Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

“Ah… times have changed.” Alice shrugged. From Saito, she had obtained not only the God's predictions about the future of the Central Continent team, but also a lot of secret information about the reincarnation world. “My previous judgment was probably wrong. After all, there are so many team battle worlds, the God wouldn't deliberately leave such a big loophole. So I guess that the world of gods and demons in our team battle must have split after the script ended. The world of gods and demons we entered should be completely different from the world of gods and demons that the woman from the Indian team could touch.”

[Damn! I wonder if Patchouli and I, being white, can even get into the yellow-skinned ruins hidden in the world of gods and demons... I feel like it's highly unlikely. Oh well, now's definitely not the time to go there anyway. Let's make some preparations first and see if we can finish the plot of God and Demon 3... Forget it, no more trouble, let's just finish the main storyline of the second movie and call it a day!]

"It's impossible for us to meet her in that world. Even if we are assigned to this world again in future team battles, it should be the version modified by the main god. Anyway, don't worry, it's just a mere saga of Gods and Demons 2. You can smash an undead creature like Imhotep's head with one punch right now, relax."

"Really... there won't be any problems?" Zheng Zha asked with some suspicion. "Ever since you joined the team in The Legend of the Gods and Demons, I've found that the enemies I face are getting more and more terrifying, and the scenes I encounter are getting more and more grand. And I remember you seemed to say the same thing back in Ju-on... I suspect you're lying to me."

"...Are you going or not?" Alice stared at him with dead fish eyes.

Zheng Zha glared back, but after two seconds he gave in and weakly said, "Go..."

"That settles it then." The girl let out a soft sigh. "Alright, I won't trick you this time. You're not in your current state to unleash your full power. If you accidentally advance to the fourth tier, I don't want to waste time with you. Besides, I need to figure out how to adapt to this obsessive soul form, so I can't exert my maximum strength either. As for Patchouli..." She turned her head and glanced at Patchouli, who had been sitting happily drinking tea on the side from the beginning...

"Forget it, ignore her. Let her do whatever she wants," Alice said through gritted teeth. Then, she leaned forward slightly to avoid a teacup that was about to hit her head.

“Let’s discuss something else, like who to revive first.” She got up from her chair, casually catching a teapot filled with boiling water that was hurtling towards her head at subsonic speed and setting it aside. Then, with a quick step, she dodged three spoons and a fork.

"Uh..." Zheng Zha stared at the scene unfolding before him, which resembled a farcical acrobatic spectacle, speechless for a moment. "...Do you have any suggestions?"

A huge shadow silently drifted by...

"My suggestion is to revive Chu Xuan first... Damn it! Patchouli, are you ever going to stop?!"

Section 3: You're not a gorilla!

In short, due to various reasons, the meeting of the senior members was delayed for a full half hour before it could proceed smoothly. In the remaining time, the main topic of discussion was the witches explaining to Zheng the importance of resurrecting Chu Xuan.

“First of all…” Alice tried to organize her thoughts, taking about ten seconds to think before sighing and saying, “Alright, I won’t be ashamed to say it directly, we lack wise men, we lack people who can integrate resources and create optimal solutions to deal with various situations in the early stages when there is a large lack of information… I originally favored Xiao Honglu, but after these two or three worlds, I found that he is still somewhat lacking in experience. He is still too green and too immature.”

Alice shook her head.

"If there is no better option, then it doesn't matter if we wait for it to grow. But since there is a better solution... it would be a waste to leave it unused."

As she said this, Zheng Zha looked at her with a very strange expression.

“You mean…” He clasped his hands together, leaned back slightly, and glanced sideways at the witch with most of the whites of his eyes rolled back: “…we lack wise men?”

"Yes."

"Do you think you're stupid, Margot Royd?"

“I never thought I was very smart. Maybe Patchouli…” Alice replied, glancing at Patchouli, who smiled and waved her hand to indicate that she was also a fool—so she added half a sentence: “Neither Patchouli nor I are very smart.”

"If you guys are stupid, then what am I?! An ape?!" Zheng Zha's lips twitched, his temples throbbing. "Without Margot Lloyd and Norrell's help, we would have been wiped out back in the Indian team battle! After that, it was thanks to your planning and scheming that we barely managed to fight our way out of this damned world of Final Destination. Chu Xuan? Oh, I admit he does have some skills, and perhaps in some ways he's even better than Xiao Honglu. But to say he's better than the two of you... I don't believe it."

Zheng Zha recalled the events shortly before the final battle in the Alien world. In his memory, Chu Xuan was still the same calm and wise man, but also the same Chu Xuan who would bite his fingers and make mistakes when nervous. He had almost messed up twice on the Alien starship alone. The first time was when Li Shuaixi saw through the program code he had entered. The second time was when he was trying to behead the Queen, but she turned the tables on him, causing the entire crew to fall into a trap and nearly be wiped out.

He admitted that Chu Xuan was indeed very smart, but not to the point of being indispensable. Although Chu Xuan's ability to single-handedly uncover Kayako's seven incarnations in the Ju-on world was indeed a remarkable achievement, and he did save his own life in the final battle afterward, the problem was that Zheng Zha could now recklessly unleash his fourth-level power, and not long ago he was unleashing his full power in a swarm of ancient angels of destruction. If he punched Kayako, even with seventeen incarnations, he would be annihilated. Therefore, in his perception, this achievement was involuntarily discounted.

Moreover, after activating the third stage and using the mental boost provided by the gene lock to deduce further, he came to another conclusion—if Alice had replaced Chu Xuan in the Ju-on world, then not only would they not have suffered any unexpected casualties, but they would have been able to rack up points like crazy. This is because Alice's source of power is curses, and the Ju-on world clearly has no shortage of curses. And more importantly, Alice hasn't really schemed against him so far—or perhaps she schemed against him without his knowledge—but Chu Xuan has truly made him suffer terribly.

So, considering all these factors combined, his final response was—

"No way." Zheng shook his head vigorously, refusing to budge despite the witches' various reasons.

"I don't understand what's gotten into you guys, insisting you're all out of your minds... Fine, I'll take it seriously. But rather than resurrecting that clueless, heartless Chu Xuan, I'd rather wait for Xiao Honglu to grow up." He gently squeezed the hand of the girl sitting beside him. The time Chu Xuan tricked him in the real world had really given him a hard time... If it were just him, it would be fine, after all, he's a man, and there's nothing between men that can't be resolved with a fight or a drink. But if it involves family... sorry, I'm already being quite generous by not personally chopping you up and throwing you to the dogs.

He still remembered how the person beside him would sometimes wake up from nightmares, crying and clinging to him pitifully. And the thought of this only deepened his anger. It was as if "all men glared angrily, their hair standing on end and their crowns pointing upwards"—his overflowing rage was practically bursting from his eyes.

So the witches could only look at each other, their eyes meeting, trying to figure out a good solution.

Alice: [What should we do? We don't even know this guy named Chu Xuan, so it's difficult to revive him directly without him. And the most crucial thing is that he doesn't trust Chu Xuan. We went too far before… and we haven't experienced the 'Demon Team wipeout' yet, so the current external forces aren't enough to force him to put aside his past prejudices and cooperate with Chu Xuan. Even if we bypass him and revive Chu Xuan through someone else, future team problems will be difficult to solve.]

Patchouli: [This is a real headache for me too... If it weren't for the incredibly detailed and meticulous future projections I got from Saito Hajime, I wouldn't believe anyone could be that intelligent. To say he's planning three steps ahead for every one he takes is an insult... This guy hasn't even taken a single step and he already knows the ending. Before his resurrection, he was just an exceptional individual, but certainly not an ordinary person who couldn't find a replacement. But... could it be that in other timelines, he saw the 'envelope' of the future and then, with the mindset of a pseudo-reborn person, orchestrated everything to the point of being flawless, a monster of genius?]

Alice: [No, my clone specifically emphasized the name 'Chu Xuan' in the message. This shows that my clone highly regards, and even fears, that man. The possibility that he possesses genuine talent is extremely high, almost 100%. Therefore, if we fail to revive Chu Xuan before the team battle against the Demons, we might be in serious trouble… Besides, my clone also wants me to do so.]

Patchouli: […What should we do then? Reveal part of the future projections we got from Saito Hajime? No, for someone like Zheng Zha whose mind is…relatively simple, knowing too much isn't a good thing. Someone like him who proves his path through force will definitely try to crash into the dangers ahead if he knows beforehand. Fighting against overwhelming odds, the chances of him dying after a few such crashes are very high. If he tries to escape, he might die from the fourth-tier inner demons. Besides, we only know the projections for one timeline. There are too many variables; we can only refer to them, not copy them exactly… Hmm, how about revealing only a part?]

Alice: [It's still very dangerous, but... there's no other way. This is the weakest point for the team, and if we don't revive Chu Xuan now, things will get even more complicated. If we drag this out until the next world and still haven't revived him... although I don't know if the Demon Team battle will still proceed as planned given the changed evaluation, once it does start... the chances of winning are very low. I'll try to see if I can persuade him with some information I've gathered before, without revealing anything. If that doesn't work, then...]

Patchouli: [Let's play it by ear. Ideally, we'll get away with it, but if that doesn't work... then we'll have to resort to outside help.]

The two witches' eye contact lasted only a moment; after all, their minds were connected, and such a level of telepathic communication didn't need to be made public. And after the eye contact ended, it was Alice who spoke again.

"Zheng Zha, we..." She had barely begun to speak when the man in front of her raised his hand to stop her.

"Alright, you two can revive him if you want. I'm just asking you, how can you make sure that cold, emotionless guy won't suddenly sell one of us off when he's no longer valuable? He has a history of this. If you can handle this, I won't stop you from doing the rest."

"...Why did you suddenly change your mind?" Alice blinked, slightly stunned.

“Because this is the third time you’ve mentioned resurrecting that idiot, and you two were just exchanging glances… Unfortunately, I just unlocked my third-stage gene lock, so I know you two exchanged a lot of things in that instant. Now that you’ve decided to speak up, you must be confident you can convince me…” He paused for two seconds, then added jokingly, “Even if you haven’t, I don’t want to be tricked into thinking you have.” He gently stroked the hair of the little girl in his arms, trying to calm his little girlfriend… or perhaps calm his own heart. Then he gave the witches their own answer.

[You're not Zheng Zha! Tell me! Who the hell are you!?]

Alice nearly jumped out of her chair… though she ultimately didn’t. Her witchly composure, though shattered half an hour earlier by Patchouli’s smashing of the cup and teapot, still held a certain degree of concern for formalities, even in this situation. She lightly patted her shoulder, and a few seconds later, the doll Shanghai floated out of her shadow, carrying a freshly printed document.

"Project 'Dragon Concealment,' a perfect human engineering project... I collected some fragments of memories about Chu Xuan in the world of Ju-on. So I roughly know what kind of person he is. Afterwards, I collected and investigated some information about this person through the Main God. From this, I came to the conclusion that we need his wisdom."

The little doll floated lightly to Zheng Zha, put down the documents, and nimbly dodged Luo Li's hand that tried to grab it. It had previously been tormented by the female members of the senior members because of its cute appearance, but this time it refused to repeat the same mistake—it quickly flew back behind Alice, only revealing a pair of large sky-blue eyes that looked at her cautiously.

Shanghai, I'm scared. (JEPG)

Zheng Zha, however, paid little attention to the interaction between Luo Li and the little doll. He picked up the document, glanced at it briefly, and then frowned. He then turned to the first page and began to read it carefully again.

Fifteen minutes later, he slowly put down the document.

"An artificial life form with specially modulated genes... lacks most sensations, even the emotions and desires of normal humans... I understand." He closed his eyes, then slowly opened them after a few seconds. "I get it... Is there any way to help him?"

“Since Chu Xuan has returned to the Main God Space, the Main God probably won’t offer an exchange that can directly solve this problem, but the Gene Lock might be able to. When you reach the fourth stage, gene modification is no longer difficult, and I think you should know about that… Of course, I don’t recommend that you try it now.”

“Understood.” Zheng Zha let out a soft breath. “I agree to resurrect him. So… shall we set off soon? How long will we stay in the world of Gods and Demons this time?”

"My initial plan is about thirty days. Of course, I believe that Chu Xuan will come up with another plan to prove his abilities after his resurrection. However, it's always good to have a few backup plans, so I'll just give you a rough outline for now." Alice stretched out her hand and pulled out a light screen in mid-air. It was covered with numerous texts and icons on two maps, one of Egypt and one of China.

She then pointed to the map and began to explain.

"The first thing we can be sure of is that we are very likely to be able to trigger the plot of the horror movies 'The Mummy 2' and 'The Mummy 3' ahead of time in this world. There's not much to say about the plot itself; it's just that the undead are resurrected, and the protagonist goes through some adventures and fights to defeat them. There's no need to worry about it."

"The key to unlocking the second part of the story should be the 'Death Bracelet'—this isn't difficult; the movie indicates the location of the ruins where the bracelet is hidden. We just need to go there, dig it up, and then follow the plot. Although the whereabouts of the Spear of Judgment aren't specified, perhaps it can only be obtained through the character Jonathan—we'll consider this later. But I think... Zheng Zha, dealing with such a pathetic thing as the Scorpion King, it doesn't really matter whether you have the Spear of Judgment or not."

Zheng Zha nodded vigorously.

"In short, if we use Imhotep as a benchmark to measure the difficulty of Mummy 2, I think the main storyline of Mummy 2 should be a piece of cake for you. Then there's Mummy 3, the key to resurrecting the Dragon Emperor is the Fountain of Youth..."

Alice hesitated for a moment before continuing, "This is indeed a bit difficult. However, there's a tomb guardian named Lin Lin in the Dragon Emperor's tomb who clears out tomb raiders day after day. If we could find her even twenty years earlier, then we could naturally find the Fountain of Youth where her mother is located. And once we obtain the Fountain of Youth, the third part of the story can begin smoothly. We just need to revive the Dragon Emperor and then kill him... It's just that we don't know how strong the Dragon Emperor in his complete form is. So perhaps we need to reconsider this plot based on the situation at the time."

Alice then spent some more time recounting some details, and finally gave a brief conclusion.

"That's about it. In short, if we measure the difficulty of The Mummy 1 against The Mummy 2, then this horror movie is just a score-farming movie for us. So the main god will likely arrange some special events to strengthen the monsters in the plot. But for us who have survived the apocalypse head-on, it's not that difficult."

"Therefore, I've set a secondary objective for this operation, aside from the primary goal of reviving the fallen team members, as becoming familiar with my own power. Zheng Zha, you need to suppress your body's instinct to advance to the fourth tier; I need to become familiar with this soul form of my obsession. And Patchi..."

"I have to repair the Great Library." Patchouli glanced at Zheng Zha and said with some resentment, "Because someone didn't know how to use the doors and forced his way in by breaking through the wall, the Great Library is thirteen percent damaged, and all its functions are greatly reduced. Even the power plant is somewhat damaged. I'll have to spend all my time repairing it from now on."

Zheng Zha then gave an awkward laugh and looked away.

“Okay, that’s all.” Alice clasped her hands together and stood up. “There’s not much of a rush. In a few hours, we’ll get ready and then we’ll set off. This mission won’t be too difficult, so… just relax.”

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

This time, there's really no drama, really, it's a genuine vacation script, I swear, even the title is so witty OAO

Section Four: Welcoming Elder Chu to Inspect Our Work

The teleportation was scheduled for two hours later—Zheng Zha and his girlfriend would probably need some more time together, and he'd need to do some mental preparation. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't that Zheng Zha's grape trellis caught fire; it was that Luo Li had taken the initiative to have a serious talk with Zheng Zha. This clever girl had discerned Chu Xuan's importance from the veterans' conversation, and she also knew that if Zheng Zha, as the team leader, couldn't let go of that unresolved issue, it would be detrimental to the team's overall future development.

She knew the knot in her heart originated from her, so she decided to resolve it herself. And to truly resolve this, at least two hours were necessary.

“I don’t think those two are just having a casual chat.” Alice and her companion returned to the room. She sat down by the bed, gently stroking the hair of the doll Shanghai while looking at Patchouli, who was also sitting on the bed. “Do you think two hours of free time is enough?”

She turned her head and found Patchouli close to her, her slender fingers gently lifting her chin, her fragrant and warm breath caressing her cheek.

The warm breeze was getting closer.

Close enough.

They were so close that their cheeks touched.

"If...you feel this time is too long, then I can make it short." Patchouli's whispered in her ear, accompanied by a slight breeze, and she felt something wet and soft touching her earlobe. Patchouli's voice became deep and magnetic, as if it came from the depths of an abyss, a soft murmur that could corrupt the soul.

"Extraordinarily brief." The whisper transformed into a colorless snake, coiling around her neck, locking her wrists, and slowly creeping deeper into the seams of her clothes, crawling gently across her delicate skin. Until—

She gently patted the head of the Shanghai doll in her arms.

The next moment, a sudden anti-gravity field repelled everything that obstructed her path. Including a large, humanoid, pale purple, non-recyclable object, anything that tried to touch her was thrown at least three meters away.

"Don't even think about it," Alice replied coldly. She picked up Shanghai and gave him a light kiss. "I will absolutely not participate in a battle where there is no chance of victory, no certainty of victory, and defeat is inevitable. I would rather Shanghai benefit than you."

As she spoke, she paid no heed to the fact that Shanghai's face suddenly turned bright red with a "thud," and white mist, like something out of an anime, rose from its head. Little Penglai, hiding in her shadow, quickly flew out, fanning Shanghai with a tiny fan the size of a baby's palm while glaring angrily at its master, pouting with a disgruntled expression.

“For you, a chance of winning less than 90% is nothing. So you never make a move before you have a 90% chance of winning, so you rarely lose, so you almost always win. But…” Patchouli shook her head, manipulating the gravity field to restore the chaotic room to its original state. She stretched, and five elemental magic stones that she rarely used appeared behind her. The immense magical aura immediately emanated from them, transforming into a tangible sense of oppression.

"...Didn't you ever consider that when war breaks out, you can't always escape just because you want to?" she asked, but in a tone of certainty.

“Oh,” Alice snapped her fingers. “It seems this momentary victory has given you too much confidence. You’ve become arrogant, Patchouli Knowledge. Perhaps I should remind you that there’s always more to come? Impulsive actions often yield bitter fruit in the future.”

“Yes,” Patchouli tilted her head, clapping her hands in agreement. “But if we look at it from another angle, if the outcome is already predetermined, wouldn’t it be better to savor the sweet taste of victory before that predetermined future arrives? My poor Alice Margotrovid. My lovely Alice Margotrovid. What makes you think I would be content with just one victory instead of maximizing this rare opportunity?”

Alice set aside Shanghai, which was still steaming and clearly useless for the time being, leaving it to Penglai, who was also useless, to care for. She took a deep breath and said in a low voice.

"Patch, leave a way out for others, so you can meet again in the future."

"Mmm-hmm." Patchouli nodded repeatedly. "Since we see each other every day, why not leave ourselves an out?"

"Thirty years have passed since the beginning of the year, so never underestimate a young girl's potential."

"Three hundred years of oppression, what are you pretending to be a young girl for?"

"I, Alice Margot Royd, will never fall into the same pit twice!"

"My favorite thing to do, Patchouli Knowledge, is to say no to arrogant people!"

"...Spare me."

"But I refuse."

“……………………”

“……………………”

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

As a result, the departure time was delayed by several hours. It wasn't until the timer on the main square had moved from the morning of the meeting to the afternoon after everything was packed up that the senior members finally sorted out all sorts of matters, some suitable to be spoken and some not, and then completed the meeting under the light of the main god.

"Well then, everything's ready. There shouldn't be anything missing, right?" Zheng Zha glanced suspiciously at the witches, who seemed perfectly normal, as if wondering what they'd done to waste so much time—but ultimately, he got nowhere from their questioning gazes. So he could only purse his lips and refocus his attention on the divine orb in mid-air.