Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 547 - 472: Justice Combo

Chapter 547: Chapter 472: Justice Combo

After leaving the park, Seeking Shadow received a message from Xu Yang asking for her help in finding a qualified hacker.

The defense system known as the Helis Sea required Xu Yang to be stationed there long-term, which greatly reduced his ability to strike proactively. Therefore, they needed another tech expert.

Mizuiro Yoshioka had the foundation, but she prefers to cultivate her ink Magic Power and has no interest in continuing to delve into hacking techniques. In other words, whether to expand their team or to increase their margin for error, they needed to find other outstanding hackers to join their ranks. In addition to looking for technical elites overtly, Seeking Shadow also needed to be cautious of hackers within and outside the city.

"What message did you receive?" Lu Jing noticed Seeking Shadow stop in her tracks.

"Recruiting a hacker." Seeking Shadow set off again.

Lu Jing and Seeking Shadow left the suburbs on foot. They just needed to reach a place called the Asakusa District to catch a light rail back to the city center.

"The propaganda against witches in Shangjing is becoming more and more prevalent." Lu Jing saw an unmarked drone passing through the sky and couldn’t help thinking it might be a reconnaissance unit from some force. "Even though I specifically counter Anti-Magic Power as a witch, they won’t give me any special treatment. Assassins hide in the shadows targeting witches for attacks."

"Then stay by my side," Seeking Shadow walked ahead. "I won’t let you get hurt."

Lu Jing and Seeking Shadow both pursued justice, yet neither of them could clearly define what justice truly was.

"I don’t understand." Lu Jing still remembered the Golden Tree growing out of Naoya Aozu’s body, a scene that she couldn’t shake from her nightmares, "why a person would end up in such a state."

"First, he was a traitor who had been bought off," Seeking Shadow put the evidence in the pocket of her tactical vest. "He planned to steal vital assets from the Nestor Corporation’s park."

"Is a person’s life decided based on their stance?" Lu Jing was puzzled.

"This is a case of mysticism. You’re an employee of a gigantic corporation; you know more than I do," Seeking Shadow said as she walked onto an abandoned road, which was quite secluded with wild grass growing wildly around.

"Naoya was killed by a cognitive hazard," Lu Jing looked down. "If it happened within the company, it would be filed as a mysticism event; it’s quite terrifying."

"Witches themselves are the greatest mysticism," Seeking Shadow said, remaining alert while walking as Lu Jing often got distracted and lost in thought, needing Seeking Shadow’s close protection. "People killed by witches using Magic Power or by supernatural phenomena triggered by mysticism—it’s all the same thing."

They arrived in Shangjing’s Asakusa District as light rain began to fall from the sky.

Lu Jing recited a water-repelling Spell under her breath, and the raindrops slid off an invisible barrier around her. She turned to see water droplets clinging to Seeking Shadow’s artificial body and, worried she might short-circuit, took off her own Green Clothes and draped them over Seeking Shadow’s head. Her lightweight outer garment seemed to be silk but was actually made of light plastic.

"Were you reciting a spell?" Seeking Shadow, with Lu Jing’s clothes draped over her head, heard her muttering.

"The gods of Xia bring clouds and rain; the Church taught us a lot," Lu Jing said softly.

"Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing exploits mysticism," Seeking Shadow stated, "and so does Nestor Corporation. At least those ’land reconstruction devices’ really work. The rain here used to be ten times more poisonous, but now it has cleared up a lot. The soil we’re walking on used to be riddled with contamination that would gradually cause extremities to necrotize, but it’s starting to recover."

Lu Jing thought back to Silla’s strange tales of mages, golden elixirs, and dragon pearls. The corporation’s exploration of mysticism was profound and unfathomable, as biologists and semioticians copied Power from Ancient Gods and rejoiced at their findings. She rarely investigated internal mysticism archives for fear of losing her sanity.

Just like Naoya Aozu, touching things that should not be touched and a Golden Tree sprouting from within his body.

"I’m scared," Lu Jing confessed to Seeking Shadow. "Scared of undergoing enhancements, of having a control chip implanted. Scared of being destroyed by unknown terrors. And even more afraid of letting such an unjust world continue."

"I’m scared too," Seeking Shadow said crisply. "But I’m only afraid of not being strong enough. If you’re worried, just stick with me. Two is always better than one. My friend Nidelaide will soon be back from Silla too. It would be great if she could give us some tech upgrades. Would you be willing to undergo enhancements?"

"I don’t have any enhancements in me," Lu Jing looked at her smooth hands. "I have no idea what it feels like to be enhanced."

"Humans and witches alike can use implants to augment themselves."

Lu Jing contemplated, would her life still be pure with metal embedded in her flesh? Yet, if she wanted to meet the Cyber Specter, she would have to accept the enhancements and become a Hacker Witch, allowing her consciousness to be uploaded and channeled through the circuits into the Helis Sea.

They continued walking through the Asakusa District.

This place was known for tourism, and Lu Jing could still make out the ancient temples and towers, dim and grey. The operators refused to pay the material upgrade costs, so the toxic rain had eaten through those wooden roofs, and now the homeless, vagrants, and drifters squatted there.

They made their own shelters from discarded materials, nestled amongst wooden statues of the three great gods of the ancient Archipelago—the Scorching Giant God, the Moonshadow White Dragon, and the Great Beast of the Ocean.

As the rain intensified, Lu Jing took shelter near a pool hall on the street, its façade adorned with a flimsy For Lease sign, filled with sinister-looking gang members.

One of the men, equipped with a detector, swiftly scanned Lu Jing and Seeking Shadow, prompting them to be on guard immediately.

The smell of smoke and the sickly sweet odor of stamps wafted out. Thugs were playing pool inside, donning Virtual Helmets, exerting their force with their hands, unable to distinguish reality from illusion. Further in, on worn-out sofas, men and women, intertwined like insects.

"So disgusting," Lu Jing whispered.

Seeking Shadow sensed something was wrong and signaled for Lu Jing to be more vigilant.

"Is there an enemy in the store?" Lu Jing frowned.

"It’s outside," Seeking Shadow peered toward the direction of the distant temple.

Her targeting device indicated several potential foes within the decrepit temple, highlighted in bright red in her field of vision, hiding behind red plaques and shattered statues, using screens of flowers and birds for cover. They had been targeted, and Seeking Shadow quickly moved with Lu Jing.

Boom! The glass shattered. The glass door was pierced, leaving a large bullet hole and web-like cracks.

The sniper rifle sounded.

```

Seeking Shadow heard the noise of a Cassandro Comet, a popular standard sniper rifle among mercenaries, as she pulled Lu Jing into the store.

"Ahhh!"

"Damn it!"

"Die!"

As Lu Jing and Seeking Shadow burst in, the gang members inside yelled and howled.

Seeking Shadow’s hand rested on her Ion Sword, ready to draw and counter if they intended to attack. However, they rushed past the two of them and out into the street, guns blazing towards the direction of the temple.

"Fire!" bellowed the tall head leader.

Under the gang leader’s command, his followers showed remarkable discipline. A dozen homemade firearms and cheap commercial self-defense weapons fired in unison, the noise melding into a barrage.

Seeking Shadow didn’t hear the sniper rifle anymore; it seemed the gang’s wild counterattack had scared the sniper away.

"Shit, trash!" The gang leader cursed towards the direction of the temple, then turned to signal everyone to go back to their own business.

Seeking Shadow was uncomfortable in this setting,—she’d been hurt by people like these before. She glanced at the leader, who wore a studded jacket and sported a green punk hairstyle; the surrounding gang members were armed with pipes, crowbars, and various firearms.

"Why is someone shooting at us from outside?" Lu Jing asked.

"No shit—look at you two, not exactly your average women." The leader murmured.

"Someone’s specifically targeting people like us?" Lu Jing felt unease, "The Anti-Witch Corps?"

"Pure Land Legion, Humans’ Purity Project, Anti-Witch Corps, who knows." The leader said, "Shangjing was taken down by Witch corporations, who could stand it?"

"You’re not on good terms with them?" Seeking Shadow suddenly spoke up.

"We’re the real bosses here! Plus, we’ve got a Witch in the family," shrugged the leader, "Hell, these so-called ’Purification Troops’ fire indiscriminately at Witches. We can’t indulge them."

"Local Witches are supposed to report to the Nestor Witch Division for evaluation," explained Seeking Shadow, referring to corporate regulations, "Otherwise, the Witch Division will come to investigate personally."

"Wow, scary. Let them come then," the leader was arrogant, "Our Witch is family, not merchandise to be moved into a company."

"Have you guys ever checked out the nearby Nestor district?" Lu Jing curiously asked, "They have food, shelter, and work there."

"Why work when you can scrounge?" retorted the leader, "Nestor Corporation people don’t let you take drugs, where’s the fun in that?"

"Drug usage is also against Nestor Corporation law," Lu Jing reminded, "They’ll send someone to confiscate it, then they’ll make you rat out your suppliers."

"They sure meddle a lot!" the leader complained, "Can’t a person live anymore! We take a hit off some drugs and who does it bother, go police the rich if you’re so eager, always bullying the weak and fearing the strong."

There was no reasoning with them, but Lu Jing felt curious about what kind of Witch was in this gang, so he looked around for a way out of the pool hall.

Seeking Shadow kept watch at the door, wary of enemy forces that might approach, while secretly seeking help from Nestor Corporation, hoping the Witch Division would send someone to investigate soon.

"By the way, you keep mentioning Nestor Corporation," the leader scrutinized their words and turned to Lu Jing, "You don’t have some connection with Nestor Corporation, do you?"

"I’m in a partnership with them and yes, I have some influence," Lu Jing couldn’t help but reveal more in the face of promising leads. After all, Nestor Corporation was a big name to throw around for protection. If the other party got cocky again, she’d just whip out her Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing Work Badge and scare the hell out of them.

The leader sized up Lu Jing, pondering for a moment.

"Come with me." He motioned, and Lu Jing curiously followed.

Seeing Lu Jing follow that grimy leader inside, Seeking Shadow felt uneasy about her low level of caution. On the one hand, she worried Lu Jing might run into trouble, on the other, she stayed alert for invisible enemies that could be closing in, caught in a dilemma.

"Are you okay?" Seeking Shadow crouched down, tucked behind the blue aluminum door frame, leaning against the red painted brick wall, and quietly contacted Lu Jing via the communicator.

"I’m fine... um... no problem... I’m in the basement, it’s quite large..." Lu Jing whispered back.

She had followed the leader down to the basement of the pool hall; half the space was private booths for discrete affairs, while the other half was a warehouse filled with large crates and equipment. On top of the massive iron containers were stacked cardboard boxes of varying sizes with assorted contents.

She noticed a partition at the end of the basement, surrounded by black plastic wires and piles of gear boxes—it seemed messy, but Lu Jing detected a pattern, indicating that whoever arranged it was highly tech-savvy.

It couldn’t have been this guy who set it up. Lu Jing glanced at the gang leader.

"So, there’s a Hacker Witch in the gang?" Lu Jing surmised, eager to see how Hacker Witches worked.

The leader simply nodded.

Two muscular women with conspicuous tattoos were seated on either side of the corridor, obviously guarding the Hacker Witch inside the partition. They eyed Lu Jing warily, each ready to let loose with either a submachine gun or Bomb Cannon.

Lu Jing would fall momentarily speechless in these tense situations and hurriedly made gestures to the leader.

"She works for Nestor Corporation," the leader gestured dismissively, "Alright, Rinne’s been wanting to meet someone like that."

```