Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

There was a moment or two of silence on the other end of the communication.

"...You mean I have to deal with...that thing? That thing that uses nuclear explosions as a regular attack!?" Zheng Zha's voice seemed to contain a near-collapse of madness. "Are you sure we can withstand that thing for even a second!?"

"Don't worry, it's not as strong as you think. Trust your armor and the ritual enhancements." Alice replied quickly, "Patch and I will support you with artillery fire and magic, so just go for it, you won't die."

"Also, Zhang Heng should not be mobilized for the time being; now is not the time for him to set off."

"I have a feeling you're plotting against me... Fine, let's get going." Zheng Zha muttered to himself as he hung up the communication with Alice and turned to look at his companions. They were currently inside a high-tech aircraft ready to take off at any time. The engines were running, the systems were activated, and everything was ready, just waiting for the final sortie order.

"Alright, you all heard what Margot Lloyd said. In another minute or two, we'll be fighting that nuclear explosion monster in close combat. Those who aren't mentally prepared, please do so as soon as possible. If you really can't, that's fine too. Anyway, the die is cast... Does anyone have anything to say?"

His gaze swept across each face, but he did not glean any feelings of fear, apprehension, or unease from them.

“Very good,” he nodded, gesturing to the intelligent AI inside the aircraft. “Take off!”

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

The sky above the canopy was a deep crimson hue due to the scattered light radiating from the intense energy turbulence. Within this crimson hue, dazzling, multicolored aurora borealis emerged. The preparation time of a few minutes passed in the blink of an eye. As the aircraft burst out of the base, dropping Zheng Zha, who was covered in heavy armor, into the aerial battlefield, countless feathers of light silently fell from the upper sky.

Those were angel feathers, precious artifacts imbued with countless divine powers. They were invaluable magical treasures, and deadly weapons. Each feather contained immense, unstable energy enough to level a small building in an instant, and at this moment, at least a billion such feathers were falling.

They floated lightly down onto the verdant canopy, turning the green of the Jianmu tree into a sacred white. And within this sacred white, a pure white bridge spanning the sky was built from nothing, with the Jianmu canopy at one end and a white hoof stepping atop the pure white bridge at the other end.

It was a rider on a white horse, wearing a golden crown and holding a sacred bow and arrow. His face was indistinct, yet he exuded an aura of majesty, dominance, and holiness, like a seasoned, iron-blooded emperor who had conquered countless battles. The air parted respectfully before him, allowing him to move without being hindered by the sound barrier. As his white steed stepped onto the top of the Jianmu canopy, a huge hole appeared in the canopy where it stood. He then stopped at the edge of the hole, drew his bow, nocked an arrow, and was about to fire a glimmer of light at the outline of the base revealed in the hole!

It failed to fire the arrow. Because at the very moment it was about to strike, a vast, intricate magic array, as large as a lake and containing boundless energy, opened atop the central tower. One-tenth of the energy within the Stellar Extraction Tower was extracted in one go, and even that one-tenth, if unleashed as a pure magic cannon, would be enough to destroy the world!

This is not a figurative expression, but the literal meaning that has become a reality. When the conquering white horse of 'war' stepped onto the canopy of Jianmu, clearing a path for the riders, Alice, who had been preparing for a long time on the tower, decisively activated the magic cannon array, concentrating the light and heat containing one-tenth of the solar storm—equivalent to the light and heat that could be touched when a solar flare erupts at zero distance—into a beam and releasing it completely!

Matter could no longer exist in the magic cannon's trajectory. This blazing white light pierced directly through the hole in the canopy, destroying and disintegrating everything in its path before crashing into the moon, 380,000 kilometers away! The residual energy even triggered a regional earthquake on the lunar surface. Even after it subsided, a small ring-shaped mountain covering tens of kilometers would remain on the lunar surface!

All was silent.

Alice raised her hand and gently tapped her forehead.

“I told you I would support you with magical artillery fire, Captain Zheng Zha,” she said.

As she uttered those words, Zheng Zha, who was hovering below the sky and had barely recovered from the shock of Alice's world-destroying magic cannon, blinked hard. He looked at the 'war' rider who appeared less than a kilometer away in his line of sight, who, although he had lost his conquering warhorse, was still largely intact, and for a moment he didn't know what to say.

—And so the 'war' was drawn against him.

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

In reality, the light arrows in "War" are nowhere near as powerful as the black hole sniper rifles unleashed by Saito Hajime, Lin Juntian, and Zero Point—three drug-fueled Tier 2 fighters—in the final battle. It's just that I'm describing a grander spectacle here…_(:з」∠)_

Today, Jiuyuan is also diligently cultivating immortality _(:з」∠)_

Chapter Thirty-Two: 'Slaughter'

As the glimmering arrow converged on the longbow, and the hair-like threads of light hurtled towards his chest, Zheng Zha truly felt his heart about to stop beating. All his genetic locks were unlocked in an instant, and he unleashed the full power of the techniques of [Fusion] and [Destruction]. However, all the chaotic things in his body—blood vessels, nerves, lymph, tissue fluid, bone marrow, and so on—were still trembling, and every cell was screaming and issuing frantic alarms.

He only had time to raise his hands to cover his chest...

'boom--!!!!'

Explosion, roar, destruction, followed by endless blinding light and intense heat. Zheng Zha felt his body burning in flames, every drop of blood evaporating, every piece of flesh carbonizing. He couldn't see, he couldn't hear, he could only feel the pain that seemed to last forever. It was as if he were imprisoned in a deep purgatory, and all he could do was let out a terrifying howl from the depths of his heart!

"Ughh ...

"You're not dead yet! What are you yelling about, standing there like a dummy?!" The next moment, Alice's voice suddenly rang in his ear. "Are you stupid?! Hit it!"

"Gah?" Zheng Zha's face, contorted with pain, suddenly froze. The next moment, in his suddenly restored vision, he saw 'War's' figure suddenly appear in front of him, accompanied by a heavy punch that could collapse mountains. He was horrified to find that everything in front of him was rapidly receding!

"I'm not dead?" He realized, the outline of the central tower flashing through his vision. Immediately afterward, he caught sight of 'war' again, but before it could pounce, a barrage of magic cannons thwarted it.

It weakened after taking a tenth of a solar storm cannon shot and losing the ability to conquer the white horse. All of 'War's' attributes seemed to have decreased significantly. The Divine Bow could still deliver a superhuman blow equivalent to a fourth-tier gene lock, but the rest had returned to a level that mortals could understand.

Zheng Zha felt pain all over his body, but that was all. The destructive light, the heat, and the arrows that shot out like stars had no effect on him. His armor was still intact, his strength was still abundant, and apart from the undeniable, excruciating pain still churning in his nerves, his condition seemed no different from usual.

"I now suspect you and the gorilla are closely related by blood, because your intelligence is remarkably similar, practically classifying you as the same species." Alice's voice remained calm, but beneath that calm lay immense rage. "The Jianmu tree has been erected, and this area is now my territory. The Jianmu tree is the path to heaven for the ancient Human Emperor, and now you are the Human Emperor!"

【You are Huang, you are Yao, you are Shun! Therefore, all the damage you are suffering now will be transferred to Jianmu and the entire base to share the burden—what do you think Patchi and I prepared all this for!? Do you think the rituals and armor we spent so much effort creating would be inferior products that can't even withstand a mere nuclear explosion!】

"Uh, okay." Zheng Zha's lips twitched. With a thought, he controlled his power armor to fly towards the 'war' that was being hindered by the magic cannon array. An alloy axe covered with a molecular splitting force field appeared in his hand, and he was still subconsciously complaining under his breath.

“You clearly said before that my current identity is 'Pangu'…”

[Does anyone stipulate that Pangu cannot also be the Human Emperor?! Do you even know what backward compatibility in a higher version means?! Do you even know what a composite deity is?! ...Fine, I'm not going to explain anymore. Go do the only thing you know how to do.]

Remember, it can't hurt you now, but it 'only' can't hurt you!

Alice cut off the communication, along with the magic cannon array that had been raging like a storm just half a second before. Perhaps in her plan, Zheng Zha should have been busy beating up the 'war' during this time, and she wouldn't have needed to use the magic cannon array to buy time. But clearly, her plan had gone wrong.

“Alright, you win.” Zheng Zha’s eye twitched. After this brief exchange, he sensed that Zhan Lan’s mental network had reconnected. And now, he was full of fighting spirit.

"Since you've planned this with such confidence, why make things sound so serious from the start!" he roared, his massive armored body lunging at 'War' propelled by anti-gravity thrusters. The alloy axe he gripped slammed down, and as the axe blade, shimmering with a disintegrating force field, touched what appeared to be 'War's' arm, he clearly saw a white mist, like blood, spraying into the air!

"It can work!"

The ancient angel before them let out a strange scream, causing space to tremble. Dimensions of length, height, and depth became unstable. The next moment, a sniper bullet fired from Zero, hidden in the shadows, pierced through the distorted space, slightly deflecting the trajectory of the bullet, which contained countless magical incantations. The next instant, a massive hole was ripped open in the lower part of 'War's' torso, and endless black cursed poison emerged from it, crawling across most of 'War's' body like parasitic vines!

This is a curse, a deadly poison born from the hatred of millions of mortals towards witches—Alice extracted the deepest, most difficult-to-eradicate or transform parts of these curses, wrapped them in layers of barriers, and sealed them inside Zero Point's sniper bullet. And now is the perfect time for it to come in handy!

A second piercing scream emanated from the ancient angel's faceless form. The invisible yet tangible sound waves, mixed with a faint light, were like a swarm of predatory snakes, instantly pinpointing the location of Zero Point—'War' then abandoned Zheng Zha, who was as tough as a tortoise shell, and swiftly pounced towards Zero Point's location!

'break--'

A series of sounds, like shattering glass, echoed continuously. Suddenly, hundreds, even thousands, of colorless, transparent barriers, resembling glass, rose along the line connecting 'War' and the location of Zero Point. These barriers were fragile, their spellcasting mediocre, and their structure rudimentary—so rudimentary that 'War' could easily penetrate them. But just as birds colliding with airplanes would be shattered to pieces, airplanes, due to their high speed, would also suffer severe damage!

Its speed was slowed down, and while it was slowed down, Xiao Honglu's shout reached Zheng Zha's ears through Zhan Lan's mental network—

"Brother Zheng Zha!"

"Hah!" With a low whistle, Zheng Zha caught up with the slowed-down 'War' amidst the anti-gravity field. He swung his alloy axe at its head, but the attack was blocked by a suddenly appearing light shield. Using the momentum, he transformed the swing into a heavy shoulder slam. The light shield shattered, and the raised axe switched to a single-handed strike, parrying the blade. However, another massive steel hand, crackling with lightning, grabbed 'War's' ankle!

He slammed his knee into 'War's' back, the knee pad extending into rune-engraved metal spikes before it even hit. However, 'War' dodged the knee strike like a slippery fish, turning and firing a point-blank arrow of light from his bow with one hand!

'boom----!!!'

The micro-asteroid explosion at point-blank range blocked everyone's view, and once again, excruciating pain and burning sensations filled Zheng Zha's entire body. A hellish experience overwhelmed his mind.

"Ughhhhhhh—" he roared, enveloped in countless runic arrays, his metallic surface constantly melting and solidifying into a massive steel hand that pierced through the raging tide of light and heat. He grabbed 'War' by the shoulder, seemingly wanting to tear it apart, but instead lifted it high. Within the mental network connected to Zhan Lan, he unleashed a terrifying roar like a beast.

"Midnight—!"

'War's' head shattered instantly; a second sniper bullet struck its faceless form precisely, completely destroying it. A fountain of white light sprayed over Zheng Zha, yet 'War' did not die. It was not human; there was no reason it couldn't fight without its head. And because its shoulders were bound, it used its feet to draw back the Bow of Light, aiming at the trajectory of the bullet—

Beyond the far reaches of the sky, a miniature sun burst forth with light, spreading across the land like a sunrise. Before the sorrow of losing his companion could even surface in Zheng Zha's heart, Zero's voice transmitted through the mental network.

"I'm fine," Zero said. He glanced at the mechanical doll resembling Alice beside the sniper position, which gradually crumbled into dust after the deflection field was activated, then lowered his head, injected himself with a stimulant, and continued loading the third sniper bullet.

He's nearing his limit, but hasn't surpassed it yet. So, he can continue fighting.

Meanwhile, Alice, standing atop the central tower, gently rubbed her forehead, calculating the recovery time needed for the brain overload caused by the sudden and drastic use of her brainpower, while casually wiping away the dead blood that had seeped from her ear.

She watched the battlefield, observing the 'war' being brutally beaten by Zheng Zha, and frowned slightly.

The plan went too smoothly, almost too smoothly. Although she had made arrangements that gave her a 90% chance of success before taking action, the fact that it went so smoothly still made her feel something was amiss.

"Is it merely a weapon possessing extraordinary power, enough to power its inexhaustible energy and a superhuman body capable of withstanding such exertion? It's just a fabricated false god, its essence still that of a mortal..."

The 'War' Rider's Bow of Light can indeed fire high-energy arrows equivalent to the fourth level of the Gene Lock, possessing microscopic condensation power. Its energy seems inexhaustible, allowing it to unleash an unlimited number of arrows with extraordinary power. Its body is also exceptionally strong; when riding the Conqueror's White Horse, it can even move at more than ten times the speed of sound and perform various agile maneuvers.

It looked like a true god, but only in appearance; it wasn't. Its extraordinary power only worked when all its components operated simultaneously. And when its own magic cannon destroyed its conquering white horse and part of its body structure, it fell from the fourth tier, becoming something that could be defeated.

"...Is it essentially a puppet, just like the other angels?" Alice looked up at the sky, watching the red meteor falling from the distant heavens. "Could it be that this is actually a creation of the Alice from six hundred million years ago, and not the work of the Emperor... Can a puppet really do this? But if that's really the case..."

—【That would be absolutely terrible】

She shook her head, storing her guesses in a suitable location in her mind. Then she activated her communication system and informed Zheng Zha of the latest information she knew.

The 'slaughter' has begun; before that, seize the weapons from 'war' and let it suffer its first and last defeat.

Her will was quickly carried out. Having lost a small part of her limbs and taken two cursed sniper bullets, 'War' was already at a disadvantage in the power struggle against Zheng Zha at this moment. It was obvious that it would be difficult for it to keep its weapon under Zheng Zha's violence, and when the Bow of Light was taken from its hands, its biological functions stopped completely in an instant.

Zheng Zha threw it into the sky, and it exploded upon hitting the emerald canopy of the Jianmu tree. However, the canopy of the Jianmu tree still restrained its explosion, turning it into the eighth Sun Fruit sealed within the canopy.

The red meteor crashed down, striking the ground outside the area covered by the Jianmu Canopy, shattering the strata, triggering a volcanic eruption, and unleashing a boiling sea of ​​lava.

The canopy lowered its radiance, keeping the surging lava at bay outside the base. The red riders, however, did not attack rashly, but instead cautiously observed the base's defenses while maneuvering swiftly.

This is 'Slaughter', the rider on the red horse, representing the tyrant, the ruler, the great lord, wielding a greatsword of war and destruction. Unlike 'War', which uses a ranged bow of light for attacks, the sharp greatsword clearly emphasizes the power of close combat.

It did not directly collide with the canopy of the ritual tree as in 'war,' so the tactic of launching a direct attack upon first sight could not be replicated. It circled the coverage area of ​​the ritual tree, searching for the most likely breakthrough while cautiously guarding against the witches' traps and artillery fire.

“…Margot Lloyd, I know you’re listening.” Zheng Zha tossed aside the massive, power-oriented but agile alloy axe and reached into the weapon bay that had been launched at him, retrieving two short swords more suited for close combat. He stared intently at the streaking red meteor as he whispered, “What’s this guy planning to do?”

"You have eyes, you can see for yourself," Alice replied.

The next moment, the crimson meteor suddenly sank into the ground, and immediately afterward, magma spewed out from the earth's crust over a radius of tens of thousands of square kilometers!

It aims to directly destroy the foundation of the base, eliminating the cornerstone of the 'Jianmu' even outside the barrier!

Section 33 'Famine'

To cut a vine, you can use a machete. To fell a tree, you need a hacksaw and an axe. But if the tree has thick bark, sharp teeth and claws, and venomous branches hanging from its top—then a bulldozer is the best strategy.

'Slaughter' witnessed the defeat and demise of 'War', drawing nourishment and experience from its failure. It learned through observation that if it were to rashly enter the canopy of the Ritual Tree like 'War', it would inevitably be restricted, and the subsequent powerful magic cannon would bring it to the same fate as 'War'.

It cannot pass, and the destructive greatsword it is endowed with does not possess the power of ranged attacks. Perhaps it can unleash a ten-thousand-meter-long blade of wind with its extraordinary strength, but such a massive energy consumption inevitably leads to an imbalance between gains and losses—the Jianmu tree can withstand the divine bow of 'war,' so it can naturally withstand the destructive greatsword of 'slaughter.'

Therefore, the strata began to churn.

First came the flames, then the lava. The already shattered crust, battered by the second horn of the Doomsday Judgment, trembled violently. The witch's spell, though capable of binding the ground and diverting the volcanic eruptions to ensure a solid foothold, had its limits. The 'Jianmu' emphasized the concepts of supporting the sky and providing protection, not firmly grasping the earth's roots. Within seconds, the ground in the distance of the base area cracked open, and massive bursts of flame and lava erupted like squeezed juice!

“Oh… damn it.” Zheng Zha clicked his tongue and asked the air beside him, “Margot Lloyd, I think you… should have anticipated this situation?”

Before he could finish speaking, he felt the base beneath him begin to tremble. The edges of the steel structure connecting it to the ground began to shake, and around it, fissures and magma surged outwards.

Visibly, the massive metal base began to shake. Along with the illusory image of the Jianmu tree, the almost boundless verdant canopy became extremely unstable, like a disturbed physical projection. It flickered, it blurred, and for a fleeting moment, the entire form of the Jianmu tree completely vanished from the world!

The eight Sun Fruits fell from the sky simultaneously, only to be re-bound by the ritual tree that reappeared in the next instant. However, this was merely a fleeting moment. Accompanied by a second, even more violent tremor that caused the entire base to noticeably tilt to the side at a five-degree angle, the phantom of the tree vanished once more!

This time, the Fruit of the Sun fell more than five kilometers, expanding as it fell, until it barely stopped at almost the same height as the central tower, where it was restrained by the re-manifested ritual tree. Immediately afterward, countless translucent chains extended from the central tower and wrapped around the trunk of the tree—clearly some kind of emergency measure. Only after these chains successfully secured the tree did the entire ritual emerge from its unstable state and return to stability.

But this was only temporary stability. Even Zheng Zha could now see the witches' dire situation. He saw the ground tremble even more violently, and runes used to stabilize the base and ensure stability lit up one by one in the void, only to collapse instantly due to energy overload. Then, thousands upon thousands of magic cannon arrays that had not appeared during the previous 'war' were activated, unleashing a barrage of fire on the red meteor that was constantly moving underground!

This act demonstrated the witches' anger, but also proved the effectiveness of their 'killing' plan. The crimson meteor's movements grew increasingly rampant. It moved rapidly underground, performing all sorts of bizarre maneuvers around the area covered by the ritual tree. The earth's strata shattered as a result of its actions, and magma and high-temperature, dense gas from the asthenosphere, compressed by the continental shelf, continuously erupted to the surface, instantly creating several interconnected volcanoes!

"Hey! You're not really unprepared, are you?!" Zheng Zha started to panic. Before he could finish speaking, he felt himself being bound by a huge gravitational field. Before he could struggle, Alice's voice reached his ears.

He was suddenly stunned.

In that split second he was stunned, 'Slaughter' launched an even more powerful offensive. It wasn't content with merely creating a volcano to shake the foundations of the ritual tree. It sank deeper underground, aiming to directly destroy the base's subsurface rock structure and cause the entire shelter to collapse completely!