Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Luo Ye's thoughts raced, and the next moment, she lightly tapped her finger on the desk in front of her.

—All things suddenly changed.

The smooth marble floor was replaced by rough wooden planks and carpet, and the desk that Sirius had kept spotless was replaced by a workbench littered with doll parts. The whole room was swaying slightly, and through the porthole on the side, which was encased in a protective barrier, one could vaguely see the sea fog of the night and the scattered stars in the sky.

This is the cabin of a ship, a medieval sailing vessel—it's already self-evident which world and time this ship belongs to. And when Luo Ye turned her head, she could see another version of herself sleeping soundly on the bed opposite the workbench.

Alice, the puppeteer Alice Margotrovid.

When Luo Ye got up from her workbench, walked to the bedside, bent down, and reached out to touch Alice's cheek, an unexpected and illogical obstacle appeared in front of her.

Patchouli Knowledge.

Her appearance here was unexpected by Luo Ye, as was her breaking free from the ritual arrangements. However, her act of preventing Luo Ye from touching Alice was exactly what Luo Ye had anticipated.

No one in this world can tolerate someone of dubious origin getting close to their lover.

"Your appearance here is unexpected." Luo Ye withdrew her finger and glanced at the purple mage who had appeared in the cabin at some unknown time. Suddenly, her eyebrows twitched slightly, because under her gaze, Patchouli's power at the initial stage of the fourth tier had not been weakened in the slightest!

What's going on here?!

[Is it a loophole in the ritual? Impossible. Zheng Zha, Zhao Yingkong, and Zhao Zhuikong are also at the fourth rank, and they are currently sealed perfectly. Besides, I just saw Patchouli was still in the world I arranged for her not long ago!]

[So she has successfully conquered that world, unlocked all the mysteries, absorbed the power of the primordial Chang'e, and thus returned to the fourth tier!? How is that possible? The energy sea is completely unchanged, and there are no new areas in the dream world of the base point... She shouldn't have returned to the fourth tier at this time at all!]

[Could it be Sirin? But she shouldn't have interfered in this... So could it be some kind of countermeasure by the ancient Chang'e? Did she corrupt Norege with her power?]

Even so, she shouldn't have appeared here so openly!

Luo Ye's thoughts raced—if Patchouli, who hadn't unlocked the fourth stage, appeared here, she wouldn't be too surprised. After all, love was a strange thing, beyond reason, capable of creating infinite possibilities. The Hunter's Cage was ultimately just a fictional universe, not a real one. Altair, as a Star Soul, could travel from one universe to another to catch up with Shimazaki Setsuna, and Patchouli, who had also touched upon the Star Soul level, might very well be able to do the same!

But how did she manage to do it in this situation?!

She stared intently at Patchouli, one possibility after another surfacing in her mind. However, just as she subconsciously entered a state of combat readiness, Patchouli, who was standing in front of her, gave her a puzzled look.

"Didn't you bring me here, Alice?"

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

My brand new computer broke down on the eighth day..._(:з」∠)_

Section 21 Miscalculation

Alice?

Alice!?

Luo Ye's mind raced, and she clearly identified and summarized several possibilities. After eliminating a few options with negligible probability, only two conclusions remained in her mind.

First, Alice foresaw the variables of the Hunter's Cage long ago, and therefore separated herself in advance. Only a negligible part was captured by the cage, while the other part, possessing power, had long been hidden, and now was the time to reveal its true nature.

How to hide? There are plenty of ways! For example, she might have some kind of secret deal with Sirin, or another contract with Chu Xuan. She might even have stolen Luo Ye's access to the Hunting Saint's Cage to gain special treatment. Because, aside from Luo Ye and Alice insisting on separating them, in all contracts, agreements, and rule-based judgments, Luo Ye and Alice are essentially the same person!

Isn't it only natural that a demon that has usurped the main body's authority can use all of the main body's power? Similarly, it's not illogical for the main body to take over the agreements and contracts signed by the demon and obtain power and authority from them!

That's one possibility, but there are more than one possibility that it could appear here!

Luo Ye's will shifted slightly, and she clearly saw Patchouli standing not far to her side, but Patchouli's magic and will were constantly expanding outwards. In that instant of thought, a spatial distortion silently appeared between Luo Ye and Alice; though they were so close, they were actually hundreds of meters apart!

Patchouli has already made her move, but she hasn't succeeded yet! Because the spacetime distortion is only localized, she hasn't been able to cover Alice's body with her will and energy.

Why did she do that? Why did she do it so secretly?!

The second possibility is that the Patchouli appearing here is not the Patchouli from Team Central, but the one from Team Devil! It is for this reason that she calls Luo Ye Alice, instead of calling Luo Ye Luo Ye as Alice, just like Patchouli from Team Central!

[No! There's a third possibility!]

[That means both are true, but now is not the time for Alice from the Central Continent Team to reveal her hand! It's the Demon Team that's making the move, and Alice from both teams have been engaged in a long-standing, indirect struggle, while I've been kept in the dark from the very beginning!]

[So why is Patchouli from the Devil Team here? Is it for Alice's body from the Middle Continent Team?! She wasn't there to stop me, but because I got here before her... Damn it! I knew it! I was wondering why I suddenly thought of coming to check on Alice's real body... Turns out, I, I was used by Alice as a safety pin to protect her body?!]

Is the difference between a divine child and a human child really that great...?

As her longing subsided, in the meaningless gaps of time, Luo Ye finally arrived at what she considered a roughly accurate answer. The anger of being fooled and the frustration of being belittled churned within her, but she had no intention of changing her long-held decision—energy exploded instantly, and the two who had been locked in a stalemate exchanged blows tens of thousands of times in a flash. And just as this battle, essentially a test of strength, successfully bought a mere sliver of time, a clear light burst forth from between Luo Ye's brows. Following the trajectory of her gaze fixed on Patchouli, the sculpted light of her mind disintegrated everything in its path!

The light of the soul is all-out effort.

The light of the soul shines without reservation.

The four-dimensional spacetime barrier between the two suddenly collapsed, and the line of destruction stretched along the path Patchouli had taken to avoid it all the way to the edge of the sky. As the clone Patchouli retreated, Luo Ye followed directly, breaking through the perfect spacetime distortion created by the clone's presence and approaching his target!

In the next instant, she appeared beside Alice's sleeping body, and immediately afterward, the surging tide of energy rushed directly into the outer shell of the Wizard's Three 'Fruits' through the hole in the boundary membrane created by the Light of the Mind! In an instant, the aftershocks of their battle spread outward, and the ship where Alice was located and the surrounding sea area for several kilometers were compressed by the surging energy from both inside and outside, turning into nothingness in the blink of an eye!

"Why are you reacting so strongly? I wasn't planning on eating you."

The clone Patchouli only took one step back, and after that, she made no further move. She neither dodged nor evaded; the sea of ​​energy falling from the sky automatically parted to either side of her the instant it struck her. The energy level of the entire Wizarding World surged dramatically, the heavens and earth changed color, and countless portals connecting to other worlds suddenly opened in the void! The celestial conjunction, which should have appeared only at the end of the story, arrived directly with the full force of the extraordinary life form. The next moment, the vast ocean beneath their feet developed rudimentary sentience under the onslaught of the energy sea. A demigod sea giant, several kilometers long, suddenly stood up, only to be annihilated and dissipated by the aftershocks of the energy sea.

This was the first, and there were hundreds and thousands more. The elemental giants born from the oceans and valleys clashed the moment they descended, while the pre-existing supernatural lifeforms unleashed amplifications several times, even dozens of times, greater. Karmic fire blazed from the demons' hooves, halos appeared above the heads of the winged beings, and the high-ranking vampires who had ruled this world since ancient times instantly swelled into demigod-like monsters. With a mere thought, they could unleash a raging sea of ​​blood!

The 'fruit' representing the three worlds of the Wizarding World swayed slightly on the Tree of Events. Even though the script was still in motion, this vast world showed faint signs of falling into a sea of ​​energy. Countless hidden forces were operating in the undetectable darkness, and countless concealed secrets were being woven in the unseen and invisible. Dozens of seconds ago, all the power struggles, calculations, games, and sacrifices in this world were rendered useless by this surge in world energy. And as the old world and the new world clashed invisibly, a strange stillness appeared at the source of all this turmoil.

The original sea area had long since been reduced to nothing by the impact of the energy tide. Whether it affected the distant Misty Island or the nearby Skellige Islands was unknown, and no one cared. Alice's body, however, had already been hidden by Luo Ye in the unknown void. Having accomplished all this, Luo Ye warily watched Patchouli, whom she now regarded as a member of the Demon Team, appear in her field of vision. Meanwhile, in the sky, the violent turbulence caused by the descending energy sea was gradually subsiding.

Patchouli of the Demon Team basically did nothing, while Loretta did almost everything she could except directly destroy the 'fruit'.

Now, Luo Ye is finally able to respond to the sentence that the poison clone Patchouli had previously posed.

“You don’t intend to eat me, you only intend to eat her—I won’t allow that to happen.”

“What’s wrong with that?” The clone Patchouli tilted her head slightly. “Whichever Alice is who I am, she’s Alice; whichever Patchouli is who I am, she’s Patchouli. When I came into this world, the first thing that came to mind was the scene of the four of us rolling around in one bed. I find it very interesting no matter how I think about it. Hmm, I know Alice has memories of her past life, and I know that she once called herself Loye. You must be the part that was separated. Don’t you agree with my opinion?”

“I am Luo Ye, not Alice.”

"Hmm, not Alice, then I'll just call you Loris...Loris? Never mind, I'll just call you Luo Ye." The clone Patchouli tilted her head, a series of crackling sounds coming from her neck. "To be honest, I'm not really interested in fighting you, Alice, and I also don't understand why Alice from the Central Continent Team is fighting with Alice from the Demon Team—"

"Those two have been fighting for ages, it's so annoying to watch, so I followed the trail you left behind to this world. I originally wanted to resolve this troublesome situation in an easy way, but I didn't expect you to suddenly appear here to stop me... Although I could guess what you were thinking with a little thought, I really don't want to use my brain."

Luo Ye raised an eyebrow slightly. The situation she had predicted had indeed come true, and with the injection of these key pieces of information, the truth of which was uncertain, more intelligence began to emerge from the depths of her mind.

Alice has long since broken free of the Hunter's Cage... Tsk, so it turns out I was the one being manipulated all along. The Alice I've been watching is nothing more than bait, deliberately lowered in intelligence and her thought processes locked to lull me into complacency. The real Alice has probably been hiding behind the scenes, observing my every move... She probably thinks I'm stupid, going to all this trouble to try and get killed by her... No, she won't think that, because she simply didn't have time to do so.

Perhaps she just... didn't want me to get in the way.

Luo Ye is Alice, Luo Ye is Alice of the past, Luo Ye is a part of Alice of the past. To laugh at oneself is meaningless, and to deceive oneself is even more boring and tasteless.

Since it's not deception, it can only be a lie.

The arrival of the Demon Team was expected, and even the fact that only Alice and Patchouli appeared was anticipated. Chu Xuan's move to the center, a seemingly useless move, was intended to force out the many forces lurking in the shadows—because he held the upper hand. If he didn't reveal any weaknesses, others could simply procrastinate until the mission failed or use special means to escape. And after he went into hibernation, other forces were destined to only release tentacles for probing, because no one could be certain that Chu Xuan, in his dormant state, would truly be unable to activate the Hunting Saint Cage again.

The clones of Alice and Patchouli are likely the tentacles of the Demon Team. They should be stronger than the members of the Central Continent Team, but this isn't their home turf, and those appearing here may not be their original selves. Although we don't know how they broke the suppression of the Hunting Saint Ritual, we'll postpone the investigation of what has already happened. We also don't need to worry about why the clones of Alice and the original Alice are fighting for now, because what Luo Ye needs to ascertain right now is something else entirely.

When did they arrive, and when did they begin their battle?

The conclusion is simple: the arrival of the Demon Team must have occurred after Chu Xuan fell into a deep slumber. And what was the biggest upheaval that occurred within the Tree of Events after he fell into this slumber?

It is those 1,675 small worlds that have broken free from their branches.

[I was mistaken. Those thousand-plus detached micro-worlds weren't the work of the primordial Chang'e. They were actually the result of a battle between Alice and her clone, possibly even the aftershocks of their own battle! Only in this way could they... evade my surveillance!]

The opponent was Alice, a Alice who was now free from Luo Ye's self-righteous inner demons and had even stripped away her somewhat foolish side to serve as bait—Alice was practically in perfect condition. Only then did Luo Ye realize her previous foolish act of not using any weapons or items, relying solely on the Mimicry of the Light of the Mind to wear her opponent down. It wasn't that she didn't want to use them, but rather that she subconsciously felt she shouldn't! And what this meant was obvious!

[It really was all a complete scheme from beginning to end... Alice... Unleash your talents, remove your shackles, and this is the result... Yes, it's all my own doing.]

All that I did... was ultimately meaningless from the start.

But I will still do it.

Luo Ye closed her eyes, allowing her emotions to calm down before opening them again. After confirming once more that Alice's body was safe, her last doubts were resolved. She finally understood how the clone Patchouli had targeted her and followed her trail to this place in the world—

She took a deep breath and slowly asked, "The 999th world... that world of mutant Transformers that contains my memories and destiny from my past life... was it you who created it?"

The clone Patchouli tilted her head slightly.

“Yes, while you were dismantling world after world there, I managed to intercept a bit of information and guess that Alice here cut out a piece. Although it’s unclear why Alice cut you out or why you separated from Alice, trying it won’t hurt you.”

"........."

"Looks like I've stepped on a landmine." The clone Patchouli tilted her head slightly, then tilted it back. "Alice, or rather, Luo Ye, if you're planning to beat me up to vent your anger, I'm not obligated to fight back."

She winked at Luo Ye.

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

I plan to add an extra chapter tomorrow.

I spent some real money and collected 530 Originium. Hopefully, I can pull two unique six-star characters tomorrow. If that happens, I'll update twice. If not… then I'll just update once and then delete Arknights. I've bought everything in the shop, and done a lot of story and raid runs, but I only have three table-leg level six-star characters now, five including duplicates. It's been incredibly painful… My patience with Hypergryph has reached its limit. They probably don't care about my meager earnings anyway, so I'd better just get a Black Knight card soon so I can make a clean getaway.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Demon Within a Demon

Luo Ye's judgment was correct, or rather, there was no longer any need to keep it from her. Alice had indeed separated herself a long time ago, and if you ask exactly how long ago, it was probably when Patchouli in the White Moon revealed herself to her.

She was outmaneuvered by herself, outmaneuvered by her lover, and outmaneuvered by Chu Xuan—all possibilities were blocked, and everything was meticulously planned. Although the outcome of the scheme was objectively in her favor, Alice was ultimately not a soft-hearted person who could be molded from clay—she was a puppeteer, and the puppeteer's favorite thing was puppets, while the puppeteer's greatest aversion was being manipulated by others as a puppet.

Therefore, while Chang'e, driven by idealism, succeeded and Luo Ye and Chu Xuan were busy setting up the Hunting Saint's Cage, Alice used a countermeasure commonly employed by puppeteers—just as Shen Qi had taught her, she disassembled herself before the ritual was completed.

The physical body cannot be moved, neither the divine part nor the mortal part. This is because Luo Ye will inevitably possess the divine body, relying on the bubble world as the foundation to carry out his subsequent plans. The mortal body, degraded by the ritual, will certainly be under Luo Ye's constant watch—regardless of Luo Ye's purpose, both parts are untouchable priorities.

Since the body cannot move, the only thing that can be changed is the soul—Alice took a risk, implanting the idea that 'a soul with obsessive attachments will be demoted, and corresponding artifacts cannot be used within Chang'e's sacred body' into the Abyss of the Heart. She emphasized the latter, causing Luo Ye to subconsciously abandon the use of the Staff of Control. And when the Staff of Control was not used, the separated soul with obsessive attachments was naturally ignored by Luo Ye.

Thus, Alice's physical body was split into two parts by Luo Ye: a divine body and a mortal body. Alice's spirit was also divided into three parts: her true self, the decoy, and her inner demon. Alice, divided into five parts, a transformation into five parts. Luo Ye believed she was in control of everything, but her true self, who had previously escaped, was constantly watching her.

As Luo Ye adjusted the balance of light and darkness in the bubble world, Alice watched her.

As Luo Ye cleansed the scattered world in the sea of ​​energy, Alice watched her.

While Luo Ye was grinding down those heavenly generals and gods in the base world, Alice was still watching her.

The battle with the clones wasn't part of Alice's original plan, but she might still have detected the arrival of the demon team. She knew very well that the Alice and Patchouli of the demon team who descended from the outside of the ritual were clones made using artifacts from the main god. Their life level wouldn't exceed the mid-fourth tier, but their specific combat strength was difficult to determine.

We might not be able to win, we might not be able to win, we might not... need to fight.

In fact, until now, the original Alice has never directly met the clone Alice. She only learned of her arrival after meeting Patchouli, and then the two attacked at the same instant. At the start of the battle, the two were actually in two different and non-adjacent small worlds, and the result of their attack was that both small worlds fell into the sea of ​​energy at the same time.

Now that the fight has begun, there's no need to hold back. While Chu Xuan was in hibernation, the original Alice and the clone Alice chased each other through thousands of small worlds like a game of hide-and-seek. They never managed to see each other, but the changes they brought caused all those thousands of small worlds to fall from their 'branches'.

Loye's judgment was correct; aside from Alice's motives, she saw everything correctly. And while the clone Patchouli arrived in the world of The Witcher 3 and confronted Loye, on the other side of the Tree of Events, in a desolate wasteland of an unknown microcosm, Alice and Patchouli of the Middle-earth Team quietly stopped.

“Let’s rest here for a while, Patchouli. The world the Copycat is in is about thirty years ahead of us in terms of time flow. We don’t need to worry about her for now.”

Alice found a flat patch of land, and as her gaze shifted, soft, green grass and colorful, fragrant flowers sprouted up everywhere. She randomly chose a spot to sit down, and Patchouli followed suit and sat down next to her.

She stretched out her hand and gently tapped the air, and a pre-edited wave of information spread outward from her fingertip. Her will and power then silently spread outward, crossing mountains, traversing plains, and wandering back and forth between forests and meadows.

This is war, a war between Alice and her clone Alice. But their war is not about piling up energy or physical phenomena to smash the other side—their war is more subtle, more complex, more 'refined,' and more brutal.