Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 680 - 569 Destruction

Chapter 680: Chapter 569 Destruction

Flashes of light intertwined with deafening explosions, the roar and quaking relentless, leaving one’s eyes dazzled and ears throbbing in pain.

Following the bombardment operation against the Qinwang Fortress, small-scale earthquakes persisted, with gunsmoke spreading out across the open land and a piercing odor gradually permeating the air.

Wildfires raged across the ground, a blaze even more vigorous than the black flames crawling and spreading unceasingly along the land. The surrounding seawater churned into tumultuous waves, the shockwaves flinging massive amounts of metal and concrete debris into the sea, whipping up piles of pale foam.

Aledy was petite, but she had a temper, a ferocious soldier.

"Haha," Aledy laughed scornfully, raising her finger to point at the fortress, "Hey, what’s this? I thought it’d be sturdy, but it turns out to be a weakling fortress of the defeated, easily blown away like this, truly pathetic~ If I can get the president’s consent, how about a victorious march on Baraya City? Could we crush the enemy under our feet then?"

Xu Yang looked at the young Manager Ramali beside him, who was visibly shaken, his posture fearful, and undoubtedly feeling subdued.

But this submission was not wonderful, for it was merely a shift from worshipping one form of violence to worshipping another, even stronger form of violence.

Yet to subjugate a beast like Black Fire Innovation, violence was necessary indeed.

All submission, concession, and compromise would only make it stronger; the only language a beast could understand is probably that of steel.

Xu Yang knew that, before civilization could achieve a higher level of socialization and unity, there were still days of mutual harm ahead.

Meanwhile.

Within the initial 10 seconds of the bombing, Black Fire Innovation’s headquarters in Baraya City received the alert.

"Qinwang Fortress is under attack!" the communication officer reported to the officer.

"Who are the attackers? Which company has made a move?" the officer immediately inquired.

This was the bait they had left.

Black Fire Innovation had announced its withdrawal from Charo Island, yet deliberately left a military base as a trap to foster suspicion. If any company couldn’t resist attacking, it would provide Black Fire Innovation with the perfect excuse to retaliate. If all companies refrained from warfare, then Qinwang would become the best point for a future counterattack.

Only the most reckless enterprises would fall for this bait now and become targets of Black Fire Innovation’s retaliation.

"Qinwang Fortress, my unit is now receiving your real-time ground-to-air data," the communication officer gathered intelligence, only to find the data abruptly cut off.

The intensity of the attack was too great.

The radar station had been destroyed seconds before, and the communication officer, shocked, observed the situation in the signal channel, noting that one after another, the units stopped responding, as if the lights in various rooms were being turned off one by one, or as if a body was being destroyed piece by piece.

It was as if a giant hand had slammed down, flattening the entire base. Before the life-monitoring equipment lost its signal, the communication officer saw that a third of the personnel were wiped out in an instant, their signs of life changing from the healthy emerald to nightmarish pitch black in the blink of an eye, with losses continuing to mount, entire groups killed in an instant.

After the signal was completely disrupted, the life tracking signs for the nearly ten thousand remaining personnel turned to the uncertain blue, symbolizing their "disappearance" in the conflict, leaving a sliver of positive speculation for others.

As though they might have survived such a violent attack.

Light weapons factories, armories, Marine Corps camps, air stations, shipyards, hospitals, barracks, weapons testing grounds... one by one, the facilities of the Qinwang Fortress perished.

"Get me the satellite data!" the officer ordered swiftly.

Using Black Fire Innovation’s satellites, they could receive ground link data and reflection signals to get real-time images.

"It’s the armed forces of Nestor Corporation!" the communication officer quickly summarized the report, picking up the signal characteristics of "Military Attendant" class high-speed fighters and capturing images of them launching the airstrike.

The officer scanned the command room, his expression gradually becoming excited.

"Gentlemen, the time has come for us to avenge the Baraya," he said fervently.

"No..." another staff member shook his head, pointing out another record detected by the satellite.

Upon seeing that scene, the officer’s expression also grew grave.

This was trouble...

In the nearby sea, at least five space motherships were patrolling.

The Kaiyang and Yuheng from Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing.

The Orochi and Chika Island from Nestor Corporation.

And the C-1 Warship from Kyushu High Pavilion.

All were cruising at a set speed along the perimeter airspace of Charo Island, ensuring the safety of their island personnel.

"Xia and Nestor Corporation have reached cooperation like this?" the officer became alert.

If they engaged in combat now, it would mean provoking Xia, and although corporate executives were reluctant to continue warring with Black Fire Innovation, their naval forces would not stand idly by as Black Fire warships entered neutral territory.

In other words, Black Fire Innovation would have to bear this loss alone!

The communication officer extracted the satellite photographs taken ten minutes after the Qinwang Fortress was bombed.

As the people in the command room looked at the photos, they all fell silent, their expressions becoming increasingly sorrowful and angry.

Reduced to flat ground!

Not a trace of the beaten and collapsed walls could be seen; all proof of the military base’s existence had disappeared!

The Nestor Corporation must have dropped at least a thousand tons of explosives, turning the entire plateau into a vast churn of black soil, leaving nothing but barren emptiness behind.

The only sign that it had ever existed were the embankments by the coast, which were deliberately constructed with two breakwaters facing the sea to facilitate the docking of ships, now resembling two long tails dangling in the water.

It was as though a piece of flesh had been cut from Black Fire Innovation; when had they ever suffered such a loss?

"Could it be that the era when Black Fire Innovation traveled thousands of miles to combat and dominate the world has ended?" an officer lamented deeply.

Within the whole room, slogans, ads, and posters all promoted the great military exploits of Black Fire Innovation, and the company’s philosophy of "victory equals power" was well known to them.

The younger generation had grown up under the cultural influence of Black Fire Innovation, all arrogant and bloodthirsty, transforming Black Fire Innovation from a simple military manufacturer in the Taiya Archipelago into a widely known military powerhouse.

Now, the harsh blow from the Nestor Corporation caused a crack to appear in these officers’ staunch beliefs, especially the sense of despair of being restrained and unable to retaliate, which left them at the height of frustration.

"If we abandon the strategy of sustaining war through warfare, what do we have to stand on? We should keep fighting!" the officer emphasized unwillingly.

"Gentlemen, as we cease hostilities, foreign investors are gradually returning, which is a rare opportunity for military funding," said another.

"Without Charo Island, the Taiya Archipelago still has over a billion people available for work; we have top-tier oil, rubber, and a complete range of minerals. There’s still room for us!"

"The prolonged war with Xia in recent years has accumulated countless experiences and refined numerous elites, the advantage is ours, the timing is ours!"

"We have a 24-month ceasefire period with companies in the Eastern Hemisphere," announced another staff officer, "We must lie low and then rise again, fiercer than before."

The staff at headquarters and the officers made a firm decision, swallowing the bitter pill of losing Qinwang Fortress.

After the exclusion of Charo Island, enduring an embargo, and being shut out from the Eastern Hemisphere market, Black Fire Innovation’s aspirations changed from an aggressive march to a strategy of biding their time patiently, waiting for the ceasefire period to end so that they could reignite the war and obliterate their disgrace.

Moreover, with their deliberate propaganda, the residents of the Taiya Archipelago would strive alongside Black Fire Innovation, transforming their sentiments of revenge into new momentum for an invasion of the entire world.

On the other side, Wei Jinglong, the commander of the Kyushu High Pavilion C-1 Warship, also received an intelligence report stating that the Nestor Corporation had completely leveled Qinwang Fortress.

He immediately showed a look of delight.

"What about the movements of Black Fire Innovation?" he inquired.

"They haven’t shown any intention of counterattacking; they probably accept the current situation," the adjutant explained.

Wei Jinglong nodded repeatedly.

"Such a swift coordinated strike," Wei Jinglong couldn’t help but exclaim.

Strong and robust for his age, with a meticulous expression and an imposing aura without anger, he had held positions at all levels of the corporate military. He had campaigned overseas for years, expanding the territory for Kyushu High Pavilion’s cause. In the company wars of the Eastern Hemisphere, he also delivered powerful blows to Black Fire Innovation.

"The command chain of Nestor Corporation is obviously shorter than ours. Both their president and the minister of military affairs can directly coordinate the fleet," the vice-captain recognized the military significance.

One couldn’t help but admire Nestor Corporation’s efficient and capable military system.

In contrast, in Kyushu High Pavilion, the chain of command was extremely lengthy, involving the company’s high-ranking officials, vice presidents in charge, directors of military departments, regional managers, expeditionary command, captains, and finally the ships’ non-commissioned officers.

"A company" has one system, "a military" should have another. But a "corporate military" stitches these two together, which consequently leads to many superfluous positions and duties.

Many shareholders, to strengthen their position in company affairs, would place their confidants and progeny in key military positions or create many positions with influence over the military, affecting the efficiency of military operations at every turn.

Wei Jinglong knew that taking down Qinwang Fortress was crucial; if it remained, Black Fire Innovation could use the fortress as a springboard to recapture Charo Island in probably only 12 hours. However, even the most correct decision had to be reported up through the ranks and checked at each level before it was implemented and they were allowed to attack. By then, he feared the supply for the ships would be exhausted, necessitating docking for resupply.

Now that Nestor Corporation had completely destroyed Qinwang Fortress, it meant that Charo Island was truly "cut off" from Taixi. The last of Black Fire’s forces had been expelled!

For the ships’ non-commissioned officers, who had fought day and night on the front lines against Black Fire Innovation, it was quite a relief, as if someone had avenged them.

In the future, if Black Fire Innovation wanted to counterattack, they would have to use sea-air coordination for landings and surprise attacks. This would significantly increase the cost and the time, allowing other companies to respond.

"After Shinjo Mori’s death, all of their ship captains are just ’barely adequate,’ lacking in seniority and experience. Not a single one of them is capable of opposing the supreme command. From previous military exercises to the current fortress assault operation, the fleet has been very cooperative, indicating that Nestor Corporation has truly subdued the two space warships inherited from Kyoto Infinity," Wei Jinglong nodded.

"Many still doubt whether Nestor Corporation can smoothly control the space warships’ army, and the experience of newly recruited soldiers is insufficient," the adjutant said.

"Just as automation replaces manual labor, the future wars are destined to be fought with precision drones, or even unmanned fleets. It’s likely that conventional soldiers will be progressively replaced with synthetic humans. Nestor Corporation is destined to wage an intelligent war—truly remarkable. From factory to management, to the military, it is filled with an aggressive drive for change. Being a startup company, it has sufficient prestige to implement these innovations," Wei Jinglong mused.

"Now with Black Fire Innovation truly unable to raise its head in the Eastern Hemisphere, but we must also thank our C-1 Warship for supporting them here," the adjutant nodded.

"Support is necessary. To confront the Western Hemisphere, withstand the Corporate Alliance, the Taixi Community, and various Western Hemisphere groups, we must jointly construct the corporate order of the Eastern Hemisphere. The next few decades are unlikely to see a major war but will be about intangible confrontations regarding resources, geopolitical relations, human resources, Reality Manipulators, and on scientific and mystical levels. Perhaps this time, the Eastern Hemisphere can overcome its latecomer disadvantage," Wei Jinglong murmured.

Soon after, on a hillside, the young Manager Ramali drove Xu Yang and the others near the ruins of Qinwang Fortress, with other military forces of Nestor Corporation following to take possession.

The ground had been bombed into a crumbly mess.

"The view here is wide, the water surface is expansive, and the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack... These are all characteristics of military fortress locations from the previous era," Aledy got out of the car, took a couple of rounds to ensure there was no one alive, and then returned.

The soldiers were clearing the battlefield when several figures emerged from the distant jungle, one after another. They were dressed in very simple clothes, looking like the local indigenous inhabitants.