Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 436 - 392 Resurgence

Chapter 436: Chapter 392 Resurgence

The rain was unrelenting.

escorted the Spiritual Fire toward the city and also learned more about the Righteous Army.

The precursor to the Righteous Army was "Silla’s Whole Territory Labor Federation," an organization aimed at securing the interests of laborers, committed to eliminating injustice and poverty, opposing the extremely conspicuous wealth gap in corporate society, and wanting to improve people’s living conditions.

Over the past ten years, the contradictions between laborers and entrepreneurs had become increasingly acute, and the situation continually deteriorated.

After lawful means of protest were banned, the main leader, Anberly, turned to armed activities and ultimately received strong support from Wei Shiyue.

"Ordinary weapons can’t kill it," Spiritual Fire said.

According to information from Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing, Wei Shiyue’s Dragon Scale could withstand most damage, and normal autocannons and even missiles couldn’t destroy her.

"It’s a dragon-slaying weapon," acknowledged Anberly. "The Toshiaki Consortium invested in developing a weapon specifically for shooting dragons, mixing in some ancient spells and incantations... like the dragon hunters of ancient times."

Enchanted weapons! 102 touched her own Short Spear, which must be of a similar method. Could the companies wield this skill too?

"They must have spent a lot of time coordinating spells and technology," Anberly continued. "Those runes... they harmed the essence of Wei Shiyue, destroying her soul."

"Wei Shiyue... what kind of person was she?" 102 couldn’t help but ask.

"A remarkable, independent woman," Anberly reminisced about the past. "Initially, we didn’t believe an idol trainee could have such unwavering fighting spirit."

"We want to know..." Spiritual Fire said.

"Sorry," Anberly had to leave, "the committee needs me."

The Righteous Army provided lodgings for the delegation from Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing in a mid-range hotel.

The conditions were poor, with spartan facilities and virtually no service staff; the few robots were also outdated models from Ultimate Technology, running on the most primitive first-generation AI. Anberly promised to send over two modern robots to clean the rooms in the afternoon.

The situation was grave, 102 could see it. A war between the Righteous Army and Modern Entertainment was about to erupt. With Wei Shiyue dead, and significant combat strength lost, the Righteous Army would have difficulty withstanding the company’s army in a mass assault.

"I want to help them," 102 leaned on the railing of the balcony outside her room, watching the bustling crowds below.

"Don’t," 101 interrupted her sister’s musings with a succinct syllable. They were powerless to interfere on their own. If Nestor Corporation’s main force were here, then perhaps they could have tried to fight, but there were only just over 200 soldiers here. Besides, they were on an escort mission, not a war plan.

looked anxiously into the distance.

The Righteous Army had reinstated conscription, replacing corporate-led labor relations with a spirit of communal honor. Men and women took action, quickly running through the streets, evacuating children and the elderly to air-raid shelters outside the city, while able-bodied men were either at work or on their way to enlist. Due to a shortage of supplies, disease and pain spread chaotically in the city, and the war made everything unrecognizable.

"Fight for the victory of the laborers!" Such slogans were embroidered on flags flying high, sure to liberate the Silla Region from the iron grip of corporatism.

The idea that the people of Xin City planned to resist the mechanized tide of the company’s army with their flesh and blood made 102 uncomfortable.

Gusts of grand historical winds were blowing in her face; 102 was experiencing an unprecedented feeling as the entire era roared and exploded before her eyes like artillery shells.

Silla had reached a crossroad, and the times forced everyone to make a choice, between corporate or anti-corporate stances, with no middle ground to stand upon.

viewed the world with a simple, friendly mentality, believing that everyone should get along peacefully and bask in the atmosphere of happiness. Some called it naïve, others called it a great ideal.

She ran out of her room and headed to Spiritual Fire’s office in the dormitory building.

"Why are they fighting?" 102 asked Spiritual Fire. "They know they will lose but still fight."

Spiritual Fire was still typing official letters on the old terminal. Seeing 102 enter, she turned off the page and turned to her with a smile.

"The primary goal of all enterprises is to make a profit," Spiritual Fire attempted to answer. "But people do not want to become the price of corporate profits and wish to share in the profits. The workers and the distributors are always bound to clash."

"Can’t one person both work and distribute? Or rather, why not let the workers do the distributing?"

"Child... I hope you’re not an anti-corporatist," Spiritual Fire triggered her alertness module.

"I work at a big company, Nestor Corporation," 102 picked up her work badge, which had the name "Yi Ling’er" written on it, looking rather naive.

"Alright, Yi Ling’er, the issues in Silla are even more complex. The situation in the south and north are quite different," Spiritual Fire explained. "Xingping North Road is rugged and has a harsh climate, but it’s rich in a variety of ores and production materials, resulting in the congregation of many material processing industries and especially a large number of laborers; while Xingping South Road has a coastal location, with ports that face the world, attracting foreign investment, and the service and financial sectors are increasingly flourishing, creating the prosperous Modern Entertainment Company. The development between north and south is unbalanced. The irreconcilable contradictions have ultimately sparked a civil war."

"So there are different contradictions in each place? What about Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing?" 102 asked.

"Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing relies on precise calculations by a multitude of experts," Spiritual Fire projected a calculation formula in front of her. "Our artificial intelligence ’Master’ has developed a model that can delicately calculate two costs: one is the cost of resolving social conflicts through the use of force and neutralization, and the other is the cost of increasing remuneration, education levels, and investing in welfare subsidies. These two numbers are constantly changing dynamically, and our strategies depend on which side has the higher cost."

thought hard for a moment.

"So," 102 said, "Modern Entertainment Company believes that shooting everyone dead is more cost-effective than paying them?"

"It’s always like this." Spiritual Fire’s face still bore a smile that was not quite a smile. "Now that Wei Shiyue is dead, their last obstacle to flattening the Righteous Army has also been removed. I predict that after snuffing out this branch of the Righteous Army, Modern Entertainment will be able to continue its rule for 50 years."

102’s spirits sank.

She walked to the outskirts, and before the people of the Righteous Army filled the last shovelful of earth on Wei Shiyue’s grave, she took a picture of the Dragon Tomb and then sent the news back to Shijin Mansion, sharing it with Kong Tai’s The Flying Birds Group as well.

At that time, Du Qianqian was working in the countryside of Xingping South Road.

A few hours earlier, Hosoda Yoshiyuki had flown into the sky and blasted an entire bandit gang with the missile launchers on his body, then Du Qianqian slipped into the bandit warehouse and found a gray shark-shaped Shuttle Machine.

Du Qianqian seriously wiped down the shuttle machine, planning to clean it up and sell it for a good price.

This shuttle, unimpressive in appearance and branded with the giant corporation Suvy Metals, was actually a knockoff produced by a small factory in the Silla countryside.

At that moment, she saw a message from 102 with a photo of the Dragon Tomb, which included the decaying remains of Wei Shiyue.

Du Qianqian got a mischievous idea and decided to try transforming into the appearance of Wei Shiyue.

Wei Shiyue... Wei Shiyue...

As Du Qianqian silently chanted the name, in an instant, her body rapidly took on the appearance of Wei Shiyue—a white, muscular dragon! Its wings and claws spanned at least twelve meters in length. It was just too cool! She delighted in her new appearance reflected in the shuttle’s porthole window.

Then, she began flapping her wings and moving her hands like playing a game of eagle catching chickens, and the dragon’s wings started to rise and fall as if a real dragon were flying.

After playing around a few times, Du Qianqian gradually got used to the new form. The basic motor logic was pretty similar to her human body, after all, both were quadrupedal.

As she walked on the ground, the magic coating she wore sparked friction against the ground, her tail burrowing beneath and her belly halfway into the soil, resembling a half-buried dragon just like the clipping glitches in video games.

She ran into the shuttle, and the dragon’s appearance completely enveloped the small ship.

Du Qianqian found it amusing and casually named the ship the "Moonlight Princess." She then immediately reverted to human form to avoid startling anyone else.

Make money, make money... Du Qianqian thought. How could she use this form to make money?

That’s right.

She messaged 102.

"Wei Shiyue is dead. Is that important to the Righteous Army?" Du Qianqian asked.

"Of course. After its death, it seems like the Righteous Army can’t fight at all..." 102 said dejectedly.

"If I transform into Wei Shiyue and boost their morale, would the people from the Righteous Army pay me?"

"But they are also quite poor," 102 said.

"No matter what, they should be able to come up with one or two million, fighting Modern Entertainment for so many years, they definitely have financial backers," Du Qianqian said excitedly.

"Then give it a try," 102 said, knowing that without Wei Shiyue appearing on the battlefield, the Righteous Army would definitely be demoralized, unable to withstand the assault.

The next day, on the front lines of Yaoyin Mountain, Modern Entertainment Company launched a large-scale offensive.

Rocket artillery and missiles attacked the mountain from long range, covering the advance of the ground forces as they attempted to clear out the anti-air fortifications hidden within. Once these anti-air defenses were neutralized, large military shuttle machines and attack squadrons could be deployed to gain air superiority, and with just a few rounds of bombing, all enemies to the North could be annihilated in one fell swoop.

The Righteous Army’s defensive stance was not very resolute. The influence of infiltrating spies caused a domino effect; some positions began to willingly fall back.

The battlefield was engulfed in smoke, the deafening sound of artillery blasts went off one after another without any sign of stopping.

Modern Entertainment did not have the funds to maintain a space mothership, so their war tactics were more conventional. They relied on tank groups and power armor soldiers to slowly crawl up the mountain ridges, attacking in an upward angle, trying to break the defensive line in one go and put an end to the stalemate of the civil war. The defense of the Righteous Army was as powerless as soft dough, easily manipulated.

Just then, surprised shouts filled the communication channels, and both sides of the conflict perceived the anomaly.

"Look—"

"That is... "

"What in the world!"

A white dragon moved between the dark clouds, emitting strange roars!

It soared through the light and shadows of the sky, over and over again... People recognized it, impossible to forget that unique appearance—Wei Shiyue!

Wei Shiyue had returned!

The people of the Righteous Army were excited from the depths of their hearts, while the troops of Modern Entertainment Company were struck with astonishment and panic.

The indestructible Wei Shiyue still held a deterrent power on the modern battlefield, able to easily use Moonlight Flame and spells to destroy high-value targets, hindering the advance of troops.

"Charge!"

"Wei Shiyue is back!"

"Let’s fight them!" Shouts of anger erupted continuously on the front lines.

In reality, it was just Du Qianqian. She used magic power to take on the appearance of Wei Shiyue, sitting inside the shuttle machine creating a holographic shell with her magic power, and the large dragon body conveniently covered the shuttle itself.

As long as the shuttle flew and she adjusted her body and posture in the cabin at the right times, from the outside, it appeared as if the dragon were truly soaring.

She continually experimented with this delicate balance, and her magic experience grew, progressing her towards becoming a High-Ranking Witch.

Du Qianqian chuckled to herself and quickly contacted the command center of the Righteous Army, sending them a message.

"Hello, this is ’Phantom’ Special Effects Company! Open for sincere cooperation! Currently creating an illusion over the skies of Yaoyin Mountain. If you would like to extend our services, it’s one million funds for every 30 minutes! Please transfer it promptly to the following address on the deep anonymous network! Otherwise, we will immediately cease projection!"