Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 886 - 717 Heading North to The Scar of the World

Chapter 886: Chapter 717 Heading North to The Scar of the World

The little rat suddenly grew bigger, which was a serious matter.

"I don’t know either, but you possess mystical powers; bullets can’t kill you, and you can transform into a giant rat. This is definitely the power of a deity," Tsuchigumo said.

"I..." Sally first tried shaking her head, then nodded vigorously, "I think I am."

Now, the invisible threat that made Tsuchigumo feel fearful had returned.

"I must go," Tsuchigumo got up,

"Where to? The battle has just ended, shouldn’t you rest properly?" Sally still wanted to feed Tsuchigumo some special Ratman mushrooms.

"To The Scar of the World. The big bosses at the company are still struggling, I, a mere combatant, cannot stand aside."

"But this shelter needs you," Sally insisted.

"This place has you, that’s enough. I’m just a spider from the dirt, but you are the deity of these Ratmen," Tsuchigumo walked out.

Sally stood up and looked around.

The Ratmen were chattering noisily, quickly recovering from the aftermath of the battle.

Black Ratman directed strong Rat creatures to move supplies, gather firearms and ammunition for use, melt down metal scraps and forge them into weapons, retraining the musket teams and assault troops.

White Ratman used sticks to write calculations in the sand, designing Ratmen’s lightning cannons, flamethrowers, and wheeled war machines.

Ratman Mother nursed the young rats. Gray Ratman, as usual, started digging pits, vigorously clawing to begin carving out the underground Empire of Ratmen from here.

All these Ratmen relied on the infinite inspiration provided by Sally’s divine presence to be exceptionally active and unified; otherwise, they would have long scattered, fled, and slaughtered each other.

Sally silently absorbed all this, gradually understanding what she needed to do.

"My beloved children... become stronger," Sally pointed to one of the fiercest big black rats.

Under the illumination of the life-emitting radiance, its body quickly swelled, becoming unnaturally bloated like a giant beast! It gained a terrifying strength unmatched by any other Ratman. Originally, during the attack on Aizu City, it was creatures like this super-giant rat that rampaged and destroyed company machines.

"Roar!" It roared.

Then, under Sally’s command, this Giant Rat attacked the strongest animals on the plains, eliminating dangerous predators, making hunting easier for the Rat Village.

"Go—fix it, and then head to Zanges. Zanges is a fallen city, filled with many Ratmen; I could sense them on my way here, they have been forgotten. Go find them, awaken the underground network of Ratmen in Zanges," Sally instructed White Ratman to repair a part of the motorcycles that were still in decent condition.

She also specially selected the best one to give to Tsuchigumo, to facilitate her journey to The Scar of the World.

"Squeak, squeak!" The Ratmen began working at Sally’s command.

"I will protect you; I will make you strong," Sally raised her hand high.

"Chirp, chirp, chirp!"

"New home! New home!"

"Praise—praise the Rat Deity!"

They cheered and sang praises to the great Saintess Sally, the Rat Deity!

...

The next morning, Tsuchigumo woke up.

She had used spider silk to hang herself upside down to sleep in the industrial park.

Now she felt that the joke "you’re a spider, you can get on the web anytime, anywhere" was devilishly accurate, as it kept echoing in her head after she woke up.

She went to where the supplies were stacked yesterday; one of Borley’s gunmen was patrolling, seemingly wanting to monopolize the distribution of these food supplies.

Tsuchigumo guessed that Borley wanted to use this to monopolize, profiting from those defenseless travelers.

Compared to someone as profit-driven as Borley, Tsuchigumo felt Sally was much more lovable, even the robotic factory manager seemed elegant and fine-looking.

But could people rise up in rebellion? Influenced by the Cyber Specter, Tsuchigumo suddenly felt that one day these surviving travelers might stir up and start seizing the supplies here.

Did people really have the courage to defy their fate?

She walked over, took many cans, dried food, and clean water.

Borley’s guard did not stop her. Not because he feared Tsuchigumo, but because during a robbery at the train station, Tsuchigumo had used her spider silk to tie up the thug who attacked him; he and his companion owed Tsuchigumo their lives. Therefore, he just nodded at Tsuchigumo, silently condoning her as she left.

She went outside to the sandy soil and found that Sally and the Ratmen had prepared a motorcycle for Tsuchigumo, one they repaired from yesterday’s attackers.

"This bike is for you, you can go anywhere with it," Sally said tenderly to Tsuchigumo.

"Thank you!" Tsuchigumo was very surprised.

She had never thought that the Ratmen would specifically repair a motorcycle for her, eliminating the need to walk on foot to the distant Scar of the World.

She would surely arrive on time and meet up with the president and others! Tsuchigumo couldn’t help but smile.

They had even chosen the best machine left by members of the Black Panther Society, a Suzukawa brand C900 motorcycle imported from the Northern Archipelago, with exquisite black and red paintwork, equipped with a four-cylinder four-stroke engine and a high-strength alloy mesh frame, and a complete multi-link independent suspension system.

Tsuchigumo couldn’t be more satisfied, surely much better than the Little Deer convertible she had bought before.

"Thank you! Really, thank you very much," Tsuchigumo bowed deeply to Sally.

She then packed all the food into the canvas storage bag at the back of the car, stuffing it as full as possible.

This journey would consume much of her resources.

"I should be thanking you, thank you for always protecting us," Sally bowed her head.

Tsuchigumo felt like Sally had matured a million times.

"It’s nothing... By the way, do you have any money?" Tsuchigumo didn’t want to receive favors for free, "I sold my golden slippers and made 20,000! The company will also pay me a salary, I can lend you some money, so you can buy materials to build your home!"

"I have 50 million," Sally said.

"Share some with me."

Tsuchigumo hit the road with the 2 million funds Sally gave.

Damn, after this deal, I’ll retire.

With grand ambitions, Tsuchigumo rode her motorcycle northward to The Scar of the World, meeting up with her colleagues from Renwang Security.

The landscape along the way was magnificent yet desolate, with polar ice caps and expanding cold zones. Climate cataclysms also severely impacted Hot Tree Continent, where plants suited for high temperatures couldn’t withstand the cooling, leading to their decline. The weakening water cycle resulted in less rainfall, causing persistent droughts, and animals migrated earlier to places rich in water and grass.

Driving off-road on a motorcycle, Tsuchigumo witnessed the grand migration of the Hot Tree Continent antelope.

At least ten thousand antelopes formed a colossal herd, furiously crossing westward, searching for fresh pastures and water sources, blocking Tsuchigumo’s path!

She could neither charge through this huge group of antelope nor circumvent such a lengthy procession.

Consequently, she was forced to stop and wait, eating some food to regain her strength.

"Antelope..." Tsuchigumo looked over at the migrating horde of antelope. Before her were arcs of horns, countless furs soaked with water and sand, and tens of thousands of black heads.

Their moving pace was earth-shattering, like rolling black boulders, seemingly ready to crush anything brave enough to obstruct their path.

As they moved, white smoke rose between their hooves and tails; rivers, dangerous pits, dead woods, and wilderness could not hinder them.

Only in Hot Tree Continent could one witness such a spectacle, and its impact exceeded any live broadcast.

The vigorous, vast, and grand momentum deeply shocked Tsuchigumo; if beasts could do this, what could humans endure?

Among these, the scene where antelopes crossed the river massively was what Tsuchigumo found most formidable.

Because numerous crocodiles lurked in the river, powerful and fierce, hungry, surprised that this year’s food had come so early, immediately sprang into action, crazily harvesting the antelope crossing the river, pulling one after another underwater and dragging them away.

However, the sudden death of some antelope did not affect the majestic stride of the herd; for the survival of the entire group, they had to cross the river, heading to places where the water grass was even fresher. Thus, the successors merely stepped through the blood-stained river, continuing onward, crossing over the torn remains of their fellows.

Even if some antelopes noticed crocodiles in the water, they were forced to enter the water due to the pushing and squeezing of countless companions, randomly facing outcomes such as successfully crossing the river, becoming a meal for crocodiles, or drowning due to slipping.

Tsuchigumo noticed that antelopes which were originally strayed from the group would choose to return to the herd at times like this to brave the river crossing together. They were very smart because if they entered the water alone after all other antelopes had crossed, they would surely be eaten by crocodiles. Therefore, it was still necessary to cross the river with the herd, resisting the river and crocodiles - the great selectors - by leveraging the power of tens of thousands of antelopes, thus having a certain chance of survival.

While watching crocodiles eat antelopes, Tsuchigumo suddenly pictured many images of fried chicken, hamburgers, cola, and soda in her mind.

She turned her head and saw some black people in strange attire standing on a nearby hillside, muttering words toward the antelope herd.

When did they appear? Tsuchigumo was startled. They seemed to blend in with nature itself.

These black people looked like warlocks, dark-skinned wizards in tribes were regarded as important seers, prophets, and powerful warriors, often supported by a dozen tribes together, guiding the tribespeople and spreading some voodoo content.

Indeed, such a bustling event as the migration of antelopes would definitely attract the warlocks from nearby tribes.

It is said that warlocks and witches are always hostile to each other, Tsuchigumo felt a bit uneasy, and seeing the migration of antelopes nearly complete, she quickly stepped on the accelerator and sped through the wilderness.

The warlocks stared at the antelope herd after crossing the river, then turned their gaze to the distant figure of Tsuchigumo.

"Golden Soul..." one of them muttered.

Tsuchigumo drove northward, and after a whole day of journey, finally reached the designated meeting place. When she saw the camp of Renwang Security Company, she was extremely excited.

Finally, back to Renwang Security again.

The entire camp was set up next to the treacherous Scar of the World. She had seen the huge rift crossing the land from afar, but felt more shocked as she approached; the bottomless rift seemed to lead to the netherworld, with both sides spanning tens of kilometers - endless and intimidating even to the bravest of people.

While she looked at the Scar of the World, she pushed her motorcycle forward, its engine already overheated, the fuel nearly gone, and tires significantly worn. The motorcycle couldn’t be used before maintenance.

"Tsuchigumo!" Standing Black Hat walked from the tent side, waving vigorously at her.

Other team members were also there, including Angel Izumi Makoto, the sniper Ichinoki Ikuma, and the medic Evil Spirit, Namahage; only the Netherworld Thunder God, who was confronting Storm Princess, was absent.

"Reporting, President, Tsuchigumo is in position!" she put down the motorcycle, trotted to the president, and saluted.

"Where have you been?" Standing Black Hat asked quickly, then generously let it go, "—Never mind, it’s good that you’re back! What’s more crucial now is getting down to the bottom of the Scar of the World."

"Understood!" Tsuchigumo said, but her heart pounded with trepidation.

She walked toward the Scar of the World but couldn’t bring herself to get any closer, instinctively stopping her from moving next to the Scar; it was too terrifying, who would dare to face such an abyss directly.

Compared to it, a person was like a speck of dust; the deepest part reached 12,000 meters, no one knew what lay so deep.

Thinking of this, Tsuchigumo suddenly came back to her senses.

"Wait—President, are we going down to the bottom? To such a deep place?" Tsuchigumo tried to confirm the situation.

"Our magic power is to control gravity." Standing Black Hat clenched his fist and said cheerfully, "Come, let’s all jump down together, it’ll be fine."