Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Alice thought to herself, having previously reviewed the prediction records, she naturally knew that the Main God Space contained valuable and inexpensive items like the Rebirth Cross—a B-grade item plus a few thousand reward points wasn't too expensive. More importantly, the Rebirth Cross allowed the user to forcibly leave the Horror World upon death, abandoning the main quest. Unless it was a severe main quest where failure meant certain death, this item could serve as the cornerstone for rebuilding a dilapidated squad!

Since she knew this, she would naturally be on guard. Extending this to others, Patchouli would naturally make the same decisions. However, even under these circumstances, they still couldn't win… Alice shook her head vigorously.

No, I can't leave here to get to Patty's side. My priority is to do my job well and gain an advantage for Patty on this battlefield!

The girl thought to herself, her gaze sweeping over the large array of sophisticated instruments on her desk. After the main god updated the Zerg list, she realized exactly which memories she had blocked, and why she had blocked them. From then on, she devoted all her time to calculating the fundamental values ​​of this world.

Gravity, speed of light, ideal gas constant, absolute zero.

Mole measurement, relative strength of electro-gravity, entropy change, quantum.

She calculated these eight basic values, but other important values ​​such as black hole radius and stellar limit were difficult to achieve in a short time due to a lack of measuring tools. However, even these few things were enough for her to realize a fact.

—She discovered the truth hidden in this world.

Section 43 - Transition...

As a witch who deals with all kinds of information every day, Alice is actually quite familiar with information-related technologies such as the Internet, electronics, and virtual space. She is very good at creating virtual spaces, and the memory world that she often creates to help newcomers grow quickly can be infinitely close to reality. If she completely blocks the relevant memories, perhaps people who fall into the memory world will think they have traveled through time or been reborn, and then live until their minds die.

—In fact, she had done such things. Long ago, when magicians were still considered 'priests and sages' rather than 'rats crossing the street,' she had also played the role of a false god a few times, using magic to deceive the natives of remote outer islands. She then used the configuration of memory worlds to create an artificial heaven for rebirth after death, thereby collecting a large amount of spiritual resources for research. It was through this that she created a simulated divine kingdom and a covenant between humans and gods. Although the Church was purged after it became powerful, she ultimately gained something.

Of all her achievements, her greatest accomplishment was proving that she was a genuine soul traveler and not some brain trapped in a vat during a pathetic experiment.

How can I prove that I am not a brain in a vat?

Simply put, if one's world is actually a product simulated by extremely advanced machinery, then this world can be viewed as a program. An information mage specializing in programming can then create a new program within this program, and then try to prevent anyone, including themselves, from knowing about it. Through various means, they can deceive the mechanism that constructs this 'program,' causing it to regard this 'program within a program' as another 'program' on the same level as the external world's 'program.' When this 'program within a program' is mistakenly identified as 'another program on par with the main program,' the mechanism controlling everything will operate autonomously to repair and patch the vulnerabilities in this 'program within a program.'

It may seem complicated, but the conclusion is quite simple.

That is, if someone creates (whether by coincidence, miracle, or the wonders of nature) a virtual world that is exactly the same as the real world, and all constants can be accurately measured, then it means that the 'real world' he is in is actually just a virtual fake.

Alice was fortunate; she completed the experiment in the simulated world of the Touhou Project, proving her own existence with a negative answer.

Even more fortunately, she repeated the experiment in this interstellar world, obtaining a completely different positive answer and proving that the world was inherently false.

The Starry Sky World is a fake, but it is infinitely close to the real thing, so Alice cannot tell that it is fake.

The memory world she created was also a fake, but after she successfully deceived the mechanism that created the Star River World, this world was regarded as a parallel unit of the Star River World and was automatically completed by the unknown organization, becoming a universe space that could be regarded as real, just like the Star River World.

In doing so, the world becomes flawed due to the overlap—if the original starry world was perfect, it would be impossible for the interior to break through to the perfect external structure. So when Alice, who has been completed, appears here, it means that the flawed world is the loophole in this perfect structure that should not exist in the first place. The worlds overlap and conflict with each other, and the door to the true 'higher reality' will also appear in this world.

[Therefore, this will be the battlefield, the battlefield I chose, the battlefield I created. If the strong members of the Senzhou Team can sense the anomaly in this world—a fourth-tier reincarnator is very likely to do so—then it will inevitably find this world after exploration and searching. And this world… has special characteristics.]

Alice gently clenched her small fists. Although many memories in her mind remained sealed, she roughly understood what she had planned before—although this world of memories had been completed by the top-level world-construction mechanism into a reality parallel to the Milky Way, she was still the original creator, the holder of the source code, although due to the level of complexity, she couldn't do much—

—But not many, not to say none.

He must have set a rule beforehand, a world truth that wouldn't be changed at least in the short term. That rule was 'not allowing the existence of a powerhouse who has unlocked the fourth stage of the genetic lock' in this world,' and through this rule, this battlefield could become his opportunity to defeat his opponent.

The fourth-tier powerhouses of the Senzhou team will definitely come here, but fourth-tier power is not allowed here.

The opponent won't leave because this is a loophole they created, the most promising stepping stone to escape the Star River World and successfully reach 'Upper Reality'. Therefore, the opponent can only maintain third-tier combat power here... and may even need to replace their body like they did. Although the opponent might still be able to use their fourth-tier techniques, this is still the greatest opportunity they can seize.

Killing them is impossible, but defeating them isn't entirely out of the question. And if we can defeat the fourth-tier Senzhou team here, or even find the portal to escape this composite world and reach the true 'Upper Reality' while they're preoccupied, then victory will be in our hands…

It's a pity that Patchi could have eliminated the other reincarnators from the Mori team outside; I didn't hear the scoring notification... It seems I didn't quite succeed.

[Fine, I'll just focus on my own duties. Chu Xuan definitely has other plans, or something more effective, and I might even just be bait... But his schemes are ultimately just his schemes. Whatever his plans, I just need to achieve my goal.]

The conclusion was reached, the thoughts were organized, and the task was completed.

Alice took a soft breath, ending her long thought process.

There were no more doubts in his mind, and he already knew what he needed to do in this space that could now be considered a real alternate world. Although there might be some miscellaneous backup plans in the blocked memories, since he had blocked them himself, they would certainly not harm him—and even if they did, it would be for the purpose of better dealing with his enemies.

So……

“It’s time to contact the Night Raid Assassins and then head south,” Alice said softly, leaving her seat of contemplation, followed closely by the thousands of silken puppets.

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

About half an hour later...

Alice assembled her legion. The total number was approximately two hundred thousand, with one hundred thousand sling puppets equipped with various light and heavy firepower, and another one hundred thousand fanatical believers who had signed the covenant between humans and gods—the latter mainly serving as portable sources of faith and as auxiliary troops for transporting supplies, while the sling puppets were the main force in the war.

She left Cheng Xiao, the imposter leader of the Anning Dao sect, behind—she wasn't too worried about him doing anything strange. After all, Cheng Xiao was already within her spell system, and the influence of his mental distractions had begun. In a few days, this imposter leader would probably look even more like the real deal than the original.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing for him. Whether he survives this round of mental corruption or not, he'll still be a hero with considerable supernatural power when he returns to the Main God Space. Of course, if he can break free from the corruption on his own, his potential will probably increase by 30% to 40%. He'll most likely unlock the first-stage gene lock, and there'll probably be a significant chance of unlocking the second stage as well.

However, that was his own business. Alice had made arrangements for him, and how far he could go was up to him. Success or failure was actually no longer of much concern to Alice. However, there were some advantages to his staying here. Najenda of the Night Raid Assassins also stayed with a few members, ostensibly because she was injured and had some miscellaneous matters in the central region of the Empire. But in reality, they were probably trying to undermine him, attempting to seduce the leader of the Tranquil Path, whom she believed was being sidelined by Alice, and thus try to seize control of the Tranquil Path, which was basically devoid of any real power.

Alice herself didn't care. The covenant between humans and gods had already been established, and replacing a mere totem-like human core used to gather and consolidate faith wouldn't take her much effort. If Najenda wanted to stay, then so be it. Besides, she didn't think that Najenda, this former general who was merely all talk and no action, and who might not even qualify as an ambitious schemer, could cause much trouble on her territory—but given her usual caution, certain precautions were naturally necessary.

Perhaps by the time I return, Najenda and the others who stayed behind will have become fanatical followers of the Path of Peace.

Alice thought to herself, though she didn’t have high expectations for it.

And soon, the half hour spent preparing and handling miscellaneous matters quietly passed. As the Threaded Golem army marched towards the southern border, the group, riding in the giant armored mobile command vehicle that Alice had painstakingly crafted, or rather, the MCV, rapidly advanced under the tight protection of the Threaded Golems, and the number of crew members on the vehicle also reached a fixed number.

The only person on Anning Road was Alice, while the Night Raid Assassins sent three people: Akame, Brand, and Hill. Brand was there because he had to deal with the insect, while the other two were obviously not good at speaking and were bad at hiding, so it was only natural that they were here.

[What a pity. I originally thought that sniper named Mine would also join the ranks, but it turned out that Najenda used that conversation, which didn't even qualify as a conflict, to keep her behind. It seems they really want to cause trouble in the base... I was hoping to thoroughly study that pumpkin cannon and see if energy-based artillery devices in this strange world could be mass-produced.]

A slight melancholy crossed Alice's mind, but she quickly dismissed it—it was merely a matter of converting mental energy into energy for artillery fire. Given some time, she could easily craft a similar device herself. However, even if she did, it probably wouldn't be of much use. She had a large reserve of free mental energy, but it was mostly used for other purposes. Using it to command the ethereal puppets was clearly a more advanced strategy than simply launching a magic cannon, unless the insects of this world had built a massive fortress.

She didn't think the insects would do something so inexplicable, so she didn't intend to waste any more time on it. However, Alice was the kind of person who would make contingency plans as soon as she considered such a possibility—so she had to use a small portion of her hard-earned computing power to build a giant mental energy-converting siege cannon as a backup, all while not wasting any time. This resulted in her being in a distracted standby state for the first two hours in the armored vehicle.

This is good.

Although Brand, who was originally tasked by Najenda with assisting Alice (Arya) in attacking the Southern Reach while also testing her, might have different thoughts—Alice was basically daydreaming for the past two hours, and no matter how Brand tried to bring up the topic, she only gave perfunctory replies—although this was partly because Alice didn't want to waste time on such a determined old hand.

In short, the conversation went very badly.

Brand, who had been trying to start a conversation, had to give up after an hour and a half – Hill was a quiet person, and Akame was also a man of few words. So it ended up being a miserable situation where he was awkwardly talking to thin air while the other three ladies watched his performance in silence. Even with his thick skin, he couldn't take it anymore.

So, at the first hour and fifty-seven minutes, he finally couldn't bear the tense atmosphere any longer and excused himself to go to the top of the giant armored vehicle for a smoke. Hill, for some unknown reason, also excused herself to Alice and followed. Then, when Alice remotely controlled the dangling puppet to complete her temporary design and finally managed to retrieve the calculations, she was somewhat surprised to find that only a single red-eyed figure remained before her.

Alice raised an eyebrow.

The whole story flashed through her mind. A slight smile played on her lips. Brand's natural and unpretentious embarrassment actually improved her impression of the muscular man slightly, subtly altering her initial expectations of his fate. Of course, this wasn't a crucial matter; the Night Raid assassin group didn't hold a significant place in her plans to begin with. But since the timing was right…

She looked at Akame, and the gentle gaze reflected in her sky-blue eyes sent a chill down the spine of the slender, black-haired girl for some reason. Alice's gaze then drifted downwards...

"Not bad."

Chapter 44: I Died for Myself

(When everyone thinks I've stood them up, but I haven't, that's also a kind of standing them up.)

"Yes, it's quite good." The black-haired girl had obviously received some instructions from Najenda before she came, to get along well with Alice—at least on the surface. Therefore, even though Alice's initial gaze made her feel a little uncomfortable, she still followed Alice's lead and continued the topic.

“This child’s name is Murasame. I trust it as much as I trust my own arm.” She gently stroked the scabbard of the long sword, her fingers tracing the beads and exquisite patterns, her face full of seriousness—her voice was light, but her tone was very firm: “It is a part of me, and I will never be separated from it.”

She gripped the knife very tightly, as if she had some strange premonition.

A vein in Alice's temple throbbed slightly.

[I wasn't planning on stealing you! Why are you so nervous? At most, I'm just going to use it for research... research! How can research count as stealing?!]

"This is a good thing." The girl's heart was churning, but she didn't show it at all, only nodding with a smile. "Those who trust weapons will naturally be trusted by weapons. You are a very good warrior, Miss Akame. I'm sure you will show your skills on the battlefield ahead."

“But Najenda wants me to stay by your side—” Akame answered instinctively, then, sensing something was off about her words, she abruptly stopped herself.

"Stay by my side?" Alice tilted her head slightly, a hint of doubt in her eyes. "What for?"

[They probably want me to hold the line for them, and then they'll only make their move after confirming the news of the rebel survivors. They're planning for me to 'disappear amidst the chaos'—that's a good idea. If I were less wary, I might actually be fooled by those two clueless guys, Akame and Sheele, and then die without even knowing how.]

[Fine, since I've already figured it out, then I'll play along with this drama and give them a twist ending where they can never be reincarnated... Perhaps they aren't as bad as I imagined, and maybe they weren't planning to discard me after I've served my purpose... But that doesn't seem to mean much to me.]

She thought to herself, and her tone and actions unconsciously carried a hint of pressure. However, she would deeply regret her actions in the next second, because she hadn't considered the sensitivity of the person she was speaking to.

She received a clearly pronounced answer.

"...In order to protect you."

The words landed.

Alice, be alert.

This is a huge problem.

Isn't this statement a bit unusual?

The schemes of those few fry in the Night Raid Assassins were one thing—they could be easily slapped away. Keeping them around was just for amusement or a few idle moves. But when it comes to emotional matters… even one-sided ones, things get complicated.

She wasn't worried about Patchouli being jealous—after all, centuries had passed, what was there to be jealous of? Her head was perfectly fine; she didn't need to worry about waking up one morning to find her neck and torso separated. But a fine head didn't mean her hair color would be fine—Patchouli had once said, "I won't interfere with your love life; you can build a harem if you want. But remember, if you build one, I'll build one too. You start one thing, I'll start another. We'll just hurt each other." And Alice had no doubt about her companion's drive and determination.

Even more importantly, once Patchouli gets serious, she doesn't care whether she reciprocates or not; even unrequited love will be seen as her building a harem!

Otherwise, Alice would spend her free time casting spells to diminish her charm. Everyone in the Central Continent team knows they're both very beautiful, extremely beautiful, but no one feels any emotion beyond camaraderie. However, in this modified alternate world with different bodies, that kind of thing simply doesn't exist!

[Damn it! I've dug myself into this mess! I don't know if you're just naturally clueless or deliberately being ambiguous, but if this kind of mess continues, it'll be disastrous... Every little thing has to be nipped in the bud! Having this little devil, who's practically a non-living creature, is already enough; we absolutely can't have another one!]

I need to get through this quickly...

The brain is working at lightning speed.

"I don't need protection, I'm much tougher than you think." Alice made a 'relax' gesture—putting aside that 'big problem' for now, she knew exactly what Najenda meant. She was simply trying to have her subordinates conserve their strength, then launch a surprise attack to send her to her death when she and the insects were both exhausted. She also knew that Akame and Hill, the two taciturn people she had specifically placed there, would never know the truth. The one truly in charge was that guy named Brand.

It is said that Brand's strength is only one step away from Esdeath, who is known as the strongest in the Empire, or at least in the perception of many people. Although he himself is somewhat unfathomable to outsiders and the puppet army he commands is indeed quite troublesome, his petite appearance does not have any intimidating power.

The girl's thoughts flashed by, but on the surface she maintained a slightly cheerful demeanor.

It's just a stupid scheme devised by a few noobs... It's obvious at a glance and can be dealt with easily, but that's not the point. The point is that I need to nip this subtle, ambiguous idea in the bud immediately.

[Or I could just slap her to death, kill all those guys who did the night raid, then head back and kill all the troublemakers too—at worst, I can rearrange the plan and abandon these few minor moves!]

Alice's murderous intent begins to rise.

However, her newly formed interest vanished in less than half a second... She was, after all, a person who valued her work. Personal matters were a bit of a headache, but work... work is work.

She wouldn't do something like letting a moment of impulse affect her future plans.

And since these people still have value...

“I appreciate your offer to protect me, but I do have some skills. I’m second to none in close combat,” Alice said softly, reaching out to draw the Shadow Scythe from the wall into her hand. She casually struck a pose—the giant mobile command vehicle had plenty of space for wielding weapons, and with her movement, many small shadows in the rest area where the two were located began to wriggle slightly.

"Look, I can manipulate shadows at will, and then use those shadows to influence the people who cast them." Alice added a touch of smugness to her tone as she casually boasted about her abilities—in fact, she hadn't been able to control the Imperial Arm called 'Shadow Scythe' yet, but using its sharpness to kill people and adding some special effects was no problem at all.

She subtly manipulated the gravitational field, slightly hindering Akame's movements.

"Look, just like this. As long as there is a shadow, it will be affected by me."

"As long as there's a shadow, it'll be fine?" Akame gently raised her hand; she had indeed felt a slight sense of restraint for a moment. This clearly confirmed the truth of Alice's words, giving her a bit of information that was entirely used to confuse her—"But what if there's no shadow?"