Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"Patch, is your ritual over?" She opened her mouth and asked a completely pointless question to the other side of the mental link.

Patchouli's reply came to her ears almost immediately.

The ceremony has concluded smoothly without any unexpected events or unforeseen complications. Zhao Zhuikong has now returned to the fourth stage of unlocking his genetic potential and has successfully suppressed the hidden dangers within his genes and mind. Although his combat strength has consequently decreased to the level of someone newly entering the fourth stage, this price should be worthwhile.

"Really? That's good. Thank you for your hard work."

[It's alright, not too tiring. Zhao Zhuikong's ritual was also a very rewarding experiment for me. Through the information gathered from this ritual, I successfully deduced some intelligence about advancing to a higher stage through crystallization magic. If nothing unexpected happens, it shouldn't be long before I become a transcendent being.]

“You sound very happy.” Alice’s lips curled slightly. “You’re not usually this talkative.”

"...Yes, I'm very happy." Patchouli paused on the other end of the call. "Because I finally don't need you to stop and wait for me anymore. I'll catch up with you at a speed that won't be inferior to yours, and maybe soon you'll be catching me."

"Even if it means giving up my former demonic path, giving up those memories and the past?"

"Yes, even so." Patchouli's tone changed slightly. "Alice, has something strange happened to you? You wouldn't normally say something like that."

“Yes, I’m sorry. There are some things that are true.” Alice recalled the mortals who suddenly appeared in the world she created, the hidden operating mechanism behind the scenes, the flourishing of humanity, and the deep-seated hatred for those who blocked her path. Then, she banished all those things from her mind. “But those things… are actually not important at all.”

“I am changing, yet my heart does not resist this change at all. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but it has undoubtedly become the cornerstone for me to move forward… I don’t know if I should abandon this cornerstone.”

Patchouli on the other end of the communication fell silent.

“If one path is blocked, we can try another. But the information magic I’ve been studying only has this one path to follow—if I choose to give up here, then the entire system of information magic will probably be buried in history along with our abandonment. Perhaps Marisa can surpass us and achieve new greatness in the future. But the chances of that… are extremely slim.”

“I don’t want to give up information magic, but if I don’t choose to give it up, then on the path I’ve chosen, we might run into an enemy that we can’t handle even if we’re all together—an enemy we absolutely cannot fight. Fighting against it will inevitably lead to an extremely bad outcome.”

"Then perhaps I can continue..." Patchouli's hesitant voice came from the other end of the communication.

“No, there’s no need for that. You don’t need to give up the new path you’ve found, because I’ve already made up my mind.” Alice shook her head vigorously. “I already know what I lack, and I also know how much I need to pay to obtain that treasure—I can afford it, and I don’t necessarily have to pay it.”

Have you found your path?

“…Yes.” Alice closed her eyes. “I found it.”

A torrent of thoughts churned within her, yet ultimately coalesced under her will. She had found the path to the middle of the fourth stage, to manifest the light of her own soul. And once she made her decision, she would not regret it, no matter what difficulties she faced in the future.

To go from a fourth-tier initial stage to a fourth-tier intermediate stage, or from a demon king initial stage to a demon king intermediate stage, two prerequisites are required.

First, there is the accumulation of power and authority. The gathering of energy and the enhancement of manipulative power lead to the authority to dominate all things. Beings possessing extraordinary power inevitably wield extraordinary authority, which is manifested not only in the instinctive modification of their environment by higher life forms and their influence over lower life forms, but also in the gathering and suppression of fortune and the weight of causal relationships—a transcendent being who has completed the accumulation of power and authority has virtually no lifespan limit, no concept of mental twilight or the five signs of decay. As long as it wants to live, it can modify itself without limit to extend its lifespan—of course, being killed is another matter entirely.

The second point is the understanding of the Tao and attachment.

Obsession is an unwavering conviction, something a transcendent being can never relinquish. It's even considered more important than one's own survival and advancement. It's a weakness, a demon, more troublesome than inner demons, but during periods of inner demonic turmoil, it can become something that helps overcome them. Alice understood her obsession early on, just as she understood Zheng Zha's obsession was protecting his companions, and the Emperor's obsession was finding the deceased puppeteer. But at this stage, all that's needed is to understand it; resolving it is a necessary step towards sainthood.

This is attachment. The Way, however, is the set of rules a transcendent being establishes for itself after becoming transcendent; it is its direction of development, its code of conduct, its understanding of the world, and its self-positioning. Before a being is considered transcendent, these are called its worldview and philosophy of life. But upon becoming a transcendent being with no lifespan limit, all of this must be reshaped to suit its purpose.

When the two are combined, they become inner demons.

Alice once envied Zheng Zha, because this muscular gorilla found his path without any thought or exploration. His logic of 'protecting companions—protecting the innocent—protecting mortals,' though crude, was enough for him to undergo a seamless spiritual transformation and reach his current state, where he only needs a trigger that could come at any moment to overcome his inner demons and achieve the light of his soul. And now, Alice stands on the same level.

However, her path and Zheng Zha's path... may not be completely compatible.

“I have found my path, and I have no intention of changing it… I cannot reveal the specific details to you here for the time being. Because that is not something that can be known by others.”

Are you planning to take a risk?

"No, I plan to develop a complete plan. Then I'll launch it at the right time—we'll discuss the details when we meet, and I'll need Patchouli's help then."

I will come.

"Okay, then let's meet in Isengard."

Alice lowered her eyes and ended the telepathic communication. Her conversation with Chu Xuan and Patchouli had solidified her decision, and there was no need to tell Patchouli everything she was about to do—it was her own business, and there was no need to involve Patchouli. Telling her what she was doing was already a dangerous move; saying anything more might lead to unpredictable consequences.

She had actually changed her mind. No matter how this sixth era unfolded, she would continue to perfect her path to transcendence. To hell with compromise and tolerance; this time, she would not show leniency again. If the world didn't go her way, she would simply begin another era; if that didn't work, two more; if two didn't work, three. Once time was up, she would return to the Main God Space to continue dealing with these clueless fools.

Forget about blood-red fortune and the flourishing of humanity. Stones blocking your path should be kicked aside, and mysteries hindering your progress should be solved. Being indecisive, hesitant, and enduring humiliation for visible risks is one thing, but what kind of witch wouldn't even dare to try?!

"At worst, I'll just die and start over!" Alice reached out her hand, ushering in the sixth era of the bubble world.

Just as she was about to dive into the bubble world, another hand reached out from behind her and gently pressed on the back of her outstretched hand.

"What are you doing, Alice?" A familiar voice rang in her ears, and the scent of patchouli filled her nostrils.

"Patch!?" Alice's eyes widened in disbelief.

A soft laugh came from behind her.

"I told you I would come."

Chapter Sixty-Five: Paradise Lost, Part Six

Alice closed her eyes, her tense body subconsciously relaxing little by little. Now that Patchouli had appeared, all previous plans and arrangements should be temporarily abandoned. After all…

“No need to change, Alice.” Two hands reached out from behind and gently pressed on Alice’s shoulders, a soft, sweet voice filling her ears. “What one person can’t do, the two of us can do together. Just as what one person can’t afford, the two of us can pay.”

“But this time is different, Patchouli.” Alice shook her head slightly, a bitter smile appearing on her lips. “Unlike the last time we were in the Final Destination world, when we only had to deal with Tenshi Hinanagi who couldn’t use his full strength, and even now it seems he was holding back. This time, our enemies will span the entire multiverse.”

“The entire multiverse…” Patchouli’s voice held a hint of affected seriousness. “Is this a lot?”

"Isn't that a lot?"

“If the two of us work together, it won’t be much.” Her fingers, which were resting on Alice’s shoulders, pressed down slightly. “Tell me, what is the target you want to fight? I think it’s not the human destiny of this multiverse or the main god himself. It’s also not a certain saint or a group of saints who have reached the fifth level of the genetic lock. And this thing can threaten you and me as reincarnators… It must be something related to the human destiny.”

"Your recent project is world-shaping. So I suppose it must be something related to creation... Is it some kind of operating mechanism related to mortals within the human destiny? Or am I guessing wrong?"

"...You really can hide anything from me."

"You just didn't intend to hide it." The hand on Alice's shoulders slid down, and the blonde witch, now embraced, immediately felt that familiar embrace. She could hear the slightly more rapid heartbeat than usual, and at the same time, she could sense the anxiety beneath the calm tone of the person behind her.

【Ugh... what have I been doing? Focusing only on fulfilling my superficial desires while neglecting what truly matters to me. Have I really become foolish and ignorant? Am I being manipulated by fate without my knowledge, or am I finally awake?】

Alice opened her mouth, but swallowed back the words that were about to escape her lips. She knew it was pointless to say anything now. Because if their positions were reversed, then her current actions… She closed her eyes.

"Patch, I'm sorry." Alice uttered a single, barely audible word from her thin lips. "It will never happen again."

"I forgive you." Patchouli's voice remained calm, but those who knew her well could easily hear the joy hidden beneath the calm, and the sense of relief that followed.

"I need your help."

"Anytime is fine."

"Then, let's do it now."

The next moment, Alice's body suddenly disintegrated and crumbled like melted butter, but before it could splatter into a pool of life essence, it swallowed Patchouli, who was embracing her, like a predatory flower. The melted cell clusters quickly rebuilt, transforming into a trembling pupa in an instant.

The sixth era of the bubble world then arrived.

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

The Sixth Age was an era in which sea and land, mortals and machines, peace and war intertwined.

There are endless wars in this world, but the main participants in these wars are not ordinary people who are the protagonists of this world. As early as 1,300 years ago, when there were written records, this war began at the boundary between the deep sea and the shallow sea, and even now, 1,300 years later, this war has not been resolved, nor has it come to an end.

The battle lines from 1,300 years ago are now only slightly different from their original positions.

The two sides that fought each other 1,300 years ago are still fighting to the death on the battlefield today.

The two sides in the conflict share the same origin, according to the most authoritative historical records. These cyborgs, with the appearance of pretty young girls and equipped with a large number of incomprehensible and unfathomable powerful weapons, all originated from the deep sea. One group, yearning for the light and friendly in nature, is called ship girls by the humans who ally with them. The other group, which has an overwhelming numerical advantage, dwells in darkness, is brutal, bloodthirsty, and difficult to communicate with. This group is collectively known as the Abyssal Fleet.

The earliest history and origins of ship girls are unknown. All that is known is that when human civilization was born, they were already roaming the coastlines, waging an endless war against the deep sea. The earliest ship girls were not only outnumbered, but their weaponry and tactical thinking were also as crude and appalling as the deep-sea fleets.

They possess no intelligence, despite their powerful weaponry and sturdy armor. They can easily shatter mountains and break through giant waves. Yet, their thought processes remain as pure as a blank sheet of paper. They almost never harm any creature other than the Dark Side's Abyssal Fleet. And they don't even need to feed like ordinary fish or beasts.

The war between ship girls and abyssal fleets was, in its earliest days, a war akin to the fighting of newborn infants. Such a war was devoid of any technical skill; the only variable that could determine the advantage for either side was sheer numbers.

With insufficient numbers of ship girls, the navy inevitably suffered repeated defeats, sometimes even being driven from the sea and pushed ashore. Their defeats also meant that the ordinary inhabitants living on land were exposed to the Abyssal Fleet's attacks. To protect themselves, and to help these beautiful and innocent women, the first alliance was formed between humans and ship girls.

It was a... very strange alliance. The earliest, recorded alliance originated from a girl who found a dying ship girl on the beach. When she touched the dying ship girl, a kind of spiritual link appeared between her and that ship girl, who later acquired the name 'Yamashiro,' which humans considered a name but ship girls considered a 'model.' With the establishment of this spiritual link, the nameless ship girl at the time shared her intelligence to a certain extent.

With intelligence, the combat power these ship girls can unleash will naturally increase significantly. This increase in intelligence even means the unleashing of the performance of many of the ship girls' internal equipment. Even in the most ancient times, an ordinary, nameless ship girl could easily unleash at least five times the combat power she had before, once she had a human commander. And when this ship girl reaches her limit, her role on the battlefield can be a hundred times greater than before.

No one, or even any ship girl, can decipher the underlying principles, just as no one, or even any ship girl, can decipher the conceptual weaponry that appears on their bodies after they acquire a name—once a ship girl has accumulated enough combat experience, she will receive a type of weaponry supposedly from ancient times, along with a corresponding set of conceptual weaponry. Then, this ship girl will become intelligent and emotional, and outwardly, stripped of her weaponry, she will appear just like a real mortal.

The initial contract was established, and many more alliances followed. For some reason, only a small fraction of mortals in each era were able to form alliances with ship girls. Fortunately, knowledge and experience could increase the number of alliances a single mortal could sign. And it was precisely for this reason that, after acquiring ship girls and experiencing a significant increase in productivity, leading to a rapid rise in technology to a level where basic needs were met, mortals shifted the focus of societal development away from scientific research and exploration, instead investing the vast majority of resources into the utilization of ship girls.

It must be admitted that ship girls are exceptionally useful tools. Ship girls who have signed a spiritual covenant will never betray their commanders. Even those ship girls who haven't signed a contract, who are as naive and confused as newborn infants, can understand and accept the requests of mortals. As long as the request is made and won't harm others, they will do everything in their power to fulfill the wish. Compared to the ship girls' superb strength and efficiency, the wheels or smelting techniques that mortals build and design themselves are simply insignificant. Over time, no one bothers to mention them anymore.

If you need anything, just ask the ship girls; if you're in trouble, just call on them. Even if the ship girls are destroyed for various reasons, you can easily find newly born original ship girls on the beach by going to the island's coast. Based on this, there's naturally no need for anything else to continue developing.

Thus, schools were built on the island to train commanders. The entire human society revolved around the element of ship girls. The greatest expectation placed on a child from birth was to become a commander. If they couldn't become a commander, they would strive for various other secondary positions related to ship girls. Although the war between the ship girls and the Abyssal Fleet continued, and even special units within the Abyssal Fleet that gained intelligence without commanders appeared, the battlefront was always confined to the outer edges of the island, while the people within the island lived in peace.

And then, more than 1,300 years after the beginning of this era… or even a little longer, one day, this world finally welcomed its two rulers.

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

I don't like using the word "admiral"... and there's another section after that.

Chapter Sixty-Six: Paradise Lost, Part Seven

"Is this the Eden you created? Judging from the outside, it really is a paradise."

Somewhere on the island, on a bench in a large park, Alice and Patchouli appeared abruptly like ghosts. The surrounding tourists and the ship girls providing public services didn't even pause for a second at their arrival. Instead, they seemed completely oblivious to the two, as if they had been there all along.

There are countless ship girls in this world, and without exception, they are all beautiful women with a beauty score of over 90. Therefore, the two witches' appearances, which score over 95, would not attract attention here, especially since they have been intentionally suppressing their beauty.

Alice's gaze swept quickly across the area before her, capturing two-fifths of the island's details with her mere eyesight without causing any mental fluctuations or information overload. She then analyzed and applied these details in her mind.

After more than 1,300 years of development, the technological level of human civilization in this world is roughly equivalent to that of Zheng Zha's home planet Earth in the early 20th century. Cities are constructed with steel and cement, but the overall level has not yet entered the information age. Of course, only the technological level is similar; many other aspects have undergone drastically different changes.

The streets here are very clean, free of dust and fallen leaves. Even the gaps between the paving stones and the road surface are free of dirt and grease. This is because armed ship girls are constantly patrolling the streets, cleaning up litter and removing footprints.

The air was fresh, with no air pollution detected, and no thick smoke from light or heavy factories or smelting plants. This is because ship girls, once armed, are capable of handling all production positions in modern society. A laser capable of burning through a mountain can certainly be used to carve patterns on a handmade screen. And fingers capable of crushing steel can naturally also handcraft metal parts into suitable shapes.

Factories and workshops are unnecessary, as these are tasks that ship girls undertake during non-combat periods. Whether it's the construction of houses and facilities, the production of parts and materials, or the collection and transportation of materials, all tasks can be delegated to the ship girls. Alice even saw farmland cultivated and tended by ship girls outside the city, where everything from sowing to harvesting, from threshing and hulling to transporting food to distribution points could be handled entirely by the ship girls.

There are cars on the road that don't emit exhaust fumes because these vehicles are actually variant deployments of ship girl equipment. These cyborgs act as drivers who don't need to move, driving the vehicles in an orderly, slow-moving manner through the streets. Whenever someone needs a ride, a ship girl will appear within fifteen seconds and transport them to their desired destination. And this process is absolutely safe, with virtually no possibility of accidents.

All the work that humans would need to do in other worlds is handled by the ship girls here. They don't need to work, strive, struggle, or fight. Their bodies were programmed with genes that prevent aging and disease over a thousand years ago. Genetic defects are naturally impossible for them to develop under Alice's intervention. For the mortals living in this world, they are born for pleasure. Except for those who aspire to become commanders, the concepts of war and conflict exist only in the knowledge they acquire in school—they have no worries about food, clothing, shelter, or transportation. Except for a few with lofty ambitions, the vast majority are born with everything.

This is Eden.

Alice looked away.

"It's better than I expected. After 1,300 years of development, it's still within the safe zone I set. Without the threat of dangerous external forces or direct war intervention, technological development should be extremely slow. If it were any faster, I would suspect that a time traveler came to cause trouble."

"So, can we now confirm that there are no transmigrators?" Patchouli tilted her head slightly, looking at Alice. During her descent, she had received all the experimental records from Alice and read them all. She also clearly understood Alice's thoughts and ideas.

She wouldn't reveal any emotion at this time, because that would only influence Alice's judgment—whether it be agreement or disagreement, like or dislike. She buried all her thoughts deep inside, remaining by Alice's side only as an observer and questioner.

“I can’t be sure.” Alice shook her head. “Not all transmigrators will spontaneously alter the world around them, and I can’t gather enough information just by looking around now. What I can be sure of is that this world hasn’t deviated from my pre-planned range in the current era. Of course, this also needs further verification.”

"What if it can be proven that no time travelers existed?"