Millennium Witch.

Chapter 132-131- Just thinking about it gives me a headache.
Sunlight streamed through the cracks in the ruins, painting golden streaks across the billowing dust. Yvette got up from the ground, still looking somewhat bewildered.

What on earth is going on...?

She adjusted her slightly drooping black dress, then looked at the loose-fitting coat that covered her hands, now resembling cute sleeves, and felt as if she were still in a dream.

Could it be that I've been affected by the Soulfire Saint's soul magic and trapped in a world of illusion?
She couldn't help but pinch her cheek, feeling the pain and also thinking it was unlikely. After all, with her spiritual strength, even if she were in a hallucination, it was impossible for her to be completely unaware of it. Besides, what kind of hallucination was this? It made no sense at all; even a third-rate novel wouldn't dare to write something like this.

So Zero really disappeared?

She said she needed to sleep for a while because she had suddenly gone berserk and exhausted her strength.

But why did I shrink?
Is this a global historical revisionism? Were the two zeros inherently flawed? If one disappears, will the other automatically become the legitimate one?
Also, how did Zero know that she was her? And what did she mean by "a world that is not entirely false"?
Is this more than just a dream?
Countless questions churned in her mind, and Yvette felt her head was about to explode. She sighed, lifted her skirt, and decided to leave first and go to the rendezvous point to check on Liana and the others.

……

As a cautious person, Yvette had been keeping a close eye on her magical power throughout the battle with the Soulfire Saint. So, she still had a small amount of magical power left, which she had originally intended for escaping and retreating, but could now use it to travel.

Whether it was because Zero's destruction killed the relevant staff or not, the no-fly zone's effect had disappeared. She could now imbue herself with wind magic, leaping lightly through the city ruins, heading straight for her designated location.

At this time, the abandoned steel plant had returned to its former tranquility.

The golden morning light spilled onto the grass, making it look vibrant and full of life, completely unlike the terrifying scene of zombies running around before dawn.

Since Zero said he would be back soon, Liana and Firefly found a corner to stay in. When they saw Yvette approaching, Liana immediately jumped out and shouted, "Yvette! Yvette! Over here!"

She was overjoyed and breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that she must have been delusional before, actually thinking that Yvette would never come back after leaving. Now that she thought about it, it was really a bit embarrassing.

But when "Yvette" landed, she realized something was wrong. First, the other person's temperament was strange, as calm as an autumn lake, completely the opposite of the "Yvette" she remembered. Second, the other person's clothes had also changed, wearing an ill-fitting black dress. She remembered that this should have been the outfit her sister had chosen when she set off.

"What happened? Why are you wearing your sister's clothes?" Liana asked, her voice now filled with concern. "Where's your sister? How is she? Have you seen her?"

Firefly trotted over, pointed the camera at Yvette, and looked her up and down, saying, "Yvette, you look like my older sister."

Yvette looked at them silently, unsure how to explain Zero's disappearance, but she felt that a short, sharp pain was better than a long, drawn-out one. Rather than having her play the role of Zero, it was better to let her reveal the truth.

“Yvette is gone. I am her sister, and I am also her,” Yvette said directly.

Liana and Firefly were both stunned.

But the two had no choice but to believe it, because Yvette and Zero's personalities were too different. Besides Zero, the two also had a certain understanding of Yvette and could immediately sense the completely different souls hidden beneath the same skin.

"Sister, have you and Yvette merged?" Firefly was the first to snap out of her daze and asked in shock.

Yvette shook her head: "...No, she disappeared right before my eyes, and I... am also her, but I have no corresponding memories."

Firefly looked puzzled: "Sister, what does 'you are also her' mean?"

Yvette confessed, "I am her from the future, and she is me from the past. But I have no memories of the past, and then, for reasons I don't even understand, I came here and came into contact with you all..."

In a few words, she described the general situation, but skipped most of the information about the real world. She only mentioned that after the apocalypse, she, who had lost her memory, suddenly traveled back to the past by a twist of fate and noticed the existence of Zero. That's why she chose to contact them as the older sister.

Firefly suddenly realized: "No wonder you and Ivy look so alike. I always thought it was strange. People who look so alike are usually twins. You and she are even different ages... So you're the same person."

As a mechanical puppet, it is relatively quick to accept the current situation. Moreover, the emotions and state that Zero expressed before leaving were a bit strange. Although this unexpected development is bizarre, it can also explain Zero's attitude.

Yvette then asked, "...What happened to you before?"

Since Zero claims to be in a state of slumber rather than death, and considering her previous lethargic behavior, it is likely strongly related to the depletion of her power.

It's unclear what exactly happened to the three of them, but even Liana, the Number One, couldn't handle it, and it took the Zero going berserk to resolve the issue.

Liana didn't speak; she was petrified by the overwhelming amount of information, like a stiff marionette.

Seeing that Liana remained silent, Firefly described the situation for her, from the appearance of the High Priest Ducha of the Cycle of Reincarnation, to the two Holy Priests descending from the sky on their bone dragons, and finally to Zero displaying godlike power.

Yvette fell silent. She really hadn't expected the Holy Spirit Cult to be so perverse. On the surface, it was already exaggerated to have a Soulfire Saint, but in secret, they also had a Corpse Demon Saint, a heavyweight war beast Bone Dragon, and a Reincarnation Priest.

But Zero is even more outrageous. He can kill even a top-tier powerhouse like the Corpse Demon Saint with a single glance. Even a true god is probably no better than that.
So, am I really the source of the apocalypse? The destroyer of the world?
The room suddenly fell silent, with only the spring breeze gently lifting the silver or gold strands of hair, causing them to sway softly.

After an unknown amount of time, Liana finally snapped out of her daze. She stared blankly at the familiar yet unfamiliar Yvette before her, a surge of overwhelming sorrow washing over her, almost causing her to stumble. After Yvette steadied her, she asked, her eyes reddening, "Then... sister... can Yvette come back?"

“She definitely can.” Yvette reached out and ruffled the blonde girl’s hair, comforting her. “She said she was going to sleep for a while, so she’ll definitely wake up someday. She probably just needs time to recover her strength.”

She paused, then continued, "And even if the world were destroyed in the future, she would have survived unharmed. Otherwise, how could I exist? Don't forget, I am also her."

“That’s true…” Liana exhaled, her gloomy and dejected mood dissipating slightly, and a glimmer of hope appearing in her eyes. “So all we have to do is wait, right?”

“Yes, we just have to wait,” Yvette said with a smile.

……

That evening, in a small county town next to Fusjiang, Yvette and Liana, disguised, found a small hotel to stay in temporarily with Firefly.

After the army of mutants created by Zero appeared, the garrison troops guarding various transportation routes outside Fus River all came to reinforce the city, and were then wiped out by Zero.

This meant that when leaving, Yvette could easily drive the magical motorcycle she picked up by the roadside, carrying Liana and Firefly across the wilderness, escaping to the nearby small town without any pressure, and encountering almost no obstacles along the way.

That evening, in the hotel, Yvette used a magical terminal to read the Rusty Bone official report on the Fusjiang massacre. In this report, Rusty Bone attributed the tragedy to a highly lethal supervirus and claimed it was a premeditated biological weapon attack, pointing the finger directly at the United States of New Eden and Black Tower Pharmaceuticals.

However, while it was indeed the leak of experimental subjects from Black Tower Medicine that caused the incident, Rustbone and the Holy Spirit Cult failed to capture the subjects themselves and even caused them to go berserk. It would be a stretch to pin the blame on New Eden. Therefore, within a few hours, Federal President John issued a strong condemnation of the matter, claiming that it was all a rumor and slander.

What followed was a war of words. Although the massive death toll of over 30 shocked the world, the two countries’ passing the buck successfully characterized the incident as a “deadly virus leak.” More in-depth information, such as information about variants, was either not disclosed at all, or if it was, it would not have garnered any attention.

But it's not over.

Whether it was to suppress the hype surrounding Incident Zero or to divert attention, another event quickly rose to the top of the headlines across various media outlets, and the content was the thrilling epic battle between the national hero "Nameless" and Soulfire Seiji.

……

Although the Fusijiang massacre was more horrific and shocking, the materials, evidence, and news channels were ultimately in the hands of the authorities. If the New Eden government, the Rustbone government, Black Tower Medicine, the Holy Spirit Cult, and other informed parties intended to cover it up, it would naturally not spread. At most, it would only circulate in the streets and alleys of the area as an urban legend.

The duel between Nameless and Soulfire Saint was different. There was no need to cover up the fact that the battle scene was gorgeous, exciting, and full of the public's imagination of the battle between top mages. Therefore, it quickly became a hit on the United States' internet and gradually spread to the international arena. Even netizens in Emerald Continent and Silver Mirror Continent were discussing it.

It's impossible not to discuss this. How many level six mages like Soulfire Saint are there in the whole world? Normally, such battles are not shown to ordinary people because they involve national security secrets. Now that there's finally a public battle between top mages, who can resist taking a peek and chatting about it over tea?
and so……

Although she hadn't stayed in the Origin Civilization for very long, Yvette had already become a genuine international celebrity. To use a martial arts novel analogy, she was like a mysterious young swordsman with unparalleled martial arts skills who, at such a young age, could already exchange blows with top elders of prestigious sects.

In particular, after that exchange of blows, Soulfire Saint mysteriously disappeared!
While most people would certainly not believe that the dignified incarnation of the Grim Reaper would die so easily, many others believe that the Soulfire Saint must have been defeated and seriously injured, which is why he has secluded himself and dared not see anyone.

This adds even more mystery to the legend of the nameless mercenary.

……

In the following days, Yvette, who was still hiding in a hotel in the small county town to avoid trouble and had changed into a children's dress, also saw the battle video of her and Soulfire Saint on the Black Tide Continent's network.

The uploader was war correspondent Cromwell. This guy livestreamed for more than two hours before being taken away by the Rustbones military on charges of "threatening Rustbones' national security" and "illegally filming." Luckily, he escaped the indiscriminate distortions in the city and is still alive and kicking.

However, his live stream content still spread and caused a huge reaction all over the world.

However, after reading the various heated discussions and praises under the video, Yvette felt a little embarrassed.

She and Soulfire Saint were actually still locked in a stalemate. Considering that he had only sent a clone, she had to be extremely careful to conserve her mana. If it really came down to a fight to the death, she couldn't say for sure that she could win in a one-on-one battle.

Who knows what trump cards the Soulfire Saint has that he hasn't used yet?

But now netizens are praising her as if she has won a great victory, and she feels embarrassed.

Then, thinking of the death of Soulfire Saint, she felt somewhat melancholy.

Soulfire Saint was killed by Zero, along with the Bone Dragon and the Corpse Saint. Yvette was quite certain of this, as they returned to the Aberration Legion after their mutation.

But this is awkward, because she has become the bottom, and the Holy Spirit Cult will definitely hold her accountable for those debts, whether she admits it or not. Otherwise, with such high sunk costs, are they just going to swallow their pride and bear it?
Of course, given Zero's abilities demonstrated in the Fusjiang massacre, the Holy Spirit Cult will certainly not try to monopolize the spoils again as they did this time; they are not stupid.

Therefore, in the future, the Holy Spirit Sect will most likely cooperate with Black Tower Medicine to form a joint arrest team to jointly suppress them.

Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

……

That afternoon, after searching for the latest information online, Yvette logged into her private account and saw the message from Hoyle.

This requiem priest, who was essentially a good person, was very dissatisfied with the fact that the chief priest of reincarnation, Linde, was a general. Unable to disobey his superior, he simply took a long sick leave and went back to the countryside to recuperate.

This period of recuperation allowed him to escape the Fusjiang tragedy caused by Zero, and he was recently invited back to continue handling the main affairs of the Fusjiang Soul Fire Church.

Hoyle knew nothing about how the Fusjiang massacre happened, but one thing he kept in mind was that the nameless lady had indeed killed the general and completed the mission he had been tasked with long ago.

Although at this point he could no longer follow the church's procedures to pay the mission reward—after all, the church did not recognize the general as the reincarnation priest Lind—on a personal level, he still managed to obtain enough digital currency as a token of his gratitude.

"You're quite wealthy," Yvette said, looking at the sudden influx of 500 million into her cryptocurrency account.

“Hehe, actually it’s still going through the church’s accounts, but the names have been changed a bit.” Hoyle said happily, but quickly became serious again. “Sigh, after such a serious incident, the church needs a lot of budget to appease the public, and there have been many donations from all over the country. We had no choice but to resort to this measure. But no matter what, the use of this money is legitimate, at least I have a clear conscience…”

Considering that she was taking the blame for the Fusjiang massacre on behalf of Zero, Yvette didn't dare to continue the conversation on that topic. After exchanging a few pleasantries, she ended the conversation.

She then tallied up her current assets. Including the 500 million she had just received, she had a huge sum of over 700 million in her cryptocurrency account. Part of it was the reward she received from the human trafficking incident, and the other part was the profit she made from selling the Neon Nightmare assassin's unique skill, "Spinning Magic," cheaply on the dark web.

This money could actually be spent to replenish combat strength, but unfortunately, she is currently in Rustbone and things are inconvenient for her. If she wants to spend money, it would be best to return to New Eden, but that would mean returning to Black Tower Medicine's territory.

So after thinking it over, Yvette decided that she should buy some software.

She now has a Soul Brain, but its system architecture is terrible, and the Holy Spirit Cult, as a group that studies necromancy, is practically a makeshift operation in the field of rune compilation, so they can't provide any good software compatibility.

Of course, she could write some system architecture and software for the Soul Brain herself, but to achieve an excellent level, it would take a lot of time to polish it. Moreover, there are some things that she cannot do on her own—such as AI algorithms. Without data, she cannot raise an excellent AI, which is completely beyond her rune mastery.

and so……

After much thought, she decided to purchase a ready-made system and deploy some existing AI models into her brain, which would make everything much easier in the future.

　There's no time to spare, so I'll just post one chapter today and make do. I'll revise it later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)