Cyber Era Witch-Chapter 80 - 63 The Pancake-Topped Hat
80: Chapter 63: The Pancake-Topped Hat
80 -63: The Pancake-Topped Hat freёnovelkiss.com
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Entering the restaurant, the booths were clean and tidy, with no trace of a bad smell.
There was no garbage on the floor, and it was spotless, a stark contrast to the dirty streets outside.
The decor was exquisite, with trimmings, hangings, small statues, flower baskets, green plants, fake books, and xenon lamps everywhere, all meticulously arranged without looking cluttered.
The color palette featured green, bright yellow, and red, quite vibrant.
The corner speakers played lively music, full of energy that uplifted one’s spirits.
Tortilla Big Hat brought fast food to the standard of a star-rated restaurant as a means of competing for customers.
The quality of people’s lives was like that of wild dogs and giant rats, withered and weary, yet upon entering the establishment, witnessing this clean environment with staff eagerly accommodating and bowing and scraping, their human dignity would be greatly satisfied.
“Welcome to Tortilla Big Hat!” greeted the waitress at the door, dressed in light pink uniform, wearing synthetic wigs.
Though she was a local, she adhered to the company culture, dressed as a beautiful woman from Agave Continent with brown hair, red lips, and dark skin.
Her collar was pulled down very low, revealing a cleavage that was ample to the point of defying grasp, bulging as though stuffed with padding.
Xu Yang squeezed into one of the four-person seats, with Farosa sitting opposite him.
She remained quiet, restrained in the face of all this.
Xu Yang had no idea what she was really thinking; she always felt unfamiliar to him when she was silent and unsmiling.
Only when they were intimately engaged could he feel her warmth, but that was the passion she actively released, beyond his own power to thaw this iceberg.
He settled into the leather sofa, which felt extremely comfortable.
The backrest was very firm with just the right curvature.
It detected the customer’s body type, with airbags that inflated, supporting the waist and spine.
Beads rolled, track lifted, and mechanical hands kneaded muscles with skillful technique; dining here was a pure enjoyment.
Tortilla Big Hat continuously strives for excellence in its chain stores.
Each store is directly operated by headquarters, and any issue customers faced could be directly communicated to their headquarters on Agave Continent, thus every store took customer complaints very seriously.
They abandoned the model of intelligent robot sales and ordering, insisting on hiring human staff, believing that only humans could understand customers’ needs.
Giant corporations had varying philosophies regarding people and machines.
Lighthouse Core believed that most of the “lower-end” population should be eliminated, removing the majority of the dregs from the billions of people, preserving the quality part of humanity.
They concentrated on scientific advancement, aiming to end the meaningless internal competition among the giants, leaving this planet that occupies 75% of the sea, traversing the galaxy paths, sending out ships one by one, with robots as the main force, and initiating colonization into deep space.
Tortilla Big Hat, on the other hand, scoffed at this idea, after all, their service targets were not robots.
Although called Tortilla Big Hat, the tortilla shop was just one of the many food brands it owned.
Its true identity was that of the world’s largest food and beverage giant.
Its founder was committed to countering the influence of nutrient paste, leading the development of the catering industry with products like Core Cola, Quantum Beverages, Hundred Flavor Beer, and Dragon Nest Coffee under its name.
Choosing the innocuous name Tortilla Big Hat, much more low-key than an ambitious title like “Global Dining Group.”
With Rosya’s help, Xu Yang and his group received VIP service after making a smooth payment.
“Please enjoy your meal!” said a staff member wearing a straw hat, arriving with two brown aluminum plates filled with various tortillas in hand.
He carefully placed the plates on the table, wafting scents escaping from the wrappers, with abundance of Chaos Beast meat to satisfy hunger.
The biological lab under Tortilla Big Hat had created Chaos Beasts through genetic editing, which produced a large volume of tender meat.
They were round like giant spheres with no eyes and mouths, lacking limbs, ready for slaughter after a hundred days in an entirely automated process.
The taste of Chaos Beast meat was similar to beef, providing plenty of protein and cheap prices, almost catching up with nutrient paste.
It was a crystallization of Tortilla Big Hat’s technological prowess.
Suddenly, more than a dozen burly men in green uniforms rushed out from the kitchen, heading outside.
They moved with well-trained precision, no less competent than professional soldiers.
Xu Yang wanted to ask what they intended to do, but their next actions made it clear.
They took out energy rifles, gauss sniper rifles, and heavy submachine guns from their green bulletproof vests, loaded the bullets, unlocked the safeties, and prepared for defense.
“Dear customers,” the restaurant’s broadcast began, with a gentle and frail business tone that was difficult to resist and could be used for guidance.
If Xu Yang wasn’t familiar with various synthetic tones, he might have mistaken it for a real person announcing, “An external threat has been detected.
The restaurant will enter defense mode.”
Xu Yang turned his head to look as mechanical roller sounds came from the windows, lowering half-transparent bulletproof curtains.
The shield generators inside provided power for a dark purple shield capable of withstanding artillery fire.
The armed staff formed a kneeling defensive position at the front, while two mascot robots wearing straw hats and eating tortillas outside the door began to operate, transforming the crispy tortillas in their hands into large-caliber cannons aiming at the external threat.
“Tortilla Big Hat highly values your dining safety,” the waiter elaborated hastily, “As a VIP customer of our store, you will enjoy the highest standard of security treatment here.
If the store’s defense forces are insufficient to withstand the threat, 14 shuttle machines will be summoned from the nearest brand vehicle depot to safely escort everyone.”
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“Can we go to Anjiu City now?” Xu Yang still longed for the sky, the beach, and the fresh air.
“I’m sorry, but the Corporate Alliance has blocked the roads.
However, the headquarters is urgently proposing to the Alliance to open a green passage for the consumers of the Tortilla Big Hat Shop.
Once approved, we will ensure everyone’s safety in leaving,” the waiter said humbly.
“Thank you for your tortillas,” Xu Yang nodded.
After watching for a long time, Witch Farosa couldn’t help but ask Xu Yang after the waiter left, “They are very professional, aren’t they?”
“This is corporatism,” Xu Yang explained.
“What we’ve encountered before were small companies, fringe elements, and the impoverished unregistered population, quite destitute.
But if you’re in a corporate area and have money to spend, it’s different.
As long as you pay enough, they have to cater to you; welcome to the world where spending power reigns supreme.”
“And you have a lot of money.”
“More than I can spend,” said Xu Yang.
“All this is actually quite ordinary; wait until we get to the ground, and I’ll show you even more variety.”
“Oh…” Farosa mused.
Unfortunately, I am now a non-existent person and cannot afford to be too ostentatious.
I can only invest in those around me, but forming a team is also good.
The benefits we are enjoying at the Tortilla Big Hat Shop are thanks to Rosya, who worked at a branch before and helped me skip many verification processes, saving me a lot of trouble.
At this moment, Rosya was lounging in Li Xiaomin’s arms, like all teens in love, unwilling to part for a second, always pouring out mushy words of love, never growing tired of it.
Outside, gunfire was raging.
The Ratmen would not spare this shop and had begun their assault.
The security personnel of Tortilla Big Hat Shop exhibited superb combat skills, their fighting capabilities not inferior to those of professional security companies.
They formed an impenetrable wall of fire, slaughtering any Ratmen who tried to approach, covering each other, leaving no blind spots.
If someone was injured, they were immediately dragged away by reserve staff, and replacements were instantly found to fill any gaps caused by a decrease in numbers.
Seeing this setup, Matteo wouldn’t dare to come close, Xu Yang thought to himself.
This is the depth of resources of a giant corporation; even a tortilla seller can train a large number of soldiers with capital, purchasing arms from the likes of Lighthouse Core, Northern Military Industry, and Kyushu High Pavilion.
Though Black Fire Innovation’s influence was strong, Matteo’s detachment was just one tentacle of their military hegemony and couldn’t directly shake the power of other giant corporations.
In fact, the sphere of influence of Black Fire Innovation was primarily in the southern part of the Archipelago Continent on the Taiya Jungle Archipelago.
With its hot climate, dense population, and favorable natural conditions, housing over 500 million people crammed into fighting tribes, governed by various warlords, dictators, and tribal chiefs.
Black Fire Innovation deliberately maintained these primitive systems, letting countless people exhaust their blood in life-and-death struggles, thereby ensuring an endless demand for arms.
The news broadcasts were powerless to record the various war crimes happening in Taiya; there were constant refugee crises, rampant stamp trading, and the unabashed use of biochemical weapons.
The archipelago was forever fragmented, incapable of unification; the blood and bones of the people turned into the wealth of Black Fire Innovation, bolstering its arrogance.
They have now even infiltrated Aizu City, continuously spying on the Ancient Witch Farosa.
“This is really spicy,” Farosa said, taking a bite of an especially spicy meat tortilla and sticking out her tongue.
“Eat this one,” Xu Yang said, swapping his mint meat tortilla with hers.
After taking the spicy tortilla from Farosa, he took a big bite.
The pungent scent of chemical seasonings shot straight to his head, the juicy Chaos Beast meat exploded in his mouth, and the spiciness bombarded Xu Yang’s tongue.
He soon started to sweat, his face heating up, followed by a numbing sensation.
Noticing the situation, the waiter immediately brought over a glass of ice-cold lemon water.
Xu Yang thanked him, and now the meal felt entirely satisfying, eliciting continuous praises.
Looking around at the others, everyone was eating to their satisfaction.
Thus, they sat in the clean shop, eating tortillas, drinking lemon water, enjoying massages and music, while watching the employees of Big Hat battle to their last breath against the Ratmen invasion outside.
Many felt a morbid sense of contentment.
In the aisles, the wait staff maintained subservient smiles, facial implants allowing them to keep this expression 24 hours a day without the slightest change or effort.
After six years of daily repetition, he had forgotten how to make any other expression.
Here, to consume is to enjoy; here, to work is a nightmare.
