Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"Hmm, thankfully, he's out of that dangerous state. Honestly... how can the God's authority enhancement be so unreliable? Doesn't he understand what it means to have an unstable foundation? He just..." Alice stood at the entrance to her one-way transparent personal space, watching Zheng Zha return to his room with a belly full of complaints but a calm mind. She then breathed a small sigh of relief.

She awoke from the pillar of light and was terrified the moment she saw Zheng Zha. Although she knew that the God granting captain authority would forcibly raise the genetic lock level of a reincarnator by one stage, she hadn't expected the God to be so…generous, actually throwing Zheng Zha, who had only officially entered the third stage a few minutes before his return, into the pillar. This caused the newly returned Zheng Zha to be like an extremely unstable nuclear bomb, already at a critical point and about to trigger a chain reaction. The slightest mishap could send him exploding on the spot!

Let him explode if he wants; he's tough as nails. At worst, he'll cripple himself, but he won't die. But these two poor, weak, and helpless witches on their side are in an extremely weakened state, having just emerged from a devastating ritual, losing their physical bodies, and with half their souls gone. If they get hit by the explosion, they'll be dead for good!

The chance to revive without taking damage, which only requires reward points, is currently limited to one per person. This is practically a waste of money, like throwing it into water… Alice suspects that even if she were revived, she'd be furious again. But thankfully… she managed to get away with it.

"Is it troublesome?" Patchouli, now only a soul, asked, floating behind her. After being housed in the Star Artifact - Staff of Domination, her ability to perceive the outside world had greatly decreased. Although she felt that Zheng Zha was dangerous, she couldn't really sense where the threat came from.

"Yes, it's troublesome. At least for now." Alice nodded. She replied, "The Supreme God probably didn't directly enhance him to the fourth stage of the gene lock, but he removed the obstacle that prevented him from advancing from the third to the fourth stage. In other words, all seventy trillion cells in his body have now been awakened. Although they haven't aggregated yet, their mere existence could form an extremely chaotic pan-consciousness—his mind will be affected, becoming unstable, and could be eroded by the cellular pan-consciousness at any time, turning him into a berserk state that kills indiscriminately, friend or foe."

“That’s really bad.” Patchouli looked at her semi-transparent, ghostly form, reached out, clenched her fist slightly, frowned, and then released it. “But you didn’t seem very flustered from the beginning… Did you have a contingency plan?”

“Hmm…” Alice replied. “After reviewing the future timeline projections provided by Saito Hajime, I made arrangements based on this possibility. That beam of light was pre-programmed with calming and warning spells. This is enough to temporarily restrain him, and once he regains his normal thinking ability and opens the portal to his personal space, this composite spell will be reinforced again.”

She shrugged. "That's enough to keep him from going crazy before he sees Lori, and as long as Lori is alright, then all problems disappear. Although I don't have much hope for this gorilla's intelligence, I can still believe in his love and devotion to Lori."

Alice suddenly turned around.

"Alright, Zheng Zha's matter is temporarily settled, and there shouldn't be any problems until we meet him again. Now, let's move on to another very serious matter."

She looked at Patchouli very intently.

“We’re already back in the Main God Space, why haven’t you restored your physical body yet… at least repaired your destroyed soul? We’re just drifting here like this, two remnants of souls… don’t you find it a little embarrassing?”

Patchouli looked Alice up and down, her obsessive soul form almost indistinguishable from a real body except for the lack of a shadow.

"...You seem to have no right to say such things to me."

"I'll fix it right away," Alice said righteously. She stretched out her hand, her fingers passing through the one-way transparent personal space portal and exposed at the bottom of the main god's light sphere. A wisp of will immediately connected to it.

“God,” she said directly to Patchouli, “complete restoration.”

—'Reincarnator Alice Margotrovid, full-body restoration requires 18,400 reward points. Current reward points are 11,320. One A-rank side quest is also required. Restore immediately?'

Alice's eyes widened suddenly. She looked at Patchouli, who was just as dumbfounded as she was, and hurriedly asked again.

"God, are you mistaken?! Why are you charging so much?! It's just repairing my body, is it really worth it?!" She was practically going crazy. She had suffered heavy losses throughout the entire Final Destination 2 story world. Not only had she used up countless items, but her body was also damaged to the point that only half of her original soul remained. And more importantly, there were absolutely no extra side quests in this story world! From beginning to end, the only rewards were the 1000 points for completing the game and the A-rank side quest that required all the main characters to survive, plus 10,000 points!

However, now a full-body repair would cost 18,400 points!

What a joke!

"God, are you out of your mind for money?!" She couldn't help but roar angrily at the large ball of light in the sky, "How can I afford such an exorbitant price! And it's just soul damage! It's not a serious injury... Okay, I admit it's a bit serious, but can't you at least give me a discount and repair my body?!"

—'Reincarnator Alice Margotrovid, simply repairing your physical body requires 16,000 reward points. Pay now?'

Alice felt her obsessive soul vibrating violently, like a poor kangaroo caught in a high-voltage electric shock, going into a frenzied seizure. She suppressed the urge to unleash a hundred magic cannons at random, and asked the Supreme God in a trembling voice.

"God...you mean... soul repair only costs 2,400? Damn, why do I think 2,400 is cheap!? Didn't removing a curse used to cost tens of thousands, and you'd have to pay for side quests too?!"

Her tone was filled with barely suppressed rage and fury, yet the voice of the supreme deity remained as mechanical and authoritative as ever.

—'Reincarnator Alice Margotrovid, simply repairing her soul requires 2400 reward points. Repair now?'

"........."

So the witch gave in.

“…Xiu.” she replied weakly.

Immediately following, a beam of pale blue light descended from the void above the main god's sphere, directly covering Alice, whose finger had passed through the personal space portal and whose remaining part was inside. She immediately felt her own obsessive soul rapidly becoming complete; her perception, control, and energy were all increasing rapidly. Soon, she returned to the perfect state she had been in when Saito Hajime first awakened, a state described as the peak of the True Demon level.

Beside her, Patchouli's ghostly form was rapidly recovering, returning to its optimal state.

"Patch, will it cost over ten thousand reward points to repair your body?" Alice asked weakly, looking at her lover beside her—a soul might not even have 'qi' (vital energy). "As expensive as mine?"

However, her prediction was wrong.

“No.” Patchouli shook her head. “The Supreme God spent over three thousand reward points to repair my damaged soul, but my body only needs a little over six hundred.” She shrugged. “It’s just that I don’t want to.”

"...Why, why?!" Alice was furious.

Patchouli tilted her head, and in the personal space belonging to the two witches, a spare body that she had prepared in the early days, but which was not placed in the Great Library, slowly floated out from the sealing spell, and then 'plop'ed onto the large bed covered with roses and lilies.

"You just want to play with my body, don't you? Then... please?" She bowed slightly and made a gesture similar to a hotel greeter's welcome to Alice, completely ignoring the other's broken expression.

"That's enough! I'm not the kind of pervert who gets horny over soulless corpses!"

"Isn't that right?" Patchouli asked incredulously.

“Of course not!” Alice answered without hesitation, then a thoughtful look appeared on her face as if she had remembered something. “Hmm… Come to think of it, I seem to have a spare body. Damn it! Why would I waste all that money being ripped off by the God of War if I had a spare body! That damned profiteer!”

Her eyes suddenly lit up, and in an instant, another spare body belonging to Alice, sealed in her personal space, emerged from the magic circle and landed next to Patchouli's body with a thud. Immediately afterward, several magic threads shot out from her fingers, connecting with the spare body—the lifeless body then came to life, crawling on all fours towards Patchouli's body.

“Very good, body to body, soul to soul, I think this will work.” Alice looked at Patchouli, who was pretending to be terrified but was probably actually enjoying it, and gave her a threatening look.

"Oh!" Patchouli lifted her skirt, chuckled, and turned to run away. "You just said you weren't a pervert!"

"Oh, I am now."

Section 2: Can you keep up with my speed?

Alice opened her eyes to a familiar ceiling emitting a dizzying, soft white light. She felt a sense of comfort in her mind and a deep weariness in her body. Turning her head, she saw Patchouli sitting at a small table by the bed, engrossed in reading a large, thick book.

As the soft light streamed in, the serene figure of the purple-haired girl in her eyes resembled a beautiful painting, filling the spacious room with an inexplicable sense of poetry and beauty. Her unkempt long hair cascaded to the ground, smooth and lustrous, like a purple stream flowing down an icy cliff. A faint fragrance wafted in the air with the gentle breeze, silently lingering around her nose and causing her to sneeze softly.

'Achiu—'

The girl in the dim light heard her voice, so she gently closed the book on the table, leaned slightly against the chair, and gave Alice, who was still lying on the bed, a gentle smile.

"You're awake." Patchouli gently brushed a strand of long hair that had fallen beside her temple, making her appear even more serene. "It's still early, you can lie down a little longer."

Her voice was soft, and her demeanor was as elegant as that of an elven princess. Her gentle voice was filled with concern and affection. Normally, Alice would have taken out a sketchbook to draw this scene, sealed it in her treasure room, and taken it out to admire whenever she had a spare moment. At the very least, she would have permanently etched this memory into the depths of her soul, never to be forgotten.

Yes, under normal circumstances...

She raised her hand, pulled a pillow from under her body, and smashed it hard against Patchouli's face!

"Winning once isn't all that great! You're just showing off!"

The flying pillow, suspended in mid-air by the anti-gravity field, then returned at several times its initial speed, grazing Alice's rapidly rolling body as it crashed onto the bed. With a 'crack,' the poor rosewood bed shattered into pieces under the bombardment of the subsonic cruise pillow, scattering lilies and rose petals into the sky.

"What are you talking about, Alice?" Patchouli tilted her head slightly. Behind her, about twenty pillows of various sizes floated up under the influence of gravity, and then immediately continued the 'pillow-first' path, launching a barrage of attacks in Alice's direction!

“If you’re too tired, too exhausted, and not getting enough sleep, you can continue to rest.” She smiled, raised two fingers and waved them downwards. This time, not only pillows, but even wardrobes rose off the ground, joining the ranks of those being attacked!

The pillow and cabinet feature a combined barrage of comments, leaving no blind spots.

However, for a seasoned pilot of the real-world Touhou Project, even the most flawless suit can be torn open!

Because these days there's something called bullet screen cancellation!

Alice spread her fingers, and the scattered magic threads whipped up rose and lily petals, creating a small storm. The storm expanded rapidly, instantly covering half of the room where the two were, even engulfing the pillows and wardrobe, completely opening up the passageway blocked by the barrage of comments!

The next moment, she crossed the vortex of the whirlwind and arrived in front of Patchouli by stepping on the wind pressure!

"You're holding the book upside down! What are you pretending for! You just won by luck once! What's with the smugness!" She raised her hand high, ready to strike with all her might!

"I am the ultimate victor!!!"

The flow of time seemed to slow down.

In the instant the chop came down, Patchouli's body slid backward like a fish, narrowly avoiding Alice's attack while clutching the large, upside-down book. She then took a step, solidified her stance, spun around, and with a burst of power from her hips, the giant book she was holding transformed into a massive brick, like a library being overturned. This brick then struck Alice's face, which was now tilted downwards from where the chop had missed its mark!

"Mr. Q!!!"

Like a feather duster hitting a dragonfly, or a fly swatter striking a gecko, the blonde witch, brimming with boundless energy, unstoppable fighting spirit, and invincible momentum, returned to her rightful place at near-universe speed. And watching the poor creature, headfirst into the wall, its body twitching occasionally, unable to rise again, Patchouli finally raised her nose and let out a soft hum.

"Tch, weakling."

So she gracefully returned to her original seat and continued reading her thick, heavy book.

It took her five minutes to straighten the book that she had been holding upside down.

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

About three hours later.

When Zheng Zha led Luo Li by the hand to the plaza beneath the main god's orb, he sensed something was off about the two witches before him. Patchouli was alright; she appeared as aloof and serene as usual, though a subtle hint of joy emanated from her. But Alice…

...The resentment emanating from this guy could almost materialize into a solid black flame.

“…Uh, Margot Lloyd? Are you alright? Didn’t you get enough rest?” he asked instinctively.

“I’m fine!” Alice suddenly looked up at him, squeezing out each word through her teeth. “Very fine! I’m not lacking in sleep at all!”

Her neck stiffened, as if she were about to explode in anger. However, she quickly deflated, muttering something like, "Three hundred years of prestige, ruined in an instant," "It's fate," "The spirit and the flesh are not in harmony," and other nonsensical phrases that Zheng Zha couldn't understand at all. He originally intended to continue asking questions, but a sense of foreboding rising within him forced him to shut his mouth.

He pursed his lips and gently squeezed Lori's slightly uneasy little hand. He then gave the witches an awkward but polite smile.

Fortunately, this period of being stuck in Jiang Ju's work-related mess didn't last long. After a short while, Alice finally let out a soft breath and began to explain to Zheng Zha.

"Sorry, I lost my composure just now." She cleared her throat and said, "I'm currently... in a very delicate situation. My body was destroyed in the Final Destination 2 world, and the remaining soul, by some coincidence, formed something that the main god certified as a 'soul of obsession.' And this state of mine... isn't very compatible with my spare body."

She waved her hand, and then, right after she finished waving, a limb, identical to her outstretched hand, detached from her elbow, as if two forearms had grown from her elbow. This horrifying sight made Lori instinctively cover her face.

“Oh, sorry.” Alice nodded to Lori, bringing her forearms together. “Anyway, that’s it. With just a little force, my obsessive soul will break free from the constraints of my spare body. Naturally, all my genetic locks will be unusable. Although the God seems to acknowledge that my position in this so-called ‘obsessive soul system’ is equivalent to the third stage of the genetic lock, if I want to regain a body that is completely synchronized with my soul and can also unlock the genetic lock… I’ll have to spend tens of thousands of reward points to have the God replenish my body.”

Zheng Zha felt his face twitching. Repairing his body cost tens of thousands of reward points… This price was truly unbelievable, given how much the Main God could justify it… He couldn't help but feel fortunate—fortunate that Alice had fired that magic cannon, and fortunate that he hadn't reacted at all after being hit by it. Otherwise, he would have definitely shouted as usual—'Repair everyone! Deduct the required reward points from me!'

Then I should have been penalized with a negative score back then.

“Alright.” He let out a soft breath. “So, is there anything I can do to help, Margot Lloyd? If it's a few thousand reward points or something, I think I should be able to manage…”

“No need.” Alice shook her head. “In my current state… although I don’t have a body now, I’ve actually become stronger in terms of output and many other physiological parameters. This so-called obsessive soul seems to have a structure somewhat similar to those angels; both are some kind of quantum energy body… impervious to mental shocks and pure energy bombardment, and possess extremely strong output and self-recovery abilities… I haven’t found any flaws in this form yet. Hmm, the specifics are quite complicated; I’ll explain it to you in detail when I have time. But until then…”

“The most serious matter right now is what’s on you, Captain Zheng Zha,” Alice said seriously, resting her hands on her chin.

"You should have already obtained captain privileges, right?"

“Ah…ah? Yeah, that’s right.” Zheng Zha nodded, not quite realizing when the topic first turned to him. “After Final Destination ended, the Supreme God granted me the captain’s authority over the Central Plains Team. I can find out about the next horror movie three days in advance and freely search the exchange list…oh, right, I saw a few exchanges that seem perfect for you and Norege…”

“Let’s leave that for now,” Alice said, raising her hand in a pause gesture. “We don’t have that much money to exchange for anything else, because our primary concern is resurrection. Besides, your body is a very serious problem… Are you able to control your body normally now? You should have some idea of ​​how bad your condition was when you returned yesterday.”

“…That makes sense.” Zheng Zha smiled wryly, clenched his fist, and then, under Luo Li’s worried gaze, said, “When I first came back yesterday, I… well, I did have a rather strange feeling. It was like I could shatter space with a single punch… Is this related to the God of War’s captain certification? Have I been promoted to the fourth tier?”

"It's related. You haven't reached the fourth tier yet, but you could enter anytime, and then you'd die." Alice shook her head. "We'll talk about that later. How many reward points do you have right now?"

"Uh... over 11,000 points and an A-level side quest?" Zheng Zha scratched his head. "The last horror movie didn't have any other side quests, only the 1,000 points for completing the game and that A-level quest marked by the main god..."

“Very good, Patchouli and I are in a similar situation. However, we still need to deduct several thousand points for medical expenses.” Alice nodded and continued, “And you should also remember that, apart from newcomers who are basically free, the minimum price for reviving any veteran is one B-level side quest plus eight thousand reward points. And in reality, we don’t have that many reward points available.”

"Cutting costs is out of the question, so we can only look for ways to increase revenue. Since the resurrection has to be done in the world of The Mummy using an altar, I suggest we spend more time doing some side quests in The Mummy... There are three movies in total, including two prequels to The Scorpion King, so we're bound to trigger them, get the side quests, and then we'll have the money to resurrect the rest of the people."

“That’s no problem, but that woman from the Indian team…didn’t you say last time that she might still be alive, so you didn’t recommend the team go in there to do the mission?”