Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 401 - 361 Moonlight Shield

Chapter 401: Chapter 361 Moonlight Shield

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"I don’t know..." Farosa gasped for air, struggling to stand up. She looked around at these gleaming lights. If each one represented a witch, then there were simply too many here. Moreover, they breathed in unison, dancing together like waves, interconnected as one.

"Our brains have been linked together." The Witch Matrix twinkled repeatedly, and Farosa also blinked nonstop, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

The brightness was too much for her weary self. Especially now that she had extraordinary vision, she could see every detail as clearly as if she had received Lila’s perceptual guidance.

She saw what lay behind the lights—those brains that had been stripped out, covered in deep grooves, writhing under the massage of machines, covered with electrode patches and black plastic tubes.

Their brains had been removed. Farosa felt dizzy. Humans had been using this method to torture witches for ten, a hundred years.

"I will avenge you," Farosa said.

"The stars said the same, you made a great vow, swearing to save the witches," the Matrix said. "We are a complex system, perched on the East Coast of New Taixi State, linking the brains of 19,650 witches. Here, witches are allowed to grow only until the age of fifteen before we are executed, stripped from our bodies. We’re corpses, wetware. Our delicate, sensitive neuronal information is bundled together, each brain an analytical system, containing billions of processors, churning through vast amounts of information, propelling human technology forward every day."

Farosa closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

Under the influence of these spirits, she saw the humans’ knives at work, stopping the hearts of witches. Each day, new witches’ skulls were cracked open, their brains flawlessly removed, placed into new neural devices, becoming part of computational modules.

Once any brain burnt out, they immediately replaced it with a new one. The data the Witch Matrix could analyze and process were infinite, used for meta-computing and handling high-frequency trading. Tens of thousands of grids, black boxes housing witch brains. Facilities like these were not unique in New Taixi State; they networked together on a higher plane, surpassing the limits of supercomputers.

They slowly rotted away in silence.

Was it her fault? Farosa couldn’t help but think of a terrible truth—if she hadn’t killed the god, witches might still be able to continue ruling humans with the power of Orcian.

In the end, she would have to make up for her actions. Everything was interconnected, Farosa thought silently.

"I will end this," she promised. "I will relieve your pain... I will blow up the facilities that imprison you."

With Farosa’s promise, the myriad spirits seemed especially jubilant.

"How could we question that," the flickering spirits whispered. "The Witch Goddess will bring shelter to the witches; this is the message from the Galaxy."

Her own wish... had finally been heard. Farosa sighed inwardly.

The lights grew brighter and brighter, each beam turning into a thread, drifting into Farosa’s body. She felt as though she was being lifted by tens of thousands of feathers, light as air, as if she were on Cloud Nine, feeling an unprecedented sense of happiness and peace.

Farosa felt the adoration of the witches, their genuine blessings, and their unwavering support.

Gradually, the spirits dispersed. Farosa looked around; her soul surrounded by divinity. Across the world, many more witches sought her help, slaughtered in White Elephant Continent, dissected and modified in Taixi Continent, hunted by warlocks in Hot Tree Continent...

She was breathless, hastily retreating from her spiritual space.

With a helpless shake of her head, Farosa turned to Xu Yang.

"I really wish—" she said with a mocking tone, "to become a real god. That’s why the Throne of God is so wonderful. Using the Ascension Machine and becoming a true deity with unlimited thinking and acting capability, I would instantly respond to the calls of so many worshippers around the world, fulfilling so many of their wishes at once."

"Then you might have to set up a Divine Grace Call Center in the future," Xu Yang said. "As the Witch Goddess, hearing the witches’ calls would be convenient, wouldn’t it? It would connect you to all the witches at once, allowing you to take care of the things that cause them pain. In the future, you should design Miracles to categorize all the witches’ requests, sorted and dealt with by specialists, delegated to regional heads for resolution, according to the laws of the new era. And if something really needs the personal touch of the Witch Goddess, they can bring those matters to you."

"Like a fool," Farosa scoffed contemptuously. "Of course, it’s most convenient to turn a deaf ear. They only need to worship me; I’m not about to do their bidding on a whim."

"Take it slow," Xu Yang said as both he and Farosa lay down. "You’re not yet ready to be a responsible person."

"I made a vow," Farosa closed her eyes. "The stars heard it. They just need to be patient, a little more patient... until I..."

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Farosa hadn’t finished speaking before she fell into a deep sleep. These matters had truly drained her energy, leaving her simply wanting to while away her time on a warm bed. For a foreseeable period, Farosa would continue to be in a long slumber, wanting nothing and doing nothing, purely recovering her strength.

After Xu Yang awoke, he saw Farosa in a state of sleep that resembled hibernation to replenish her energy, and without disturbing her, he went out for a walk to celebrate the new year. Under the Nestor System, all the companies had a 14-day holiday, and with days without any matters to attend to, the factories were operating at half capacity.

In the corridor, he encountered Pan Ruiyi, who was out of character, not at all lazy like before, but was seriously cleaning her military spear. It was a very large spear that seemed to be specifically meant for destroying warships and armored vehicles.

"I haven’t seen you use such a weapon before," Xu Yang observed.

"Miyazato Kazama made it for me," Pan Ruiyi responded as she swung the 3.5-meter-long massive spear in her hands. She handled the heavy weapon with as much ease and swiftness as a short weapon, ready to heavily damage an enemy at any moment. "Still, you need big spears and halberds for the battlefield."

"Why so energetic for the New Year? I thought you’d be asleep by now," Xu Yang said curiously.

"We only celebrate the Spring Festival," Pan Ruiyi replied with the giant spear on her shoulder. "Forgot? Company person."

"Indeed." Xu Yang shrugged, "I’ll give you a few extra days off during the Spring Festival then."

"What about you?"

"Haven’t I told you already? I’m the boss; it doesn’t make much difference whether I take a holiday or not," Xu Yang explained as he walked out, with Pan Ruiyi following him. "Why do you keep following me?"

"Company people break easily upon touch, so I have to protect you," Pan Ruiyi said lightly.

"Speaking of breaking upon touch, I have this," Xu Yang showed Pan Ruiyi the ebony ring, "It’s said to resist force. Let’s go test its effects."

He and Pan Ruiyi went to the training ground on the ninth floor of the Shijin Mansion, a small area specifically reinforced for blast protection, covering 300 square meters. If there were larger scale weapon tests, they would take them back to the Nestor Industrial Park for handling.

First, Pan Ruiyi threw a tentative punch at Xu Yang, which was immediately blocked by a flow of moonlight as fluid as water, making no progress, as if it had hit the planet itself to no avail.

"Go all out," Xu Yang said.

"Here it comes!" Pan Ruiyi flew into a kick towards Xu Yang. A faint light shone on his ebony ring, and moonlight flared up, blocking the attack like a shield.

Bang!

Pan Ruiyi’s metal boots kicked against the moon shield, emitting a piercingly loud noise. She lightly bounced off the moon shield and jumped back to her original position, closely observing Xu Yang.

"Well, that’s really—sturdy," Pan Ruiyi had to admit, "Maybe if I use all my strength I could still break it, because my magic power is close-combat specialized; there’s no reason I couldn’t break it."

"At least it proves to be a decent prop," Xu Yang examined the ring on his hand.

"In a real world filled with specters and evil spirits, this thing can keep you very safe," Pan Ruiyi appreciated, "Who gave you such a nice thing?"

"An old buddy," Xu Yang led Pan Ruiyi upstairs, "Speaking of it, we need to visit another old buddy and offer New Year’s greetings,"

He arrived at Little Fool’s spot to enjoy the scenery. She turned around, saw Xu Yang, and immediately ran over to him. Little Fool really had grown a lot in just a few months; children grow so fast. Before, she was crawling, but now she was as swift as the wind and quickly reached Xu Yang. He scooped her up with one hand, and she sat on Xu Yang’s arm, sucking on her thumb.

"This is the dumbest kid I’ve ever seen," Pan Ruiyi mocked.

"Quack," Little Fool retorted unconcernedly.

"...Our next stop is Aizu City. I need to send New Year’s greetings to Old Cui, find out about Silla’s situation, check on Little Fool, and do some cybernetic implant modifications for myself," Xu Yang jiggled Little Fool in his hand; she seemed very happy. "Come along, to Old Cui Prosthesis Treatment Center."

"Let’s go," Pan Ruiyi lowered her visor to conceal her appearance and aura, leaving the exaggerated spear at the Shijin Mansion to serve as Xu Yang’s personal bodyguard as they set off