Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 269 - 241 Mercenaries

Chapter 269: Chapter 241 Mercenaries

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The Poison Master donned expensive composite film gloves, took the deadly poison from the black bottle, and dotted it on the famed blade "Fury"; the toxin left a mark on the cutting edge.

"I’ve heard that there are even more terrifying methods in the Colosseum’s matches," the Poison Master said.

"Of course," Xu Yang replied, "in the Colosseum Combat Arena, the stakes for each deathmatch are enormous, usually involving corporate assets worth hundreds of millions. In that situation, the only acceptable outcome is ’victory.’"

The Poison Master received a warning; the perimeter sentinels observed a large number of unidentified vehicles racing straight towards the factory with obvious malicious intent.

"They’re here!" She immediately sounded the alarm.

The piercing alarm rang throughout the inside and outside of the factory. Members of the Self Help Society began to run and hide inside, people in the market hurriedly closed up shop, and members skilled in shooting rushed to the perimeter, each taking up positions at the windows, preparing to defend the decrepit factory and intercept the enemy—chaos ensued.

"Fight, fight," A40 said.

"And you?" The Poison Master turned to Xu Yang, "Will you help? The people here aren’t ready for combat."

"I’m not here to help," Xu Yang said, "on the contrary, I’m going to take your important combatant A40 away."

"Please," the Poison Master implored, "if you can help the Self Help Society get through this crisis, I’ll agree to whatever demands you make."

In her eyes, Xu Yang was still a faceless person wearing a mask and heavy gear, which made him even more enigmatic to her; he was a complete mystery.

Hearing the Poison Master’s words, Du Qianqian displayed a playful expression, her eyes slyly shifting between the Poison Master and Xu Yang’s faces. She enjoyed seeing those who were once haughty become submissive and humble, hoping Xu Yang would take the Poison Master down and see how long the woman could hold out.

"I have a condition in exchange, but let’s talk about it after the fight," Xu Yang stood up.

Outside, a large troop of mercenaries called "Chaos Legion" had already arrived.

Eisuke Shiraishi had insured his own life; if he died, the message and location would be uploaded to the bounty website, ensuring someone would avenge him. Now, ready to collect their reward, "Chaos Legion" had determined that the alarm device on the corpse and cash card was located within the factory in front of them. They decided to storm in, by all means, to find Eisuke Shiraishi’s body, annihilate everyone inside the factory, avenge Eisuke Shiraishi, and then return with a full recording to claim the reward from the bounty escrow organization.

"Move into combat formation!"

"Split and advance!"

"Prepare heavy firepower!" Orders were continuously issued over the squad’s communication channel.

This troop of mercenaries had performed excellently in various operations, and many mid-to-large companies in the vicinity were willing to hire such a valiant force to eliminate and take over business rivals through physical means.

Xu Yang connected to the factory’s outdated surveillance system; a camera hung on the tattered perimeter wall, but as soon as he accessed the device, a sniper among the mercenaries took it out with a single shot.

"What do we do?" Du Qianqian could see the images Xu Yang streamed, she had just glimpsed the convoy rushing down the highway when the screen abruptly turned into a jumble of snowy dots, accompanied by a grating noise, which made her heart skip a beat.

"It’s fine." Xu Yang didn’t need to observe the enemy’s movements in real-time; he had only glanced at the scene before the feed was cut, and his brain processor had already recorded all the information, knowing the enemy’s numbers and layout.

Xu Yang scanned for available network access points in the direction they were coming from.

The senior members of the mercenaries were equipped with anti-scan implants to avoid hacking attacks; simple firewalls were also installed on their flying vehicles to filter and guard against external information assaults. A cacophony of signals was transmitted amidst the entire mercenary group, maintaining the integrity of the combat communication system.

Constant communication was vital for the mercenaries, as they were always in a state almost akin to a skirmish. Fortunately, as long as the communication was uninterrupted, no matter what form of attack they faced, they could instantly respond as one, preventing any isolation among the combatants.

What seemed to be a well-thought-out arrangement had its vulnerabilities. The channel the mercenaries used for information exchange was unreliable; 20% of the troops were new recruits without sufficient funds to equip themselves with high-quality implants, making them easy targets for Xu Yang to hack as "zombie hosts."

In the blink of an eye, "Chaos Legion" had made their assault.

Bang! Bang!

Gunshots rang out continuously.

Inside the factory, members of the Self Help Society were desperately defending. They fired a few shots causing minimal casualties, only to receive an instant tenfold barrage of gunfire in response!

Vehicle-mounted machine guns and unmanned drones poured bullets into every window of the factory, forcing members of the Self Help Society to flee from their firing positions, filled with anxiety and under tremendous pressure.

"They’re done for," Du Qianqian turned her head, observing many people trying to flee like rabbits through the back door.

"Don’t rush," Xu Yang closed his eyes.

At that moment, aboard a large all-terrain vehicle, a young mercenary stood up from his seat, steadying the "Dragon Sparrow-4" assault rifle in his hands, calmly observing the factory’s situation through a high-powered scope, thinking himself a capable soldier. If anyone appeared at the windows, they would be instantly killed by him.

He wanted to establish his merit during the operation, to gain the trust of the veterans through his outstanding performance, not realizing that his implant system had already been hacked by Xu Yang, turning him into a relay station for forwarding malicious packages.

"Reporting to the captain, I—" As he communicated over the squad’s channel, he abruptly discovered that he was uncontrollably blasting his team with all kinds of scrambled software programs.

"Fuck! Stop!"

"What is this?"

"What are you sending over?"

"Stop sending!"

Chaos!

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Members who accessed the mercenaries’ communication channel were overcome with dizziness and a rapidly increasing processor load, forced to handle a flood of useless information. Malicious software packets replicated wildly in their data storages, already limited in capacity and now crippled, leaving no room for their own thoughts.

Even with top-tier processors and neural storages, those affected were in agony, let alone the majority with significantly outdated firmware and processing systems. They fell into serious disarray under such a unique and forceful hacker attack.

"The ’Chaos Legion,’ has truly become a complete mess," Du Qianqian said bravely as she approached the window to observe the chaos outside.

"Small-time stuff." Xu Yang used to handle network offenses and defenses twenty times more complex than this when he went to work.

A vehicle lost control and crashed into the wall encircling the factory, exploding instantaneously.

Boom!

Flames burst into the air, and smoke billowed from the wreckage.

Hearing the deafening noise, members of the Self Help Society rushed to look outside. Seeing the mercenaries in a near-death state, they were energized, seizing their weapons to attack, and their counteroffensive became much more efficient, leaving many shot dead in their vehicles.

"Ahhhh—"

"Move out!"

"Full retreat!" the mercenaries’ leader felt utter despair.

His safety consciousness was naturally higher than the others, having invested tens of thousands in his implants, which led him to sober up sooner. Seeing the situation was beyond control, he picked up the wailing driver and threw him into the back seat, then took the wheel himself, turning the vehicle 180 degrees to lead the able members in retreat.

"Where is the enemy!" A40 heroically leaped over the wall, cutting down any surviving mercenaries.

Amidst fierce gunfire, A40’s figure flitted like a specter, nimbly utilizing vehicles as cover, leaping from car top to car top, his blade whirling constantly, bringing a storm of blood as though darting across rocks in the sea.

Ravaged by A40’s manic assault, over half of the mercenary force was brutally slain, with only a handful able to retreat.

"Oooh!"

"We actually won—" members of the Self Help Society were dumbstruck.

To them, the fierce attackers melted away as suddenly as bubbles hitting a wall!

The Poison Master ran out of the factory gates excitedly, looking at the burning vehicles outside. The attackers’ supplies and corpses lay beyond the factory walls, with none even approaching within 200 steps of the Self Help Society.

Now, the Self Help Society had secured a foothold in the suburbs, making any other forces reconsider before plotting against them.

"We won!" She couldn’t hide her elation and quickly climbed the metal staircase to where Xu Yang was.

Xu Yang leaned against the wall, his gaze fixed on the rising black flames outside the wall. A40 was still moving through the attackers’ convoy, seeking out those not yet dead to deliver their final blow.

"You must have seen," Du Qianqian announced to the Poison Master, "understand? We are the rulers of this world."

"Still don’t see what use you are." The Poison Master refused to yield to Du Qianqian but turned to Xu Yang, "Thank you! Thank you! If it weren’t for your help, this place might have been smashed to pieces by the violent group. But it survived, and it will become a sanctuary for many in the future."

"Remember what we talked about before?" Xu Yang said.

"Of course," the Poison Master removed her mask, revealing her plump lips and even more enticing appearance, "I agree to any terms."

She placed one hand on her hip and tiptoed her right foot.

"I’ll take two bottles of your poison with me," Xu Yang said.

"Oh." The Poison Master said, "Of course, please do."

"When I was checking on those company people," Xu Yang said, "I checked on you too."

"..." The Poison Master went silent.

"Your real name is Iijima Riyu," he said, "because of a personal vendetta, you used magic-powered toxins to kill 128 of your company members, with a bounty of 5.8 million in funds on your head. You single-handedly destroyed a corporation."

"Every company is an institution that breeds selfish monsters." The Poison Master’s voice was husky, "I couldn’t tolerate the stench and continue coexisting with them. The humiliation and harm I suffered were unbearable."

"I’ll give you a contact." Xu Yang wrote down a number on a small piece of paper, "It’s a bit complicated. You’ll need to go through two layers of verification programs, controlled by me, on the deep anonymous network before you can get through to her phone."

"...Who is this?" the Poison Master scrutinized, "What is this, some kind of talent intermediary?"

"The savior of the Witch," Du Qianqian said.

"And the two of you men are acquainted with the Witch’s savior?" The Poison Master was incredulous.

"Is that so?" Du Qianqian’s appearance shifted slightly, from a boy to a more mature man, then to a comely woman of the same age, "What do you think?"

"..." The Poison Master nodded slightly.

"You must listen to her voice with reverence, and then you will receive enlightenment," Du Qianqian said, "She ensured the Witch’s glorious future."

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