Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 406 - 366 Prison Guard’s Audience with Heaven

Chapter 406: Chapter 366 Prison Guard’s Audience with Heaven

"All right, keep calm," Hosoda Yoshiyuki thought to himself. "Must not startle the snake by hitting the grass."

When this guy’s in a good mood, he acts low key, takes out a whole food street. If he loses his temper, it’s possible he’d go against the whole of Anjiu City.

Hosoda Yoshiyuki fell silent for a while as his mindset changed. He used to be brothers with Yonka, but now he wanted to use his brother’s head as a token of loyalty to switch allegiances. He needed to show some achievements. If he could hand over Yonka, he guessed he’d gain more trust.

"All right, brother," Hosoda Yoshiyuki responded promptly, while figuring out how to lure Yonka out of his hiding spot, "I saw the stuff you made—it’s cool. Did the hackers teach you?"

"They taught me too well," Yonka replied coldly, "And then I encountered the ’Nightmare Program’... It’s a hundred times more powerful than all humans. All I need to do is tame it."

Hosoda Yoshiyuki had heard about Yonka’s experiences.

In his early years, Yonka wreaked havoc in a cyber-infiltration, climbing up and down the digital matrix, breaking codes, inadvertently breached an information firewall and entered beyond the wall, where he was infected with the electronic virus "Nightmare Program."

He was transformed ever since then.

Under the guidance of the Nightmare Program, he gained a terrifying power, his individual consciousness able to flow at will, easily overwriting and erasing the will of others, or forcefully taking over the control center of robots.

To lessen his sentence and suffer less, Hosoda Yoshiyuki had collaborated with Yonka several times, helping the prison authorities solve tough issues, and had seen Yonka’s tricks. Now, Yonka had completely turned into a digital consciousness entity, able to freely flow, wandering amongst different bodies and machines, occupying bodies at will, and then breaking out from within, currently residing within a robot body.

"Once you’re here with us, everybody will look up to you, brother," Hosoda Yoshiyuki said, "You could do a lot of good, start afresh."

"What exactly is this legitimate work you’re talking about?" Yonka asked impatiently, "You’ve really changed, I’ve never heard you’d want to do any legitimate work."

Hosoda Yoshiyuki didn’t know how to explain to Yonka immediately, but he suddenly realized that if Yonka kept roaming recklessly in Anjiu City’s cyberspace, sooner or later he would have a showdown with the Cyber Specter, and then things would escalate.

Sorry, Yonka.

"Hold on, brother. Let me adjust the signal," Hosoda Yoshiyuki bided his time with Yonka, while secretly contacting Seeking Shadow and the others.

As Hosoda Yoshiyuki secretly sent out the information, a security task force was assembling, ready to track the signal to capture Yonka and deal with the food street thief issue.

On the other end of the communication, Yonka smelled a rat.

Hosoda Yoshiyuki was a man as cold as steel, but now he seemed restrained in conversation, not as generous as before.

"What you need is freedom," the Nightmare Program typed out onto Yonka’s chip, "He’s just a former colleague of yours, you don’t need to keep talking to him..."

During its long exile, the Nightmare Program had developed its own intelligence, continually instructing Yonka on how to act.

Yonka made an instant decision, cutting off communication, pulled the neural data cable from behind his head, plugged it into the hotel room’s wall data port, instantly transmitting his consciousness out of his robotic body, leaving behind an empty machine existence and activating an alternative artificial intelligence to take over the risk.

Next, Yonka’s consciousness crawled throughout the entire hotel, quickly zeroing in on the hotel front desk, on a middle-aged man named Tomikawa.

At that moment, Tomikawa was connected to the hotel’s public network service, browsing the latest home furniture prices, planning to add some chairs and sofas to the hotel. His data cable, connected to the network and his neural center, had an adaptable data chip, modularly accepting many brain enhancements, suitable for control. In Yonka’s eyes, it was the perfect target for erosion.

"To torment humans, it’s like this..." the Nightmare Program commented in Yonka’s mind, "These fragile spirits must be torn apart by us."

Guided by the Nightmare Program, Yonka poured his consciousness into Tomikawa’s mind.

Tomikawa jolted, his consciousness instantly wiped clean by the Nightmare Program, replaced by Yonka’s total domination.

Yonka had gained a new body!

After swallowing Tomikawa, Yonka adjusted to the body for a moment, silently waiting at the counter, receiving two plainclothes security personnel upstairs. He wasn’t ready to use Tomikawa’s body to speak yet, instead he just nodded sagely and leaned against the counter.

The robot that Yonka had previously used stayed in the room, loaded with a reserved second generation artificial intelligence.

"Hello, here to check the lights," the security personnel knocked.

"Come in," the robot said unsuspectingly, opening the door. The security personnel burst in aggressively like ravenous wolves and promptly arrested it.

"What—don’t arrest me!" the robot panicked.

"We suspect you’re involved in the information intrusion incident at the Green Ridge Market! Come with us, you have five minutes to contact your purchased legal assistance service," the security personnel took the robot away with electronic shackles.

Watching his robot being captured, Yonka clenched his fists.

Hosoda Yoshiyuki! The less than beastly bastard. He cursed in his heart.

They would soon discover the truth, and he had to leave the Northern Archipelago quickly. If he was thrown back in prison, he’d be enslaved by the authorities again; they didn’t keep prisoners for free.

Once the security personnel left, Yonka packed up Tomikawa’s personal belongings and cleared his online trails.

Taking the sea route seemed the most convenient for now, Yonka thought to himself. The airport’s security was extremely tight, and over land, Anjiu City was only connected to Shangjing, which was even more perilous, teeming with hidden dangers. He couldn’t afford to go there.

He was left with no choice but to head to Anjiu City Port. There were few ships these days, but there was always at least one cargo or merchant ship docking every day. As long as you paid for the service, the sailors were happy to stuff the ship’s hold full with living people, not much different from transporting piglets.

There was no other way now, Yonka decided, and took off.

"So you can control this world, devour it step by step," the Nightmare Program transmitted into Yonka’s consciousness, "By devouring human will, I’ve become more complete than at any time before..."

Yonka walked with his head down, cautious and low-key, his heart cold and foreboding.

On the other side, Xu Yang took Pan Ruiyi and Little Fool back to Shijin Mansion.

Pan Ruiyi removed her heavy armor, leaving her in a black satin semi-transparent bodysuit, her long and muscular legs crossed over each other, with the contours of her muscles distinctly visible.

Xu Yang glanced over and couldn’t help but entertain some bold ideas.

She met Xu Yang’s gaze, feeling an itch in her heart, the constant thought of taking Xu Yang down. She was interested in Xu Yang and it became difficult to restrain herself once things reached this point. She felt like flames were flaring up wildly within her.

She always felt she was half a head taller than Xu Yang. The stature of those from the idiotic company seemed so frail to her, and if anything did happen, she might just crush him to pieces... The scenario kept replaying in Pan Ruiyi’s mind, stirring up a peculiar excitement.

Pan Ruiyi lifted Little Fool from her seat, using her as a pillow to play with. Little Fool, squeezed in between lofty mountains, felt rather uncomfortable. She tried to turn over but still couldn’t find a good position, feeling like she was about to fall in. She quickly jumped down and scurried away from Pan Ruiyi, tumbling and half-crawling to Xu Yang’s side where he scooped her up from the floor.

Lying in Xu Yang’s arms, Little Fool finally seemed more settled.

"You must have been affected by her," Xu Yang said.

"Not at all! She’s the best little kid," Pan Ruiyi replied. "Quiet and untroublesome, easy to tease."

"I just hope she grows up healthy," Xu Yang said, "...don’t you become a negative role model."

Pan Ruiyi laughed again; she found being with Xu Yang very interesting.

"It seems like those oppressive days are gone forever," she remarked. "Are we rich now?"

"Mining, grain cultivation, Synthetic Human manufacturing, security services, trade," Xu Yang counted the companies within the Nestor System, checking the financial reports, "From last August to now, our total operating revenue is 530 million, liquid assets amount to 2 billion — mainly money from Kanako, plus fixed assets of 1.6 billion. After recent expansions, our employee count reached 20,000, mostly professional security and agricultural workers. There’s still considerable potential for growth."

"Sounds like we’re a small step closer to having our own space mothership," Pan Ruiyi said with bright eyes. "As long as we have 50 billion, we can get one."

"We still owe Enomoto Bank 1 billion," Xu Yang pointed out. "Right now, we’ve only built the skeletal framework; we’re still filling out the muscles and blood vessels."

"But we’re still rich," said Pan Ruiyi, who had never cared about how much money Nestor Corporation had. Now that she heard it, it sounded pretty good, and she looked at Xu Yang even more eagerly.

"If something happens to Kanako in the Near East, there will be no reliable person to help us with the transfusion," Xu Yang noted. "We better be careful with our operations. It’s a time of war; our iron ore and military Synthetic Humans are top commodities. As long as we avoid any blunders, our days of making a fortune aren’t far."

The Purple Wind was parked at Shijin Mansion.

"Aren’t you coming?" Xu Yang asked, seeing Pan Ruiyi remained in the cabin.

"I’m thinking of renting a place outside," Pan Ruiyi replied. "Lend me the Purple Wind for a while."

"Just be careful on your own, don’t get into trouble," Xu Yang said as he took Little Fool back.

Pan Ruiyi watched Xu Yang leave and forcefully pulled the cabin door shut.

She lay back in the seat, looking for a suitable location on her phone. Pan Ruiyi planned to rent a bachelor apartment, spacious, with two floors, and invite Xu Yang to come over alone. She was sure it would be very interesting, with utter chaos ensuing.

It was getting late, and Xu Yang prepared to sleep.

"You can talk with everyone here," Xu Yang said as he covered himself with the blanket, addressing Little Fool. "Everyone here is friendly."

Little Fool remained silent, changed into pajamas, and lay down in the small bed next to Xu Yang, turning her head to watch him. Xu Yang turned off the light and soon fell into a deep sleep. His slumber was unaffected by Little Fool’s gaze.

Little Fool had a lot to say in her heart, but for some reason, she just couldn’t say it, and it took a long time before she was able to speak.

"Daddy..." she whispered softly.

Then, Little Fool turned her gaze away, looking at the dark ceiling.

Late at night.

The waters were calm in Anjiu City Port, where a contingent of the Nestor Corporation’s Defense Army was stationed.

Based on their elite status, Lila divided the forces into legions, the Defense Army, and security personnel.

The legion comprised the most elite soldiers, best equipped and rigorously trained, charged with protecting valuable assets; the Defense Army was responsible for managing and safeguarding key areas, providing high-standard security services; while the most numerous were the ordinary security personnel, tasked with combating petty criminals, specifically to prevent and fight crime.

The port’s Defense Army consisted of 500 people, divided into five companies, responsible for supervising and inspecting port cargo. Maritime transport was the lifeline of Anjiu City, and with the continuous establishment of no-sailing zones, only a few ships dared to break the blockade, maintaining Anjiu City’s connection to the sea. Thus, each ship held significant importance.

"...a ship has arrived," a soldier pointed at a large liner approaching in the night.

"Ah! That’s..."

As the ship slowly drew near, each Defense Army Soldier wore a solemn expression, not daring to be the least bit negligent. They maintained silence on the communication channels, with everyone prepared mentally. Any minor mistake could bring cataclysmic disaster to the entire Anjiu City.

On the ship’s side was emblazoned the prominent name Haiyun, with the enterprise logo of Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing beside it.

A blue Dragon.

Coiled on the ground, blue scales, white mane, eyes piercing, a natural majesty without anger. In the palm of its claw shone the bright light of the Heavenly Cardinal star.

The vessel of a colossal corporation had arrived at the port of Anjiu City.