Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 350 - 319 Young Witch’s Dormitory

Chapter 350: Chapter 319 Young Witch’s Dormitory

Xu Yang took Du Qianqian back and, after discussing with Lila, realized that the wedding security contract was indeed viable and practically a must-take.

After all, Nestor Corporation still owed Enomoto Bank a billion in loans. Although they didn’t have to repay it now, they needed to prove the company had a healthy cash flow to prevent the bank from calling in the loan early. Backed by Xisheng, they couldn’t afford to fall out with Enomoto Bank at this stage and needed to maintain an image of healthy operations.

"We still need one to two hundred million in working capital," Lila pointed out, "Let’s aim to fully operate the company and accumulate a substantial amount of funds before Lady Farosa performs the ceremony."

"There aren’t many options left for us," Xu Yang pondered, "If we consider financing, that means borrowing more debt from banks, but banks have tightened their financing channels and raised the bar for loan approvals, making borrowing nearly impossible. Otherwise, we could go for equity financing by trading some ownership for funds, but if things get to that point, it’d mean we’re at the end of our rope."

"We’re currently operating independently, rejecting external investment," Lila said, "Once we start inviting external capital, destruction or corruption could occur."

"Our parent company should handle its own affairs, always fully controlled by you," Xu Yang said, "However, the synthetic human enterprise I’m collaborating with Taro Tanaka on, we could invite Kanako as an investor to dilute our equity and expand our production scale."

"She’s short-sighted." Lila didn’t like Kanako and had sensed something off about Xu Yang.

"But Kanako has money, and she’s our friend," Xu Yang nodded.

"You want her to join our system?"

"Of course, being a public safety service provider in Anjiu City is a big deal, and we’re being watched by many people."

"They can’t defeat us."

"Yes, we’re not afraid of corporate warfare," Xu Yang said, "But there are many moves in the capital game. Even if entrepreneurs can’t defeat us outright, they will go all out to support our competitors, overtly and covertly competing with us. Once those unscrupulous entrepreneurs join in and oppose us at every turn, we won’t have the energy to attend to our own matters. That’s why Kanako is so important. After all, any intelligent external capital wanting to fight for the local market will check out Nestor Corporation first, and once they see the name Kojima Kanako, they’ll weigh their own strength."

Lila nodded. She could analyze it, but she didn’t like it—the more she knew about these so-called stakeholder relationships, the more repulsed she felt.

"Given the current situation," Xu Yang said, "we still need to find a way to earn the forty million at hand, let’s first get clear information about Hosoda Yoshiyuki."

"Yes, Master," Lila understood.

Thus, Xu Yang decided before the year-end ceremony to increase his strength as much as possible. Regardless of how Lady Farosa would deal with Honma Noriko, Nestor Corporation needed to have the corresponding strength to respond to changes in the situation.

From Blackfire’s siege to Mack’s incident, all revealed their current dilemma: the resources they had accumulated were far from sufficient, hence there was always a feeling of being stretched thin.

Elsewhere, Du Qianqian had returned after one in the morning, and she tiptoed, trying to sneak back to her dormitory to sleep. She was caught at the door by an ambushing 102.

"Don’t move!" 102 caught her.

"Let go!"

"Don’t play dumb!" 102 pointed at Du Qianqian, "It’s your turn to be on night shift with Mizuiro Yoshioka. Big sister Yoshioka has been waiting for you all this while!"

"I’ve already done a day shift with the boss," Du Qianqian tried to prevaricate. She didn’t want to spend the night watching over the young witches, with her entire night surrounded by the smell of diapers.

"But the shift schedule says so," 102 pulled out her handheld tablet, "Thursday night 23:00 to Friday morning 9:00, Du Qianqian + Mizuiro Yoshioka. You’re already two hours late!"

"But the boss had me work the day shift," Du Qianqian asserted, "We need to stick to the ten-hour work system. If you don’t believe me, ask the boss yourself."

"The boss will pay you, but Lady Farosa will take your life. Think carefully!" 102 crossed her arms.

"No way, I’m too sleepy," Du Qianqian yawned, "I will swap shifts with you, just help me out tonight, and I promise I will take the night shift for you in a couple of days."

"Ah, I hate switching shifts," 102 said, "Once we switch, I can’t remember who’s working when. So no running away from your duty at the last minute! I’m carrying you there."

Du Qianqian, yawning incessantly, was carried by 102 to the fourth-floor young witch dormitory—the quietest place where the young witches were supposed to be asleep by nine and spend the night in an extensive collective dormitory.

set Du Qianqian down at the entrance and then returned to rest. Du Qianqian took off her shoes, walked in white socks through the soundless sliding door, and entered the young witch dormitory in the darkness—the quietest place in the world. She could see hundreds of elegant beds spread out.

Witches over the age of five slept in single beds, well separated from each other to avoid chatting with friends when they were supposed to be asleep. Each bed came with two small cupboards for their little toys and clothes.

The younger witches shared a massive bed, at least fifty meters long, covered in plush toys, thick blankets, comforters, pillows, and light, colorful bed sheets, creating a magnificent blanket castle, perhaps the largest in the world, filled with children’s fun, even topped with little flags.

These Young Witches under the age of five were too young to need to go out and study every day. Playing to their heart’s content within the Blanket Castle was enough for them. When they opened their eyes, they could see a variety of toys, pictures, and craft materials, as well as slides of different sizes. Building this castle was Lady Farosa’s idea. In keeping with her aesthetic, the Blanket Castle also had two towers for throwing wooden balls and stables for children’s bicycles.

During the daytime, the Blanket Castle became a paradise for the young witches to play wildly. Du Qianqian often had to crawl in to search for those who were too old for it, dragging them upstairs to study hard. Their curriculum was complicated, focusing on literacy and arithmetic for preschool education.

Now, in the dead of night, the Blanket Castle was extremely quiet, just as noiseless as the surrounding small beds. Du Qianqian saw Mizuiro Yoshioka patrolling like a phantom, holding a young witch in her arms.

Upon seeing Du Qianqian enter the nursery for the young witches, Mizuiro Yoshioka quickly walked towards her.

Du Qianqian desperately wanted to prove just how exhausted she was at this moment. She kept making silent gestures, trying to resist, but Mizuiro Yoshioka mistook this for an eager gesture and hurried over, thrusting the Little Fool in her arms into Du Qianqian’s hands.

The Little Fool didn’t sleep much; she just lay there with her eyes open, observing the world with her form of melancholy, as if all things in the world failed to pass her moral judgment.

Once in Du Qianqian’s arms, she looked up at Du Qianqian’s face with a blank stare, as if harboring some regret, making Du Qianqian feel as if she had done something wrong.

The damn Little Fool. Du Qianqian poked the Little Fool’s face. Then she quickly walked out of the resting room, with Mizuiro Yoshioka following closely behind.

"I’m not going to ask why you’re so late," said Mizuiro Yoshioka. "You always have your reasons."

"We should get some specialized childcare robots," Du Qianqian complained in a low voice.

"That’s impossible," Mizuiro Yoshioka explained. "We thought about it too, but Miyazato Kazama told us about a scientific experiment with monkeys."

"What monkey?"

"They took a bunch of little monkeys," Mizuiro Yoshioka whispered while miming, "gave them two ’mothers.’ One was made of wire, with a milk bottle attached. The other was made of cloth and didn’t provide anything. But the little monkeys wouldn’t go to the wire mother to drink milk; they would rather stay with the cloth mother. Only when they were starving would they go to the wire mother for some milk, and then they would return to the cloth mother immediately after."

"Are you saying the technology of those people was not good enough back then? So we need advanced synthetic human nannies."

"You’re wrong," Mizuiro Yoshioka stroked the Little Fool’s hair, "It means we need to take up the responsibility, to raise these young witches with real, warm contact."

"If you give synthetic humans biomimetic skin and raise their skin temperature, can kids tell the difference?" Du Qianqian asked, puzzled.

"Of course they can. Children are much smarter than you think. Besides, we are going to be with them day and night. How could we not show our flaws? Even the few synthetic maids we already have at the company are only allowed to do logistical work."

Mizuiro Yoshioka had rested during the day for the night shift and was now feeling refreshed. Du Qianqian had gone out for a walk with Xu Yang, hoping to avoid tonight’s trouble. But in the end, she was still caught and brought in to work, so she was bleary-eyed with sleepiness.

"I actually prefer robots," Du Qianqian yawned long and hard.

"Why’s that?"

"I was only discovered to be a witch when I attended kindergarten," Du Qianqian secured the Little Fool in her arms to prevent her from falling to the ground and getting even dumber. "Before that, when I was four, my mom tied me to her back with cloth and walked ten miles to buy seeds. The seller found an excuse to raise the price, and my mom wouldn’t have it. She argued with him and got slapped. On the way back, my mom and I both cried. A candy vending robot by the road kept saying it detected a sad human or something and gave each of us a piece of candy. That was when I thought robots were truly better than living people. Now it’s even more advanced, synthetic humans, made exactly like real people. People can be despicable, but can robots be?"

"I think A40 is pretty despicable," said Mizuiro Yoshioka.

"At least it helped us earn Shijin Mansion."

"All right," said Mizuiro Yoshioka, "if you find it bothersome, we can apply to the boss and recruit adult witches from the society to join. It’s about time to do that."

"Then, I’ll sleep for just one hour, just one hour, and then I’ll come help you," Du Qianqian said, almost passing out from exhaustion.

"Take care of her," Mizuiro Yoshioka glanced at the Little Fool.

"Oh."

Du Qianqian lay on the bench in the hallway, holding the Little Fool, who blinked dully in her arms.

"Why don’t you sleep?" Du Qianqian held the Little Fool close. "I’m going to sleep now. Can you promise that while I’m sleeping, you won’t run around or cry?"

"Gua," said the Little Fool.

Du Qianqian closed her eyes, and that sleep lasted until seven o’clock the next day.