Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

And I need them too.

"We will survive together. And that requires the effort of each and every one of us."

“So let’s join hands.” He clenched his fist tightly. “I need you, I need the strength of each and every one of you. And for victory and survival, I need everyone’s unwavering belief in winning.”

"Gentlemen, the time has come to fight for survival. I am here, and I will fight alongside you."

He turned his head and glanced at Patchouli. She immediately understood, ended the communication, and then a thunderous cheer erupted from the crowd below.

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

A few minutes later, the two descended via an elevator along the side passage of the platform. After the brief speech earlier, Zheng Zha could clearly sense that Patchouli's attitude towards him had changed compared to when he first woke up.

He suddenly asked after the elevator had been descending for ten seconds.

"Are all witches like to test their students? This should be considered a test, right? How would you rate me?"

Patchouli raised an eyebrow.

"Sixty points, that's passing. At least you didn't mess things up."

"...Couldn't it be higher?"

“I think it’s a very reasonable assessment,” Patchouli shrugged. “And you don’t really need to worry about it too much. Fifty-nine and sixty are only one point apart, but the difference is whether you pass or fail. Since you’re already on the passing side, I will naturally help you from now on. You don’t need to dwell on my assessment of you.”

"Assist...?" Zheng Zha pondered these two words. He knew perfectly well that Patchouli was expressing her dissatisfaction, but at the same time, based on this dissatisfaction, she decided to help him and intended to put him in a leading position in the team's upcoming operations—although he didn't know why she was doing this, but...

...Being able to express her thoughts, to directly or indirectly reveal her emotions instead of hiding them perfectly as before, means that Norrell is now thinking and planning from the team's perspective. She has come to see herself as a member of the team, no longer the person she was before, who, despite appearing polite, only had eyes for Margot Lloyd, and everyone else was merely a tool to her.

[That's good.] Zheng Zha thought to himself.

By putting one's emotions and thoughts out in the open, it becomes merely an internal contradiction among the people, rather than a conflict of positions at the class level. And since it is an internal contradiction, it is natural to seek common ground while reserving differences and achieve dialectical unity—thinking of this, he couldn't help but look up at Patchouli and ask.

"Is there anything I can help with? I mean, besides the upcoming plans, is there anything else I can do? I think I can handle some of the physical work. Commanding and coordinating things... I can try my best to do that too?"

"………………" Patchouli looked at him with some surprise, staring at him for a full two seconds, her gaze almost making one wonder if she was observing some rare and unusual insect.

"I have to admit, I'm impressed with you, Captain Zheng Zha. You are indeed a leader with great potential, and giving you an extra twenty points wouldn't be a problem. However, let's leave the matter of helping out for now. You just mentioned the upcoming plan. So I think you already know what's going to happen."

"Jun Chen?"

“Yes, that’s right, it’s Jun Chen.” Patchouli nodded, stretching out her hand to create a screen of light in front of her eyes. A small asteroid, highlighted in the image, was located about five light-seconds outside the planet marked Earth, and was approaching Earth at a speed of seventy kilometers per second.

"The third trumpet of Revelation: Fungi will fall from the sky, destroying the earth and annihilating water sources—I discovered this asteroid three hours ago using observation instruments. It's thirty kilometers in diameter, very dense, and I suspect it contains a large amount of metallic material. Moreover, it's already very close to Earth and is still accelerating. It's expected to reach Earth in nine hours, and then... what awaits us is a meteorite strike similar to the extinction of the dinosaurs."

She stomped her foot and said.

"The impact point is right here, on this plain, above this base. According to preliminary calculations, the energy from this asteroid's impact is enough to blast the plains of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River into the Yangtze River bay. It's about the same as that meteorite that smashed out the Sichuan Basin and squeezed out the Hengduan Mountains and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau... Anyway, as long as this thing falls, everyone here will die."

"...Could we miss it?" Zheng Zha asked in a deep voice. "I once saw a movie called 'The Great Cataclysm.' The protagonist survived a cataclysmic event by drilling a hole inside an asteroid and detonating a nuclear bomb. Could we use the same strategy?"

“An interesting idea, but that alone won't do,” Patchouli shook her head. “The reason it’s called ‘Fungal Paste’ is because it contains deadly toxins. It could be some kind of bacteria, some kind of virus, some kind of radiation, or even some kind of curse… That’s fine, as long as we destroy them in outer space, we can end this disaster. But…”

“I just told you that if things don’t go according to ‘Heaven’s’ script, this world will generate memes. Tell me, would you rather deal with a crisis that is tangible and can be thoroughly studied, both inside and out, or would you rather face those illogical and unreasonable memes? Maybe you can get through it, but what about the others…” Patchouli didn’t finish her sentence, but both of them knew who she was referring to.

“Okay… I think it’s better to deal with the bacteria.” Zheng Zha clicked his tongue.

"That's what I think too, so I've arranged a special plan for you this time."

The elevator beneath their feet suddenly stopped, and the door opened, revealing a large laboratory filled with advanced technology. He saw many researchers in white lab coats working busily inside, and beyond them, he could see a complete set of heavy armor for equipping people in the center of the laboratory.

It was… a gigantic powered armor. Standing upright, it was about four meters tall, and judging from the specifications of its cockpit, Zheng Zha felt that its size was very suitable for him. Next to this armor were many heavy weapons that could be suspended and mounted. Once deployed, it would undoubtedly be a powerful combat platform capable of both offense and defense.

"This is equipment used in outer space; I think you'll find it useful."

"The operation plan is simple. I will arrange six launch vehicles to send you and other relevant combat personnel to the corresponding airspace. Others will be responsible for supporting you, and all you need to do is successfully board that 'bacterial chrysalis,' destroy it, and then take a harmless part from it and bring it to the designated closed area on the ground to complete the third language of Revelation. In this way, the meme will not be generated, and the chrysalis will not cause any damage to the human world."

She took a soft breath and then looked at Zheng Zha intently.

"The ceremony has been established. You have been recognized as the sole recognized leader on this planet, the King, and the Great Sovereign. Therefore, this operation is named..."

"Open the heavens!"

Chapter 18: Rewriting the Myth, Continuing the Epic

The creation of heaven and earth—the ability to create heaven and earth…or rather, the qualification to do so—is something only those ancestors of all gods, standing at the very pinnacle of mythology, could bear in the name of such a responsibility, even in mythology and legend. In the Aegean Sea, it is Chaos; in Northern Europe, it is Ymir; in India, it is Brahma; and in China, it is only Pangu.

The *Sanwu Liji* records: "Heaven and earth were in chaos, like a chicken egg, and Pangu was born within it. After 18,000 years, heaven and earth were separated; the clear yang became heaven, and the turbid yin became earth. Pangu was in the midst of it, changing nine times a day, becoming a god in heaven and a sage on earth." This passage vividly describes Pangu's power. More divine than heaven and more sage than earth, both the ways of heaven and humanity must yield before him. Only those who possessed such power were qualified to create heaven and earth.

This isn't something just anyone can do. Nor is it something just anyone can mention. When Patchouli uttered that word, Zheng Zha felt a chill run down his spine, a coldness rising from his tailbone to his brainstem, then exploding in his brain, making him incredibly clear-headed.

"You didn't just come up with this name randomly, did you?" Zheng Zha slowly exhaled a long breath, the breath forming a straight white line that struck the floor. "When I used to work in a company, the boss often came up with random names for work plans. For example, he'd call a promotion 'The Great Harvest' or a Mid-Autumn Festival event 'The Moonlit Tour Group.' But back then, all the employees knew he was just letting loose. But I don't think you'd be this... childlike, would you?"

“Of course not,” Patchouli continued, guiding Zheng Zha toward the center of the laboratory hall without stopping. The researchers on both sides parted to make way for them. Strangely, however, their work rhythm was not interrupted in the slightest. Zheng Zha couldn't even hear any conversation between them, and no one even glanced at him.

"Do you know how the 'heaven' of this world designs the script for the world? The principle is very simple. It's like when you used to do exercises. By constantly repeating, repeating, repeating, and repeating again, this creates something similar to muscle memory in this world, this planet." She stretched out her hand and constructed the shape of an onion in the air. Then, rivers and mountains appeared on the surface of the onion. A few seconds later, the onion transformed into a rotating planet.

This is Earth, the planet beneath their feet.

“Layer upon layer, time and time again. Civilizations are constantly created, destroyed, destroyed, and recreated—I previously investigated the geology of this planet and some ancient ruins, and confirmed one thing from it. That is, the same course of civilization has been repeated on this planet at least three thousand times. In other words, this world has experienced at least three thousand destructions.”

Even for a slow learner, repeating a simple task three thousand times makes it difficult to make a mistake. And while planets aren't people, the workings of history probably aren't a particularly difficult undertaking for them.

Patchouli snapped her fingers, and the planet formed from the onion turned into dust.

"The script of 'Heaven' is just like this. The repetition over this long period of time has formed a huge historical inertia. Including the Doomsday Judgment, if we hinder the Doomsday Judgment and prevent the sounding of Angel VII, then we will be going against Heaven and against this world at the same time. Not only will memes appear, but this planet itself will also become our enemy."

"While going with the flow is fine, I plan to use the same strategy for the previous underground volcanic eruption and the subsequent fall of the fungus. Theoretically, we need to stay on this planet for twelve days, so our final enemy will be the sixth horn of the Doomsday Judgment, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse released from the ancient seal."

She turned her head and looked at Zheng Zha.

“I’m not confident I can handle those things, and I don’t know how to stop them from appearing. So I have to rewrite the script of ‘Heaven’ to end the Doomsday Judgment early and directly enter the history of the next era. This way, at least we can be free from the worries of ‘memes’, and the Doomsday Judgment will become unnecessary after the new era begins. On this basis, I will have a way to gain the support of this planet itself.”

“And if we want to usher in a new era, the first step is to create the world.” Patchouli explained. Before she knew it, she had brought Zheng Zha to the very center of the laboratory. The huge powered armor, which was fixed by many heavy machines, was slowly lowered. From close up, many mysterious arcane runes carved on the metal body, which was covered by a semi-transparent material, were clearly visible. Immeasurable and enormous energy slowly surged, as if the armor itself had a life and could breathe.

"Do you understand, Captain Zheng Zha?" She snapped her fingers, and the massive armor was activated. The flexible pod for the pilot slowly opened, ready for combat at any moment.

"I will rewrite the history of this planet, continuing the broken epic. Then, before the final victory arrives, I will grant freedom to all sentient beings on this planet. And 'Creation of Heaven' is the most important step, the most crucial step—you have now gained the recognition of billions of mortals on Earth, and with the arrangements I made beforehand, you can now be considered the King of Humans. Although you are still a bit short of the rank of Creator of Heaven, you..." She paused for about half a second. "...No problem."

Zheng Zha felt as if he had returned to the time when he first met Margot Lloyd. His mind was blank and bewildered. He had guessed that Norrell would play a big game, but he hadn't expected it to be this big—to manipulate the flow of fate and the changes in history with the power of a mere individual. This was something he had never imagined before.

“Don’t underestimate witches. Once a woman sets her mind on something, she can do things that exceed the expectations of those self-proclaimed heroes.” Patchouli added, seemingly sensing Zheng Zha’s current state of mind. “What you need to do next is put on this armor, then take the rocket straight into space, destroy the fungal formation, and bring down the stone containing its internal structure—the third horn has been sounded, and it’s best to let what has already happened be carried out to the end. As for anything else, if you have any questions that need answering, then this is the final moment for our conversation.”

"…………"

Zheng Zha shook his head.

“You’ve explained it very clearly, I have nothing more to say.” His gaze swept over the white-clad researchers who ignored the two of them, engrossed in their work. He could feel the blood flowing and the heartbeats emanating from them. But the sounds were perfectly synchronized, the same blood flow, the same heartbeat, as precise and flawless as a machine—no, they were machines, machines transformed from humans.

Transforming people into mechanical beings is undoubtedly an evil act. But since Norrell has so openly displayed everything happening here before her eyes, it means she is not afraid of such questions. And judging from the incredibly vast factory base outside, and the apocalyptic landscape outside... what she has done probably cannot be considered evil at this moment.

"I have no other questions." Zheng Zha closed his eyes, and when he opened them again two seconds later, his gaze was pure and free of any distractions. "Let's set off now. How do I get on the rocket? Or is it enough to just get in this armored vehicle?"

“Just get on it.” Patchouli nodded. “Xiao Honglu and his team’s rocket has already taken off. You’ll need to get to outer space to connect with Zhan Lan’s mental communication, and she will then inform you of the detailed battle plan. They will also be mainly responsible for providing support.”

"...You stayed on the ground?"

"I'll stay on the ground."

Zheng Zha nodded, and with a nimble leap, he entered the power armor's loading bay. The surrounding machinery immediately sprang into action, transporting the armor and its pilot into the transmission channel.

“Well, I think I still have a question to ask,” the man suddenly asked from inside the semi-open capsule. “Norege, you rated me sixty or eighty. So, what would Margot Lloyd’s rating be?”

“Not a single cent,” Patchouli replied without hesitation.

"Not even a single cent?"

“She is a part of me, and I am a part of her. She is me, and I am her. I don’t need to rate myself.”

“…Really? I see. No wonder you two look so alike.” Zheng Zha nodded. The next moment, the machine carrying the power armor started operating, sending him into the tunnel. Two minutes later, Patchouli received a report that the rocket had successfully launched.

—Only then did she turn her gaze away from the direction of the transport corridor.

“Alright, it will take him at least an hour to reach the designated airspace. This period is a buffer time for him to get used to operating the power armor. We can leave the guidance and assistance to the AI. This way, I can save some energy to do other things during this time.” Patchouli snapped her fingers.

The next moment, a third of the researchers busy in the laboratory immediately stopped and switched to other tasks. A large instrument used for transcontinental remote monitoring then unfolded to the side of her field of vision, projecting a topographical map of the Greek region before her eyes.

"Report on the current progress of the investigation into the Greek abyss, and compile all the progress into a report and project it."

The information she needed was organized and clearly displayed on the instrument within ten seconds, and the pages scrolled rapidly. Two seconds later, she had completely reviewed the hundreds of thousands of words of text and images and reached a conclusion.

"Still no results... Tsk, Alice, you idiot, why can't you just give me a break? If you don't come out soon, I'll just have to annihilate all the matter in that area, dig a hole all the way to the Earth's core, and forcibly drag you out." She gently bit her lower lip, stretched out her finger, and pressed hard on her forehead. Her rapidly working thoughts finally cooled down a little, giving her brain a few seconds of temporary relief.

—But it was only a few seconds. A brief…yet long few seconds.

This is her territory, where her magic is virtually limitless. Therefore, Zheng Zha's ability to maintain accelerated thinking for even a few seconds, despite her best efforts, is now a fixed, constant state for her. Over 95% of her brain's computational capacity has been completely occupied since she took over the Lop Nur base and launched the rescue operation, and has been used to handle various critical matters in the fight against the Doomsday Judgment.

The Great Library's computing power was already nearing its limit in controlling the robot army and maintaining the operation of numerous large factories. The remaining resources had to be used to maintain some critical research projects within the library. Therefore, when she decided to rewrite the epic destiny of the mortal world, she had to pay for the computing power required to maintain the base that housed hundreds of millions of people herself.

It wasn't that she didn't want to leave—she desperately wanted to fly straight to Greece. But that wouldn't work; if she left the base, it would cease functioning due to chaos within fifteen seconds. And within half an hour, morale here would completely collapse.

She couldn't leave, so she had to stay here. And every second she spent here was more agonizing than the last.

She pondered for about five seconds.

"Zhu Wen, come to Lab 7," she said, and her will was immediately obeyed. About three minutes later, Zhu Wen, a new Reincarnator dressed in the same white coat as the researchers in the lab, appeared in her sight—neither she nor Wang Xia had been assigned outer space support missions by Patchouli. Compared to Wang Xia, who had been assigned to the military to independently command a human legion, Patchouli wasn't entirely at ease with this woman.

Therefore, she kept this woman inside the base, assigning her some research tasks in a laboratory that Zheng Zha didn't need to access. This woman was fully aware of her situation.

"A new mission? Ms. Norege?" Zhu Wen's gaze swept across the empty center of the laboratory. It lingered briefly on the machine-like researchers. "Looks like Captain Zheng has already set off... Will I get a new role, like those 'staff'?"

Patchouli gave her a cold glance.

"Eliminating the emotional part of their brains and mechanizing their minds was a voluntary choice they made so that they could be useful in this catastrophe. Otherwise, they would have no way of understanding advanced technology that is beyond this era or even belongs to another scientific system in a day or two. Knowledge indoctrination would also be out of the question. I did not use any coercive methods in this process, and you don't need to worry that I will ignore your wishes and erase your emotional thinking."

"You talk as if you're so selfless." Zhu Wen looked at Patchouli with the same cold gaze. "I won't forget that you killed me, but I will keep my promise and obey your orders until the end of this world. So, what do you want from me? Are you finally willing to let me out?"

“That’s right, there’s a mission for you to carry out. The relevant report will be sent to you via electronic communication.” Patchouli withdrew her gaze and focused on something more important. “It’s fine if you hate me, that’s your freedom, I won’t interfere. But I think you should also know—there’s no such thing as a free lunch, and every gain comes at a price.”

Zhu Wen raised an eyebrow, her previously cold demeanor vanishing in an instant. A bitter smile appeared on her lips, and she lowered her head, took out a pair of black-rimmed glasses from her pocket, wiped them, and put them on her nose.

She had never worn glasses before.

“Ah, yes, I know.” She looked up, but her gaze did not fall on Patchouli.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Every adventure... comes at a price.

Section 19. Transitions and Foreshadowing

Ah, that's right. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Every adventure and gain comes at a price. For power and the authority that power brings, even ordinary people are willing to give up family, love, health, self-respect... and most of them are unaware of this.

They are unaware of what they have lost, or even that they have ever experienced a phase of 'loss'. They take these 'losses' for granted, as if they were commonplace. Only in the future, when they regret the choices they made at that moment, will they sigh, realize, and lament the treasures they lost in the past.

However, no matter what, the lost treasures can never be recovered. Just like the passing of time, once it's gone, nothing can be reversed.