Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

There were four seats on the outer side of the round table, and he sat down in one of them. As his fingers touched the tabletop, different figures appeared in the seats on either side of him.

Song Tian, ​​Luo Yinglong.

Unlike before, the two people who appeared here this time possessed a much stronger aura than the two who had fought Zheng Zha and Alice before. Luo Yinglong's Yin-Yang Five Elements energy circulated silently like a river, while Song Tian's eyes held an unconcealed sharp blade light. If they were to appear on the previous battlefield now, the process and even the outcome of all the previous battles might be greatly changed.

Alice should perhaps have some doubts. She should wonder why, even with a third of herself gone, she could hold off the Celestials on the road, yet the Celestials were rated higher than the beleaguered East America team. She should wonder why Luo Yinglong and Song Tian, ​​who appeared in the Yin-Yang Dust Array, always seemed so sullen, like puppets, only interjecting when necessary to speak up for Adam—perhaps she had already found the answer. Perhaps her answer was wrong.

Why is the Celestial Team so weak? Perhaps it's because she's too strong because she loves someone, while the East America Team has fallen behind in points due to previous setbacks and blows. Why do Luo Yinglong and Song Tian seem somewhat rigid? Perhaps it's because Luo Yinglong needs to maintain the Yin-Yang Micro-Dust Array and doesn't have much energy for other things. And Song Tian is naturally a guy devoted to the sword, so it's normal for him to be a bit rigid.

After all, no matter how weak they were, they had already fought against the fourth-tier teams from both East America and Central China. No matter how unnatural it seemed, Luo Yinglong could still wield a magical weapon like the Azure Chain Sword. Song Tian could also wield a longsword and exchange a few blows with Zheng Zha; the sword intent and killing intent contained within it were undeniable. Therefore, everything was actually quite normal.

Everything was normal and reasonable; several tests yielded no flaws. The Celestials' actual fighting strength was inherently inferior to the East American team, which was rated lower. Adam's strategic acumen was only slightly better than Neos'; both his intelligence and strength couldn't match their peak. Furthermore, with the East American team joining the Central Continent team, their only fate was to suffer repeated defeats and become mere background figures, wasn't it?

"Has the appointed time finally arrived? I feel like mushrooms are growing all over me from waiting here for so long." Luo Yinglong's fingers contained the Yin and Yang energies in a chaotic cycle. The energy gathered at his fingertips, then opened, and then gathered again. In an instant, the black and white spheres formed a chaotic mass, and then his five fingers closed. The energy sphere, which could have wiped out a city in an instant when it exploded, quietly dissipated, then merged back together. The transformed energy reconstructed itself, and finally transformed into a five-colored butterfly that seemed ready to take flight and landed on his fingertips.

This is a level of subtlety, an extremely advanced level, almost approaching the essence of energy. A character capable of this level, if they had studied the gene lock system, would definitely have reached the fourth tier, and possess considerable expertise within that tier. However, Luo Yinglong had only revealed the limit of the third tier from beginning to end, barely managing to catch up to the fourth tier form through modified enhancements.

The butterfly in his hand took flight, drawing a swirling purple light in mid-air. Another wisp of cyan light then emerged from Adam's shadow and swirled around the butterfly. The five-colored butterfly then disintegrated and vanished, transforming into a Tai Chi diagram about ten feet in diameter. The purple and cyan lights then settled at the two extreme points, revealing the shape of a sword.

The Purple and Green Twin Swords are the two most powerful swords in the world of Shu Mountain. In the original story, they were so powerful that it required the combined efforts of two exceptionally talented individuals to wield them. They possessed a terrifying power that was definitely more than twenty times the sum of its parts. According to Saito's prediction records, Luo Yinglong only mastered the Green Sword until his death, but now, he held both swords in his hands.

“Almost there.” Adam’s fingers lightly touched together, a subtle smile playing on his lips. A screen of light appeared on the round table before him, displaying the crystalline floating city where Alice and Patchouli were, and all the changes in its surrounding area. The instant the scene appeared, Melkor, hidden in the darkness, finally couldn’t hold back and launched an attack on the witches. It used its sealed dark power to directly corrupt most of the floating city, but the light cannons projected from the outside of the crystal instantly shattered the floating city, and scattered beams of destructive light bombarded Melkor’s powerful body from all angles along the channels constructed by the crystal. However, while Melkor inside was in grave danger, another invisible Melkor outside was quietly approaching the Great Library, which hovered outside the crystalline city.

This was a trap set by Melkor, which, while the witches were tracking it, was also subtly manipulating them. It concealed its presence while quietly gathering considerable information about the witches. The existence of the Great Library was one of the pieces of information it had acquired, and its current objective was to infiltrate its interior.

The most dangerous place is the safest place. Although the Great Library was the sorcerer's tower of the two witches, and in a sense even Patchouli's divine realm, a demigod wizard who hadn't achieved extraordinary power clearly lacked the control and insight of a true god. And through channels it shouldn't have possessed, it learned of some loopholes within the Great Library that allowed it to infiltrate silently.

It was destined to succeed because the decoy currently engaged in battle within the Crystal City contained over 95% of its power—enough to attract the witches' attention. This decoy would self-destruct at a crucial moment, creating the illusion of an escape and diverting the witches' focus. The Great Library possessed sufficient energy to conceal its actions, and it also had a suitable vessel within it, ensuring the witches remained completely unaware of its existence.

As expected, after several tens of seconds of fighting, a deep darkness erupted from the city enveloped by the crystal. Countless cracks appeared on the entire spherical shell made of crystal in an instant. From the largest crack, a tangible black shadow surged out rapidly, escaping at near-light speed.

The witches' forms materialized from the shattered crystalline shells. Alice held the Staff of Domination, while Patchouli clutched a mass of dark energy that seemed to be alive, struggling incessantly. They exchanged a glance, and in the next instant, they were teleported directly to the top of the manifested Great Library. The space surrounding the Great Library immediately shattered, and in the pursuit of spatial leaps, the lurking, dim shadow finally reached its desired target.

"Ms. Patchouli Knowledge's target is Melkor. Her power system is crystal magic, and her method of unlocking the fourth-order genetic lock is simply to use Melkor's divine power and the essence of the light of the mind as catalysts to defeat the greatly weakened Melkor in the mental war, thereby absorbing divine power and forcibly liberating the self-will of every cell to reach the fourth order. For her, who has accumulated enough, the success rate of this plan should be around eighty percent."

Adam tapped his fingers on the table.

"The moment she gets promoted will be the time for us to make our move."

“It seems we’ll have to wait a long time. And,” Luo Yinglong reached out and the two swords, one purple and one green, fell into his sleeve, “about 0.51 percent of the runes on the surface of my Azure Chain Sword are damaged. It seems your induction plan for Adam hasn’t gone very smoothly.”

"They're just two early-stage fourth-tier assassins specializing in space-based attacks." Adam stretched out his hand, recording the physical projections of the two assassins, Zhao Zhuikong and Zhao Yingkong, replacing the previous remote observation map. "Your puppet was destroyed by them. To prevent the puppet's true identity from being exposed, I had to overload the Azure Sword and clash with both of them. This way, they'll think the destroyed puppet was actually a tool you used to save your life, and that you used some forbidden technique to escape at the last moment, without connecting it to the fact that your true self never appeared in Middle-earth in the first place. This is a necessary price to pay. Of course, if you feel this isn't enough, I can offer you some compensation privately."

"No need. This was something our Celestial Team decided together from the very beginning. To defeat Lady Margot Lloyd and that humanoid monster named Chu Xuan in this world, we have no chance of success without paying a huge price. I was even mentally prepared for the Azure Chain Sword to break at the beginning. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to pay so much to return to my sect to seek the Purple Ying's form."

A glint of light flickered in Luo Yinglong's eyes, as if he had returned once more to that mutated world called Terminator 3. Once again, he found himself before the colossal void mechanical worms that fed on stars. In that moment, he recognized his own insignificance, realizing his shallowness upon encountering the powerful civilization that piloted these void mechanical worms. And when he and his companions finally completed the main objective under Adam's scheme, only to be forcibly detained by the woman in the blood-red dress—who bypassed the God's return timer—he finally understood the true meaning of despair.

She was a woman... terrifyingly powerful. She had only revealed the early stage of the fourth tier of life, and at that time, even with two early-stage fourth-tier Celestials attacking together, they couldn't inflict any damage on her, let alone force out her inner light. In the end, it was only due to an unexpected twist of fate that Luo Yinglong and the others managed to escape. And before they fled, that woman's name was deeply imprinted in Luo Yinglong's mind.

Alice Margot Royd.

Adam said he saw traces of the monster he called Chu Xuan in her behavior. Based on this, he deduced that both the Demon Team and the Central Plains Team had someone named Chu Xuan—Luo Yinglong didn't know just how terrifying this Chu Xuan was, but he estimated that the person's abilities might even surpass those of Margot Lloyd in the blood-red dress. For this reason, he paid a huge price to obtain the Purple Ying Sword from his sect, the counterpart to his Azure Chain Sword—unfortunately, it was only a counterfeit; he wasn't qualified to wield two swords simultaneously.

When the Lord of the Rings world opened, and he received news of the arrival of the Middle-earth team as the strongest, and after making contact with the Southern Flame team before their arrival, Luo Yinglong knew he had to use these two swords.

I must defeat Margot Royd, even if she's a fourth-tier cultivator who hasn't unlocked her genetic potential and whose methods and will are inferior to the Demon Team's Margot Royd. Because she has become my inner demon… no, my mental obstacle. If I don't overcome this mental obstacle, even if I reach the fourth tier or the Earth Immortal realm, I'm destined to be permanently stuck at that level. And if I want to overcome this mental obstacle, defeating her is the most effective and swiftest solution.

Therefore, making good use of the time before the Central Continent Team arrives and creating an intelligence gap is a necessary strategy. When multiple fourth-tier powerhouses choose this place as the battlefield, the momentum that can be borrowed in the story world will no longer be of much value. So the Celestial Team decisively abandoned interfering with the main characters of the story. Then they devoted all their planning time to developing a plan to deal with the Central Continent Team.

Luo Yinglong's thoughts shifted slightly.

"My puppet, the disguise should be pretty convincing, right?"

"It performed very well, worthy of that A-level plot and 10,000 reward points," Adam replied quickly. "After being infused with your personality, memories, and corresponding life level before you encountered that woman, its disguise was almost flawless. It was especially clever when it came into contact with the captain of the Central Continent Team, a man who was probably used as a cover by Chu Xuan. Giving away a portion of cultivation knowledge there was a stroke of genius. Through this, both Chu Xuan and Ms. Margot Lloyd should be able to exploit the internal discriminatory relationships within the Celestial Team. At the same time, it completely eliminated the possibility of you being exposed."

Adam's gaze immediately shifted to Song Tian.

"You too, although you were almost exposed in the battle with Zheng Zha, you ultimately managed to cover it up using the artifact of the main god. The Zhongzhou team should now have determined that our Heavenly God team is a dispensable and weak team. Chu Xuan knows me, so he should judge that we still have a backup plan and make some arrangements. This is a necessary risk, but so far, our plan is being executed quite well."

"The Vera were successfully brought down along with Melkor, making our feigned struggle with the weakened Margot Lloyd all that time worthwhile. I deliberately let Celine from the East American team know that the essence of that world was illusory, allowing her to escape and break through the Yin-Yang Dust Array woven by Luo Yinglong's puppets before we revealed our weakness. And now, it will soon be time for us to reap the rewards." He stretched out his hand, tightly clutching a diagram made of an unknown leather. The diagram appeared normal from the outside, but its importance was clearly evident from Adam's taut knuckles.

"I only want to know when my blade will be able to draw upon the blood of the extraordinary." Song Tian's voice was as deep as a muffled thunderclap. This was the first sentence he uttered in this conference room. And within his words, boundless killing intent and fighting spirit surged wildly. Then, in an instant, they all subsided.

“That depends on the abilities of our allies, Miss Altair,” Adam said with a smile, looking across the round table. A white-haired woman who had remained silent throughout sat in the fourth seat at the table.

Chapter 85: The Flames of War, Part 5

Not long after, above the dark sky, as the seventh of the fourteen stars shining in the heavens dimmed, the Great Library, ridden by the witches, concluded its seventh pursuit of the lingering shadow of Melkor. The crystalline city initially created by Patchouli had long since been destroyed in the flames of war. Melkor, too, had suffered repeated setbacks, each time brought to the brink of destruction by the witches, yet it stubbornly persisted.

"Milkor should be completely finished after two more times at most. Its Mind Light is too badly damaged and has not been replenished. According to my calculations, it should now be very close to the point of destruction. We have a chance to completely annihilate this god of darkness in two hours. Of course, it is also possible that it will not last two hours. After all, data is just data, and it may self-destruct before that." However, in that case, we probably will not be able to obtain the reward points from it.

As she had done many times before, Alice floated inside the data tower at the heart of the Great Library. A massive amount of data, like a tidal wave, poured down from the surrounding light screens, presenting her with all sorts of intelligence, data, and research conclusions. She was then allowed to select the parts she needed and combine them to arrive at the corresponding conclusions.

Melkor is a being whose very essence, the light of the soul, has been pulled away. He is a legitimate god-demon, and once killed, he will die. Unlike the Valar or Vili, whose bodies are of saintly nature and cannot be killed, Melkor is not. If he perishes here, all his power and authority in this world will vanish. Therefore, killing him should yield reward points. This is also one of the methods the witches use to confirm his defeat.

After all, he was a fallen true god, possessing the spiritual light to reverse entropy. Patchouli, who sought to advance to the fourth tier through crystal magic using Melkor's spiritual light, was also aware of her limitations. She knew she had no chance against a fourth-tier transcendent being that still possessed independent consciousness in a battle of minds. No matter how much she prepared, no matter how severely this transcendent being, equivalent to a mid-fourth-tier being, was weakened, as long as the other party retained even a sliver of consciousness, this advancement ritual would have a very high chance of failure. The other party might even turn the tables, rendering all the witches' efforts in this cycle of reincarnation futile.

Therefore, Melkor must die. Only with its death can the plan continue.

Alice's attention shifted slightly, glancing discreetly at Patchouli, who was also suspended in the central control tower, manipulating and analyzing the dark power stripped from Melkor. While Alice took over the pursuit of Melkor, Patchouli was also working tirelessly to decipher Melkor's divine power—it was difficult at first, but with more and more reference samples shared from Zheng Zha's group, the research progressed significantly. Now that the seventh Celestial had been hunted down, Patchouli had even managed to crystallize a portion of Melkor's divine power, making it a part of herself.

Patchouli prepared extensively and for a long time for her ascension to the transcendental realm. After all, she was a scholar, not one of those reckless warriors who only knew how to desperately try their luck in reaching the fourth tier. Long before entering the cycle of reincarnation, the witches had already deduced the method for ascending to the transcendental realm. And as early as in the world of Final Destination 2, Alice had already verified the feasibility of this method.

To unlock the fourth-tier genetic lock, or in other words, to become a transcendent life form, one must inevitably possess four powers: inexhaustible strength, an immortal body, an indestructible soul, and an uncorrupted heart. After arriving in the God's Space, the witches also obtained relevant information about other worlds from the God. In those other worlds mentioned in the God's records, which also had a path to transcendence, the inhabitants called it the Four Heavenly Gates of the Gods.

Inexhaustible power is relatively limitless energy. This can be achieved using the genetic technology replicated from Alice, by modifying the cell nucleus, along with the cell population, and using super-genetic engineering within the cell to create micrometer-scale, room-temperature fusion engines. In this way, relatively limitless energy can be obtained.

An immortal body is an external body with extremely high self-repair capabilities or extremely high tolerance. Patchouli's solution was to modify her cells and replace the energy released by the micron-fusion engine with purified Milkor energy. She would then use this high-level energy to record her body. Once the modification was successful, her body would no longer be susceptible to natural decay. This could be considered a form of relative immortality.

The "Undying Soul" is less about the immortality of the soul and more about a leap in spiritual power and an unparalleled level of operational precision. Patchouli's solution is to devour the remaining, processed version of the Light of the Mind after Melker's destruction. This is what she and Alice have been doing, and as long as Melker's death can be confirmed, the success rate of this stage can be infinitely close to one hundred percent—after all, no one says the Light of the Mind has to be swallowed whole; she can slowly consume it bit by bit during a safe period.

The final remaining element, the Undying Heart, is actually the cellular will backlash that naturally occurs after the completion of the previous stages. This is the most troublesome and potentially problematic stage. If one survives, the fourth-stage genetic lock will naturally open, granting the individual a certain level of combat power upon becoming a transcendent life form. If one fails… well, it's not a big deal. Once the project reaches this point, even failure results in an out-of-control fourth-stage being. All that's left is to waste a resurrection item to return to the God Realm, and then use reward points and side quests to get another chance from the God Realm.

If once doesn't work, try again. And if the second time still doesn't work... well, she's not so poor as to not be able to afford a third advancement. With the schemes and calculations in this world having reached this point, victory is practically guaranteed in her eyes. And the only thing standing in her way right now is Melkor's barely surviving life.

She was barely clinging to life... Her eyes darted around in their sockets.

[Couldn't this guy just give up and be done with it? Turning around and fighting us would be better than nothing. He's supposed to be an ancient, fallen god, a rebel against the creator; at least show some villainous aura! Stop running around like this, aren't you annoying?!]

Alice couldn't help but mutter to herself. She checked her plan, confirming that it was flawless except for 'certain parts', and even if there were, the remaining variables were under her control at this stage. However, this situation of being stuck at the last minute, just a hair's breadth away from being resolved... made her very angry.

I'm furious.

I was so angry that I had to take five seconds to properly admire Patchouli's profile before I could calm my restless heart.

—Perhaps more than five seconds.

"Alice, is something wrong?" Patchouli, who was being watched, seemed to sense something. She paused her decoding work slightly, raised her head, and gave her companion a questioning glance.

"No, not at all." Alice shook her head slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips. "It's just that you're so beautiful, Patchouli, that I was a little mesmerized."

"You can see when you feel satisfied."

"Then am I supposed to stay here forever?"

Patchouli pursed her lips slightly, glancing helplessly at Alice, who was always acting erratically. She adjusted her work schedule slightly, and after confirming that the next pursuit of Melkor would still take some time, she allocated about one percent of the computing power she was currently using to decipher Melkor's divine abilities. Then she activated a certain compartment inside the Great Library.

With a soft "whoosh," accompanied by the release of cold air and the opening of the pod, Patchouli, utilizing one percent of her computational power, awakened a backup body that had been prepared beforehand for self-revival should her main body encounter misfortune. She stretched out her hand into the air, and a white, clean, unadorned robe floated down, precisely draping over the body—perhaps touching air for the first time. As she exited the cryogenic chamber, another hibernation pod, approximately five meters away, simultaneously opened.

"Pa~Chi~"—Someone who was usually acting crazy pounced on her, rubbing his soft cheeks against her chest.

"Because of your willfulness, a perfectly good body has been wasted." Patchouli grabbed the troublesome head and slammed the blond, blue-eyed girl to the ground with an over-the-shoulder throw. Before Alice even touched the ground, she turned into a flowing, slime-like mass of life essence, and then, as she tried to climb up her calves, she was evaporated into murky vapor by a ball of scorching flames.

This naturally couldn't cause any real damage to the person she loved, so half a second later, Alice, who had been vaporized by the flames, reformed. Standing in front of Patchouli, hands on her hips, her delicate lips pouting, she looked angry.

"Patch, that's too much!" Alice wrinkled her nose. "We have hundreds of spare bodies, what's the big deal about using one? Besides, Patty, you'll reach the fourth rank soon, and then all these spare bodies will be useless."

“But I’m not there yet,” Patchouli looked at her earnestly. “So it’s still a waste. And waste is shameful.”

“Hey—” Alice’s voice trailed off. “Patch, are you really that insecure? I’ve already prepared a celebration banquet for your promotion. The plan has already progressed this far, and there are only a few variables left that can occur, and those variables are basically already within my calculations.”

“You’ve become arrogant and complacent, Alice.” Patchouli turned her gaze away irritably. “Until we have a definite result, anything is possible. Perhaps there are hidden loopholes somewhere that we haven’t anticipated, or perhaps there are fatal weaknesses hidden in places we’ve checked that we don’t recognize—and I remember you’ve never been such an unreliable person.”

She frowned and immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Or perhaps, you're just..." Patchouli raised an eyebrow. "Just looking for an excuse to tease me?"

“Patchouli is always a headache because she’s so smart.” Alice hopped over to her and gently sat down along the edge of the treatment pod beside her. “But it doesn’t matter since it’s Patchouli.”

“...You seem to have something on your mind again.” Patchouli emphasized the word “again” slightly.

“Yes, there are some.” Alice hugged her knees and rested her head gently on Patchouli’s shoulder. “Let’s continue with our previous topic. When I met Luo Ye, she actually said a few things to me. And part of it was… she wanted me to be careful of the Celestials.”

“…In our previous assessment, the Celestials were considered a low-threat element and placed in a secondary processing sequence,” Patchouli said softly, snapping her fingers to release a circle of magic that ensured there was no possibility of leaks. “We arrived in the Lord of the Rings earlier than predicted, and the other teams are progressing roughly in line with the records…Apart from those not recorded, everything is developing much as expected.”

"The Celestial Team is a special team. According to the prediction records, they should have the strongest potential to make a breakthrough. But in reality, they have difficulty getting the corresponding support. Among those outsiders who have similar traits to us, I don't think there will be anyone who would choose to join the Celestial Team as a secondary figure after having the authority of a captain. And since there is no such person, the current strength of the Celestial Team is a reasonable figure."

“But low probability doesn’t mean it’s impossible,” Alice said softly. “While Luo Ye’s words are hard to believe, I don’t think she would waste my time by revealing information that isn’t true… Even if the possibility is low, I suspect that the Celestial Team may have undergone some kind of unexpected change. But I’m not sure what it is… I’ve taken as many precautions as possible. But I’m not sure if my preparations have been effective.”

“...How about we try taking the initiative?” Patchouli asked. “Since you’re not at ease, then let’s go and drag them out of their hiding place. At worst, we can give up some of the profits; eliminating future troubles is more important to us.”

“I am considering this,” Alice sighed, then stood up.

“But you’ll have to rely on yourself on Melkor’s side, Patchouli. It’ll be a real hassle without help.”

“Leave it to me.” Patchouli’s gaze met hers, and a smile immediately appeared on her lips. “If all else fails, I can always ask Little Devil. She’s a suitable assistant too.”

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

The bounty has ended, and I still owe 15. Theoretically... becoming a second-watch beast should allow me to pay it off this month...

Chapter 86 Familiar

Alice left the Great Library.

As Patchouli witnessed Alice's departure, a few fragmented thoughts flashed through her mind.

Alice's behavior today is different from usual.

Alice's language habits are different today than usual.

But Alice is still Alice; she remains the same person, her inner self, thought patterns, soul structure, and logical algorithms unchanged. However, she exhibits some changes that are different from usual, changes easily noticeable to those close to her. What does this mean...? It's quite obvious.

Patchouli glanced at the logbook of messages beside her. Just now, Zheng Zha had sent a message that the eighth god had been successfully defeated by another team. Zheng Zha had filled the magic ring and possessed the lowest level of combat power in the middle of the fourth tier. With the assistance of several other fourth-tier powerhouses, it shouldn't be too difficult for him to deal with the remaining saints before the Outer Codex: The Cataclysm of the Saints ends.

Zheng Zha still has several dozen hours to wield the Ring, but the fate of this world is almost sealed. The witches have essentially taken control of all calculable factors that could potentially impact the overall situation. Even if some unstable elements remain, they shouldn't pose any real problem.

That's how it should be.

Patchouli closed her eyes and began to think with the one percent of calculation power that governed her avatar. She rearranged and calculated everything that had happened since the beginning of the Cycle of Reincarnation: The Ring, and tried hard to find any inconsistencies in her mind.

[There are five Reincarnation Teams in total. Including ours, all the teams have appeared and almost all have demonstrated strength consistent with the Main God's assessment and the storyline's portrayal. The East Sea Team is the weakest, with only one Star Soul who crossed over to be considered a member. The South Flame Continent Team is next, with a novice fourth-tier early-stage member and two second- or third-tier reincarnators with coordination. Then there's the East America Team, with no lower-level members; their entire fighting force consists of two fourth-tier early-stage members. Next is the Celestial Team, with one true fourth-tier early-stage member, two equivalent fourth-tier early-stage members, and some support members with corresponding coordination.]

Her fingers gently touched the sliding cover of the pod. She lightly pressed a concealed button. The pod closed silently, and then a miniature automatic cleaning system floating in the air began to operate, eliminating any stale gases, molecular residue, and turbulent information left behind by their conversation. This process took only a few seconds at most.