Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 404 - 364 Sale Stall

Chapter 404: 364 Sale Stall

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An eyeball robot floated over, warning the people in the waiting room that their patience had run out. They were now threatening to cancel their appointments, demanding not only a full refund but also compensation for the delay.

"These things really do have money," Cui Junyou glanced at the waiting list, "willing to pay a high price just to queue up. I thought I’d lose money opening this clinic, I underestimated the madness of the rich... Short of hand accepting help! I’ve still got several surgeries lined up, I need to get busy."

"I’ll be leaving first then." Xu Yang bid farewell to Cui Junyou, "Thanks, Old Cui."

"People who are willing to listen to my nonsense are rare, you’re one of them." Cui Junyou waved his hand, "But it’s an era where friends often part ways, you’re rushing around, I’m rushing around, and twenty-four hours a day just isn’t enough... Go on, live your own lives!"

Afterward, he closed the corridor’s partition door behind him and returned to the operating room, ready to efficiently attend to the customers who had been waiting torturously in the waiting room. Xu Yang nodded silently, then left the clinic interior and took a small path to the parking lot.

This small parking lot was far from the socially buzzing front of the clinic, where the Purple Wind was parked, next to it a brown electric motorcycle and a flying skateboard, likely belonging to Cui Junyou or Nidelaide.

Pan Ruiyi was also there, clad in a full set of heavy black armor, completely obscuring her features, intimidating like a towering structure. Already tall, she now had an even more oppressive presence, easily capable of deterring any petty thief.

Little Fool was placed on top of the shuttle machine, sitting still like a toy doll.

"Surfing the net is just too interesting," Pan Ruiyi leaned against the shuttle machine’s side armor plate, engrossed in her phone.

"You can’t leave kids up there," Xu Yang climbed onto the Purple Wind and lifted Little Fool down.

Little Fool was clingy, feeling uneasy because of the unfamiliar surroundings, only regaining some vitality when she saw Xu Yang. She always seemed extra panicky, and Xu Yang couldn’t imagine what would have happened to her if she had been left in that dirty childcare facility.

"I would have caught her," Pan Ruiyi asserted confidently, while sizing up Xu Yang, "Oh, company man, have you been upgraded?"

"Minor tech enhancements," Xu Yang found it oddly surprising every time Pan Ruiyi called him a company man, as if he was back in those grueling days, "Now there’s no need for much modification."

"Are you even stronger now?" Pan Ruiyi eyed Xu Yang, her tone full of flirtation.

"Maybe you shouldn’t call me company man anymore." Xu Yang couldn’t see Pan Ruiyi’s expression, she was wearing a spiked heavy-duty armored helmet, which she had painted herself with a mix of deep purple and green phosphorescent paint, exuding ferocity.

"We can’t escape our origins." Pan Ruiyi walked toward Xu Yang, placing her hands on his shoulders, "These things are like labels stamped on us. I’ve dreamt of the worst endings on many nights, being imprisoned, modified, exiled, or just outright killed. Death is the most merciful end, the others are just horrific."

"I’ve never thought about such things," Xu Yang shook his head, "From the day I ran from the company I’ve considered life and death trivial. I fear no enemy, no challenge."

Pan Ruiyi stepped back and scrutinized Xu Yang from top to bottom.

"You really are a fearless company man," she said, somewhat astonished, "In the past twenty years, I’ve seen too many cowards, scared as mice. I thought humans would never be as brave as the Witch."

"Some people are perpetually terrified by the mega-corporations, every sound they make from then on is twisted," Xu Yang said coldly.

"I’m not scared of a fight, but sometimes I can’t help but doubt." Pan Ruiyi’s voice was confused, "Your ultimate goal is... to defeat all the companies, right. But there are still many terrifyingly large enterprises elsewhere in the world, with hordes of scary armies, advanced weapons, Reality Manipulators, and all sorts of mythical monsters. They control Witches as precisely as they operate robots. Aren’t you worried at all?"

Xu Yang looked at Pan Ruiyi, whose past experiences had permanently injured her, giving her a psychological shadow about the control of mega-corporations.

"If we were the only lonely army in the world, I would be worried," Xu Yang said, "But we’re not alone. There are many people in the world with even fewer resources, facing challenges ten times harder than ours, yet they choose to join the cause of justice. Every corner of the world has the unyielding, there are always like-minded people... With this in mind, no problem is too big. On the contrary, I feel I must continue to work hard until I can make contact with them, ready for action."

"I don’t understand, I can’t be as open-hearted as you," Pan Ruiyi laughed.

"Your enemies may be more fearful than you, that’s what’s important," Xu Yang nodded, "Nestor Corporation is limited in scale, our burden is actually quite light, we fight as many as come. But it’s different for the company executives, pulling one hair affects the whole body, they are always restrained when making decisions."

"That sounds interesting," Pan Ruiyi nodded repeatedly, "W3 Legion’s Wang Qi’an used to be my instructor. She said I’d be a scourge on the battlefield, but my biggest enemy isn’t there, it’s in my heart. Its name is ’fear’, a deadly snake. If I don’t catch and kill this snake, I’ll never make any progress. When you had ’Noon Gate’ roast me half-dead, that snake showed up, and I was really scared of you."

"Scared of me now?"

"Now, I’m only afraid something will happen to you right under my nose," Pan Ruiyi teased, "If you get hurt, that’s my biggest loss. Company man, now you’re the highest asset in my eyes."

"Let’s head back," Xu Yang looked at the Purple Wind.

"Wait—have you guys eaten? I’m still hungry." Pan Ruiyi suddenly remembered something she saw earlier, "I heard there’s a place around here called Green Ridge Market, selling xiaolongbao full of fatty meat, and when you bite into them, they’re bursting with hot soup."

"Then let’s buy two bags to take back." Xu Yang searched the map in his mind, located the position, Green Ridge Market was a food street, just three hundred meters away, roughly circular, surrounding the vast foundation of the Ground construction, a bustling area.

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They arrived at the location, and the vendors selling various goods had their wares spread out all over the street, bustling with crowds.

Because it was the New Year, festival-related items were also on sale, a dazzling array of products, with vibrant colors and spicy food decorating the entire Green Ridge Market, making it a spectacle to behold.

Little Fool’s lack of vitality was awakened in this lively environment, she stood on Xu Yang’s shoulder, boldly shifting her gaze here and there, then stretched out her hand to point at things she found interesting.

"Gua gua." Little Fool liked a beast.

Following Little Fool’s direction, Xu Yang came to view an exhibition hall for rare modified creatures set up by the Myriad Domains Bio-Company.

The site allowed for scanning a QR code to visit the company’s homepage; they sold live creatures, offering high-standard air transport services.

The Myriad Domains Bio-Company, headquartered in the Taixi Continent, specialized in bio-genetic technology and could create very powerful gene warriors; they also provided services for child genetic programming.

The creature on display now was a modified fierce tiger, clad in orange-red mottled fur with several pale stripes, and sharp antlers on its forehead, a real rarity, scanning its surroundings with a pair of fierce eyes.

"The Antlered Tiger has been successfully mass-bred, with a mix of two types of genes, one from the extinct Aslager Sabertooth, and the other from the reindeer of the Great Northern Region," the Myriad Domains Bio-Company’s sales robot enthusiastically introduced, "It’s the flagship product of our life science department."

While technology was causing the extinction of creatures, it was also creating new ones, Xu Yang thought to himself. It really might be worth buying one to guard the door at Shijin Mansion, to let the kids see what animals are like—it’s part of life education, isn’t it?

"Which company manufactured you?" Xu Yang observed the sales robot.

"Iris Group," it replied cheerfully, "My factory settings were for selling perfume and bags, but now? I think I’m better suited for selling animals! How about buying a genetically programmed tiger to adorn your home? They’re the best guard beasts for any property, ensuring your safety and health. This Antlered Tiger, 7 years old, is currently priced at just 2.7 million."

Pan Ruiyi bought two bags of steamed buns and came back, standing beside Xu Yang when she suddenly noticed the electronic price tag next to the Antlered Tiger change from 2.7 million to 0, which meant one could unlock the cage for free with a cash card and take it away.

"Ah ah... this is..." The sales robot also noticed the change on the price tag.

Someone had hacked into the market’s common network. Xu Yang immediately turned his head and noticed disturbances occurring throughout the entire food street.

Most of the vendors’ electronic price displays had turned to 0, and unmanned stalls suddenly became a free-for-all. People rushed to swipe their cash cards, freely acquiring massive amounts of products, never having imagined such good fortune.

The owner of the food street was a small company called Green Ridge Trade. Individual vendors in Aizu City not only had to apply for a stall and pay rental fees but also had to connect to an app called the Green Ridge Sales Platform to facilitate the Green Ridge Company’s calculation of their sales, allowing the company to hike rents on particularly successful stalls, making it easier to drive them out and take over their businesses for themselves.

Now that the Green Ridge Sales Platform had been hacked, the food street instantly became a trading paradise where everything was free.

"Ah ah..."

"It’s all for free!"

"Buy quick!" Knowing such an event was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, the brave customers began to loot goods, while the timid ones also grabbed a few items and ran away.

The entire street was in a state of disorder, and the vendors were on the verge of tears, having never imagined such an incident could occur.

Green Ridge Trade Company immediately summoned their hired security service, Social Security Engineering Company, a business providing moderate-scale, reasonably priced security services.

Xu Yang saw two security shuttle machines blockade both exits of the food street, one at each end, and a group of security personnel dressed in Social Security Engineering uniforms poured out, starting to control the unruly chaos and maintain commercial order.

"I’m going to trace the original access point," Xu Yang and Pan Ruiyi moved aside to avoid getting swept up in the zero-priced chaos.

Xu Yang himself had done things like setting vending machines to price items at 0 and could probably guess the hacker’s thoughts; it was very likely the person was on the scene.

He noticed the hack was quite aggressive; the hacker likely intended to adjust the price of a particular unmanned stall but ended up triggering the whole Green Ridge Sales Platform’s pricing system by mistake, causing too much of a commotion. Now that the security service had arrived, they definitely intended to unearth the hacker.

If the person had no other tricks up their sleeve, they were likely to be caught immediately.

"Be careful!" Pan Ruiyi stepped sideways to protect Xu Yang.

Following an explosion from an overloaded circuit nearby, a transformer box burst open, and the brightly lit food street suddenly fell into darkness and chaos, with only the canopy above still functioning, emitting pastel light, allowing people to just barely see.