Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 546 - 471: Planting the Seed

Chapter 546: Chapter 471: Planting the Seed

Naoya didn’t need to expend effort to open the door, quickly noticing the express cabinet on the walls inside lighting up green.

"Got it!" Naoya Aozu quickly responded to the smart screen.

He didn’t rush to fetch the delivery but walked toward the window, looking out at the vibrant scene of bustling construction.

Nestor Corporation was investing a large amount of assets into the real economy, transforming it into developmental momentum, and was reshaping everything with tremendous determination. The scene before his eyes was an unfamiliar prosperity.

Bustling and lively, people, once separated, were being regathered by Nestor Corporation and returned to the order of production.

How miraculous.

The gang members and criminals he knew so well were now accepting labor service as punishment for past sins; the most heinous leaders were executed by firing squads, while those with dubious cases were detained, awaiting trial.

Others, including suburban vagrants, scavengers, urban poor, the unemployed, and wanderers, were being regrouped, given work, and places in the plan to rebuild the dilapidated areas of the Shangjing Suburbs, reconstructing their homes on-site, allowing them to clearly see their living conditions improving day by day.

Clearing the ruins, building fences, erecting homes.

The company provided job suggestions through the information center, allocating manpower across different Nestor industrial units.

Most people had very low levels of knowledge and skills and took on food production, construction labor, and simple technical work. Those with a bit of education and skills were highly valued and moved up into higher technical and engineering positions.

Before Naoya’s eyes, Nestor Park was rapidly taking shape, having expanded by at least 20% compared to what he had seen the day before. Each park included essential facilities like a data service center, factories, environmental monitoring stations, automatic doctor stations, warehouses, logistics areas, and parks.

Adjoined to the exquisite parks were simple workshops, small shops, prosthesis doctors, and garbage recycling stations, which were micro-individual businesses. They had no interest in joining Nestor Corporation, merely conducting business with its members here.

There were dozens of such parks, striving to accommodate the unemployed and save those with nowhere else to go, pulling them back from the brink of death and starvation.

The prosperous and lively construction swiftly changed the living environment for those at the bottom. Naoya remembered that just six months ago, this place was a chaotic area rife with frequent murders, gang body dumping, and endless gunfights. Now, it was completely transformed.

It was as if the past had turned a new page, and some lost things had been picked up again.

Naoya saw groups of shabbily dressed men and women receiving new work clothes. They used to implant devices in their bodies, cover themselves with tattoos and graffiti to highlight their individuality, and their hair was a mess. But once they put on the new, decent clothes, they seemed to come back to life, and then they received job assignments at the information center.

He found this enterprise remarkable, full of vitality, pulling people who had regressed into beasts back into the world of industrial civilization, bringing fresh changes to the surroundings.

Joining Nestor Corporation was effectively giving everyone a chance to breathe. They received not only work but also property, dignity, and the support of the entire organizational system.

Additionally, after the defeat of New Xisheng Corporation, its abundant high-level engineers, technical experts, and witch researchers successively switched allegiances and resumed work. Rumor had it they had even more ambitious research and development projects, determined to make up for their shortcomings in technology and close the gap with the real mega-corporations. They also planned to exploit the resources buried deep in the sea.

These personnel with excellent records and outstanding abilities resided within the Xisheng Shrine, taking advantage of its convenient location and advanced equipment for work.

Nestor Corporation was so ambitious and full of energy. Even so, when it came time to harm them, Naoya would not show the slightest mercy.

As they say, all the bustling comes for profit, right?

Naoya pulled the curtains closed, went inside to open the express cabinet, and unpacked the parcel. Among the piles of gift boxes and pastries, sweets, and cakes, he saw a blade engraved with odd characters and a black communicator, just as anticipated.

Pulling the data cable from the socket behind his ear, Naoya Aozu connected it to the communicator, pressed a few buttons quickly, and then heard encrypted sounds coming from the other end of the line.

"Hello."

"—Mr. Ghost Warrior," Naoya whispered in a low voice, "...as you instructed, I have successfully joined Nestor Corporation. They have given me a small share, work, a place to live, and food."

"Is there anything unusual?"

"Almost imperceptible," Naoya mused, "...completely different from the other companies I’ve infiltrated... Everyone at Nestor Corporation does as they please, as long as they finish the day’s work and then leave the company... I have plenty of time to scout in the park."

"The information we collected matches. Did you see that cash card?"

Naoya Aozu opened various gift boxes, finally finding a black anonymous cash card beneath a pile of plastic sticks in one box. His heart skipped a beat as he carefully took it out and checked the number in the upper-right corner.

Two million funds.

He pressed a couple of buttons, intending to transfer it to himself, but found he was missing the password.

"What’s the password?" Naoya Aozu asked.

"Once you cut off a branch or leaf from the Golden Tree, you’ll know," he replied. "Have you seen the Golden Tree in the park?"

Naoya Aozu cautiously returned to the window and glanced sideways at the giant plant cultivation facility within the Nestor Corporation grounds, or rather, the hyper-vertical farm.

Traditional agriculture can only be established on a large scale, but with the Power of the Golden Branch and Golden Tree, Nestor Corporation was able to construct vertically aligned farms that stretch upwards. This made it possible to establish advanced farming within the narrow confines of the Archipelago.

Here, the Golden Tree was sealed within a black apparatus, its shimmering contours barely visible from the outside.

"Their ’soil transformation equipment’," Naoya murmured. "Was that originally a tree?"

"It’s what they use to purify the land. What you need to do is figure out a way to get a piece of a branch or leaf," the Ghost Warrior said. "After that, you can take the money and run, fly far away. I will come to escort you."

"It’s difficult to get in," Naoya pondered. "It’s almost completely sealed off."

"Give it a try," the Ghost Warrior encouraged. "As long as you do your best, the money is yours. You must really like money."

"Yes," Naoya replied through gritted teeth.

By nightfall, there were still figures moving around the Nestor Corporation grounds. Some people were making noise in the buildings, festive with lights—the local Scavengers, who would normally decorate to celebrate moments of significance. Now hired by Nestor Corporation, they had brought their traditions into the company. Their spaces were filled with junk dolls, plastic lights, and broken robots they had collected. Before, they would never dare to get drunk—always leaving someone to keep watch—but now with Nestor security soldiers and Elite Soldiers outside, they could drink and sing to their hearts’ content through the night.

Naoya secretly made his way to the plant cultivation facility, which looked like a mid-sized metallic tower with a crisscrossing steel framework. The framework was packed with soil prepared for future sowing. He saw a pale golden blur growing amidst black drapes and metal fences, surrounded by warning signs everywhere.

Gazing at the faint golden mirage, he intuitively connected it with the Golden Tree, realizing it was the source of all reproductive power, soil purification, and fertile nutrients, thanks to the hint from the Ghost Warrior. He carefully approached and saw its roots diving deep into the soil, one sturdy root breaking through the surface, allowing him to harvest it without entering the facility.

Then, boldly, he walked over, his heart pounding. He touched the Golden Tree’s root, cut a piece off with the knife provided by the Ghost Warrior, clutched it tight in his hand, and quickly fled the scene.

As if nothing had happened, he returned to his own room.

Naoya, gasping for breath, drew the curtains, lay on his white bed, and saw the Golden Tree root in his hand turn from emerald green to withered black.

"How did it go?" the Ghost Warrior sent a message. "Did you manage to get it? Just bring out the root of the Golden Tree, and we will give you all the money."

"...Forgive me," Naoya said, staring at the ceiling for a long time before mumbling.

"What did you say?"

"Forgive me," Naoya repeated mechanically, saying it over and over again at intervals, "Forgive me."

"Forgive what?"

"Forgive me, of course, of course, there must be a tree."

"What..."

"The tree is vast, you don’t want to leave, you won’t leave here, you merge with it, that’s better for you. You must, you must possess it, you have obtained it, it is your blessing, your destiny, you have garnered everything you desired. Peace, eternal peace be with you. You were a thief, you were impure, but now you are pure."

"..." The Ghost Warrior cut off communication, the last sound he heard was rustling as Naoya ate the root.

Later, Naoya’s death was discovered by his workgroup. They opened the door to find blood everywhere, and a small golden tree growing from Naoya’s body, which was arched backward with arms flung behind him, as blood poured onto the floor, creating a shape reminiscent of a great deer.

Lu Jing and Seeking Shadow arrived together to inspect the room, quickly finding the Anonymous Cash Card and communicator, although it was now difficult to trace their origins.

"Clearly, someone’s been undermining us secretly..." Seeking Shadow felt highly alert.

"We have to figure this out," Lu Jing felt uneasy as he looked on. "...Does someone want to destroy Nestor Corporation’s current achievements? But what exactly is going on here?"

"Let’s go," Seeking Shadow said, lowering his head.

Meanwhile, the Ghost Warrior hid in a bunker, communicating with the Corporate Alliance, filled with frustration.

Nestor Corporation was impenetrable yet undeniably colluding with the Ancient Witch. It seemed increasingly impossible to suppress. His work on the espionage front was not going well either, if things continued like this, he would surely get caught sooner or later.

How to destroy the threat of the Ancient Witch...

As an agent of the Corporate Alliance, the Ghost Warrior knew his mission was to prevent the Witch from triumphantly stepping on the faces of all Humans. However, infiltrating Nestor Corporation, which was protecting her, required a tremendous amount of resources.

"There are too many suspicious things; I can’t deal with them all," the Ghost Warrior paced back and forth in his room, appealing to the Corporate Alliance for help. "I need support or to be reassigned. In any case, I don’t want to be left here alone. Respond to the Seven Seals’ request, cooperate with them. Otherwise, are we just going to wait for a Witch Goddess to lurk in her secret sanctuary, eventually coming to kill each and every one of us?"