Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 422 - 380: Bulk Goods

Chapter 422: Chapter 380: Bulk Goods

One hour later, they had crossed the pollution barrier and come upon the real open sea.

To avoid conflict, the yacht sailed westward, toward the heart of the Great Ocean, and was now 20 nautical miles from the coast. Humans treated the sea just as they would beautify the dead, for wealthy individuals. Beaches and clean sea areas designated for the rich were exceptionally tidy, with bottles and jars automatically collected by robots, and even the sand could be periodically renewed by the sea. But once you left the marked clean zones on the map, trash and dead fish would gather together like large clusters of bacteria under a microscope.

Observing ocean current movements had never been this effortless, just by looking at the spread of white trash on the surface of the water, you could see everything at a glance. Pan Ruiyi detested the garbage and took the helm herself, steering the yacht to more remote areas.

The diesel-electric hybrid engine hummed loudly, providing a speed of 24 knots for the vessel. By steering towards areas with less trash, Pan Ruiyi finally brought the yacht to an open and relatively clean expanse of water. Here, the blue-green water shimmered with a dreamlike luster under the dim yellow sunlight, a color no painter could ever mix.

A human’s paradise.

"It seems this place is also frequented by pirates," Pan Ruiyi observed the vast sea, having done her homework. After the fishing industry suffered devastating blows, fishermen would also moonlight as sea killers to make ends meet.

"Are we well-stocked with weapons?"

"Enough!" Pan Ruiyi glanced at the Iron Wings and War Spear hidden in the cabin.

This 14-meter-long sea fishing yacht was fully equipped: with a displacement of 16 tons and a draft of 1 meter deep, fitted with a small restroom, a storage room, and a bedroom. There was also a compact lounge area with an L-shaped cotton sofa, complete with a liquor cabinet, a smart screen, refrigerator, smokeless cooking appliances, and a water dispenser. At the stern, there was a 15-meter-long polyethylene towline with a hooked end for dragging fish, netting, or even for wake surfing.

Xu Yang, wearing sunglasses, lay back on the yacht deck, made of white resin on the outside that offered a cool, smooth touch. He floated quietly on the sea, bobbing with the waves, relishing the feeling of the sun evenly sprinkling on his body.

Pan Ruiyi observed him carefully, feeling especially free and joyful in the vast seascape. She was a matured Witch, and evidently, she had personal desires.

Fearing she wouldn’t be able to restrain herself from simply taking Xu Yang then and there, which would be far too reckless, she sat beside the gunwale, legs crossed, clad in a long-sleeved black and blue cold-proof surf suit, and started fishing.

Xu Yang was fond of the open sea; one of his big dreams was to buy a small island in the tropics and live there at his leisure. The current situation wasn’t too far off, with the weather still being fair, no storms, or acid rain—only the colorful clouds that had drifted over from somewhere unknown, allowing him to thoroughly enjoy himself by sunbathing and listening to the news.

The onboard network module performed poorly, with low power and few protocols; it could only be used for listening to broadcasts and couldn’t even support video playback, but it still enabled Xu Yang to keep up with current events.

"...The time has entered the 150th year," the official broadcast of the Corporate Alliance was providing information from a live announcement in Greeny City. "For a century and a half, the Corporate Alliance has been dedicated to reducing the threat of ancient powers to human civilization; unfortunately, with the assaults of ambitious figures, the expansion of corporate wars, and global catastrophes, most of our efforts have been declared ineffective, with one containment site after another being breached. Therefore, we will change our strategy from complete control to supervision and warning."

"Now, the Corporate Alliance officially categorizes M-Mystical disasters into five levels: Apocalypse, Regional Crisis, Localized Threat, Minor Conflict, and Controllable Incident. When the Corporate Alliance issues corresponding alerts, members of human civilization should remain rational, respect science, maintain the spirit of contract, and trust the security services they have purchased with their funds."

"In addition, the Corporate Alliance calls on all major corporations to closely constrain witches, be vigilant about supernatural events, and promptly deal with anti-corporation sentiments, so as not to irreversibly affect the global financial and business order and harm the core interests of human civilization."

"Furthermore, the Corporate Alliance will carry out a worldwide joint search initiative, recruiting humans with strong aptitudes from all over the world, as well as witches who meet the requirements, to form a new ’Alliance Special Agents’ organization, representing the unwavering determination of the Corporate Alliance to defend human interests and curb the increasingly severe mystical incidents."

Forming a team of special agents primarily composed of humans... Xu Yang reflected.

Hearing this news, Pan Ruiyi turned her head and made an exaggerated sound.

"Listen— it seems the Corporate Alliance is really getting serious this time," she was particularly concerned about this matter. "I almost got transferred to the Skydrive Agreement, the Corporate Alliance’s direct witch troops. It’s no joke, with extremely powerful witches and magic power, and witches who have worked for the Corporate Alliance since before the Third Witch War... Witches from the same era as Eve Anak, just thinking about it sends chills down my spine! Now, they’ve got not only the Skydrive Agreement, but they’re also recruiting human special agents."

"Power shifts back and forth." Xu Yang gazed at the sky, the sunglasses adding a nice layer of shadow to everything, which was quite pleasant. "Let’s concentrate on expanding our power. Next stop, Silla. Are you coming?"

"I’m not going." Pan Ruiyi, who found fishing dull, left her fishing rod on the gunwale, waiting for random fish to bite, then ran into the cabin to play the local fighting game on the smart screen.

Xu Yang went down from the main deck and saw that she was very poor at the game, getting wiped out by the entry-level AI, but she was spirited and easy-going, not taking the game losses to heart, and still having a blast. Xu Yang also sat down beside her and played games with her for two hours.

It was not until the evening that a fish took the bait; a clattering noise came from the gunwale, and Pan Ruiyi, always alert, threw the controller away and dashed out, only to find the fishing line sinking down, evidently having hooked something. Xu Yang turned off the smart screen and returned to the deck, only to see Pan Ruiyi leaning forward, fiercely holding onto the fishing rod, attempting to lift the fish up. The fishing line was taut with her movements and the struggling fish, vibrating continuously. Looking at Pan Ruiyi from behind, he could only see her smooth curves, and each time he saw her, he felt a warmth rise in him.

"Grab this!" Pan Ruiyi shouted.

"Be careful." Xu Yang moved forward to grab the fishing rod from Pan Ruiyi and immediately felt the heavy weight of the fish swiftly moving in the sea, trying to escape the hook. He leaned back, straining to lift the rod higher, only to see Pan Ruiyi had already climbed onto the gunwale and then leaped into the sea.

She was intent on killing the fish outright to avoid wrestling with it on the boat.

Pan Ruiyi moved quickly through the water, sunlight piercing the shallow sea. She caught sight of a gargantuan sea bass that had taken the bait—its size was impressive, nearly as large as a young adult. To the fish, the hook seemed no more than the size of a finger joint, likely to break free at any moment. With a powerful kick of her legs, Pan Ruiyi surged forward through the water and arrived in front of the sea bass. She unleashed her killer fish punch, instantly killing the creature, which then began to sink slowly downwards, no longer struggling.

Aboard the ship, Xu Yang had previously been at risk of being pulled overboard by the fish but now felt the rod in his hands slacken. He started to reel in slowly, dragging the big fish towards him.

Pan Ruiyi watched as the huge sea bass was towed away, breaking the surface to spit out a mouthful of foul-smelling sea water, and then waved at Xu Yang, who looked up and sensed something was amiss, hastily warning her.

"Behind you!"

A massive shadow loomed hundreds of meters behind Pan Ruiyi, closing in rapidly!

At Xu Yang’s signal, Pan Ruiyi turned to look, momentarily stunned—a wild Ocean Descendant! Farosa had raised many such creatures, but a wild Ocean Descendant was undoubtedly ferocious.

It pushed forward, emitting a hoarse roar with a dragon-shaped head and elongated body resembling a giant sea serpent. The creature’s clearly defined blue scales were augmented by a varying number of tendrils, each ending with a tiny luminescent body that cast a faint light on the surroundings, making its appearance seem all the more brutal.

The Ocean Descendant, drawn by the scent of blood and prey, was a king in the marine food chain. With a powerful flick of its long tail, it lunged at Pan Ruiyi.

Hunting!

Seeing this, Xu Yang felt an urgency and activated the Cloud Beast, covering himself with Nano Armor before diving into the sea to observe.

He was a strong swimmer, and with the aid of the armor, diving wasn’t much of a hassle. In no time, he saw a marine vortex stirring ahead as Pan Ruiyi somersaulted into the water to wrestle with the Ocean Descendant.

As currents swirled and waves radiated outwards, Xu Yang faced resistance in his underwater navigation. The battle between the Ocean Descendant and Pan Ruiyi was intense. All Xu Yang could see was the murky water, with sounds muffled and difficult to discern. He heard a series of thuds, and then the turbulent waters gradually calmed.

Immediately after, a large expanse of blood diffused into the water before him.

He could barely make out Pan Ruiyi, her right hand grasping the head of the Ocean Descendant as she surfaced, having slain the beast! Impressed, Xu Yang followed her up. They exchanged glances at the surface, and Pan Ruiyi broke into a smile.

"Its shell was too brittle, it couldn’t take many hits from me! Quickly bring the yacht back, I’ll tie it to the back!" she said.

"Not bad at all..." Xu Yang turned back, climbed onto the yacht, and steered it alongside Pan Ruiyi. She was holding onto the approximately 7 or 8 meters long Ocean Descendant. She used the hook on the boat’s stern tow rope to forcefully pierce through the creature’s skull, hooking it right at its forehead for easy towing.

Having done all this, she still didn’t show any signs of fatigue, effortlessly grabbing onto the boat’s edge and climbing aboard, full of energy. Such was the physical condition of a Dominator Witch.

Xu Yang reeled in the sea bass, which was also quite lengthy and felt heavily solid even in his embrace.

But the large sea bass seemed minuscule in comparison to the Ocean Descendant being towed at the stern. Xu Yang attempted to store the sea bass in the yacht’s freezer, but it wouldn’t fit, so he temporarily placed it in a water tank in the deck’s storage compartment.

Its gills flapped continuously, and the eyes were bulging. Pan Ruiyi was already considering how to cook it. Then there was the Ocean Descendant they had dragged behind—their flesh was said to strengthen and energize the body.

Xu Yang walked to the stern, contemplating the Ocean Descendant Pan Ruiyi had killed with her bare hands and remembered how Farosa once consumed the flesh and blood of the Ocean Descendants raw—she was always so unique.

"Let’s head back," Pan Ruiyi handed Xu Yang one of the two cups of iced watermelon juice she got from the cabin’s small freezer. "We can process these two big catches, eat half, sell half. Or maybe just sell them all and then go for barbecue? Oh, better yet, let’s bring them back to Shijin Mansion and have the Synthetic Humans turn them into a feast for everyone."

"...The sea is truly dangerous."

"I’m here as your personal bodyguard, right?"

Xu Yang was sitting on the deck, just about to relax, when he suddenly noticed a dark spot on the sea’s surface.

"What’s that?" He stood up and saw a small black boat tailing them.