Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Because they weren't her enemies at all, nor were they servants of the creator of this distorted spacetime. They were actually the main characters of the original story, or rather—Imoton's escape tools. They were transformed into undead by Imhotep to buy time, and she had just been helping the original owner of this distorted spacetime eliminate a threat.

“No wonder there’s such an illogical mass of zombies at the city gate—no wonder there are only zombies!” Ming Yanwei shook her head slightly. “Their purpose after being awakened must be to cover O’Connor and Imhotep’s retreat, so blocking the city gate and indiscriminately attacking all living things is their modus operandi—damn it, these could have been my pawns to break the deadlock! I could have easily lured them to help me scout ahead and lure the enemy!”

"But I just stood there and killed them all... stood there, wasting ammunition and potions, and I even thought it was pretty good!" she cursed angrily, wishing she could slap herself. Of course, she didn't actually fight, but used this time of reflection to quickly sort out her thoughts and then consider other action strategies.

The optimal solution of using zombies to clear a path had been wasted. The secondary solution of deducing the escape route of the main characters by observing the surrounding buildings and subtle traces, and then searching for clues by going against the flow, had also become nonsense due to his own destructive barrage of bullets.

So……

"Damn it, I have no choice but to use the brute force method." She immediately drew her composite bow, loaded an arrow marked 'Explosive', and shot it at the nearest large building!

'boom--!'

Flames surged from every window of the building, instantly engulfing its outline and completely igniting this early 20th-century brick and wood structure, transforming it into a gigantic, fiercely burning torch. Since a direct route to the inner layers was impossible, the only option was to demolish everything in its path. Until the correct solution was found!

With that thought in mind, she began firing continuously at the buildings below from the chosen vantage point. Although the feel of her shot was slightly strange when she fired the first arrow, she quickly got into the zone and stopped thinking about other trivial matters.

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

Alice watched sadly from within the armor core's computing engine as the gunners furiously unleashed their firepower upon the surrounding buildings. She pondered whether she had chosen a hopeless case.

He'd gone to such lengths to help her, acting as her personal assistant... The charming lady had gone to such lengths, not only helping her immerse herself in the witch's mindset and secretly leaking information, but also providing computational power through the connection to the computing engine, and guiding her thinking so she could deduce the essence of this distorted spacetime—she'd done everything she could, except appearing beside her and personally telling her what to do next. Yet, this guy ultimately offered a solution that only Zheng Zha could possibly have come up with!?

Dismantle everything along the way... until you find the key to the next area...

Good heavens, whoever came up with this idea must be an incredible genius. It's absolutely brilliant, worthy of being praised high—because she doesn't need to consider whether the key point is indestructible, nor does she need to worry about the consumption of ammunition and medicine, nor does she need to think about the loss of time or the damage to equipment… What else can you do when you encounter someone like this besides giving her a kindergarten banner and telling her parents, 'Your child is the best-behaved among this batch of newborns, she even knows how to eat with a spoon!'

There's nothing we can do anymore!

Alice felt she was about to give up thinking, because she felt that if she continued to think, she might not be able to resist popping out of the calculation engine, and then, even at the risk of failing the mission and being held accountable by Chu Xuan, she would slap this idiot and send him spiraling to heaven!

If Marisa was the one who did this, she would have already personally taken action and let this idiot apprentice experience the wonderful feeling of soaring into the sky, standing shoulder to shoulder with the sun, stars, and moon, becoming their eternal best friend! I told her to observe the details, the details! Did she just ignore me?!

Or did she only hear the first point and mistake the second for a modifying statement of the first?

Alice took a soft breath—it's unclear how she managed such a difficult action as 'taking a breath' in her weakened state—but a witch is a witch after all; she pulled through and tried to gradually pull herself out of her hysterical rage, then began to think about her next move.

“Was there something wrong with my guidelines?” she tried to reflect. “Given such obvious elements as the phases of the moon, the star chart, and the wind direction, and then guide her to deduce the true identities of those zombies and their strategies… wouldn’t the next step be simple? Since she could think of luring the zombies to help her fill in the correct path, why couldn’t she do the same thing with light and wind?”

She pondered this in frustration, unable to convince herself that her guidelines were flawed. Since she wasn't wrong, then the problem must lie on the other side. This very notion further hampered her, interfering with and preventing her from devising a suitable guidance strategy for this situation.

She wasn't the only one with the same idea.

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

Ah... I got beaten up by Face King, beaten up by Flip Dragon, beaten up by Puppet Fish, beaten up by Yellow Ghost, beaten up by Insect Fairy...

I only have a win rate against other Lion Cult decks, damn it! What happened to the Tier 1 deck?!

But I'm finally almost done with my dollfish set! I pulled the second Rococo card, and now I have 7,000 dust... which means I'm only missing two more Lord's dust cards... I wish I could get a Lord's alternate art! _(:з」∠)_

Section 24: This event prohibits abduction and formal attire.

Zheng Zha felt that their speed was slowing down. No, it wasn't an illusion; he did feel that their efficiency had decreased—Chu Xuan's inaction over the past two days was proof of that. After secretly pushing the reincarnators and the main characters of the story to merge, he completely disappeared into the background, disguising himself as an ordinary newcomer like Ba Wang.

Yes, that's right, just an ordinary newcomer. A low-level armed personnel whose status seems similar to Overlord's—although Zheng Zha didn't understand what he was planning, since this was a pre-determined strategy, he wouldn't allow himself to leave a flaw. And if even he could maintain his disguise, then Zhang Jie and Overlord were even more capable.

Besides, Zheng Zha, with Chu Xuan's covert assistance, also persuaded the main characters of the story. The price was helping them pass the trials and rescuing Evelyn and Ansu'na—the latter being information Imhotep had revealed to them, and Zheng Zha still didn't understand why he had to pretend not to know about Ansu'na. In return, the main characters would hand over the Scorpion King's Bracelet, the Spear of Judgment, and all the holy relics obtained from Anubis's Pyramid that could be traded as equivalent value to the reincarnators during the transaction settlement.

Clearly, although the specific details were unclear, this was undoubtedly a transaction based on information asymmetry. Both sides felt they had actually made a huge profit. As a result, the atmosphere within the team naturally became harmonious, and in this harmonious atmosphere, the hastily assembled temporary team peacefully spent two full days.

Ah, that's right. It's already the third day, two days after Zheng Zha and his group of reincarnators met up with O'Connor, the two main characters of the story. The pilgrimage to the temple has reached the last one, and just fifteen minutes ago, he personally demolished the three living stone statues that looked like giant warriors and could shoot lasers and lightning that rushed out of the temple.

Alice had told him to restrain himself as much as possible, not to use power beyond the third level of the Gene Lock, or even to use power approaching that level. He did as she instructed, and he found that even without entering a state of deep activation of the third level, his combat power had increased significantly compared to before. Apart from some issues with his daily energy reserves, he felt much stronger than before.

Energy… Ah, well, this isn't just a 'little' problem, it's a major headache. He genuinely felt out of sorts after being deprived of the near-unlimited energy supply provided by the witches. As the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality; no energy, no energy. And this transformed him from an invincible iron bull into a three…five-minute superman, while also making him increasingly nostalgic for the days when he had a giant power bank by his side.

Although those so-called living fossils couldn't even last two minutes under his control, this feeling of having to be cautious and meticulous was truly unbearable!

Honestly, whether it's a game or real life, going out to participate in events and not being allowed to bring supplies (power banks) is a treatment no one can tolerate! Although the storyline this time is relatively simple—Alice repeatedly emphasized that the storyline is very simple—he doesn't think it will be a pleasant journey. And the only thing he can, or rather, is interested in doing right now is—

— So all that's left is to pitifully count every last bit of energy reserves on your fingers, and reminisce about the happy times when you had unlimited energy, stamina, and vitality, and your injuries could heal instantly.

Because at that time he didn't need to think about anything, he just had to pick up his weapon and go chop.

However, the witches lost contact two days ago after heading north in their gyrocopter. There were no phones, no internet, and Zhang Jie's mental scan couldn't possibly have traveled halfway around the world to learn about their current situation. Aside from confirming they were probably alright, he had absolutely no idea what they were doing.

—[Perhaps they are preparing to compile the Book of Revelation?]

A thought quietly surfaced in his mind. But he quickly dismissed it. Because he had never actually witnessed the destructive power of apocalyptic magic firsthand—he was eating sand in Cairo, he wasn't present during Transformers, and in Final Destination… in that world, the supported sky walls didn't seem to possess any destructive power.

He only knew that the Apocalypse was powerful, capable of both defeating him and razing a city to the ground. In the current worldview, apart from that kobold, there seemed to be no enemy in the story who was potentially stronger than him—the Dragon Emperor might be one, but he was currently sleeping peacefully in the First Emperor's Mausoleum, and they didn't intend to trigger it now.

The most likely thing they would do is to completely erase that so-called no man's land.

[Margot and the others probably aren't that heartless... I feel she's quite peace-loving. Although she's not very polite in her speech, she's still saved a lot of people.]

He thought somewhat uncertainly, leaning back listlessly in the soft seat of the off-road vehicle, indifferently gazing at the unchanging golden yellow of the desert—this, too, was his reason for believing the group's slowing pace. After experiencing the thrill of summoning high-speed aircraft within fifteen seconds of any desired destination in Final Destination 2, and the high-speed gyrocopter transport just two days prior, riding in this early 20th-century off-road vehicle now felt like a snail dragging a tortoise!

A snail the size of a finger is dragging a tortoise the size of a fist!

[I can even run faster than you on foot! Why don't you get a plane, an airship, or use your magic to travel?! Didn't they have an airship in the movie?! Why is it that now the protagonists are teaming up with the villains, but the airship is gone!]

He couldn't help but roar in anger inside, but he didn't realize that he was currently connected to a mental communication network. The next moment, he personally tasted the bitter fruit.

Zhang Jie (indifferently): [Zheng Zha, do you know what noise pollution is?]

Zheng Zha: 【…I'm sorry. But…】

Zhang Jie: [I know you're in a bad mood right now, but I feel that if you do it again, other people will feel uncomfortable. So...]

Zheng Zha (in terror): [Hey, wait! I know...]

Zhang Jie (coldly): "...You should calm down by yourself."

...Communication interrupted...

Zheng Zha: […Wrong.]

He immediately felt extremely frustrated and sad, as if he had swallowed a pickled herring.

【………………】

He suddenly heard some unusual noises beside him.

“Sorry, this is the best transportation we could find.” As if sensing Zheng’s melancholy mood, O’Connor, who was in another SUV, gestured to his driver to move closer to him—undoubtedly, the drivers at this moment were the modified undead creatures summoned by Imhotep. And they were clearly willing to follow O’Connor’s commands.

As a result, the marching speed of the group slowed down a little.

Zheng Zha's lips twitched as he watched O'Connor's car and his own car slowly parallel. The dust on the ground stopped churning, and the oncoming wind lessened. However, just as he tried to offer some other suggestions, O'Connor preemptively resumed the conversation that O'Connor had started.

“We’re about two hours away from the sacred site in the Assam Desert. It’s a large oasis with a flowing river, and our people have prepared boats there beforehand. If all goes well, we should arrive at the oasis before nightfall.” He smiled amicably at Zheng Zha. Clearly, after two days of fighting, he and Zheng Zha had reached a considerable level of consensus… at least a consensus on Zheng Zha’s power. This consensus was enough for him to adopt a friendly attitude and avoid conflict with the reincarnators as much as possible before the transaction was completed.

After the transaction is completed, it is natural to maintain this goodwill even further.

“If you feel sleepy, go take a nap. The car will drive directly to the ship, and when you wake up, we might already be at the Holy Oasis,” O’Connor said with a smile. “Don’t worry about oversleeping. We’ll probably face some minor challenges there, and we might need your help then.”

Zheng Zha knew what he was talking about. It must be the small, monkey-like undead spirits inhabiting the sacred oasis. They were originally natives of ancient times; the movie's plot said they were forced to pray to Death for a place to live because their habitat was destroyed—Anubis answered their prayers, bestowing upon them the sacred oasis. But at the same time, he also cursed them, turning them into immortal guardians. And as time passed, their continued existence in this world naturally had only one purpose.

—That is the invader who kills everything.

"It shouldn't be too difficult to deal with just a bunch of monkeys, right? After all, even the weak protagonists in the original story managed to escape from them. Not to mention Imhotep, who could easily subdue them." Zheng Zha raised an eyebrow, feeling a strange unease.

[Strange. If they were just small skeletons that shoot blowguns and makeshift weapons, O'Connor wouldn't have needed to emphasize it at all. Clearly, he only brought it up because he felt he and Imhotep combined wouldn't be enough. And they're not exactly weak.]

What happened...?

He wanted to seek answers from Chu Xuan, but Zhang Jie had severed his mental link with him just minutes earlier. Left with no other option, he turned to O'Connor directly for help.

"What kind of little test?" Zheng Zha asked, feigning ignorance. "If you all feel unsure, I'm afraid it will be troublesome for me to handle. Can you give me a hint?"

“Don’t worry, they’re just a bunch of monkeys.” O’Connor laughed heartily, pulling two cigars from his pocket and lighting one for himself after Zheng Zha declined, saying he only smoked regular cigarettes. “They’re a group of undead natives, said to be blessed by the divine power of Anubis, growing stronger in battle depending on the enemy’s condition. But some have passed this test, supposedly only becoming incredibly strong in the end, not much different from those living statues we encountered in the temple.”

He shrugged, exhaled a puff of smoke, and gave a cowboy-style smile.

"After all, Anubis set up the trials to select His warriors, not to make them all fall at the entrance to the pyramids," he said nonchalantly. "There are only a few of us to choose from, and the real test is inside the pyramids. Just think about it, the guard dogs won't be set up too difficult."

“The reason I’m telling you this, Zheng, is mainly because I think you can take this opportunity to properly train your two new recruits.” He raised his cigar and pointed to the two vehicles where Ba Wang and Chu Xuan were. “Kampavsky and Chu are both good prospects. Under normal circumstances, they could probably take on ten people each, and with the right weapons, they might even be able to take on a hundred. But I can see that their combat ability is far inferior to yours and that Miss Margot Lloyd’s.”

“Especially Chu,” he said earnestly. “I don’t quite understand why you would give the Book of the Dead to Chu, and have him make a pact with Death, even with Miss Margot Lloyd’s help. Perhaps you have your reasons, but I don’t think it’s a good idea—he’s been going to that bald guy a lot these past few days to ask him about magic. He’s very talented and learns very quickly. If he weren’t one of yours, that bastard Imhotep might have even taken him on as an apprentice. But this also proves one thing—that Miss Margot Lloyd didn’t teach him anything.”

Zheng Zha: "……………………"

“I don’t know what happened between you, but I think you’d better handle the conflict with Miss Margot Lloyd properly. Although Imhotep was killed by her two years ago, he doesn’t actually resent Miss Margot Lloyd and is quite in awe of her power. You are a leader, Zheng, and I believe that such a powerful witch will not leave your group just because she feels awkward meeting us.”

Zheng Zha: "……………………"

"That's why I suggested you let the newcomers in your team get some experience when you arrive at the oasis. Then you'll realize that for someone like Chu, a purebred magic novice, the basic spells he's learned are nowhere near as reliable as the dual pistols in his pocket. You know, there are no geniuses who can do everything in this world; it's important to know your own limitations..."

Zheng Zha: "……………………"

He went on and on, and it was clear that he genuinely wanted to persuade Zheng Zha to let Chu Xuan give up his studies in magic and focus on becoming a dual-wielder. Moreover, he was acting entirely selflessly, with not a trace of malice in his words.

Zheng Zha could only give him an awkward but polite smile.

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

I haven't even opened a single chapter of Shadowverse yet... I'm afraid I'll quit after playing Shadowverse for a few more weeks.

Today was another day of getting utterly crushed. My record... well, it's embarrassing, I won't go into it.

I'm planning to write some side stories when I have some free time... I'm currently considering whether to hold a poll. I'm wondering whether to write a story set in Gensokyo, the Witch Wars, a sequel to some other story world, or maybe just an H-story that can only be shared in QQ groups... It's a bit of a headache.

Set up a poll [Important]

Well, I'm planning to write some side stories or extra chapters lately. They'll basically fill in some extra plot points that can't be naturally integrated into the main storyline. Anyway, these side stories are unrelated to my regular updates, and I'll try my best to release them as free chapters after I finish them.

Let's have a poll on what to write for the side story. Please leave your comments in the lines following the numbers.

1. The storyline in Gensokyo mainly focuses on daily life [peaceful daily life].

2. Before entering Gensokyo, the storyline of the Witch War [Turbulent War]

3. The sequel to a story world that is unlikely to be visited again: [Civilization Change]

Hmm, there was supposed to be another script called "Good Kid" (number 4), but then I realized I'm not really good at writing H scenes, and the public opinion in the end-of-chapter posts didn't seem to favor that kind of development. So I'll skip that one.

Well, in short, this poll should be valid indefinitely. I'll write more about the ones with more votes, and I might not completely ignore the ones with fewer votes. After all, a side story can't be written in just one chapter. However, I'll do a recount before the end of the month, since this book has over 20,000 reads already. If I don't even have a single option with over 100 votes after a week... then I'll just let it go.

_(:з」∠)

Chapter 25 - This is 1ap's Happy Weekly Edition