Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"Oh no, Miss!" A flustered servant suddenly pushed open the door to her room.

"There's been a riot outside! Master and Madam are dead! Run!" Before the words were even finished, a steel fork pierced through the unfortunate servant's chest, going straight through the poor fellow's heart. As he fell, a muscular, burly man appeared in the doorway.

Alice slowly turned her head to look at him.

Then he tore the plan he had just conjured up into shreds.

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

The starting point is a censored word!

Chapter Twenty-Two: I Infiltrated!

Alice couldn't help but clap her hands in admiration.

Good, very good, excellent.

Although this wasn't the first time she'd seen something like this, nor the first time she'd been caught off guard and left reeling before she'd even begun her plan, but...

I really let my guard down a lot after Chu Xuan was resurrected...

She thought to herself, but her petite form moved nimbly—she picked up an uncapped pen from the table beside her, and with a swift movement, she used a deceptive footwork to get to the intruder's side. With a flick of her wrist, the sharp pen tip pierced the burly man's side!

Pleated skirts are such a nuisance...

The burly man wielding the iron fork let out a painful groan, his massive hands slamming down in an attempt to use his size and weight to forcefully subdue the girl. However, as soon as his hands were halfway out, a gushing stream of blood from his waist drained away his strength and will to fight!

The waist is located near the kidneys, which are the gathering place of Qi and blood in the human body.

With one's vital energy and blood depleted, the mortal body will naturally lose all ability to resist.

He collapsed, powerless, yet his remaining strength still lingered, a final act of resistance. But just as he tried to muster his arms once more, a pale blue pleated skirt fluttered into his vision. And immediately afterward came a heavy knee strike and the crisp sound of fragile organs and tissues shattering!

The burly man collapsed completely, his body convulsing, blood gushing from his waist as his face turned as white as snow. A few seconds later, he fell into a permanent silence.

The weak.

Alice gave a soft hum.

[I'm too weak, and I actually forgot about this. Ever since Chu Xuan's resurrection, my actions have become a bit too flamboyant... I actually started preparing for future developments before even getting through the most basic period of weakness... Damn it, where did I throw all those hardships I suffered before! I actually did something so stupid!]

She reached out and picked up the pitchfork that had rolled from the dead man's hand. Shifting her gaze slightly back, chaos unfolded before her eyes; the manor courtyard, ravaged by the rioters, was now completely visible.

Very well, they won't be able to get out alive unless they're all killed.

I want to thank you all; you've given me a wake-up call. You've made me realize I haven't been cautious or careful enough—strategy and careful thinking are not things that someone as foolish as me excels at. What has kept me alive until now is the vast amount of contingency plans I've prepared. And now, I almost lost this invaluable treasure!

She took a soft breath, stepped over the corpse, and walked out the door.

"As a thank you, I'll let you all die here!" she said softly, as distant memories of close combat and short-weapon melee battles quickly surfaced in her mind. The surrounding environment became fully apparent through her perception and the comparison with her memories. Although this body hadn't unlocked its genetic potential or received sufficient physical training, in this battle that didn't involve supernatural elements, she was still the stronger party!

This body is stained with too much hatred and curses. Considering the riot that probably only broke out in this manor, the identity of this body, the rough clothes and messy wounds on the rioters, and the hatred and resentment in their eyes, I can roughly guess the situation...

She shook her head slightly.

[Tsk, I've actually landed on the body of a sadistic psychopath. So young, it's probably a family trait. And the timing of my arrival just happened to coincide with the victims breaking free of their cages and taking revenge? My luck is truly remarkable.]

[So, let's do a little deduction: if there were no external interference, what would have been the original fate of my body?]

[...I suppose there's probably no other ending besides death.]

She walked towards a group of rioters who had noticed her, twirling her steel fork and quickly stabbing the throats of several of the screaming, charging men. With a slight turn of her feet, her flowing pleated skirt created a warm breeze, and at the same time, she instantly killed another rioter who tried to ambush her from behind!

While the previous plan is no longer relevant, the fundamental principle—'to develop a force capable of rivaling Esdeath before she discovers me'—remains essential. Since I can no longer escape peacefully or by fleeing, the only viable strategy is to kill everyone here!

Kill them all, then set fire to everything that remains.

Although the original body of the person who descended was destined to die without considering external forces, whether it actually died was a difficult question to answer.

So……

She took a deep breath, tossed aside the pitchfork, and picked up a broadsword that looked like it was forged from steel from the body of a fallen guard. More rioters noticed her and roared with hatred!

"It's Arya! That demon!" someone shouted, and then a large group of people glared at her and charged at her with weapons of varying lengths!

"Kill her! Tear her to pieces!"

What business is it of Alice's if you want to kill Arya?

The girl thought to herself, but her feet didn't slow down at all. She charged towards the attackers, and when they were still five meters away, she kicked a corpse into the middle of the crowd with a skillful kick. Immediately afterward, her figure slithered like a snake, bursting into the ranks of the rioters from below where her vision was obscured!

It was a very simple maneuvering technique. Since she wasn't physically superior, using dodging and displacement to fight was the right approach. Although the fight was brief, the corpse certainly drew the attention of many rioters. And in that brief moment, Alice's longsword drew a long, narrow line of blood!

The sword severed a leg, causing chaos in the formation. Even with her fragile body, Alice's spiritual awareness, far surpassing that of these rabble, was still effective—she easily dodged several rioters' attacks, her broadsword striking them as they missed their targets, inflicting limbs severing or fractures. She was fast, her breathing adjusting to perfectly match her body in a few movements. And perfect breathing meant ample stamina; sufficient stamina meant victory!

Those who are wounded first fall last. Alice uses her petite stature to maneuver through the crowd, delivering a non-fatal blow at the opportune moment. She doesn't kill, allowing the wounded to hinder the able-bodied in the melee, and when most of the enemies are incapacitated, she swiftly and decisively eliminates them all!

Her sword was swift, and so was her victory.

More than a dozen rioters died in a dozen seconds, and when the last attacker fell, she exhaled a slightly hot breath.

137

A number suddenly popped into Alice's mind. She immediately realized that this must be the number of people who might be in her way during the riot.

[This woman named Arya imprisoned and tortured 137 people... no, are there still 137 alive? As a witch wielding cursed poison, I'm hesitant to comment on such matters. But isn't it a bit too weak to only torture ordinary people and not dare to challenge the strong?]

[That's all... It's nothing compared to the dead. This world, though infinitely close to reality, even capable of turning the fake into the real, creating characters out of thin air, is, to me... just an ordinary world of memories.]

Let's get down to business first...

Her thoughts raced through her mind, and the next moment, even more rioters came into her perception. This time, the attackers were not only larger in number and more eager to fight, but their weapons had also increased in quantity and variety. Not only were there swords and spears, but even crossbows were in their hands. But what made Alice's eyes twitch most was an assault rifle held by a heavily armored rioter!

What the hell?! There are assault rifles in a medieval fantasy setting?!

Is it firing in rapid succession?! ???

The girl sighed inwardly, but her body reacted first—she darted behind a stone pillar. The sound of bullets blasting the pillar, shattering it, and the resulting tremors echoed in her ears.

Damn, we'll have to resort to drastic measures.

This frail, untrained young girl's body is no match for firearms at this distance. Judging from the sound alone, the power seems considerable... It would be unwise to risk getting close.

[...Let's see if those unorthodox methods, which aren't exactly magic, can come in handy.]

She pressed her hand to her heart, and the next moment, the entire world fell silent in her perception. The many resentments rooted within the flesh and marrow of this body, stirred violently under her influence, and in the next instant, those resentments and curses transformed into tangible black flames that danced in her eyes!

A curse is magic, a shackle, and the darkness of human nature.

And from within the darkness, flames were born.

She seemed to see a vast expanse of corpses and blood, and countless vengeful ghosts and vengeful spirits, their flesh and bones writhing and stretching out their arms to her, calling for her life!

That is death, and death piles up on top of each other.

Skeletons pieced together, flesh joined together, hundreds and thousands of corpses and bones fused together, transforming into one, pulsating violently like a giant pupa. Then, in an instant, the pupa dismembered and ruptured, and from the pile of death emerged a gigantic skeletal hand that blotted out the sky!

And in the blink of an eye, the giant hand arrived in front of Alice!

[The collection of curses is almost at the third level.] Alice thought to herself.

But what does that have to do with me? You hate that girl named Arya, but what does that have to do with me, Alice Margotrovid?

[Every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt its debtor. That's a basic principle of curses, you country bumpkin!]

She chuckled and threw a punch at the massive, overwhelming hand that was crashing down on her!

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Meanwhile, in the bridge command hall of the starship de Croy, Zheng Zha looked at Alice lying in the life support pod, and frowned in confusion at the girl's suddenly pale face.

“Is Margot Royd alright? She looks…not so good.”

"It's alright." Patchouli, sitting on a stool to the side, glanced at Zheng, then looked away, picked up a cup of black tea, and took a small sip. "She's fine; this is just normal."

Patchouli doesn't like drinking tea. She doesn't like any tea other than black tea.

When Alice is sober, she doesn't like to drink any tea—because that would give someone one less excuse to be silly.

In the very center of the hall, a large instrument with an overall cross-shaped layout occupied a quarter of the command center's space. At each of the four corners of the cross were life support pods containing Alice and three newcomers (the Overlord could also be considered a newcomer). In the very center, Esdeath's fully repaired brain floated silently within a large, semi-transparent cylindrical container. Countless tiny gray particles drifted within the container, vaguely piecing together the shape of a woman.

Esdeath's body was blasted beyond recognition. Even though she possesses powerful self-healing abilities, regeneration and full recovery are two different things. Rebuilding a shattered, high-energy body requires a large amount of matter and energy, and even if the witches provide enough resources, it will still take her a considerable amount of time to fully recover to her peak condition.

Although Zheng Zha thought this was a complete waste of time.

"To be honest, I don't think... we really need to go to such lengths." Zheng Zha looked at Esdeath, whose body was now just a brain and outline in the container. Under such close, unobstructed observation, he could confirm that the captain of the Southern Flame Continent team was not at a higher level of life than he was.

It's just a mere third-order limit, not even fourth-order.

Even if she had already touched that door, she would never have gone as far as she had on her own.

So……

He glanced at the slumbering Alice, utterly baffled as to why the intelligent members of his team were wasting their time on such a lowly fourth-tier opponent—she was clearly someone he could easily crush into a pulp. Even if she had some special value, it wasn't worth it…

"What exactly are you plotting? I feel that Margot Royde... doesn't just want to obtain the power to manipulate spacetime from Esdeath of the Southern Flame Continent Team."

"What are your plans?" he asked.

Patchouli glanced at him.

She put the teacup aside and stood up from her seat.

"You want to know?" Patchouli said calmly.

"I want to know."

"Don't tell you."

"I really want to know."

"She tried to achieve a qualitative change by taking shortcuts."

"I really, really want to... what did you say?"

Chapter Twenty-Three: This Child is Terrifying!

Qualitative change.

Zheng Zha certainly knew what a qualitative change meant.

That's the term Margot and her ilk used to describe a state achieved beyond mortal limits without unlocking the genetic lock—according to them, there are more than one path to transcendence within the infinite worlds covered by the God's Space. The genetic lock is one of them, perhaps an extremely powerful and promising one, but other paths are not without their merits.

Margot Royd no longer has a physical body, so she is definitely not following the path of genetic lock. So, has her so-called obsessive soul reached the critical point where quantitative change leads to qualitative change?