Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

However, the reborn little devil stayed by Patchouli's side constantly after returning to the Main God Space. Whether she was eating, reading, resting, or doing anything beneficial to her physical and mental health, she was always there, and she was always casting strange glances at her from odd places—which was really bad!

“I’m sorry, Ms. Alice.” The little devil bowed slightly to Alice. “It is my duty as a familiar to take care of my master. I will not leave here unless my master allows it.”

She doesn't even call me "master" anymore!

“Then I hope you will leave here for the time being.” Alice’s lips twitched, a sliver of hope still lingering in her heart.

“I’m sorry, but I make my judgment based on my own will. There is only one master for whom I need to serve. Although you participated in the original programming of me more than 130 years ago and obtained the highest authority, both I and the Great Library have now been rebuilt—your authority has therefore been revoked, and your will is no longer an urgent matter for me to fulfill immediately,” the imp replied lightly and politely.

Alice is speechless.

She turned around, looking at her companion who was engrossed in watching the live drama unfold. After several seconds, she finally managed to squeeze out two words, her voice filled with grievance.

"Patch!"

Patchouli's lips were clearly suppressing a smile.

"Isn't this a good thing? Alice, I've basically never won against you in our past encounters. And now that we're both extraordinary beings, it's even less likely that we'll be able to determine a winner. In order to win, I think it wouldn't hurt to occasionally use a numbers strategy to achieve victory."

"After all, the little devil is my familiar, and now that the structure of transcendent-level crystal magic has stabilized, it's not an exaggeration to consider her as an independent avatar of mine. Just like how you used to sometimes possess Shanghai to tease me, I'm just using the same strategy now."

“This is different!” Alice exclaimed. “Shanghai and Penglai don’t have independent thought processes. But the Little Devil… she’s different! And I have no intention of having any close contact with anyone or anything other than Patchouli!”

—She didn't see that at the other end of the room, the two little figures, Shanghai and Penglai, were hiding behind a spatial barrier. Holding potato chips and sunflower seeds, wearing sunglasses, they were reclining on a sun lounger, watching the currently popular drama unfold.

Then Patchouli suddenly sat up in bed.

"You're saying... you don't plan to have intimate contact with anyone other than me, or any non-human being?"

"Of course!"

“Very well, then who is Luo Ye?” Patchouli turned her head and asked.

“Who is Luo Ye? Luo Ye is me!” Alice felt like she was suffocating, even though she didn't need to breathe, didn't need oxygen, didn't need blood cells, and didn't even need lungs. She still felt like she was suffocating. “I've told you my old name before, Patchouli Knowledge!”

“But I don’t know her.” Patchouli tilted her head slightly. “From the beginning, the friend I’ve made has been a witch named Alice Margot Lloyd. And that guy you mentioned named Loye… I’m sorry, I have no recollection of him. No recollection… well, I suppose that’s fine, but recently I heard that someone shares the same body with this guy named Loye, and they are almost one in body and mind.”

"This makes me very angry, but what makes me even angrier is that this guy named Luo Ye can even acquire an independent body and has the potential to move around in the outside world... So I've been thinking, if one day, this nonsensical guy named Luo Ye appears in front of me with her ordinary and plain face, should I treat her as my lover and embrace her—or should I just use my full power of the Great Compassion Thousand Leaf Hand to send her spiraling to heaven?"

“I’m so confused, so confused that I can’t think of a solution at all. So I had to ask a lady named Margot Lloyd to put herself in my shoes and make a choice—but why can’t you just be a normal adult and say to me, ‘I want them all’?”

"You're being completely unreasonable!!!" So Ai exploded on the spot, pouncing on the purple bean sprout like a hungry tiger. Half a second later, she was counter-attacked, slammed, and subjected to a full range of grappling techniques, including the Eighteen Falling Techniques, the Great Slamming Hand, and the Karalipayet. Only when she lay motionless on the ground like a dead fish did Patchouli gently approach her, and then, tenderly… punch her into Alice-chan form.

"…………………"

"Honestly, it hurts."

Two seconds later, Alice, now fully recovered, got up from the floor with a low grumble. She sat back down on the edge of the bed, while the imp remained quietly standing beside Patchouli.

"Since you know pain, then give me the answer I want," Patchouli said calmly. "Say it now, say 'I want it all.' Don't keep me waiting too long."

"...I can't do it." Alice finally answered after several seconds of silence.

"Luo Ye is my past self, the self I was on Earth in my previous life. She is the embodiment of my unchanging, persistent, and uncompromising side. I may be able to defeat her, I may be able to destroy her, but I... cannot make her compromise. Even if I were willing to compromise, it would be the same."

"There can only be one of us left between us. Because we are both Alice, both Luo Ye. We have two different worldviews and self-perceptions, destined to be able to fight each other but not to merge. This is not a problem that can be solved by creating a third party to balance things out. Because as long as we both exist at the same time, the computational power belonging to the unified individual 'Alice' will be diverted. 'I' will become stupid, more stupid than usual. All sorts of flaws will appear in my plans and schemes. And more importantly, 'I' will never be able to gather the light of my soul."

"Isn't it okay for me and the little devil to do it this way?"

“No, you and I are in completely different situations.” Alice shook her head. “Besides, you… you’ve only recently advanced and haven’t encountered your inner demons yet. When you reach the stage I’m at, you’ll probably understand the situation I’m facing.”

Is there really no way to do it?

“Not at all.” Alice didn’t hesitate for even a moment. “If there were even the slightest hope, I would definitely do research, try, and finally find a suitable and feasible solution. After all, it’s a part of me, a part I’m unwilling to give up, but which I have to give up. However, the problem is… there’s absolutely no way to do it.”

Patchouli closed her eyes. After several seconds, she managed to squeeze out a single sentence.

"I want to see her." She opened her eyes, her gaze towards Alice filled with determination. "I want to speak with Luo Ye myself."

“It’s no use,” Alice shook her head. “You can’t even convince me when I change, how can you convince her when I don’t?”

“How will you know if you don’t try?” Patchouli pressed closer without hesitation. “I am Patchouli, Patchouli Knowledge. As for ‘Alice’ as an individual, perhaps in some ways I understand her better than she understands herself. I believe I can reach a consensus with her, even on the part of Alice that I am not familiar with… At least, I cannot deny the possibility of success until I completely fail.”

Alice remained silent.

She met those pale purple eyes, and a bitter smile involuntarily tugged at the corners of her lips—she sighed softly.

"Okay, if that's what you're hoping for..."

She closed her eyes. And then…

Just as she was about to change her demeanor and open her eyes, she suddenly heard Zheng Zha's communication with all team members, sent directly through the main god.

"Everyone, gather in the square. I have a plan to share with you."

Alice opened her eyes, her pale blue eyes just as they always had been.

"It seems we need to attend the captain's meeting first."

Section 2: I Heard There's Still a World That Hasn't Been Bombed

About five minutes later, the reincarnators of the Central Continent team gathered around the circular table under the main god's sphere of light. To be precise, it wasn't just the reincarnators; the families of the main combatants and those who were just slacking off also participated in the discussion—although they might not have spoken, this showed that the topic was relatively lighthearted.

This conclusion can at least be drawn from Luo Li's face, who sat obediently and calmly next to Zheng Zha.

“First, there are still some loose ends regarding the last world, let’s take care of that first.” Zheng Zha cleared his throat. Then he looked at Alice. “Margot Lloyd, about the new recruits…”

“It was all taken care of yesterday,” Alice nodded in reply. “I spoke with them all, and they accepted the arrangement to give up their status as reincarnators and return to the Lord of the Rings world to complete their reincarnation. The negotiations with Altair were also very effective. Although the memories of the main god space cannot be preserved, they don’t know anything about it anyway. They just need to live out their destined life under the blessing of strong fortune.”

She didn't mention that among the new recruits, there was one named Haotian who had tried to rebel. Having already read the prediction records, she knew very well what kind of person Haotian was—although this guy had the personality to become a partner and the potential to advance to the fourth tier, given the current situation, the Zhongzhou team no longer needed to recruit new recruits.

There are simply too many fourth-tier powerhouses in the squad, and soon there will even be main combat members who have arrived at the Fourth Middle School and gathered the Light of the Mind. Under such circumstances, if the newly emerging members are not exceptionally talented, or even start with a third-tier gene lock or other system enhancements of similar degree, they will inevitably lose themselves under the erosion of the Light of the Mind and eventually become followers of extraordinary beings.

Therefore, before the Lord of the Rings world ended, the reincarnators decided in their discussions to stop recruiting new members. Unless a particularly strong and trustworthy individual emerged among the new recruits who could meet the increasingly demanding entry requirements, they would all be sent to reincarnation as overpowered protagonists after the story world ended.

“Very good.” Zheng Zha nodded. “For newcomers who are innocently caught up in this, the cycle of reincarnation is far too cruel. Although it is also a path to heaven, if suitable resources are available, I think it's better to prioritize the needs of our own team.” He glanced at Chu Xuan. “Then, whenever newcomers appear in the future, we'll directly place them into your Tower of Babel world, Chu Xuan, and then you can give them some tests as appropriate. If there are truly outstanding talents… then we'll consider it further.”

Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses to indicate that he was aware of the situation.

"Then let's leave the matter of the newcomers for now. The next topic is about our fallen comrades... We can consider trying to resurrect them this time."

"Saito told me before he died that the prerequisite for resurrecting him is that our team needs to have a controllable Tier 4 combatant," Alice interjected. "His memories, and he himself, may contain things that are not suitable for people who are not strong enough to come into contact with. I think the so-called controllable Tier 4 refers to the mid-Tier 4 level that gathers the light of the soul—the time is not right yet."

“I know, I’m not referring to him,” Zheng Zha replied calmly. “I’m referring to those reincarnators who briefly participated in our Zhongzhou team’s battles, fought alongside us… or rather, some of us, sharing life and death, but ultimately did not survive.”

“Wang Xia from Final Destination 2, The Legend of the Gods and Demons… never mind, those guys had bad intentions. Ju-on can be skipped, but Li Xiaoyi who died in the Alien world. And…” His gaze swept over Chu Xuan, Ba Wang, Zero, Zhan Lan, and the others one by one. “In the spaceship’s main control room, there’s Li Shuaixi, who almost gave us a big loss. I think we can revive him too.”

"You're the captain, you can make the decision," Zhang Jie said with a slight smirk. His somewhat rugged face betrayed his indifference.

“I think you’ve misunderstood me, Brother Zhang Jie,” Zheng Zha laughed and explained. “I don’t mean for them to return to our main combat force. What I mean is that we can resurrect them and then send them to another world to be reincarnated, just like we would new recruits—there’s probably a bit of my own selfish motive involved in that. After all, when we were still very weak in the past, we did some things that weren’t very ethical. And now we can at least make amends for those things.”

“Then I think you might have missed a few people.” Zhan Lan gently rested her chin on her hand and said, “For example, Mu Gang from Resident Evil who was cut by the laser tunnel. And those newcomers in Final Destination 2 who, although they didn’t play any role, at least didn’t hold us back—like that guy named Li Laoshi or something. Besides them, there are some guys who died before we even had a chance to introduce themselves… If we think of a way, they can be resurrected, right?”

“…That is indeed true.” Zheng Zha nodded slightly in agreement. “And Zhang Jie, if there is anyone you wanted to resurrect in the past, you can resurrect them now. I remember that before you met me and Zhan Lan… um, and Li Xiaoyi, you had already gone through several reincarnation worlds, right?”

“…I’ll pass.” Zhang Jie’s expression stiffened, and after a moment of hesitation, he said somewhat hesitantly, “However, I do have a few comrades I know who I want to reincarnate… Well, I’ll provide a list later. The required reward points and side quests can come from me.”

"This was my suggestion, so naturally I'll pay for it," Zheng Zha said with a laugh, waving his hand. "As the team leader, I'm naturally responsible for these team-related expenses. Alright, no need to say more, it's decided then. I'll be responsible for resurrecting all the fallen comrades and innocent bystanders, and then, according to their own wishes, arranging different levels of reincarnation for them."

Zhang Jie opened his mouth, as if to say something, but in the end he just smiled and shook his head. He picked up a wine glass filled with fine wine from the circular table in front of him and drank it down in one gulp. He then fell silent.

“Alright, that concludes the second topic. Now let’s move on to the third topic, which is the plan I’ve come up with.” Zheng Zha put his ten fingers together, looking serious and focused. “I think that after all those battles, our Zhongzhou team is no longer lacking in direct combat power. Instead, most of our main combat members are currently in a rather awkward skill range.”

“Early Stage Four.” He held up one…four fingers. The magic ring on his index finger emitted a faint golden light. “Six of us have now reached the early stage Four. Me, Margot Royd, Norrell, Zhao Yingkong, Zhao Zhuikong, and Sirin. All six of us have reached the stage where we are about to, or the next step is to, gather the light of our hearts. As for our own affairs, we all know our own situation, and as for inner demons…I think I don’t need to say more.”

"And the same goes for the others. Chu Xuan aside, Xiao Honglu, you should be close to unlocking the third stage of your gene lock, just like Zhang Jie. And Ba Wang, Zhan Lan... I feel you're all about the same. As for Zhang Heng, Ming Yanwei, Cheng Xiao, Luo Gandao, oh... and Lingdian. I can also feel your efforts and progress, but I think you've pushed yourselves a bit too far."

His gaze swept over everyone present.

"The fourth tier is indeed very strong, but its strength lies only in its physical body. It's merely about raw brute force. I don't deny that the brute force of the fourth tier is enough for us to solve most of our current problems. But if we want to advance to a higher level to face enemies that are destined to become stronger, then we must refine our hearts. So..."

He took a deep breath and said.

“I think we need to find a world where we can really relax…no research, no missions, no random enemies…no, we shouldn’t go to any world where there is supernatural power, or the possibility of having supernatural power. And I already have a suitable target.”

"I remember that the Resident Evil world seems to be one of the few worlds where we have basically not interfered and there is no danger."

Section 3 - Come on! This is a fair competition! [9/19]

Resident Evil, or more accurately, the world of Resident Evil 1. That was the third world before Alice joined the Central Continent Team, and also the first world Zheng Zha entered since entering the cycle of reincarnation.

Alice had been to that world for a day and obtained the Solar Ladder—the source of Resident Evil and the prototype plant for the T-virus. She used it as one of the mediums to forcibly enter the fourth stage of the genetic lock in the Final Destination 2 world. She told others about this after the Final Destination world ended, and she also told the others present at the time—mainly Patchouli and Zheng Zha—that there was actually no danger to be found in that world.

It's easy to see why: a technologically advanced horror world devoid of any supernatural forces can only produce a limited number of powerful individuals. From beginning to end, in both the movies and games, the protagonists of the Resident Evil series and their enemies are invariably just ordinary beings. Whether it's the T or G viruses, even including the C-virus, the Fear virus, and the Veronica virus derived from the games—their ultimate potential is merely that of a large genetically modified monster, easily dealt with with a Magnum pistol.

In the predicted final battle, Chu Xuan used the rune inheritance from the Saint's Ruins to enhance the T-virus obtained from the Resident Evil world to its theoretical limit. However, even this modified super weapon's ability to kill living beings was limited to the slightly weaker third stage of the Gene Lock—if the modified version from the Reincarnation World was like this, the original version's capabilities were naturally even more limited.

“That’s right, there really is no threat in that world.” Alice nodded in agreement. She knew very well that while the event was partly due to what Zheng Zha had said, the remaining reason was that some guy with too many reward points wanted to splurge and physically cut off her need to exchange for the 'return to the origin'—although this method was stupid, far less efficient than directly exchanging for research materials or enhancements—but since that idiot had already made up his mind, there was no need for her to go against it.

“I’ve been to that world once, stayed for a day, and didn’t do anything special. I just went directly to the origin of the T-virus and got a sample of the Solar Ladder stock solution. It probably won’t have any impact on that world.” Alice tilted her head slightly, thought for a moment, and took out a double-helix reagent solution from her spatial container—she placed it on the table, and a faint green light diffused in the solution.

"Here is a sample for replication, which I've slightly modified. If the physical condition is suitable, injecting this into unlocked individuals should be able to forcibly unlock the first stage of their genetic lock, and possibly even directly reach the second stage—but this unlocking method is incomplete and will cause many genetic defects. Basically, if one advances through this drug-induced method, then there's probably no possibility of unlocking the third stage of the genetic lock. As for treatment from the Supreme God, the price to pay in the Supreme God's proposed solution is the removal of these levels of genetic lock created by the drug."

"At least we can give it to the enemy's newbies in team battles," Zhao Zhuikong remarked, leaning back in his chair. "There's a significant difference in benefits between enemies who haven't unlocked their gene locks and those who have."

“We’ve already tested it with the Southern Flame Continent team,” Alice replied. “The success rate isn’t very high; only one of their rookies was able to forcibly unlock the gene lock without any enhancements. Perhaps I should change my research approach and try to increase the base unlocking probability while reducing the effectiveness.”

“We can talk about that later,” Zheng Zha raised his hand to stop them. “What we need to discuss now is our vacation in Resident Evil. Remember, it’s a vacation! No research! No missions! Just going to have fun, to go on vacation!”

"But there's a possibility we might accidentally trigger side quests in the Resident Evil world, right?" Xiao Honglu raised his hand to answer. "If it's the timeline of the first or second movie, that's fine, but even though that world is safe, what if we arrive in the timeline of the third movie? In the third movie, the zombie infection has spread all over the world. In that situation, even if we don't actively trigger the main storyline, just bumping into one or two zombies would trigger it passively, right?"

He shrugged. "If a side quest is thrown right at us, we have no reason not to do it. Besides, these prematurely triggered side quests usually come with a penalty for not completing them. And even if there isn't a penalty..."

He glanced sideways at Zheng Zha and said, "Would you just stand by and do nothing about an evil company that could destroy the world at any moment and cause the deaths of countless innocent people who have nothing to do with us? You say you won't fight or trigger the plot, but I think you'll probably be the first person to break those restrictions, Brother Zheng Zha."

"Hahaha." Zheng Zha laughed to cover his laughter, then retaliated by patting Xiao Honglu on the shoulder from a distance. "This kind of thing... this kind of thing does have a one or two chance of happening. But who am I? Do you think I wouldn't think of such a simple fact? So, I've decided to add an extra activity to this event."

The others looked at him with an expression that said, "I don't believe your nonsense. You just slapped your head on the spot."

Zheng Zha coughed awkwardly twice.

"I'm planning to start a competition during this vacation, a competition between our Zhongzhou team."

"So you're still going to fight?" Sirin muttered under her breath, and then the other person pretended not to hear her.

"This is a competition, a contest, not a battle," Zheng Zha emphasized. "There are no enemies in this world that can harm our Zhongzhou team. On the contrary, about a third of our members could easily destroy this biohazard world. Therefore, based on this, I've decided to add a restriction to the competition in this event."

He held up three fingers and said in sequence, “Do not cause destruction to the world, do not intentionally kill innocent people, and do not use enhancements beyond the third tier or AA level—of course, these are the restrictions of the competition, but if any fools come to interfere, feel free to do so. Then, based on these restrictions, each of us… no, we will be divided into seven groups. Me, Margot Lloyd, Norrell, Zhao Yingkong, Zhao Zhuikong, and Sirin will each be in one group. The rest of you will be in one group. I will randomly teleport everyone to different worlds in Resident Evil, and then you will compete according to the rules I give you. The winner is the one who completes the most tasks and defeats the most groups within thirty days!”

"What does 'defeat' mean?" someone asked.

"For Group Six, who have unlocked the fourth tier, being defeated simply by using fourth-tier combat power or AA-level enhancements will result in the loss of all points. For Group Seven, who haven't reached the fourth tier, being defeated means losing their combat power. The initial peace period will last for three...seven days! During this time, everyone must remain in their designated area, refrain from attacking anyone outside your team, and even surveillance is prohibited! Furthermore, do not form alliances! Whether proactively or passively—although I cannot monitor them, I believe everyone will not betray my trust!"

"I think what you're doing will bring this Resident Evil world to an abrupt end..." Alice sighed, looking at Zheng as if he were an idiot... No! He was an idiot!