected by all—a replica of the good old days.

Sealing away those painful memories, Lila chose to forget her terrifying past of being torn apart. She scrambled and rearranged the contents within her memory storage, thoroughly modifying all situations in the files.

Her true experiences were serving in Taixi Continent, departing from the security department normally, traveling to the Archipelago Continent, and meeting the one she wished to spend her life with. The pain of being murdered and the horror of being remodeled were completely erased by Lila, placed in the clean-up area alongside fragmented disk files, awaiting destruction upon the next system reboot.

Rebooting her life, Lila decided to start recalculating her entire existence from today. At this moment, she suddenly understood Farosa’s happiness—sleeping for a thousand years, turning the past into dust, sweeping away all past pain, confusion, betrayal, and contradictions.

"Starting over"—such significance it held.

Ensuring the area was safe, Lila walked backwards, making it easier for her to face Xu Yang directly.

Now she understood more and more the warmth of love; she felt comfortable in her heart just by looking at Xu Yang. What was once a precise program-like input and output—receiving care and therefore reciprocating the same amount of care, like ripples appearing only when a stone is thrown into a pond—was now very different. It could now be considered blind fondness, emotions bubbling up incessantly, with the desire to be intimate 24 hours a day, and many other thoughts too embarrassing to mention. Everything was young and just right, and her body, fresh from the factory, matched these immature notions perfectly.

Lila backed into the office and barged in.

Asa Katsuragi was sitting on the tatami, preparing tea, and she was surprised to see a figure in black armor barging in. It was her first time seeing Lila’s new form, and she didn’t recognize her at all.

"Everything is good, I hope," Xu Yang said as he took his seat.

"Of course," Asa Katsuragi said, eyeing Lila repeatedly, "Who might this be...?"

Lila took off her helmet, offered a slight smile, and Asa Katsuragi, not discerning in her vision, failed to recognize this blonde beauty. She looked like an elite Battle Witch from a magazine cover, capable of destroying whole streets with a single strike. Asa Katsuragi’s image of Lila was still stuck on that "Sky Crane" model robot.

Perhaps she was Xu Yang’s lover. Asa Katsuragi thought to herself. Men are fickle by nature.

"This is Lila," Xu Yang explained to avoid any confusion, "This is her normal appearance, her real self, not someone new."

"It’s me, Lila Nestor," Lila spoke, "Asa, what you see now is my true appearance."

"Ah..." Asa Katsuragi strained to remember Lila’s face, and only later did she recall that it resembled the face of "Lila" that used to hang from her waist, although she was uncertain of the specifics. She chose to accept the situation, as there were too many odd occurrences in this era—if one doesn’t have strong mental resilience, they might eventually develop other psychological issues.

Lila smiled gently.

Xu Yang couldn’t help but observe Lila—she was even more enchanting now than before.

He had personally customized and restored her body, and he had transferred the consciousness chip by hand. He should have been all too familiar with her, but the current Lila felt more alluring, covered with a layer of mystique. There was so much to explore anew, which provided Xu Yang with a fresh sense of wonder, a delightful experience. He really wanted to experience her thoroughly again, from her body to her soul.

Reacquainting with Lila now and starting a relationship with her all over again, he realized there were so many details that he had missed in the past.

After a moment, Kong Tai was called over. The four of them each took a spot around the tea set and began their tea ceremony.

Xu Yang took a sip, finding the tea extremely fragrant, invigorating, clear-headed—it wasn’t just cheap powder mixed up, but rather the full flavor of select tea leaves from the Xia District.

"The price mustn’t be cheap," Xu Yang commented as he set down his tea cup.

"We took it from the neighbors," Asa Katsuragi said, "Their boss had hoarded quite a lot of fine tea. Thanks to your help in tackling the toughest group, now many gangs are surrendering swiftly."

"This means Katagi District will be entirely under your control," said Xu Yang.

"But it’s far from enough," Asa Katsuragi explained. "We need a large sum of funds to arm ourselves. Previously, we relied on looting, beating up some bastards, fighting and robbing our way through, taking over their assets and territories, but now we’ve hit a bottleneck."

"The territory is too large," Kong Tai added. "At the start, we only had about a hundred guys, but now our size has multiplied several times over. We have around five hundred capable fighters, most of whom were recruited from defeated gangs, so their loyalty is highly questionable."

"Beat some, persuade others," Asa Katsuragi said, her face troubled. "But even persuading them requires money. If we could buy a bunch of gangster robots, it would be more convenient—there would be no need to worry about loyalty issues, they could instantly become our ’good brothers’, but that’s another huge expense."

"We could have extorted money everywhere just like the other gangs," said Kong Tai with a smile. "But Boss Katsuragi is unwilling to exploit them. He can’t stand their cries. He says there are too many poor people among them, too many women and children who can’t cope with being shaken down, and he doesn’t want to drive them away but rather leave a bunch of weak and elderly people who need to be cared for."

"So..." Asa Katsuragi said.

"If you need funds, Nestor Corporation can provide," said Xu Yang quickly analyzing and formulating a plan. "But the Katsuragi Gang needs to be registered as the New Aizuwakamatsu Security Company to facilitate Nestor Corporation’s investment. Initial shares will be held by Lila Nestor at 40%, Asa Katsuragi at 40%, Kong Tai at 5%, and the remaining 15% will be used as incentive measures, distributed to key members worth recruiting and persuading, to boost their morale."

"Ah..." Asa Katsuragi was taken aback.

"In fact," Xu Yang added, "the Katsuragi Gang should transform into a new type of militarized organization that unites the lower classes. Compared to life in the countryside and factories, people in the city are more isolated and self-interested as they devote themselves to the service industry, making them especially vulnerable to gang exploitation. But they also seek order and sympathize with other disadvantaged groups like themselves. Under these circumstances, the Katsuragi Gang should develop two key assets—one is a higher-quality team to defeat other gangs; the other is the banner of ’Protecting Territory, Ensuring Peace,’ to unite the majority."

"That’s very pragmatic... efficient," said Asa Katsuragi, deeply ashamed.

"Hmm?" Xu Yang was curious. "What’s wrong? I seem to have interrupted you."

"No, no, it was just... some trivial talk," Asa Katsuragi reflected.

"Please continue."

"I had prepared a few words," Asa Katsuragi took out a large sheet of paper from her sleeve, cleared her throat, "...I grew up on the streets. Aizu City is a place full of filth. Girls go to Prosthetics Clinics for sterilization to make life easier, and boys are taught to shoot as soon as they can handle a gun. If you don’t steal, someone else will steal from you. If you don’t rob, you’ll be robbed. If you don’t kill, you’ll be killed. After joining the Suzuki Group, the boss told me a lot about loyalty, which I took to heart and always talked about, but later I realized that he himself didn’t believe in it. But is it wrong? I want to bring loyalty to Aizu City, unite everyone in the gang, defeat those who wreak havoc, and simply make everyone in the gang proud of the name ’Katsuragi Gang’. When the residents of Aizu City see our banner, they feel safe... For this purpose, Mr. Xu, please fund our cause... Okay, that’s what I wrote to say."

"Well said," Xu Yang appreciated. "Although I don’t know much about the past, I think this already has the spirit of ancient righteous men."

"Sigh... Just babbling nonsense," sighed Asa Katsuragi.

"Let’s establish cooperation then," Xu Yang stood up and extended his hand to Asa Katsuragi. "Living in such muck always wears down people’s spirit and leads to base behavior. But if we keep fighting, we can certainly bring hope to everyone."

"Yes!" Asa Katsuragi nodded firmly, her eyes eager and somewhat excited. "That’s exactly what I think. Everyone needs hope, a change."

Lila and Asa Katsuragi began to devise a plan, preparing to steer the Katsuragi Gang towards formal management.

Xu Yang signaled to Kong Tai to come out; the two of them needed to talk alone.

Understanding the hint, Kong Tai finished his half-cup of tea, rose slowly, and followed Xu Yang out to the corridor outside the room. He glanced around again, sending away the patrolling gang members, leaving just the two of them.

"If you continue to expand, how much funds do you estimate you’ll need?" Xu Yang asked.

"So, the children’s storybook section is over, is it?" Kong Tai leaned against the wall, taking out a Li Huang Brand Cigarette. "Time for the young adult Chapter."

"Don’t oversimplify this," Xu Yang said. "As long as we keep winning, our stance is the most righteous."

"If we can keep winning," Kong Tai lit the cigarette, "... does it matter what stance we take?"