Millennium Witch.

Chapter 54 - Protest March
On the seventh night after the Ice Rain left, under the bright moonlight, Yvette silently hunted down the last mother hive she had left in Agathel.

She deliberately left this mother nest to make good use of its monster-gathering ability. Before leaving, she could come here and hit it every now and then, forcing it to gather all the aberrations in the surrounding area. This way, she wouldn't have to do it herself to clear out the remaining aberrations in Agash.

Yes, clearing out all the aberrations in Agashe was her parting gift to the Puppet Town before she left.

As for whether it will cause secondary fright to the townspeople and add an even scarier ghost story...

That's not important anymore.

Anyway, she's already gone.

And so, in the thick of night, she transformed into a bizarre being with endlessly extending silver hair, completing a bloody cleansing of the entire center of Agasher. Only when the ground beneath her feet was a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, and no more new mutants dared to approach, did she use her tentacle-like silver hair to pierce and drain the last bit of flesh from the mother nest, tossing its shriveled shell to the roadside.

It really does resemble an evil god... She slightly raised the corners of her mouth, then entered a high-rise building and found the dream mist she had discovered there before.

She was already experienced with the passage of time in reality within the dream's fog; six months in a dream amounted to only a few minutes in reality, a very short time.

However, unlike in the past, this time the dream fog is much smaller, only half the size of the original. I wonder if the dream will also shrink by half and become three months.

If that's the case, then we must hurry... Thinking this, she immediately went inside, and didn't forget to use her not-so-skilled earth elemental magic to block up the nearby stairwell entrances.

……

A moment later, a cold metallic touch came from beneath her, and Yvette opened her eyes abruptly, finding herself leaning against a metal bench.

Above her was a vast, transparent glass dome, filtering the intense sunlight and casting its warmth evenly. The surrounding air was no longer salty and fishy; instead, it was filled with the aroma of roasted coffee and the fresh scent of some synthetic fragrance. Large expanses of lush green grass were within reach, and some elderly people were strolling along a smooth, mirror-like composite material path not far away.

It looks like a park, and considering the surrounding skyscrapers, holographic advertisements, and fish-like floating cars, this should be Agassi's Central Park...

Having quickly determined her location, Yvette activated her magic ring and checked the current time period.

2129...that is, four years after the original owner participated in the Metamorphosis Project?! And just one year ago, a special event occurred at the Abyss Base: the Firefly Core awakened its self-awareness!
She almost subconsciously started looking up various news articles about Ish Island, but apart from gang shootouts, which happened every day, she didn't see anything unusual.

This makes sense; the Abyss Base is of paramount importance, and Black Tower Pharmaceuticals wouldn't allow such important information to be reported...

Immediately after leaving Central Park, Yvette headed towards the outer ring road. As an undocumented person with no money or legal status, her means of making money would inevitably have to be through gray areas, and remote slums were the most suitable place for her to showcase her skills.

But as she walked, a clamor of voices caught her attention. She walked through an alley and found a huge march, with angry people holding signs that read "John the Liar" and "Corporate Dogs Out," heading towards the city center.

It turns out it was a protest...

The "John" being protested against by the marchers is John Tito Lokivid, the new president of the United States of New Eden. He is a middle-aged white man with a bald head, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and has a refined appearance, but his physique is surprisingly muscular, clearly indicating that he has used many rune-infused potions.

However, Yvette didn't know much about this President John. After all, when she last appeared in his dream, the new presidential election hadn't even started yet. Now, judging by the time, the new president should have only been in office for about a year.

In just one year, he's already sparked public protests and demonstrations. This president is quite something, isn't he? What a sight to behold...

She thought of certain figures on Earth and joined in the fun.

"Young lady, are you here to protest too?" Perhaps because we were standing too close, a woman with an agitated expression suddenly walked over, holding up a protest sign as she asked.

"No... I was just passing by, Auntie."

"Little girl, come on over! The cause of justice needs everyone's strength! Getting that piece of dog shit off the presidential throne is related to the rights of every one of us!" The woman enthusiastically tried to shove the sign into her hand.

Unfortunately, I am not a law-abiding citizen... Yvette glanced at the huge parade and found that there were very few young people, and even fewer minors aged fifteen or sixteen.

She suddenly understood the woman's thinking; a striking young girl like herself would attract attention in the procession, which would increase their exposure during the parade. "If you could lend me some money, I could agree," Yvette said.

The aunt was stunned. She hadn't expected such a beautiful and refined young girl to utter such vulgar and worldly words. It was as if she was defiling their righteous and glorious cause. She instinctively wanted to leave.

But after hesitating for a moment, he turned back and asked, "How much...do you need to borrow?"

"600 points. Also, Auntie, could you please transfer them to me in digital currency?"

"……it is good."

The aunt was speechless. She probably guessed that this pretty young girl was actually unregistered, otherwise why would she specifically emphasize wanting digital currency? But 600 points was still a drop in the ocean for an elderly woman like her with considerable savings, so she didn't refuse.

And so Yvette took the sign that read "Shit John" from her aunt, walked to the front of the parade, and earned her first pot of gold after entering the dream world.

……

That evening, after the parade ended, Yvette used the digital currency she had earned to hail a taxi and head to the Bayard district.

That was the slums of Agasher, similar to the Blackwater district of Ish City. For her, who was both an undocumented immigrant and a rune hacker, it was like a fish in water.

The taxi glided through the neon lights, the scenery outside the window flashing by. The president's face darted across the giant holographic billboards of the skyscrapers. With nothing else to do, driven by curiosity, Yvette looked up information about the president.

According to online information, the current president, John Tito Lokived, was a doctor who later abandoned medicine for politics, rising from a civil servant to mayor and becoming the leader of the Conservative Party, one of the two major parties in the United States of New Eden. He has a very positive public image and excellent reputation.

He participated in the presidential election last year, and with impassioned slogans such as "fighting against super-capital," "strictly controlling the boundaries of AI," and "saving the people with affordable healthcare," he narrowly defeated his rivals and became the new president of the country.

However, from the moment he gained power, his public image suddenly reversed. The heavy blows he once wielded against large companies instantly turned into gentle comforts, and he even introduced a series of tailor-made laws for Black Tower Pharmaceuticals and Lintui Biotechnology.

By then, it was too late for voters to realize the truth, and they could only condemn him as a fraudster of the century. Following this, the opposition's investigation uncovered a series of allegations of "embezzlement and bribery" and "misuse of funds." After only one year in power, he was beset by troubles, constantly facing impeachment or on his way to one, and his midterm election defeat was already a foregone conclusion.

A dozen minutes later, after reading through all the related reports about President John, Yvette felt utterly bored—politicians make a bunch of promises before taking office, and then change their tune in the blink of an eye once they're in power. What a recurring historical pattern, there's nothing new about it.

But it doesn't really matter. The president of the United States of New Eden changes every four years. By the time the apocalypse comes at least 20 years from now, the presidency will have changed hands countless times, so it's not worth paying attention to at all.

……

Half an hour later, the taxi stopped on a dark street in the Bayard district.

In stark contrast to Central Park, the air here is thick with the smells of cheap synthetic food, engine oil, sweat, and some other pungent odor. Rusty buildings with tangled pipes block out most of the daylight, with only flickering neon signs providing illumination, painting the streets in eerie patches of red, blue, green, and purple.

Yvette opened the car door and quietly surveyed her surroundings.

According to the intelligence she gathered, Black Street is the largest gathering place for mercenaries in the entire Agasher region, and most of the major shady transactions take place in this area.

Unlike before, this time, in addition to entrusting others to help her sell some restricted-level spells, she also plans to do some mercenary missions to earn more money.

This time, she wasn't just looking to buy a professional book for 50. After learning that the Sanctuary headquarters belonged to the "Blessed Ones" magical mech unit of the God of Machines, she felt a huge threat and decided to upgrade her equipment, such as replacing her civilian-grade magical ring and purchasing more military-grade equipment.

She even plans to take the opportunity to study at a professional school to learn some cutting-edge knowledge related to the legendary "space runes," which may be used in the future to study the aurora belt and the abyss.

All these expenses add up to at least 200 million credits, and this dream event might only last for three months.

Under such dual pressure, he naturally couldn't sit and wait for others to sell his spell packs. He had no choice but to take the initiative and, as a lone mercenary, accept high-yield commissions.

(End of this chapter)