Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 405 - 365 Yonka

Chapter 405: Chapter 365 Yonka

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"Roar!" the Antlered Tiger let out a long howl.

Realizing that the electronic shackles binding it had become ineffective, it struggled vigorously, breaking the iron chains and escaping the cage in one move.

As the incident unfolded abruptly, a clamor arose; the Antlered Tiger, momentarily out of control, unleashed its wildness! It swiped at a nearby sales robot with a hefty paw.

The robot shrank back in terror, moving rapidly like a spring, while simultaneously crying out for help.

"The tiger is out!"

"Run for it!"

"Terrifying!" Nearly a dozen customers nearby, who had been scrambling for clothes inside a glass booth, turned their heads to see the massive tiger suddenly emerge and were immediately scared out of their wits, fumbling to run outside.

The beast was loose, picking its victims to devour.

The faces of the crowd went pale, retreating continuously, with just the sound of the tiger’s roar being enough to terrify and shake their hearts.

"Screw you!" A man, in order to protect the child behind him, hurriedly opened the flamethrower in his palm and sprayed a jet of flames at the head of the Antlered Tiger.

The flame licked like a tongue, igniting the tiger’s fur, which immediately burst into flames, wrapping around fiercely, the severe pain only making it doubly furious!

"Roar—" The enraged Antlered Tiger charged at the man, intent on tearing him to shreds.

"Aaargh—" Screams erupted incessantly; with such weight and claws, no one could survive.

Pan Ruiyi pushed off the ground forcefully, using the reactionary force to burst forward. She spun mid-air, kicking out with incredible speed, like a solid cannonball, and struck the Antlered Tiger hard on its back!

Bang!

Accompanied by a loud crack of bone, the Antlered Tiger’s entire spine broke, and it let out a pitiful scream as Pan Ruiyi stepped on it!

The tiger hit the ground, lacking even the strength to lift its head, its mouth gaping open as it let out a low mournful whine.

"Wow—"

"What is that..." The people were astonished, watching this terrifying scene unfold.

Pan Ruiyi pulled her blood-stained combat boot out of the tiger’s carcass and looked around at the crowd. She was prepared, taking out a Nestor Corporation employee badge hidden in her carry-on gear, hanging it on her chest, with a faked identity registered on it.

This is Nestor Corporation!

"Incredible..."

"No wonder!"

"That explains the power!" The crowd couldn’t help but feel admiration, their initial doubts turning into respect.

Nestor Corporation had already contracted the entire Anjiu City’s defense projects, with both paramilitary troops and public security personnel’s size continuously expanding; it was now both a star enterprise on the surface and underground.

"Thank you for your help!" Personnel from the public security company hurried forward to express their gratitude. If an incident occurred in their defense jurisdiction, it equated to a severe breach of contract, with exponentially high fines.

"Don’t let your guard down, everyone leave the area!" Pan Ruiyi spoke through a voice changer, her voice sounding like a rough big man, which matched the first impression her rigid armor made on people.

Nestor Corporation even has such elite armored warriors, as powerful as power armored soldiers! They couldn’t help but be impressed and turned their gaze towards the dead tiger.

Such a swift action, decisive and efficient, made the public security personnel feel ashamed; they maintained order in succession, sorted out the scene and calculated the losses.

Pan Ruiyi spun around to leave; Xu Yang had someone take note of the dead tiger to purchase it at a low price, then he took Pan Ruiyi and Little Fool and evacuated the scene to avoid the crowd.

They arrived at the Apple Orchard Can Food Factory, which, after being taken over, was essentially a large nutrient paste manufacturing base, providing affordable food for people. Within an office there, Xu Yang continued to track the aftermath.

"... An unknown hacker affected the Green Ridge Company’s food street regular transactions, creating business chaos," a spokesperson from the public security company explained to the Kakuya Media journalists.

Behind them, a ferocious-looking old warrior watched everything silently; he was the former chairman of the public security company, nicknamed "Sweat," seemingly very dissatisfied with the security service provided by his successors.

After all, if they didn’t brace up, the local security supply would be monopolized by Nestor Corporation.

"The public security company has always provided inexpensive and reliable security services to the residents of Anjiu City and Aizu City," the reporter pressed on, "but this incident shows that your company lacks the technical power to resist hackers. Does this mean that we should fully integrate into the security provided by Nestor Corporation and the New Aizuwakamatsu Security Company? After all, these two companies can also provide an ample supply of security personnel."

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"In fact, we’ve implemented emergency protocols," the spokesperson explained. "We arrived on the scene immediately, not allowing the hacker to cause any more damage. We will find this hacker as soon as possible."

"Is this related to the Cyber Specter?"

"Still under investigation," the spokesperson said.

Xu Yang casually forwarded the message about capturing the food street hacker, keeping everyone informed in real time to track down clues. Then, he silently accessed the network terminal of Green Ridge’s trading platform. Green Ridge’s cyber security personnel were upgrading their firewall package, and Xu Yang slipped in before they finished updating to search for information.

The system’s self-check logs showed that the adversary had set up batch operations, setting all the prices on the entire street to free. The cameras had not captured much valuable information; the hacker must have blended into the crowd to escape.

Oddly enough, the system was left with a huge amount of redundant files, similar to the effects produced by Xu Yang’s use of a Net Avatar, generating a lot of subconscious coding, which meant that this hacker might also be capable of entering cyberspace.

Another hacker... Xu Yang mused, with cybersecurity issues becoming increasingly pressing, all companies would surely propose new cyber defense strategies. The battle between attack and defense was critical and not to be overlooked.

"Boss, fortune smiles upon you," Relay Machine sent a New Year greeting, viewing the generous Xu Yang as a major financier for the Formless System.

"Any big news in the cyber security field lately?" Xu Yang asked.

"Of course, they’re introducing a brand new cyber security solution called ’Helis Sea’, also known as the ’XLS System’. It’s spearheaded by Lighthouse Core and Rainforest Wanwu, with major enterprises like Northern Military Industry, Divine Daylight, and Near East Providence joining in the design. This revolutionary cyber security solution means all traditional hacking methods will become obsolete. They’ve been frightened into accelerating the launch of this epoch-making technology due to the recent spate of security system incidents."

"What exactly is its operational mechanism?" Xu Yang pondered and then came to his conclusion. "Are the companies preparing to establish advanced local networks, completely cutting off unlimited communication services?"

"You hit the nail on the head. That’s the core concept of Helis Sea," Relay Machine replied. "All electronic devices will operate within this isolated sea, inaccessible by any external means, any. All keys will be renewed, and I guarantee that once this system is fully operational, every hacker will be out of a job."

That’s going to be a problem, Xu Yang silently remarked. If all the major enterprises upgraded their security systems to this ’Helis Sea’, hackers could no longer use their skills as before.

"But from your tone," Xu Yang replied. "it seems you’re not worried in the slightest. Does the Formless System have a countermeasure?"

"Certainly," Relay Machine said. "Boss Todd hacked a prototype of Helis Sea from the labs of Lighthouse Core and plans to share it with everyone at the global hacker conference in March, allowing us all to keep up with the times."

"Then I can’t miss this conference."

"Ha, I’ll send you the access key by the end of January. How could corporations stop brave hackers? We’re going to sail the Helis Sea, until we establish an open and free internet," Relay Machine sent a smiling emoji.

Helis Sea... Xu Yang reflected. This meant businesses were going to hide their core databases within secret structures, accessible only to those who truly abandoned their physical forms to dive in and uncover secrets.

The war between cybersecurity and hackers was destined to escalate, and he couldn’t afford to fall behind the times; it was necessary to keep up with the latest progress.

Meanwhile, on the streets of Aizu City, Seeking Shadow received a bounty, preparing to capture the food street thief.

"I know who can help us resolve this," Hosoda Yoshiyuki pondered.

"Where are you going?" Seeking Shadow said.

"A prison buddy of mine, he can help us," Hosoda Yoshiyuki said. "Many skilled thieves from the jailbreak are now wandering, and I know one of them who should be in Aizu City."

"Better not stir up trouble," Seeking Shadow warned.

"Heh, I’ll be careful," Hosoda Yoshiyuki said.

He left his hideout, beginning to contact brothers from his past.

The other party, known as "Yonka," was not a living creature but rather a stream of personality code inhabiting the body of a robot, capable of effortlessly devouring and displacing other robots and electronic devices. Excelling in the field of consciousness datafication, he was a technical powerhouse, which also led to a pileup of his crimes.

"Hosoda Yoshiyuki?" Yonka’s electronically encoded voice came through.

"Switched bodies again, huh?" Hosoda Yoshiyuki hid in the depths of an alleyway and calmly responded. "You really can’t stay idle."

"Seeing that you’re still alive is really great," Yonka exclaimed. "Who would’ve thought that folks like us, downtrodden, could reunite? Heh, burdened with troubles, bounties, and a shadowy past, caught and forced to work for prison companies until one day you’re free."

"It’s in the past. I want to bring you to meet some people, to do some legitimate work. When you meet them, be honest about your abilities and experiences," Hosoda Yoshiyuki said. "...They are all decent folks, and I don’t want you to embarrass me. Can you support yourself now?"

"Ha." Yonka scoffed disdainfully. "I’m a technical expert. Of course, a technical expert can support themselves; you are underestimating me."

"So what have you been up to lately?" Hosoda Yoshiyuki sensed an unusual excitement in him, like he’d popped a stimulant, extremely restless.

"Lately? Picked up some energy batteries for free, grabbed a box of sushi, threw a food street into chaos, causing an overload that blew up a transformer. Just simple stuff, you can catch news of my masterpiece anywhere."