Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 322 - 292: A Moment in the Future

Chapter 322: Chapter 292: A Moment in the Future

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Farosa looked at each young witch, each one like her past self, as if she were looking into 100 mirrors, a sensation ineffable.

"There are also the witches we’ve already sheltered within Aizu City that will be transferred in batches to Shijin Mansion later," Xu Yang said, "Are you willing to take on the responsibility of educating and protecting them?"

"What a hassle," Farosa said.

"No matter, I’ll take over," Xu Yang explained, "They will get the best food, medical care, and education here, and work hard to grow into powerful, rational witches, maximizing their potential."

"The witches..." Farosa walked over to observe them, most had been separated from their parents from a young age and ravaged by the nurturing institutions, making them skittish as Farosa approached.

Some had been preemptively medicated with psychotropic drugs, sapping their vitality, looking sickly. Some had grooves cut in their brains for chip placement, with stitches on their skulls. Others, due to manic behavior, had their frontal lobes removed by the institutions, looking very idiomatic.

"These are the witches of this era," Farosa said as she reached out to caress these young witches, who had no chance to choose and had become what they were after being forcibly captured by the companies.

"They possess yet-to-be-revealed abilities, a variety," Xu Yang said, "There might even be Reality Manipulators among them, and if they were to be lost to other companies, it would bring much chaos to this world."

Farosa kneeled beside a thin young witch who was about 3 years old, skin and bones, with bulging eyes, it was unknown how she had been treated.

Witches can’t reproduce, so they tend to feel compassion for other young witches. Farosa took a deep breath; the young witches watched her intently, as if placing all their hope in her, making her uncomfortable.

"Troublesome, really troublesome," Farosa said, sighing repeatedly.

"It’s alright," Xu Yang said, "I’ll arrange everything."

"I can’t let fate shuttle them around," Farosa picked up a particularly cute young witch, a little mute who made strange sounds when she opened her mouth, but she quieted down after Farosa kissed her on the face.

"You said that witches have lost much of their heritage in this era," Xu Yang said, "Maybe you can pass your wisdom on to them."

Farosa thought of the Seven Witches in her care, each deeply conflicted with the companies. If these young witches were bought by other companies, it would lead to a lifetime tragedy.

The naughty, adorable, and innocent young witches made Farosa feel rare compassion. Could she one day have the power to soothe and guide a real group of young witches to grow? Farosa felt very strange, a sense of mission arising like never before. Apart from herself, no one else was obliged to do so.

"Humph, you leave me no choice," Farosa feigned reluctance, "then let me take care of these orphaned witches."

"This is just the first batch, there are hundreds more to come, are you sure you can handle them all?"

"I am very capable," Farosa smiled, "Don’t worry."

Farosa was a child who had been hurt in her youth. Xu Yang mused. Only by stepping into the role of a mother, could she recover from the shadows and heal herself.

As Xu Yang anticipated, Farosa bent down and gently took care of each young witch; they babbled in her hands.

Farosa had never thought that she could one day take on such a responsibility, to enable their proper growth; she found it too wondrous. These fragile young witches were too naïve, constantly overlapping with the diminutive self in her memories.

Protecting them was protecting the self from a thousand years ago.

"But you must not torment them against their will," Xu Yang warned Farosa, "nor should you transmit to them any extreme ideologies."

"I don’t have any extreme thoughts," Farosa had the young witches line up by height and age, planning to find an older one to be an assistant, "What I want is to become the strongest at all costs, the smartest, and also possess the greatest power. Both will take centuries to achieve, and I must ascend to gain such longevity."

"Perhaps in the process, you can make yourself whole," Xu Yang said.

Farosa gave a slight smile and looked down. These words made her comfortable; Xu Yang was willing to understand her damage and strove to heal it, there was no better experience.

She picked out the oldest among them, a young witch of only 9 years old named Yibo Xingshu, whose magic power was a hair-falling curse, with anyone touched by her magic losing a small amount of hair.

Having Yibo Xingshu register the names of the young witches, Farosa took Xu Yang to the hallway outside.

"Now I’m truly starting to do something of my own," Farosa sighed, "Before this, it was always wandering or chaos."

"The next step for Black Fire Innovation is not clear, with potential enemies in every direction, we must always be watchful," Xu Yang spoke solemnly.

"What about our next step?" Farosa asked.

"We had a three-step plan before; the first step was to survive, the second to carve out a living space, and finally to cross into the next era, establishing a new world. We have completed the first two steps, so next is to unite the world, defeat all the giant corporations and the Ancient Mystics," Xu Yang said.

"That means managing all the people of the world," Farosa reflected.

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"It’s different, if we want to implement new ideas and achieve comprehensive development for people, perhaps the forms of rule from the old era are no longer suitable, a brand-new governance plan is necessary."

"You mean..."

"Leaderless dragons," Xu Yang said, "I came across this fascinating concept back when I was attending the company’s school."

"Dragons without a leader, wouldn’t that be troublesome?" Farosa asked, puzzled.

"Not at all, leaderless dragons, because everyone is like a dragon. It’s an abstract concept. The dragon represents the optimal state of being, with ample wisdom, capability, and a state of mind... It’s essential for everyone to grow to this extent. This is the ideal state, so I believe there’s nothing more worthwhile to pursue. With our current technological strength, it’s entirely achievable, it’s just that the old forces refuse to transform themselves."

"So where do I go? I need to find some people to bully, or else I don’t feel at ease," Farosa frowned.

"I’ll take you to see the stars," Xu Yang said, "you need greater wisdom and power, and eventually you’ll have to ascend to the stars to find that which controls the fate of the witch’s reincarnation. Otherwise, you’ll be forever just roaming the ground."

"Yes," Farosa murmured, "if we can’t leave this land, we’ll end up trapped here, making no progress."

"As long as we don’t enter the space era, our civilization will hit a dead end. The company sees this clearly now, to develop they have to attack others, plunder the assets of other companies, but that only solves the immediate crisis. In a few decades when the conflicts become acute again, we’ll have to develop another great war. Why must we keep engaging in these meaningless wars? We must transcend the Cyber Era."

"That’d be quite interesting," Farosa contemplated, "to transcend the limits of an age, how cool is that. And by the way, take out the Mond family."

When Farosa read past stories, she too envied the great changes the Witch Empresses brought to the world. Hence, in this era, the one and only Empress as well should be remembered by future generations.

"Ancient Mystics, companies, both are decaying, stinking things," Farosa held a deep grudge as she remembered being fooled by Lunar Fire Mond’s illusions, "I will lead a new gathering of witches to destroy them."

"Just start with what’s in front of you," Xu Yang said, "establish a general direction and then take it step by step."

"Right," Farosa turned around, "first get the young witches a uniform set of clothes, mini-skirts and white socks."

Xu Yang had other matters to attend to, he went to find Lila, as the Nestor Corporation was at the core of development at this time.

Owing to the strong call to avoid war, Anjiu City currently tends toward neutrality, thereby gaining the opportunity to rebuild its ruins.

If Nestor Corporation could take charge of the reconstruction of various public infrastructure projects, it would naturally reap many benefits. The rebuilding of streets, ports, and airports all required manpower and funds. Farosa had intended to revive the dead to accumulate miracles, but since most people’s souls had been seized by Yama and turned into evil light cannons, she dropped that idea.

People hoped the newly built Anjiu City would be more suitable for human habitation, a basic demand to reduce industrial pollution and the deprivation of sunlight from ultra-high buildings, and to lessen the impacts of heavy rain and urban flooding.

Nestor Corporation would inherit many projects and plans in this process. Of course, repairing the entire city would take many years, but they already had a relatively neutral and peaceful external environment to accumulate strength.

Lila was naturally very happy to see Xu Yang, her face, initially stern, was continuously typing into the terminal screen. But the moment she saw Xu Yang, her expression instantly changed from indifference to shyness.

Although she couldn’t utter a single word, it was almost as if all the words of affection had already been said. Xu Yang and Lila stayed in the office for a long time, during which only food was delivered by robots.

Meanwhile, in the distant Xisheng Shrine, Honma Noriko opened a secret file.

Kyoto Infinity collapsed, Black Fire Innovation rebelled, Modern Entertainment had fallen out of favor years ago, her heavily invested three major enterprises had disintegrated one after another. This made her seriously doubt her own judgment.

She couldn’t help but repeatedly watch the beginning of the collapse of Modern Entertainment Company: the headquarters building being burned, a video from a long time ago.

In the dimly lit room, employees of Modern Entertainment coerced a girl group member to enter.

"Let me go!" she screamed.

She was the outstanding newcomer who had made a splash upon her debut, named Wei Shiyue.

"It’s no use performing. Although your singing is great, and you’re the prettiest of your peers, if you want to make it in this industry, you have to stay and accompany the boss, understand?"

They pushed Wei Shiyue onto the sofa, and various men with silver masks consecutively entered, ready to devour this naive young beauty.

"How dare you do this to me!" she shouted, "I’ve had enough!"

Moonlight twinkled, making Honma Noriko squint her eyes.

A roar erupted, and the headquarters of Modern Entertainment were engulfed by moonlight flames.

The Silla Region fell into chaos, many Silla people fled to the Northern Archipelago to work... That was already three years ago.