Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 982 - 778 Crossing the Ceasefire Line

Chapter 982: Chapter 778 Crossing the Ceasefire Line

Bang!

General Yin Changmin’s body was pierced through!

The messenger’s hand trembled violently the moment he fired the shot, realizing too late that his targeting assist system had locked onto his superior officer!

The gunshot drowned out all other noises.

In the game room, everyone shuddered. Many silently wondered, "Has death come calling for someone?"

To find out what had happened, people rushed over, the sound of dense footsteps in the hallway pounding like war drums.

Personal troops, guards, the high-ranking officials playing mahjong with Yin Changmin, the logistics minister, the deputy director of intelligence, and a dozen idle Foreign Affairs officers all rushed out, shouting toward the fallen Yin Changmin.

The General... is dead?!

Everyone was utterly shocked.

"The General’s been shot!"

"An assassin!"

"Protect the General!" They shouted while instinctively stepping back, each with a different expression on their face, all trying to calculate how North Silla’s future would unfold now that Yin Changmin was wounded!

The machine guards were knocked over with rifle butts and fists by the personal troops—a muffled thud as they hit the ground.

Nobody dared to fire; in this era, intelligent aiming systems were ubiquitous, and if hacked, firing a weapon could amount to suicide.

The messenger who accidentally shot Yin Changmin was now trembling like a leaf, his face ashen.

The medical team rushed over, crowding around the fallen General like a fleet of small repair ships tending to a sinking Giant Wheel.

Yin Changmin’s round eyes were wide open, his jaw clenched tight.

The wound, like a black hole, seemed to suck away the last remnants of his strength and vitality.

The medics scrambled to save him, administering a super Healing Injection and deploying a Phoenix Medical Pack.

After about two minutes of emergency care, Yin Changmin’s frail voice rose faintly above the murmurs of the crowd.

Those moving about quickly froze in place, afraid to drown out the General’s orders.

"Declare... a state of emergency...!" Yin Changmin struggled to say. His mind worked like a rusted machine grinding to function—its effort inspired pity. "...Lock down the streets, reassign the People’s Army 3rd Legion and 4th Legion back to Xin City, surround the prison, and secure the... media... media center."

Yin Changmin’s commands were swiftly carried out.

The officers and personal troops moved into action without hesitation. Even under such dire circumstances, abandoning the General was unthinkable.

Who knew what rebels might do to them if they seized power? Their current positions of influence and indulgence were entirely owed to their loyalty to Yin Changmin. Only with the General’s continued success could they sustain their debauched lifestyles.

Yin Changmin was carried onto a medical stretcher by the medics, ready to be transported to the nearest emergency room equipped with vital sign monitors and an automated medical unit. This was the only facility of its kind in all of North Silla, reserved for serving Yin Changmin and other high officials.

The messenger who had wounded Yin Changmin stumbled along on shaky legs, too scared to go anywhere else, fearing he would be executed on the spot as an assassin.

By now, Yin Changmin could no longer speak; his life was hanging by a thread.

Death, like an irritating bell-ringer, jingled incessantly in Yin Changmin’s ears, urging him to leave this world behind.

His weak eyes turned toward the messenger.

His lips twitched for a long time, but he still couldn’t voice the question weighing on his mind:

Was it intentional or accidental?

...

Xin City Prison.

The high-security prison was under a solo assault by A40.

The other agents had brought rockets, breaching charges, and EMP grenades, fully prepared for an extended siege. But A40 had stormed in alone!

Their role was reduced to merely following and securing the information and communication hubs.

"A40... is this thing even mortal?"

"Nothing can stop it!"

"The infamous Xin City Prison, breached just like that..." Intelligence officers looked on in disbelief, stunned by the scene unfolding before them.

A field of corpses lay scattered everywhere.

Wherever A40 went, guards and officers were mercilessly cut down! Their blood-soaked uniforms littered the ground along with severed limbs and torsos. Even the sentry turrets and defense robots had been sliced apart, their ruined shells sparking and hissing.

A40, running on a single power cell, had carved a path from the courtyard to the corridor. The other agents hadn’t even fired a shot yet—all they heard were agonized screams and machine-gun-like bursts of bullets. A40’s speed outclassed them all, its efficiency in killing unmatched.

For the prison guards of Xin City, the situation had reached the depths of horror.

Inside the prison, they huddled in the narrow corridors with their weapons drawn, faces pale as death, straining to hear the distant cries of their comrades.

"Ahhh!"

"Help—!"

"It’s coming!"

Corridor after corridor, the sounds of resistance started intensely but soon faded to silence.

Like an unstoppable force, A40 rampaged through the massive Xin City Prison.

When it appeared before the next group of guards, its entire frame was drenched in blood.

In its hand was the slender blade "Sakura Passing," the blood on its tip so thick that it refused to drip, clinging like a living organism.

Terror.

To the surviving guards, A40 was a demon incarnate on the battlefield. They were too paralyzed with fear to even fire their weapons.

A40 darted forward in a flash, appearing right in front of them. One of the guards squeezed his eyes shut, dropped his weapon, and raised his hands high.

Bam!

Minutes passed without him feeling the fatal blow. He tentatively opened one eye and saw A40 spinning away. It had only severed his pistol.

Seeing this, the others quickly threw down their weapons and raised their hands.

A40 sliced its blade through the air in front of them, tracing a clean semicircle.

The trembling guards instinctively shut their eyes as the blade came near.

The sensation was... harrowing.

The blade seemed to emit an invisible chill as it hovered just before them.

When A40 withdrew the blade from their space, it felt as if an icy wind had scoured their faces, making their hair stand on end—a primal fear, as if each hair follicle wanted to tear itself free from their bodies.

The metallic tang of blood filled their senses, sending their hearts racing with dread.

A40 lowered the sword without taking their lives.

Some deserved to die; some did not.

A40 moved past them, while other agents hacked into the prison database, feeding A40 intel to guide it directly to Cui Taining’s solitary cell.

"Stop!"

"Don’t move!"

"Open fire!" As A40 approached closer to Cui Taining’s cell, the resistance grew fiercer.

Because Cui Taining was an important prisoner, his cell was guarded by professional soldiers and defense bots.

"Move!" A40 lunged forward, slashing the blade in its hand.

The blade of Sakura Passing gleamed cherry red in a sharp flash before A40 instantly vanished from sight. A volley of rifle bullets hammered into the spot where it had stood moments ago, unable to lock onto A40’s position.

Where did it go?

The defenders, straining against A40’s relentless advance, felt a collective surge of dread.

The next moment, A40 reappeared behind them, spinning like a Meat Grinder. The blade arced through the air, severing flesh and bone in one smooth motion. At least six men were cut cleanly in two, collapsing into a dozen separate chunks!

A40 advanced toward its objective with unyielding focus.

Boom-boom! A heavy combat robot barreled toward A40, its twin rotating chainguns spitting a hailstorm of bullets in its direction.

"Die!" A40 slashed the air, cutting through the incoming bullets.

It activated the power of Sakura Passing, instantly teleporting behind the heavy robot. With a calculated leap, it landed on the machine’s rear flank, plunging its blade into a jointed seam in the armor. Twisting hard, it severed the circuits, causing the robot to malfunction and shut down.

Quickly, A40 withdrew the blade and landed gracefully—every motion seamless and efficient.

Advance, advance, and keep advancing.

A40 decimated nearly 80% of the facility’s guards and mechanical defenses.

It reached the door to Cui Taining’s cell, slashing through the lock with a single strike, rescuing the former chairman, Cui Taining.

Only he still held the authority to rally the people of North Silla.

"Aaah—aaah—" Cui Taining sat stiffly on his cot, visibly anxious.

Years of torture, medical experiments, and starvation had left him emaciated and slow-witted. At 36 years old, his hair was prematurely white, and bloodshot eyes stared out blankly.

Now, seeing A40 drenched in blood, bursting into his cell, he froze in shock and fainted instantly.

A40 lifted him effortlessly with one hand, reporting to the other agents, "Cui Taining located! He’s unconscious..."

"No matter! The time is now! We’ll take him to the Media Broadcast Building and have him address all of North Silla—once the broadcast is done, our mission is half complete!" responded Agent Li Enyan swiftly.

A40 didn’t hesitate, carrying Cui Taining in one hand and retracing its steps back.

The carnage washed away A40’s hesitation, aimlessness, and weariness.

A self-diagnostic revealed enhanced operational speed, heightened combat instinct modules, and a sharper edge to its killer’s resolve.

A40 strode through piles of corpses and rivers of blood, as if walking leisurely in its own Sky Kingdom.

...

South of the ceasefire line, Yidu City, headquarters of Modern Entertainment Company.

Chairman Li Minhuan received firsthand intelligence on the turmoil in North Silla.

The company’s network of infiltrators in North Silla had delivered most of the intel, giving him a crystal-clear picture of what was unfolding in Xin City.

Xin City Prison attacked. General Yin Changmin shot.

He also learned that the powerful 3rd and 4th Legions of North Silla’s army were visibly redeploying. Large convoys of military vehicles were heading north, leaving noticeable gaps along the ceasefire line.

It was apparent—someone sought to bring revolution to North Silla.

Which meant this was his opportunity.

Li Minhuan exhaled deeply.

War was inevitable.

The time had finally come—it was now or never.

Li Minhuan felt a complex surge of emotions. Three years—one thousand days of sleepless preparation—and no day had presented a better chance.

He activated his smart desk’s record system, which contained fragments of his father, Li Gaoping’s, personality algorithm. An AI projection of Li Gaoping materialized in humanoid form.

Ever since his father and several other top executives were incinerated by Wei Shiyue’s Dragon Fire, Modern Entertainment had been plunged into an unprecedented crisis and decline; the civil war had bled the company dry.

Li Minhuan inherited the mantle, rebuilding Modern Entertainment from the Dragon Fire’s ashes, bit by bit, restoring it to the "megacorporation" table.

Competing against Nestor Corporation, expanding within Xia’s sphere of influence, and contributing to the war against Black Fire Innovation.

Through innovative business models, streamlined operations, and agile strategies, Li Minhuan had returned Modern Entertainment to its prewar strength.

Now, the opportunity was at hand. If he could unify the Silla Peninsula under his name, the Silla People would no longer be ignored by the world, and "Modern Entertainment" would rise to global prominence once again!

"Father!" Li Minhuan stood and bowed deeply to the image of Li Gaoping. "After three years of my leadership and diligence, Modern Entertainment has finally emerged from the wounds of civil war, returning to prosperity with elite forces! With North Silla now in chaos, the moment has come—it’s time for me to unify all of Silla!"

"...Strength is the only measure of greatness," Li Gaoping’s AI projection intoned. Lacking memory, it functioned only as a program running pre-set fragments of his personality, still executing his philosophies and guidance from life.

Seeing his father’s phantom stirred an unprecedented wave of courage and determination in Li Minhuan.

One generation after another.

Fulfilling the sacred trust of "family legacy," he had inherited this colossal enterprise from his ancestors, helming it through its cycles of glory and ruination. Now, the pivotal moment to decide Silla’s fate lay directly before him.

Taking a deep breath, Li Minhuan steadied himself. Although this was heaven-sent, he couldn’t afford to act rashly.

Li Minhuan, as Chairman of Modern Entertainment, issued commands without delay, personally signing off on military deployment plans and mobilizing corporate forces and intelligence operatives.

All units, cross the ceasefire line, advance northward!

Unify Silla!