Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

She escaped the cage with ease, flicking her finger across the shrinking puppet strings. The deflected strings instantly transformed into sharp blades aimed at their original owner. With a single strike, Alice's already severed left arm disintegrated into a spray of blood!

But this was exactly what Alice needed. With her other, unharmed hand, she quickly formed several hand seals, and in the next instant, the blood transformed into an explosive poison!

A secret technique within blood magic, using one's own limbs as the casting material to unleash a curse. In terms of sheer destructive power, this magic is arguably the most powerful at the same energy consumption, especially at such close range.

Qi Huang's body was not unharmed; the bloody gash that had been left on her shoulder earlier was a clear indication. The highly poisonous blood mist caught up with her even faster, corroding the flesh on her shoulder the moment it made contact, turning large patches of her snow-white skin into bluish-black.

But this could only hinder her for a moment at most. She waved her hand to disperse the poisonous mist, focused her eyes on the wound, and the corroded part quickly recovered, returning to its original state within seconds.

Several fireballs then followed.

She casually deflected the attack, and with a stomp of her foot, countless cracks appeared in the ground. Like a cannonball, she smashed through the barrier formed by the puppet strings and arrived in front of Alice, her five fingers forming a knife, aimed straight at Alice's chest!

In terms of strength and speed alone, she was now no different from Zheng Zha, who had unlocked his second-tier gene lock. And this was all she could achieve with Qin Zhuiyu's unenhanced mortal body. In other words, this was her weakest moment.

However, this was also Alice's weakest moment.

Alice twisted her body, barely managing to deflect the sudden thrust to her heart. But she could still clearly feel that her right-side organs and ribs had been pierced, and excruciating pain and dizziness were eroding her nerves and brain.

[Right lung destroyed, seven ribs broken, fatal injuries.]

Blood surged to the girl's throat, and the vomit, along with fragments of internal organs, transformed into a cursed lightning bolt the moment it left her lips. However, Qi Huang merely turned her head to avoid the attack—she withdrew her hand, took a step back, spun around, and unleashed a heavy whip kick that exploded into the air.

[Spinal fracture, liver rupture, stomach necrosis]

[Decreased reaction time, disordered nerve signals, inability to feel the right leg.]

Alice's body crashed through the wall behind her. And behind one wall was another. With her left eye, which could still barely see, she saw Qi Huang once again assume a charging stance. And this time... it would probably be the end.

The blood loss has reached its limit; it is no longer possible to maintain physiological functions.

It's a bit cold...

She felt her vision gradually darken, and the sensation coming from her still conscious limbs was no longer pain, but a weak, numb feeling.

[It's truly disheartening... Having lost magic and enhancements, is this all I can achieve in the end?]

I've pushed myself to the limit, but even that limit isn't enough to unlock my genetic potential. Without meeting the conditions, even a victory is meaningless… I hope Xiao Honglu can launch his counter-strategy on time, and let the glory of victory belong to the Zhongzhou team…

Her left eye became blurry, and a mist of water appeared in her already enlarging sky-blue pupil.

At least... let me die before you...

Her world plunged into darkness. Countless jumbled fragments of memories flashed by, and her consciousness seemed to plummet into an abyss, at the edge of which lay an endless sea.

The sea is silent, the sea is cold.

The depth of the sea has no end.

Even the last vestiges of consciousness became blurred, and everything returned to nothingness.

In the void...

Patchouli...

The next moment, consciousness restarted.

Cut off nerve connections and block blood supply.

Abandoning organ function, transforming flesh and blood, and using life as magic to maintain limb movement.

Adjusting the direction of muscle contraction and extension forces the broken bone fragments back into their original position.

Her body made slight adjustments before impacting the second wall, using the recoil to correct some of the broken bones, while the excess force was channeled into the ground.

[So that's how it is. A high level of mental concentration allows one to perceive subtle changes in the body and surroundings. Is this the first stage of the genetic lock?]

Her gaze fell upon Qi Huang.

[Target's limbs are intact, energy loss is less than 60%, and movement is unimpaired. The probability of victory in the confrontation is zero, and the chance of survival is zero.]

【but……】

Time is up.

Chapter 48 - The Curtain Falls

The day before the final battle, at the temple where Hamunaptra's resurrection altar was located.

Alice contacted Xiao Honglu without the others noticing and led him to the altar surrounded by countless protective arrays.

"Now I entrust these things to you. This is our Zhongzhou team's last trump card to win when the war comes to its final stage. In my current judgment, I believe that you, as a wise man, are the most suitable person to operate this thing."

It was a row of dolls, with rudimentary limbs and indistinct facial features. Xiao Honglu could clearly distinguish the physical characteristics and appearance of each person in the Zhongzhou team from among them. Beside the dolls lay a black dagger, shrouded in an ominous aura.

"This is... a voodoo doll?" Xiao Honglu raised an eyebrow. "You cursed everyone? When? How could you... why did you do this?"

“I already told you, didn’t I? My medium for casting spells is curses,” Alice replied. “Then you should realize that my forte is actually curse magic. And when you used the magical items I made, the seeds of curses were already planted in your bodies.”

“Then you don’t need to…” Xiao Honglu suddenly stopped talking, his eyes filled with disbelief. “There are unstable elements among us, aren’t there? Was it done by that woman from the Indian team? Who was being controlled?”

“You’re not controlled, but you’re corrupted.” Alice gently brushed over the voodoo dolls. “I’ve encountered similar enemies before. Anyone who comes into contact with it will be corrupted. Once the mental defenses are broken, the corruption will immediately erode one’s mind, turning the infected individual into a part of that woman. In this group, the newcomer and Zhan Lan are the most likely to be corrupted. Zhao Yingkong, on the other hand, doesn’t care, since she harbors at least a monster of equal strength within her.”

"So, I'm one of those corrupted too..." Xiao Honglu yanked his hair violently. "No, I think you already have a strategy... Is it this altar?"

“That’s right, I’ve set up an independently operating barrier here at the altar. So when the war begins, I need you to stay here and not leave for a moment. I don’t think you’d want to become someone else’s puppet.”

"I see, I understand." Xiao Honglu nodded. He tentatively picked up the black dagger. "So, my duty is to use this dagger at the appropriate time to pierce the puppet and trigger the curse, right?"

"That's right, at the right time."

“If my plan goes smoothly, after the Apocalypse is triggered, there will be no survivors in Cairo except for the members of the Middle Kingdom team. Imhotep might survive, but once that woman possesses him, this world might end immediately.”

"Therefore, her target can only be the members of the Central Plains team. Once the Apocalypse is released, the protective barrier will inevitably be destroyed, and at that time she can go straight in, seize a new body to regenerate. Zhang Heng, Qin Zhuiyu, Gao Hongliang and others will be the most likely targets."

"[Zhan Lan] has a barrier around her, making it difficult to possess her. However, the souls of mental ability users are a great tonic for that woman, so she has a high chance of possessing the bodies of these three people and then using them as a springboard to devour Zhan Lan's power. Of course, if she insists on possessing other people's bodies... then she might as well just curse that body to death."

You mean... the body?

"Possession isn't something that can be achieved in one step. I've observed the soul strength of most people in the team. If she consumes the Book of Revelation, it would take her about three minutes to fully control a body. Only after three minutes can she unleash the full potential of that body. In other words, it would take three minutes for the curse to kill the body she's possessing to reach its maximum effect."

“I’m not sure if this will kill her completely, but it will at least severely injure her. I’ll stall her for as long as possible before the three-minute time limit expires. And once the three minutes are up… if I’m still alive, curse the person who told you their name at that time. If I’m dead… I’ll arrange for Zero to be on the top floor. You know what to do.”

"I understand. Is there anything else I need to do?"

Alice subtly mimed a throat-slitting gesture.

“Of course. You need to kill the resurrected Anzulna before you arrive in three minutes. Her life is tied to Imhotep's, and I need Imhotep to be in the right position before the final deadline.”

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

Xiao Honglu lowered his eyes, looking at the timer placed at his feet. He could clearly hear the collisions and fighting coming from the lower level, and he was also well aware that his side was not in a superior position.

Two minutes and thirty-five seconds have passed.

He reached out and pressed his hand against Ansuona's neck, who had largely revived but was trapped in a dream by magic and unable to fully awaken.

"This is my first time killing someone. I hope I don't throw up." Xiao Honglu gave a bitter smile, but without hesitation, he took out a dagger and decisively stabbed Ansuna in the throat from the side!

He could almost hear a woman scream in that instant.

"Hate me if you want, anyway you'll be resurrected in the second part, right? Forget it, I'm just fooling myself." He shook his head vigorously and pulled out a bloodstained dagger. Then…

He pierced the voodoo doll representing Qin Zhuiyu and Gao Hongliang with a single stab!

Qi Huang's pupils suddenly contracted, and a huge bloody hole suddenly burst open in her chest. Immediately afterward, countless knife and axe wounds appeared on her body, instantly disintegrating most of her body into a pool of blood!

The apocalypse had been triggered, rendering all magicians unable to cast new spells. However, those already prepared were not included. She had never imagined that Alice had prepared such a vicious trap, and in an instant, she lost all her fighting power.

She wasn't dead yet; even as her body disintegrated, the scattered flesh and blood still coalesced under her will, reforming into the shape of a human.

This is the perfect opportunity.

Alice gently raised her only remaining right hand. With the gene lock activated, the last bit of magic power generated from her blood magic gathered into one, condensing into the final, decisive blow.

Blood magic is a cursed magic, cursing oneself and offering sacrifices in exchange for power. Its essence is to dissect the body's tissues to release energy, making it the best tool for Alice in a life-or-death situation.

Qi Huang's body was not even half-built in this short period of time, and even if she succeeded, the energy in her body would inevitably be nearly exhausted.

If they launch a full-scale attack, they have a 30% chance of winning and a 50% chance of a draw. As for the remaining chances... even if they lose, it will still be a victory for the Zhongzhou team.

But... I think my victory is more important.

And... it's too late.

The next moment, the gravity well that kept the main control tower suspended suddenly collapsed. The base of the tower crumbled upwards from the bottom, and in an instant, the stone slab under Alice's feet fell into the air and plunged into the boundless sea of ​​ruins and sand.

And the face of Imhotep, who had transformed into a sand humanoid, suddenly appeared before her, his face contorted with shock and rage as he struggled from underground toward the main control tower upon sensing the death of his beloved!

The timing was perfect...

“Imhotep.” She reached out, her right arm, wreathed in magical energy, easily piercing through the sandstorm's defenses, and then grasped the golden scripture.

"Go and be reborn."

The divine light of teleportation immediately enveloped her entire field of vision.

The horror movie, The Mummy, is over.

Zhongzhou team is the winner.

End Summary

In short, this script is finished. That's the gist of it. Although Alice wasn't particularly clever in my design, she used her information advantage to outmaneuver both teams. Aside from ultimately failing to kill Miss Qihuang, it was a resounding victory. This can also be seen as a preview of the plans laid out after Chu Xuan's resurrection… I'm not entirely sure I can write a character as shrewd as Zhuge Liang from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The following scene involves returning to Gensokyo to pick someone up and saying goodbye to acquaintances. Overall, it's a relatively lighthearted segment, not as tense as it is now. I also need to prepare for World 2, and I hope it will provide a good experience for the audience.

Um, let me explain a bit. Alice's behavior has changed several times in this world. Initially, her goal was self-preservation, to safely return to the space to treat Patchouli. After meeting Zhang Jie, she felt threatened and decided to seize control to avoid being tricked. When the Indian team arrived, she genuinely wanted to kill them and return, but she couldn't catch up with Qi Huang's escape. By the time she learned from Zhang Jie how to rescue her, even with the fortress open, it was too late. Therefore, she determined that she needed Zhang Jie to knock Qi Huang down from the fourth level of the critical threshold to survive; otherwise, she would have directly forced Zhang Jie to make her the captain and unlock the gates using her authority.

In short, that's the basic situation. If you, the viewers, are satisfied with what you've seen, please give us some food!

Hmm... I'll also set up a bounty. Since my full attendance bonus for this month has already been claimed, and it's the end of the month, recommendations, monthly tickets, and even death threats are basically useless to me. So, I'll set up a bounty specifically for donations.

I checked other people's reward bonuses, and they're basically 100-200 blades per chapter. But I just signed a contract, and I haven't reached the word count yet, so I can't get the blades. So, let's roughly calculate: with a reward cap of 20 chapters, the first ten chapters will be 1 blades per chapter, and the last ten chapters will be 2 blades per chapter. Settlement will be completed by the end of March. If I don't reach 10 chapters, settlement will be completed by the middle of the month.

I started this bounty for BX, so it will only last until the end of this month. I will announce the statistics at midnight on March 1st. The current base count is 130,000, excluding these, let's see how much more can be added from that.

In short, as long as everyone's happy, it doesn't matter if I don't get any points for a single update. Maybe... I'll get to read it for free QAQ

Interlude: Gensokyo and Enhancement Integration

Section 1: Do not place a mirror next to your bed.