Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 88 - 88 71 Feather Hunting Pavilion

88: Chapter 71 Feather Hunting Pavilion 88: Chapter 71 Feather Hunting Pavilion After receiving the message from Black Fire Innovation, Lila felt some trepidation.

“So the master is going to fight with them,” said Lila.

Black Fire Innovation acted brutally, as the world’s largest arms dealer and security contractor, possessing both nuclear weapons and the technology to cultivate witches, like a monstrous entity with millions of tentacles; sever one and hundreds more would take offence.

This was something Lila did not wish to see.

“If we don’t strike first, the issue will never be resolved,” Xu Yang concluded, “Is the Ratman Witch’s power still accumulating?”

“The magical fluctuations are growing stronger,” Lila looked into the distance, “The power unique to the Rat Witch is charging.

If she plans to launch another Electromagnetic Pulse wave, she’ll be fully charged within 60 minutes.”

He simply couldn’t let her launch it again.

Xu Yang rubbed his forehead, needing to disrupt this process.

“Have other companies mobilized military forces toward Shenkong Tower?” Xu Yang asked, hoping for an opportunity to pit one against another.

“Not at the moment,” the news from Lila was greatly disappointing to Xu Yang, “To them, hunting down Suzukawa Kiyo’s ‘Teacher’ seems more important.

That’s where all the companies are focused right now.”

Indeed, those who rushed over after hearing the news were fans sincerely wanting to exterminate the rats.

Many fans, probably with nothing but passion, had come alone and would only end up as rat food.

For capital, continuing to hype up news about Suzukawa Kiyo was more profitable; moreover, some mega-corporations might have already detected something fishy about Suzukawa Kiyo, and were dispatching spies to Aizu City to gather vital intelligence.

This place had become a hotbed of imminent action, a development that was previously unimaginable.

“Let’s go, maintain real-time communication,” Xu Yang instructed Lila to keep transmitting the information she collected to him, which he would then analyze and record using Digital Mind.

By constantly exchanging intelligence this way, they could enhance their grasp of the surrounding environment.

“Real-time communication, whispering secrets?” Farosa was very dissatisfied.

“Of course,” Xu Yang deliberately teased Farosa, “We discuss everything between us, and you can’t hear a thing.”

“We share everything, whereas you, who communicate with others through lies, will never attain this level of trust,” Lila whispered softly.

Farosa was momentarily at a loss for words, only able to be silently annoyed.

Speaking of sharing everything, Lila had indeed silently transferred some of her most genuine inner thoughts to Xu Yang.

Secrets from her past service, murmurs from her half-dreaming, half-awake states, childhood memories; these were all records from when Lila was still a fully sentient witch, prone to loss with the wear and tear on her parts.

“Lila is really silly, please help me remember these contents, master,” she said.

She copied these precious pieces of information from her storage and handed them over to Xu Yang, hoping he would guard them for her.

In this way, even if she were to completely lose her humanity in the future, Xu Yang could still remember the fact that Lila was once a witch through these memories.

That she would one day completely forget the thought processes of a witch was something Lila believed without a doubt.

Witches possessed complete brain structures, but what she had was a consciousness chip, falsely simulating past thoughts.

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Xu Yang sensed the subtle unrest in Lila.

“Please issue the command,” Lila used a calm tone to disguise her anxiety, “We have a mission to complete.”

“Let me check the surrounding map,” Xu Yang knew a fierce battle with the enemy forces of Shenkong Tower was imminent and that it was necessary to further upgrade his equipment, “Let’s head to this ‘Feather Hunting Pavilion’.”

Feather Hunting Pavilion was an equipment manufacturer under Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing.

If he could get his hands on a piece of advanced nano armor, he wouldn’t have to worry about gunfire anymore, and it also came with electromagnetic interference resistance functions.

Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing and Kyushu High Pavilion held over ninety percent of the market share in the Xia District, both being large enterprises with strong comprehensive capabilities.

The difference was that Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing leaned more towards automated manufacturing and smart equipment, also dabbling in cutting-edge technology.

Kyushu High Pavilion, on the other hand, focused more on vehicle development and industrial production, being a more traditional juggernaut.

The relationship between the two companies was sometimes good, sometimes bad, with complex underlying capital components and intersecting interests.

Sometimes they would collaborate on military operations, and other times there would be corporate warfare, fighting fiercely over spheres of influence.

In the six years Xu Yang had been employed at Kyushu High Pavilion, he had witnessed nearly ten armed conflicts between the two companies, mostly to stimulate armament sales, divert internal company disputes, and to show off their strengths, attracting investment groups like Xisheng.

Due to business competition, Xu Yang had also come into contact with much of Heavenly Cardinal Manufacturing’s intelligence and was very familiar with the products of Feather Hunting Pavilion.

They manufactured nano armors of pretty good quality, which, when worn, could significantly enhance combat capability.

When he reached the entrance of Feather Hunting Pavilion, the shop appeared to have been looted.

Inside and outside the doorway, a complete team of security personnel had fallen—nine people, all killed.

One had his head blown off, his skull shattered into pieces, with brain matter spilling everywhere, blood and flesh indistinct.

Another was charred black from electricity, his clothes burnt through, sticking to the skin, difficult to separate.

Apart from these two, the rest were all burned alive from the inside out to ashes!

Only patches of blackened bones remained, instilling fear from within.

There were also two large battle robots burning in the street, having lost the capability to resist, with their internal structures severely melted.

Taking advantage of the Rat Tide, was someone robbing the place?

There were signs of the Witch’s Power.

It might be a witch using flame power, cannot be complacent.

In this chaos, one must proceed with caution.

Xu Yang didn’t leave the Anonymous, but instead connected to the store’s surveillance cameras to investigate the scene inside.

A cyborg was rummaging through Feather Hunting Pavilion, its body covered in metal, reflecting a hazy arc light under the illumination.

The ordinary-quality alloy armors and protective implants were thrown onto the ground, disregarded by him.

He must have, like Xu Yang, only had eyes for the high-end armor sold by Feather Hunting Pavilion.

Next to him stood a pale-skinned woman with her hands behind her back, her expression calm, as if she was in control of everything, possibly a witch.

Additionally, there was a Mechanical Ronin, wielding an Alloy Warblade, metal at every joint, wearing a scarf, dressed in a leather bodysuit, with half of its long hair shorn off, hanging loosely on one side of the head, striking a wild and unrestrained posture.

“It’s in there.” The Mechanical Ronin pointed towards a hidden door at the back of the Feather Hunting Pavilion shop, embedded in the wall, nearly invisible, but its electronic signals were exposed under its scan.

“Get out of the way!” The metal cyborg transformed its right arm into a large chainsaw, went full throttle, the engine roaring as it charged towards the hidden door.

“`

Hissss—

Metal sparks flew in all directions, the noise grating, and after cutting through the door lock, Xu Yang forcefully pulled open the secret door to reveal the inner storeroom of Feather Hunting Pavilion, which excited all three of them.

“At last!”

“Quick, get inside!” They knew they couldn’t linger long and burst through the secret door, searching for the valuable merchandise of Feather Hunting Pavilion.

Unexpectedly, the room hidden behind the secret door sheltered many of Feather Hunting Pavilion’s staff and customers, who had taken refuge there while the outside security fought desperately; their numbers were close to 20 people.

Seeing the secret door breached and surrounded, they immediately let out desperate screams of despair as the fear of death overwhelmed them.

“Aaah—”

“Help!”

“They’re in here!”

If these robbers weren’t stopped, the survivors would be massacred, and then there would be no talking of business anymore.

Xu Yang continued to scan for resources inside the store; several smart sales robots were on standby within the shop.

They usually provide attentive service, guiding customers through Feather Hunting Pavilion’s advanced implants and combat equipment.

Their shape resembled ancient automatons, with bronze animal heads, turbo engines, and paired wings, their bodies covered with the pattern of flowing auspicious clouds, looking completely harmless.

Xu Yang immediately accessed the control of one of the sales robots.

It trembled unusually on the spot for a while, then took off and hovered, becoming Xu Yang’s possession.

In the dark room, that woman clearly was the leader of the plunderers, commanding their actions.

She had long hair and a beautiful yet indifferent appearance, dressed in a dark T-shirt that contrasted starkly against her unhealthy white skin.

She watched the events unfolding in the dark room intently, a satisfied smile creeping onto her face.

A vast amount of advanced firearms, armor, and complete sets of nano armor were meticulously displayed in glass cabinets.

Such expensive goods were unattainable under normal circumstances, but in the midst of this chaos, if she could steal these valuable goods and then resell them on the black market, she wouldn’t have to struggle in Aizu City anymore!

She could escape with large sums of funds and enjoy the taste of wealth.

If she couldn’t evade pursuit, she could even seek refuge with Black Fire Innovation and contribute to their violent endeavors, create destruction together.

Black Fire Innovation had long encouraged members from other enterprises to defect and join them, training new combat forces.

“The people in the store have contacted the security team,” the Mechanical Ronin warned, “We need to act fast.”

“Kill them all,” the woman ordered.

A sales robot passed through the secret door into the inner storeroom, broadcasting in an electronic voice through its voice module:

“Please stop your violent acts, or the Cyber Specter will appear.”

The voice echoed, surprising everyone.

“Cyber Specter?”

“Ahh…”

“What’s that?” The people in the dark room grew anxious and uneasy.

“Do any of you have an idea?” the woman asked, turning to the Mechanical Ronin and the Synthetic Human beside her.

“It’s the mysterious entity from before.” The Mechanical Ronin remembered a similar situation being mentioned on city forums.

Once upon a time, there was an intangible being that existed on the network.

It helped people bypass the barriers set by Aizu City’s Civic Service Company, enabling them to safely traverse Number 26 Highland and reach Hui City District, yet the true situation remained a mystery.

The Cyber Specter…

The woman raised her hand to release her magic power, a strong transfer of thermal energy.

The sales robot immediately began to heat up, quickly exceeding 150℃.

The internal components couldn’t withstand the high-temperature environment and began to melt down.

The defenses of Feather Hunting Pavilion were extremely strict, and neither robots nor security personnel could withstand the ignition from within, which was the basis of her confidence in initiating the raid.

Her power was so immense, yet she was relegated by the company to making burgers.

All because she lived in the company’s jurisdiction, controlled and trained from birth.

When the company was annihilated by the Rat Tide, she finally lost her restraints, seized the chaos to escape, and simply gathered two more accomplices to make a big score here.

Of course, the Cyber Specter was just a bizarre tale, but given her situation, she dared not take it lightly.

“Let’s go first.” The woman continued to release magic power, increasing the temperature.

The sales robot instantly turned into a fireball and plummeted towards the ground.

The Metal-Enhanced Human used an electric saw to cut open the glass display cabinet, swiftly taking several expensive nano armors inside and stuffing them into a backpack, rushing out, ready to board the prearranged vehicle.

Before leaving, the Witch couldn’t help but look at those fearful employees and ordinary people with pity, knowing that their destinies were about to diverge greatly.

One side would completely break free of their chains and gain freedom, while the other was destined to spend the rest of their lives in endless hard labor.

The phrase that only those who stop at nothing achieve their goals seemed truer than ever.

Bang!

A sniper rifle sounded.

The Witch and the Mechanical Ronin quickly turned around, barely making out the Metal-Enhanced Human shot dead on the ground, his upper body shattered by high-caliber bullets, a gruesome death not unlike those of the security guards they had killed outside the store.

The other sales robots seemed to be controlled by some invisible force, activated from their standby mode.

They picked up the merchandise armors from beside the fallen man and flew out of the shop, disappearing into the unknown.

She immediately stopped in her tracks, with a secret door marking the boundary between life and death, and such an eerie situation indeed made her uneasy.

The Cyber Specter of Aizu City, could it really exist?

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