Millennium Witch

To prepare herself mentally, Yvette considered almost every possibility, so that whatever the outcome, it would be within her expectations.

Back then, that's how she posted predictions on Tieba. Whenever there was an e-sports competition, she would post predictions for all the possibilities, and after the results were announced, she would delete the incorrect ones. That's how she became a great prophet.

Hmm, those were the days... Yvette thought, then suddenly remembered something else.

While she was at the bottom of the Abyss Base, she saw the last words of "Aiselin Omega," the granddaughter of the Black Tower Medicines.

It claims that the "divine transformation" of the Abyss Base was not leaked, and the anomaly originated from the sea.

Can it now be identified as fraud?

Zero and One have both escaped, and there may be mutants lurking in the Rustbone human trafficking camp. How can you say there hasn't been a leak?

However, the information at the time confirmed that the apocalypse did not occur within 21 years after the original owner participated in the metamorphosis plan, so the actual time of the apocalypse may be later, perhaps several decades away from now.

There are indeed many variables during such a long period of time. Could it be that Zero and One were caught and taken back later?

……

A moment later, Yvette led the 13 rescued people to the entrance of the industrial park and called over the 18 people in the woods outside, and counted their numbers.

That's 310 million credits!

Yvette was very satisfied, and her gaze toward Donil and the others became increasingly friendly, as if she were looking at walking banknotes.

After searching, the survivors drove the transport vehicles out of the industrial park and headed straight for the border customs between Fusjiang and the United States of New Eden under the cover of night.

……

In the early hours of the morning, the United States Customs and Border Protection building, which should have been largely darkened, was suddenly brightly lit again due to the unexpected situation.

After waiting for a while in the tea room inside the building, Yvette saw a middle-aged man in a uniform walk in. He walked straight up to her, accompanied by several other people, and seemed to be of high status.

"Young lady, you must be Miss Ice Rain Theon, also known as... Nameless?" The middle-aged man looked her over with suspicion.

“Hmm.” Yvette stood up.

“Wow…it’s incredible, a hero emerges from among the young…” The middle-aged man exclaimed for a moment, then extended his hand and smiled, saying, “I am the chief here, ‘Charlieson Edwards.’ It’s a pleasure to meet you, our great hero!”

“Hello, Chief Charleson.” Yvette extended her hand and shook his. “Do I need to give a statement?”

"I'm here to take your statement," Chief Charleson said with a smile.

"Aren't you the bureau chief here?"

"What happened? Miss Wuming, you didn't just save one or two people, you saved 31 people in one go and destroyed two terrorist hideouts... This is too important, and I hope to find out how you did it right away."

Eve nodded. She hadn't expected that the director of the Customs and Border Protection would personally take her statement, and that the statement would be taken not in a small room, but directly in this tea room. The treatment was indeed very special.

Then, without any hesitation, she immediately explained the general situation.

However, the combat part was naturally simplified a lot, and it directly became "I launched an attack on the human traffickers, and the human traffickers not only did not surrender, but also dared to fight back. I used magic to kill them one by one."

Charleson was somewhat skeptical of this explanation, feeling that the girl's description was too pretentious.

However, he understood where the nameless lady's combat techniques came from and didn't ask further—mercenaries' strength was more or less involved in shady dealings, but that wasn't within the customs bureau's scope of business. The nameless lady said that those techniques were all her own original creations, so he took it as true.

The lengthy interrogation process lasted for more than three hours. Not only the Customs Service, but also the Department of Homeland Security, the higher-level agency, sent people at lightning speed to ask a lot of questions.

By the time Yvette finished taking her statement, dawn was breaking outside, and a pale white light could be seen on the horizon.

Back in the break room, looking at the yawning Chief Charleson and the Department of Homeland Security staff, Yvette asked, "Can I go now?"

"So eager to leave?" Charleson said. "You can stay here for a few days."

"Huh?" Yvette didn't understand why he was trying to persuade her to stay.

“Young lady, do you know how glorious your deeds are? Reporters will definitely flock here in the next couple of days. Don’t you want to wait a bit and share the details with them?” Charleson said with a smile.

Yvette shook her head: "Cromwell filmed a lot of material, that's enough, and the details are all in the transcripts, you can release them later."

"So low-key? No wonder you're called Miss Wuming. It's no wonder you disappeared after becoming famous last year. If it were anyone else, they would have started live streaming by now." Charleson showed an expression of admiration.

Even the ancient civilizations are into live-streaming e-commerce... Yvette clicked her tongue inwardly.

Because the Rusty Bone Free State unilaterally grants visa-free access to the United States of New Eden, Yvette didn't need to apply for a visa, but she didn't have a passport either. Fortunately, with Chief Charleson's help, she got her passport back in just a few hours.

Concerned that Zero and One might still be in Fusjiang, Yvette crossed the border again and headed towards Fusjiang, quickly disappearing into the dark wilderness.

……

The next morning, just before lunchtime, the victims, who had slept soundly all night, finally woke up and began to cooperate with the staff in taking statements—because there were too few staff members in the early hours of the morning, the statement taking had been delayed until now.

After taking a short break, Director Charleson went to his office and reviewed the materials with the others.

That's right, Cromwell's statement has only just begun, and the footage captured by the electronic eye has only just been extracted. Before all this, everyone's understanding of the situation was limited to the unnamed woman's account.

"My God, what is this? How did all those human traffickers die all of a sudden?"

"She was completely unharmed after being attacked by the Flame Cannon, is she really human?!"

"Could she be a humanoid magical mech?"

After seeing the video footage, the police officers, customs officials, and Homeland Security specialists were all shocked.

This is completely different from what I learned from the anonymous woman in the early hours of the morning!

Although the crucial scene of defeating the human trafficker leaders "Black Sword" and "Dead Eye" is missing, the intensity of the battle can still be felt through the ruins of the top floor that were completely demolished afterward.

This isn't about arresting human traffickers or gangsters; this is the war on terror!

At this moment, Chief Charleson, along with the adjutants and secretaries who were taking statements, finally understood the true value of the nameless woman's words: "The human traffickers not only did not surrender, but dared to fight back against me."

So she wasn't just showing off after all?

……

With the release of official information and Cromwell's firsthand on-site footage, the astonishing news spread like wildfire throughout the United States of New Eden the following evening, dominating headlines within just a few days.

Unlike last year's werewolf killer incident, this incident lacks the cross-cultural appeal to become a major international news story. However, within the United States of New Eden, it has nonetheless quickly captured everyone's attention.

First, there were Donil, Rhys, and the other parties involved. They had been complaining about Cromwell, the riddle-maker, who had gone upstairs with Miss Nameless but then said nothing after coming down.

However, after watching the released video, everyone realized that the situation at the time was so shocking that it would be difficult to explain clearly in just a few words without video evidence.

Soon after, Agasher's reporter, Ms. Eileen, and Castor, the middleman at the Floating Light Bar, also learned of the matter through the news.

Miss Eileen was shocked. It was the first time she had ever experienced Yvette's "disappearance." She thought that Miss Nameless had simply made up a lame excuse because she didn't want to talk to her anymore. After discovering that Yvette had disappeared, she was sad for a long time, wondering if she had done something wrong.

And now she finally understood that the disappearance of the nameless lady was all part of this plan.

After a year of painstaking planning, during which he could not have any communication with acquaintances or friends, was he perhaps trying to infiltrate the human traffickers?

That's incredible! That's absolutely incredible!

Castor's thoughts were similar to Eileen's, but unlike Eileen, who was purely happy for Yvette, he was a little worried. He felt that after this battle, Miss Nobody's reputation was already famous enough, so would she still need him as a middleman to help her get orders in the future?

Will he never even have the chance to speak to Miss Wuming again?

……

For several days afterward, with no other major news emerging, the story of the nameless woman single-handedly breaking through two human trafficker camps and rescuing 31 victims dominated the trending topics on various platforms.

Although it is still difficult to judge her level of strength as a mage, one thing is certain: she is definitely among the top tier.

After all, in the mercenary world, reputation is the only standard of strength, and it's directly linked to the efficiency of taking on jobs. Although her current mercenary points are a bit low, not even enough to break into the top 1 in the world rankings, it doesn't stop people in the industry from unanimously believing that her strength is at least in the top 1000, or even possibly in the top 500.

The only pity is that, due to Yvette's own request, neither Cromwell, the Customs Service, nor the police released any photos of the unnamed woman in this incident. This left many netizens who had heard that the unnamed woman was a beauty and wanted to see her face feeling very disappointed.

Chapter 108 The Sky Whale Project

At the end of April, the sunlight spread like melted butter across every corner of Yangon's streets. The old oak trees along the road sprouted tender green buds, swaying gently in the breeze and casting dappled light and shadow on the asphalt.

Sitting in a white rocking chair in the courtyard, Yvette glanced at the workers bustling about in the corridor, then turned on her magic terminal to check the latest news online.

This is the house she just rented in downtown Fusjiang. It's a two-story villa with more than a dozen rooms, a garage, and a small garden.

The workers currently busy at work are cleaning staff from the housekeeping company she hired. The house has probably been unoccupied for too long; dust has accumulated everywhere. Using wind magic would only make her look dusty herself, so after some thought, she decisively chose to spend money.

After checking the news in New Eden and confirming that her photos were not circulating online, Yvette then logged into her New Eden citizen account and checked her inbox.

There are quite a few messages here from Miss Eileen and the middleman Caster, all sent in the last two days, for reasons that are self-evident.

Not only them, but even the mysterious torchbearer of the Civilization Survival Society forwarded the relevant news to her, adding a thumbs-up emoji, seemingly expressing admiration in a concise way.

So, leaving Miss Eileen and Castor aside for the time being, Yvette sent a message to the Firebearer: "Do you know anything about the Cooks underground base?"

This is the information she has been searching for in her spare time over the past two days, but the information she has obtained is limited. She doesn't know if it has been blocked or if the event is indeed so mysterious that even the local residents of Cookes don't know about it.

"I know," the torchbearer replied quickly.

"how much is it?"

"10 credits."

"So cheap?" Yvette was somewhat surprised, wondering if this was not some important intelligence.

But since the information couldn't be found online, she still paid directly—310 million credits, after deducting 120 million in personal income tax, left her with 190 million, allowing her to indulge in some limited luxuries.

Fortunately, the state where customs is located has no state income tax; otherwise, in a state with higher state taxes, it might have cost another 300,000 to 400,000 less.

After receiving the money, the Fireman immediately said, "The Cooks Underground Base was a research base jointly established by the Federal Government and Lintui Biotechnology, but it has been abandoned. The project researched there in the past was to resurrect ancient giant whales as large-scale biological weapons secretly cultivated by the Federation."

"Ancient giant whale?" Yvette immediately recalled relevant historical information.

According to archaeological discoveries, during the ancient civilization period 3 years ago, Origin Star once had a very prosperous high magic era, with giant dragons soaring in the sky. Equally famous and terrifying as the dragons were two other well-known monsters: giant whales and giant squids.

Among them, whales are believed to possess the ability to fly and are the overlords of the sky and sea who can rival dragons, while giant squid are considered the kings of the deep sea. Once dragged underwater by a giant squid, even a dragon would die without a burial place.

“That’s right, it’s that giant whale from the ancient civilization era,” the Firebearer said. “That was in the latter half of the last century. At that time, the United States of New Eden had a conflict with the Black Tide Federation. Shortly afterward, the Black Tide Corporation discovered a relatively well-preserved fossil of an ancient giant squid in the deep sea. They then cooperated with the Black Tide Federation to formulate the ‘Sea Demon Project’, wanting to obtain the genetic sequence from the ancient giant squid fossil to revive this super monster from 3 years ago and use it as a giant biological weapon to gain control of the sea.”

"The New Eden government already possesses well-preserved ancient whale fossils. Provoked by the Black Tide Federation, it launched a biological weapons competition with them. They and 'Lin Tui Bio' initiated a project called 'Project Sky Whale' in an attempt to revive ancient whales capable of flying and diving, in order to counterbalance the Black Tide Federation's giant squid and ensure that their control of the seas near Black Tide Continent remains secure."

"And then what? Did it succeed?" Yvette thought of the mountain whales under the Purple Commander's command that kept flying from Cooks to the North Sea, and finally understood why he chose that location as his base.

It turns out that the materials he needed to hatch mountain whales were there!

"No, the plan has failed."

"Failed?"

"The world environment is completely different now. How could such a plan possibly succeed? Whether it's a giant dragon, a giant whale, or a giant squid, they are all products of a high-magic environment. Even if they were successfully resurrected, how long could they survive in this world? It's just that people at that time were too naive in their understanding of this matter, and it was just a joke they made."

The Fire Bearer's reply carried a hint of sarcasm: "In short, these two projects, which consumed countless taxpayers' money from various countries and were extremely costly, were hastily aborted. Apart from feeding a few patrons who were lining their own pockets, they were of no significance. The research base in Cux City has been sealed off, and even related information has been blocked. You can only access historical materials on this topic by connecting to the network of Emerald Continent or Silver Mirror Continent."

Now Yvette knew why the Firebearers were so cheap; it turned out that this information could be directly accessed by simply using a VPN that could connect to different continents.

She was a little annoyed, and then asked, "Did Project Sky Whale leave behind any embryos or anything like that?"

The torchbearer was somewhat surprised: "How did you know that?"

"So it exists?"

“Yes, but they are some frozen embryos of imitation organisms that are almost impossible to hatch. They are the only thing that can be called ‘achievement’ in this stupid plan…” the Firebearer said. “This is the core secret of this plan. Apart from the relevant high-ranking officials of the federal government and Lintui Biotechnology, no one outside should know about it. Miss Wuming, you are really surprising me more and more for knowing this information.”

“Same to you.” Yvette said, then thought of the Black Tide Corporation’s Sea Demon Project, wondering if she would encounter the mutated giant squid in the water again in the future, but she didn’t know whether its combat power was higher or lower than that of the mountain whale.

"By the way, do you know where Zero and One are?" she asked again.

She didn't say who Zero and Number One were, but given the Firebringer's current behavior, she believed they knew who she was talking about.

“I don’t know, but you must have gone to Rusty Bones. But since you’re asking this question, I guess you, Miss Nameless, perhaps obtained some clues in Fusjiang?” the Firebearer said meaningfully.

……

After receiving some confirmation from the Flame Bearer, Yvette ended her conversation with him and began to focus on how to find Zero and Number One.

From a pragmatic perspective, acquiring knowledge of necromancy from the Holy Spirit Cult should be a priority.

But this is risky, and besides, she herself is more interested in the two little girls, since it concerns her past.

What were those three ultimate questions in philosophy again?

Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?

Although she already knew where she came from, how could she know where to go if she didn't figure out who she was?

……

That evening, Yvette bought several time capsules and decided to find a good place to bury them.

Even though the Firth River will be submerged after the apocalypse, she can still identify which areas in the surrounding high-altitude mountains have the most familiar terrain and relatively stable geology. Just in case, she will bury several more in different locations at varying depths to ensure absolute safety.

After doing all this, Yvette returned to the city.

Because of the poor infrastructure in Fusjiang, which greatly limited the rune hacker's abilities, she couldn't find a solution for Zero and One for the time being. So she asked the taxi driver to take her to the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters in the Fusjiang diocese, the "Soulfire Church," intending to gather intelligence there first.