The Ancient Witch made a promise to transform her into a witch, and as long as she survived, everything would fall into place.
Honma Noriko firmly believed this.
For a century, she resolutely drove corporate expansion. Everyone in the world had consumed products and services invested in by Xisheng Group, approximately 400 million people from birth until death had all their consumer goods supplied by Xisheng’s subsidiaries.
She was the greatest wealth legend in the world. Managers and technical experts eager for investment were obsequious to her, more devout than believers. She too had reveled in this experience until her veins grew thinner and wrinkles covered her skin.
Life and death were significant matters. As she inevitably aged, people’s thoughts shifted. Internally, Xisheng’s children schemed for power, while externally, managers of other enterprises harbored ulterior motives.
The siege on the Martinez had a profound impact on her, with three assassination attempts on that day alone, all thwarted by Yanagawa Fumihiko. But she knew this couldn’t last, even if her health slightly improved, allowing her to board a private jet at a moment’s notice for safety, her life was still in danger just by leaving the room she was in.
Honma Noriko was seated in her tea room. Her lips pressed tightly, her expression very serious, clearly contemplating matters of greater significance.
The entire tea room was filled with Zen. Ancient paintings depicting the stories of The Awakened hung on the white walls, the sterile courtyard was planted with purple bamboo, and miniature Bodhisattva statues were placed everywhere, said to aid in attaining eternal life. She hadn’t taken mysticism seriously in the first half of her life, but at this point, she was willing to try every possibility.
Deep inside, she was filled with fear. She needed to live, she must become a person of even longer lifespan.
Death begins to chase the moment one is born, setting traps at every stage of life.
The older one gets, the more powerless they are against this pursuit. When youth is about to fade, this chase relaxes even more. It calmly waits for people to slip into the abyss on their own.
Xisheng Shrine sustained some damage during the invasion but was quickly restored by concentrated efforts.
Wall glass, circuits, pipes, and facilities could all be restored, but Honma Noriko’s confidence was not so easily rebuilt. Black Fire Innovation wasn’t just engaging in pointless mockery or blind resistance; they genuinely had the capability to threaten her safety.
This made it necessary for her to prioritize two things above all else.
First was to mobilize all resources and find a way to put Black Fire Innovation down for good.
The second was to complete the mystical ceremony Kanako mentioned, to transform herself into a witch of longevity, youth, and beauty.
Honma Noriko opened the business plan that Kanako had sent. It was thick, written entirely according to the top templates, saturated with the efforts of countless people.
Of course, she had no time to read it. She quickly handed the 90,000-word plan to Yanagawa Fumihiko, asking him to thoroughly sift through it before presenting it to her.
Yanagawa Fumihiko was diligent in his duties. He had abandoned fighting in the Colosseum at the start of the crisis, returning to Honma Noriko’s side, fulfilling his role as her protector.
He carefully reviewed the draft, then, as if filtering sewage, he erased all the hollow rhetoric, charts, and boilerplate language, significantly redacting it on his Digital Mind platform, leaving only about 1000 words of mystical content, which were the only details that were useful.
Honma Noriko glanced sideways at those final essences that were left.
"Why weren’t there such beautiful words from the start?" Honma Noriko focused on the information.
Concise and detailed, the content described the Witch Transformation Ceremony, discussing the relationships between the constellations, Star Crystal Stones, Magic Power, and ordinary people, detailing how this ancient secret ritual could channel the great power from fallen stars into a human heart, thus creating a brand-new witch.
This could only be written by an extremely wise Ancient Witch who was knowledgeable of various secrets. In the past, Honma Noriko had seen similar records, fragmented and often later imitations, vague in details, not as exquisite and detailed as the current manuscript.
"It’s perfect," Honma Noriko exclaimed, "I truly wish to meet this Ancient Witch in person. How beautiful and wise she must be, so... perfect."
"The most essential parts," said Yanagawa Fumihiko, "also need to be presented in the most appropriate business format. That’s also part of Kanako’s affection, to avoid the fate of being overlooked."
"Yes, Kanako is also a good child," Honma Noriko’s voice grew weaker. She was completely moved by the beautiful prospects outlined in the manuscript.
She sighed deeply, saying nothing, but clenching her mouth, staring at the last thousand words of essence. They were no longer just ink on an LCD screen but a decree that could separate her from death, that terrifying Evil Beast.
What temptation could be hotter than this?
Honma Noriko had to find every way to survive. The world was constantly changing; today’s entrepreneurs were nowhere near as shrewd and capable as she had been when younger. Give her another 20 years of life, and she could take corporate idealism to a whole new level.
"Death will not ultimately bring me down," exhaled Honma Noriko, "I will personally press it to the ground and shackle it... We are to conquer even biological laws; that was the founding intent of the Corporate Alliance. We have slaughtered witches, and made the Mystics vanish without a trace, and now I’m taking big strides towards conquering death itself."
"Yes, Madam," agreed Yanagawa Fumihiko.
"So," continued Honma Noriko, "how is the task I entrusted to you progressing?"
Yanagawa Fumihiko nodded.
"It is done," he said.
Ever since the beginning, when Kanako brought the news, Honma Noriko had arranged for Yanagawa Fumihiko to track and investigate both Kanako’s situation and the Ancient Witch she mentioned.
Yanagawa Fumihiko observed Kanako’s comings and goings with cunning acuity. He saw everything, managing his tasks so skillfully that he went unnoticed.
"Shijin Mansion in Anjiu City," said Yanagawa Fumihiko. "The Ancient Witch is there."
"According to what she has written in the ritual," Honma Noriko explained, "all we need is her person; we can prepare all the other ritual implements ourselves."
"Yes," agreed Yanagawa Fumihiko, "so we just need to abduct her."
"But she is a witch, a particularly vicious witch," said Honma Noriko, "so we have to prepare and treat her as a competent Ancient Mystic, putting in a hundred times the effort to combat her."
"I will gather our strongest combat forces," Yanagawa Fumihiko bowed deeply to Honma Noriko, "Please rest assured, you will certainly attain eternal life."
"Indeed," nodded Honma Noriko slightly.
Yanagawa Fumihiko felt a hint of fear. From Honma Noriko he sensed an endless, ominous aura, more fearsome than a veteran of a hundred battles. She lacked rich personal emotions, all swept away by determination and willpower.
This was why Yanagawa Fumihiko loved her so much, the strongest, most beautiful woman he had ever seen...
As long as Honma Noriko survived, she could lead the increasingly fragmented Xisheng Group to crush the Blackfire rebellion in the Taiya Archipelago and reassert the dominant superiority of corporatism.
Accordingly, they summoned Kanako back from the Taixi Continent, asking her to continue her efforts to connect with the Ancient Witch and to finalize it within a week. They also gathered elite witches from home and abroad, hired powerful private armies, and invited Ancient Mystics to join in.
Everything was prepared, all for eternal life.
No matter what, Honma Noriko had to live, and anyone who contested this would be met with divine retribution.
Meanwhile, Xu Yang and Lila were multitasking between office work and their other tasks, as both could multi-thread their attention.
Of course, each experience felt different.
Lila was electric. This aspect was fantastic. She could heat up or cool down, increase the discharge, fit metal grinders, and each time there would be new discoveries. If Lila’s sensitivity was turned up, her unit’s water consumption would also increase greatly.
Moreover, Xu Yang and Lila could use a data cable to connect their neural interfaces, sharing the most profound emotions with one another. Within their digitized emotions, it was easy to see the deepest, most sincere rational core of the other.
That was why their synchronization was so high. It brought not only physical experiences but also helped rediscover the inner self for one another.
Lila loved Xu Yang unconditionally, but it wasn’t a hollow offering. She could find equivalent affection within Xu Yang’s psychological make-up. Xu Yang, too, often found himself unable to contain himself, completely melting in the warmth of Lila.
"Lila will always belong to Master," she snuggled into Xu Yang’s arms, eyes tightly shut, savoring the peace and goodness of the moment, "Lila will also work tirelessly for Master in the future."
This sense of happiness made time feel slower.
"You’ve got mail," Xu Yang suddenly noticed a new notification in Lila’s inbox, "from the Corporate Alliance."
"Corporate Alliance?" Lila checked the sender of the email, from the headquarters of the Corporate Alliance in New Taixi State Green City.