Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 316 - 286: Invisible Imperial Guard

Chapter 316: Chapter 286: Invisible Imperial Guard

Xu Yang worked from a guest room at Tanaka Intelligence Company.

Taro Tanaka seldom hosted overnight guests, and all the smart furniture in the room was encountering a guest for the first time in two to three years. Xu Yang had to start from scratch to set up many features before he could barely create a better work environment.

Due to unavoidable infrastructure damage, the network signal was average, and he had to remain patient in order to gather information. If the workplace had been any more rudimentary, he would’ve had to find somewhere else to work.

Leaning his back against an aluminum bed frame covered by printed cotton, his neck connected to a cable that charged his implants, the Digital Mind continued to operate in his brain, projecting a semi-transparent visual screen in front of him. His processor was fully functional, increasing his body temperature. Warm sun-like lights lit up the entirety of the surroundings, creating a cozy atmosphere.

By noon in the room, a floating eyeball robot had arrived, carrying a solid wood tray in its two mechanical arms. On it were four large bowls, including chicken and rice, tamagoyaki, sushi rolls, and tuna slices—none of them fresh, all pre-cooked semi-finished products that had been stored for a long time, ready to heat and eat.

It was while Xu Yang persisted with his work in the underground room and ate preservable food that Kanako sent him an email.

He opened the mail to find an animated photo.

There was Kanako, smiling and standing on the beach, wearing a bikini, one hand holding up a camera, the other making a victory sign. The whole beach was broad and white, the shore stretching far into the distance, the trees swaying, partially hiding several modern luxury buildings with lavish styles. Several luxury shuttle machines were lined up by the edge of the beach, under the care of stewards, the security personnel dressed neatly. Besides Kanako, there were a dozen or so men and women walking on the beach, some of whom had already taken to the sea on yachts, enjoying the thrill of speed under the clear blue sky.

They had somehow already escaped overseas.

Xu Yang opened the photo attachment which contained an audio message:

"Safe! Don’t worry! Hope to see you!" Kanako’s voice was cheerful.

Xu Yang scanned the faces of the people other than Kanako and performed a facial search on them, confirming his suspicions—these people were all Honma Noriko’s descendants, much younger than Kanako, her children, nieces, and nephews, the young generation of the entire family, in the prime of their lives.

He also searched online for the beach and discovered that Kanako and the others had already reached the Catalan Coast in the Isbania Region, located in the Taixi Continent, within the jurisdiction of the Iris Group’s company, at a scenic resort destination.

12,000 kilometers from Anjiu City.

To avoid the war, the children of Xisheng had fled from the Eastern Hemisphere to the Western Hemisphere in one breath. Even if the Archipelago Continent was scorched to nothing by Black Fire Innovation, it wouldn’t harm their safety in the slightest, Xu Yang thought. The capital and technology they took with them must also be countless.

Honma Noriko, being of advanced age, probably had not evacuated with the younger ones and might still be in the Xisheng Shrine, continuing to act as the head of the entire family.

This was also a wise decision; even if Kyoto Infinity fell, the Xisheng system’s capital could be transferred to the Taixi Continent or elsewhere. Even if the core members were lost, the children of Xisheng could still inherit and expand the family wealth overseas—Xisheng’s assets would be preserved no matter what.

This is why modern rebellions often fail to achieve results, Xu Yang reflected. Not only do entrepreneurs have strong armaments, but they can find allies all over the world.

In contrast, resisters can only contact comrades within their own area, and might get captured before they manage to connect with many others. The internet was meant to be a tool for connecting ideas, to flatten the cost of communication, but the surface web has been penetrated by corporate surveillance, while the deep anonymous web is a completely chaotic, mad zone, difficult to use effectively.

Kanako sent another message with a ticket that allowed Xu Yang to take a top-secret flight. It would depart from a private airport in the suburbs of Anjiu City, a one-way ticket to the Taixi Continent.

A clean break.

Xu Yang shook his head and deleted it. He wouldn’t leave the Archipelago Continent until everything had settled. They, along with Xylophia, had all gone, leaving the ordinary people behind.

He checked the current situation, which was improving. As A40 publicly released its manifesto, the citizens of the city were gradually developing the consciousness to rise and resist.

In this particular environment, bullets were much cheaper than food. The owners of the various gun stores in the city exchanged opinions and decided to open up their stores, providing an unlimited supply, and slashing prices in a fire sale. Guns from different brands and companies around the world were sold off, ending up in the hands of the citizens.

Guerilla fighters slowly formed groups. Many who were once part of the Kyoto Infinity system now organized themselves by units, offices, and departments, forming a large number of self-defense groups by nature.

If Kyoto Infinity managed to retake the city, they imagined it would harshly blame them for not defending company assets during the conflict, so these company people decided to go all in, agreeing among themselves that even after the defensive battle ended, they must stay united and never become turncoats bowing to Kyoto Infinity. They resolved to keep a unified stance and line, holding their guns firmly.

As a result, the "Citizen Army" composed of company employees and volunteer civilians gradually took shape, but there was yet no coordination or command, only acting out of spontaneous ideology and fighting spirit, without any unified agenda.

They focused on three things: first was to resolutely repel the enemies invading Anjiu City, second was to cover the evacuation of the weak, women, and children from the city, and third was to collect as much food, clean water, and medical supplies as possible. On these stances, the Citizen Army and the original self-organized groups in the suburbs reached a consensus, sharing what they had.

Thanks to the prevalence of video media, local channels often showed people uploading their dangerous situations seeking help. There were also suggestions that parts of the city were severely damaged and had lost network communication, recommending those capable to go check and offer aid.

At the same time, A40 shared with Xu Yang some very unsettling news.

"The Black Fire Innovation’s military planes have arrived," it sneakily captured the situation on the airbase’s runway.

Xu Yang’s brows furrowed upon seeing the condition of the runway.

This was going to be difficult.

Row upon row of brand-new, advanced fighter jets were arrayed in the center of the airport. Due to Martinez’s successful breakthrough, a deadly gap had appeared in Kyoto Infinity’s defense zone. Black Fire Innovation had managed to send a reinforcement troop to Anjiu City, with a total of 24 fighter jets and 6 heavy transport shuttle machines parked on the runway.

Soldiers were continuously transporting materials, and those fighter jets were making final preparations, ready to take off at any moment and launch a new round of attacks.

In other words, the terrifying bombing of Black Fire Innovation.

If they were to recklessly unleash their firepower, then all plans and the future would dissolve into bubbles. The local anti-air troops had already been decimated in the first wave of air raids, so they had to find a way to destroy these fighter jets inside the airbase! They could not allow them to take to the skies!

Once they took off, everything would be over...

And they couldn’t directly deploy the Witch Division. At this stage, their power could only be used at the most critical moment.

After all, every front was being recorded and reported by neutral media. After missing out on the big news of Yama’s killing, they drew the attention of everyone in the world with an interest to the Anjiu City airbase. It wasn’t suitable for the Witch Division to be exposed to the public eye; they were still better suited to operate in the shadows.

Not a minute could be wasted, these Black Fire fighter jets could launch at any moment and turn the city into a deadly sea of fire.

So action had to be taken.

"You need to attack quickly," Xu Yang said, "Once these warplanes are ready, Black Fire Innovation will have the capacity to launch another invasion, and at that time Anjiu City will be completely bombed into ruins."

"No, we are all light warriors, lacking heavy firepower!" A40 was anxious, "Many brave samurais have also been called back by their respective companies, one after another. Only the most reliable fellas want to continue fighting, wanting to protect the city!"

Indeed, the Colosseum samurais excelled in melee combat, but when faced with dense gunfire from Black Fire Innovation’s troops, the majority would fall on the path of assault before they could even fight and be killed.

"Rest assured, the city’s heroes won’t be engulfed by firepower," Xu Yang communicated, "I’ll reroute our shuttle machines and other troops over to cover your assault."

With Xu Yang’s command, Innovation and White Smoke took off one after the other, heading towards the airbase. New Aizuwakamatsu Security Company and The Flying Birds Group were also entering the fight, with troops from all directions starting to converge, ready to thoroughly take down the airbase as the key hub.

Once the airbase was recaptured, Black Fire Innovation’s assaulters would be completely isolated without reinforcements, and in the end, they could only be encircled and annihilated!

Innovation fired a shot, signaling the start of the offensive.

Under Mizuiro Yoshioka’s piloting, the autocannon fired at the enemy camp inside the airbase from a kilometer away, missiles streaked towards the airbase, not to attack the airplanes themselves but to bomb the runway!

Shuttle machines were capable of vertical takeoff and landing, but Black Fire Innovation’s fighter jets required a long runway to launch. With successive explosive sounds, craters were blasted into the runway, instantly eliminating the enemy planes’ possibility of taking off to counterattack.

Black Fire Innovation’s pilots could only order engineers to carry out rapid repairs. As long as one fighter jet could take off, they were confident they could crush the unexpectedly arriving combat shuttle machines.

Meanwhile, Lila personally piloted White Smoke, releasing all its 12 "Revenge-7" hovering cannons. Each cannon was loaded with potent firepower, using energy ammunition. The corps of hovering cannons formed a battery, bombarding the airbase.

Boom! Boom!

It was like a downpour of purple magic rain! Continuous explosions sounded as each energy bomb detonated within the airbase. Wherever they passed, they caused intense explosions, with Black Fire Innovation’s soldiers constantly caught in the bombings and instantly blown to pieces.

"Aahhh—"

"Help!"

"We’re under attack!" Black Fire Innovation’s soldiers immediately began to regroup, searching for cover and executing a counterattack.

Two members of the Invisible Imperial Guard entered the battlefield, one after the other, clad in fully enclosed heavy armor, wielding large sniper rifles, with steady postures. As soon as they appeared, the morale of Black Fire Innovation’s soldiers suddenly recovered.

They had never seen the Invisible Imperial Guard defeated before.