Cyber Era Witch-Chapter 32 - 20 Shrine

32: Chapter 20 Shrine

32 -20 Shrine

“What’s that?” Kanako asked.

“We have a new hideout,” Xu Yang said, “Near the Toshiaki Robot Megastore.

We can rest there.”

“How is it any better than this?”

“It’s safer.

After all, this is Gang territory.

If they turn violent, we’re not well equipped to handle them.”

“Ah!” Kanako felt helpless, but it was Xu Yang’s insight, after all.

She unconsciously leaned toward heeding his advice and began packing up her big bag full of cards.

Gaming?

After joining the company, there had been no chance to play.

Xu Yang mused.

He looked at Kanako’s data cards and the game pod next to them.

The data cards had become smaller and more exquisite, while the game pod had a streamlined appearance, was quite large, and had wild colors, looking like an industrial beast brimming with design.

These things stirred memories of the past, and Xu Yang felt somewhat dazed.

As a child, his biggest dream was to finish school early to play games; after starting work, his biggest dream was to have holidays to sleep in the dorm; now, his biggest desire was to stay alive and return to the surface.

How strange and unpredictable human encounters can be.

“I never expected a Witch to be so good at gaming,” Xu Yang said.

Kanako stopped packing and fell silent, staring at Farosa before she managed to speak.

“Really?

So, you really are a Witch?”

“Yes,” Farosa said.

“You saved me, brought me back to life.

Ah…

I’ve been unable to stop thinking about it, convincing myself it wasn’t an illusion.

I kept telling myself that the moment I was killed was a memory disorder, that you weren’t a Witch, but…

I still have to face it.

I really did die once, saved by a Reality Manipulator.”

“Her Power saved you,” Xu Yang said, “Don’t associate her with the Combat Witches and Industrial Witches that are employed by the companies.

She is a good Witch.”

“No,” Kanako scoffed, disdainfully saying, “That gives me an excuse for losing.

A Witch’s reflexes, physical fitness, and learning abilities are all far superior to an ordinary person’s.”

“Kyoto Infinity once studied Witches,” Xu Yang said, “They exceeded humans by far in almost every test indicator.”

“How did they study them?” Farosa asked.

“I don’t know the specifics,” Xu Yang said, “But their methods were cruel.”

Kyoto Infinity’s “research” methods on Witches were extremely brutal—after a series of physiological experiments came the inhuman live dissections.

He had visited the open-source databases shared among enterprises, and just seeing a few experimental illustrations on the front page had nearly made him vomit, without delving into the details of the information.

“The nature of Witches, it’s indeed intriguing,” Farosa said with a cold laugh, “In my past, the difference between Witches and Humans was significant, and in your era, this disparity remains clear.

It’s fine, I’ve always known that Witches and Humans could never coexist peacefully.

So, the solution is clear—Humans must return to their prior place.”

“That’s…

such an intimidating presence,” Kanako said, startled by Farosa.

“Don’t think too much,” Xu Yang said, “Farosa, right now in the companies’ eyes you are just a walking Anonymous Cash Card, anyone can swipe it.

Stick close to me until you fully recover, I’ll protect you.”

“People used to keep their distance from me like I was something to fear,” Farosa said, “but now I suddenly have friends.”

“Don’t—don’t—let’s hope we can still play games together!” Kanako said, “Let’s not talk about weird stuff anymore.

Once we find two gaming pods with good networks, let’s go loot equipment together and protect world peace!”

Farosa smiled.

“Yes, that one hour just now was the most pleasant I have ever spent in my life,” she said, “People in this world have ‘games’ to play; they should be carefree.”

“Right, games are the best!

As long as I can play, I’m the happiest, and I brought so many games with me; next time, we’ll play something different!”

Outside, hundreds and thousands were dead, Ratmen prowled in the shadows, and Gang clashes impacted the innocent.

Given these circumstances, Xu Yang couldn’t afford to be distracted by anything else, momentarily unable to feel the allure of gaming.

Kanako was organizing her data cards when Xu Yang noticed a square gold card among them.

“That’s…” Xu Yang couldn’t help but blurt out, “A Special Protection Card?”

A Special Protection Card was a special security certificate managed by the rich—businesspeople, executives, capitalists, company owners—for their relatives, accredited by the Corporate Alliance, with great versatility.

With a Special Protection Card, one could move about freely in the world, with many privileges at their disposal.

It was also graded, with a total of 180 levels.

Every 10 levels unlocked different privileges; it was an object everyone desired.

“Ah,” Kanako zipped up her big bag, “It’s low level, only at level 10.

My dad has some money, so he got this for me.”

“Why aren’t you enjoying a rich person’s life and coming to this dump instead?”

“For this,” Kanako lifted her bag, “If I were working, I couldn’t happily play anymore.”

Xu Yang hesitated with unspoken thoughts.

“You think I’m a fool!” Kanako flared up, “Stick to your nine-to-nine lifestyle yourself!”

“I wasn’t,” Xu Yang hurriedly said.

Kanako had given up her wealthy family; she must have had her own reasons.

“Special Protection Card?” Farosa inquired.

“A type of certificate, like those ancient kings would give to the princes and princesses, signifying their extraordinary status.

People they encounter along the way are supposed to treat them well, without neglect,” Xu Yang explained.

“I had the honor of playing games with a little princess,” Farosa remarked.

Kanako was at a loss.

“I haven’t been home for seven years.” She said, “What’s the use of a Special Protection Card when my family treats me like a joke?”

“Even the lowest-level Special Protection Card is still a Special Protection Card, you’re a big shot.” Xu Yang said, “By escorting you back to a safe place, your family will probably repay me generously.”

“You’re actually planning to use me for your own benefit!

But considering the situation, it might be the only way…” Kanako sighed.

Xu Yang now couldn’t help but take Kojima Kanako seriously, her status was definitely not low, and she could very well be the key to breaking the game.

Even for a level 10 Special Protection Card, the holder would at least have a net worth of several hundred million and some control within a certain company’s territory, able to provide shelter.

Which means, there was a chance of escaping his fugitive plight if he managed to climb aboard the Kojima family.

Thinking this, Xu Yang felt a glimmer of hope, but then he saw Kanako’s expression, she looked so pitiful, as if she was about to cry.

“Just don’t let me see my family.” she said, “Okay?

They would definitely want to humiliate me.”

“It’s all up to you,” Xu Yang said, “I won’t bully you.”

“Really?” Kanako’s eyes widened.

“We are going now to a new safe house,” Xu Yang turned towards the hallway outside the gaming room, “Come with me.”

“Leaving here?” Farosa asked.

“Yes.”

“Before that…

could you come here for a moment?” Farosa said with a serious look.

“Don’t wander off.” Xu Yang glanced at Kanako, “If the gang members see the Special Protection Card, they’ll finely chop you up and trade it on the black market.”

“I know,” Kanako sighed, “I’ve always hidden it very well.”

Xu Yang stepped closer to Farosa, and she grabbed Xu Yang’s hand.

“The power of a witch must be retrieved through the prayers to the gods.” Farosa said.

“But I also told you about the witch wars, all the churches have been destroyed.”

“There is one here.”

“Here?” Xu Yang felt it incredulous, “This is a place for bathing in hot springs.”

“I’ll take you there.” Farosa’s tone was firm.

She led Xu Yang quickly through the hallway.

Down a winding path, Xu Yang came to an elegantly designed courtyard, where holographic cranes perched on artificial rocks, and beneath them, a water pool gently flowed, spanning with lotuses and lily pads.

Crossing a stone walkway on one side of the courtyard, Xu Yang saw a vermilion wooden gate that sealed off a small shrine ahead, a similarly blood-red katana hung on the door, seemingly to ward off evil, or to suppress whatever was enshrined within the shrine.

“Doesn’t seem very safe.” Xu Yang said.

“The god I seek is right behind that door.” Farosa said hauntingly.

“The company seems to fear the existence of gods quite a bit.

It seems gods have some close connection to witches.”

“The traces of a god must remain in the world.”

“Right, there’s this massive corporation called ‘Divine Daylight’ that specializes in luxury goods and high-end fashion brands, but they’ve only retained that name because of historical issues.”

“In the past, the church, witches, nobles, and common folk constituted the world.

The witches, not fitting in with the nobility and feared by common folk, cooperated with the church.

I too, have served the church for many years; the god will not let me down.

And if ‘the company’ wants to completely destroy the power of the witches, they must thoroughly erase all traces of the gods.”

“Right, they’ve really put a lot of effort into that.”

“Such as?”

“The company spent decades engineering a professional task force to deal with supernatural powers, inventing Anti-Witch Armor, demolishing all the churches, hunting down all secret religious orders, and monitoring every witch’s birth…”

“Doesn’t matter, as long as I can contact the power of the gods, I will be able to recover quickly, even become stronger than before.

The god slumbers behind that door, I can feel it.”

“So sort of taking back your magic power.”

“Yes, my magic power… My magic power has been limited by those so-called Anti-Witch weapons, it’s quite drained.

But I can still grow, continue to grow, and when the two powers reach their limit, ‘Law of Recovery’ can revert the whole world to its primal state, ‘Law of Slaughter’ can kill all humans, animals, and witches in the world, everything reset to zero.

Oh, Xu Yang, that scene will be truly beautiful, the silence of the earth will be without precedent.”

“If I want to live, I shouldn’t let you do that.”

“I won’t harm you, we share a vow, remember?” Farosa smiled.

She wanted to create a world where only the two of us would survive, and it felt even more chilling.

Witches cannot reproduce, and if this came to pass, all of history up to now would be destroyed by Farosa.

However, although the power of the gods was within reach, it was clear that this was someone else’s territory, and I wasn’t likely to get past.

At the entrance of the courtyard, several members of the Machine Gang arrived, dressed in black uniforms, wearing sunglasses, and aiming their submachine guns at Xu Yang.

“You have entered a private area, guest.” The Machine Gang emitted an emotionless electronic voice, “Please leave immediately, countdown starting from ten.”

Xu Yang held his breath.

If he tried to make a break for it, and directly enter the shrine…