Cyber Era Witch-Chapter 81 - 64 Anonymous

No matter what the Rat Tide is like outside, this shop stands as solid as a fortress, with its network and electricity supplied independently, not relying on the city’s inferior system.

High above, a widescreen TV is broadcasting the interview program "Horizons of the Rich," dedicated to interviewing famous corporate magnates. Today, the Iris Group’s chairman, Joe Cardo, has been invited to share his views on the future.

"...To be honest, I still can’t quite agree with Accelerator’s view." Joe is a blond, handsome, and cheerful-looking man, dressed in a proper suit, wearing a "Minister of Time" watch on his wrist. Xu Yang had seen a division director wearing an entry-level Minister of Time watch; that was already worth 4 million.

"That’s strange." A four-screen robot across the table leaned forward, with each screen displaying an animated head, commemorating the four hosts who had died from overwork on this program. Since then, it had taken their place, long overdue for replacement, "There have always been voices of dissent in the deep anonymous networks, longing to shatter the corporatist system."

"Corporatism can be reformed," Joe said cheerfully, "especially in Taixi Continent. We provide our employees with high wages, health insurance, spacious housing, pension services, and childcare benefits. Everyone at Iris Group treats it like their own family. High salaries and benefits have always been a tradition of Old Taixi Continent, and that will not change. In comparison, I think what they oppose should be the likes of Kyoto Infinite, which produce inferior entertainment products to numb people’s minds, Peacock-Tristan Group that still employs a sixteen-hour work system, and the domineering Black Fire Innovation."

"Not so, the Accelerators actually like these three mega-corporations," the four-screen head said. "They hope these giants will continue to oppress, oppress until everyone and the Witches can’t take it anymore, then respond en masse, instigating a global war with nuclear weapons flying everywhere. After the great destruction, they want to establish a new order."

"A-ha," said Joe, speaking with ease. "You have to understand that corporatism also doesn’t stand still. Taixi Continent has applied advanced corporatism, which is our current pursuit after becoming sufficiently wealthy and industrially advanced: taking care of the people of the company, the residents outside the company, and the Witches. Without a doubt, advanced and humane corporatism is the direction for the future development of the world. Any attempt to cause conflict and chaos, we people of Taixi Continent will not stand idly by. Honestly, no other concept comes close to advanced corporatism, the standard of living speaks for itself."

In Xu Yang’s view, advanced corporatism is just another major player in the global slacker convention, not worth a sneer, just a variation of corporatism, unable to replace it.

The most obvious point is that the so-called Old Taixi Continent’s entire population adds up to 300 million, while there are still 9.7 billion people living in varying degrees of suffering across the globe. What about them? Due to different industrial structures, the Taixi model couldn’t be replicated in other mega-corporations’ territories; essentially, the rich enjoy while blaming those behind for not following their example.

"Iris Group, Joe Cardo..." Farosa stared intently at the screen.

"The companies in Taixi Continent are direct successors of the ancient kingdoms of Old Taixi Continent; many of them are just ancient kingdoms with a corporate veneer," Xu Yang explained, "dealing in luxury goods, bags, art, etc., with high added value and profits. Their industry and technology are not bad either."

"Is that my home?" Farosa said, running her fingers through her hair, "...the people in the Church in Taixi Continent’s Aquilia District gave me this name."

The Iris Group controlled Outer Gaul, Inner Gaul, Aquilia, and the Seine River Bank regions. It was indeed the current ruler of Farosa’s homeland. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

"Your homeland has already been taken by the corporatists," Xu Yang said.

"That doesn’t matter," Farosa watched Joe Cardo on the screen with a vivacious smile, "but this name... perhaps I knew their ancestors, the Cardo Royal Family."

"Has it been a thousand years? It might not be the same Cardo," Xu Yang couldn’t help but want to look up the information, but unfortunately, he had no phone.

Farosa rested her cheek in one hand, waiting for the waiting staff to leave before whispering.

"It would be great if it were the same; the Cardo family was an ancient royal family who owes me a big favor. If you say the Iris Group is an incarnation of an ancient dynasty, then they likely share the same blood." She frowned, "They once assured me they would repay me in any way possible. Thanks to them, I was able to get away from the Witch Council."

"But so many years have passed," Xu Yang felt it was all so ephemeral.

After the waitstaff returned, Xu Yang pretended that his phone was damaged during the escape and asked if he could get a few new ones. Rosya had purchased the VIP service for them, but he didn’t know if it would be effective under such severe circumstances.

"Of course, we can." The waitstaff said with a smile, "We’ll send our own delivery drones to fetch the items from the nearest self-service shop. They are bulletproof and have self-defense capabilities."

"Greatly appreciated then."

"Your needs are my concern." The waitstaff took out a cash card, and Xu Yang transferred 12,000 to it. He ordered two Bloodshadow 10pros, a brand under Crimson Transformation’s umbrella. Being the only mega-corporation led by a Witch, they stood out awkwardly within the Corporate Alliance, offering higher privacy protection for their users than other conglomerates.

After the employee left, Farosa grew curious.

"What’s a smartphone?"

"The most important thing in this world," Xu Yang said. "Most people can’t live without a smartphone. I threw mine away while fleeing the company to avoid being tracked. I haven’t bought a new one since, but now I feel it’s more convenient to have one."

"Can it play those short videos I saw earlier?"

"...It actually can." The idea that a Witch with the power to wreak havoc in the world could be controlled by short videos was quite bizarre.

When the smartphones were delivered, Xu Yang passed one to Farosa and opened the help guide for her. It had roughly 200 pages, covering all operational information about the phone.

Farosa read intently, and in about thirty minutes, her knowledge of smartphone operation far surpassed Xu Yang’s. She even took note of features Xu Yang had never cared about before.

The web surfing service didn’t require a company profile; direct payment sufficed for browsing. Xu Yang charged 10 years’ worth of service for both himself and Farosa, spending 30,000.

In the Tortilla Big Hat Shop, there was no need to worry about safety for a while, allowing them to consider their next strategy. Xu Yang used his new phone to check the outer world’s reports on Aizu City’s Underground City, finding almost zero discussion. The information about the Rat Tide was completely sealed.

"I want to drink coffee," Farosa looked up at the waitstaff and said, tired from reading text.

"Yes, what flavor would you like? We have these..." the employee showed her an array of choices on a handheld terminal screen.

Farosa looked completely baffled.

"She likes sweet." Xu Yang chose a quadruple sugar variety, thinking of feeding her to be even fuller—better to the touch.

"Mhm mhm." Farosa nodded happily.

"If your power is restored, you could solve more problems," Xu Yang said.

"Our situation is still very dangerous," Farosa said, looking outside.

Due to the specially made soundproof walls, the cacophony of the battle outside couldn’t be heard, but the surge of the Rat Tide was visible to the naked eye. Several employees in the Tortilla Big Hat Shop had already been taken down, and two mascot robots had been climbed up to their legs by Ratmen, ready to topple over at any moment.

"Where’s the Shuttle Machine?" Xu Yang looked outside, where Lila was charging herself in a corner of the restaurant, and he sent a message to her.

"The staff at the Big Hat are fixing it," Lila glanced over while replying to the message.

"They’re responsible for that too?"

"They will bring the bill over in a moment, Master, it’s around 150,000."

"As long as it’s fixed," money was the least of his concerns now.

Farosa picked up her phone, pondering the legends of the Cardo Royal Family. She had just begun searching for related information when she saw that there was an app for short videos preinstalled on her phone, and she started playing it again. She didn’t have earphones and began playing the sounds out loud. The volume was so high and the content so lowbrow that it invited stares.

Xu Yang had to remind her to be mindful of the public setting, and only then did she show some restraint. She was initially very bored, but after accidentally tapping on an advertisement for a mobile game, she became addicted to another new thing.

Deep down, Farosa knew she had more important things to do, but she still preferred to spend her time in the mobile game.

Knowledge was dry, but entertainment was interesting. The homebody lifestyle was inevitable.

The game she encountered was called "Fate/Witch Link," a story about a protagonist venturing to ancient lands for grand exploration, adventuring in various temporal and spatially chaotic locations accompanied by a little fairy mascot. The gameplay involved adventuring and drawing cards to gain new Witches, each of which required a variety of enhancement items to become stronger.

The few Witches you started with had very weak abilities, throwing little fireballs, healing, and bolstering shields, quite ordinary. Based on Farosa’s understanding of Witches, she felt she needed to draw at least four types of legendary Magic Power, to which she had a deep impression.

The first was the ability to create reality with words, the most powerful ability to manipulate reality and also the means used by Eve Anak, under the company’s orders, to end the Witch Era.

The second was time/space Magic Power, unreasonably powerful, and something that made Farosa wary. If the companies of this era controlled such Witches, it would be extremely dangerous.

The third was invisibility, a Magic Power that made its bearers disappear from everyone’s senses, unable to be perceived no matter what they did, exceedingly terrifying. Only Warlocks could counteract this with stargazing methods and prophecies, but their traditions were very rare.

The fourth was the "Power" of the Witches, manipulating a force similar to magnets, controlling the floating, twisting, and disassembling of objects. In Farosa’s time, such Witches were sought and controlled by the Council, and if their Powers went out of control, the whole world could be torn apart.

In the game, however, the strongest was a Witch who could summon a giant flaming sword demon, and Farosa really wanted to draw for that.

"Let me create the strongest Witch group in the game!" Farosa was ambitious, and she approached Xu Yang for money, recharging with two 648s.

A hundred draws later, no luck, uninstalled.

Meanwhile, Cui Junyou sobered up a lot from his drunkenness and came over to give money to Xu Yang.

"All these tortillas were paid for by you, weren’t they?" He planned to transfer some money to Xu Yang, not wanting to eat for free.

"It’s fine," Xu Yang said, "we are members of the same team."

"It’s my first time traveling with a team," Cui Junyou mused.

"This team is made up of homeless people," Xu Yang said, "I’m officially dead at the corporate level, I rented a house nearby, but there are too many rats, can’t get through. Farosa is from the countryside. Your clinic, Old Cui, fell in the Rat area. Lila was disassembled. Katsuragi was abandoned by the Suzuki Group’s people. Li Xiaomin and Rosya are even refugees from Underground City... We’ve all survived, at least luckier than those who died in the Rat Tide."

"Since we’re a team, we should have a name. Does this Shuttle Machine have a name?" Asa Katsuragi asked from the next table.

"No name, no paint job, completely black," Xu Yang said, "let’s call it Anonymous."

"Then we’re the crew of the Anonymous Shuttle Machine," Cui Junyou laughed, "like the cartoons I watched as a kid."

"And you’re the captain of our team," Katsuragi Asa said to Xu Yang.

"Honestly, I consider myself pretty unique, but I’ve never seen anyone like you," Cui Junyou kept sizing up Xu Yang.

"People like me tend to get guns pointed at them," Xu Yang shrugged, "so I need to keep developing, at least to the point where I can handle a gun."

"The ones that came earlier, they seemed to be from Black Fire Innovation," Cui Junyou said with wariness.

"They’ll come again," Xu Yang knew they wouldn’t let it go so easily, "we need to stir up a big fuss, make the whole world pay attention here, so that Black Fire Innovation won’t dare to mess around. They might be overbearing, but they’re also afraid of being attacked by multiple large corporations at the same time. If there’s too much external attention, they’ll have to back off, at least temporarily."

"Attract attention? Impossible. If you post it on the forums, it’ll be buried by other posts right away," Cui Junyou said.

"So we need to find a place where many people around the world are paying attention simultaneously," Xu Yang said, "tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of people watching together. Even if it’s just for an instant, it will draw a lot of attention and instantly put Aizu City in the hot searches."

"There’s no such place on the internet," Cui Junyou shook his head.

"There actually is," Xu Yang said.

"Where?"

"Suzukawa Kiyo’s live stream room."