Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 284 - 256 Daytime

Chapter 284: Chapter 256 Daytime

From every angle, this was an exquisitely crafted letter, with the machine printing ink on plasticized cardstock. When Xu Yang turned it over, he quickly saw more from Xylophia—a poem she had written for Farosa, quite brief. Xu Yang read it silently to himself.

"’Daytime’"

We ended the absurd feast, extinguishing the leaping flames.

A wisp of smoke lingered after the long night, mountains and flowers arose.

Ever since you arrived among us, everything has changed.

For you are the daytime, making the stars fade away."

The machine had replicated Xylophia’s handwriting, her strokes full and skilled, akin to a calligrapher. The entire letter and the poem on its back could be considered a work of art. Xu Yang took great care in storing it, never even considering folding it, preparing to pass it on to Farosa.

"Godslayer Weapon." Xu Yang mused, "If the champions of the Colosseum could get their hands on it, the reward for the competition would be a bit too generous."

"The important thing is," Kanako said with a look of regret, "that it’s likely to end up in my mother’s hands. Mom sent Yanagawa Fumihiko to compete, and no one can beat him."

Xu Yang switched to the list of the top 32 competitors in this edition of the Colosseum tournament.

The whole competition was divided into four parts: the Western Upper Region, the Western Lower Region, the Eastern Upper Region, and the Eastern Lower Region, with A40 currently located in the Eastern Upper Region.

He quickly identified the strong contenders in each of the four divisions.

Western Upper Region: Han Shishan from Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing, Kamihara Shiori from the Tenjouin Family.

Western Lower Region: the Epoch Titan Robot from Ultimate Technology Company.

Eastern Upper Region: A40, Black Storm, Galatite Combat Robot from Pioneer Armed Company.

Eastern Lower Region: Yanagawa Fumihiko from Xisheng Investment Group, Juki Toaka, the Female Ninja from Kyoto Infinity.

"Even if A40 can break out from the Eastern Upper Region, it will encounter Yanagawa Fumihiko." Xu Yang said, "This will push its chances of winning the championship to the lowest margin."

"Of course, if it’s A40, there’s absolutely no possibility of defeating Yanagawa Fumihiko." Kanako said helplessly, "In the early days of Xisheng’s expansion, many opportunities were carved out by Yanagawa Fumihiko, cut by cut. He has always loyally followed my mother, gradually becoming one of the world’s top cyborg samurai."

"His participation is like dimensionally reducing the competition for all the other contestants." Xu Yang found it troublesome.

If they couldn’t defeat Yanagawa Fumihiko, A40 would be eliminated in defeat, and the chance to win the Colosseum championship would have to be handed over.

"The family has its own plans," Kanako said, "to deepen Xisheng’s control over Archipelago Continent. Sending Yanagawa Fumihiko to compete also serves this purpose; if he wins the championship, people’s recognition of Xisheng will strengthen. Originally, we planned to support Black Fire Innovation to sweep through everything, but they ended up rebelling, and I have no idea where they got their confidence from."

"It probably has something to do with the disappearance of the Martinez," Xu Yang reflected, "The news mentioned the company lost track of the Martinez."

"It’s terrifying," Kanako murmured, "Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine. That space mothership had the Reality Manipulator, the Battle Witch on board, along with countless advanced fighter jets, missiles, and nuclear weapons, yet it suddenly vanished from the sea, causing the next step of the strategy to be unforthcoming..."

"I’ll pass on this letter first," Xu Yang reassured her, "Don’t worry, take care of yourself, Kanako."

"Hmm!" Kanako nodded and flashed a cute expression, "We’ll talk more later!"

Kanako’s signal dropped from the secret communication channel. Xu Yang inspected this encrypted call line and found some suspicious unauthorized access attempts, as if someone was trying to track his and Kanako’s secret channel. The other party was also a skilled hacker; these probes left no trace, meaning the communication with Kanako was no longer secure.

Did the Xisheng Family catch onto something? Xu Yang thought. It’s time to change to a new communication channel with Kanako, who must be under surveillance 24/7, both overtly and covertly. Even if she was cautious, she lacked the technical knowledge to set up complete precautions.

The deep web might be a good relay station, but Xu Yang worried Kanako wouldn’t know how to use it. Its content wasn’t indexed by conventional search engines, nor linked by the surface web, and all information was encrypted, which already excluded most internet users worldwide.

Beyond that, the deep web had no publicly agreed-upon rules, with only experienced users, hackers, and cyber security personnel jostling against each other, eventually establishing rules like those of a dark jungle society. Anyone daring to reveal their true information would be torn to shreds and devoured clean by others on the anonymous web.

After all, it seemed he would have to build a peer-to-peer encrypted link himself.

While thinking about the deep web, Xu Yang checked the Cyber Specter discussion threads, which had been taken over by a number of artists. They were very interested in this theme, making it a forum to showcase avant-garde art, with illustrations of cyberpunk from a bygone era in black and white bitmaps or high-resolution watercolor paintings, including mechanized animals, cities under glass barriers, and deconstructed deities.

Romance and the unromantic were intermingled. As he walked toward Farosa’s secret chamber, Xu Yang looked at the portraits. Art established a subtle, indescribable connection between artists and appreciators in a deeply personal way.

Next to her workstation, Farosa had crafted a delicate wooden barrel with a white iron faucet at its base. She sat in front of her desk, lost in thought. Xu Yang removed the lid of the barrel to find it brimming with cola, ice cubes sinking, and lemon slices floating.

"I have a letter for you," Xu Yang handed Farosa the letter from Xylophia, "Entrusted to me, it must be delivered into your hands."

Farosa seemed to awaken from a dream, her eyelashes fluttering sharply as she glanced over the envelope, then took it. Recognizing Xylophia’s handwriting yet hesitant to believe, she laid the letter flat on the desk to read. After reading, Farosa was not pleased.

"Who does she think she is?" Farosa’s tone was cold and scornful, "Who allowed her to dispose of my Godslayer Weapon like this? I told her to take good care of it, but she handed it over to mortals."

"Angry?" Xu Yang found it interesting.

"The taste of betrayal," emphasized Farosa, "I told Xylophia that a thousand years ago, I entrusted the Godslayer Weapon to her because I trusted her. I believed our relationship was strong enough that she would maintain that vow. Instead, she gave the weapon to the company to become a prize in a combat tournament... It’s a shame. I misjudged her."

"There’s more on the back of the letter," Xu Yang said.

Farosa frowned, flipped the letter over, and quickly read through the poem. Her previously clenched hand relaxed, and she sank into silence in her chair.

"Why write a poem?" she asked, "Why write such a poem?"

"She seems rather cultured," Xu Yang said.

"She is old, the oldest Witch I knew at the time."

Farosa closed her eyes as if digesting the impact of Xylophia’s poem.

"She compares you to daylight," Xu Yang said.

"That’s because I am young," Farosa opened her eyes and sighed, "Ah, I was the last to join their ranks. Xylophia was already 190 years old, and I am only 17 now, so she thinks of me as the day. She hopes I can dispel the shadows of the past, a kind of hope an old woman has for the younger generation."

"Look at it another way, 1190 and 1017 seem not that far apart," Xu Yang remarked.

"I must have frozen my age; she might not have," said Farosa.

"It’s well written, only someone who likes you very much would write such a poem," Xu Yang sat on the table and read the poem from Xylophia to Farosa again, "Farosa, you are the day, making the stars fade away."

"Why don’t you write a poem for me?" Farosa looked at Xu Yang.

"I’ve already given you my heart; adding a poem would seem insubstantial by comparison," Xu Yang said.

"Stop saying things that make me feel embarrassed," Farosa coiled the letter around her finger, using her index finger as a sleeve to roll it into a scroll. She silently observed the holographic candle that was part of her Middle Ages Atmosphere Secret Chamber. The fake candlelight had no smoke, nor the natural flicker, but displayed a looped flame image every 15 seconds.

"So, do you want to show up and meet her?" Xu Yang asked, "By giving the Godslayer Weapon to the tournament, she’s clearly trying to provoke you, to lure you out."

Farosa propped her elbow on the desk, resting her forehead on her hand.

"Let’s make three preparations," she said.

"Two preparations are impressive enough, where do you get three?" Xu Yang laughed.

"The first preparation is the Seven Witches plan," Farosa began tidying up her desk, "I’ve deciphered 95% of the stele’s content and have roughly figured out how to go to Nangong Island. Let’s go now and find Pan Ruiyi."

"It’s a bit sudden," Xu Yang pondered, "but it’s time. Pan Ruiyi is in such a dangerous place; she could die at any moment."

"The second preparation is Gladiator A40," said Farosa, "I hope it can keep winning and directly secure the Godslayer Weapon, avoiding many complications."

"Once you leave, you won’t be able to heal its injuries. It will be difficult to last long," Xu Yang said.

"That’s why we need a third preparation," Farosa stuffed the letter into a drawer, "If A40 can’t win, we’ll just take the Godslayer Weapon by force. That’s why we must find Pan Ruiyi first to ensure strength. Let’s set off for Nangong Island."