Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"In short, that's the general outline of my plan. As for more detailed changes, we can only act after we arrive in Ismir's era and obtain enough information. Because Ismir's power attribute is space, which is integrated with spacetime, we can't travel backwards like before. Instead, we have to find a landing point that's relatively close to the timeline and crash down in a rather crude way—say it if you're ready. You only have one chance to get off. If you don't adjust your state properly and reveal your presence when you land, you'll be completely finished if Ismir blocks your way."

She looked at Zheng Zha, and Zheng Zha looked back at her. His dark eyes were filled with admiration and respect.

[Back in the world of Gods and Demons, Margot Royd explained it to me in just this much detail... No wonder she's a senior who's already graduated from the Main God Space. She's truly, truly, truly reliable.]

[I'm deeply indebted to her, and I must repay such a great favor. Is participating in this time travel one of her purposes? Oh well, neither Margot Lloyd nor Chu Xuan mentioned this. As long as it doesn't harm the Central Plains team, I'll follow her orders until then.]

Zheng Zha nodded slightly, but before saying "I'm ready," a small doubt arose in his mind. He opened his mouth, but finally couldn't help but ask.

"There's one more small matter."

"Kororos... that is, your former boss. He has evaluated so many powerful figures, so, has He evaluated Himself...?" He stopped mid-sentence and waved his hands repeatedly. "No, I don't mean to be his enemy, it's just pure curiosity, a sudden urge. If it's inconvenient..."

“There’s nothing inconvenient about it,” Miss Celine wagged her finger. “That guy has excellent eyesight; if it’s information that can’t be revealed to the past or future, he won’t let me know. And his self-assessment is actually quite simple—”

"[An observer who wants to participate in the game of the strong]—that's what He said. It sounds like He's referring to the Star Cup tournament, but I don't think so. After all..."

She shrugged.

"For Him, there is probably no one here who He can call 'strong' and who places themselves in a weak position. So He must be referring to something else."

"Is that so..." Zheng Zha breathed a sigh of relief. "Then it's probably even less related to us..."

He looked up and said seriously, "...I'm ready."

The next moment, everything in the world suddenly changed.

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

Meanwhile, somewhere on the outside.

Alice looked at the enormous portal that appeared before her eyes and immediately found an answer.

"The portal to the fairy race... a place like Avalon?" she murmured, taking a step forward as she gazed at the fairy-tale-like landscape within the portal. The mere existence of the portal itself was an invitation. Even though she had suppressed her 'desire for control,' she remembered that she had once considered contacting the fairy race, even forming an alliance.

Why would a fairy extend such an invitation? —I don't know.

This is something she can do or not do—she thought to herself.

However, even as she was pondering and had not yet made a decision, her body reacted first. Without revealing any such desire on the surface of her consciousness, she stepped straight into the portal before her.

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Age of Fairies

[A strange mental state... It still made me take a step even though I didn't show any desire.]

This cannot continue.

[The emotional experiment was terminated, and the suppression of the 'desire to dominate' was lifted.]

Alice blinked, her mind and body instantly returning to their peak state of perfection. Many thoughts flooded her mind as her consciousness returned to normal. Then she turned and glanced at the little devil behind her.

Suppressing a part of one's own mind is not a safe experiment. If war were to break out suddenly, such an act could very well bring about one's annihilation. As a cautious scholar by nature, Alice would naturally take emergency precautions and awakening measures before initiating such a dangerous experiment. In addition to some conditional triggering spells she placed inside her mind, the little demon behind her was also a barrier to guard against unforeseen circumstances.

However, just now, with the change in celestial phenomena and the opening of the fairy gates, the little devil, who was supposed to be part of the safety net, made no attempt to react.

Is there a problem with the program...? No, all the computational logic is working normally. So, could it be...?

[Alright, let's ignore these extremely unlikely possibilities for now. My physical body wasn't injured in any way, and to doubt a loyal assistant who's followed me for years over something like this... this can't be categorized as a matter of control; it should be called psychopathism.]

The witch's thoughts raced, and before the little devil behind her could tilt his head in confusion, she turned her gaze back. She suppressed the urge to indiscriminately scrub the floor and instead focused her perception on the surrounding spatial structure.

—This is Fairy Village, a place that appears peaceful and stable.

Before my eyes stretched a lush, dense forest. The air was tranquil and fresh—pure air, a mixture of water, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide in ideal proportions, further enhanced by tree secretions. The structure of these secretions was largely similar to that of the cells of banyan, pine, cypress, locust, fir, and related derivative species. This ruled out the possibility of hallucinogenic or complex toxic gases.

—The absence of molecular structures that release biological metabolites. This implies the absence of microorganisms that would act as decomposers in the food chain, or that the efficiency of these microorganisms has reached a near-ideal state. However, after Alice's gaze swept over several caterpillars on the tree trunks and she caught the sound of butterfly wings flapping, the former conjecture was ruled out.

She took a small step forward, her clean boots leaving a small footprint on the soft grass.

—The molecular formula of the soil has been determined. It is pure black soil with a perfect ratio of organic matter to humus. Every footprint is subjected to completely uniform pressure. This means that there are no unusual structures in the soil that are not part of the soil's composition. There are no undecomposed remains of living organisms, no gravel or stones of varying sizes. Even the underground water network is distributed outwards in a golden ratio. If the soil were excavated, it would undoubtedly be a perfectly layered structure, like a finely crafted cake.

Quite interesting; even Eden couldn't surpass this.

However, the ideal Eden in mysticism and the real Eden that conforms to the laws of physics are two different things.

[It seems the guy who created this 'fairy village' is a 'scholar' in the same category as me. Is that your name, Arisa Anning...? You've successfully piqued my interest.]

As if signaling a commotion, the entire forest erupted in activity the moment Alice took her first step. The melodious calls of orioles and doves filled the air, along with the light clatter of deer and rabbits. A cool breeze rustled through the dense foliage, the air flowing rhythmically with the vibrations of the sounds. Simultaneously, slivers of light filtered through the leaves, releasing a touch of warmth with the rustling of the leaves and the gentle breeze.

—Spectral analysis completed, showing pure, clean light free of any harmful or excessive radiation. Radiation category and structural proportion analysis completed, indicating no possibility of binding.

—Voiceprint analysis complete. A total of 326 bird samples and 145 mammal samples were collected. None of the samples contained any special species information and had no possibility of combining to form a complete structure. Furthermore, all voiceprints were free of any noise, indicating that none of the samples were suffering from any diseases.

More information flooded into Alice's mind as she took her second step. She could basically conclude that this so-called fairy village was nothing more than an ideal breeding ground, like a divine garden. Whether its purpose was for experimentation or for managing its population was still unknown, but judging from the many scenes she had observed, it was clear that the other party's creation science must be quite advanced.

After all, this is no simple computer programming exercise. With such a massive number of variables and parameters, creating such a closed world, resembling an utopia, is far more difficult than simply replicating the environment of an ordinary planet. To achieve such a feat, immeasurable knowledge and experience in creation are essential prerequisites. And those who possess such experience will inevitably undergo numerous trials and tribulations.

[At least a 'scholar' of my level... perhaps even stronger than me in the realm of creation. Tsk, 'Arisa the Tranquil,' you can't glean much information from the name alone. There are no gods with similar names in mythology, let alone those related to fairies... Tranquil, could the meaning of 'tranquil' be related to the dead or the dream realm? If it's the latter...]

She took her third step forward, sensing the sound of small creatures flapping their wings in the wind. They were humanoid structures, each about twenty to thirty centimeters tall, with semi-energized, transparent wings behind them. There were six of them in total, genderless, and dressed in naturally grown, still-active clothing. Their speed and distance from their location were approximately half the speed of sound and three kilometers per hour, respectively.

—Those are fairies, judging from their appearance, they should be magical creatures from late medieval alchemical texts. And in the pan-human history circulating across many worlds, the scholar who compiled this entry is…

Paracelsus.

Alice closed her eyes, a vast amount of information swirling in her mind. After filtering out unnecessary personal emotions, she was fairly certain that the master of this place was a powerful individual who was not much weaker than herself in terms of knowledge, experience, or combat strength, and perhaps even surpassed her. Furthermore, this powerful individual was extending goodwill towards her.

【So……】

Alice dismissed the conflicting idea in her mind of throwing an apocalypse at her feet, leaving behind a biochemical virus or a lethal meme. She also eliminated the thought of dissecting the living beings here to assess their academic direction and depth of expertise. She temporarily suppressed her doubts about the whereabouts of the 'decomposers' and the traces of energy operation in this biosphere. Having dealt with all these thoughts, she switched her activity mode to a peaceful framework of 'friendly exchange and academic collaboration'.

Then, just before the sound of flapping wings approached, it opened its eyes.

A group of Sylphs, flapping their tiny wings, hovered before her, their delicate, small bodies twirling lightly in place. They seemed remarkably curious, showing absolutely no fear or timidity. As most of them peered at Alice and whispered among themselves, the fairy at the front gave Alice a slight bow.

"Welcome, welcome, guests from afar."

"Come, come, the Queen is waiting."

It flapped its tiny wings, emitting a light, ethereal sound like singing. Accompanying it was a clear voice that could put any mortal singer to shame. The trees on either side of where they came spread out, revealing a wide and distant road illuminated by rainbows cast by sunlight and mist. A crystal pumpkin carriage, like something out of a fairy tale, rose from the earth and drove up to her. The moment the doors opened, the soft grass instantly burst into bloom with flowers, and horses formed of mist neighed softly and reared up.

—The initial analysis of the Fairy species is complete. No flaws larger than 30 nanometers are found on its surface. No flow of energy was detected. Its wings are a semi-matter, semi-energy structure; the specifics are unknown, but it is speculated that this is due to the complete charging of some kind of excellent energy conductor. Without further investigation, based on the above conclusions, it is presumed to be a divine creation. However, since there is no information about a Fairy deity in the intelligence, it is determined to be the work of the Fairy Queen—Arisa of Peace.

—A preliminary analysis of the Crystal Pumpkin Carriage has been completed. Its crystal structure is merely superficial; in reality, it's a fiberglass-like effect created by adjusting the spectrum of composite materials. It contains numerous internal mechanical units that use light distortion to create a crystal-like translucent landscape. It's speculated to be a mechanical-oriented technology tree. It also exhibits a tendency towards nanotechnology.

—The recording and analysis of the flower blooming phenomenon are complete. Essentially, it involves some kind of implanted organelle that, by adjusting gene expression in grass leaves and rapidly promoting cell division, causes them to bloom into flowers. It has been determined to be super-genetic engineering, and the other party's analysis and reuse of the gene map has reached 100%. Ideally, this is the beginning of the fourth stage.

Alice blinked, nodded to the fluttering-winged fairies, and stepped into the crystal pumpkin carriage. The remaining fairies, meanwhile, playfully jostled and jostled for the driver's seat. Accompanied by the neighing of horses formed from clouds, the exquisite carriage moved forward through the air.

[Based on current intelligence, the opponent possesses profound knowledge of both mechanical and biological sciences. Their magical techniques involving energy flow are also top-notch.]

[This is their home turf; their energy reserves can be considered limitless. Furthermore, since they can arbitrarily alter the gene expression of the grasslands, transforming them into flowers, activating super-genetic engineering to turn all individuals with genetic structures into biological weapons wouldn't be difficult—they're not the kind of dark magic users who know how but not why. They can be considered to possess a fourth-tier enhancement that unlocks the genetic lock, covering the entire fairy realm.]

[Furthermore, if these fairies are all creations of the opposing side, then considering the fairy race's ranking and the fact that Queen Arisa rarely intervenes, their group combat capabilities should be around that of a Tier 3 fairy with A-level enhancements... perhaps not as good as the Emperor's angelic legions. But their agility is probably slightly superior.]

Ah... this is an unexpectedly powerful enemy?

Alice pondered, her evaluation of the fairy queen, whom she had never met but would soon encounter, rising higher and higher. As a fellow 'scholar,' she knew very well just how powerful a scholar-type extraordinary life form, unrestricted by the perspective of its birth world and possessing a long period of preparation and gestation, could truly be.

Even in her assessment, the threat level of the War God, originally considered her final opponent, had dropped to a level lower. Alice knew perfectly well that once her plan was complete, defeating the God of War was at least 80% certain. However, the same methods would be completely ineffective against that being named Arisa.

The magnificent scenery outside the crystal carriage constantly changed, first a dense forest, then the forest gradually thinned out, transforming into a vast plain and an endless sea of ​​flowers. Tiny and innocent fairies lived a peaceful and carefree life here, flowers sang, trees swayed, and birds and butterflies fluttered freely among the blossoms. And along the path of the crystal pumpkin carriage, stretching all the way to the edge of the earth, lay a magnificent palace that even fairy tales could hardly describe.

What appeared to be a paradise couldn't escape Alice's keen observation of the immense terror it harbored. Even without actual dissection or in-depth analysis, she could easily discern that the sprawling sea of ​​flowers could transform into a dense barrage of particle cannons at any moment. The trees swaying in the cool breeze could mutate into colossal, withered giants. Even the entire land could potentially come alive in an instant, transforming into a magnificent life form possessing all the characteristics of a fourth-order being.

Given the natural environment, the fairy species are even more so. Although their exact strength cannot be determined at present, Alice has already encountered tens of millions of fairies on her journey to the palace!

[The quantity and quality combined already surpass all other known races... Damn it, wasn't Dragon Break only a few decades old? How did they manage to create a spectacle that would take at least several thousand years to assemble? I absolutely refuse to believe this guy doesn't understand the Divine Essence or the truth behind the Star Cup battle! But what is a fairy queen doing hiding like this?]

Is the only hope that we can find a path of mutual benefit that doesn't conflict with the other party's interests...?

Alice was thinking and pondering.

Until the palace was almost in sight.

Section 36. Where on the chessboard can so many chess pieces fit?

[Wrong...]

[Wrong...]

【All wrong…】

I made one, I made many, huge mistakes… No, I didn't actually make any mistakes. I just never imagined that ████ could achieve this level in ██!

When Alice entered the Fairy Queen's palace and saw the fairy girl who called herself 'Arisa,' many previously unanswered questions were instantly resolved. Many seemingly contradictory facts and memories that should have been forgotten surfaced in her mind and pieced together. And the final result was the greatest secret remaining in this world.

What is 'Dragon Break'? Why does 'Dragon Break' occur? Why do so many powerful individuals appear after 'Dragon Break'? And finally, and most importantly, why did 'Zheng Zha' exhibit such anomalies in the past, and why were these anomalies quietly forgotten after we all understood them?

So this is what the world is really like. So she was ███... No wonder the little devil never warned me or stopped me, even after I granted her freedom of action, she was like a nobody. Ah, so that's how it is...

She stepped across the bright red carpet and exquisite floor tiles and walked to the seat in front of the Fairy Queen, where she sat down.

"This really surprises me, that I would see you here at this time...██" She opened her mouth slightly, only to realize that what came out of her lips was a jumble of incoherent sounds. Even the several nouns that had been swirling in her mind were actually a meaningless jumble, and she only realized this when she spoke them aloud.

“Once you know the secret, some things can no longer be said. Words alone mean nothing, but once the speaker understands the true meaning behind them, language becomes taboo.” The fairy queen sitting opposite her clapped her hands, and many noisy little fairies brought out a variety of exquisite pastries and fruits to decorate the entire table. The queen herself poured her a steaming cup of black tea.

“Just call me Arisa here,” the Fairy Queen said with a smile, her eyes like unyielding ice.

The hospitality was familiar, and the red tea was intriguing. The color was perfect, but it contained a deadly poison capable of instantly incapacitating certain extraordinary beings. To achieve this, the first prerequisite was obtaining all the genetic information of this extraordinary being and deciphering all its conventional variations.

This is a suicide drug, not a murder drug. And the identity of the life form capable of making this drug can only be a few possibilities, after much thought.

Seriously, they could at least use coffee. Coke would be fine too, but it has to be black tea... ugh.

Alice grumbled to herself, but still picked up her teacup.

"Did you do it? Or did I?" Alice suddenly asked out of the blue.

"You did it, but you didn't do it either," the Fairy Queen replied, picking up another pot of black tea and pouring herself another cup. However, just before she was about to drink it, Alice flicked her finger, and an ordinary raisin fell into the Queen's teacup.

The raisins vaporized the moment they touched the liquid, yet the Queen still drank the cup of tea. Nothing else happened after that; only Alice sighed softly.

The fairies flapped their wings and retreated, and Alice's gaze towards them was completely different from before. Now that the secret that couldn't be spoken or even thought about had been revealed, their true identities were obvious. The so-called strongest was also the weakest, just as she had foreseen at some point earlier.

Intelligence is like a delicate and sturdy string of pearls. Once you find one pearl, the others will gradually appear before the seeker's eyes along the clues. Even if the owner of the string only needs one pearl, the other components, which she doesn't actually crave, will automatically enter her mind.

—The middle stage of unlocking the genetic lock, one of the signs of the completion of the Light of the Soul. The individual gains complete independence, no longer associated with other parallel individuals; in one world, only one Alice will exist.

She reached out her hand, and the dragon's scales materialized in her palm. Distorted time and space created bizarre distortions around the indistinguishable outline of the dragon's scales. Under Alice's gaze, these distorted shapes gradually converged, eventually forming a transparent rhomboid crystal.

"Is this inevitable?" Alice asked softly. "No matter what, I will obtain this Dragon Scale and thus acquire the medium within the chaotic spacetime?"

“That’s inevitable. But the point of inevitability isn’t this scale.” The Fairy Queen shook her head and then replied, “You might encounter other dragon spirits, you might come into contact with other treasures related to time or dragons—you will inevitably encounter one of them, and even if you don’t encounter anything, you will create one yourself.”

Then, you will encounter something similar to this cup of black tea.

"So what would I normally do?" she asked, then shook her head and scoffed at her own foolishness. Asking such a question was pointless, since when she arrived here, the orbits of time and fate were already in complete disarray.