Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

“You heard things you shouldn’t have heard. You saw things you shouldn’t have seen. Theoretically, unless it’s an observation method that transcends the dimensions of space and time, nothing inside this shield can be transmitted to the outside. If you really had that power, I wouldn’t be alive now. And you could have taken me away before I deployed the shield… but you didn’t.”

She stared coldly at the open elevator doors at the end of her line of sight, and clearly sensed a sense of exasperation emanating from them.

"To accomplish something beyond one's talent, yet be unable to utilize it effectively, only able to exercise its power according to some inexplicable logic? Tsk, this feeling seems to be a 'meme.' How can this wretched world continue to exist with such illogical things existing?" She tapped her forehead in frustration, but the distressed expression quickly vanished.

"No, this world didn't continue because of the existence of 'memes.' Rather, it was because it stopped continuing that 'memes' were created. So there are two possibilities. First, it's Bina's harvesting mechanism. Although this is inconsistent with the angels' operating system, who knows how many inexplicable things that crazy woman has created in the past 600 million years?"

"Secondly, these so-called 'memes' are things that only arise because the world ceases to continue. And the reason Binaju harvests and restarts the world is to eliminate or seal away this thing's existence? Damn, if it's really the second case, then that's troublesome… not on my side, but on Alice's side. If she hasn't observed two anomalies simultaneously like I have, and obtained a reference point, then she can't make a decisive judgment. She has to find more information to obtain accurate evidence. And with her indecisive and cautious personality… she's probably already digging into the rock strata, searching for information from the Old World era. That idiot!"

Patchouli let out a heavy sigh. Ever since her teammates mysteriously disappeared, she had been acting, using her words, actions, and schemes to provoke them into responding, in order to gather as much information as possible about this inexplicably appearing enemy. Now, her intelligence-gathering work had come to an end, but the final conclusion left her extremely distressed.

"So it wasn't me they were plotting against, but Alice. Then the information-obscuring properties of the Stellar Extraction Tower must be a crucial element in this scheme. Because once I establish contact with her, all those messy schemes and tricks will fail... Was the previous plan a little lacking? I clearly calculated from the beginning that the Stellar Extraction Tower might interfere with information flow when absorbing solar storms."

The girl's fingers gently caressed the handle on the control panel. As her emotions became unstable, her fingers unconsciously made some small movements that represented 'unease'.

[However, killing her will be very difficult. After the communication was cut off, her overly cautious nature will inevitably become more apparent. She will definitely use all her strength to construct a simulated divine kingdom to protect herself. During the time the simulated divine kingdom is unfolding, to harm her, it would require an absolutely massive amount of force or a direct attack with fourth-tier transcendental power. There's no need to worry about Zhao Yingkong. Since Alice has taken action, she will definitely make targeted arrangements against Zhao Yingkong. It's not that Zhao Yingkong only has the advantage over that... that's even less of a concern, and considering it is useless. As for an absolutely massive amount... one possibility is a high-energy impact projected from the Earth's core, which we can ignore for now. Another possibility is... the stellar extraction tower malfunctioned, releasing solar wind directly above her!]

[Has it come full circle and come back to me? As long as I stay here, the tower will be fine, and as long as the Stellar Extraction Tower is fine, she'll be alright. But if I don't leave the tower, the others in that alternate dimension are practically on death row. And losing such important combat power under such an unclear situation… has this bunch of nonsensical things gone this far in their schemes against me? And my earlier probing, revealing its spatial coordinates… was that also part of their plan?]

She stared at the elevator door. Just moments before, as she was about to unleash the magic cannon, she had pinpointed a trace of outer space, confirming the possibility of interference and concluding that Zheng Zha and the others would be killed by that cannon shot. But what if the scenario was even worse… what if the other side deliberately let her know that Zheng Zha and the others were inside, intentionally revealing their coordinates to give her the possibility of intrusion?

I was initially inside the Stellar Extraction Tower and hadn't left it even a step. Even before the energy shield was lowered, the tower was protected by a dense and comprehensive array of magical formations, like countless stars. It's not unreasonable that the other side couldn't directly interfere with me.

Afterwards, he used his avatar, which the opponent destroyed; he tested the waters with a magic cannon, and the opponent responded with coordinates. The ultimate goal was to force him to leave the Stellar Extraction Tower's operating platform, because only such a device could kill the two of them on the surface, where fourth-tier transcendental power was lacking. Even if it failed, it could destroy the surface, thwarting most of his previous plans. To achieve this, the opponent deliberately revealed his coordinates and the whereabouts of Zheng Zha and the others!

This was an open strategy, leaving Patchouli with only two paths. Either she could infiltrate that alternate dimension based on the coordinates, leaving the Stellar Extraction Tower vulnerable for a short time while rescuing Zheng Zha and the others, potentially endangering herself and Alice. The second option was to ignore it, in which case the safety of her teammates held hostage would be questionable. Losing them would render many plans unworkable, drastically reducing her chances of survival in subsequent battles.

One must choose between long-term concerns and immediate worries. But whichever one chooses, following the other side's lead means that one has already put oneself in a very passive position.

"Ugh... Damn it." Patchouli bit her lower lip tightly. "It's similar to my incomplete deduction earlier, a dilemma. And now I lack a way to break the deadlock... Wasn't the destruction of the doll simply to provoke me?"

“There’s no other way.” She slowly stood up from the control panel. “I have a lot of confidence in Alice’s abilities, and I’m also confident in my own abilities and the protection of the Stellar Extraction Tower. It’s just a risk, right? After all these years… this level of crisis isn’t exactly a death sentence!”

She gritted her teeth slightly, preparing to adjust the locked spatial coordinates before stepping out of the protective barrier. However, the moment she lifted her first foot, a violent tremor came from the ground.

—The mechanical legion that Alice called for before diving arrived at Lop Nur.

Author's Note:

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

At one o'clock, just as I was about to upload, WPS suddenly crashed, and I was completely dumbfounded.

A small announcement

First of all, this isn't a request for leave, nor is it a statement about abandoning or stopping updates. It's simply a matter of some concern about the current situation.

The Death Apocalypse volume is quite long, and the results... well, they were just so-so. Perhaps I'm still lacking in handling this kind of almost entirely original script. Although I feel good about myself, the audience will vote with their feet.

In short... I'll probably keep going. Since I've come this far, I should at least bring this story to a complete close. Then, the next two or three chapters will return to the original storyline. This fanfiction is almost turning into original content... and there are definitely some issues.

...Maybe I should just start some random projects to regain my confidence?

Well, whatever, that's it. I posted this announcement in the middle of the day, and ended up saying a bunch of things that even I don't understand. I'm so done with myself.

Um, lastly, can anyone still reading say something here? Even just a simple "1" would be helpful. I feel... I think I'm about to give up...

Section Thirteen: Tracing Back Through Time, Touching the Past from the Present

Alice's will sank into the sea of ​​information. Upon contacting this black continent, she clearly sensed the massive amount of information hidden within the mantle, a collection of information piled up like a silent mountain range.

She didn't touch them immediately.

My guess was correct; the records I hoped for are indeed stored within this black mantle. For billions of years, information generated from the Earth's surface has continuously radiated outwards. Some remained in the sky, decaying with the passage of time, the remnants becoming fuel for my spells. Some crossed the sky, entered space, and were cast into the depths of starry heavens. The rest sank into the Earth's depths, leaving imprints within this mantle.

She 'gazed' at those slumbering ancient messages, while her outer shell quietly sank into the mantle. The Edo-era humanoid figure representing Pluto shifted to the bottom, forming a protective barrier and a passage connecting the earth's veins.

This is the mantle, and from a mythological perspective, it is the deepest part of the earth, even deeper than the River Styx. This is Tartarus, the darkest place sealing away ancient memories. And Pluto… that is, Hades, is the only deity authorized to govern this place. Naturally, he is also its best protector.

The mantle is immutable... Geological changes on the Earth's surface at most affect the asthenosphere. Therefore, theoretically, the information in the mantle will not change no matter how much time passes.

[The Emperor stated that she arrived here 600 million years ago. She also mentioned the difference between original, external, and pseudo-canon texts. This implies that in previous eras, she did not, as she did this time, bombard the planet's surface by breaking it down into molecules over a thousand kilometers on the final day. In other words, in previous epochal shifts, the cleansing did not reach below the Earth's crust. Therefore, if I want to obtain records from the previous era, this is the only way.]

The witch pondered, reviewing all her arrangements—everything was ready; even if her will were drawn into the mantle, her body would not be harmed. Even in the event of an accident, she could be instantly awakened by the spell and quickly recover.

So now, only one last thing remains. If one can immerse oneself in the mantle and find the record one needs, then this journey will be complete.

However, before her consciousness could sink deeper, a new question arose in her mind. Was her action this time... truly guided entirely by her own will? Was the key information she obtained truly objective and accurate?

[Was the Emperor telling me all this a way of luring me to the mantle? The fact that the surface would be destroyed in seven days—that was a hint, wasn't it? And the others… At the time, it didn't seem like a big deal, but now I feel like every word she said has a deeper meaning… Ah, I'm being silly. Would someone like her, an ancient being who's lived for hundreds of millions of years, really say things that are worthless?]

The girl gently shook her head, trying her best to eliminate even the slightest distracting thought from her mind.

Yes, whether she did it intentionally or unintentionally, once I got here, I had nowhere to turn but to grit my teeth and keep going. So…

Let's connect everything.

The next moment, she was completely immersed in the ocean of information.

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

As time turns, the events of the past reappear in Alice's eyes in reverse chronological order.

Several years ago...

She stood atop the World Trade Center, watching two large passenger planes, each full of passengers, crash into the building below. Flames and thick smoke billowed from every window, while shattered stones fell from the sky, accompanied by the screams of the dying, creating patches of gray, white, black, and red on the ground.

She picked up a cell phone and made a call to the police.

Decades ago...

She stood on the edge of Tiananmen Square, watching the red flag rise, the army march past in neat formations, flowers and applause, celebrations and songs. Countless people cheered loudly, for a new and great nation representing a quarter of the world's population had been established.

She reached out and let a petal fall into her palm.

One hundred years ago...

She stood on the deck of the Zhiyuan, listening to the near-collapse roar of the engine room boilers. Sailors roared and yelled, following their captain, who was battered and bruised by the gunfire. The waves before her were then cleaved into surging white streaks by the rapidly advancing ship. And in the distance, the massive silhouette of the Yoshino was already close at hand.

She patted a sailor on the shoulder so he could see the torpedoes being fired from under the Yoshino.

Two hundred years ago...

She sat on the viewing platform of Notre Dame Cathedral, watching the young French emperor, amidst gasps of astonishment, receive the crown, a symbol of imperial power, from the Pope and be crowned. Then, cannons roared, the crowd cheered, and the grand, continuous celebrations began.

She raised a glass of wine and spilled the crimson liquid onto the ground.

Five hundred years ago...

Rome's glory was extinguished. As the Ottomans, with their monstrous cannons, breached the walls of Constantinople, and the Turks, clad in pointed hats, swarmed in, slaughtering the city's civilians, she walked through the solemn Hagia Sophia. She saw countless terrified Romans bracing themselves against the gates, weeping and praying, yet the Turks still breached their pitiful defenses, trampling their lives and Roman history into dust.

She donned a monk's robe and offered a prayer for the terrified people before the church was smashed.

A thousand years ago...

The First Crusade began, with the most powerful and devout warriors from Western Europe gathering at the foot of Constantinople. They crossed the sea into Asia Minor, and Alice followed them into Seljuk—the city of Lycaia, the ancestral home of the Turks. Old and young, men and women alike, anyone who did not believe in God was slaughtered, their bodies hung on crosses, and the entire city became a playground for scavenging hyenas and crows.

She lowered the bodies from the cross so they could be buried in the ground.

Two thousand years ago...

Alice's fingers traced the ground of 'Golgotha,' beside her stood a Roman soldier holding a spear. Beside the soldier were three upright crosses. Two thieves nailed to the left and right crosses had already died under the blazing sun. The one in the middle, however, remained steadfast, gazing at the sky, refusing to close his eyes. He seemed to say something, and the Roman spearman then took a step forward, puzzled.

She then pushed him away, causing the spear tip to pierce the middle man's ribs, resulting in a spray of blood and water.

Three thousand years ago...

When David hurled stones and defeated Goliath, the giant of the Philistines, Alice stood behind him, watching the trajectory of the stones. When King Saul, jealous of David, sent his army to kill him, Alice watched him escape to heaven. She watched him defeat the Philistines, watched him be anointed king amidst the cheers of the people. She watched him kill Bathsheba's husband, Uriah, his loyal soldier, in order to possess Bathsheba. Then she watched him lose his wife and children, leaving only Solomon as his sole survivor.

She anointed Solomon's forehead with ointment and made him king.

Five thousand years ago...

The armies of the Yellow Emperor and Chi You clashed on the plains of Zhuolu. There was no Yinglong, no Nüba, no Fengbo, no Yushi. Yet, a storm still raged across the battlefield. She then crafted a compass chariot and deployed it into the fray, thus deciding the outcome of the battle.

She watched Chi You fall, and then placed an iron decapitation sword beside him.

Ten thousand years ago...

Human civilization was still in its infancy at this time. She came to the banks of the great river and watched the indigenous people, armed with simple stone tools, struggling to survive. So she personally taught them, showing them how to cultivate crops, how to herd livestock, and how to craft sharp weapons to defend against attacking beasts. She spent a lot of time… yet, in the records of history, she actually consumed no time. It's just that when she set off, her tribe had become exceptionally powerful, more powerful than anyone else of her time.

She took nothing with her, but left behind a nascent civilization that exists only in records.

One hundred thousand years ago...

In this era, humans could not yet be called humans. Or rather, they were deciding who could be called humans and thus occupy this land. When Alice arrived, Homo sapiens were at a disadvantage, while Neanderthals were the dominant species—or so it should have been.

However, when Alice landed in this era and opened her eyes, what greeted her was an endless, vast, bountiful field.

Golden, abundant rice paddies, laden with large grains, stretched to the horizon.

The earth was covered with all sorts of beautiful and safe exotic flowers and plants, and the trees were laden with abundant fruit. Clear rivers flowed past her feet; there were four rivers, each one crystal clear. She could see many beautiful gems and gold scattered on the riverbed, and as she traveled upstream, she saw a tall tree at the end of her vision.

here it is……

“Eden.” Alice gently touched the rice stalks, savoring the fragrance of the crop from ancient records, and then sniffed the air. She then picked a fresh fruit from a nearby tree and began to walk slowly toward the tall tree.

She saw two children under the tree, a boy and a girl. Their skin was healthy, and their eyes were pure. They had no strange germs in their bodies, and they were only dressed in simple linen. When Alice came before them, they were also curiously looking at her.

"Big sister, are you an angel too?" The girl's accent was closer to that of the Greeks, with a slightly strange modern accent. Her eyes were wide open, showing no fear or apprehension—the boy, on the other hand, shyly hid behind the girl, not daring to speak.

“I am not an angel, I am Alice.” The witch knelt down before her, looking directly into her eyes. “Can you tell me your name? What is an angel, and how did you get here?”

“I am Eve, it’s nice to meet you, big sister Lilith.” The girl’s accent was still strange, but it didn’t pose a problem for the conversation. “I told Adam’s parents that our house would soon be burned down by fire from heaven. So we had to leave, and then the angels appeared. They could fly and had beautiful white wings. They took us onto a very strange ship, and when we woke up, we were already here.”

Alice did not correct the slip of her tongue.

"A strange ship, are there many of them? Did the angels say anything to you?"

“There are so many, so many.” The girl gestured “so many” with all her might. “The ships were silver, gleaming with white light. They were like huge cones, carrying us from the ground into the sky. But the angels didn’t seem to like talking much; they ignored me. They were so eager to whisper in my ear at first.”

The girl seemed a little frustrated, so the boy gently tugged at her clothes to comfort her.

“I understand.” Alice nodded. She knew she couldn't get any more information from the girl, and in fact, she didn't need any more. From the girl, she knew she was a remnant of the previous era. She was an Awakened One, one of the kind of people the angels wanted to protect and contain at the end of this era. As for the rest… she would have to return to an even more ancient time to witness it with her own eyes.

“Good girl, you’ve done your sister a great favor.” Alice smiled and ruffled Eva’s soft hair. A strand of hair landed in her hand and was quickly tucked into her safe pocket. She then took out a fruit she had picked from the tree not long ago and placed it in the girl’s hand. “Here, have this. It should taste quite good.”

A happy smile spread across the girl's face, while the boy, though still somewhat wary, couldn't help but feel a hint of envy as he watched the girl happily munching on the fruit. He figured it wouldn't be long before he went to find fruit to eat himself.

Soon, Alice left them and continued to travel back in time, moving further upstream in history.

Using the girl's hair as a guide, she pinpointed the exact time. The moment she opened her eyes again, she saw a city teeming with people, thick smoke billowing, and an indescribable heat pervading the world. The sky was ablaze with fiery red flames!

The calamity's flames fell from the heavens.