Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

That dangerous woman was hiding among the newcomers, pretending to be controlled… If the Central Continent team had harbored ill intentions towards her upon their arrival, Alice would have chosen the same strategy: feign weakness to lull them into a false sense of security, then secretly set a trap to kill them all. Since the Central Continent team chose goodwill, she naturally reciprocated with peace.

So... if we extrapolate from this behavior pattern...

"Now is when she is at her weakest. She and I have both had all our power stripped away by that so-called God, and at least physically we have turned back into humans."

"Then this is an opportunity that we absolutely cannot miss."

Since the other party has decided to take action, we must strike back decisively. Otherwise, we will have no leverage to negotiate.

Thinking this through, Alice even considered abandoning Imhotep and going straight to deal with the Indiana team. Just as she herself, without access to spellcasting materials and the initial magic to guide her magic, was only equivalent to three or five capable adults, she wasn't sure to what extent the woman opposite her would be strengthened after obtaining the resources to restore her power. And the worse possibility was that the woman's power was already being restored.

"I hope my luck isn't too bad... no, I should say I hope the other person's luck isn't too good."

Alice let out a soft breath. She stopped, clearly sensing a massive source of curse in a stone hall at the end of the corridor before her. That must be Imhotep, who had noticed her and was preparing a surprise attack.

Well then, let's say hello first.

Author's Note:

................................................

Miss Qihuang isn't actually that strong. Even at her complete form, she's only at the Solar System level, making her a weakling among saints. Add to that the different worldviews, the unique nature of the Spirit World, and my adjustments to combat power. At her peak, she was only capable of fighting fourth-tier enemies on the continental shelf, and now she's practically a blank slate. Only the Main God can hold her back.

By the way, although I've roughly used the original infinite template here, there are still many differences. At least, I've directly removed the concepts of "positive" and "negative" characters; those things gave me a headache…

Xiao Honglu's plan almost completely failed, due to information asymmetry and someone's meddling. This isn't me trying to criticize him... Honestly, I'm terrified someone here will call me a hater _(:з」∠)_

Section 24. Stand right here, don't embarrass yourself.

Over the years in Gensokyo, Alice developed a habit that was neither good nor bad: she never used her full strength in battle, even in spell card games where losing wouldn't matter much, she never used more than half her maximum power.

Because you see, if you go all out from the beginning, it's fine if you win, but if you lose, wouldn't you have no way out?

Unfortunately, this isn't the time for children to play around!

The information streams converged, and Alice collected fragments of information about 'water,' 'low temperature,' and 'freezing' within a kilometer radius. The humidity inside Imhotep's hiding hall rose sharply; water molecules in the air were aggregated and settled, transforming into enormous waves that appeared out of thin air, confined to a small area of ​​the underground hall!

She could clearly hear the shock and anger in the ancient Egyptian high priest's two-thousand-year-old voice. The waves froze instantly within seconds, solidifying into solid ice. When Alice entered the hall, a massive block of ice, still radiating cold air and as clear as crystal, appeared before her.

Imhotep's half-human, half-demon body was right in the center of the ice, like a tiny insect fallen into amber.

This guy is still pretending to be dead.

Alice raised an eyebrow, and several tomb guards wielding sharp swords leaped forward and slashed fiercely at the ice block. However, the ice block shattered the moment the blades touched it, and a barrier of yellow sand blocked the tomb guards' attacks.

"You're afraid to let their blades cut you because the blades are cursed with something that can harm you, right?" Alice asked casually. With a flick of her fingers, she controlled the tomb guardians, easily dodging the sand curtain and cornering Imhotep in the blink of an eye.

“Why are you getting in my way, witch!” Imhotep uttered obscure words from his skeletal mouth. He was incredibly fast, his feet even able to walk on walls and ceilings. However, the tomb guardians could do the same, and even better.

His power has not yet been fully restored, because the American who bore the curse has not yet died.

"Oh, because you're in my way."

Alice conjured a ball of flame in her hand, and an exploding fireball was immediately launched, shattering Imhotep's body into chunks of sand. Too lazy to listen to his nonsense, she flicked her finger, and the nearest tomb guardian, drained by the curse, withered into ashes. In its place, nearly ten burning fireballs were launched, instantly blasting Imhotep's body to pieces.

A scorching heat swept through the area, instantly melting and evaporating the scattered ice blocks that had covered the floor, turning them into pale white vapor that filled the entire hall. This vapor then rapidly coalesced, enveloping every grain of sand in the air and collapsing towards the center. When the mist completely dissipated, it solidified in the center of the hall before Alice, forming a human-shaped statue made of sand. A layer of frost then formed on the statue's surface. She immediately pricked her finger and used her blood to draw a spell on the frost-covered surface to maintain its temperature.

Get it done.

Imhotep's body could be turned into sand to mitigate physical damage, but even after being reduced to sand, his body remained a single, intact entity. So Alice blasted him into sand with fire, and then separated each grain of sand with water, preventing it from coalescing.

Sand cannot transform into human form without binding together. And sand that is not connected cannot make large-scale displacements. As long as the ice layer remains, it cannot move at all.

However, that's not enough; one thing is still missing.

Alice turned her head and heard a series of hurried footsteps coming from the entrance of the hall. Two seconds later, Zhan Lan, holding the cat, and Zhao Yingkong, who was protecting her, appeared at the hall entrance. They were first taken aback when they saw Alice and the group of tomb guards connected by wires, and then they were overjoyed when they saw Imhotep's statue.

"Miss Alice! Did you seal Imhotep?" Zhan Lan's face was flushed, clearly from the intense exercise that had left her blood pumping. "Were these mummies under your control?"

"Yes." Alice nodded.

“I’ve cracked part of Hamunaptra’s structure. Now the tomb guardians and scarabs are under my control. Imhotep is frozen, and with this cat, it won’t be out for at least half an hour.” Alice stroked the cat. A sharp 'meow' was heard, followed by what seemed like a terrified scream from something inhuman echoing through the hall.

The statue's face contorted, and even though it was frozen, every grain of sand seemed to want to escape the black cat, scattering in all directions. This completely eliminated the possibility of the sand grains working together to break the seal, because they simply couldn't coordinate.

"What is that?" Zhao Yingkong picked up the Fang of Netherfire and discovered that a dark flame was burning naturally on the dagger, even though she hadn't done anything!

“It’s just the howling of a soul; it’s harmless,” Alice replied. “In Egypt, cats can suppress the dead. Imhotep hasn’t been resurrected yet, so cats are very effective against him.”

"What am I supposed to do?" Zhan Lan asked.

“Hold this cat and walk around the room randomly. Don’t go in circles, try to move around erratically. This way, the seal can only last for half an hour at most,” Alice said. “Zhao Yingkong, get your dagger ready. If Imhotep breaks free, stab him. He won’t dare to stay here any longer.”

"Understood." The assassin girl nodded slightly, adopting a wary stance. "So, Alice, what are you planning to do? You just said the Indiana team is here?"

"Yeah, there are some troublesome enemies among those guys, and I might not be able to handle them by myself."

"Tell Zheng Zha to stay put and wait for me. I will give him some protection when I get there."

Chapter 25 - Sorry, the buff took a little long to apply.

Alice could clearly sense the location of the Indiana team. Just moments ago, about a tenth of the Tomb Scarabs under her control vanished in an instant, accompanied by a faint explosion.

[Miniature missiles, are they low-tech gadgets? Oh… that's the person in mechanical armor I saw when collecting optical signals.]

[They even use weapons made with chemical fuels, relying on the destructive effects of high temperatures and air expansion... This puts them at least two generations behind the outside world's anti-mystery forces. Let's collect some more optical signals...]

A mirror-like reflection was projected in front of her. However, the reflection was a chaotic mess, making it impossible to discern a complete shape.

Is the interference too great? Damn it, the current operational precision isn't enough.

It seems we still need to focus on that strange woman.

She crossed the central passage of the mausoleum and soon saw Zheng Zha and his party waiting for her as instructed.

“We’re here! Margot Lloyd!” Zheng Zha exclaimed urgently. “Was that explosion outside just now your doing? You just said the Indian team was launching a surprise attack here?”

He paused for a moment when he saw the mummy guards behind Alice, but relaxed somewhat when he noticed the puppet strings. Evelyn and the others, however, were quite frightened and could barely speak.

Alice nodded quickly. As she walked forward, her gaze passed over the somewhat uneasy Zhang Jie and the distressed Xiao Honglu, whose entire plan had been overturned.

"Time is of the essence, and the plan has become what it is, so I won't go into too much detail. I'll just give you a general overview of the situation. Zheng Zha, relax. Your shield has broken, hasn't it? You'll need to be at the front in the coming days. I'm going to cast some supportive spells on you now. Don't try to resist them with your willpower."

She made a series of complex hand gestures in a flash, and immediately layers of light screens of different colors flashed continuously on Zheng Zha's body.

[Resilient Body] The tendons are sheathed by the flow of information, resulting in a strengthened structure and accelerated metabolism.

[Acupuncture Sensitivity] The weak electric current stimulates the nerves, enhancing their sensory abilities.

[Enhanced Reaction Ability] Key muscle groups are stimulated, leading to a rapid exchange of metal ions. Adrenaline begins to be secreted.

“I’ve taken control of most of Hamunaptra’s surface defenses, having previously used the scarab swarms to delay the Indians. I’ll leave some of these tomb guards behind to protect non-combat personnel.”

[Element Absorption Armor] A layer of seven-colored halo flashes by and will be activated when the corresponding element comes into contact with it.

【Anti-projection shield】A trigger-activated deflection field against high-speed objects.

[Mental Protection] An electromagnetic field that lies dormant on the surface of the brain and is activated when touched by abnormal brainwaves.

"Through optical observation, I confirmed that the Indian team consists of eleven people, three of whom are hypnotized newcomers. The captain is a monk who controls a multi-headed serpent. There is a psychic with his eyes closed, a muscular man, and a person wearing mechanical armor. In addition, there is a doctor of high status, and several veterans whose combat strength is currently uncertain but whose status is average."

[Concentration] The pineal gland is highly energized, forcing the brain to work at high speed.

【Vital Vision】A light screen that collects signals from the heat, heart rate, and oxygen exchange regions is projected onto the upper part of the retina.

[Trigger-based healing] A cluster of high-energy particles is embedded in the heart area, which can infiltrate the body fluid circulation at any time to accelerate cell self-healing.

"Of course, none of that matters. What matters is that there's a terrifying newcomer among them. I'm not sure how strong she is, but she's definitely stronger than you can imagine. That's the gist of it. Are you ready?" She finished speaking in half a minute.

Zheng Zha stared at his hands in astonishment. He could now clearly sense even the crawling of an ant within a fifteen-meter radius of him. Power was surging from his body, and a single punch felt like it could kill a mature alien—the kind that explodes.

He punched the stone wall beside him with 'slight force'. Instantly, a huge hole appeared—and this was without unlocking his genetic lock or using his internal energy or blood energy.

"His strength has increased by at least twice as much as usual, and his reaction speed and perception have also improved accordingly. His combat power... plus the gene lock state and internal energy enhancement... has increased by at least two times."

"These are just basic measures, with limited uses and durations. I've tried to avoid your energy system; since we have different systems, I'm not sure if there will be any conflicts. Don't worry about my energy consumption; this ancient city has now become my defensive stronghold, and its magic supply can be considered unlimited."

At this moment, Alice also cast a protective spell on Zhang Jie and Zero. She looked at Xiao Honglu and said quickly, "I will leave six tomb guardians here. I have already linked their contracts with Imhotep one-way, and they will obey your commands. You should know what to do. The scriptures should be with you, right?"

"Understood." Xiao Honglu plucked several strands of hair, instantly snapping out of his dejected state. "Although the previous plan failed, I won't mess up the next thing."

He understood perfectly what Alice was saying, and why she had left the tomb guards for him. He also knew why Alice hadn't made any arrangements for Qi Tengyi.

The strategy has been ruined, and the battle will be much more difficult than expected. If the win rate was previously around 70-80%, now it's at most 50%. Add to that the Indiana team rookie Alice mentioned, and the actual win rate will drop even further.

Therefore, insurance is necessary.

That is, when defeat is certain, kill the American who bears Imhotep's curse to fully resurrect Imhotep. Then have either Saito or Evelyn use the incantation from the Book of the Sun to bury it, thus ending the horror film "The Mummy".

As for why this strategy wasn't used from the beginning...

This is Zhongzhou Team's first team battle. If they choose to retreat without a fight, even with a 50% chance of winning, and dare not even engage in combat, then Zhongzhou Team's morale will be completely destroyed. If they encounter even more difficult situations later, their chances of survival will plummet to a dismal level. Therefore, this battle is imperative!

“Very good, I will send you a message when the time is right.” Alice looked at Zheng Zha and the others. “Do you understand the general situation? There are only about a quarter of the scarabs left. If you don’t want to fight them here, then we have a maximum of twenty… fifteen seconds left.”

"go!"

Zheng Zha took the lead, and Lingdian and Zhang Jie exchanged a glance before immediately following.

Soon, a thick cloud of smoke rushed towards us!

Author's Note:

..........................................

A tragic thing happened. Tomorrow I have to take a bus back to my hometown and then spend about a week without a computer until the 19th.

So updating will be a nightmare... Of course, I'll try my best to update using my phone. But the speed will probably be slower, and the formatting will be a big problem... I'm so sorry _(:з」∠)_

Chapter Twenty-Six: They Were Just Bait

Just as Stand users are drawn to each other, a mere muscle-bound warrior will only notice the other person at first glance.

Imani of the Indian team, Zheng Zha of the Central Continent team. When smoke and flames obscured their vision, but the distribution of the Indian team members was clearly visible under Zheng Zha's temporary life vision, something naturally happened.

Unlocking his genetic potential, Zheng Zha unleashed a burst of internal energy, his fists blazing with crimson blood flames. Without compromising his ability to continue fighting, Zheng Zha used his full power in his very first strike!

His speed was extremely fast, at least half as fast as usual with Alice's magical enhancement. He was almost able to break through the wind barrier and elevate his combat power to another level.

He arrived in front of the muscular Indians player in a split second, slightly slower than the explosion in the air, and slammed his raised fists down hard—

"Imani—!"