Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Alice was standing at the bedside table in the room, slicing an apple. As she cut thin slices, less than half a millimeter thick, she explained her assessment of the current situation to Patchouli.

"So if we want to seize control of information, we must deal with this guy, and the first step is to determine which satellite it is on. For this purpose, I have prepared an electronic virus that is absolutely impossible for hackers of this era to crack. It will spread throughout the entire network within a few hours, two hours for civilian use and five hours for military use. Once everything is ready, I will shut down all satellites that can receive signals."

She spread strawberry jam between apple slices, then stacked them into multi-layered pies. After a moment's thought, she added honey and cream, and garnished with a few raisins.

"Based on its portrayal in the movie, it can only control one satellite at a time. Of course, the possibility of it controlling multiple satellites cannot be ruled out, but the probability of that is very low, so it will not be considered in the conventional sense for the time being."

She put down the spatula, took a thin steel needle from her pocket, and carved a series of delicate inscriptions on the creamy surface of the multi-layered apple pie.

Grapes are the sacred fruit of Bacchus, symbolizing joy and pleasure. Honey and milk signify a land flowing with milk and honey, and when combined with apples, the fruit of life, runes and magic can be used to construct the concept of 'enjoying a feast in a land of abundance.' Although some of these concepts come from the Holy See's scriptures, Patchouli won't be too alarmed as long as they aren't spoken aloud.

Alice has never been very confident in her cooking skills, so she has to resort to some tricks.

She carried the plate to Patchouli, who was setting up a magic array with the huge magic book she carried with her, and then carefully picked up a multi-layered apple pie.

"Patchie, open your mouth." She put the multi-layered cake to Patchouli's lips.

The latter turned his head and instinctively bit down.

"……………………"

"……………………"

"Patch, are you trying to eat my fingers too?" Alice felt her eyes twitching, and she tried her best to control herself and not feel the soft touch coming from her fingertips.

"……………………" Patchouli slowly turned her head. She continued watching the magic circle she was weaving, a weapon to counter 'sound waves'. Under the right conditions, this magic circle could directly destroy satellites in low Earth orbit from the ground.

But that's not the point...

“The apple pie was delicious, and the cream stuck to my hands was delicious too.” She muttered as she drew patterns, “Useful things should be used, without worrying about their historical significance—isn’t that what you wanted to tell me?”

Alice's twitching eyes quickly calmed down.

"Our power relies too heavily on information waves. If we cannot gain an information advantage, the battle will be extremely unfavorable for us. In the battles to come, we will likely be fighting in worlds with completely different civilizations. Therefore, we should restart the magic reactor before then. And to restart the magic reactor, some unconventional methods are necessary."

“…The Spark?” Patchouli raised an eyebrow.

For the two witches, as long as their magic power is sufficient, they can unleash power close to their peak. Alice can obtain magic power equivalent to that of a magic reactor at startup by being powered by the fusion reactors in Shanghai and Penglai, and Patchouli has a similar method. Therefore, even if the main god removes their enhancements, it only slightly slows down their casting speed and slightly reduces their power. But compared to their peak... the difference is actually not significant.

In other words, we've reached a bottleneck.

Even restarting the magic furnace would only make spellcasting a little easier, reduce delays a little, and increase versatility a little. But its ultimate combat power would remain unchanged. This is because the ultimate destructive power a mage can achieve is the Apocalypse, and whether the magic furnace is activated or not will not increase the destructive power of the Apocalypse by even a fraction.

The road we've traveled has already reached its end, and to go further, we need to resort to other means.

"The Spark Source is just one option; what I really want is the technology of the Stellar Extraction Tower. A world may not have magic, but it will not be without a sun. And if we can extract the ability to compress celestial bodies into blocks from the Stellar Extraction Tower, then our path forward may become clear."

Section 4. Having the same name is a real hassle.

Alice had looked at the list of exchanges from the Supreme God, paying particular attention to the magical legends. Those powerful abilities, complete systems, complex theories… each one stirred her emotions.

A magic network system that allows one to unleash magic in any environment, as long as there is sufficient magic power. A cultivation system that uses oneself as a furnace to control the heavens and earth. Dimensional contracts, causal prophecies... countless outstanding and complete cultivation systems from countless worlds appeared before her, most of which had a greater potential than her current status as an 'Information Mage' certified by the main god.

Alice was well aware that the magical system she possessed was weak, riddled with flaws and loopholes. Unlike the magical cultivation system provided by the Supreme God, which had a long and rich history, it wasn't some ancient relic or extraterrestrial gift with a significant origin. It was simply a knowledge system that had naturally developed on a planet with a volume of only one trillion cubic kilometers. Its development was always linked to the progress of civilization, occasionally surpassing it and sometimes falling behind.

When people still lived in caves, the limit of information magic was simply to conjure a fireball and create illusions. At that time, information magicians were worshipped as gods, and they themselves considered themselves gods. They wrote various myths and epics, ruling over humanity, but also leading humanity forward.

As people created writing, crafted tools, and built houses, informational magic matured to the point where it could bring rain, summon strong winds, and trigger thunderstorms. At this time, they were called sages and prophets, revered by all. They progressed alongside civilization, developing various advanced tools and superior systems. And it was then that the seeds of mechanical technology sprouted on this land.

Many years passed, until the age of steel and fire arrived, with numerous kingdoms and armies clashing. Information magic developed abilities such as prophecy, conditional resurrection, and shapeshifting for immortality. However, by this time, they had been relegated from being seen as prophets and sages to being relegated to the status of eccentrics, supernatural beings, witches, wizards, and so on. They were valued, but not respected. As mechanical science gradually rose to prominence, the conflict between the two sides escalated into war.

Then, times changed. The increasing complexity of information waves in nature made training information mages increasingly difficult. They researched early magic furnaces and the Apocalypse, but mechanical science also developed nuclear weapons—both ultimate weapons created at the cost of destroying the environment. However, the natural environment destroyed by nuclear bombs can recover in just two or three years, while the spellcasting environment destroyed by the Apocalypse... cannot be restored to its original state even after two or three hundred years.

Magic thus gradually declined and was eliminated by the times. And when human society, dominated by mechanical science, gradually ventured beyond the atmosphere, using various modifications and implants to transform ordinary people into beings capable of walking in outer space, thinking and calculating at speeds comparable to early-stage computers, with long lifespans and unbelievably high strength and speed… the limits of magic remained only apocalyptic.

Because apart from Alice and Patchouli, who have retreated to Gensokyo to await their demise, and Marisa, who is far from mature, there is no fourth living information mage in the outside world. A civilization without an heir will naturally not develop, and once the gap widens, there will be no chance to turn the tide.

They themselves represent the limits of information magic, and any step they take beyond that requires them to explore on their own. Therefore, referencing other power systems is essential.

[Take the essence and discard the dross... Hopefully, Cybertronian technology can give me some inspiration. Tsk... the technology exchange at the main god's place is ridiculously expensive... I really can't understand why even a unified field technology costs thousands of reward points. It's just a regular university course...]

Alice put down the plate and sat on the other side of the bed, taking out a personal terminal specially provided by the God and fiddling with it. Unlike the ordinary computer used for layout in the coffee shop, the computing power of this terminal provided by the God was at least twice that of the supercomputers of this era.

At this moment, the pre-installed electronic virus has already spread to most of the civilian networks in the United States.

She easily retrieved the information from the town's public database: 'A coffee shop has been burglarized, the loss is unknown, and the police have been dispatched to investigate.'

【really……】

That laptop was the bait she used. After uploading knowledge and viruses through that computer, she also used it to launch a probing attack on the US satellite network.

This attack will fail, but it will be enough to attract the attention of 'Soundwave' in the heavens. Being inherently cautious, it will inevitably investigate the source of this attack through the network. It will detect the massive data transmission through the vulnerabilities Alice had prepared beforehand, and some of the information, being ahead of its time, will not be complexly encrypted, allowing it to detect subtle traces.

This is a variable, and neither shrewd planners nor machines like variables. Therefore, it will inevitably send troops to retrieve the laptop and investigate its owner. And at this point, the most likely outcome is…

She manipulated the terminal, and the video recordings from several cameras around the coffee shop were retrieved. The videos quickly switched a few times, and a beautiful blonde Western woman appeared on her screen.

"It really is her..." Alice murmured to herself.

"Who is she?" Patchouli's voice suddenly appeared in her ear, her tone calm and just like usual—she didn't know when she had come up behind Alice, her chin resting gently on Alice's shoulder.

“Alice Kingsley,” the girl replied calmly. “She is the Decepticon Cybertronian ‘Hidden Warrior,’ a Transformer specifically designed to infiltrate human society to complete missions requiring secrecy. In the second movie, she disguised herself as a human to infiltrate Sam’s inner circle and attempted to kidnap him.”

“…Is that so?” Patchouli returned to her original spot. “I don’t like her.”

“I don’t like it either,” Alice shrugged. “Someone with the same name as me is a nuisance. Besides, in my plan, this infiltrator was supposed to die here.”

She stood up and put away the terminal.

“Then Patchouli, I’ll take care of this now. Killing her will definitely attract the attention of the Decepticons, but there probably aren’t many Decepticons left on Earth right now. So until then, I’ll leave the preparations for the resurrection ritual and dragging ‘Soundwave’ down to you.”

"I'll be back soon."

Section 5. God: You seem to think I don't exist?

When Alice left the hotel, the moon had not yet risen to its zenith.

Tonight is a full moon, its light spilling down, and fine raindrops drift in the air. Perhaps because of the funeral that took place at dusk, this small town is about to experience a light rain.

Alice hated rain, especially this kind of drizzling, infrequent rain. A heavy rain would be fine, at least it would end quickly, but this misty drizzle would last a long time. Besides, newly made dolls were prone to getting damp in this rainy weather, and damp dolls were a real hassle to repair.

Doll.

Her gaze swept over her own shadow, and she saw Shanghai and Penglai emerge from it, waving their little hands at her. This calmed her down a little, but more chaotic thoughts welled up in her mind.

It seems like it's been a while since I've made a doll.

The legion was taken away by the clones, leaving only Shanghai and Penglai behind. Although the daily supply of magic was not a problem, and Patchouli was by his side, he always felt a little lonely without the dolls.

He was a puppeteer, and for hundreds of years, his greatest skill had been controlling puppets in battle. Now, however, he spent his days playing with puppet strings, splitting them into seventeen parts. A proper puppeteer was turning into a string manipulator!

【That won't do, but... never mind, I'll use some time later to make some dolls.】

She sighed softly, and as usual, the puppet strings popped out from her sleeve. The thin strings trembled gently around her, and the invisible shockwaves dispelled all the raindrops that tried to approach her.

It's 7:30 PM, and there are still pedestrians on the streets. Since there are pedestrians, it's not appropriate to hold the battle on the main street—not because of harming innocent people, Alice just doesn't want too many variables to arise.

And it seems she's not the only one with this idea.

[The tracker stopped. Was it heading towards this junkyard? The junkyard that served as the Autobots' gathering point in the first movie? Ah…right, how could the Cybertronians, who manipulate machinery, not notice a tracker installed in a laptop? Besides, I never intentionally concealed myself while tracking them.]

The puppet strings on one of her hands came off, replaced by a pistol loaded with electromagnetic interference rounds. A jamming grenade hung from her wrist, ready to be thrown to the ground and detonated at any moment.

Killing her is a given, but killing her cannot reveal too much power. At least not before dragging the 'sound wave' off its orbit. Given the information asymmetry, the one who is in hiding will inevitably have the advantage, and before breaking through the opponent's satellite surveillance, one must make good use of this advantage.

She gently pushed open the iron gate on the outside of the abandoned car park and slipped into the park before the rusted axles made a sharp 'squeak' sound.

It was very quiet all around.

A light drizzle drifted in the chilly night air, and the flickering old streetlights cast a dim, yellowish glow. Alice was certain the tracker was on a small platform not far ahead. To reach that platform, she would have to pass under that flickering, dilapidated streetlight.

It lit up, then went out.

Alice took a deep breath, and Shanghai and Penglai, hidden in her shadow, prepared for long-range sniping and wide-area fire coverage. She then took a step forward, stepping into the light of the old streetlamp.

One flashes, then another.

She pretended to carefully look around as she approached the lamppost. As she expected, nothing seemed out of the ordinary until she passed the lamppost.

The moment she breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out of the dim light's range, the light behind her abruptly went out!

A strong gust of wind swept towards the back of her head.

[Was the effort exerted moderate, indicating a desire to capture the enemy? Or was it simply beyond their capabilities?]

Alice turned her head to dodge the attack, and at the same time, the jamming grenade on her wrist fell. Without hesitation, she rolled forward and escaped the center of the blast. In the next moment, a large part of the parking lot was enveloped by the electromagnetic storm! The eerie blue electromagnetic waves projected in all directions, exploding amidst the scattered scrap metal and sending sparks flying everywhere!

[Is there no backup?]

She jerked her head around and saw a robot crackling with electricity appear beneath the streetlight. Its disguised human form was nearly completely shattered by the impact of the chaff, leaving only a distorted and grotesque face.

The sound waves have been watching this area; we need to give them false information to make them make the wrong judgment.

Alice raised her gun, but the Hermit Warrior dodged it the instant she fired. Theoretically, a jamming grenade capable of completely destroying all electronically-enabled devices of this era would take effect on a robot in no more than two seconds. And after those two seconds, the machine, having regained its mobility, pounced on Alice like a predatory beast!

[It has the ability to resist interference, but its speed and strength are average, and may vary depending on body size.]

Alice dodged the attack with a quick twist of her foot. The puppet strings then wrapped around her left wrist, and with her genetic lock activated, she easily grabbed the robot's ankle.

Then, he stepped back, spun around, and flicked his wrist.

The robot, which had been thrown, adjusted its posture in mid-air, but the next moment it was hit in the chest by a cooling bullet. Frost spread immediately, and its nimble movements became stiff in an instant.

Still lacks tolerance to low temperatures.

'Boom—' The machine's casing crashed into a shipping container.

Alice raised her hand, and the remaining four electromagnetic interference rounds fired without hesitation, smashing the machine's limbs. She immediately dodged the metal tongue that sprang from the machine's mouth. Gripping the pistol, she reversed the grip and smashed the tongue into a deformed, twisted shape.

"Just average," Alice said casually. "You aliens aren't that strong either."

She could clearly sense that the robot in front of her was exchanging a lot of data. Even a fool could guess that it was reporting its current situation to the sound waves via remote communication.

—The steps of tactical deception are thus completed.

She approached the machine, grabbed its head, and twisted it forcefully. With her genetic lock activated, Alice could break steel pipes even without using any magic to enhance herself, so a mere disguised robot was naturally no problem at all—in just an instant, the machine's head detached from its shell.

It's dead.

He at least looks dead.

As long as the Cybertronians' flame doesn't go out, their bodies are immune to any physical trauma. Since this guy is feigning death, he's probably planning to follow the trail. This should also be 'Soundwave' testing Alice, probing whether there are Autobots behind her who know about the Cybertronians.

If so, a sweeping war is inevitable. If not, then the personnel sent by 'Soundwave' to retaliate will be slightly altered.