Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

When Ming Yanwei opened her eyes and awoke from her severely injured coma, she found herself lying on a makeshift hospital bed on a gyroplane. Beside the bed was a small box containing a still-steaming God Brand instant meal, and when she instinctively raised her hand, she realized her body had returned to normal.

Outside the gyroplane window, the moon and stars shone in the dim moonlight. Looking down slightly, the timer hanging on the window showed 3:00 AM. Perhaps because the newcomers needed rest, the cabin lights were dimmed. But even in this faint light, she could see that the veterans were mostly working overtime.

Patchouli, who was in charge of piloting and constantly repairing that so-called "Great Library," goes without saying. The bespectacled man, Chu Xuan, seemed to be flipping through a thick, black ancient book, possibly the Book of the Dead. Meanwhile, the clinking of bottles echoed from the rear compartment, presumably Zheng Zha and the others were enjoying a good drink. And in the seat opposite him…

“I suppose you should be waking up soon. The food is right beside you, help yourself,” Alice said to her without looking up. Beside the witch, a power armor that had been largely repaired and had many new parts added was hanging on a shelf—the legs of the armor seemed to still have some flaws, and because of this, the witch’s work was not yet finished.

"Um... about the injuries I have?"

"Those injuries are not even comparable to the surgery I performed on your body. You should have woken up long ago. The reason you slept for so long is simply because your physiological habits require you to sleep, and at the same time, you consumed too much energy by reactivating your gene lock and failed to replenish it in time."

"Oh." Ming Yanwei nodded, supporting herself as she got up from the hospital bed. She picked up the box of food, filling her stomach as she mumbled, "Where are we going? Has the next quest been triggered?"

She glanced at her God's Watch and was somewhat surprised to find that it was still blank.

"No? Or is it because I fainted..."

“It didn’t trigger,” Alice replied. “The temple collapsed quickly after you passed out, and before that, the Death Bracelet had already been taken by O’Connor and his men. But unfortunately, the item they left there to deal with other enemies who might track them down to the temple was a bad move for them. With that, I can pinpoint their location.”

“That prop…what was it?” Ming Yanwei rubbed her forehead. As she tried to recall the monster, her mind churned, as if it weren't a pleasant memory. Her subconscious was refusing to let her delve into that direction. “…I remember…”

She was troubled, but overcame her discomfort and asked, "It's like I was knocked down in the blink of an eye."

Alice looked up and glanced at her.

“It’s just a slightly stronger Ditto. The reason you can’t do anything about it is because it has a certain area-specific hallucinogenic effect when it’s active. You didn’t prepare any mental protection, so even if it’s right next to you, you can’t see it or feel the air it stirs up when it moves. In fact, you could have shot it dead from a distance—if you had spotted it beforehand.” The girl replied, while completing the final step in her work.

"It was my mistake not to prepare mental protection for you in advance. The new armor has solved this problem. In the battles to come, there may be many enemies with this powerful mental pollution trait, so you'd better prepare yourself mentally in advance."

"Mental pollution, huh..." Ming Yanwei put down the lunchbox she had quickly finished. She felt the uncomfortable feeling in her mind fading, and her thoughts soon returned to a smooth and unrestrained state. "I thought mental magic only created illusions of psychological weaknesses... I didn't expect there to be something like this."

“This is actually a fairly basic method, it’s just that you haven’t encountered it before, and this monster is overly specialized in this aspect.” Alice tapped on the new armor, and nodded in satisfaction after hearing a dull and heavy sound.

"You must understand that to young birds, beasts with sharp claws are terrifying monsters, like natural disasters. But cats and Tyrannosaurus Rex are worlds apart. Don't think your opponents are too strong, because they are not actually as strong as you imagine."

"...So that means Tyrannosaurus Rex really exists?"

Alice's fingers paused for a moment.

“Being too smart isn’t a good thing… but since we’re in a cycle of reincarnation, it doesn’t matter.” She gave Ming Yanwei a faint smile. “Tyrannosaurus Rex is extinct and doesn’t exist in this world. At most, only lions remain on the earth now. But at your current level, you can only fight a cat to a draw. The lions will naturally be handled by me, Zheng Zha, Zhang Jie, and the others. You just need to do what you are capable of.”

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

Meanwhile, in the rear cabin of the gyroplane, as Ming Yanwei recovered from these minor setbacks, regained her fighting spirit, and eliminated the slight mental unease, Zhang Jie downed the entire glass of wine in one gulp. He exhaled softly, letting out a satisfying 'Ha~' sound.

"How's it? Not bad, right?" Zheng Zha poured him a full glass. Then, after clinking glasses with his, he downed his own in one gulp. "Fifteen-year-old Scotch whisky. It's amazing that Norrie can get her hands on such good stuff. When I used to work at the company, I only ever saw it once, on the boss's birthday, and it was always the kind of new whisky that had been aged for exactly three years... This is really something..."

He shook his head—the alcohol didn't matter; did the Main God Space lack luxuries? What mattered was the people he was drinking with.

Behind the two, the burly Russian man, who should have possessed formidable fighting prowess, lay sprawled on the ground, smacking his lips as he mumbled incoherently while clutching a half-empty bottle of whiskey—no wonder, even among the most warrior-like people, he was still a complete novice who had never even been to the Main God Space. Faced with these two humanoid monsters who had unlocked their third-stage genetic lock and could freely control their internal organs and hormone secretion… even the Northern Giant Bear had its limitations.

"Do you regret it? Because you entered this God's Space?" Zhang Jie smiled and asked casually.

"Do you regret it..." Zheng Zha poured himself another full glass. He thought for a moment, then shook his head: "At first... I did regret it a little, but I don't now. Compared to rotting and decaying in that hopeless city, these days in the cycle of reincarnation have truly felt like living for me. Besides..."

He patted Zhang Jie's shoulder hard and said with deep emotion, "With you good comrades by my side, with Luo Li waiting for me in the space, and with those companions who haven't been resurrected yet... what more could I ask for in this destiny? Endless adventures, endless wars... perhaps I will have regrets someday. But that will never be now, nor will it be in the near future."

He downed the drink in his glass in one gulp, then poured himself another.

"It's a pity Chu Xuan isn't willing to drink with us, and it's a pity that Lingdian and the others can't come to drink with us either." He raised his glass and sighed inwardly.

“That day will come.” Zhang Jie picked up his glass and clinked it with his. “And it won’t be long.”

“Yes, it won’t be long.” Zheng Zha pressed a button on the wall beside him, and the rear door of the stern slowly opened in front of them. A cool night breeze brushed against their cheeks, and the alcohol, which they were no longer trying to suppress, began to boil in their bodies.

The two grown men held their wine glasses and raised them towards the bright moon in the sky.

"To friendship." The two glasses clinked gently, and they drank it all in one gulp.

"To my comrade." The two glasses clinked together again, and they drank it all in one gulp.

"Respect the main god... never mind, I won't respect that son of a bitch—respect my hometown."

The two glasses clinked together for the third time, and the drinks were drained for the third time.

"I...I can't think of anything to toast, so let's drink."

And so it was the fourth time. After the fourth time, there was a fifth, a sixth, a seventh... until the wine in the cup was gone and the moon sank in the west.

The wine has been drunk, but the guests have not yet left.

And the battle is about to begin.

Chapter Sixteen: These days, even demon kings collude with heroes.

Finding the summoner from a monster's corpse is no easy task, especially since the entire land of Egypt has become a dead magic zone for information witches—though that doesn't stop them from easily conjuring up a plasma ball or a magic cannon, or simply abandoning their physical bodies to unleash magic in their lingering soul state. But without a doubt, unable to perform rituals in an apocalyptic environment, they are indeed not very adept at handling this kind of problem at this moment.

Not being good at something doesn't mean you can't do it.

With the help and persuasion of a humanoid monster whose intelligence was so high it could render measuring instruments useless, the witches reluctantly unearthed some dangerous, but not fatal, knowledge sealed in the shallow depths of their memory. Then, using this knowledge, the corpse was reverse-engineered and modified, ultimately becoming a somewhat alive, flesh-and-blood messenger.

Through this messenger, the reincarnators were able to determine the approximate location of the summoner. Because the existence of otherworldly creatures requires a contract, and without deliberate external interference, the contract is only severed when either the summoner or the summoned creature dies completely. And for this… shape-shifting slime, being hit by a magic cannon shot doesn't really constitute a complete death.

It has indeed become a corpse, but this corpse still possesses vitality. And since it possesses vitality, the summoned contract has not ended.

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

"That's the basic situation." Before dawn, when the moon had set and the sun had not yet risen, the reincarnators gathered in the large cabin of the gyroplane, sitting in a circle and discussing earnestly. Naturally, Chu Xuan was the main speaker, and he pulled up a projected map on a light screen beside him, pointing out details.

“O’Connor’s exact location has been pinpointed, and Patchouli’s satellite system is now online. We can now monitor all the ancient temples that serve as landmarks in the original film. According to previous observations, he is currently leaving the second temple and is on his way to the third. It seems our earlier prediction was correct; he must visit each temple to complete a ritual before finally reaching the Pyramid of Anubis.”

In the original story, after obtaining the Death Bracelet, the protagonist must visit several temples before finally reaching the Pyramid of Anubis. However, even in the film, this part of the plot is largely meaningless.

"So, are we going to go straight to the third temple and ambush him?" Zheng Zha flexed his fingers, looking somewhat impatient. "I want to try and see if I can use a Memory Correction Fist to solve his problems... He can still be saved, right, Margot Lloyd?"

He turned his head to look at Alice. However, it was someone else who answered his question.

"No, something unexpected happened." Chu Xuan shook his head, reached out and tapped the light screen, and a photo taken by a monitoring satellite appeared in their field of vision.

It was a procession silently trekking through the desert, draped in heavy black robes. From the picture, it was impossible to tell whether they were men or women, or even whether the creatures under the robes were human... At the very front of the procession, O'Connor, dressed as an ancient Egyptian warrior, was riding a camel forward. His exposed skin was covered with golden tattoos, and a short spear made of gold was slung at his waist.

That was the Spear of Judgment, and it was already activated—of course, that wasn't really important; the Reincarnators had long suspected he might have already obtained it. And the unexpected situation Chu Xuan described was definitely not this—his finger moved slightly to the side, pointing to another person in the photo walking alongside O'Connor.

—Another guy everyone here is quite familiar with. The guy who should be the boss we're dealing with this time.

—Imhotep, the Undead Priest.

Then several people in the cabin gasped in shock.

“Imhotep!? How is that possible?” Zheng Zha’s jaw nearly dropped. He pointed at the photos of the two men walking side by side, looking like close comrades even if they weren’t best friends. “Him? O’Connor!? Weren’t we planning to go to Britain to resurrect him… but why? And how did he and O’Connor end up together? What about Evelyn? What about Ansu-Na?”

“So that’s the problem.” Patchouli chimed in. “I can confirm that the resurrection incantation in the Book of the Dead has never been triggered since Alice took it away from the world of God and Demon. Although Alice didn’t use the incantation method to kill it at the end of the last raid, that doesn’t constitute a reason for its resurrection.”

She paused, then continued, "—Because there are cults in this world that have worshipped him for thousands of years and have always taken it upon themselves to resurrect him. If there were a way to resurrect him other than those two scriptures, they would definitely seek it out and put it into practice."

Alice continued, explaining, "Well, the mission in the team battle against the Indians was to bury the undead priest Imhotep. I'm certain he was completely destroyed at that time. Since he's reappeared in this world, there can only be two reasons—first, the exotic knowledge O'Connor acquired. And the second is…"

“Anubis.” Chu Xuan nodded. “In the Mummy trilogy, plus the prequel Scorpion King, Anubis is the only deity in this world whose existence is certain and whose divine power has been demonstrated. Many of the protagonists’ actions are inseparable from its influence behind the scenes. I even suspect that Anubis is the only true god in this world, and everything that happens in this world is its script.”

"...Is it the same old tricks as those 'Mingju Emperors'?" Zheng Zha's voice was a little hoarse, revealing a hint of anger.

“It’s possible, but very unlikely,” Alice shook her head and replied. “After we obtained this conjecture last night, we immediately set out to explore the surrounding geology. We can confirm that the history of this world is running normally and has not been interfered with by too many external forces—there is no reincarnation, no doomsday cleansing device. Even Anubis, who has manifested divine power and may very well possess the power of a true god, does not seem to have interfered much with the history of this world.”

"He doesn't care about His believers, His temples and shrines, or the rise and fall of dynasties in His land. He just quietly stays on this land like an observer or a watcher. I checked the local historical records, and Egypt in this world was also invaded by other countries, just like in the historical records. The people on this land and the belief in the nine Egyptian gods have long since disappeared, but He has never made any interference."

"But the Scorpion King is different, and Imhotep's life or death is different. Only these two are certain to be of Anubis's concern. Although in the movie the Scorpion King ultimately dies by the spear of judgment, and Imhotep falls into hell because of his broken heart, it is O'Connor, as God's chosen warrior, who drives everything. If someone else were to intervene... I doubt He would remain indifferent."

"So, we can't get involved anymore?" Zhang Jie gently rubbed his forehead. "We've put in so much effort and wasted so much time, and this is the result we get?"

"No, that's not it." Chu Xuan glanced at him, making him shrink back in fright. "It's just a revision of the action plan. Since O'Connor is here and has formed an alliance with Imhotep—regardless of whether the alliance is strong or not, it at least proves that the two of them have aligned interests at this time. And given the current situation, the most likely candidates are the two female protagonists."

“Evelyn, Ansulna.”

“Anklub is probably still a minor reincarnation, but since Imhotep has been resurrected for unknown reasons, Anklub naturally has the possibility of completing her reincarnation as well. And since they are not here, they can only be in another place.”

“Britain,” Alice said softly, “we still need to maintain contact with the two male protagonists, but at the same time, we can’t ignore the female protagonist either. Although with our current power we can completely crush most of the forces in this world, I don’t think that includes Anubis, the one true god. To prevent any accidents, caution is necessary.”

"We're going to split into teams."

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

So, daily life

Section Seventeen - I deliberately posted this section after midnight.

Squad.

After obtaining this intelligence, deciding on the team split was not difficult. However, considering that Imhotep was ultimately killed by Alice herself, and from Imhotep's perspective, it was Alice who killed Anskhuna, and given that O'Connor's corruption was not as severe as initially thought, the final decision was for her to cross the sea to Britain in a gyroplane. Since the gyroplane was no longer of use after the team caught up with O'Connor and the others, Patchouli would also travel with her.

So the final result was this: the men stayed behind and, under Chu Xuan's arrangement, gradually made contact with O'Connor and his group, trying to avoid becoming hostile as much as possible before triggering the side quests. Meanwhile, the witches embarked on a journey to Britain to rescue the two female protagonists who should still be in the uninhabited areas of their homeland, and to deal with the alien pollution in that land.

It's a very reasonable configuration, allowing both sides to leverage their strengths. At least that's what Alice thinks.

As the gyroplane dropped off the male passengers and flew north in circles, she turned her head to look at Ming Yanwei, who had stayed behind with the ladies as arranged by Chu Xuan. She gently stroked her chin, deep in thought.

But this guy suddenly became quite an eyesore.

As she thought this, Ming Yanwei, who was being watched, also felt a jolt in her heart. Although she did not understand what had happened, a sense of unease welled up inside her. She subconsciously stood up from her seat in the cabin and said somewhat helplessly, "Ah, I'll go to the stern cabin to take a look. It seems that those men didn't clean up after their drinking contest. The floor is a mess."

“Thank you for your help.” Alice smiled, her delicate, arched eyebrows trembling slightly. “I happen to have prepared a new box of arrows under the second cabinet in the aft cabin. They can be used in many situations. After you finish tidying up the aft cabin, you can take some time to study them ‘slowly.’ It will take a long time to get to Britain from here, so I’ll come to remind you at lunchtime!”

"Understood!" Ming Yanwei jumped up abruptly, darting through the open middle hatch and then several steps to the stern. With two loud 'bangs,' the two hatches slammed shut, separating the foremost cockpit and giving the two witches ample space.

You're smart to know what's good for you.

Alice's lips curled into a smile as she casually turned around. She gently pressed a button on the wall, and a protective force field, which had been etched into the cabin wall during the construction of the gyroplane to block mental scans, quietly activated. She then tilted her head slightly to look at the purple-haired girl sitting in the front pilot's seat, intently controlling the gyroplane.

She glanced at Patchouli's hands, which were gripping the control panel tightly...

【Patchi, you can drive this thing with just one finger. And it's not like it doesn't have auto-navigation! If you're going to pretend, at least make it look real!】

A flirtatious smile played on her lips as she walked lightly and cheerfully toward Patchouli, who was sitting in the cockpit.

"Trying to cover it up... Are you afraid others won't notice?" She had only gone halfway when she heard Patchouli's slightly complaining voice. "You're being too obvious. Can't you be a little more natural?"

“But I did it on purpose.” Alice chuckled softly, gently placing her hands on Patchouli’s shoulders. “I just wanted her to know and understand this. Because she’s been traumatized and is still wary of men. And I’ve unfortunately played the role of savior several times in a row. The combined effect of these two factors, though not yet very obvious, has already subtly changed the way she looks at me.”

"This is just a seed; it may sprout, or it may not. But..." Her fingers gently touched Patchouli's shoulder, massaging the latter's slightly tired muscles to relax her a little. "Whether in the past, present, or future, you are the only one in my heart, Patchouli, so..."

"...I will not allow the flag that has been planted to have a chance to stand firm, even if there are only the slightest signs, even if it is just my own delusional illusion, I will eliminate such a possibility. I will not allow it to have even the slightest room to grow."

"...How can you possibly control what other people are thinking?"

“This is called nipping problems in the bud,” Alice leaned down and whispered in the girl’s ear. “Love is usually a one-sided affair, you know. I don’t think I need confidantes or best friends. Isn’t it better to keep relationships as stable as colleagues and friends?”