Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

If he had been a fraction of a second slower, he might have been the one with his neck snapped. And in the depths of the soul, where conventional power holds no meaning, this seemingly harmless injury could plunge him into an extremely dire situation in an instant.

—The previously vanished Zhan Lan reappeared in his sight, then positioned herself about fifteen meters away from Zheng Zha. She took out her gold-rimmed glasses from her pocket and threw them away, then smoothed out the marks on her neck from being strangled.

"I have to admit, you are a bit smarter and more insightful than I thought. It seems that Margot Lloyd underestimated you after all, or perhaps you didn't even use your full strength when you fought Margot Lloyd?"

Zheng Zha looked at her coldly.

"Don't talk to me with my companion's face."

“But I think it’s fine this way.” Standing fifteen meters away, Zhan Lan shrugged and stretched out her hand to conjure up a comfortable chair for herself. “After all, ‘Zhan Lan’ is the person ‘Zheng Zha’ trusts most in this world. And for me, the one who ‘doesn’t trust,’ this face is just right.”

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't I made myself clear enough? Zhan Lan is the person Zheng Zha trusts most, even more so than Luo Li. After all, Zhan Lan was Zheng Zha's first companion after entering the cycle of reincarnation. Li Xiaoyi is dead, and Zhang Jie has a criminal record. But Zhan Lan has stayed with Zheng Zha all this time, always working tirelessly without complaint, asking for no reward or benefit, and even harboring feelings for him... Oh, and most importantly, she's very weak, extremely weak. So weak that you could easily strangle her without worrying about any backlash." She dramatically tilted her head, and with a 'crack,' her slender, white neck snapped. Then she remained in that position, looking at Zheng Zha.

"Like this, easy and simple. She might not even resist. And you can trust her wholeheartedly. After all, everyone else is either too smart, too good at fighting, or both, or has a history of betrayal... Ah, there really isn't a better confidante than her."

She watched as Zheng Zha, who was furious and about to rush forward but was forcibly suppressing his rage, slowly twisted his broken neck back into place.

'Click—'

"Nice to meet you, Zheng Zha. My name is Zhan Lan, ah... or you can call me 'Unbeliever,' which simply means I don't believe in anyone—logically speaking, I shouldn't be meeting you at this time, at this stage, in this immature state. You have to thank Margot Lloyd for this; if she hadn't done something, I could have come to cause you trouble with those cellular wills, luck backlash, and extraterrestrial interferers when you advanced to the Fourth Middle School. Instead of being like this now, wanting to kill you but unable to. Because the time isn't right yet; I'm not yet your inner demon."

“But that doesn’t mean I can’t deal with you, Zheng Zha.”

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

Oh my god, I couldn't wrap things up by the end of the month... and even though tomorrow is the beginning of the month, I can't do the monthly report because I freaking missed it on the recommendations QAQ

Updates as usual tomorrow..._(:з」∠)_

Section 43.5 - Transition...

"Deal with me? What else can you use to deal with me? This is the Abyss of the Heart; power is useless here." Zheng Zha warily stared at the creature before him, his gaze sweeping across the surroundings—he knew this self-proclaimed 'Unbeliever' was telling the truth, but even if it was the truth, he...

He suddenly froze, his face turning ashen at a visible rate. He realized a terrible truth, and then his adversary learned of it as soon as he regained consciousness.

"Ah, you guessed it. My goal has been achieved." A meaningful smile appeared on the 'disbelieving' face. That alluring smile even carried a hint of the seductive charm that Zhan Lan had when she was on the verge of losing control in the Final Destination world. "After all, you've already 'disbelieved'."

Its form vanished like smoke, leaving only a delicate, slippery sound, like spider silk, echoing in Zheng Zha's ears.

“You don’t trust Miss Alice because she’s always manipulating the whole team behind the scenes, controlling everything like a puppeteer. Oh, she is the puppeteer. She’s the web, the mastermind, she craves change and she craves everyone else to change as she desires—you’ve had enough of her.”

"You don't believe Miss Patchouli because from beginning to end she only had eyes for Alice. Although she maintained good relationships with others, it was just a deliberate act of being colleagues. They were just cooperating, trusting, and helping each other—but that was all."

"You don't trust Chu Xuan because he's a cyborg. Emotions don't exist in his genes, and he has a history of betrayal, so he could betray you again at any time. Ah, think about what happened in the past, in the alien world, and in reality—you're always on guard against him, just as he's never considered you a comrade."

"You don't trust Zhang Jie because he's a guide who's been modified by the God. Who knows if the God has planted a hidden trick in him? Who knows if he'll stab you in the back at a crucial moment? After all, as reincarnators, everything you're experiencing and enduring is actually the God's arrangement—the God who can arbitrarily annihilate reincarnators is the greatest enemy, and you've never forgotten that."

"You don't trust Ba Wang, after all, he's a foreigner like Alice and the others. He's half-Russian, and as the saying goes, 'Those who are not of our race will surely have different hearts'... How could you, who don't care about the lives of the Japanese, not be wary of Russians? Of course, he's weak, so weak that you could easily kill him with one blow. But isn't he slowly getting stronger now? With the help of that simulated soul from another world, perhaps his current fighting power is equal to Zhang Jie's."

"Ah... of course you don't trust Zero either. Although he has indeed helped you many times and was a very reliable partner in the past, his relationship with Chu Xuan is just too close, so close that you can't be sure which side he will take if you have a conflict with Chu Xuan—a sniper who can see through death is a bit dangerous, isn't he?"

"Similarly, Zhao Yingkong, who is quite close to Alice and the others, is the same. You know very well that the alternate personality that truly belonged to the Zhongzhou team, created by the original Zhao Yingkong, has long since disappeared... or rather, become part of the original. And the current her, she can't possibly be like the original her, who, despite having a cold face, unexpectedly obeys commands and accepts your arrangements—that makes you very dissatisfied, doesn't it?"

“You definitely won’t believe Xiao Honglu. After all, he has always failed, his plans have basically fallen through, and his schemes have basically failed. Although he is relatively harmless... but someone who always fails is a troublesome person to believe. Look, you don’t even use his thinking mode anymore.”

“Ming Yanwei and Zhang Heng will naturally receive similar treatment. Although they have been corrupted by your Dao, they are unlikely to betray you as long as they are alive. But love is a blind thing. Since they were able to enter the Main God Space because of the distortion of love, it is hard to say what they will do because of love in the future.”

"Then there's Logandao, ah... can you really trust that man who would do anything to survive? Even though he's been properly trained by Alice. But that's precisely why you can't trust him... after all, witches always charge exorbitant prices, as you know all too well."

"As for Cheng Xiao, needless to say, someone who enters the cycle of reincarnation under the orders of the state is not surprising at all in choosing which side to stand on at certain crucial moments. Family, country, and the world—you are the kind of person who puts family before country and the world, but could he be the exact opposite of you?"

"And who's left now? The newcomers Zhao Zhuikong and Xilin? Needless to say, Zhao Zhuikong is a bloodthirsty monster who's only kept quiet because of Zhao Yingkong, his limiter. As for Xilin... well, she does have a lot in common with you. But—a woman who destroyed her own reality is capable of anything crazy."

The sound gradually faded, but it did not disappear. The black mist gradually became ethereal, but it still persisted.

“Look, you don’t trust anyone. Ah… although it may only be a little bit of distrust, just a thought that occasionally floats up in the depths of your heart. But it is because of their existence that I was born. And my birth will make them even stronger. And now… you don’t even trust the last thing you trusted, the only one you never doubted, Zhan Lan.”

Zheng Zha clenched his fists. If punching were effective, he would definitely give this guy a good beating right now. But he knew it would be futile, and more importantly... what this guy said was true.

Although it was an extremely minor fact, it was still a fact. Just as anyone might have the urge to slaughter everything around them in a moment of anger. Even if that thought only lasted a fleeting instant before being forgotten, it did exist—he did indeed have a brief moment filled with distrust towards everyone. Although it was a tiny moment that required a fourth-tier early-stage microscopic ability to rummage through the memory bank to find, it was a real existence.

“So I have already won, Zheng Zha. I won the moment I appeared in Zhan Lan’s guise and you didn’t leave Xin Yuan immediately. Because you won’t believe me, you won’t believe the Zhan Lan in your heart, so your last reliance has vanished. You can no longer disprove me, and I only need to wait, wait for the day when you have no choice but to advance.”

"Or perhaps..." Her voice suddenly became clear again. "You want me to use Lori to deliver the final blow?"

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

My performance at the beginning of the month was really bad, only 2k... and then I needed a leave slip and had to write an update...

Chapter 44 The Collapse of the Dao

Zheng Zha threw a punch at the area around him that appeared to be the darkest. Naturally, his full-force punch missed its mark. All he received in return was a series of contemptuous sneers, and then the black mist gradually vanished into the shadows.

As it said, it had already won. It had already won when Zheng Zha didn't immediately leave the Heart Abyss, but instead wasted a lot of time communicating and talking with this guy, listening to its theories… no, when it acknowledged its identity as Zhan Lan and was recognized by Zheng Zha.

Because this is the abyss of the heart, the deepest depths of the soul. Here, there is no falsehood, no lies; the deepest thoughts of a person are revealed in their clearest form. And in most cases, no external force can reach this place except for that person's own innermost radiance.

Because the so-called Abyss of the Heart, in a sense, can be called the cradle of the light of the soul. It is the first and last refuge of a living being's soul. Any changes made here will have a real impact on the external individual. And when Zheng Zha no longer trusts Zhan Lan within the Abyss of the Heart, he will also develop some distance from Zhan Lan on the outside.

Of course, this wasn't actually a big deal for Zheng Zha. Because the minds of living beings are ever-changing; every single person generates billions of similar or drastically different thoughts in every instant. These thoughts are ultimately constrained by acquired factors such as morality, reason, experience, and rules. After being interfered with by these external conditions, only the one thought among billions that meets the standard will stand out and manifest in the real world—in other words, whether he completely trusts Zhan Lan in his heart doesn't prevent him from entrusting Zhan Lan with his life and death in the outer cycle of reincarnation.

The changes within the Heart Abyss did not actually have as significant an impact on the outside world as many people imagined. Of course, they were not insignificant either. The reason 'Disbelief' chose to appear here and present him with this factual but ultimately useless information was to prove one thing to him.

You can never erase the distrust in my heart, you can never destroy me.

'As long as disbelief remains in your heart, I, as your inner demon, will not disappear.'

"So... do you still have the confidence to defeat me when you advance to the fourth tier? Do you still dare to believe in yourself?"

Zheng Zha clenched his fists, his teeth grinding together. But in the end, he helplessly realized that he couldn't do anything, because he simply didn't know what to do.

The 'disbelief' has vanished, for its purpose has been fulfilled. Just as it said at the beginning, 'I cannot completely eliminate you yet, because I am not yet your inner demon'—it was impossible to kill or corrupt and assimilate Zheng Zha within this timeframe. Everything it did was actually to plant a seed here, a seed of 'disbelief.' And this seed will gradually take root, sprout, and grow in the years to come, bearing abundant fruit at the right time.

Everything it did was made without any concealment, and even Zheng Zha could easily discern its true nature with his wisdom. And it was precisely for this reason that Zheng Zha was helpless against everything it did.

Because this is a perfectly legitimate and open conspiracy, and because it... the final blow was actually delivered when the name 'Loli' was mentioned.

The ferocity on Zheng Zha's face gradually faded, the bulging veins subsided, and his once straight back slowly became hunched. He reached out, and a lit, cheap, loose cigarette appeared in his hand. The pungent smoke made his heart and lungs ache. Then he leaned back, and a soft sofa appeared behind him.

He sighed deeply, his exhaled smoke blurring everything before him. A gust of wind soon blew, dispersing the smoke, and the inner world that had shifted with his sitting reappeared before him—he finally saw the landscape of his heart clearly, finally saw his truest self.

He was seated by a window in a luxurious clubhouse. Inside, the lights were dazzling, and outside, cars and people bustled about. An atmosphere of decadence and debauchery permeated the space, mingled with the scent of hormones and the pungent smell of blood—he heard the sounds of men and women engaging in sexual intercourse behind him, and saw several unarmed men fighting tigers and leopards in cages to his side. Whenever a beast caught its prey, eliciting screams and the cracking of bones, many guests, their faces obscured, cheered. Then, the voices of men and women behind him grew louder and louder.

He was very familiar with that sound; he understood the sound coming from behind him. The man's voice had an almost identical tone to his own, while the woman's, or rather, the women's voices, came from a memory that was perhaps already distant—a memory from before he entered the Main God Space.

"Before entering the Main God Space, I was just an ordinary white-collar worker. A somewhat influential office manager in a private company, but there are at least tens of thousands of people like me in a city. Every day was just going to work and coming home, and then venting my energy on female white-collar workers or hostesses in bars at night. Day after day, year after year, I was as worthless and meaningless as a lump of dirty mud."

He stood up from the sofa, deliberately avoiding looking at what was in front of him and turning to look behind it—as he expected, he saw a group of men and women engaging in sexual intercourse like wild beasts. The men had no faces, yet they emitted their own sounds. The women's faces were derived from all the familiar and unfamiliar women he had encountered in the bar.

He thought he wouldn't remember how many women he had slept with in the past. However, he discovered that he did remember—forty-three in total, thirty of whom were between eighteen and twenty-eight years old, eleven of whom were around thirty years old, and two of whom...maybe over fifteen.

“I’m a complete scumbag.” He reached out and punched the men and women, along with the street behind them, into pieces. The spurting blood and flesh drew cheers from the spectators. Then, a group of waiters rushed over to clean up the area, and the annihilated men and women reappeared, continuing what they loved to do.

This is the abyss of the heart, the depths of his soul, the abode of his true spirit. Power holds no meaning here, even if it is entirely his own—he cannot completely sever his thoughts, memories, past, and history. No one can do that, unless one has become the light of the soul. So-called wisdom swords, magic tricks, and other clever methods of purifying the mind are all useless here. The only thing that matters is his own thoughts.

Thoughts, thoughts...

He shook his head and sat back down in his original spot. Everything in his field of vision felt like needles pricking him, reminding him, telling him what exactly this "Zheng Zha" was.

—He's just a white-collar worker with no background, no talent, and no skills.

He's just a mediocre person who's obsessed with desires and gets by with a little sweetness.

He glanced at the iron cage in the distance. He didn't know when the person inside had transformed into Li Xiaoyi, who had initially entered the Alien world with him as a veteran, and was now being impaled in the chest by an Alien. Then, he didn't know when the person inside had changed again to Mu Gang, the driver who had entered the Resident Evil world with him as a newcomer, and was now being sliced ​​to pieces by fine threads.

The guests cheered loudly, and their actions and demeanor carried a vague sense of familiarity. He knew without a doubt whose shadow was among them. And that sight made his eyes sting even more.

"How did I even come up with the idea of ​​saving the world and countless innocent people?" He threw away his cigarette, picked up a cigar and put it in his mouth—a slender hand suddenly came over and lit the cigar for him. He tried hard not to look at the hand or its owner—he took a deep drag, then picked up a glass of expensive aged red wine from the table and drank it all in one gulp.

"Do I really deserve... or am I even worthy of having such ideals?"

Before he could finish speaking, a deafening roar erupted from outside the window. He looked up and saw a desolate wasteland of machinery. Many soldiers and civilians, dressed in tattered clothes but armed with advanced high-tech weaponry, raised their equipment and shouted loudly. Amidst this tidal wave of shouts, a man standing at the highest point, radiating golden light, pointed a sword at the sky.

...That was him too, that was Zheng Zha. The Zheng Zha from the world of Final Destination, who attained the position of Human Emperor and led countless mortals trapped in the Apocalypse to safety. From that moment on, the will of all beings was entangled with him, and even now, several worlds later, they remain deeply imprinted in Zheng Zha's heart.

Can a person who saves all people and turns the world from disaster be an emperor?

Perhaps he could, perhaps he couldn't. But at that time, Zheng Zha undoubtedly believed he could, especially since he himself was the great savior. However, even if he saved the world, he should only be the emperor of that world. How could he, after changing worlds, still want to fulfill the responsibilities of an emperor without the necessary qualifications?

There is only one answer: he wanted to become the Human Emperor… He was just a white-collar worker whose life was fleeting, an ordinary mortal. Yet, simply because of a redemption ceremony he was pushed into, he solidified his desire to become the Human Emperor. Therefore, the reason for this outcome is obvious.

"So that's how it is." A bitter smile appeared on his lips. He tossed aside the red wine, replaced it with a glass of baijiu (a type of Chinese liquor) that was practically indistinguishable from industrial alcohol, and downed it in one gulp. A bitter and suffocating feeling slowly surfaced from the depths of his heart—no, this feeling was deep within his heart. As soon as this thought crossed his mind, the desolate mechanical wasteland outside was instantly covered by thick, dark clouds. Toxic acid rain cascaded down like a waterfall, and the corrosive mist it stirred up quickly obscured his vision.

Alice is right. He who bestows Dao Erosion upon others may himself have been affected by the Dao Erosion of others. And obviously, the only one who could have caused Dao Erosion to him, and whom he does not resist at all... is this true Human Emperor in the multiverse.

Does a true Human Emperor exist in the multiverse? He didn't know, but he felt there must be something similar. Margatrol had once said that the world today was a world where humanity flourished. And since the aura of humanity had swept across all realms and heavens, even without a true 'Human Emperor,' there would surely be a similar entity born within this aura.

He covered his head and rubbed his eyes vigorously. A slender, fair hand handed him a towel to wipe away the remaining wine from the corner of his mouth, but he still tried his best to ignore it.

He didn't blame Alice, because although she had mentioned not long ago that she had other contingency plans, having personally experienced that battle, he knew very well just how dire and precarious the situation was. Under such circumstances, the witches would inevitably use the method with the highest success rate, and even then, the members of the Middle-earth team faced a near-certain death before achieving victory.

There's no point in making assumptions about the past, because it's meaningless. And even now, the only person he resents in his heart is himself.

“My path is false,” he murmured to himself. “It is a falsehood bestowed upon me by others, a remnant born from the corruption of the path. Saving the world, saving the innocent, is not what I truly desire in my heart. That is why I cannot defeat Margot Lloyd, that is why I cannot provide a solution that proves my power can protect the path. Because that is not… truly my own.”

The world outside the window suddenly dimmed, and the sounds of cracking and destruction were incessant. The bustling streets, the desolate ruins, the radiant golden humanoid and its thousands of followers were all reduced to shattered fragments in an instant, and then withered into ashes under the storm born from the void.

Cracks spread throughout the clubhouse, a spiderweb-like network of fissures covering every corner of the magnificent building. The faceless guests, the masked attendants, and the men whose voices echoed his all plummeted into the abyss below. They vanished without a trace, without even a scream.

This was the fatal blow of 'disbelief,' guided by the name 'Loli,' the true power that shattered his path. His path was collapsing, and the element of 'disbelief' was methodically filling the void left by the collapse—Zheng Zha would not die, nor would he weaken; his fourth-tier power would remain fourth-tier. However, once he opened his eyes in reality, he would gradually change, little by little, becoming someone he was no longer.

A pair of slender, cold hands encircled his neck, seemingly trying to comfort him. This time, Zheng Zha slowly turned his head.

He saw a life-size doll, meticulously crafted and perfectly stitched together by a skilled artisan, yet bearing obvious and deliberate traces of artificial fitting. And this doll had the face of a Lolita.

"You big bad guy, I'll be with you!" The doll couldn't make a sound; it just mouthed the words.

He covered his face.

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

This volume is really coming to an end _(:з」∠)_

Section 45 The Way Turns

Since entering the world of reincarnation, Zheng Zha had never felt so lost. He could clearly sense the immense power controlled by his physical body, the complex energies, the techniques of manipulation, the various methods used in combat, and the vast knowledge of the cultivation system—all were clearly displayed in his mind—he knew his combat strength had not been diminished in any way. But he also knew that he was currently as weak as a quail.

A snake without a head cannot move. A boat without a rudder cannot advance.

If a person loses their goal in life, then even with the strength to support the heavens, they are nothing more than a human crane. And now, he no longer 'believes' in his own path.