Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

Rust-eaten walls, the sound of flowing water gushing incessantly, the light dim in the simple square house, lacking appliances.

A mother sat in front of her home, holding her child in her arms, her gaze occasionally drifting towards the distant large elevator passage, waiting for her family members attending the celebration to return.

This was deep underground in Jielou City, where the internet signal was weak, and many of the city's residents couldn't afford good personal terminals, with quite a few having never been officially registered in the Federation's records.

Although the surface was full of ruins, that still represented the glossy side of Jielou City, reminiscent of its former prosperity and grandeur, while the real depiction of most Jielou City residents lay here, in the underground residential area.

Lacking the various assistant AI machines common in Federation residents' homes, many tasks had to be done by hand, complex labor consuming a large part of their lives, yet such labor didn't bring satisfactory rewards; the bowls washed clean remained the same bowls, and spending hours each day sweeping and cooking didn't bring more happiness.

When one can't escape a task, even has to do it, no matter how interesting it might be, one would still grow tired of it over time.

The residents living underground spent a lot of time on chores and trifles; there were no convenient supermarkets, no constantly smooth logistics, and handicrafts were often a necessity. Although this resulted in some unique handicrafts, they couldn't be considered rare. Without any transcendent effects, items were easily replicated and mass-produced, so they couldn't fetch a high price within the Federation.

Stepping over the gray-black puddles on the ground, with coal slag particles at their edges, Hexia paused at the edge of the overpass, overlooking the world filled with gray rust below.

"What's wrong?" Feng Jianxue, walking ahead, turned back and looked at the girl who had suddenly stopped.

For ease of movement, they had now put on the traditional attire of Jielou City; plain wide-sleeved clothes, not glamorous but dirt-resistant. If washed until whitish, they easily induced the illusion of returning to the harsh environments of ancient times.

"It's nothing," the girl shook her head and continued forward.

"Is this where my mother grew up?" She had imagined it would be an old-fashioned place, but it wasn't so in the underground residential area; the ground bore assorted remnants of standing water, coal slag, and stains, the air was stuffy, carrying a faint odd smell. Jielou City didn't have many AI Autonomous Units responsible for cleaning, not even sufficient water supply for living.

The houses weren't the wooden structures she had envisioned, but rather temporary iron-constructed houses with thin iron walls. The underground streets were not heavily trafficked, mostly with models phased out by the Federation for many years, those without floating flight capabilities.

Lacking adequate industrial goods to support, the so-called 'vintage charm' was like the wooden table full of oil stains and scrapes; it looked good from afar, but as one got closer, one wouldn't wish to rest a hand on it.

Life in the ancient times wasn't so pleasant, and the later-popular 'vintage style' is actually the bit of romance left after stripping away the cumbersome and complex parts.

Nevertheless, the remaining 'ancients' had to rely on selling this 'romantic illusion' to make a living.

The solemn and stately rituals of the past had now turned into celebratory performances designed to attract tourists, with exaggerated masks, colorful armors, and recompiled 'traditions' creating a deliberate sense of difference, providing tourists with a burst of novelty and surprise, willing to pay for this 'romantic illusion.' After the festival, all that's left is the mess for the local residents to clean up, then patiently waiting for the next holiday celebration to arrive.

It seemed as though they lived for these few days of the festival each year and just needed to maintain dignity for those days.

As she walked through the streets and alleys underground in Jielou City, Hexia's keen perception clearly picked up the sounds coming from the residential buildings around.

The whirring of fans, the cries of babies, the clatter of pots and pans, the arguments of couples, the panorama of human life was all here.

The underground dome here didn't even have enough light sources, leaving the streets dark all 24 hours a day and making them feel oppressive.

After walking briskly for half an hour, the two finally came to a closed gate guarded by several 'Godly Generals,' with laser cameras and temporarily deactivated machine gun barrels on either side.

The whole gate was set in a recessed concrete structure, impassable from one side and difficult to blast open from all sides.

"This is the first checkpoint and also the most troublesome," Feng Jianxue led Hexia to hide temporarily at a street corner not far away, watching the passage from a distance.

"If we want to get around it, we'd have to blast a hole from the layer above using force. Such a method has already been demonstrated by the people from Sun Burning City; although they got in, the ruckus was too big, and it led to exposure."

"If we don't want to get in through fighting and killing, we'll have to use some more moderate methods to sneak in." Feng Jianxue turned around, waving his fan and analyzing to Hexia.

"Generally speaking, who could pass freely?" Hexia pondered and then asked.

"Well, it should be the guards directly under Jielou City, the 'Godly Generals,' or the workers inside, but those people rarely move alone. However, if the two of us walk by, it will seem very strange." Feng Jianxue stroked his chin.

"Do you have a pass?" the girl asked.

"I haven't managed to get one yet," Feng Jianxue said, a bit embarrassed.

"I was going to, but there was an incident today. Since the people from Sun Burning City have acted, it would be a shame not to make good use of this gap."

"Really…"

Hexia shook her head, wondering if it was an unreliable choice to come here with Feng Jianxue.

If it were just her, whether flickering through the checkpoint or using her Talent Ability to create a passage through the unreinforced concrete on one side would not be difficult.

"Mr. Feng Jianxue is quite a disappointment," the girl voiced her thoughts.

Feng Jianxue's face couldn't hold back his frustration upon hearing the girl's words, and he clenched his teeth.

"Alright, no matter what, I've made a boast today." He took out an exquisitely crafted chip and inserted it into his personal terminal.

Soon, the silver personal terminal floated up and began to scan the surroundings.

[Scanning environment, analyzing…]

[Discovered 137 device interfaces, please select the infiltration target]

Feng Jianxue started to operate, his fingertips flying over the projected keyboard to input data, then adjusting and selecting targets.

[Loading into the enemy's database… 1%… 3%…]

"Lucky they're using old models and haven't updated their system. This should be manageable," Feng Jianxue wiped the sweat from his forehead. If this hacker chip wasn't effective, he would be out of ideas.

However, such chips, produced in the underground black market, were designed with a limited number of uses and duration; they would melt away automatically upon expiration. Not cheap—they probably cost him over a hundred thousand Federation Coins. Though Feng Jianxue wasn't the type to be short on money, it still hurt.

"There we go, let's grab a vehicle to disguise ourselves and say we are delivering things underground." A few minutes later, Feng Jianxue pulled out the chip, indicating that it was done.

"Mm." Hexia glanced at the distant passageway, where she could now hear faint sounds of explosions, seemingly from a battle taking place.

Taking a temporarily sourced car, Feng Jianxue, acting as the driver, steered towards the said passageway.

"We're here to deliver fruit." He found records of fruit trucks entering and exiting the database, and the timing also approximately matched up.

"What fruit?"

"Yellow Jade-fleshed watermelons from the Withered Tree Garden. Would you like to try some?"

"Forget it, just go in." Under normal circumstances, they might have taken some, but at this critical moment, with incessant combat comms coming through their radios, the remaining personnel weren't in the mood, nor did they want to be caught snacking by the big shot who would arrive soon.

The passageway slowly opened, and Hexia, who was crouched in the back of the van, gently stroked the big spider in front of her, feeding it chunks of watermelon.

"Finish this now, because we're about to fight soon."

Driving through the passageway, a vast downward slope stretched before them, a straight distance of approximately two kilometers, and as they descended, a hidden underground world slowly revealed itself.

The dome above was covered with thousands of dangling red banners, just discernible in the dim light. As the flags fluttered, the light casting down bathed the entire underground space in a crimson glow.

The underground was dotted with palatial pavilions and towers, and at the forefront of the main avenue sprawled a massive subterranean fortress, complete with towering vermilion towers and high walls. Currently, at the gates, two 'Godly Generals,' each ten meters tall, were engaged in battle with intruders.

Bursts of rocket grenades and machine gun bullets struck the armor of the 'Godly Generals,' sparking off harmlessly. These 'Godly Generals' were created during the heyday of Jielou City, fashioned entirely from Condensing Bead Rank Purple Chromium Alloy by compression forging. Despite centuries passing, they remained as sturdy as ever, impervious to ordinary attacks.

However, the attacking black-clad priests had anticipated such guardians at the gate. In their hands, the seething Black Flame Lightsabers, developed as a new product forty years earlier by the massive federation enterprise 'Magic Dragon's Eye,' had formidable Armor-Breaking abilities and could even cut through starships.

The only drawback, common to all flow-type lightsabers, was their immense power consumption; even Transcendent individuals of Sequence 5 could only wield them for 1-2 minutes before depleting their Magic Power.

A dozen or so priests held firearms and heat weapons to hold off the Autonomous Units rushing from all directions. They kept up their fire, and although there were casualties, they bought time for the ten inner circle members wielding Black Flame Lightsabers.

"When the sun is half-veiled and half-dark, there descends from the heavens a messenger with unfurled black wings. With eyes and mouth closed, one hand holds a Sword, the other grasps a book inscribed with the names of 147,721 sinners. When the sword swings, black flames shall ignite, burning sinners to death, and the world shall be purified."

The ten chanted the ancient prayer and a black pattern materialized among them. It depicted an Angel with wings, wearing tattered robes, bound by chains at the ankles and wrists, with a halo resembling an iron collar embedded with spikes atop its head.

The style of the pattern was painful and oppressive with deep sins. Indeed, this was the emblem of Sun Burning City, once the largest prison and penitential church in the Northern Star Zone, and their object of worship was the Angel of Pain, Mayridis.

Black wings woven from Magic Power emerged behind the ten priests as they leaped forward, rushing the 'Godly Generals' wielding the giant weapons.

Crossing paths and quickly clustering together, the Blaze Lightsaber scoured the Purple Chromium Alloy with hissing and bubbling noises. Amidst the sparkles, the metal's high-temperature liquid splattered, burning smoking scars on the priests' bodies, yet undeterred, they thrust their Blaze Lightsabers into the joints of the 'Godly Generals,' creating showers of sparks and noise.

These fanatical priests feared no pain; they were followers of the Angel, nourished by suffering.

At the fiercely contested gates, down the distant road, a lone car kept drawing closer, while the cautionary bell within Jielou City rang out. A beam of light rose from within the city, piercing the ground and breaking through the clouds like a beacon.

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