Cyber Era Witch-Chapter 35 - 23 Birds Flying

35: Chapter 23 Birds Flying

35 -23 Birds Flying

“`

“You’re acting strangely,” Farosa inspected Xu Yang with a scrutinizing gaze.

“I don’t like you this way.”

Xu Yang was at a loss for words, for him, it was truly a time of great suffering.

On one hand, the incompletely repaired implant in his body was showing signs of instability; on the other hand, the commands instilled in him by the company’s education were resurfacing, compelling him to act with prudence.

“The implant’s malfunction,” Xu Yang cut to the chase.

“Then seek his help,” Farosa suggested, pointing to an image on the screen.

“‘Giant Tower’ project,” Xu Yang said.

“Kanako, do you…

know about it?”

“I don’t know,” Kanako replied.

“It seems it was part of next semester’s curriculum, but I ran away from home before attending.”

“In my understanding, it is something maniacal, absolutely untouchable; something that must be kept at a distance at all costs.”

“How can such a thing exist?” Kanako didn’t understand.

“It’s a ‘taboo,'” Farosa understood such matters well.

“There are certain people who shouldn’t be touched, certain information that must be sealed away.

Once it spreads, it can lead to unpredictable consequences.”

“Right,” Xu Yang agreed with Farosa’s insight.

“How come you’re so familiar with it?”

“I used to be one of those people,” Farosa laughed.

“Orders were issued everywhere to forbid the spread of news regarding the name ‘Farosa de Aquilia,’ to erase any trace of my existence from the ground, but I’m still very much alive.

The more people oppose it, the more it proves it cannot be killed.

It simply takes on new names and continues to exist.”

“That’s awesome, have you ever been in the newspapers?

Do encyclopedias have an entry about you?” Kanako was very curious.

“You often talk about your past, your era, how long ago was that?

You look really young.”

“Actually, I am younger than you are.” Farosa stroked Kanako’s head although she was taller and much curvier than Kanako.

“Then how did you end up being chased by so many people?”

“People always envy those who are better than they are.”

“Back when I was studying,” Xu Yang said,” the school would force us to repeat the ‘standards’ day and night, which included never touching the ‘Giant Tower’ project.

I had no idea about it, never even heard of its existence; not even the deep anonymous networks talked about it.

Any search engine would fail to find any useful information about it, except for some obvious fake news meant to hide the truth surrounding it.

It must have changed its name many times, and each name has been blocked.”

“The guy in the video seems to know a lot about this ‘Giant Tower’ project.” Kanako continued to watch the video, where the middle-aged man was still screaming at the top of his lungs, spouting nonsense as if he wanted to tear down corporatism with his words, clearly desperate to have more people hear him and keep the message spreading.

Xu Yang felt a headache coming on.

“This guy…” Xu Yang took a deep breath to ease his pain, “this guy must be an anti-corporate maniac.

Just look at him, completely insane, backed into a corner, who would listen to his ranting and raving.”

“Truth is priceless,” Farosa, however, was very interested.

“Don’t you want to know what the company is covering up?

If people in the past had the courage to break through the Council’s blockade, they would eventually find me, receive the power and wisdom I have to offer, and accomplish many great things with me.

Sadly, no one dared.”

Farosa’s name clearly suggested she was from the West, yet we dug her out from beneath the Eastern earth.

Farosa must have wandered here after many turnabouts and the details were impossible to generalize.

“You’re right,” Xu Yang sighed deeply.

“Since escaping from the company, every moment has been a revelation; the company and the outside world are two different realms entirely.”

“From what you’ve said, I think I understand.

Inside and outside the company, one is as stable as a honeycomb, the other as changeable as the sky,” Farosa said.

“So, do you choose the perspective of the worker bees, or the birds?”

“I…”

Before Xu Yang could decide, Farosa and Kanako had already started to prepare to leave, packing things and planning the route on their phones.

They spoke hastily, as if they couldn’t wait to be at the clinic’s door.

Their actions only added to Xu Yang’s already extreme anxiety, making him feel even more uneasy.

He would never willingly contact the maniac in that clinic unless it was absolutely necessary.

“It’s dangerous,” Xu Yang said.

“A doctor can’t heal himself; maybe his condition is worse than mine.”

“I can’t just watch you die.

That clinic is crucial for you, right?” Farosa said.

Pain and discipline, which is more terrifying?

Symptoms and the Corporate Alliance, which comes first?

It goes without saying.

“I’ve got your back,” Farosa said.

“And if you delay any further, they’ll be feeding you to the rats.”

“Staying here won’t heal it on its own!” Kanako shouted.

“If it’s an implant malfunction, the sooner it’s treated, the better!”

It felt to Xu Yang as if a heating element had been implanted in his brain, continuously getting hotter.

This world has more maniacs than sane people; I’m left with no choice but to take the road less traveled.

Besides, the pain is killing me.

I need a fully functional Digital Mind to restore all my technological capabilities, and then I can fight against the dangers of the future.

The teachings of my childhood were torn apart.

“Let’s go.” Xu Yang clenched his teeth.

“If this is the only shop open, we’ll rescue the person inside and get clear answers.

Where is this place located?”

“Out of the square, on the left, at the end of the street,” Kanako said.

“I’m going with you!

It looks like a lot of the corpses outside have been cleared away.”

“You don’t know how to fight.”

“Give me a stick, and I can take on the Ratman.

I’m a master at fighting games,” she boasted.

Xu Yang found a metal pipe for Kanako among the shattered shelves of the megastore.

This time she didn’t carry the huge backpack, just followed Xu Yang lightly, something that particularly impressed him.

“I can’t be a burden this time,” Kanako said confidently.

“You never were,” Xu Yang replied.

Xu Yang, Farosa, and Kanako set off, determined to head to the Prosthetics Clinic to rescue the creator of the video.

Elsewhere, at Suzuki Springs.

“We still have time to launch a surprise attack on Toshiaki Megastore and bag all three of them in one swoop,” a lieutenant kneeling before Suzuki Shinji said, his arms fully metallic, his expression indifferent.

“Asa Katsuragi, oh Asa Katsuragi!

Again, it’s the same thing!

Time after time, you fail to act with intelligence!” Suzuki Shinji gazed at Asa Katsuragi, who knelt motionlessly on the other side, with fury in his eyes.

“Yes.”

“You just let them run wild!

Let them take over the megastore!” Suzuki Shinji snatched a teacup from the low table and smashed it on Asa Katsuragi’s head.

She kept her gaze fixed on the ground, blood dripping from the wound on her forehead as the teacup broke upon it.

This scene left the surrounding gang members stunned.

In their memory, this was the first time Asa Katsuragi had bled.

She was known for her bravery, cunning, and agility, dodging countless murderous intents.

Suzuki Shinji, with a ferocious look, was dressed in a loose black robe, sitting cross-legged on a cushion, and extremely angry at his capable lieutenant.

“Report, squad leader!” Asa Katsuragi spoke up strongly, “Without their help, our operation could never have succeeded!

According to Suzuki Group’s usual strategy, we must not turn on our partners but form alliances and profit together.”

“Moriyama, what do you think?” Suzuki Shinji squinted at another lieutenant beside him.

Asa Katsuragi also looked at him; his name was Moriyama Masano.

Both his arms had been chopped off personally by Ichiro Toshiaki, and after being tortured, he returned to the Suzuki Group, outfitting himself with modifications.

His nature was cold, vengeful for any slights.

“Katsuragi had no right to overstep your directives,” Moriyama Masano angrily accused, “Making private deals is a plot to commit insubordination and rebellion!”

Aiming for my demise, eh?

Damn Moriyama!

Rage boiled within Asa Katsuragi, but her face remained impassive, as she continued to apologize to Suzuki without a hint of disorder.

“My order was to kill or drive them away,” Suzuki Shinji gritted his teeth, “but you did neither.

You should have died in battle and been carried back here.

Instead, you have the nerve to kneel before me shamelessly!”

“Not only that, I witnessed with my own eyes,” Moriyama Masano shouted, “They had their eyes on your family’s treasured sword and the Suzuki Family Shrine!”

The Shrine!

A shiver ran through Suzuki Shinji’s body.

The Shrine had been held in high regard and passed down through generations of the Suzuki Family for a thousand years.

The door was adorned with a treasured sword used by ancestors to slay countless coveters, the blade hung as a warning to prevent anyone from trespassing and unleash the evil spirits suppressed by the Shrine.

That evil spirit…

was no legend, nor an illusion, but a real entity of terror.

According to Suzuki Family lore, when the evil spirit appeared, the ocean stirred, bringing tidal waves that would flood the Archipelago Continent; then the spirit would start there, gradually devouring the entire world.

In the past, extremely dangerous witches served the evil spirit, venting its malice.

That’s why the Suzuki Family ancestors deliberately confined the evil spirit within the sacred Shrine, to imprison it.

Suzuki Shinji’s father, because of debts, had his property seized by Enomoto Bank.

Even so, he moved the Shrine from aboveground to underground before the company’s personnel arrived, to prevent the ancestral relic from becoming corporate property.

Suzuki Shinji had sworn to his dying, blood-spewing father to protect the Shrine with his life.

Yet, the Shrine was eyed by outsiders!

This was unacceptable to him.

“This is outrageous!” Suzuki Shinji pounded the table fiercely, “They have no idea how dangerous it would be to release the ‘thing’ from the Shrine!”

“They’re making a mockery of the family mission of the leader.

While they’re still struggling to stand, we could send out motorcyclists to crush them or snipers to shoot them dead, and leave their corpses to the rats outside,” Moriyama Masano exclaimed loudly.

“…Before that, please look at this.” Asa Katsuragi sent information obtained from Xu Yang to Suzuki Shinji, “This is information they secured about the Toshiaki Family Group and ‘The Big Shot’.”

“Hmm…” As Suzuki Shinji looked at the new information in his hands, he fell into deep thought.

Asa Katsuragi knelt on the ground, sighing deeply.

As the more Suzuki Shinji read, the more intrigued he became, he decided to end the meeting early.

“Leave me be,” said Suzuki Shinji as he prepared to make a call, connecting to the entities mentioned in the documents.

The Toshiaki Family Group had been destroyed, and Katagi District should naturally fall into Suzuki Group’s hands.

Asa Katsuragi strode outside swiftly.

She pulled out her phone and composed a message, sending it to Kanako.

——”Xu, Kanako, you lot must leave as fast as you can, the farther the better, the sooner the better.”

To remain here would only incite the leader’s fury further; but in the outside world, they were bound to find vast new horizons.

Leaving Katagi District…

Of course, this would be natural for them; the place wasn’t worth their concern.

Each of the three seemed out of place in the underworld.

And for me…

Touching the blood on her forehead, Asa Katsuragi considered leaving Suzuki Springs for the first time.

To the Ground?

She’d heard that the buildings above were immensely tall, with Ferris wheels and roller coasters.

Hearing approaching footsteps, she turned to see Nakano Osamu walking toward her, beaming with life.

“Sister Asa, we’re about to strike it rich!

We’ll have more money than we can spend!” he said.

“How so?”

“Take a look at who this is.” Nakano Osamu turned on his phone, showing her the wanted list from the Corporate Alliance.