Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

If a thousand cuts don't work, then try two thousand cuts. If two thousand cuts don't work either, then ten thousand cuts might be effective. As he thought this, the muscle fibers in his body proliferated and changed rapidly. The readjusted structure increased energy consumption and wear rate, but the overall strength doubled!

He didn't even draw his knife; he punched Rost squarely in the chest, turning him into a pancake!

A cracked pancake, a pancake spread outwards.

However, this fresh meat patty regenerated faster than it had crumbled in the red light, and became even more resilient!

“But you’re too slow, so slow that whatever you do is futile,” Zheng Zha said softly. His voice transformed into a storm of energy in the universe, scattering the restored meat pie into pieces once more. Then he continued forward, tearing the reassembled Rost into pieces again with a single slash!

Step by step, cut by cut.

When Zheng Zha reached the fourth stage, the passage of time seemed extremely slow to him. The significant time slowing that was originally only achievable in a state of destruction was now just a normal effect for him. Moreover, when he concentrated his power and will to annihilate the positive and negative energies with the near-microscopic methods of the fourth stage, the amplification of his physique was even stronger than before!

In less than ten seconds, he killed Rost ten times.

He didn't care at all, and he didn't hesitate at all.

However, just as he was about to strike for the eleventh time, the greatsword radiating golden light suddenly blocked his downward slash!

Zheng Zha tilted his head slightly.

"Have you cut enough?" Rost's voice was calm, his eyes blazing with crimson fire. He swung his longsword, managing to match the speed at which Zheng Zha swung his blade, causing the two to collide in mid-air—the spatial structure within a one-kilometer radius was slightly unbalanced by the collision. Rost took five steps back, while Zheng Zha continued to press forward.

With the second strike, Rost retreated three steps, and Zheng Zha's aura intensified even further!

“That’s not conservation,” Zheng Zha replied, seemingly ignoring the question. “Where did you get so much energy reserves? You should have died long ago.”

"To maintain your thoughts upon first entering the fourth stage... even if your thoughts are chaotic, you are only the second person I know. In this respect, you are stronger than Song Tian of the Celestial Team. But compared to the Venerable One..." Rost said in a low voice, his red light surging again, actually matching Zheng Zha's third strike! All the muscles in his body were shattered in the clash of energy, and then the red light bursting from his body gathered them back together in the instant before the flesh was separated from his body!

"...You're way off!" His aura surged again, and his fourth strike forced Zheng Zha, who had entered the fourth stage, to take a half-step back. In the air during that half-step, the brilliance of the giant sword in his hand grew stronger and stronger, even surpassing the light of a stellar flare!

"Excalibur—Galatine!!!"

A burst of light and heat, comparable to a solar storm, swept across the entire universe, its reach even affecting Zhang Jie and Nijabin, who were more than ten kilometers away. The mental storm that isolated the battlefield was easily blown away like a layer of cotton, and the two combatants were forced to separate, with many of their protective shields and trigger items shattering!

They retreated amidst the aftermath of the battle, while the fighting raged on here!

"Is this your limit? Is this all you've got?" Rost roared. After their sense of time aligned, his clash with Zheng Zha became a simple contest of strength and speed. He should have lost; a third-tier reincarnator should not have lasted a single move against a fourth-tier expert. However, the battle was reversed. Under the red light emanating from Rost's body, he, who should have been weak, gained the upper hand.

His sword could suppress Zheng Zha's knife, his power amplification could keep up with Zheng Zha's inner transformation, and his fanaticism could surpass Zheng Zha's rage!

Zheng Zha punched him in the head, smashing it open, but he didn't flinch.

He blasted a large hole in Zheng Zha's abdomen with his sword, which slowed Zheng Zha's attack down by half.

His shattered head healed in a red glow as his fist retracted, while Zheng Zha's abdominal wound required much longer to heal itself. After accumulating advantages through three or four consecutive exchanges, the sword in his hand began to glow with a golden-red hue!

"Excalibur—Galatine!!!"

Solar storms erupted continuously.

The universe, stirred up by light and heat, instantly descended into chaos.

The holy sword, now unleashed in its true form for the third time by Rost, manifested a completely different form—a light far more intense than the previous solar storm, approaching the temperature of a star's core, and containing some unimaginable alien power. This intense light converged into a giant sword of light and fire, a thousand meters long, and mercilessly slashed towards Zheng Zha's head!

Zheng Zha's head was easily cleaved in two, the cut surface instantly carbonizing, and three-quarters of his brain vaporizing in an instant. His remaining brain tissue immediately differentiated into near-blackbody heat-insulating tissue on its surface under the influence of fourth-stage genetic changes, and a new brain rapidly developed within his chest cavity. His sword strike remained uninterrupted, but its power decreased slightly due to the energy flow. This resulted in his further defeat under the onslaught of the blazing greatsword; thirty percent of his body tissue vaporized, and the remaining portion was sent flying at over thirty times the speed of sound!

'Boom—'

Zheng Zha's consciousness was briefly disrupted due to the damage to his brain. When he recovered from the impact from behind, he realized that he had crashed into the wreckage of a destroyed warship dozens of kilometers away. He vaguely sensed a warm light ahead, and the next moment, a giant sword of light and fire fell and shredded the fragments of the ship he had just missed to pieces!

"Do you know what [Power] is?" Rost's voice came from afar, but while the first word was still distant, the last word was already nearby! Zheng Zha casually waved his hand, and the mass and organic matter in a floating fragment were absorbed into his body, reconstructing and replenishing the mass he lacked. At the same time, the Destruction Greatsword he raised also blocked Rost's incoming sword strike!

"Let me tell you, it's really unpleasant not to share this kind of secret!"

Rost laughed maniacally, and the massive lightsaber he wielded once more unleashed its power. The fan-shaped beam of light forced Zheng Zha back and shattered the remaining wreckage of the ship—Zheng Zha's genes mutated again, absorbing all the scattered organic matter and metallic elements, which then became fuel to further propel his power.

He felt his mastery of the fourth level had increased even further. However, the dawn of victory was slow to arrive.

"Ten percent is to double the basic enhancement of my body's various attributes, and fifty percent is to enhance them five times. However!" Rost blocked with his sword, and the heavy sword strike sent Zheng Zha, who had grasped some spatial transformation and was lurking behind him trying to launch a sneak attack, flying.

He showed no mercy and quickly caught up with the pursuer!

"My current 100% [power] means that no matter how strong you are, I'm definitely 10% stronger than you!" He suddenly laughed loudly, and his sword strike directly shattered Zheng Zha's many wonderful techniques that he had just comprehended, causing Zheng Zha to stagger. Then, his sword was once again engulfed in solar flames, and the fourth solar storm was even more intense than the previous ones!

"No matter how strong you are, I'll be 10% stronger! No matter how sharp you are, I'll be 10% faster! And no matter how much energy you have, I'll fucking have 10% more!"

He suddenly raised his sword high, and when he swung it down, an even greater burst of power erupted!

"Die! Excalibur—Galatine!!!"

The next moment, endless light obscured Zheng Zha's vision.

However, at that moment, a familiar voice suddenly rang in Zheng Zha's heart.

—【Zheng Zha, time's up.】

Section 42. The Solution to Life, the Universe, and All Things

--Time is up.

—What does "time's up" mean?

Zheng Zha didn't know what it was—and he didn't care about that, because Rost's Sun Sword had already hit him squarely in the face, completely evaporating about fifty kilograms of his mass from his jaw to his abdomen. The golden-red stellar brilliance even dissipated all matter within a hundred meters of him, leaving him unable to find any filling material to repair himself using his fourth-order instincts!

He couldn't even utter a muffled groan—his vocal cords had been vaporized—he could only barely support himself with his still-intact right hand as he raised the Destruction Greatsword to retaliate. However, how could he, already at a disadvantage, possibly withstand the barrage of strikes that followed Rost's slashing of the Sun Sword? He, Zheng, hadn't even touched his opponent before being brutally beaten, taking two or three consecutive blows. The final strike even severed his left arm, and it seemed the Sun Sword was about to flip and sever his neck!

The defeat is inevitable.

The fourth-order survival instinct was still stubbornly operating. A part of Zheng Zha's less important and largely intact body tissues underwent a rapid transformation, reshaping and differentiating into important organs used to maintain the internal circulatory system. Although the middle and lower dantian, which stored energy, were directly destroyed, another, simpler and more effective energy network was rebuilt in the destruction of the body. It can be said that this serious injury, which would have been enough to kill any ordinary mortal creature, was actually meaningless to Zheng Zha. He could recover quickly and even become stronger—provided that he had the time to become stronger.

Upon reaching the fourth stage of the genetic lock, even a chimpanzee could instinctively possess extraordinary abilities. However, this stage of extraordinary ability still operates on logic and reason; it requires a process, a beginning, development, and then an end. Even the most convenient and simplest form of super-genetic engineering, with the fastest operating speed, ultimately requires time, resources, and energy as support. Currently, he is severely lacking in all three of these areas!

No time! No resources! No energy!

He could only watch helplessly as Rost easily interrupted his transformation process, and then... the sword of victory from the fifth power release came crashing down upon him.

Zheng Zha felt that he was probably going to die.

That strange thought pattern began to fade because his ego fully controlled the body's reconstruction, giving his self a chance to revive. But he still felt he was probably going to die.

Although his body was still struggling, spontaneously mutating and differentiating into various things such as a blackbody heat-insulating cortex and radiation-resistant organelles in an attempt to hold on to his dying life, Zheng Zha ultimately felt that he was going to die this time.

He possessed insufficient power to block this sword strike, nor was his physical strength sufficient. Since he couldn't withstand it, the only option left was to fall to his death—and the instant this unstoppable fifth sword struck, over ninety percent of the mass constituting 'Zheng Zha' was instantly evaporated!

Below the maxilla, it evaporates completely.

The numerous measures against light and heat, shaped by the fourth-order survival instinct, probably lasted for a few microseconds before being completely destroyed, leaving not a trace.

Body and soul annihilated, leaving not a trace.

The devastating heat and light intensity remain high.

Zheng Zha felt his skull begin to melt, and the lenses in his eye sockets—though transformed into a strange, multifunctional form by fourth-order super-genetic engineering, they still resembled eyes—became cloudy and blurry. His brain, which had been previously operated on and subsequently repaired but still incomplete, turned into a complete mess. His thoughts became disordered, his logic distorted, and then, just as everything he perceived began to blur, a sense of disharmony arising from spatial shifts brought him back to his senses.

A spatial jump, a beginning, an end, and then suddenly everything around becomes quiet.

A large amount of organic matter and high-energy electrolyte solution appeared in his sensory field. He absorbed it all without thinking and immediately repaired the main sensor organs installed in the head region. Then, his restored vision captured a spectacular scene.

That is glory.

It is as if heaven and earth have been recreated, illuminating the brilliant splendor of the old world.

From his own perspective, it looked as if a small white flower was silently blooming in the void of the universe, expanding from a point to a surface, from a small patch to a large area—the blooming flower rapidly expanded outward at a quarter the speed of light, and in the blink of an eye, it completely covered a vast universe comparable to an entire Earth-Moon system.

Even from this unknown distance, Zheng Zha knew that nothing in that cosmic realm could survive—not even himself. After all, even reaching the fourth tier didn't mean invincibility; defeat and death were still possible. And against a technique capable of wiping out the Earth-Moon system in an instant… he truly had no way to deal with it.

however……

"A-grade passive resurrection item, Nirvana Flame." — Zheng Zha suddenly heard Patchouli's voice, as calm and indifferent as ever, yet with a hint of annoyance. Only then did he notice that his remaining half-head was inside a transparent container being carried by the purple-haired witch. Beneath the witch's feet lay the remnants of the patrol fleet, which had just completed its jump and whose surrounding spatial structure was still unstable. Zhang Jie lay a little further away, seemingly also suffering from multiple injuries, soaking in a jar and remaining motionless.

“I miscalculated,” Patchouli said softly, a light screen floating beside her displaying a simulated image of burning flames. The flames, like dancing phoenixes, were overflowing with life and divine radiance even in their simulated form. “I originally guessed that they would be equipped with cheap but practical Resurrection Crosses, and then I could use this explosion to destroy their resurrection items before killing them, when their fighting spirit and vitality were at their peak… but I didn’t expect them to be so wealthy, actually using this high-end item that directly binds to the soul.”

Patchouli shook her head.

"The breeding team is indeed a breeding team; they really have money. And my plan this time actually failed because I didn't calculate the other party's financial strength. My strength is indeed not in intellectual battles."

"So my cultivation is still insufficient?"

Zheng Zha looked at her, quickly gathering the surrounding matter to reshape his damaged jawbone. He really wanted to ask this girl where she got such a powerful weapon as a simulated supernova, and even more so, whether she had deliberately let him out as a target so she could drop a bomb at a crucial moment!

And more importantly...

[Did you deliberately wait until I only had half a head left before teleporting me back?! And when did you attach the teleportation device to me? Why can't I feel anything?!?!]

Zheng roared inwardly, but he couldn't utter it aloud. Just as his jawbone was fully repaired and his vocal cords began to remodel, Patchouli used a button to shut off all energy and material supplies to the container. This extremely brutal and simple power-off suppression forced Zheng Zha to forcibly exit the fourth stage due to energy exhaustion. As for what happened afterward...

...We'll have to deal with what happens next.

Patchouli glanced at the Greatsword of Destruction hanging in another container—she had just managed to pull Zheng Zha out of the brink of death precisely because of the one-time triggered advanced teleportation device (so expensive!) that she had previously installed inside this weapon using the main god's token. Although Zheng Zha looked like he had been brutally beaten and was beyond help due to his inner demons, she still decided to take a cautious approach and forcefully knock him down from the fourth tier while he only had half a head left. As for whether Zheng Zha could survive after leaving the fourth tier with only half a head left... she wasn't worried about that at all.

—Esdeath of the Nan Yan team has fulfilled her role as a guinea pig very well. Patchouli, having obtained enough data to repair the damage, is certain that even if Zheng Zha only has fifteen grams of brain cells left, she can pull him back from the brink of death. In contrast, the threat Zhang Jie faces is probably greater, but it is still within his control.

"It's a pity I couldn't kill either of those two from the Senzhou team. Although they're already dead, I can't kill them right now. It might hinder future arrangements... Oh well, let Chu Xuan worry about it. It would be shameful to keep giving orders without a second thought after failing to achieve my goal..."

Patchouli shook her head. Besides the reasons she'd previously stated, the more important reason she'd gone to the trouble of dismantling Ghost Tango was to use the Star Destroyer as cover to drain the Earth's core energy using the Star Extraction Tower, and then use that energy to simulate a small-scale supernova explosion confined to the planetary system—the plan succeeded, but the effect was mediocre. Although the explosion would inevitably inflict severe damage on the two members of the Senzhou team, leaving them with lingering injuries even after resurrection, it was still a failure.

There's nothing we can do.

The young woman (the big shot.jpg) sighed melancholically and ordered the remnants of the hunting fleet to begin warp jumps. She had made a mistake; the clash with the Senzhou team could barely be considered a draw. Although the real key to victory lay with Chu Xuan, making the outcome of the match inconsequential—but a loss was a loss.

Since they didn't win, they would have to take on the subsequent cleanup and cleanup themselves. The losses suffered by the hunting fleet were ultimately a reflection of their defeat. In order to ensure that this force, which Chu Xuan looked down upon but which they controlled, would not become an obstacle, they still had a lot to do.

So many things.

Alice's face appeared in the girl's mind, and almost instantly, her slightly discouraged spirits were lifted once again. So she put aside her previous worries and began the next phase of her work.

……………………at the same time.

In the illusory world, Alice sneezed softly.

Is Patchouli thinking of me?

The girl thought to herself, and the slight annoyance that had been interrupted from her train of thought quietly faded away because of this strange realization. In its place was a slight joy and delight—she knew this was called telepathy, and since she had such a premonition, then the development of the outside world would inevitably be as she had predicted—she couldn't help but drag some of her treasured memories to the surface of her consciousness and relive them. It took her a full ten minutes to come back to her senses from this long-lost relaxation.

A full day had passed since the Night Raid assassins visited him, requesting assistance. A full day had also passed since the Supreme God updated the list of targets for the Zerg invasion—a development that was both beyond his wildest imagination and yet seemed entirely within his expectations. During this day, his ethereal puppets had expanded rapidly, quickly opening a passage directly to a city in the southern border. A powerful army was ready, poised to launch an attack on the south at any moment.

The army's departure required preparation—a fact the Night Raid assassins clearly understood. Having witnessed the movement of Alice's troops, they refrained from any suspicious actions and instead settled obediently in the rest area Alice had arranged for them, awaiting the day the army would set off.

—And that day won't be long.

"Since Patchouli has time to think about me, then the battle outside should be over. The first clash with the Mori team should have been decided, and given Patchouli's personality, she would never let extraneous thoughts interfere with her work unless she suffered a significant setback... If it wasn't a defeat, then was it a draw?"

A draw, with no penalty points, would require Patchouli to have played some hidden cards to feel frustrated. Therefore, the most likely explanation is that the opponent's combat strength and equipment were beyond expectation, leading to an unexpected turn of events in a seemingly advantageous situation.

[The Rebirth Cross... or other more advanced resurrection items.]