Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 394 - 354 Disciples

Chapter 394: Chapter 354 Disciples

The miracle was accomplished.

At the same time, having drained her mental strength, Chiyuki felt as if magma flowed into her brain, numb and throbbing with pain, as if a hard stone was lodged in her nerves, painfully stuck.

It was as if a brush had grown behind her eyes; every movement of her eyeballs triggered a scraping burn inside her head.

She was on the verge of passing out, yet she clenched her teeth and persevered, enduring with astonishing willpower.

"What is this?" Chiyuki, soaked in sweat, couldn’t help but whisper.

"As I have said before," Seeking Shadow knelt beside Chiyuki, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, "this is a power that must be kept secret, and once you have witnessed it, you are bound by an oath to keep it confidential."

"I know..." Chiyuki nodded vigorously, "I understand!"

"You can’t continue to live here either, you must be prepared to leave. If you fall into the hands of the company and the word gets out about today’s ceremony, everyone will suffer consequences."

"We scavengers have nothing, what’s the point in staying here." Chiyuki bit her lip and stood up, "Jiro... pack up, from now on we follow our benefactor!"

Sawada Jiro was a thin, tall boy who had suffered greatly; he felt his right leg and now found the pain gone, his health restored.

He realized that everything did indeed merit the word ’miracle’, feeling an infinite gratitude and amazement, but with things happening so suddenly, he was unable to even speak.

So, Jiro silently got up, hurriedly packed up the garbage in the shabby hut, ready to leave; all valuables had already been donated to the Poison Master.

Seeking Shadow stepped out of the shack; Hosoda Yoshiyuki sat in the distance, silently watching the desolate woods, the faint sunlight giving him an almost unreal appearance.

Seeing that Jiro’s leg had been healed, Hosoda Yoshiyuki couldn’t help but stand up, repeatedly comparing the before and after images on his internal visual panel, unless an advanced surgeon and a full set of medical equipment had been there during that time, the wound could not possibly have been healed so perfectly.

"So all of this is..." Hosoda Yoshiyuki struggled to speak, "..."

"Yes, I am fulfilling the will of the Cyber Specter, constantly listening to its guidance," Seeking Shadow said coldly, "Now I am taking them away."

"Taking them to fight, taking them on secret missions." Hosoda Yoshiyuki couldn’t help but sneer, "That’s what you do, use people."

"No." Seeking Shadow shook his head, "I’m taking them to be educated, to become complete in character and strong in ability."

"What abilities could they possibly have, enhancements?" Hosoda Yoshiyuki really couldn’t see what future these scavengers could have, being inherently frail and malnourished.

"You wouldn’t understand," Seeking Shadow said, "Since I’m leaving, there’s no one left in the Self Help Society who can contend with you, so now I formally expel you; go elsewhere to make a living, Hosoda Yoshiyuki!"

"You play hardball." Hosoda Yoshiyuki scoffed, "The moment I leave the Self Help Society, I’ll be targeted by secret agents, mercenaries, and hackers. You want me dead."

"If you don’t go, you have to die here and now." Seeking Shadow placed his hand on the hilt of Shadow Kill, "This ion sword will cut you in two, no mercy given."

Having his brain implant hacked and being kicked out of the Self Help Society, naturally, Hosoda Yoshiyuki was not content.

But he was an extremely optimistic person, the world is vast, and everywhere is accessible! So he turned around and strode away from the Self Help Society’s territory.

He had heard of the existence of the Nestor Cooperative Company and decided to go there on foot to investigate.

On the way, he was careful and cautious to avoid being followed, while also feeling the predicament.

He didn’t have a penny, unable to maintain the suppleness of his synthetic muscle fibers with body softeners. His enhanced strength was powerful enough to lift cars, but without the synthetic fibers buffering, the weight of a car would burst his arms, such was the limitation of the body.

The ammunition was also running low; the missiles and guns in his body needed maintenance.

Initially, he risked his life helping Kirino Reisei at Kamibayashi’s old house; afterward, Reisei disappeared completely. He had no idea who benefited from her Special Protection Card and its duplicates, leaving Hosoda Yoshiyuki deeply regretful for losing the chance to escape the archipelago.

He sighed inwardly.

Influenced by the hero images in popular anime, Hosoda Yoshiyuki as a child always dreamed of becoming a hero, helping others, and aiding the distressed.

Only when he grew up did he realize that he was the one who needed help.

After walking dozens of miles, Hosoda Yoshiyuki visited the Nestor Cooperative Company in Asagi Township. Everything there was novel to him. Not wanting to cause trouble, he simply strolled from a distance, away from the patrolled areas of the Type B Synthetic Human guards.

"A bunch of farmers..." Hosoda Yoshiyuki observed the signs on the periphery of the park.

They transformed the landscape, reclaimed the old land, and conducted centralized production based on an integration of the terrain, market demands, and the level of farming machinery.

The purpose of establishing the Nestor Cooperative Company was to solve food problems, and they were doing well; Hosoda Yoshiyuki looked across the vast fields, seeing green "tree tower"-like structures every so often, with a natural crystal-like lustre, glistening faintly, too distant to make out the details, with simple signs indicating their benefits to the surrounding crops’ growth.

Crops that had short growth cycles and were cold-resistant were being raised. Hosoda Yoshiyuki saw many men and women wearing uniform outfits, healthy and respectable, maintaining the farmlands like true professional technicians, driving impressively large machines. There were also drones monitoring the condition of the crops, using high-precision photography to identify pest problems, treating agriculture as a mechanized, modernized, and intelligent matter.

Tons of spinach, cabbage, and potatoes were being harvested and transported to the cities, cooperating with major companies like Phecda Logistics Company, and gigantic shuttle machines were soaring up and down, delivering the harvested products to the metropolis.

Very professional, indeed... Hosoda Yoshiyuki mused silently.

Farming was originally seen as a toilsome and unpleasant occupation, yet with so many modern enhancements, its intrinsic value has re-emerged, becoming an activity of great social significance—it feeds people, sparing them from famine.

Hosoda Yoshiyuki paused, speechless for a long time. After several months of development, the once-barren land had been completely transformed.

He then looked toward the signboard, which detailed the company’s philosophy: to break free from the exploitation of entrepreneurs through the extensive cooperation of workers, to organize production autonomously, allowing the now vast number of unemployed to find work and escape poverty.

Currently, the Nestor Cooperative Company, in addition to its 5,000 agricultural workers, also employed nearly 2,000 people in healthcare, mineral extraction, textiles, building maintenance, and engineering design, among other supportive jobs. Because of their common needs, they were also busily preparing to establish educational facilities, intending to teach true science to future generations, free from the indoctrination of corporate values.

He meticulously reviewed the future plans of the Nestor Cooperative Company.

It would continue to expand, spreading across the wilderness surrounding Anjiu City, and would eventually form a chain, faintly encircling Anjiu City. Perhaps it would even link up with both the Scavengers Society at Garbage Hill and the Self Help Society in the remote jungle.

If Hosoda Yoshiyuki were not currently under a bounty, he really would have liked to wear their uniform and join them. He had excellent skills in construction and could operate excavators and giant cranes. These had been his livelihood for decades; shooting and killing people was only a last resort.

He also wanted to desperately correct their mistakes. Without even thinking about it, there was bound to be conflict between old and new members, between the diligent and the lazy, and also in decision-making by vote. But if he were among them, he would surely act as the strictest supervisor to prevent any mistakes.

Nevertheless, there was no turning back; his hands were stained with the blood of entrepreneurs. If he were to join them, he would surely bring them trouble.

Hosoda Yoshiyuki just watched from a distance.

Clenching his fists, the anger in his chest gradually melted away, replaced by a more detached and restrained state of mind.

In the evening, Hosoda Yoshiyuki killed 15 mercenaries at a ramen shop, collecting ammunition and supplies from them. During the fight, he felt he had been hacked into, but eventually discovered the hacker had not succeeded.

Perusing the log report, Hosoda Yoshiyuki was astonished.

As it happened, when the hack attempt occurred, the Trojan horse program in his brain had locked down his access port and used an advanced encryption tool to restrict hacker input. The hostile hacker could not succeed for a while and was eventually counter-killed by Hosoda Yoshiyuki.

...He now owed the Cyber Specter a life.

When the security team arrived, Hosoda Yoshiyuki hesitated, not fighting back, because the soldiers were wearing uniforms of Nestor Corporation, the parent company of the entire Nestor System. He did not want to make them his enemy. So he inserted a battery into his energy store and swiftly flew away.

After running a lap and returning to the Self Help Society, he could not help but sigh. He had been wrong before; there really was no place for him in this vast world.

He wanted to go in for a beer, eat free food, and maybe find some girls to enjoy a carefree moment. It was only after leaving the Self Help Society that he would miss such a nurturing place. But at the main entrance, Seeking Shadow stopped him.

"What do you want?" she said.

"Can the Cyber Specter offer me a way out?" Hosoda Yoshiyuki stood on the muddy ground.

"Paths are made by walking them yourself," Seeking Shadow said. "The Cyber Specter does not need worshipers, nor servants."

"No, I am a warrior," Hosoda Yoshiyuki said. "Heh, if the Cyber Specter is a crash of thunder, I am at least a string of firecrackers."

"Then come and help me," Seeking Shadow turned her head. "Oh, and there’s a good-hearted Prosthesis Doctor coming; he’s going to repair and replace cheap implants for people in the Society for free."

"There’s never been a good-hearted Prosthesis Doctor; they are all heartless traders. I’m better with my own hands," Hosoda Yoshiyuki said.

"His name is Nidelaide, his teacher is Cui Junyou," Seeking Shadow said.

"Okay," Hosoda Yoshiyuki followed. "Fix me up too."

They arrived at the distribution terminal downstairs of the Poison Master’s. Chiyuki Sajou and her brother Jiro Sajou were planning to leave the society and were therefore collecting a portion of their previous donations back. The artificial intelligence was calculating how much they should take, as they had also stayed here for three days, consuming quite a bit.

"We should all be leaving together in a little while," Seeking Shadow said. "Everyone, perhaps Nidelaide will join us too. We plan to move our base to Aizu City, where we will study, train, and rest, waiting for instructions."

"Then we have five people; that’s an organization," Hosoda Yoshiyuki said.

"An organization should have a name," Seeking Shadow pondered.

"I know what name to call it," Hosoda Yoshiyuki said. "’Disciples’."

Meanwhile, at Shijin Mansion.

Xu Yang saw that Seeking Shadow’s side was almost done with their conflicts, and he nodded in satisfaction.

The Warlock’s Spellbook was still in his hands, and he needed to pass its teachings on, but he could not act rashly. The Sajou siblings could first undertake secret learning and training, exploring the potential for the continuation of witchcraft, and they could also conduct experimental analysis of witchcraft so that theory could be combined with practice.

The book contained records of forty-eight Miracles from the three major series of the Moon, the Sun, and the Ocean, each having diverse influences on the world. They were spells banned by the Corporate Alliance, thus they could not be taught rashly but required the nurturing of suitable candidates.

This matter also reminded Xu Yang that he needed to handle the Cyber Specter identity with care. If mishandled, it could morph into a twisted cult that affects lives.

On December 30th, one week after the ceremony, Farosa lay in the center of Nangong Island, wet and covered in an orange, jelly-like mucus, after the Ascending God Ceremony. There was no significant change in her appearance except for an extra flamboyant cape that appeared out of nowhere. Only the transformation marks on her body needed time to fade.

The Witches carefully approached her.

"Call Xu Yang," Farosa said weakly. "I have something important to tell him."