Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 383 - 346: Death News

Chapter 383: Chapter 346: Death News

Lady Honma Noriko let out a wail, kneeling on one knee on the ground while Yanagawa Fumihiko drew his sword, but Honma Noriko raised a hand to stop him. Her voice shifted from sorrow to a faint joy.

"Very good..." Lady Honma Noriko swallowed the last bit of the potion dregs. It was the most wonderful potion she had ever tasted in her life, "What next?"

"Stuff the Star Crystal Stone into your own chest."

"You..."

"Do it yourself." Farosa gazed at the sea, showing no intention to act.

She was like a deity of the present world. Honma Noriko thought silently.

With no other choice, Honma Noriko could only kneel on the ground, hurriedly seizing the Star Crystal Stone from the ceremonial table, wrapped with writhing flesh buds symbolizing infinite resurrection magic power. She unbuttoned her collar and pressed the Star Crystal Stone against her chest.

"Lady Honma Noriko..." Yanagawa Fumihiko watched in astonishment.

The countdown of her life had started the moment the chamber door opened. Honma Noriko gazed at the Star Crystal Stone in her hand.

Pierce it!

The beach scene was being broadcasted, and the children of Xisheng watched, half in horror and half with morbid curiosity, as Honma Noriko thrust the flesh-budding Star Crystal Stone into her chest.

She screamed, forcefully twisting the rough Star Crystal Stone, wearing away her already frail and decaying skin. She began to bleed, and bit by bit, the stone burrowed in, grinding through the layers of her skin and starting to tear at her nerves and organ membranes. The excruciating pain caused Honma Noriko’s expression to distort even more, her voice gradually turning into a howl. She went mad, speeding up her movements, droplets of blood falling from her chest onto the sandy ground. With the wound bleeding profusely, revealing bone, she couldn’t sit up, and so she lay prone on the ground and forcefully stuffed the Star Crystal Stone into her chest cavity.

"She’s going to die—" Yanagawa Fumihiko stammered.

"She will be reborn." Farosa looked toward the distant horizon, where dark currents surged.

Lady Honma Noriko’s heart was punctured by her own hands, blood spewing from her mouth, triggering another round of screaming. The Star Crystal Stone seemed to come to life as those flesh buds turned into slender tendrils. Attracted by the magic potion essence coursing through Honma Noriko’s veins, they began to penetrate deep into her flesh, taking over her heart and replacing the function of her broken one, beating over and over again.

The Magic Circuit began to grow!

Honma Noriko’s body shifted from lying down to bending, then back to kneeling, and finally stood up. She stood with her feet spread apart, her eyes shining with the pink light of magic power. She continuously made idiotic sounds from her mouth, "huh, huh," with the Star Crystal Stone clearly piercing through her chest, causing all the blood vessels in her upper body to swell like countless vines and roots.

"Almost there." Farosa still didn’t turn around.

Lady Honma Noriko let out a miserable scream as a star in the sky suddenly twinkled several times. Farosa suddenly looked up, now seeing that star which still shone brightly in the daylight. A star during the day... she thought to herself.

Farosa’s gaze quickly moved back down, returning to the sea in front of her.

Behind her, Honma Noriko was calling out, wobbling, as the depleted Star Crystal Stone fell to the ground, and the wound on her chest was visibly healing at a rapid pace.

Witch Transformation Ceremony...

"Success... Success!" The voice of Yanagawa Fumihiko was halting, his full range of emotions bursting forth from his narrow heart, replacing the stiffness of mechanical thought, making him irresistibly want to walk over and embrace Honma Noriko.

Lady Honma Noriko breathed deeply, straightening her back.

It had been a long time since she had felt so healthy and strong.

To be young again.

Her mouth felt uncomfortable; new teeth growing rapidly had dislodged all her dentures. She bent down and opened her mouth wide to spit out all the artificial teeth, joyously feeling every change from head to toe in her body. Her hair grew rapidly too. The freshly grown hair was naturally black, thick and strong. She tugged at it as if trying to pull it out from the depths of her scalp. After several tugs, her hands were full of her old, frail hair.

Her fingernails, toenails, skin, blood vessels, bone marrow, and organs all grew anew. Shedding the old body and growing a new one, filth surged continuously from the surface of her skin, smelling foul and putrid, leaving behind a wholly rejuvenated, delicate, and eternally youthful Witch’s body.

"I’ve become... a Witch—" Lady Honma Noriko looked towards Farosa, "It’s true— You did it—"

If she had ever felt the slightest respect for anyone in her life, it was at this very moment.

"Come close to me." Farosa said.

Lady Honma Noriko stood there, dumbfounded. She suddenly realized how hard it was to resist Farosa’s words.

The woman in front of her had just achieved the miracle of Witch Transformation. Could she take all this hard-earned transformation back? Lady Honma Noriko did not dare to risk it and walked step by step toward Farosa.

She felt strange stabbing pains coming from inside her body.

"Call the Samurai by your side, and have him order all the military units not to fire," Farosa said, "Turn off all cameras."

"What do you want to do?" Lady Honma Noriko had just begun to speak when she noticed something off. Her voice was so clear, her vocal cords so robust. She couldn’t help but want to speak out loud, to sing, even to dance and run. Therefore, she temporarily tolerated Farosa’s impetuous acts, turning to command Yanagawa Fumihiko to cease armed actions and withdraw drones and surveillance devices.

"Very well." Farosa picked up the knife from the ritual table, nodded at Yanagawa Fumihiko, then turned sharply and sliced open Honma Noriko’s throat.

"...Gur, gur..." Honma Noriko clutched at her slit throat as she fell forward onto the ground.

"You—" Yanagawa Fumihiko lunged forward.

"Don’t rush." Farosa squatted on the ground, "Her new magic power is ’High-Speed Regeneration’. You will see how strong her ability to resurrect is."

Yanagawa Fumihiko quickly scanned Honma Noriko and was shocked to see that her throat was indeed healing rapidly.

"Put on some act, we are now distinguishing loyal from traitorous," Farosa said, "Now we can instantly know who is the loyal retainer and who is the rebel. Come, Samurai, strike at me, but do not kill me."

Although in pain, Honma Noriko realized what Farosa was trying to do, and she gave a subtle sign to Yanagawa Fumihiko.

With one move, all the traitors could be caught, those who swam against the current would be the future loyal followers who would help her model Xisheng to her ideals.

Everyone would undergo the test.

Yanagawa Fumihiko wielded his sword swiftly, chopping Farosa in half at the waist, her crimson insides spilling to the ground. Farosa propped herself up on her elbows, but eventually collapsed, her face pale.

Following that, Yanagawa Fumihiko reported the painful truth to the sons and daughters in the village.

The ceremony failed, Honma Noriko died, and he had also executed the Ancient Witch.

The news exploded.

In an instant, the children of Xisheng ran to where their storage vessels were, desperate to leave Zhonggui Town. Countless messages, signals, and insider rumors spread, and some started fighting each other, attempting to grab a piece of Xisheng’s territory after Honma Noriko’s death.

The noise was deafening, all drones and military units withdrew, they reassessed their stance, offered their quotes, and cast their loyalty to new masters. Kurokawa Kana almost immediately began to assemble soldiers loyal to her to impose martial law on Zhonggui Town, her orders naturally met with defiance, as everyone could not suppress their own thoughts of seizing power and profit.

Fortunately, Kanako had already been jailed in advance, now sitting in prison, momentarily unaffected by the ground’s strife.

Honma Noriko looked up at the blue sky, as shrewd as she was, knowing that all this was bound to happen.

But she was still alive, now she knew who the rebellious children were, and she would destroy those who were disloyal.

Yanagawa Fumihiko knelt on one knee, printing a report from his chin, which recounted the last few minutes of cleaning, locking, and altering records of Honma Noriko’s file at Xisheng Archive Center.

They were tampering with the transaction history and business reports.

Because Honma Noriko was dead, and the future might see one of Xisheng’s children coming out on top, they had to design a proper financial narrative, with "correct historical memories" tailored to different winners to establish legitimacy for controlling Xisheng’s shares. Once the victor emerged, they would present it.

Honma Noriko’s head buzzed, recovering from the mania of her recent Witch Transformation, regaining sanity, now she knew, she clearly understood why. Why they moved so swiftly, why they argued so fiercely, why they instantly knew what to do, managing her post-mortem affairs so "orderly".

Because they had been rehearsing for 30 years, a full 30 years!

Honma Noriko was in agony.

"I’m still here..." Yanagawa Fumihiko kneeled on the ground, trying to comfort her, suddenly receiving new information, "—Wait, I’ve been fired... Lady Honma Noriko, I’ve been fired by Xisheng Investment Group!"

"Slow down..." Honma Noriko maintained her restraint and calm, her injuries had now completely healed, "Now who..."

"A Temporary Committee has been established, and your Special Protection Card and Corporate Alliance records have been nullified," Yanagawa Fumihiko said, "My lady, we have lost Xisheng Investment Group."

"It must be Kurokawa Kana." Honma Noriko muttered.

"Yes, Kurokawa Kana is the chairman of the Temporary Committee," murmured Yanagawa Fumihiko, "Now she is trying to take control of everything."

At that moment, up high on the terrace of Zhonggui Town, 101 spun around, opening her greatcoat, dislodging more than a dozen high-explosive grenades from inside the coat, teleporting away just before landing.

The grenades rolled and bounced on the ground, they could not damage the Shuttle Machines parked on the terrace, but they destroyed the floorboards, causing the large machines to slide and collide on the rooftop, crashing into each other with inertia, hence causing even greater destruction.

Such devastation would crush their hope of retreat from the sky, and the children of Xisheng would fight to death within Zhonggui Town.

"What was that sound?" Honma Noriko asked, feeling particularly weak, probably a side effect of the ceremony.

"I don’t know." Yanagawa Fumihiko stood up, "They’ve removed all my access, and now some people are preparing to kill me. The audacity."

Farosa, dragging her intestines, turned over, looking down at Honma Noriko.

"Now, the newly-born Witch and the lonely Samurai, your only friend left is me," she said.