Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

She briefly mentioned the strategy of 'mending the sky' at the end, but didn't go into details. Zheng Zha was satisfied and shut up after learning that she had a feasible plan, and stopped asking about other issues.

"...In short, the final judgment is inevitable, because it is a fixed system. As long as the world is not destroyed, the seven horns of doom will sound one by one. Now is the time for the third horn, 'Fungus.' I will now complete the ritual of 'Fungus,' and we still have some time to rest before the fourth horn sounds."

Alice explained as she guided the others to follow her down the elevator towards the lower part of the base. A few minutes later, the elevator stopped. When the group stepped out, they were met with an underground waterway that resembled an endless abyss.

Water, endless water, boundless water.

The enclosed, suspended platform beneath our feet is the only man-made structure here. Looking out from this platform, through a one-way light barrier, all we can see is the endless ceiling of the cave and the few man-made areas above the platform covered in metal.

Beneath the base lies a massive underground cavern filled with water, from which the base's water supply presumably originates. The sheer volume of water here, capable of sustaining hundreds of millions of people and billions of machines, is unimaginable.

"We...we're going to use this to treat 'Fungal Aggregates'?" Zheng Zha looked at the vast, deep waters stretching as far as the eye could see. Even with the powerful lights illuminating the area, his eyesight was still failing him to discern the boundaries of the waters. He had already read the Book of Revelation in the New Testament dozens of times over the past few days; he could practically recite it from memory. Therefore, Alice's intentions were quite clear.

"Is it really okay to just waste all of this? There are so many people above us..."

“It’s alright, there are plenty of alternatives,” Alice explained, noticing the change in Zheng Zha’s expression. She then added, “I have other water sources as reserves. And this water might even be usable again. This is a necessary step to safely conclude the Third Horn.”

"Of course, the fourth and fifth horns are actually quite easy to handle, so the time for rest... or rather, for preparing for battle may be much longer than you expect. The real challenge is the sixth horn, which is our twelfth day on this earth. That will be the final battle, and also the most difficult one."

"Like the last day in the Ju-on 2 storyline?" Zhan Lan asked.

"Yes, just like the last wave of Kayako you encountered in the Ju-on 2 world. I think you should have read the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Bible. The sixth trumpet refers to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. War, famine, plague, death... Of course, depending on the source, sometimes famine and plague will become killing and famine. But there is no difference. When the twelfth day comes, we will all have to find a way to deal with them head-on."

"Isn't there a clever way? Sister Alice, do we really have to go head-to-head with them?"

“There’s no escaping it. The Doomsday Judgment will automatically proceed to the next step once the conditions are met.” Alice shook her head, emphasizing some of the findings she had made underground. “As I just told you, I used magic to browse the history of this planet, and the Doomsday Judgment has been carried out many times in this world.”

“I’m confident I can handle the first five. Even if I’m not around, Patsy can manage. Unfortunately, no civilization in any era can last until the sixth horn sounds. So I have to estimate the enemy’s strength to the maximum extent possible. If we’re unlucky, we might encounter four superhumans equivalent to the fourth stage of the Gene Lock.”

"Even with the rituals we prepared, it was useless?"

“The rituals are merely a means to enhance our power,” Alice continued, shaking her head. “The purpose of rewriting mythology for me is to bring order to a chaotic informational environment, thus creating the prerequisites for unleashing powerful magic. For you, performing the deeds of the gods or heroes in mythology allows you to possess the powers of those heroes during the rituals. For example, Zheng Zha, after you completed the project of ‘creating the world,’ you could use the ritual to deceive the world into believing you were ‘Pangu.’ And as ‘Pangu,’ you would naturally possess the power of Pangu.”

She looked at Zheng Zha and asked, "Have you felt that your strength, speed, reaction time, resilience, and even your physical destructive power have all increased significantly?"

Without waiting for Zheng Zha's reply, she looked directly past him to the remaining people.

"It's not just you; others can also strengthen themselves in this way. For example, Zhang Heng can acquire the power of 'Yi' by completing the feat of 'Yi Shooting Down the Suns,' since archery is your most suitable skill anyway. Xiao Honglu can also barely cover up the legend of 'Yang Jian' to acquire the power of 'Manifesting Sage True Lord.' Of course, compared to the original power in mythology, it is naturally far inferior. But it should be enough to participate in the upcoming war."

As she spoke, she gestured towards the top of the underground reservoir. With a mechanical whirring sound, a robotic arm grabbed the box containing the 'Fungal Essence' stone core and lowered it from the metal area above the cave. The next moment, the box was thrown into the water, where it exploded into countless fingernail-sized fragments.

The water boiled instantly—no, not from high temperature, but from some unusual chemical reaction occurring within it. The reaction area expanded rapidly, covering the entire body of water within several people's field of vision in just a few seconds.

What happened in these waters? Nobody knows.

But everyone present could guess that it was definitely not a change that would benefit the drinker's physical or mental health.

"[When the third angel sounded his trumpet, a giant star, burning like a torch, fell from the sky into one-third of the rivers, streams, and springs. This star was called 'King Jumbo,' and it made one-third of the water bitter; many people died from drinking this bitter water.]"

"'Many people' is just a general term; it doesn't matter whether they exist or not. But the water here is indeed one-third of the remaining water in all the rivers and streams on this planet. The water sources on the Earth's surface and underground have been evaporated by lava and turned into the almost never-dissipating thunderclouds in the sky. The only place where there is still water is underground in East China."

"Thus, the third horn has ended, and the 'Fungal Bacteria' disaster is over. Since one-third of the water has been contaminated, there won't be another 'Fungal Bacteria' suddenly appearing and crashing into the base, poisoning a large number of people. Our main task for today is complete. Next is your strengthening before the final battle. If you have any other matters to attend to, please speak up now. I will try my best to adjust the time."

Her gaze swept over everyone, but before she could nod as she usually did and say, "Very well, since no one has anything to do, I'll take charge of the rest," Zheng Zha interrupted her.

"My enhancement should be over by now, so I shouldn't be involved in the next ceremony, right?"

“…Yes, that’s right.” Alice hesitated for a moment before replying, “But there’s a possibility of oversights in the ritual, so your combat strength is still important unless you have something you absolutely must do.”

“I plan to go to Greece and bring Sakura and the survivors over there. You mentioned when you were in the tower that their condition wasn’t good, and I think it’s necessary to bring Sakura and those poor souls back.”

Alice lowered her eyes and thought for a few seconds.

"You've really changed a lot, but it's alright. After all, heroes always like to lead the times." She stretched out her hand, summoned a light screen, and then quickly and dazzlingly manipulated it.

“Alright,” she nodded to Zheng Zha. “I’ve arranged a tour route. We’ll depart in fifteen minutes. A mixed force of an air fleet and an army group will accompany you. The rookie Wang Xia will be in a military position. You can give him some pointers along the way.”

"Thank you." Zheng Zha nodded and said nothing more.

"Therefore, this plan needs to be revised again. Some parts need to be adjusted or rearranged. The enhancement of the others will be postponed for now. Fortunately, today's Apocalypse Horn has ended, and I have prepared a response plan for the next two days, so the pressure will be relatively light. Everyone can go back and get a good night's rest. I will inform you of the new enhancement plan tomorrow morning."

Several dozen seconds later, except for Xiao Honglu, who made an excuse to ask about the enhancement plan for 'Manifestation True Monarch', everyone else took the elevator and left the underground water abyss.

There was a silence between the two for about five seconds.

“You should be very familiar with Chinese mythology, so I suppose you have something else to tell me.” Alice gently tapped her temple, looking at Xiao Honglu, who seemed hesitant to speak, with a hint of unease. “Let me guess, you’re planning to tell me about Zheng Zha? His mental state is too strange?”

"...You noticed, didn't you? Brother Zheng Zha's idea of ​​trying to save even the ordinary people in this world." Xiao Honglu said with a wry smile, "So this was exactly what you expected? Is this a side effect of the enhancement ritual?"

“I suppose so,” Alice nodded. “Since one becomes the king in the ritual, one is naturally given the responsibilities of a king by the ritual. It’s a double-edged sword; whether it hurts others or oneself depends on the operator’s skill. For a witch like me who is used to ritual magic, I can forcibly suppress the emotional influence even if it exists, but it may not be the case for others.”

She glanced at Xiao Honglu with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"You don't actually believe that all quick-generated powers in the world are safe, stable, and completely natural and harmless, do you? That's wishful thinking. All the magicians in history who made pacts with demons would weep bitterly for it."

“Moreover, this isn’t just about the ritual.” Her expression quickly returned to normal as she observed the water gradually cooling down from its boiling state while answering Xiao Honglu’s question: “Zheng Zha has reached the third stage of the gene lock, which is the critical point for significant brain development. His mind is currently in an extremely sensitive and active state. He is more easily influenced by emotions than usual… and saving everyone within his reach might very well be his true inner desire. The ritual’s enhancement is ultimately just an external force. If he were completely indifferent to it deep down, he naturally wouldn’t be able to shift his mindset in that direction.”

Xiao Honglu suddenly felt a toothache.

"You mean, Brother Zheng Zha's inner self is..." He hesitated for a long time before finally finding a slightly neutral word. "...a bit of a saint?"

"That interpretation is fine too. Perhaps some past experiences and regrets have left him with a beast called 'compassion' dwelling deep within him. But it's not necessarily a bad thing. Zhao Yingkong needs someone to help her anyway. And the object of his compassion is precisely the target that needs protection in the upcoming ritual. In short, I'm happy for him to continue until he extends his compassion to the angels and their derivatives. After all, the more he tries to take on responsibility, the greater the enhancement the ritual will provide. Besides," Alice shrugged, "the effects of this ritual can only last in this world. Once we return to the Main God Space and the Main God helps with a psychoanalysis, everything will be fine."

"...What if Brother Zheng Zha wanted to save all the angels as well?"

"Then naturally I'll use a nuclear explosion to wake him up and teach him how to be Zha, while also reminding him that we're in a cycle of reincarnation, not some dating guide game script—do you have any other questions?"

Xiao Honglu hesitated for a moment, thinking, wanting to speak but stopping himself, but finally he mustered up the courage to say, "...After the strengthening ceremony, will I become like Brother Zheng Zha? Manifesting Sage...Will I become like Yang Jian from Investiture of the Gods or Yang Jian from Journey to the West? Surely not like the one from Lotus Lantern, right? I don't want to become a saint!"

“I thought it was something serious.” Alice smiled and shook her head. “Well, you don’t need to worry. With your current level of resistance to rituals, the most you’ll do is become a little fond of dogs.”

“…Alright.” Xiao Honglu pursed his lips; he was quite satisfied with this answer.

The conversation ended there.

A few minutes later, Xiao Honglu also left the central command tower. The entire base continued to operate smoothly under Alice's control.

Soon, the ninth day passed.

At dawn on the tenth day, with the sounding of the fourth trumpet of the Last Judgment, the sun immediately lost its light.

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

Today we're also working hard to advance the plot, without any unnecessary plot holes or unnecessary complications. That's all.

I'm going to try my best to finish the Bleach volume by the end of the month _(:з」∠)_

Section Twenty-Eight: Continuation

"When the fourth angel sounded his trumpet, a third of the sun, moon, and stars were struck so hard that they lost their light. Thus, a third of the day was dark and the night was dark." Witnessing the sky lose its light, Alice couldn't help but recite the words of the fourth trumpet from the Last Judgment.

On the tenth day, the angels sounded the fourth trumpet of destruction. The resulting catastrophe manifested itself on earth as the aftershocks of a gamma-ray storm sweeping across the cosmos. The light from a supernova explosion approximately three hundred light-years away reached Earth's surface on this day, relentlessly wiping out any remaining life on the planet.

The sun losing its brilliance doesn't mean it became dim; the stronger light obscuring its radiance could also be an explanation for this prophecy. Theoretically, no life on Earth could survive direct gamma rays, and indeed, when the gamma rays struck, the entire planet, except for the area covered by Alice's base, became a dead star within seconds. Those tenacious creatures that could survive even in lava or dense strata all perished, their genes collapsing and transforming into the most basic life essence.

The base was unharmed because Patchouli's primary focus in the previous days had been the construction of the energy shield. And now, the shield generator, built at the cost of countless hours of manpower, finally proved its worth. The deadly rays, while damaging the ozone layer and bombarding the earth, were deflected by the invisible shield covering the entire base, leaving only dazzling spots of light in the sky.

“The Fourth Horn didn’t mention how many people were killed, so this is just a way to cover it up,” the girl murmured, glancing at the damage report floating beside her.

The shield's defenses were flawless, and the conflict with the angels at the border ended prematurely when the fourth horn was activated. Aside from routine expenses, the only losses were hundreds of thousands of robots exposed to gamma rays and an equal number of various instruments. Given that no significant loss of quality was suffered, this damage was negligible.

Zheng Zha's rescue operation was also a success. After clearing away the angels that blocked the way, the remaining millions of people in Greece were crammed into the transport ships that were sent there. Although the limited space made the journey unpleasant, at least those people survived. And surviving was the greatest victory.

The spaceship arrived at the base two hours ago, while the first wave of the gamma-ray burst occurred just minutes earlier. After the spaceship landed, Zheng Zha volunteered to settle the refugees, bringing Zhan Lan and Xiao Honglu along with him. They likely wouldn't have a moment's rest for at least ten hours.

[That's good, participating in this kind of work will likely increase the depth of their enhancement during the ritual. If they can achieve some results, then their chances of dealing with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse will increase slightly.] Alice thought to herself, her gaze then shifting to another report on the light screen.

Just recently, as sunrise approached and gamma rays were about to appear, Patchouli, who had awakened, took advantage of the obscured sunlight to help Zhang Heng complete the concept of 'shooting the sun'. The ritual's effects have begun to take hold; Zhang Heng's shooting and mobility abilities have increased significantly, and even the first stage of his genetic lock shows signs of unlocking. The results are quite ideal.

[So, were the messages Saito left behind true? Zheng Zha and Zhang Heng… their potential for future development is simply immeasurable. Give them a dozen or so more lifetimes to grow, and perhaps they could even defeat the current emperor. And that unfathomable Chu Xuan… how can anyone in this world be so ridiculously intelligent?]

[If I can get back safely after this horror movie ends, I'll revive him first.]

She let out a soft breath.

The information obtained from Saito Hajime was Patchouli's achievement on the eighth day. That's right, the eighth day was exactly the day after Saito Hajime was killed by the Emperor. When Patchouli reopened the memory world to strengthen her subordinates' combat capabilities and threw the two newcomers, Wang Xia and Zhu Wen, into it for training, Saito Hajime, who should have died, appeared in Patchouli's memory world.

To be precise, that wasn't Saito Hajime, but rather a fragment of his memories. His soul had been under constant surveillance by the Emperor from the very beginning, leaving no possibility of escape. However, he managed to encrypt and conceal a portion of his memories within the martial arts inheritance when transmitting the Emperor's Qi-Observation Technique to Zhu Wen. The trigger for activating these memories was Zhu Wen's act of touching that world of memories.

He's dead, but not completely dead. His memories are his power, and Zhu Wen craves the power to protect herself, so she chooses to merge with these memories. Patchouli, however, doesn't really approve of Zhu Wen's risky move. In short, whether the Zhu Wen existing there now is the one who inherited Saito Hajime's memories or Saito Hajime wearing Zhu Wen's shell is an unanswerable question. Perhaps they themselves don't know the answer, or perhaps they do but haven't said it aloud.

Whether it is true or not is irrelevant; Patchouli doesn't care about that. She only cares about what price Saito is willing to pay to escape from her clutches alive. After all, being schemed against so relentlessly would make even the most kind-hearted person angry... especially since Patchouli's patience isn't always the best.

[However, it's only natural that Saito Hajime would dare to use entering the memory world as the trigger for his revival if he had prepared the necessary resources beforehand. Tsk... I've truly gained a lot of remarkable knowledge from him, especially this 'future prediction'—although there's only one timeline where neither I nor Patchouli exist, it's still somewhat unimaginable that the future Nakazuchi Team could grow to this level.]

Saito quelled the witches' anger by offering encrypted intelligence as a price. Patchouli then kept her promise and refrained from retaliation. However, while the grudges of their schemes were settled, a partnership was no longer possible. Therefore, Patchouli didn't assign Zhu Wen any work for a while, simply confining her to the research center converted from the Lop Nur base, until Alice's return yesterday, when she was finally released to handle some matters.

In short, everything is on track. There's not much left to do, and very little left to change. The fourth horn of Doomsday is destined to be uneventful, and the catastrophe represented by the fifth horn is also within Alice's control. So, apart from preparing step by step, the only thing the witches can do is wait.

"...The sixth horn, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. And the seventh horn, representing the official descent of God's glory, in the final tenth second that allowed the Emperor to make his move."

"I don't know if all the preparations and arrangements we've made are enough. All the plans and calculations have reached the limit of our talents and abilities... If it still doesn't work, we can only leave it to fate."

She gazed at the vast area below the central tower. In just a few days, the immense productivity of hundreds of millions of people and billions of machines had completely transformed this tens of thousands of square kilometers of land into a steel jungle. Machinery and metal stretched from the ground to the underground: gears, furnaces, steel, roaring production lines, and ticking computer arrays. These numerous elements converged to construct a civilization embodying mechanical beauty. Magic, though an indispensable part, was meticulously protected, buried within the metal mechanisms or the earth's strata. Its traces on the outside were extremely rare.

"Indeed, when civilization is at a critical juncture, the power of machinery is always more applicable than the magic of communication? Indeed, after all, magic is a discipline that is extremely difficult to learn and master. For a civilization that has never had a foundation in magic... it is simply too difficult to accept the power of magic."

Alice murmured to herself. She had considered leaving a legacy in this world, spreading her teachings. After all, this world possessed true gods and an ancient era where extraordinary powers flourished. Therefore, there was no doubt that a magical civilization could develop in this world. Unfortunately… with so little time left, achieving this was simply beyond her capabilities.

She can access the world of memories, transforming mortals into qualified warriors in a very short time by throwing them into the battlefield of memories. If she focuses her attention on a few exceptionally talented individuals, she could even forcibly create one or more heroes worthy of being remembered in history. However, she cannot use this method to create mages, since becoming a mage... requires more than just temperament and experience.

"Forget it." Alice shook her head, shifting her gaze away from the base on the surface. "Forced things don't work. Survival of the fittest. Since our civilization isn't suited to exist in these worlds, there's no need to impose it on this one."

"Leave a record before you go. Leave the choice to the survivors. How this planet's civilization develops in the future is up to fate. If... then this planet can have its own destiny."

She turned around and headed towards the interior of the command tower.

She stopped turning around halfway through.

"Patch," she said softly, looking at her lover who had suddenly appeared beside her, "Have you finished dealing with things on your end? Did everything go smoothly?"

"Yes, it's going more smoothly than expected. Zhang Heng's compatibility with the concept of 'Yi' is even higher than we anticipated. Now, he can not only freely release 'Wind Arrows' without unlocking his genetic lock, but he also shows signs of mastering the more advanced 'Lightning Arrows.' If he can enter and fully control the activation of the first-tier genetic lock, he will likely be able to use 'Lightning Arrows.'" Patchouli replied, "This is a power that Saito Hajime claims can threaten fourth-tier powerhouses. It's considered to be in the extraordinary realm... Although I really don't understand the principles of that archery technique, I did feel a slight threat when he drew his bow and shot the arrow... What about you?"

“Amazing.” Alice pursed her lips. “Everything is going smoothly on my end. I just need to wait for the fourth horn to finish, and the fifth horn is also under my control. When tomorrow comes, I can take care of Xiao Honglu and Zhan Lan’s enhancements at the same time. It’s just that Zero is a bit troublesome… I really can’t find a way to enhance his ritual. I can only equip him with a more powerful weapon.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it.” Patchouli turned her head and gently rested her head on her lover’s shoulder. “We’ve done almost everything we could, we’ve done all we can. All that’s left is… alas, this time we can’t even count on fate. We can only close our eyes and gamble.”

"Hmm." Alice adjusted her position to make the person in her arms more comfortable. She reached out and put her arm around Patchouli's waist, calming her still somewhat empty heart.

"There's nothing left to do, and no way to insert any new plans. The only thing we can do now is wait for the day after tomorrow to arrive, and then... fight to the death or die fighting."

"...Don't keep talking about death. In Eastern terms, it's 'unlucky'," Patchouli muttered with her eyes closed.

“Okay,” Alice replied, then shut her mouth.

The two stood nestled together on the very edge of the central tower. Beneath their feet, the vast assembly of machinery and steel continued its relentless operation, producing and manufacturing. With each passing second, the steel strata thickened slightly. More factories began production, more machinery started operating, and more buildings were erected, gradually covering the structure beneath.