Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 581 - 493: The Colonel’s Letter

Chapter 581: Chapter 493: The Colonel’s Letter

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"How much is a ’legend’ worth?"

Rinne sat in the front of the shuttle’s cabin, piloting the Anonymous back.

The sensor was marked with dense clusters of enemies, hiding mercenaries everywhere on the beach and in the jungle.

The colonel’s whereabouts had long been leaked by someone unknown. According to Rinne’s experience, after the company’s intelligence department received the information, it would hand it over to the countermeasures agency, and they decided to hire a medium-sized troop to kill the colonel.

She dared not imagine what would have happened if she had not left the hotel driving the Anonymous, the "Red Life" would have vanished into the night, and they would have waited at the landing site for someone who could never come ashore.

Every plan was packed with emergencies and rarely went smoothly. Fortunately, they had entered the forest a few hours early and discovered that the lurking ninjas were just the second line of power. The mercenaries pinned their hopes on the warship. Everything was so intense and bloody, and the twenty minutes of explosion and destruction earlier reminded Rinne of many terrifying memories.

Rinne turned her head and noticed the colonel had borrowed a pen and a notebook, scribbling away at something.

The notebook was taken from the shuttle, its front cover printed with the animated image of a smiling cat girl maid, a stark contrast to the colonel’s old military uniform. It was hard to imagine two things more disparate in the world—the former part of a whole mass consumer culture system, the latter presumably stitched together in a garment factory on the Agave Continent, having survived who knows how many bullets.

All hackers have an instinctive urge to pry into other people’s privacy, and Rinne was no exception. What on earth was the colonel writing? Were there any comments about the others?

She quietly accessed the shuttle’s internal cameras and scanned the notebook in the colonel’s hands, discovering that he was merely writing simply about his own experiences during this period, recounting how he set sail with Captain Febus from the Gran Chaco District of the Agave Continent five days ago, his meetings before departure, and his navigation report for these days, as precise as a machine-generated log—wind direction, hydrological conditions, and detailed consumption of fuel and food.

It was only at the end of the notes that the colonel mentioned the unmanned drones and new model missile ships dispatched by the company. In the colonel’s time, these were scarce products privately owned by a few technology companies, but now any sizable group of mercenaries could get their hands on a good number of them.

He had more to write, but the colonel looked up at the camera as if through the telecommunication signals of the shuttle he could see Rinne feeling guilty at the control panel. She thus disconnected the link and focused her attention on piloting the shuttle machine ahead of her.

"Head to Anjiu City? Or to Xijin Town?" Rinne couldn’t be bothered to decide, leaning back in her seat.

"Drop me off in Xijin Town. I’ll go and kill the mercenaries in the outskirts." Hosoda Yoshiyuki, thinking of the recent slaughter on that ship, felt exhilarated. He also had to protect the ordinary people of Xijin Town. So many mercenaries, if they failed to catch the colonel, might just kill a few of the settlers in the outpost out of frustration, something Hosoda Yoshiyuki couldn’t bear to see.

He himself had once been one of the many ordinary, leading a life devoid of surprises, waiting for the vicissitudes of fate to crash down on his ability to bear it, potentially caught in the accidents of life at any moment. Hosoda Yoshiyuki didn’t want anyone else to suffer as a result.

After he left, the shuttle was less than 100 kilometers from Anjiu City and could quickly arrive.

The colonel, the captain, and the sailors were not ready to enter the city yet. Following instructions from Nestor Corporation, Rinne parked the Anonymous in an old ice factory on the outskirts of Anjiu City.

The place was stocked with plenty of wartime supplies, complete with electrical appliances and furniture, as well as reserves of food and military hardware, approximately 15 kilometers from the urban center and surrounded by hills and jungles.

Stepping off the shuttle, the colonel walked around on the concrete ground, as if getting acquainted with the land of a foreign place.

Strong lights caught his attention as he looked towards Anjiu City. Directly facing them was a huge advertising screen atop three adjacent office buildings, overlooking the highway entering the city. The highways pierced straight into the heart of Anjiu City like black swords.

On the screen above, a young girl was performing a touch-sensitive show, a synthetic image with utmost beauty and a slender figure. She held a fashionable crocodile-skin bag introduced by Iris Group, hanging from her shoulder down to her thigh, showcasing all the scenery along the way without exception.

"No matter how she begs, we can’t afford that bag worth a few hundred thousand." Nidelaide came over, "Let’s go inside, sir."

"Amazing." The colonel quickly followed Nidelaide, his tone somewhat gloomy.

"Ha, a beautiful woman’s advertisement is quite amazing," Nidelaide thought the colonel was startled by the fad from the Northern Archipelago. Nidelaide, who had traveled all over the world, believed that such abnormal prosperity was unique to this place.

"They were advertising this way half a century ago," the colonel said, "and it’s still the same now."

"Uh, the company has undergone many great changes too," Nidelaide said, worried that the colonel might think the company had remained unchanging.

"The company still excels at creating new needs for people," the colonel said while walking. His tone was neutral, as if not discussing the bloodthirsty system responsible for countless deaths, "Look, now they’re persuading you to buy a new phone, tomorrow they’ll suggest changing to an automatic umbrella, and the day after, they’ll invite you to join the crazy Thursday. Just like that, they silently empty people’s pockets, the trick continues to this day."

"It’s nothing, sir. This is all small change. A house is what really costs," Nidelaide explained, "For a house, you must work your whole life to pay off the debt you take on."

"Right, I’ve heard that people can’t even afford to build their own houses in the suburbs anymore," the colonel stepped into the old factory they were using as a hiding place, "Back in Agave Continent, when we lost hope in the city and hid deep in the jungle, we built our own cabins. One or two, ten or a hundred people, and just like that a village was established. Much later, the company tried to pull the villagers out to grow bananas. That was the beginning of the first war in my lifetime."

"I’m just lucky Nestor Corporation gave me a room." Nidelaide had a rent-free small house in Aizu City, which he didn’t live in, because it was full of Blu-ray discs, collected figurines, and inflatable toys that left no room to lie down.

"You are lucky," the colonel said.

"Ha," Nidelaide felt the colonel was pleasant to talk to, so he said a bit more, "The others are not so lucky. Nowadays students learn useless things, ordinary people’s earnings all end up in the landlord’s pocket, capable people kneel to serve companies like dogs, and entrepreneurs make more money lying down than we could in several lifetimes. Oh, and I think getting married and having children is terrifying too. Once you have kids, you’ll want to keep a stable job even more, and your life is set."

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"Not everyone can get married."

"Uh," Nidelaide thought of his own widower future and felt alarmed. His body had undergone too many enhancements, and he feared not every beautiful girl could accept that.

"What exactly is Nestor Corporation?" The colonel was curious.

"That’s it," Nidelaide shrugged, "Nestor Corporation’s traces are everywhere; they’re transforming everything."

In a factory warehouse, beside a blue plastic square table, Captain Febus, who had narrowly escaped disaster, and several sailors were wolfing down food, infinitely fond of everything before them. Chiyuki Sajou, who hated to see people suffer, was moved by the pitiful state of the sailors. She brought them a large amount of food, including potatoes, chicken nuggets, and udon noodles, all instant foods. So hungry were they that they would have eaten animal feed with the same eagerness.

"Wow!"

"Finally got something to eat..."

"Hey!" Those who had survived the ordeal just wanted to eat their fill and get a good sleep, having no energy left for anything else. They were endlessly grateful for the support from Nestor Corporation.

The colonel sat next to them, picking up a packed box filled with ready-to-heat tofu, minced beef, and lettuce. Everything from production, packaging, to sales was monopolized by Nestor Corporation. Their takeover of the New Xisheng Group brought massive industrial power, allowing Nestor Co. to make a comprehensive advance into the upstream and downstream industrial chains.

He unpacked the box, and the food inside was stuffed to the brim, as if they were worried about people starving.

"How much does this cost?" the colonel asked.

"4 funds," replied Nidelaide, "Nestor Corporation is trying to feed everyone."

He was privy to some insider information. The mythological agricultural techniques brought by Golden Branch had been sustaining super high yields for two quarters, not only averting a tragic scenario of starvation in the Northern Archipelago but also reaping a significant surplus. In contrast, due to climate and environmental issues, a decrease in crop production was inevitable, and large-scale famine began to sweep through the impoverished regions of the Hot Tree Continent, Agave Continent, White Elephant Continent, and so on, with no company willing to record such sorrowful statistics.

The colonel’s meal didn’t taste good, knowing his compatriots back home were struggling for the basic necessities. He wanted to talk to the person in charge at Nestor Corporation as soon as possible to discuss how to extinguish the corporate power that spanned across the Agave Continent.

"I have some secrets to discuss," the colonel raised his head and looked at Rinne and the others, "who’s in charge here?"

"Please follow me," said Seeking Shadow, nodding at the colonel before leading him into the back room of their hideout.

"I have a letter," the colonel told Seeking Shadow, "brought from the Witches of the Cardis Archipelago. The letter was in my pocket, swept away by the waves. But I memorized its content, and I need to convey it to the Ancient Witch here."

The Cardis Archipelago, located between the Agave Continent and New Taixi State, housed the Scarlet Reconstruction Company, a massive enterprise led by Witches specializing in body enhancement technology.

"Ancient Witch..." Seeking Shadow was on alert.

"My wife used to be a member of Scarlet Reconstruction," the colonel explained, "After leaving the shelter, the staff found me and advised me to go to Nestor Corporation, while also delivering a message for them. They designed our voyage route and altered the success rate with Magic Power; otherwise, our old ship would have sunk in the depths of the Great Ocean or been devoured by the Ocean Descendants."

"I will deliver the message accurately," Seeking Shadow nodded.

Seeking Shadow knew that Scarlet Reconstruction would naturally gravitate towards another enterprise like Nestor Corporation, led by Witches. She decided to relay this crucial information to Xu Yang.

"Will it directly reach the hands of the Ancient Witch?" the colonel asked worriedly, "The information I’ve memorized is written in ancient script, and if not for the Ancient Witch herself, it may be difficult to understand its true meaning. If it’s misinterpreted along the way, unpredictable consequences could ensue."

"Don’t worry," explained Seeking Shadow, "it will be properly handled."

The colonel nodded and saluted Seeking Shadow military style.

Like in the barracks, the colonel had no other activities and quickly returned to the room assigned to him.

"You should change your clothes, your attire is too conspicuous," Chiyuki Sajou entered the room, bringing the colonel several pieces of ordinary civilian spring clothing including sweaters, undershirts, a fishing vest, a knit hat, and warm undergarments. She also brought many necessities such as a washbasin, towels, and toiletries. With each item he received, the colonel expressed his thanks.

After she left, the colonel took a bath, gingerly changed into these new, clean, and tidy clothes, feeling much younger from their warm touch.

The colonel neatly folded his old military uniform and placed it on the bedside table, then climbed back into bed.

The moment he closed his eyes, he saw endless bloodstains, and thousands of dead rose from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood to gaze upon him, each having made sacrifices and noble struggles.

"...Old buddies, there is still a fight to be had," the colonel murmured weakly, then turned off the room’s light, placed his hands over his chest, and fell asleep on the mattress.