Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 664 - 556

Chapter 664: 556

The military base in Sato City had fallen; only a fraction of the remaining forces were successfully evacuated by Black Fire Innovation, with the majority being arrested and captured. Many of the garrison soldiers were beaten to death by furious laborers.

At midnight, the members of the Disciple Squad drew huge geographical signs on the outskirts, sketching symbols around highways and fields to aid the pinpoint airdrop of supplies from Xia.

The laborers were rallied, looking on with eager anticipation.

"They’re coming..."

"Wow..."

"..." When the massive air transport Shuttle Machines arrived, the survivors on the island couldn’t help but let out hoarse cries into the sky, reaching out as if it brought them closer to the heavens.

These Shuttle Machines, colossal in size, roared as they approached, with relief teams and manufacturing factory names emblazoned on the sides, their thick, stark white exteriors standing out vividly in the night sky, their numbers as endless to the eye, reminiscent of the company’s vast production capacity.

Drawing near the ground markers, the Shuttle Machines began dropping supplies, with huge parachutes spanning a radius of ten meters unfolding in the air, allowing the containers to slowly touch down.

Along with these giant supply crates came squads of paratroopers, donned in camouflage uniforms, well-trained and armed with steel guns to maintain order, forming the laborers into long lines for an orderly distribution of supplies.

They also launched signal flares, with red smoke billowing in the high skies as a reminder for other survivors to come and collect supplies. The soldiers quickly set up tents on the ground, carried building materials, and prepared to construct shelters and temporary camps, for if the rains were to come, the situation would turn for the worse.

Canned food, dry rations, drinking water, medical supplies, and items essential for daily life were distributed. Laborers, who had survived by the skin of their teeth until now, finally received relief. Naturally, they were profoundly grateful, disheveled and dirty, having been tormented and tortured for hundreds of days by the troops of Black Fire Innovation, reduced to slaves, and now, at last, regaining hope.

"Wow..."

"We’re saved..."

"We’ve come back to life..." After they received food, they ate voraciously, not sparing a thought for anything else, intent on filling their bellies first.

Opening the cans, the contents were rich with braised pork, stewed beef, fragrant mushroom sauce, along with tomatoes, beans, and rice. Soldiers from Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing had to coax them to prevent them from eating too quickly and choking.

Military trucks traveled back and forth on the roads, with nearby highways cleared and reorganized for the movement of large vehicles. The engineering team prepared to move in to rebuild the island’s transportation system, especially to restore the infrastructure of Sato City.

"None of my business anymore, ha." Hosoda Yoshiyuki left his team, telling those who had been following him to scram and get their relief rations.

He gazed towards the distant airdrop relief camps, where people had been pulled back from the brink of death. Given time, they too would recover their vigor, greet the start of a new life, and reconnect with their scattered families to report their safety.

"They will miraculously recover," Snowball said, following behind Hosoda Yoshiyuki.

"It’s just a pity for those women who were seized by Black Fire Innovation and taken to the Taiya Archipelago," Hosoda Yoshiyuki sighed, "The first batch of little soldiers must have been born by now."

"It’s fine. After this defeat, Black Fire Innovation can’t strut around like before. The era of Nestor Corporation has arrived," Snowball declared cheerfully.

"I bet by next year the streets will be filled with your kin and cheap knock-offs," Hosoda Yoshiyuki communicated in the squad channel, finding out everyone else had already arrived at the port of Sato City, ready to evacuate by boat.

He walked towards the wilderness, with Snowball continuing to follow.

"Why not follow the road?" Snowball asked.

"It’s troublesome if we get spotted by Xia’s corporate troops," Hosoda Yoshiyuki turned to look at the armed soldiers whose focus was still on the barely clothed laborers, but if Hosoda Yoshiyuki continued loitering here, he would inevitably get caught.

"I will lead the way, sir." Snowball sniffed around, calibrating his geographical positioning system as he walked towards Sato City through the wilderness.

Man and dog trod through the desolate island, as if traversing a desert, with toppled trees visible in the distance—those felled by Storm Princess when she first conjured the Black Storm.

"I really want to visit Xia someday," Hosoda Yoshiyuki walked on, his body riddled with wounds concealed beneath a black cloak. "According to the map, Xia is just too big. It’s thousands of kilometers from south to north, east to west. The landscape ranges from forests to deserts, from snowy fields to grasslands. Masasuke Hazuki said there’s a lot of great food there and many super cities. I’ve also heard about their miraculous feats of engineering and palaces from ancient times preserved there. But with my appearance, I’d probably be arrested as a monster. A murderer like me showing up in such a tranquil place would only cause trouble."

"The Northern Archipelago is also a tranquil place."

"That’s why I never quite felt comfortable there. Killing without batting an eye by day, returning home at night to watch anime and eat instant noodles. The end for someone like me is clear: either die or vanish into some corner of society."

"You should reduce the use of cybernetic implants to avoid triggering cyber psychosis," Snowball turned to look at Hosoda Yoshiyuki.

"Stop spouting nonsense," Hosoda Yoshiyuki muttered. "Give up implants? Only if my limbs were all chopped off."

By the time he and Snowball reached the port of Sato City, members of the Disciple Squad were sitting by the dock, half of them already curled up in sleeping bags to rest, with Nidelaide helping Seeking Shadow repair a circuit board, and only Rinne still awake.

"Yo," Hosoda Yoshiyuki sat on the dock, facing the endless sea, sparkling with light.

"This has been our hardest and most strenuous battle," Rinne stood under the moonlight.

"From the sky to the ocean, and to the islands, with so many brave and intelligent people fighting a desperate battle, Black Fire Innovation has finally taken a loss," Seeking Shadow felt invigorated.

"Those shady dealings will continue, and Black Fire Innovation still has many troops. Damn it, the root of the war has not ended, not by far," Hosoda Yoshiyuki swore.

They talked for a while before lapsing into silence together.

"Awooo." Wolf Girl awoke at last, looking around with confused and horrified eyes at everything.

"From now on, you’ll follow us," Seeking Shadow turned to the Wolf Girl, "You’re our captive, and as long as you cooperate, we won’t mistreat you. We need an excellent witch like you."

"...Uh-ah," the Wolf Girl couldn’t speak and used a roar as her voice, "Awoo, awoo."

"Woof, woof," Snowball was happy to have a companion, "Woof, woof, woof."

The Wolf Girl stretched out her slender arms to grab Snowball, vigorously pulling and tugging at it, curious about the appearance of this mechanical dog.

The others cast their eyes into the distance, the ship to bring the squad back was about to arrive. After so many intense battles, what they needed most was a good rest followed by a full meal and sleep.

With Black Fire Innovation retreating and tightening their defenses, everything had come to an end.

...

By noon the next day, they had already returned to Shangjing by boat.

Seeking Shadow asked everyone to temporarily gather at the apartment hideout, then she herself went to Nestor Headquarters. She hailed a taxi in the bustling streets, an automatic taxi stopped in front of her, she opened the door with a cash card, sat down and set Nestor Headquarters as her destination.

She turned on the news, and all the headlines were broadcasting the victory of Nestor Corporation.

"Truly an exhilarating piece of news for everyone around the world who loves peace," the main presenter on the four screens cheerfully broadcasted, "After yesterday’s daylong gripping battle, Nestor Corporation ruthlessly expelled the forces of Black Fire Innovation from the Northern Archipelago. To be honest, since last October, most pessimistic commentators suggested redrawing the boundaries of the Northern Archipelago as if we were to forget the five lost cities and two major islands forever. But now the situation is completely different, Nestor Corporation has the capability to slaughter tough adversaries. Citizens, let’s remember these cities once again—Sato City, Shenpu City, Hosokawa City, Bibo City, and Shinmaru City are all liberated. Nestor Corporation will maintain a military presence in the south to ensure Black Fire Innovation won’t dare to make any rash moves."

Seeking Shadow gazed at the streets and sky above, with citizens bustling out from workplaces in droves, heading towards the nearby ramen shops and vending machines to settle their lunch, with most of the shelves stocked with cheap boxed meals produced by the Nestor Corporation to meet the dining needs of countless office workers and corporate employees. The promotional yachts in the sky were plastered with Nestor Corporation’s advertisements.

Her efforts had helped everyone, allowing them to continue living in peace. Higher-level thought patterns were running in Seeking Shadow’s Mind Core Chip.

She finally understood.

Protecting one or two people is justice, but protecting the livelihoods of millions is an even greater justice.

More importantly, it’s the system, the rules, and the institutions that matter—they’re the automations of justice. As long as they’re effective, acts of justice will continue unabated.

In the end, like all victorious soldiers returning home, she felt nothing but a mild sense of pride.

At Nestor Headquarters, Seeking Shadow rode the elevator to the upper floors, through the secret security check, into a confidentially guarded area of the headquarters.

This place was vast, with half of the area being a precision server room housing hundreds of black servers and networking equipment; the rest filled with various electronic products, display cabinets jam-packed with brand-new technologies and cutting-edge creations from the laboratory, serving as collectibles. As Seeking Shadow entered the corridor, she felt like she was walking into a treasure trove of high technology.

Seeking Shadow proceeded to the room next door, where she saw a huge smart table with a three-dimensional projection of the strategic map of the Eastern Hemisphere on it. Mountains, rivers, terrains, and cloud-covered oceans were all visible at a glance, updated in real-time.

She immediately spotted Sato City, surrounded by a large fleet on the sea surface, where Nestor and Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing troops were reorganizing and gathering supplies, synergistically solidifying the defensive lines.

"It’s perfect," Seeking Shadow said involuntarily, looking towards Xu Yang at the side of the table.

"This is the panoramic map provided by the quantum computer." Xu Yang’s vision encompassed the entire Eastern Hemisphere.

"Is that machine called ’Heberon’?"

"Still in the testing phase, the quantum computer’s parallel computing function is very strong. It takes over the global map like this, without missing a detail. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of its capabilities. I use it to observe the full scope of the war," Xu Yang explained.

"Did you see my exceptional performance?" Seeking Shadow inquired.

"You were bound to perform exceptionally," Xu Yang nodded, "Even though I didn’t see it, I can imagine it."

"The post-war operations must be quite busy."

"As arduous as the war itself, but thankfully we have enough manpower. We have to compensate the families of the fallen, reward the survivors, try to recoup losses, and address the current troubles as much as possible. There will be award ceremonies, the recovery of weapons and equipment, the reverse engineering of Black Fire equipment, and further optimization of our entire military system."

"It cost a lot of money."

"War burns through cash terribly, that’s why we need to keep developing the economy... the war has drained a lot of our financial reserves."

Seeking Shadow scanned the area below, then stepped on the floor, and a tile rose to form a suspended seat, lifting her up entirely.

"Wow," Seeking Shadow crouched down to grasp the edge of the floating tile.

"More and more companies are going out of business, and after we acquire their remnants, we often find many technologies that don’t seem very useful." Xu Yang looked around, he enjoyed tinkering with these gadgets, some of which might contain new concepts capable of changing the future product landscape.

Seeking Shadow observed Xu Yang, 29 and a half years old. Youth was inevitably leaving Uncle Xu, but his energy was undiminished, his experience even more enriched.

"I hope to receive an upgrade. I feel very powerful, but I want to be even more so," Seeking Shadow said.

Xu Yang noticed that Seeking Shadow’s Mind version had been upgraded to 3.55, she was just half a major version away from developing real emotions.

"Not just you, the entire squad deserves rewards," Xu Yang nodded, "Come on, let’s plan comprehensively. Before winter arrives."