Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 706 - 592: Convoy

Chapter 706: Chapter 592: Convoy

Kanako needed to restore order to the hotel as soon as possible.

Under the protection of soldiers, she entered the main office on the core layer of the 60th floor and gained full control.

Sitting in a seat covered with genuine leather and goose down, Kanako felt exceptionally comfortable as she opened the smart terminal in front of her, searching for available resources.

The information monitoring unit was a good interface. Through the chips implanted in every employee’s body, Kanako could track their physiological state, and most importantly, determine who among the survivors held the highest position.

Her gaze swept over the list, which included several candidates—Reiko Kanai, Wei Ruo, Mephaeus... They had been trapped on different floors and had just been rescued. The half-portraits of these managers all looked shrewd and capable, but considering the hotel had been attacked under their watch, Kanako couldn’t bring herself to trust their competence.

When there were multiple candidates for a position, loyalty became the most valuable factor to consider. Kanako quickly chose a manager named Akiyama Tsuzuki and commanded her to come up for a meeting. This woman had some connections with Kanako’s father’s family.

Kanako sat behind the desk, watching the woman from the company hurriedly enter the room.

The woman’s hair was dyed a pale gold, her expression was meticulous, she was dressed in a formal skirt suit and gray silk stockings, and the indicator light of the empathy chip on her forehead blinked, providing her with strategic recommendations for social interactions.

In order to climb the corporate ladder, certain technological enhancements were essential.

"You’ve turned my hotel into a sea of flames," Kanako said with an interrogative tone.

"I’m terribly sorry! Miss Kojima... We issued a distress signal immediately, but there was no response from the city’s public security service. The hotel’s security was severely hit; eight out of ten data centers were hacked within, with the last two holding on for an extra 20 seconds. We were almost powerless. These thugs must have had their eyes on Xisheng’s assets. Now only you, Miss Kojima, can stabilize the situation in these conditions! Please..." Akiyama Tsuzuki bowed deeply to Kanako, her eyes shimmering with tears.

"I had just arrived, and then they launched their attack; there must be some connection there. But I will get to the bottom of this... I’ll send people to deal with the thugs and hostages; you gather all the middle and senior management for a meeting, full attendance; lastly, prepare a secure room for me," Kanako instructed.

"Yes!" Akiyama Tsuzuki immediately responded, then whirled around and hurried out to arrange hotel affairs, her demeanor frantic.

To win favor with Kanako Kojima, she had to be as sycophantic as possible, preferably acting like a fool to let Kanako fully display her talents.

If Akiyama Tsuzuki were too dazzling, it would seem like Kanako’s trip was for naught. These wise human interactions were all calculated by her software, all for the sake of promotion.

This approach was effective. Kanako sat behind the desk, pinching her fingers, pleased with herself.

Like all those in leadership, she needed the flattery, deference, and adulation of her subordinates. Now Kanako was surrounded by power and funds, and people were eager to glean her thoughts, hoping for a bit of her favor.

These were all trivialities, not urgent matters. Kanako’s ambition was to get Jialong Slope under control, so she had to strive to complete all tasks.

She had to give it her all. She knew nothing of monsters and Magic Power; all she knew was she had just arrived in a chaotic city where assassins could come to her bed tonight.

And those powerful enemies...

Kanako snapped her fingers, and a shadow appeared from behind her—a female ninja "Hui Zhi" in green skintight clothes, ready at Kanako’s command.

Armed with a Ninjutsu Scroll and an Azure Dragon Tattoo, Hui Zhi was not tall, even shorter than Kanako. She was still a year away from completing all her ninja training, but her performance was exceptional, no less than a formal ninja.

"Rin," Hui Zhi said in a delicate voice.

"Bring Lu Jing over; then contact the intercontinental suppliers based on the list I gave you to confirm a stable source of goods and allies. Lastly, compile a list of all assets ready for auction," Kanako ordered.

"Rinrin," Hui Zhi disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kanako pondered, her fingers lightly tapping on the desk. She once had such a faithful and brave servant. Now the entire ninja legion was under her command, yet she couldn’t find another who was exactly like the first.

Before long, Lu Jing ran in, her Green Clothes swaying with her movements.

"I’m here!" Lu Jing nodded repeatedly to Kanako, "Miss Kojima, what do you want me to do?"

"I’m going to a meeting, a long one. Join the team and rescue all the hostages in the hotel, take down their entire hideout. Those who dared to raid Xisheng Hotel must have been prepared to die," Kanako commanded.

"Understood!" Lu Jing, carrying two swords, one large and one small, ran briskly outside.

The criminal gang that had previously attacked the hotel called themselves "Cold Bay’s Thugs." They climbed into their modified vehicles parked in the garage, shoved more than a dozen weeping hotel employees in, and then sped away.

The vehicles of Cold Bay’s Thugs tore through the streets of Jialong Slope, the tall palm trees on both sides swaying fiercely in the evening breeze, like hundreds of madmen performing, the five large vehicles of the gang rampaging through the streets as if they were bulls running wild in the open fields, heedless of any obstacles.

Each vehicle had a reinforced spike at the front. Vehicles parked on the street were mercilessly crushed, instantly flattened into scrap metal, and there was a white traveler brand small car waiting for the signal light ahead—too late to get away, it too was rolled over by the oncoming convoy.

Several people in the car were instantly pressed into the twisted metal wreckage, turned into a thick sludge of blood.

The thugs howled as they drove, their vehicles loaded with loot they had snatched from the hotel—gold, silver, porcelain, electronic products, as well as firearms and unopened implants.

They crammed metallic trinkets into the iron box, all stripped from the hotel’s machinery. Seemingly unremarkable, these items actually contained expensive components that could fetch a high price on the black market. Cold Bay’s Thugs weren’t without sophistication, unwilling to leave empty-handed.

The employees of the hotel company inside the vehicle wailed incessantly.

Most of them were female hotel staff, employed from the Taiya Region at a very low cost. They came to Jialong Slope to get away from a violent environment, only to see the city go bankrupt overnight, turning into a place of turmoil.

Two heavy military Shuttle Machines pursued them frantically from above.

"Don’t shoot, there are hostages up there!" a soldier shouted.

"I’m tracking their signal!" Rinne was responsible for tech support, closing her eyes to desperately search and hack into the control modules of the thugs’ vehicles.

Now all vehicles have the ability to send and receive signals, at least through satellite positioning to confirm navigation, which provided hackers with an opportunity.

"Let me try!" Lu Jing pulled open the shuttle machine’s side window, letting in a whooshing cold wind.

She reached her hand out of the window and forcefully threw the Cyclone Sword.

The silver, shimmering flying sword instantly shot out, stabbing towards one of the sedans lagging at the rear.

"Gwahaha!" The thug driving the car had taken some drugs, his eyes bloodshot, his entire body from the waist down was metal-modified, at that moment he was driving with a pair of iron legs, fingers incessantly pounding on the steering wheel, the car filled with the booming sounds of heavy metal rock music.

Lu Jing controlled the flying sword to fly in sync with the car.

The thug looked to the left with a shout from his companion and saw a flying sword appear beside him.

He let out a strange cry, thinking he was hallucinating, only to see the flying sword suddenly change direction, instantly piercing the glass and passing through the driver’s seat!

The sword, with a fierce whoosh, instantly penetrated both his and his passenger’s heads, the blade smearing with blood as it exited the other side!

Two men instantly killed!

"Ahh—"

"We got them!"

"Help us!" The corporate people tied up in the back of the car saw this scene, overjoyed, they struggled violently, shouting loudly.

The flying sword then re-entered from outside the vehicle; as it was a commercially used new sword, compared to ancient weapons, it had added functions such as taking photos, recording videos and audio, now also reassuring them to calm down, asking them to not panic.

Without a driver, the vehicle’s path on the road immediately became shaky.

Under Lu Jing’s control, the flying sword delicately manipulated the gear shift to reduce the vehicle’s speed and quickly used the sword hilt to turn the steering wheel, causing it to hit a roadside tree after decelerating, its movements exquisitely precise, as if it had a life of its own.

Bang!

The vehicle knocked against the tree and stopped, and immediately two soldiers rappelled down from the shuttle machine, going to rescue the hostages in the car.

"We did it!"

"Unbelievable—"

"As expected of you!" The group, seeing the skill of the flying sword, couldn’t contain their joy, nodding at Lu Jing repeatedly.

A smile also appeared on Lu Jing’s face.

She immediately powered the flying sword, which flew out of the car, the whole sword emitting heat continuously. A powerful nuclear fission battery powered it. With polonium isotopes providing support, it wouldn’t run out of power even if it flew for a hundred years.

She attempted to use the flying sword to chase the other vehicles, but they rushed into the slum district of the city and disappeared in an instant.

How broken! Following the direction of the moving cars, Lu Jing saw the other side of Jialong Slope and couldn’t help but be astonished.

The majority of Jialong Slope was made up of gardens, hotels, apartments, and luxurious exhibition hall clubs, making her think that was the full view of the Southern Region’s Mingzhu. However, she now saw a vast expanse of twisted and chaotic tin huts, resembling the mycelium left behind by some type of mushroom, with large patches of low shanties interconnected.

The wires were like mycelium, the buildings the stalk. Clothes hung out to dry, plastic rain cloths, buckets, and people with indifferent expressions could be seen everywhere, adding a touch of color to the shantytown.

"Damn." Rinne followed with gritted teeth.

The shantytown was packed with all sorts and sizes of interference devices and signal clusters. Each home was like a small trap; for self-protection, people living in such places would stuff their rooms full of anti-tracking and automatic security devices, a small portion bought, most stolen, found, or pilfered, with a wide variety of types and even self-made products.

Thus, Rinne immediately encountered at least a thousand different brands of jammers; even if she found a channel to get past one, the various other jammers would continue to affect her pursuit. This place was a veritable signal labyrinth, ever-shifting.

"We’ll jump in, their hideout must be inside one of these buildings." Seeking Shadow opened the shuttle machine’s hatch and backflipped down with the "Flame Tide" shotgun, landing on the roof of one of the buildings.

She looked up, and none of her allies from the two friendly shuttle machines had jumped down to follow her.

"When you find the enemy’s stronghold, then we’ll drop the elite soldiers." A soldier shouted.

"You’ll break your legs." Lu Jing looked down; the distance from the shuttle machine’s exit to that rooftop was at least six or seven meters, and only someone with professional training could do it without getting hurt.

Then, Masasuke Hazuki jumped down from the shuttle machine; when he landed, he quickly rolled to lessen the impact. He glanced far into the distance as if he could see the movement of the vehicles.

"Follow me." He set off quickly.

"What did you see?" Seeking Shadow was grateful that Masasuke Hazuki had jumped with her, as she couldn’t possibly find those vehicles amid such complex structures.

"It’s not about seeing." Masasuke Hazuki spoke mysteriously.

Seeking Shadow followed him swiftly weaving through the shantytown, running along the rooftops of homes, clothes drying areas, and food-sunning terraces.

"—Who the hell are you guys!" A frantic man kicked open the door to his rooftop apartment, pointing a gun at the two people sprinting across his roof.

Seeking Shadow halted abruptly, and the frantic man began to yell loudly.