September 20th, 6 a.m.
Outside the Apple Orchard Nutrient Paste Filling Factory, in order to fend off the Katsuragi Gang, Chainsaw Angel personally redesigned the factory’s defense system, installing four times the number of smart sniper guns, turrets, and laser trip networks. She sealed off every corner, fortifying it like an iron barrel, capable of obstructing any form of frontal assault.
In addition, the gang members undergo strict military training every day to strengthen the factory’s defense. The core and elite members of the gang are die-hard followers of Chainsaw Angel, with absolute faith in her martial prowess and bold spirit.
The factory itself produces a large quantity of nutrient paste daily, distributed to various locations on the Archipelago Continent. The Apple Orchard Company implemented new marketing strategies, designing new packaging for the nutrient paste, and raised prices, yet their wealth surged. Despite the backdrop of a food crisis, shipments did not decrease, a point that was very mysterious.
Chainsaw Angel Gang collaborated with them, ensuring the factory’s security. This factory itself became their largest stronghold. From this core, they still had absolute influence over the surrounding extensive areas, vigilantly preventing infiltration by the Katsuragi Gang, standing off against them from across the street.
After parking Anonymous, Mizuiro Yoshioka leaned against the wall in an alley, with the other four witches following close by.
"This operation has two key points," Mizuiro Yoshioka said, "First, we must train our ability to operate independently, to let our magic power develop and grow, not just in strength, but we must also become independent and resilient in mentality; second, the other side is holding hostages. If we make too much noise and cause the death of hostages, even if we annihilate the Chainsaw Angel Gang in the end, this operation will not be a success."
"Yes," the other witches understood.
"Blue Dragon Palace." Mizuiro Yoshioka picked up her phone, communicating with a nearby Katsuragi Gang member. The password was personally distributed by Asa Katsuragi and changed regularly, carrying various meanings.
"Pomegranate." The Katsuragi Gang member responded with the counter-sign, "The factory is still well-defended, and no route for infiltration has been found. There is a cargo shaft in Anjiu City that connects to the factory, but it’s only for goods; people can’t squeeze through it."
"So, both ends are loading and unloading warehouses?" Mizuiro Yoshioka asked.
"Right, the goods passage goes straight up and down. The upper end is connected to the distribution center of White Coast Logistics Company," the gang member explained, "The lower end is their finished product warehouse."
"Is the warehouse heavily staffed?" Mizuiro Yoshioka pondered.
"Not familiar," the gang member admitted sheepishly, "We can’t get in there. They’ve got their own hacker, a tough character, level 3 Neural Network Engineer or something of the sort, named Toshi Yumoto. If we fiddle around carelessly, it’s easy to draw attention."
"Hold on," Mizuiro Yoshioka muted the communication.
Pulling out a smart screen, she recalled the three-dimensional model of the nutrient paste filling factory. She pointed to the factory’s goods passage where the finished nutrient paste was loaded from the factory warehouse, transported to the logistics center above, then distributed to various parts of the Archipelago Continent.
"Network-wise, they’re protected by a hacker named Toshi Yumoto, whose information office is an important target for us. This warehouse is a weak point in their defense," Mizuiro Yoshioka said, "We can have 101 take us there by leaping directly into it."
"No," 101 vetoed, "It’s okay for rooms with low complexity, but the warehouse is clearly a crowded place. I can’t leap blindly into an area I’m unfamiliar with. Any protruding steel bar, disorderly placed shelf, or even a stack of goods could be the death of me."
"That being said, other areas are dangerous too. Honestly, we are not familiar with any structures inside, we only understand its shape. So, we must find another way." Mizuiro Yoshioka reopened the communication with Katsuragi Gang personnel, "Do they have regular staff coming and going?"
"Yes," the gang member recalled, "There is a vehicle that transports food ingredients, which enters the factory at 8 a.m. every day. It seems like the raw materials for their nutrient paste are scavenged from somewhere in Aizu City."
"8 a.m., so there are still two hours left. We need to intercept that vehicle," Mizuiro Yoshioka pointed out, "Please provide the license plate number and details of the vehicle, so I can lock in on its location as soon as it appears."
"Yes," the gang member searched for the information. They had been tailing for several days and had gathered some intelligence, which was then conveyed to Mizuiro Yoshioka.
Sigh... Mizuiro Yoshioka looked at the other witches.
Through the masks, their real faces were not visible, but one could feel that these unruly kids were doubting her authority at every moment.
She knew she was chosen as the leader mainly because she had a mercenary career and was older in age. Mizuiro Yoshioka was 22 years old, Du Qianqian was 16, Shallow Dream was 15, 101 and 102 were only 5.
Moreover, her character was also more normal and mature; in other words, moderate. She was neither extreme nor delusional and thus more suitable to lead.
During her past life as "Bax," she had received a certain level of hacker training. Of course, she wasn’t very good without the help of equipment, at most accessing the superficial subnets of various companies to gather information.
Luckily, Mizuiro Yoshioka grew up on the streets of Aizu City and could roughly guess where such a vehicle might appear.
The ingredients for the nutrient paste were likely collected by this vehicle roaming the streets and alleys. Since Number 26 Highland and Katagi District had already fallen under the control of Katsuragi Gang, the vehicle’s route could only revolve within a limited area of Hui City District.
Following this principle for the search, Mizuiro Yoshioka quickly locked onto a few key streets, bent her head to access the network module, and began searching and comparing with the information in the databases.
"How much longer must we wait?" Du Qianqian became bored with waiting and started to joke around.