Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

In his eyes, Earth transformed from an ecological planet into a celestial fortress in ten seconds.

And it's not just Earth, the Moon, Mars, Jupiter—all the large planets and moons in the solar system are rapidly changing. They've become steel, machinery, and transmission nodes radiating enormous energy. And when all these celestial fortresses are completed, the Sun will lose its brilliance.

“Mr. Chu.” A voice came from the seat representing the first Speaker of the Federation behind Chu Xuan. “Everything we have planned and prepared for over three hundred years since our awakening is now here. Whether the billions of humans in this false universe can seize this only opportunity to escape this prison depends entirely on your command.”

Chu Xuan nodded.

"The 'Gate of Substandard' constructed by my companions is nearing its opening. It has now attracted the attention of the 'fate' and 'variables' you fear. Now you can have all the machinery operational. Prepare for final testing and calibration. Then…"

"...I will open the door to reality for you."

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

I'm feeling dizzy... but I finally finished writing it.

Chapter Sixty-Three: Metamorphosis - Part Five

All the foreshadowing had begun to take effect, and the time had come to reap the rewards of all the plans. When the two reincarnators from the Senzhou team appeared in Patchouli's field of vision, she knew that everything she had schemed was about to bear fruit.

"We're going to win," Patchouli thought to herself.

However, the extent to which we can win depends on this final effort.

Zheng Zha's enhancement was destined to succeed. Tsk, his descent was actually a process of enhancement. He just didn't realize it. After all, a mimicry supernova is a disaster if it explodes; even if it doesn't, giving such a massive amount of energy to a non-supernatural being is a waste.

[…Hopefully he can reach a deeper level.]

Patchouli's thoughts flashed through her mind. She raised her hand, and the massive array of magic cannons representing the seven luminaries fully unfolded behind her. At the same instant her hand gave the command, all the magic cannons were activated at the same time, turning into a massive torrent of energy that surged toward the two members of the Senzhou team!

'Buzz————'

A rainbow of light, engulfing everything.

From the air to the rocks, everything that stood between the two forces was destroyed by her powerful magic cannon. The rocks rapidly decomposed into scattered fragments, while the scorched atmosphere began to discharge violently, with lightning spreading everywhere like the tentacles of a deep-sea creature!

In an instant, the two members of the Senzhou team, caught off guard, were completely vaporized under the beam of the light cannon.

However, at the same instant, the spatial structure three meters behind the witch shattered!

"I knew your Zhongzhou team would be lying in ambush on this planet!"

With a low shout from Nijabin, the two members of the Senzhou team suddenly appeared in the shattered space. Rost, specializing in close combat, didn't waste a single word, drawing his weapon and unleashing a powerful, all-out slash—the holy sword symbolizing the sun burst forth with unparalleled brilliance, which then transformed into a raging torrent, its radiating halos instantly engulfing everything before him!

"Excalibur—Galatine!!!"

He roared, his voice filled with the glee of venting his anger. The past dozen or so hours hadn't been a pleasant experience he could easily forget. It was a nightmare, a nightmare even for someone like him who had fought his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood—the relentless artillery bombardment, the endless swarms of insects, and the two opposing forces inexplicably maintaining a subtle, tacit agreement to brutally attack the Senzhou Team Reincarnators, who weren't affiliated with either side. And they were utterly helpless against both forces!

The fleet is too far to reach, and the insects are too numerous to kill. Even if the Holy Sword Galatine were unleashed ten or eight times in a row, the number of enemies to deal with would not decrease in the slightest. However, the two of them are not truly fourth-tier warriors. Although they have many items and energy recovery methods, those resources are finite and absolutely cannot sustain prolonged high-intensity combat.

But now... it's finally time for reckoning.

however……

"Watch out! That's just an illusion!"

Nijabin's warning came, and he instinctively raised his sword, just in time to block a gamma ray that could have instantly vaporized half of his body. Before he could find the witch's trail at the source of the attack, rays fired from several other different directions forced him to defend himself repeatedly.

He did not receive a second prompt from Nigaabin. Clearly, the psychic from Senzhou had already clashed with the psychic from Zhongzhou—he had assumed the battle would unfold as Nigaabin had promised, 'quickly taking down that guy named Zhang Jie.' However, the sudden break in the mental link a second later revealed the harsh reality that Nigaabin was not at a disadvantage in the mental confrontation.

He clenched his teeth. A burst of unstable red light erupted from between his brows. Following this, the energy within him, which had been nearly depleted, surged dramatically to a terrifying level. Unlike his previous battle with Zheng Zha, his skin cracked open inch by inch as the power erupted, splattering golden blood brimming with immense energy!

"Come forth!" He gripped his greatsword tightly with both hands, unleashing a fierce sweeping attack that was accompanied by scorching light. The sword energy swept across, and almost everything within a one-kilometer radius vaporized in that instant!

“I know you’re hiding here!” He glanced around, a thought flashing through his mind. He unleashed a devastating energy blast, covering tens of square kilometers, towards a location he had sensed – successfully pulverizing a large section of the underground structure. This caused even more severe damage to the already collapsing underground cavern. The earth cracked, boulders fell from above, and magma began to erupt from below!

Amidst the splashing lava, a blurry human figure seemed to flash by.

"Ha! Found you!" Rost laughed wildly, taking several strides to traverse several kilometers and reach the top of the lava field. He unleashed a beam of light towards the location where the figure remained, ignoring several gamma rays attacking from other directions that pierced his body with large holes. Instead, he maximized the energy output of his sword strike until the area he had targeted was completely destroyed, and more lava surged from the ground.

He saw, as he had hoped, that the blurry figure appeared to be severely wounded. Laughing loudly, he ignored the increasing barrage of artillery fire raining down on him and launched an even more intense attack towards the figure's location. More energy was extracted from the red light deep within his brow and used in his subsequent offensive.

"Where's your captain? Where's that guy Zheng Zha?!" he yelled, rushing towards the figure like a meteor. Undeterred by his missed attack, he raised his golden-glowing holy sword and continued the pursuit. Each chase brought him closer to victory; he could almost see the figure, critically wounded and dying, clinging to life with the burning of his life force. This only fueled his previously low spirits.

"Is he hiding? Afraid to face me?" More and more cracks appeared on his body, each spewing forth crimson flames. He looked like a blazing torch. And the flames grew stronger with each shift in his emotions. In the blink of an eye, the torch became a pillar of fire!

"Or perhaps..." His eyes gleamed with a light that was hard to describe as either fanaticism or madness. Energy was being recklessly channeled and drained from him. "...Is he hiding, planning to ambush me?"

He seemed to catch a flaw in the blurry figure in his vision, and the next moment, a holy sword cannon attack, more powerful than any of his previous strikes, including those in space, capable of causing cataclysmic changes and collapsing everything within a hundred miles, slammed into the direction he had observed. With this attack, he was certain that the blurry figure had not escaped the area he was attacking.

'boom--!!!!'

Like a sun rising from the earth, its blazing white light illuminated the massive, post-natal underground cavity. This light even emanated from fissures and gaps in the earth's surface, providing precise coordinates for the expeditionary fleet cruising high in orbit.

Patchouli had to exert a lot of effort to restrain herself from accidentally killing the half-mad guy below.

She was positioned approximately ten kilometers above Rost—she had been there from the beginning, and the figure scurrying about on the ground was merely a puppet she had created, simulating energy reactions and the presence of living beings. Normally, this puppet wouldn't have been able to fool the Senzhou team member below who was constantly unleashing light cannons. After all, Rost possessed a third-tier gene lock and a host of advanced enhancements; the likelihood of it being exposed on first sight was extremely high. However, when she observed him with the unique perspective of a witch, she was relieved to find that she didn't need to make any extra disguises.

—That guy named Rost, his thinking and logical reasoning abilities have been basically completely destroyed.

While the orbital bombardment and the relentless pursuit of the insect swarm were certainly among the reasons for his loss of reason, the dense curse emanating from him—enough to condemn a modern-day Arhat to ten lifetimes in the hell realms—played a far greater role. This curse originated from Patchouli's previous pre-arranged scheme—the witch spread records of Rost and others' misdeeds, inciting widespread hatred through public opinion and propaganda. This hatred, in turn, transformed into the deepest curse, ultimately becoming deeply ingrained in their very being without their knowledge.

That's why they were so unlucky all the way here. If they had had more time or their usefulness was less, then perhaps this battle wouldn't have been necessary at all. In two or three days at most, these two cursed, unlucky souls would have been completely wiped out—Nigaabin might have been a little wary due to the high perception of a psychic. But the effect... probably wouldn't have been significant.

Patchouli silently counted the seconds in her mind.

Her thoughts shifted slightly; in her perception, another battlefield was like a black hole swallowing everything—clearly, Zhang Jie had pulled the Senzhou team's psychic into a dreamscape that eroded reality the moment he began fighting Nijabin. And until a victor was decided, neither side's psychic would be of any use.

Since the spellcaster was useless, Rost's fate was already sealed.

Condemned by all, he died without a trace. For a witch skilled in information magic, the principle of a curse has always been simple. If Alice were standing here now, she could easily detonate these two curses, killing this oblivious figure facing imminent doom and completely refining their soul and blood into consumable resources. Even for Patchouli, who isn't particularly adept at the realm of curses, crushing this guy would be a matter of a single thought.

However, you can't do that.

Patchouli pondered, calculating the time while waiting for the communication from Alice's side. Meanwhile, as she waited and thought, the orbital artillery barrage from the sky reached its final stage.

—This planet is about to disappear from the universe.

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

I don't know if this planet will explode, but I have a feeling I'm most likely to explode.

Zheng Zha thought to himself, striving to balance the energy distribution within his body. Then, he meticulously manipulated each cellular aggregate within his body, placing them in their proper positions—he was growing rapidly; from his initial awkwardness to now, in no more than three minutes, he could roughly control most of the cells in his body. However, control was control, and an explosion… perhaps was unavoidable.

The drill's speed had stabilized, as Zheng Zha was currently positioned directly at the planet's core. The outer core had been bypassed; what remained was the final and most troublesome part: penetrating the inner core.

Kernel.

A semi-solid metal core.

Zheng Zha looked around and saw an incredibly bright sea of ​​metal—he knew very well that these things couldn't harm him. This was because his body had begun to rapidly transform upon entering the outer core, instantly constructing an outer skin and protective mechanisms capable of surviving under extremely high pressure and thousands of degrees Celsius. And by the time he began to touch the core, his body had upgraded to the point where he could walk on the surface of a star.

However, high temperature and high pressure couldn't harm him, but high energy was outside his range. He now felt like a water-filled balloon, and he had to roll over a board of nails.

He glanced at the drilling rig beneath him, still functioning normally within the planet's core—undoubtedly, he was now completely convinced of Patchouli's skill. He simply couldn't comprehend how the witches managed to create such massive, equally disastrous, scenes with such limited resources. And he knew at the same time that if he couldn't find the answer, this would likely be his last stop.

Because he clearly sensed that his body was stirring. He could accurately perceive the fervent need of every cell in his body for the abundant energy from the outside world. At the same time, he knew that the cells in his body had already connected and were preparing to plan some grand operation.

He couldn't guess what they were trying to do, which made him think sadly, 'I'm not even as smart as my cells.' He tried to brush off this depressing question, but even worse news made him even more depressed.

Because at that moment, the drilling rig stopped operating.

We've arrived at our destination.

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

The temperature has dropped, I feel unwell, and I'm starting to feel like I'm catching a cold _(:з」∠)_

Section 64, Fourth Stage

The time has come, and the place has been reached.

When the stellar extraction tower was activated by the triggered program, the radiant sea of ​​light, constructed from immeasurable molten metal, turned completely gray in an instant.

Zheng Zha personally witnessed this process.

He watched as everything within the sea of ​​iron around him rapidly dimmed, the star core cooled drastically, and the almost inextinguishable flame at its very center vanished in an instant. This grayish-white void expanded rapidly outward, quickly covering the boundaries of his vision!

Energy is being consumed, lava is turning into solidified iron. And this planet—is dying.

It was transforming from a precious celestial body capable of nurturing life into a worthless pile of stones—it wouldn't last long, because the Cybertronian star extraction towers wouldn't even need long to drain a sun. However, its demise was happening much faster than Zheng Zha had anticipated. He had only counted to five when, in his perception, all the light had vanished.

There was no light, no heat, no movement, no change.

All he could perceive was silence, and all he could sense was silence.

In the unbearable silence, a spark ignited in his heart.

Is it coming? Is this the time?

Zheng Zha emptied his mind and focused all his attention on the small spark burning within him. His brain operated at maximum power, preparing to channel all its computational resources into controlling the cells within his body. And just as he had made what he believed to be the most perfect preparations, a surge of energy rushed in.

The orbital bombardment began, and the light of destruction shot straight into the Earth's core, then spread out along with the energy erupting from the tower!

He was submerged in an instant, yet the waves that engulfed him did not suffocate him. His eyes widened, and he unleashed every ounce of power he could muster in that instant.

—All gene locks are fully unlocked.

— Destruction mode, fully activated.

He tried to roar out loud, but even the computational power used to produce sound was mobilized. He could only feel the seemingly endless waves of energy rushing towards him from all directions, surging into his body, shattering and reshaping his cells one by one, and destroying and regenerating his muscles and bones bit by bit.

Pain? Zheng Zha can no longer feel pain. Because pain, in the end, is just a self-protective mechanism, a strong neural signal used by the body to warn the brain to stay away from danger—however, the nervous system is completely destroyed the moment the energy surge arrives, and then undergoes repeated reconstruction. Naturally, not a single neural signal remains, and even if there are any remnants, they cannot reach his brain.

Because Zheng Zha no longer has a brain.

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

Zheng Zha suddenly opened his eyes, the icy cold and chilling atmosphere washing over his will. He stood up abruptly, but when he looked around, he saw only darkness in all directions.

Darkness, endless darkness.

A beam of light shone down from the sky, which seemed to be of unknown height, enveloping him and revealing a white patch of ground beneath his feet. Everything else was pitch black. He frowned slightly, looking at his toes as he stood on the pale ground. He didn't know what the pale ground beneath his feet was made of, but he had a feeling that it wasn't any material he had ever seen or touched before.

He clenched his fist lightly, feeling his body extremely weak, his energy depleted, his arms powerless, his gene lock completely unable to control his senses, and his thoughts becoming chaotic, making it difficult to understand some complex issues.

It's bad, but there's something even worse.

Because he realized that he should still be completing the 'foundation-building ceremony', and this process should absolutely not include wasting time in this nonsensical place.

We need to get back quickly.

But how do I get back?

do not know.