Cyber Era Witch
Chapter 99 - 99 82 Punishment for the Sisters

99: Chapter 82: Punishment for the Sisters 99: Chapter 82: Punishment for the Sisters “What are you doing?” 102 was at gunpoint and undoubtedly felt despair, but the chip implanted in her brain prevented her from having any hostility towards Black Fire Innovation Company members.

Any act of rebellion would trigger the bomb inside her, tearing her body apart.

“In the past,” Matteo said, “ships that couldn’t be towed were torpedoed to the bottom of the sea by ally ships.”

“Even if we still have a shred of Power left, we beg you to use it to its fullest.” 101 bent her knees and knelt on the ground, her expression calm.

Seeing her sister act like this twisted 102’s heart with pain, but her knees just wouldn’t bend; it was impossible for her to kneel no matter what.

Even though they were made on the same production line, their minds differed greatly.

“Oh?” Matteo raised an eyebrow, “Do you still have any use?”

“Everything started with the mysterious ‘Xu’,” 101 calmly analyzed, “He took the Ancient Witch hostage and left us in a difficult position.

However, as long as we can find him, there’s still a chance.

We are willing to continue hunting him in the city.”

“Get up.” Matteo shrugged, “Xu is like an Illusion.”

“I think he is somehow connected to the escaper from Kyushu High Pavilion, Xu Yang.” 101 asked tentatively.

“That man was hunted by Pan Ruiyi; his files were erased.

Unless Xu Yang is caught and delivered to the Corporate Alliance bound and identified…” Matteo pondered for a moment, “only then would that lie fall apart on its own, and many shocking secrets would emerge.”

“Then let’s capture him,” 102 said eagerly, “hand him over to the Corporate Alliance, and let them update his file, slapping the faces of others!”

“But how can we capture Xu Yang?” Matteo whispered, “The disturbances that the Ratmen could cause are over, our bombs have already detonated, and the higher-ups want us to leave.

Now there are eyes everywhere, and a great battle is about to erupt.”

“Damn it,” 102 said angrily, “we were once so close to that guy!

The Ratmen used to be so daunting…

I didn’t expect them to fall apart so easily, they’re utterly useless.”

“101, 102, to stay alive, you both have to stay here,” Matteo said as he walked away, “until Xu Yang is captured, then I’ll request to transfer you back to Taiya.”

“Stay alive?

We’ll die!” 102 said hastily, “Just the two of us sisters?

Without any support…”

“You still have that arms dealer and that crazy woman Huang Feng,” Matteo said as he dispatched the soldiers outside and stood by the door, turning back to the sisters inside the basement, “Make full use of their Power.”

The arms dealer was a small shop, and Huang Feng had a history of cybernetic psychosis; 102 wanted nothing to do with them whatsoever.

“Can’t we really leave together?” 102 said desperately, “Matteo…”

“This is the punishment I’m giving you,” Matteo said calmly, “it’s also the penalty for mission failure.

The external blockade is now in place, and as Witches, you are the most likely to be exposed.

If you were to be stopped at the airport, you would implicate others as well.

Do you understand your orders?”

Matteo ignored 102 and looked at 101.

“We comply.” 101 nodded, “We’ll stay here.”

“Good children,” Matteo nodded, “You two are exceptional products among mass production: one utterly compliant, the other with good combat instincts.

Your combat records have already been uploaded; your templates will be used to create many more standard models in the future.”

“You bastard,” 102 ground her teeth, “you’re going to end up just like your previous copy, obsolete.”

“You know I don’t get angry,” Matteo said with a smile, then turned and left.

The mercenary captain, leaning against the door, carrying an ion battle-axe and phase-shift device, felt sympathy for 101 and 102’s situation.

He didn’t like Matteo either; the team he used to lead was handed over to the first Matteo model and was wiped out at the Bronze Titan Excavation Site.

It was a pity; Bax was a good girl, although she could only spit ink, but she was kind, one of the best he had ever met.

However, under Black Fire Innovation’s order, everyone was just expendable material.

“Poor little ones,” he said.

“We don’t need your pity, Kong Tai, you’re a son of a bitch too.” 102 frowned deeply.

“Watch your words, may Pan Yuan bless you to live,” Kong Tai shook his head and followed Matteo.

Pan Yuan was an ancient faith from Xia District, a revered Dragon King.

However, suppressed by the companies, the worship was discontinued, and only wanderers like Kong Tai remembered it still existed.

102 looked around; the dim basement was now empty.

The chandelier was damaged; electrical arcs jumped behind the glass; only a black table and chairs remained, a large sofa wrapped in torn leather, cigarette butts and empty bottles littered the floor, and stacks of takeaway boxes with large pancake hats emitted a strong stench.

There were no personal terminals, smart screens, robots; neither were there any firearms, ammunition, or auxiliary tools.

Only she and her sister were left behind, deep beneath Aizu City; the only thing left was a wall-mounted TV that had survived because it was too difficult to remove.

The TV would outlast them, surviving until the end of the world.

102 felt pain.

She couldn’t stay here; the moment she hit the streets, she would be discovered, captured, and killed.

Their Armor had no identification, and Black Fire Innovation would not acknowledge their existence.

102 suddenly felt like a lab rat that had been released into the wild after experiments were done, no longer useful, left with a body filled with flaws and countless lingering effects.

She paced back and forth in the narrow room.

101 called her over and hugged her sister tight.

As soon as 102 touched 101, she couldn’t help but kneel in her arms and start crying.

“Don’t cry…

I won’t let you die,” 101 comforted repeatedly.

Although they had no blood relation and were just artificial Witches made one after the other on the production line, 102 always considered 101 her real sister.

“I don’t want to die…” 102 sobbed, “Why doesn’t Matteo have to die, yet we can’t live?”

“Follow orders.” 101 stroked her hair, willing to die for her sister without hesitation if she could.

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was 102 being created behind her; her sister’s original tender image still lingered in her mind, deeply etched, making 102 the most precious person in the world to her.

“We’ve been so diligent in our work!” 102 protested, “We’ve always served the company, always have, day in, day out, doing whatever we’re asked to do.

Why doesn’t the company want us anymore?”

The embedded TV suddenly flickered and came to life, emitting a hoarse voice.

“Because you are replaceable.”

“What…?” 102 looked up, puzzled.

101 turned his back to the television, holding his sister tighter and closing his eyes.

“You deserve to work in a better place, where you’ll earn more money for less work and enjoy more benefits,” the voice continued.

“Really?” 102’s eyes widened.

“It’s an illusion,” 101 reassured 102.

“Such places don’t exist.”

“Whether it exists or not, you’ll find out in due time.

What you need to do is, no matter what happens outside, do not leave the place you’re currently staying in.” The screen dimmed.

“Then…

what was that voice?

Was it controlled?” 102 was confused.

“It was the person we were originally supposed to hunt down,” 101 surmised.

“Let’s stay here, without causing a fuss or leaving.

Just be good, listen to me, okay?”

“Listen…” 102 clung to 101’s neck.

No matter what that person promised, as long as he could ensure that he and his sister would never be separated, that was enough.

101 held his breath and listened intently to the noises outside.

“Please kill Matteo,” he thought.

Moving through the factory grounds of Material Optical Manufacturing, Matteo and his team of mercenaries felt increasingly uneasy.

This was strange.

The factory area was already quiet and eerie, with rows of industrial machines standing still and dust-covered like statues, piled haphazardly across the gridded areas, resembling many sleeping beasts.

The expansion and contraction of the long-unrepaired metals produced humming sounds that seemed like snores from specters.

The ceilings were extremely high, out of reach when one looked up, giving a sense of insignificance.

To walk through such a place is to be on edge, but now, with the lights turned off and only about a dozen cameras operational, emitting red lights, they resembled countless bloodthirsty eyes watching from the darkness, all focused on them.

The floor sensors had also started working; originally intended to monitor and measure the workers’ movement patterns, but now recording their activity.

The lights of red, orange, and green blinked in a fixed sequence.

The mercenaries began to feel as if Material Optical Manufacturing had come to life, endowed with energy by a powerful creator from the outside.

“Should they be scanning us like this?” a mercenary couldn’t help asking.

“Boss, are you in control?”

“I don’t know,” Kong Tai shook his head.

“Don’t overthink it,” Matteo drew his pistol.

“If it’s controlled from outside, smash them all!”

Bang!

Bang!

The mercenaries immediately started shooting, shattering all the flashing cameras nearby, as fear, like an invisible hand, crawled up their spines, sending chills all over their bodies.

Usually, they took no notice of these things, but now they couldn’t trust anything they saw; specters seemed to lurk behind everything.

Could this be something Xu Yang was capable of?

Matteo kept checking the data files he had obtained.

The previous machine had been destroyed in an electromagnetic pulse instant and hadn’t uploaded much data, making it difficult for him to make a judgment.

“Get 101 and 102 here, we’ve got trouble!” Matteo rushed out, resolved to leave the Material Optical Manufacturing grounds first.

“Yes!” A lightly armed mercenary ran back to the basement they had come from and shouted at 101 and 102, “Come quickly!

We’ve been attacked.”

“Sister?” 102 turned to look at 101.

“We’re not going,” 101 whispered.

“We were ordered to stay here.”

“No, it’s not—” the mercenary grew frantic.

“What can I say to make you come?

There’s definitely a big problem.”

101 slowly shook his head.

“What about this?” the mercenary drew his gun.

“You’ve rebelled, haven’t you!”

“Following orders is in compliance with regulations,” 101 said.

“If you attack us, you’re damaging company property.”

“We are still considered company property?” the mercenary sneered.

“If we’re not, then you’re even less so,” 101 retorted, taking hold of 102’s hand.

“You’re not even in the official Blackfire roster, you know?

If we killed you right now, even the bomb implanted in you wouldn’t explode.”

“How is that possible?” the mercenary was taken aback.

“I signed a contract.”

101 and 102 instantly teleported behind the mercenary.

102 threw a straight punch with her immense strength, and with a crisp sound, she punched straight through the mercenary’s armor from the back, her armored fist piercing completely through his body and out from his chest, soaked in blood.

The mercenary looked down at the hand that had passed through his chest, his expression not even having time to change, still confused and bewildered.

102 sharply withdrew her fist from the bloody hole in his torso, and the mercenary slumped to the ground.

Replaceable.

101 suddenly remembered the mysterious voice’s words.

So, how does one become irreplaceable?