Cyber Era Witch-Chapter 40 - 28 Mouse Tracks

40: Chapter 28 Mouse Tracks

40 -28 Mouse Tracks

“She still has consciousness,” Xu Yang said.

“If this counts as being dead, then you’re a necrophiliac pervert,” Farosa shook her head, “If this counts as being alive, then you’re dabbling in necromancy.

Either way, you’d be burned at the stake in my place.”

Farosa’s tone had already revealed her thoughts: she was absolutely unwilling to share a room with such a thing.

“Her will to survive is as strong as ours,” Xu Yang tried to make Farosa understand the concept.

He had always respected those who cherished life.

“If the witches of this era are all like this, I really have no desire to communicate,” Farosa’s attitude became extremely cold; she turned her head away, preferring to stare at the chunks of rat corpses on the filthy streets than to say another word.

Cui Junyou glanced at Farosa, vaguely assessing that she was a witch with considerable strength, which made him unconsciously touch his neck and heart, and clench his teeth.

He treasured the time when he could still breathe, when his teeth were intact, and his heartbeat was strong.

In Cui Junyou’s view, witches were temperamental creatures whose frenzy could affect countless innocents.

Xu Yang, seeing Cui Junyou’s anxious appearance, thought he was reluctant to give up his prosthetics clinic.

“Old Cui, I have a lot of money.

I can sponsor you, and after we get to a safe place, you can open a new one.

We can’t stay here anymore, it’s infested with rat-people.”

“I have no problem with that,” Cui Junyou shook his head, “The implants I carry in my bag are worth more than all the junk left in the shop.”

Boastfully, he deliberately revealed a high-tech artificial eye from his bag, which had a packaging so exquisite that it wouldn’t seem cheap even as a gift.

“But you still have to guard against robbers and thieves.”

“That’s why we walk together.

Besides, my important technological achievements, my money, are stored on cash cards and memory disks that weigh just a few grams.

I bring them wherever I go, and it’s all the same.

That’s the benefit of modernity, unthinkable in the past when you had to carry a bunch of documents and sometimes prove your own identity.”

Even though he spoke lightly, Xu Yang could still feel Cui Junyou’s fear as he hastily concealed his goods, zipping up the bag while looking around.

Who could be calm under these circumstances?

The great blackout, monsters roaming, Xu Yang couldn’t help but look around.

One after another, rat-people scurried through the darkness.

“Be careful.” Xu Yang took out his submachine gun, advancing while staying vigilant of their movements.

Farosa, without magic power and sulking, never liked the witch’s head Xu Yang was cradling.

Kanako held a metal pipe with both hands, looking around nervously, afraid that rats would jump out from any angle.

Nidelaide quietly followed at the back of the group, seemingly not good at fighting, with his hands hidden in his sleeves, lost in thought.

This was the most vulnerable moment for our group; should we encounter a horde of rats, it would be a brutal situation.

Although…

The rat-people didn’t seem intent on attacking us.

They were numerous but only scurried around us quickly.

Xu Yang didn’t want to waste bullets to scatter them or attract more rat-people.

The fact that the rat-people didn’t attack rashly made them all the more frightening.

Xu Yang was anxious.

At least a thousand rat-people were running around this street alone, but they showed no hostility toward us; they were hurrying toward the deeper parts of Katagi District in a single breath.

Observing the movement of the rat-people around, Xu Yang noticed a pattern to their march, much like an army.

Strong, black-furred giant rat-people marched at the forefront, as well-built as humans who worked out, carrying various firearms, probably looted from gun stores, all brand new.

Fat rat-people mothers carrying numerous rat-people children were at the center, protected by their kin.

The weaker, grey-furred rat-people carried crude weaponry and homemade firearms, positioned at the very outer edges of the entire group, seemingly tasked with attracting gunfire and serving as cannon fodder.

The rat-people didn’t give Xu Yang and his companions a glance, and even if they noticed them, they made no extra movement.

They just calmly hurried on their way, communicating with each other through short, sharp squeaks.

Xu Yang observed them; the rat-people’s formation was orderly, always grouping 3 to 5 families to form one unit, making about 40 individuals in such a unit.

Larger units were clans composed of at least 10 groups of rat-people, meaning that each clan had over 400 individuals, a massive scale.

Judging by their movement, there must be at least 3 clans nearby.

By this estimation, the total number of rat-people in Aizu City might not be less than that of humans.

They moved in orderly rows, passing through the darkness of the underground roads and emerged from hidden cracks, vents, and pipes, all moving in the same direction.

Now Xu Yang knew what they were up to.

Soft echoes of great roars came from afar, urging them to move faster, recalling the roar Xu Yang had heard when he rescued Kanako before.

It was a command.

The rat-people were being mobilized.

“The rat-people are assembling an army,” Xu Yang murmured, “They’re being gathered by some command and moving very fast.”

Hearing this information, Xu Yang could feel the atmosphere in the group become much heavier, their footsteps even more ponderous.

“If these rat-people really intend to take over the entire Underground City,” Cui Junyou said, “simply causing a blackout wouldn’t be enough.

They must defeat the security forces stationed here by the big companies.”

Cui Junyou kept looking up, glancing around, very alert of the black diamond-shaped cameras hanging high, only Xu Yang knew that they weren’t working due to the power outage.

“How much do you know about the rat-people in Aizu City?” Xu Yang asked.

“There are many rat-people,” Cui Junyou said, showing a look of extreme disgust, “Saihachi, I cited reports from third-party companies in the local forums, pointing out that there was a huge rat-people nest nearby with a total population reaching hundred thousand.

Many murders, disappearances, and kidnappings over the years were actually done by rat-people.

If the garbage deep underground isn’t enough for them, they would rush up and wipe out humans.

But no one believed me…

Now their eyes are open.”

“The rat-people caused the blackout?” Xu Yang frowned.

If that was true, it would be too ridiculous.

“I can’t believe it,” Cui Junyou said, “If the rat-people’s attack began with cutting off the energy supply, they would be overly intelligent.”

“With the technical abilities of rat-people, it would be impossible for them to destroy the energy supply of Aizu City’s Underground City.”

Xu Yang looked toward a distribution box on the metal wall beside him, its appearance refined, with tight seams, devoid of any way to open it from the outside—it was controlled remotely by the power company.

“Right, Aizu City’s power supply is mainly the responsibility of Arai Energy Company, and Arai Energy is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kyoto Infinity, ensuring technological prowess.

Ratmen couldn’t manage this sort of thing,” Cui Junyou pointed to the logo on the distribution box.

“Many people think Ratmen are just urban legends, or outdated rumors.”

“Until the Ratmen break down their doors, lift their blankets, and pierce through their skulls, will they stop mocking and cursing under my posts!

Netizens think they know it all!

Now let’s see who’s still sending me private messages with insults!”

To Farosa, Ratmen were still a novel species.

Her gaze wandered incessantly over the nearby Ratmen, as though she intended to record every detail of them.

If the security services of Aizu City collapsed and the Ratmen calamity spread, the major companies of Anjiu City would certainly not sit idly by, considering the proximity.

Moreover, Kyoto Infinity, the supreme ruler of the jurisdiction, would suffer a major blow; should the news spread, its stock price would plummet overnight.

Just based on this consideration, Kyoto Infinity would do everything in its power to suppress the news, and clean up the current Ratmen infestation.

They might even request assistance from the Mobile Riot Squad to quell the situation.

Right, Pan Ruiyi was a member of the Mobile Riot Squad.

If she were to arrive at the scene, I’d be finished.

She saw me with her own eyes on the day I escaped the company!

Once we encountered each other face to face, she wouldn’t hesitate to execute me.

For a swift resolution, the Ratmen wouldn’t just sit and wait for death.

Judging by how rapidly they were assembling, it was clear they planned to clash with the main security forces of Aizu City to the death, to exterminate the human forces once and for all.

Then they would turn back to hunt down and dominate the residents of Aizu City, seal the entrances and exits, and take over the entire Aizu City, establishing Ratman rule.

In the fierce battle between the companies and the Ratmen, could we…safely leave the Underground City and return to the Ground?

Anxiety wrapped around Xu Yang’s heart until he saw the bright lights of Toshiaki Robot Megastore, which slightly calmed him down.

At least for now, we still had a place to take refuge.

Currently, two things were of utmost importance.

One was to fix the brain processor.

Without the brain processor, the operation of Digital Mind was too slow for my liking.

However, considering Old Cui’s Prosthetic Clinic was not safe, I had to find another place with medical facilities for the surgery.

The second was to find an appropriate mechanical body for the head of the Witch in my hand and attach it to it.

Back at the Megastore, Xu Yang connected to the security cameras for a look around and saw many gang members moving robots, dragging all the significant ones back to Suzuki Springs.

However, this was part of the agreement, and there was no way to intervene.

“Suzuki Group people are here,” Kanako noticed them moving the robots, pulling out her phone to check, only to be shocked, “Wow, so many missed calls from Asa Katsuragi.”

“What’s Asa Katsuragi calling for?” Xu Yang was puzzled.

“Is there anything else?”

“She also sent a text message,” Kanako said, “telling us the sooner we leave, the better.

Too bad my phone is always on game mode, so it’s usually on silent.”

“That means she must have had a falling out with Boss Suzuki, and they’re after our lives.”

Given Asa Katsuragi’s way, it’s not that she lacked communication skills; she was just stubborn.

“What should we do?” Kanako kept tiptoeing, trying to see more.

“We need to leave quickly, but we’re safe within the premises of the Megastore, so don’t be afraid.”

Xu Yang still controlled all the defense mechanisms of the Megastore; he was not afraid of Suzuki Group’s people actually making a move.

“It turns out we’re cooperating with Suzuki Group’s people, defeating their arch-enemies,” Cui Junyou felt tense about Suzuki Group’s people, “Gangsters…”

“It’s fine,” Xu Yang reassured him, “we won’t stay here too long.

You can buy what you need from the vending machines here.

We’ll be leaving soon for Number 26 Highland.”

Ah, is there anything here that can quickly get us out of this place and also possess some self-defense capabilities?

“These vending machines are free,” Kanako took Cui Junyou to look for the vending machines they had seen before.

Farosa yawned, rubbing her eyes vigorously, following them, hoping to find some magical coffee to both refresh her mind and restore her Magic Power.

She wondered if there might be a method that could heavily stimulate her spirit, making every inch of her being feel intense, thereby greatly restoring her Magic Power.

Xu Yang walked into the Megastore, which had a total of five floors.

Except for the fifth floor, which was Ichiro Toshiaki’s command center, floors one through four were all for selling different types of robots.

Cradling the Witch’s head, Xu Yang walked past various large shelves.

The surrounding lights were bright.

The cleaning robots that had been activated in batches were still diligently cleaning the ground.

The humming of mechanical operations was everywhere.

Even after thorough noise reduction, the sheer number of them made noise unavoidable. frёewebηovel.cѳm

The advantage was that the surroundings were very clean, as if the previous massacre hadn’t happened.

Seeing him carrying a half-mechanical beautiful woman’s head, the Suzuki Group members around him who were moving goods started whispering and gossiping, but Xu Yang was always indifferent to others’ perspectives, feeling not the slightest ripple in his heart.

The priority still was to find her a suitable new body!

Though there were many robots, the Megastore was underground, primarily selling cheap stuff.

Xu Yang saw many ugly goods along the way.

Although the Witch couldn’t speak, she would surely not want to wake up in the body of an old sweeping robot.

Thinking about finding her a new robotic body, for some reason, Xu Yang envisioned that tall, cute maid robot imagery.

There must also be robots of this type for sale here in the Megastore…