Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 725 - 604: The Great River

Chapter 725: Chapter 604: The Great River

Regrouping, they faced the ancient gods.

July 28, less than 72 hours remained until the highly significant "August 0" in the Great River worship.

To prevent the rebirth of the Great River Goddess, various companies formed an intervention army, searching for traces of the "Great River Followers."

Should the Great River Goddess be awakened, the entire Southern Region would become her earthly kingdom, and the fates of hundreds of millions would fall under her dominion.

The rain poured incessantly, and 102 sat at the exit of a military shuttle, kicking her legs in the air, her gaze falling on the rain-soaked forest below.

The majority of the Southern Region was covered with tropical vegetation, a mad surge of greenery wherever the eye could see. Discarded trash piled up just as high, with circular pollution zones frequently appearing in the dense forest. Apart from towering piles of rubbish, nothing else was to be found, and the soil around them was severely corroded, unfavorable to any living being.

The Golden Cicada River flowed from the north like a pale giant python, piercing through the dense forests of the Southern Region, and entering the ocean past Jialong Slope. The river itself was hidden among the dense trees along the banks, its surface obstructed by large trees, seemingly chopped into six or seven segments at a glance.

Along the banks, the occasional ruins could be seen, their clay foundations bare, the gold foil that had wrapped around them completely stripped off, leaving only the scale of the remains to suggest how majestic the temples of the Great River Goddess once were.

felt a creeping eeriness, unsure what was more frightening. The legendary Book Page Peacock? The undying White Salamander? The locals who seemed out of their minds? The companies with inscrutable motives? Or the mysterious Great River Goddess and her followers?

As always, eating soothed her. She opened her lower face mask and kept stuffing doughnuts and beef strips into her mouth, which might explain why her figure was quite plump, while 101 was much leaner. 102 had grown too big.

Shallow Dream sat beside 102, also dangling her legs in the air. She turned her head and could only see 102’s large cup, hardly anything else, while 101 sat in her own seat, checking the scanner.

They had to search for the ritual location, but it was a difficult process.

After thousands of years of tradition, there were at least four or five hundred sites that could serve as ritual points to worship the Great River Goddess. All hidden within the dense forests within the river basin, they were extremely difficult to find; pinpointing a group of the Secret Ritual Group amidst all the greenery was no easy task.

had seen photos and attack reports. There were fierce animals in the forest, as well as tribesmen excluded from city life. The indigenous population numbered at least a few million people. They hunted within the forest, subtly drawn by the allure of mysticism, willingly providing cover for the Secret Ritual Group of the Great River Goddess.

Why don’t they move to the cities? Don’t these forest dwellers wish to embrace city life? It’s been 150 years since the Company Era, a century and a half since the great war ended. 102 mused vaguely.

But they... simply aren’t qualified, are they? Modern factories require educated labor, and highly educated at that. To the companies, forest dwellers who spend their days with tree bark and mosquitoes are no different from uncivilized monkeys. 102 eventually understood this as well.

The companies’ attitude towards the indigenous people was no different from their attitude towards animals.

picked up the panel terminal in her hand, and a new prompt popped up.

5.5 kilometers from them, Yongyi Company’s task force had slaughtered a village where 450 people had participated in some type of life-binding ritual related to the worship of the Great River Goddess; therefore, they needed to be killed to weaken the influence of the Great River Goddess.

The downpour continued, punctuated by distant sounds, like gunfire.

According to the report, 102 estimated the position of the slaughtered village in her mind. Looking in that direction, she saw black smoke rising; they must have set fire to most of the buildings, killing all the villagers.

"That’s too cruel," Shallow Dream remarked upon seeing all this.

"Cruel?" 102 asked, puzzled.

Unlike those with strong empathy and sentimentality, 102 was generally indifferent to most slaughters.

"You’re too indifferent," Shallow Dream frowned.

"People get killed, they die, like some kind of law. Do you know how many people die every day?" 102 stated plainly.

Shallow Dream did a search.

"Yesterday, 1,250,112 people died," Shallow Dream herself was taken aback by the figure, the computation of the Corporate Alliance’s new AI, the All-Seeing Eye.

"Pop," 102 gestured, "That million people didn’t want to die, a million times of misfortune."

"You’re too young to understand," Shallow Dream knew it was not a good idea to send a less-than-seven-year-old 102 into battle.

just smiled and looked down, continuing to eat.

"The endless violence of this generation is a given; we kill too, but a bit of compassion proves we still retain our humanity," Shallow Dream tried to reason.

"Though... nothing changes," 102 muttered.

enjoyed the fantasy of a naive and romantic life, but she knew she had to find a way to survive for decades more to see a better era.

The military shuttle patrolled above the jungle to the north, its guns and missile arrays targeting the ground below.

They kept watch.

"The tracks are deep; the enemy has heavy weapons," the scout reported.

"Including main battle tanks and missile-armed vehicles..."

"We’re not just facing guerrillas in the jungle; we’re up against a quasi-regular army!" Information was being shared on other companies’ communication channels.

"Where did they get their weapons?" Shallow Dream was surprised to see the message.

"Probably leftovers from some corporate war, brought ashore by the Secret Ritual Group’s backers through certain channels," 101 speculated, looking down at the clues.

The most powerful among them might be outfitted with Power Armor, Gauss rifles, and laser assault rifles. Their Armor was distinctively designed, painted flamboyantly from head to toe, resembling peacocks.

"The death has brought good results," 102 saw a new message on her tablet.

The biomedical engineering team from Namisis Group had already arrived at the village that had just been slaughtered. They extracted enough memory fragments from the brains of the newly deceased, pointing to a highly probable ritual site.

The Great River Followers’ location was pinpointed on the map as Site No. 208.

"All units, please move quickly to Site No. 208!"

Namisis Group invited all armed teams to converge on that ritual site.

The site was approximately 75 kilometers away, located upstream of a tributary of the river, a temple ruin with a long history.

They had finally found the Secret Ritual Group. By taking them out, the Great River Goddess could be prevented from reviving. People couldn’t help moving toward the same goal.

The final test faced the Battle of Jialong Slope. Kanako’s heart pounded.

"Lady Farosa’s power..." Kanako looked at Shallow Dream.

"Don’t worry." Shallow Dream tucked the fragment into her pocket.

Kanako gazed into the distance, seeing the unceasing downpour and two reconnaissance crafts skim over the edge of the dark clouds.

As the two flying crafts passed the edge of Kanako’s sight, they seemed to slam into some large bubble and immediately vanished without a trace.

As if devoured by a mystical realm.

There was something strange about Site No. 208!

"The planes have disappeared, it’s not safe ahead." Kanako pulled Shallow Dream back into the cabin and firmly closed the hatch.

As they neared the ritual site, all the rules of reality began to warp and change.

"Anomaly in reality ahead!" shouted the pilot, as the shuttle rapidly lost altitude.

The Corporate Intervention Army shared intel, forming a complete radar image from various reconnaissance tools, which showed a vast ring-shaped void where all signals vanished upon entering the anomalous zone ahead.

"What do we do next?" Shallow Dream inquired.

"Get ready, then intervene in the situation," Kanako said proficiently.

Shallow Dream felt Kanako had become very complex, sometimes like an adult, sometimes like a child. The grand battle was a severe test for Kanako, who had to be flexible and adaptable.

After confirming the ritual site, all parties tensely prepared to enter Site No. 208.

Ahead lay the region of reality anomalies, and no one knew what might happen.

The pilot brought the shuttle to the edge of the ring-shaped area, waiting to coordinate actions with troops from other companies.

The large war machines roared in quickly, approaching the suspicious ritual site. From the outside, it looked identical to other parts of the rainforest, but no detector could unveil what was inside. It seemed calm, but anything that crossed the boundary disappeared.

"The two reconnaissance planes we dispatched have vanished into that area, with no messages returned," explained a Namisis Group communicator.

"Attention all units, the Secret Ritual Group of the Great River Goddess is likely performing a ritual in the area ahead. Please consult your superiors and confirm the time to engage in conflict," announced Witch Jin Yuxiu of the Yongyi Group.

They slowly descended in their shuttle, gathering weapons and ammunition, and assembling personnel.

Then, Lu Jing flew in her consumer-grade small aircraft, the engine power gradually reduced, and her shuttle landed next to the White Shuttle of Nestor Corporation.

"Lu Jing!" Rinne stood up.

"Finally got it done. Wait, why are you here too? I thought you were at the hotel!" Lu Jing looked bedraggled, with her Cyclone Sword and Four Points True Gold strapped to her back.

"I have a score to settle." Rinne looked coldly into the distance at Aiden the Crusher in the Namisis Group camp.

To take him down, Rinne had laid many preparations, carefully honing her hacking program.

"I’ll help you!" Lu Jing was eager to try.

"Roll call," Kanako jumped down and pointed at each person, "Me, you, her. Mr. Pilot, seven Elite Soldiers, twenty-nine specially selected paratroopers, Chiyuki Sajou, Jiro, Rinne, Lu Jing, Seeking Shadow, good! Listen up, we’re going in to fight, and it could be a very tough battle, what with all those rituals, which are probably reaching a critical point since we’re less than three days away from August 0. Anybody who doesn’t want to fight, speak now."

Chiyuki Sajou and her brother wanted to leave temporarily; as medium-level sorcerers with some accomplishments, they seemed not quite qualified to partake in the Battle of Jialong Slope.

But upon further thought, if everyone was fighting there, how could they so easily speak of retreat?

No one wanted to leave.

Nestor Corporation’s forces joined the battle.

Rinne glared viciously at Aiden the Crusher in the distance, who was now scanning the abnormal region ahead.

"We’d better go on foot," suggested the Nestor pilot. "Inside is some kind of anomalous region where the shuttle might not work normally... nobody knows what it is in there..."

"Kanako authorizes us to act freely," 101 received orders from Kanako.

"Time to go, there can only be one god in this world," Kanako stepped forward assertively.

The other military units had also received their orders. Their intention was to move opportunistically—if another company took the lead, they would immediately follow.

Seeing Nestor Corporation initiating the march, they too assembled their forces in the vicinity of Nestor Corporation’s entry point, stopping their war machines like them and proceeding on foot with advanced equipment.

"We’re approaching the anomaly zone, which seems to be expanding," reported a Namisis Group observer to the public communication channel.

"Use shortwave communications, all companies maintain contact, this is the greatest test we’ve faced," said Jin Yuxiu in a tone meant to inspire courage.

What Jin Yuxiu did next earned Kanako’s admiration, for she unfolded her golden Iron Wings and, with a flap of the massive wings, entered the abnormal zone first!

"She’s disappeared!" Everyone outside saw Jin Yuxiu vanish after crossing the specific boundary, as if completely lost within the anomaly.

"She might have been thrown hundreds of years into the past, perhaps into the Great River Goddess’s memories! What do we do if we encounter something similar?" Shallow Dream speculated wildly.

"That gives us all the more reason to help her," Kanako stood up straight, the second to cross the boundary.

Kanako too disappeared behind the boundary line.

"All ready, entering the anomalous zone!" the various companies’ units gave the order.

"And the small carts!" 101 turned to look at the mirror carts intended to combat the Book Page Peacock, worrying whether they could function safely.

The Intervention Army was assembled, ready to exterminate the enemy just as the Corporate Alliance had once decimated the followers of the Great River Goddess.

...into the anomalous zone!