Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 199 - 176: Live War Broadcast

Chapter 199: Chapter 176: Live War Broadcast

Nakano Osamu’s harsh coughing sounds arose.

He stretched a thin arm from beneath the white cloth, which reminded Farosa of something like a bamboo pole. Asa Katsuragi excitedly lifted the white cloth.

The bloodstains were gone, the boy reborn; he widened his eyes upon seeing Asa Katsuragi, never having imagined that his foster sister would be here.

"Asa—Asa sister!" Nakano Osamu cried out with a voice that had changed its shape, "you..."

"It’s good you’re back," Asa Katsuragi’s eyes reddened as she embraced Nakano Osamu, "everything is over now. Suzuki Shinji is dead, and Suzuki Springs is now our home, it will always be our home, Osamu, I’ve missed you so much."

"..." Nakano Osamu was extremely bewildered; after so much suspicion, pain, and resentment, his feelings towards Asa Katsuragi were still a complex mixture. Death for him was like jumping into an abyss without a bottom, and now he had finally escaped from the endless sensation of weightlessness.

"Such beautiful emotions." Farosa said with a smile as she clapped her hands.

"You..." Nakano Osamu did not have a strong impression of Farosa.

"Don’t speak, everything has changed," Asa Katsuragi, fearing her brother might speak recklessly and anger this monster in the guise of a witch, warned.

"Let’s talk alone," Farosa left the room.

"Okay..." Asa Katsuragi followed.

"All I want is truth and understanding between people," Farosa stroked Asa Katsuragi’s cheek, "Don’t feel like there is an insurmountable chasm between our hearts."

"I don’t understand what you’re trying to convey," Asa Katsuragi sighed, "what I can comprehend will always be limited."

"Then just do your best within the realm of what you know. Now go back, I know you have a lot to explain to your brother."

"Yes." Asa Katsuragi nodded gently and returned to the secret room.

The decor of Suzuki Springs had changed; the old boss was dead, and nothing resembled the past. But upon seeing Nakano Osamu, Asa Katsuragi still considered this place her home.

She still liked this underground area and had never thought of leaving the Katagi District to travel elsewhere. Asa Katsuragi had many things to say to Nakano Osamu, so she drew her foster brother close to her shoulder and started to chatter incessantly.

Out in the corridor, Farosa wore an inscrutably mysterious expression, faintly hearing Asa Katsuragi’s conversation with her brother inside the room.

Family was a distant concept to Farosa.

Witches could not bear children; she and Xu Yang would not have descendants, and they had no siblings. But she did not need any. After all, relatives were not very handy to use and could become a weakness; it was more appropriate to recruit more slaves.

Farosa walked upstairs to find Xu Yang in the central office.

He sat in a black leather armchair, contemplating the map of Aizu City, and continued with the follow-up planning.

"I’m hungry," Farosa declared.

Xu Yang summoned an eyeball robot, which carried a wooden rimless platter in its claws, presenting five dishes: oyakodon with egg sauce poured over tender chicken, a thick grilled meat patty, irresistibly soft scallop sashimi, generous portions of battleship sushi, and a fragrant plate of grilled bird skewers.

Resisting the sumptuous food was impossible for Farosa; she tossed her cumbersome robe onto the tatami mats and sat in a seductive pose to eat.

"Come join me," Farosa beckoned sweetly.

"Big things are happening outside," Xu Yang said, stroking Farosa’s back as if petting a kitten while turning on the smart screen.

Now, all news channels were covering a significant event taking place on the Archipelago Continent.

—The first battle between Kyoto Infinity and Black Fire Innovation.

In the Warmstone Sea, between the Northern Archipelago and the Taiya Archipelago, the two corporate giants collided for the first time, drawing global attention.

After countless discussions, high-level consultations, and rounds of talks, all threats, pleas, negotiations, and concessions had been in vain. Calculated by artificial intelligence and after repeated simulations, all parties believed they could profit from the situation, hence the corporate war officially erupted.

Days ago, Kyoto Infinity, Kyushu High Pavilion, and Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing, three corporate giants, jointly declared a resolution to carry out military sanctions against Black Fire Innovation, clearing its malignant meddling in the Archipelago Continent’s commercial affairs over the past three years. They would raise the banner for upholding Corporate Alliance laws and launch military actions towards the Taiya Archipelago.

At this stage, nuclear weapons need not be deployed, but mad methods like biochemical warfare were within the range of options, with mega corporations fully committed to emerging victorious.

"The real war," Farosa said with relish, finding nothing more appetizing, "Is there a live broadcast? Tell me about the current process."

"Look over here," Xu Yang switched to the military report channel, where the local Kakuya Media Company had already summarized the war news so far.

Air, ground, sea, witch, information—the quintessential corporate war, undoubtedly complex and bloody, the publicly available reports alone were horrifying.

The moment war was declared, the behemoths used long-range missiles equipped with conventional high-explosive warheads to bombard ports, airports, military bases, and missile launch platforms scattered across the Archipelago Continent and the tropical seas, in an attempt to paralyze the enemy’s counterattack capability.

Immediately afterward, the space motherships were deployed; they are gigantic floating aerial combat platforms, the epitome of modern military technology.

Black Fire Innovation and Kyushu High Pavilion, Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing brutally struck each other’s bases. Five space motherships from Taiya Archipelago’s home port set out, attempting to seize the Pendulum Islands located at the junction of the various corporate power domains.

These islands held tremendous strategic significance, and the control of them by any party could directly threaten the enemy’s homeland.

Clearly, the fate of the Pendulum Islands determined the victor of the war; no side could afford the cost of the islands changing hands.

That would allow the enemy to bombard the corporate territories’ homelands with impunity, utterly destroying the corporations’ war potential.

The strategic focus was clear, Black Fire Innovation dispatched five space motherships to compete for the Pendulum Islands, and sent only one space mothership, the "Martinez," northward to threaten Kyoto Infinity.

"They only sent one over," Farosa sneered, "The animation producers above our heads are really looked down upon."

"Kyoto Infinity really isn’t great when it comes to war," said Xu Yang, examining the military force comparison.

According to deep anonymous networks, the armament of the Martinez dispatched by Black Fire Innovation was terrifying, with 24 support ships and missile shuttle machines, 120 all-purpose fighter jets, and over 300 Battle Witches, eager to reduce Kyoto Infinity to burning ruins.

Anjiu City was located deep within Kyoto Infinity’s territory, still very far from the frontline, but if Kyoto Infinity suffered setbacks in the war, Black Fire Innovation’s long-range ballistic missiles and fighter jet swarms are likely to strike Anjiu City, making it very necessary to pay attention to the progress of the war.

All because Black Fire agent Matteo blew up Shenkong Tower, Kyoto Infinity would suffer even more irreparable losses if they continued to adopt an attitude of humble compliance.

"How exciting," Farosa murmured, "We haven’t made a move, and the companies are already contesting each other. It’s so thrilling. Many people will die, many people will die senselessly, inexplicably, without warning. And it’s not one or two people dying, we are talking about tens of thousands, millions succumbing in an instant."

"Corporate wars change a lot of logic, and they will last several months to several years, depending on market value fluctuations. Eventually, one side will run out of funds to burn and will declare defeat," said Xu Yang, "Our Nestor Industrial Park produces metal, doesn’t it? Our order volume has exploded, and it will be forged into ships and cannons."

The news continued to roll in.

To stop Black Fire Innovation’s "Martinez" mothership cluster, Kyoto Infinity dispatched one of their three motherships, "Chika Island."

Constructed by Iwasaki Heavy Industries, this large mothership, along with its accompanying vessels, carried a crew of about 60,000 sailors, marine corps soldiers, and Battle Witches, commencing the interception operation against the Martinez, that is to say, conflict was imminent.

The Warmstone Sea naval battle!

To boost arms sales, Black Fire Innovation was live-streaming the battle on their company homepage.

Watching the horrific slaughter brought by modern warfare up close was a very frightening thing, but Xu Yang still switched to Black Fire Innovation’s live-stream to understand the course and outcome of the battle.

——At that moment, the Martinez was bombarding Chika Island relentlessly.

The live-stream was from Black Fire Innovation’s perspective, and from their conical space mothership platform, wave after wave of fighter jet squadrons ascended and descended, these jets hurtling towards the Chika Island in the distant blue sky, releasing an astonishing number of missiles at that floating land-like war machine.

Even as a layman in warfare, Xu Yang could see the constant explosions on Chika Island, billowing black smoke, and the passive beating it was taking.

The anti-aircraft firepower aboard Chika Island fought back frantically, but Black Fire Innovation’s fighter jets were equipped with Energy Shield Generators. As long as the pilots maintained high-speed maneuvers, the few bullets that hit would be intercepted on the spot, reducing the damage to the aircraft.

The witches’ powers were also in play; the camera from Black Fire Innovation’s side showed witches associated with metal abilities repairing damaged fighters while other witches capable of projecting long-range flames and lightning stood on magic amplification platforms, transforming their magic power into long-range, devastating torrents with notably different audiovisual effects compared to conventional weapons.

This broadcast was being enjoyed by people all around the world, with comments frantically refreshing on the side, scrolling up and down like a cascading waterfall, with people from all regions indulging in this absolute feast of slaughter with bloodthirsty commentary.

Every time a fighter jet or witch from Kyoto Infinity was shot down from the sky, the frequency of comments doubled; for them, there was nothing more thrilling.

Black Fire Innovation also timely threw out discount coupons in the live-stream, with extravagant gifts for orders over 1 million, a marketing gambit fueled by bloodshed, more effective than any loud hawking. The data showed that Black Fire Innovation had achieved military orders worth 67.3 billion funds during this marketing surge.

Witnessing the slaughter driven by capital, Xu Yang felt nothing but sadness. Farosa’s heart, however, was stirred with excitement; she felt there was no better carnival than this. Modern technology increased the efficiency of killing one’s own kind manifold, with humans showing particular cleverness when harming each other.