Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 321 - 291 Restart

Chapter 321: Chapter 291 Restart

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The night was deep and quiet.

Even though no one believed that Kyoto Infinity could continue, and no capital was willing to provide assistence, Nanase Kizuna still wanted to protect Kyoto Infinity.

She changed into a new set of clothes, put on her fox mask, and gave herself a dose of "stamp" to make her mind sharper, barefoot she walked across the wooden floor, returning to her private office like a phantom, refusing to be disturbed.

In the afternoon, she had suffered the agony of mental chaos, but now she needed to be more alert.

Nanase Kizuna sat alone in her leather chair, a person who cherished the past, satisfied by everything that had been, she took off the small cherry blossom amulet on her chest, an important relic once enshrined at the Eternal Cherry Blossom Shrine, said to be left by the reclusive Cherry Blossom Dragon and contain numerous mystical blessings and powers of the Northern Archipelago Continent.

That is to say, it was connected to the spiritual power in the earth’s ley lines.

If Sakura Witch Reisei Kirino were to perform the ritual and make good use of this power, she could create formidable samurai to protect the Archipelago, combined with the Godslayer Weapons provided as a gift from Xylophia, the Colosseum battle festival could have been her opportunity to find the most suitable investment target and become the decisive force in the war. Regrettably, it all ended, Reisei Kirino had decided to give up.

Reisei Kirino...

Nanase Kizuna couldn’t stop thinking about the past. When had it all started?

"Kizuna, the Corporate Alliance is coming to seal off the Shrine, I’ll help you escape, but you need to help me hide!",

"Kizuna, everyone’s starting companies, let’s start a studio as well, can you draw manga? Afraid of being discovered? Wear a mask."

"Kizuna, I want to use your fox magic, let me disguise myself as a man to share your burden, I’ll be the president, and everything will be fine! Look, everyone knows Nanase Kizuna is a big fox spirit, so I’ll give you my name, from now on you are Kirino Reisei!"

"Kizuna, a woman called Honma Noriko is willing to invest in us, to help us go public, wow... that’s a lot of money."

It seemed that from that moment, everything spun out of control, she could no longer draw manga as she wished, and ultimately handed over the decision-making power to capital investors who were in a hurry for profit, distancing herself from the frontline of original drawing.

Could she still draw?

Nanase Kizuna shakily picked up her old art tools and started to sketch and color on a piece of white paper. She still liked cel animation, although it had not been produced in many years.

She drew a comical young witch dressed as a shrine maiden, standing next to an iron cage containing a huge fox.

What if she had refused Honma Noriko’s investment? Nanase Kizuna wondered. The two of them could have built the best animation studio.

At that time, the third Witch War had just ended, amidst recovery and rebuilding, companies were pervasive worldwide, animation was booming, considered nonsensical comedies for children.

The anime style she and Kirino Reisei created together was more mature, the stories catered more towards adults, unable to compete for better broadcasting times, they had to air late at night on TV channels, but quickly eclipsed the popularity of prime-time animations.

Nanase Kizuna continued to draw on the paper, lost in thought.

Reisei Kirino’s tips were still vivid in her memory: make the characters’ heads and eyes large, the nose just a dot, and don’t draw the teeth. Such a character would look beautiful.

Initially, they worked honestly, but after accepting Honma Noriko’s money, it became about marketing, expansion, suppressing and destroying other anime production companies, finally becoming the number one in the world.

Nanase Kizuna silently sketched a giant robot on the paper, with huge monsters flying through the sky, young boys and girls piloting the robots to fight against ancient mysteries. Back then, everyone around the world loved robot themes, but now that robots had entered every household, they were no longer interesting.

The drive for faster capital turnover became more intense, and in haste, she also had to pressure manga artists and writers to speed up production. People who once dedicated themselves to art were now just parts in the commodity economy, overwhelmed by industrialization.

Nanase Kizuna picked up her drawing, a newcomer with five years of art archives installed in their brain could draw as well as her, except she didn’t have to risk a brain-short circuit and burnout.

She shook her head silently.

Through tireless work and dedication, she had grown Kyoto Infinity to its current status, encompassing the well-being of hundreds of millions and connecting anime fans worldwide.

If they were to fall here, it would be disgracefully unsightly.

For that reason, Nanase Kizuna decided to undertake a comprehensive reform of Kyoto Infinity.

First, accept the downgrade. She would discard the unrealistic title of "giant enterprise", a name too ostentatious that had led to many wild imaginations and unnecessary responsibilities. Currently, they controlled too vast an area; she needed to defend only the Shangjing Metropolitan Circle, this core territory, and let the other corporate cities fend for themselves.

The title of "giant enterprise" was actually set up by the Corporate Alliance to let companies manage large areas, mainly to help humans solve employment issues, control newly born witches, and hunt down remnants of mystics.

Now, Nanase Kizuna couldn’t handle it, she would let people go for flexible employment opportunities, let the witches grow freely, and allow the Mystics to hop around; Kyoto Infinity would no longer be responsible.

Second, streamline operations. Drastically cut departments that didn’t produce real benefits, ignoring the actual productivity and experience of corporate personnel, conducting mass layoffs by department to reduce the burden of enterprise expenses.

Third, withdraw from the war. There was no longer the potential or reason to fight against Black Fire Innovation, which had bombed the Shenkong Tower in Anjiu City. Since she had decided to let Anjiu City stand on its own, the entire battle was unrelated to the core of Kyoto Infinity.

Xisheng would continue to fight, Nanase Kizuna judged.

Now that they were giving up on Kyoto Infinity, they would immediately turn to support military-industrial complexes like Iwasaki Heavy Industries and Xisheng Industrial. While there was still liquidity, they would convert the financial capital of Xisheng Group into manufacturing and military capabilities.

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This could only mean one thing, awakening.

In the Xia District, Kyushu High Pavilion and Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing, backed by the retrieval of funds from Xisheng Capital, would certainly support these two behemoths. They have larger scales, more population, and a more complete manufacturing and industrial system. Like two monsters from the Eastern Hemisphere, they would not sit idly by and watch Black Fire Innovation rise at their doorstep.

Black Fire Innovation had achieved surprise victory in Anjiu City, but its main force was still caught in the tug-of-war at Pendulum Archipelago, where the frequent changing of hands made due to the island terrain resulted in tremendous losses.

At this moment, the war had solved too many problems, as nearly all the unemployed population had been drafted into military factories, expanding production capacities and achieving full employment. Everyone had work to do and no longer worried about job issues.

Nanase Kizuna took a deep breath.

If the people of Archipelago Continent desired freedom and wished to end the control of Kyoto Infinity, then she would grant freedom into the hands of the masses, to see if they were capable of using it wisely. To see if they could protect themselves without the protection of Kyoto Infinity, they would inevitably fall into great chaos.

She went to the side room, picked up the box that held the phantom form of Reisei Kirino, which was now empty. Reisei Kirino must have already left. Where would she go? Back to the Eternal Cherry Blossom Shrine?

No one had anticipated things taking this turn, but Nanase Kizuna understood deeply that regardless of how situations changed, she had to carry on with this venture. She could not afford to walk away capriciously like Reisei Kirino. She was determined to ensure the lasting presence of Kyoto Infinity.

After making plans, Nanase Kizuna instructed the Hundred-eyes Demon to go offline and began to regroup her confidants, promoting reserves into managerial positions.

She donned the fox mask securely.

She was Nanase Kizuna, an ancient Fox Spirit who had been using the name of the Sakura Witch Reisei Kirino for 120 years.

Gathering her courage, she pressed the update button on the old terminal in front of her. She needed to adapt to modern technology, to understand the profound rules governing the world, to protect all her achievements thus far, and to lead Kyoto Infinity back to the forefront, proving to the entire world its tenacious vitality and ensuring her efforts were not in vain.

In this matter, Nanase Kizuna made no concessions.

Kyoto Infinity would become smaller and weaker, but in doing so, it could pivot and, like cutting off its tail to survive, continue to exist.

Meanwhile, Xu Yang and Farosa were resting in a secret room, first working up a sweat, then sleeping for a very long time.

As Farosa slept deeply, Xu Yang slapped her thigh forcefully, asking if she wanted to lead a large group of witches.

She was drowsy from sleep and didn’t catch his words, so after sitting up, he asked her again.

"Lead a large group of witches?" Farosa asked.

"Yes," Xu Yang said, "I estimate there are about 500 witches who will soon become your subordinates. They will never betray you and will affectionately call you mother."

"That’s quite a good deal," Farosa mumbled as she laid back down to sleep. "Bring them to me quickly."

"No problem," Xu Yang nodded. "I’ll be right back."

Xu Yang took the Purple Wind for a spin around the city.

With Kyoto Infinity retracting its protection from Anjiu City, various levels of society began experiencing chaos. Overseas companies and enterprises were striking out at a stunning pace to replace and fill the void left by Kyoto Infinity’s exit.

On this front, Xu Yang’s first goal was to consolidate all the scattered witches.

Without a doubt, witches were a critical element in the current war conflicts and technological advancements—many leaps and bounds could not have been achieved without the help of witches.

He reached out to all 57 hospitals in Anjiu City, witch nurseries, and witch shelters. Most of them had lost investment from Kyoto Infinity and were facing liquidation, thus desperately needed intervention from other companies. About 50% of witches are detected for magic power traces at birth and are immediately taken by the relevant companies in their jurisdiction, where they are raised in different institutions and later sent to different corporate divisions for tasks related to combat, production, and research.

Luckily, Xu Yang had acted quickly to book in advance and offered outright buyouts. Otherwise, these witches could have all been intercepted or snatched away by other companies!

He worked against time, negotiating prices on multiple fronts. After a busy half day, he finally managed to load the witches onto the Purple Wind and took them to Shijin Mansion, while also instructing other witches in the mansion to help clean and furnish the space.

"Woo, woo..."

"About to be sold..."

"Bad people are coming..." The young, unaffiliated witches huddled in the shuttle machine, terrified as they looked at the enigmatic Xu Yang, who always kept his true identity hidden and was very low-profile outside.

"I’m taking you to a safe place," Xu Yang said as he stretched lazily. "Don’t be afraid."

Inside the company, they would be strictly guarded and suffer tremendous hardships. But Xu Yang could offer them a new environment for growth, and Farosa could provide progress in knowledge and strength.

Many floors in Shijin Mansion were still vacant, so Xu Yang converted the spacious empty rooms on floors 1 to 8 into a new haven for the witches.

When Farosa came downstairs, she saw hundreds of Little Witches, lovely and delicate, pointing at her and making remarks.

Farosa placed a hand over her heart, her head swimming with dizziness.