Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

—Fairy Realm, Avalon.

Chapter 55 Extraordinary Out of Control

“Zhao Yingkong. You…”

Inside the third box, within the American comic book universe, as Alice stepped into that vast, boundless dark dimension, her gaze pierced through layers of disguise and she saw the quiet girl reading a document in the center of this dark world.

Her breath caught in her throat, and a bad feeling welled up inside her.

"Surprised?" The girl tossed aside the book in her hand and looked her over with a slightly tilted gaze. "You didn't expect me to be reincarnated as Dormammu, the Lord of the Dark Dimension in this world, did you? It seems that my transformation into this form wasn't entirely your idea, Miss Alice?"

"Chu Xuan did it," Alice answered quickly. Then the darkness that had been lurking in the invisible shadows, like a giant shadow whale trying to pounce on Alice from behind and the sides, suddenly stopped. Then it silently dissipated.

It collapsed. But it was just a collapse.

A vast darkness still lingers in the shadows, howling and roaring silently.

She shook her head and rose from the center of the world.

"Honestly, they're all so boring and tedious. That bald woman, that cloaked man—don't they know how incredibly boring it is to kill the same person a thousand or two thousand times in each loop? Although I'm not entirely sure how long it took me to realize that the world is in a loop before I finally understood it, after figuring it out, I've been stuck in this boring script for over a million years!"

Her form constantly shifted and changed, like a snake, a dragon, a demon, a goblin. Finally, she transformed into a gigantic celestial body resembling thousands of intertwined serpents. All the serpents opened their blood-red maws, spewing blackish-green venom while simultaneously emitting thousands upon thousands of overlapping sounds.

"Miss Alice, do you know how terrifying a million years is for a woman? I feel like my skin is going to wrinkle!"

【Ugh... Damn it. What on earth is Chu Xuan doing?!】

A thousand venomous kisses rained down, creating terrifying waves in the vast dark dimension. Alice's form shattered into illusory fragments in an instant, and then another new body reappeared at another coordinate point in the dark dimension.

The entrance was sealed off, and breaking through the space to escape wasn't impossible. However, that would inevitably attract the attention of Alice on the outside. Faced with this predicament, all Alice could do was sigh and tightly grip her staff.

[Zhao Yingkong has lost control... Damn it! How did Chu Xuan, that genius brain of his, come up with the idea of ​​throwing Zhao Yingkong, an unstable fourth-tier cultivator with immense darkness sealed within her heart, here as the representative of the Dark Dimension!? Although she can indeed manipulate space at will but cannot effectively affect time, and her simulated Mind Light is imbued with dark properties while also bearing the Houtu rank, making her practically a born Dark Lord... But why did that bastard Chu Xuan do this!?]

Darkness permeated the air, and countless snakes danced wildly within the chaotic void.

If I had arrived any later, this thing would have blown up!

"Why won't you answer me? Miss Alice, Miss Alice, don't you understand the importance of beauty and skincare for women? Or do you have some secret formula?" The enormous, blackish-green serpent shrieked, emitting terrifyingly sharp sounds that ordinary reincarnators could hardly bear. From the thousands upon thousands of head-like limbs, numerous keratinous crystals, biological cavities, connective tissues, and twisted organs grew, and this aesthetically pleasing super-genetic engineering pieced together, unleashing a massive energy reaction.

"Come, let me see."

At least a million rhomboid, square, cross-shaped, and spiral-patterned eyes simultaneously burst forth from the serpent beast's body. Then, hundreds of different frequencies of heat rays, thousands of high-energy radiations of various properties, tens of thousands of bizarre and inexplicable poisonous curses, and even more lasers and heavy particle streams erupted from those eyes—and this was merely the appetizer. After this complex visual spectacle, enough to instantly flatten a capital city and turn the land into an eternal, unchanging wasteland, came a dark star that emerged from the serpent's mouth!

'Boom—!!!'—The dark world churned like a boiling cauldron. Countless tiny dark races dwelling in the shadows screamed miserably as they fled from their hiding places, then twisted, mutated, and transformed into bizarre creatures unrecognizable even to their own mothers, or simply turned into a chaotic mass of dark soup. An immense amount of energy, which would be considered foolish by mortal units of measurement, expanded three light-seconds into the inner dimension in a single second, then unleashed a mountain-like surge of energy.

In the real universe, this attack would be enough to turn the moon into a mooncake. However, in this dark dimension, this devastating blow, which surpasses even that of ordinary gods, is still a disguise!

Alice tilted her head slightly, and the massive surge of energy in front of her parted to either side under the force of her raised finger. A slender, dark, humanoid shadow silently crept along the folds of space and energy to within three meters of her. The dark, poisonous blade emitted no glimmer, yet just as it was about to touch the back of Alice's neck, it was firmly restrained by an invisible hand!

"Are you angry, Miss Alice?" The humanoid shadow revealed eight beautiful teeth, its form expanding in an instant before Alice crushed its head just before it reached its limit. Spraying venom in all directions, it made a 'sizzling' sound as it landed on the shield that appeared on Alice's body, like water droplets evaporating on a red-hot iron plate.

From the enormous serpent beast emerged nine heads bearing Zhao Yingkong's face. Each face was as large as Qinghai Lake. Elemental stars of different attributes converged at the top of the nine faces. And at the bottom of the serpent beast, a dark swamp stretching for thousands of miles silently materialized.

"Are you angry, Miss Alice? Just like when you first met me in the temple and wanted to teach me what 'magic' is?"

"You still can't forget such old things?" Solid force field shields appeared around her, responding to her will, blocking the hundreds, even thousands, of shadow assassins hidden within the serpent beast's cries. She gently gripped the operating staff of control, its deep red magical energy flowing silently.

"You're so vindictive, that's really your style, Xiang Liu!"

Nine elemental stars suddenly fell, while the killing blow was the countless tentacles that silently burst forth from the dark swamp. The giant serpent quietly raised its sharp tail barb, and the next moment, it broke through the dimensional rift behind Alice before the elemental stars and the countless tentacles could strike, fiercely and silently aiming for the witch's back!

Then--

Everything came to an abrupt end!

In the boiling cauldron of elements where stars were extinguished, a colossal crimson dragon roared and expanded, revealing itself. First seven heads, then ten horns, ten crowns hanging high and radiating light. Its wings spread, crushing countless tentacles and shadowy tail spikes as it crashed into the dark, ancient nine-headed serpent!

Even a collision between Mars and Earth wouldn't be more extreme.

The seven interwoven female voices proclaimed her will, unleashing fury and punishment upon her foes!

"You're right, I'm angry." A dragon head bit off its neck and spewed out burning sulfurous flames.

"But this time..." Several more dragon heads roared, spewing out massive breaths and flapping their single wings to knock back the tail of the ancient serpent.

"I will teach you what 'reality' is!"

The ten horned crowns shone brightly, and a devastating tide of light then burst forth from the heart of the ancient serpent!

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

The world's surface.

"Sorry, the Dark Dimension is unstable. I was repairing the barrier, so I'm a little late." The new Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange, arrived late. When he entered the Avengers' meeting hall, he was met with a variety of gazes, each carrying its own emotion. Some were friendly, some were scrutinizing, but one person's gaze was particularly sharp.

"Did this magician forget his monkey in its cage?" President Stark, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, glanced at his companions. "Good heavens, we're discussing a matter of life and death for all humanity. Couldn't the variety show be postponed? Or are you all so tense that you need song and dance to liven things up? Should I tell you a joke? A Stark joke?"

"Perhaps I should teach you what 'magic tricks' really mean right now," the Doctor, equally furious, retorted. He had just dealt with the breach in the Holy Land's barrier and the leak of dark power, and his search for the outsider had yielded nothing.

The two were locked in a fierce confrontation, but neither was able to actually make a move.

Just as one side was equipping their armor and the other was beginning to cast a spell, a heavy fist slammed down on the table.

'boom--!'

"Guys, calm down." Captain America nodded to the two men, as well as Thor, whose body was still half-charred from slamming his fist on the table. "Our problem now is Thanos, whose army is gathering. And what's more troublesome is the immense power he possesses. We have to figure out what's going on, at least what he's here for."

“This table is worth five thousand dollars,” President Stark muttered under his breath, giving his colleague some face.

"The Infinity Stones," Thor murmured. "That's definitely what she wanted, and she also killed Loki. She killed half of the Asgardians."

“I’m sorry, buddy.” Captain America, Steve Rogers, gestured reassuringly with his hand. “We’re all sorry this happened. But perhaps you could share some information with us about what this ‘Infinity Stone’ is all about. And…” He glanced at the silent android Vision. “…Is it what we know it to be?”

The mysterious doctor, who was holding the Time Stone, coughed and was about to speak.

However, the next moment, a one-eyed black man who was basically known to everyone present and whom no one wanted to see barged into the room.

"Gentlemen, I apologize for interrupting your pre-battle meeting." He raised his hand and tapped on an astronomy projection. "But this is no longer something the Avengers can handle on their own."

In the projection, a star called Mars is disintegrating and reconstructing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Rocks and landforms weighing 6,400 gauss are collapsing and then piecing together to form the shape of a giant sword. At the sword's end, the star's core, emitting a faint glow, is releasing its power source.

The target: Earth seven days from now.

Section 56. One should dream of not being a salted fish.

As former Director of H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, said, this matter has developed to a point where it's no longer something a few superheroes can solve by drinking, cheering, and boasting. What was once a seemingly insignificant, apocalyptic crisis that could be easily resolved with nuclear weapons has, for the first time, struck everyone in a stark and unforgettable way.

Mars was just the first to be destroyed. In the following half hour, researchers from the Astronomical Observatory continuously sent one devastating message after another. First Saturn, then Jupiter, then Venus… one after another, the planets of the solar system disintegrated and then reconstructed, transforming into swords made of celestial bodies that would pierce Earth seven days later.

Yes, that's right, seven days from now. Some 'swords' are slightly faster, some are relatively slower, but their arrival times are calculated to be the same. If anyone previously said that Thanos's statement about 'turning Earth into atomic dust' was just boasting or a threat, they have all fallen silent now. Because even if Thanos immediately took his fleet and left, Earth would still be doomed seven days from now.

This isn't a problem that can be solved by simply "speeding up the Earth and dodging it." Even if it were possible, the impact of those eight "star swords" would be enough to transform Earth's orbit into a new asteroid belt. And even if someone possessed extraordinary intelligence to handle these celestial fragments, the gravitational imbalance caused by the loss of so many planets in the solar system would be enough to shift Earth into another orbit, turning it into a dead planet unsuitable for human habitation!

What's more, there's Thanos, who will definitely make his move in seven days!

Such matters could not be kept secret, because as researchers at the Astronomical Observatory received intelligence about the celestial collapse, these terrifying messages also leaked to the outside world through various unofficial astronomical observatories. Fear and panic swept across this tiny planet in an instant, and chaotic thoughts surged in all directions.

And it wasn't just ordinary people who felt fear; the heroes who stood on the front lines of numerous disasters, dedicating their lives to fighting powerful external enemies, felt the same way.

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

"They were very scared."

In a typical apartment building in New York City, a building overlooking Avengers Headquarters but without any surveillance cameras or direct satellite beams, an Asian woman sipped afternoon tea, magazine in hand, while gazing at the opaque windows of Avengers Headquarters, sixteen kilometers away. Her eyes reflected the faces, as thin as pinpoints, yet clearly discernible; she could see their lips moving and recognize every word they uttered.

"They don't think they can defeat Thanos; even the entire Earth combined couldn't. The Iron Man is criticizing the one with the shield, asking him why he didn't equip all the people on Earth with armor a few years earlier. At least that would have allowed most people to survive the Starsword impact and live in the vacuum of space for a while."

A chaotic cacophony of sounds drifted in from outside the window. A large group of people, waving various flags with ambiguous meanings, chanted slogans like "Peace," "Away from War," and "Doomsday," marching in disarray. The stench of fear emanating from them was palpable even through the glass windows and from a height of several stories. Some police officers attempted to maintain order, but were quickly dispersed, disappeared, or even joined the crowd.

This is normal. In the United States, police officers are simply paid employees. They don't have many noble sentiments, and when their own lives are at stake, they won't hesitate to draw their guns first. And now that guns are no longer useful in combat, they've decided to use their mouthpieces as their weapons.

Chaos erupted in the crowd, and chaos easily leads to conflict. As shouts and cries turned into screams mixed with gunfire, hurried and frantic footsteps, along with more intense roars and explosions, drowned out all previous sounds.

People are dying, and many will die. But that doesn't stop the Asian woman in the house from continuing to monitor the Avengers sixteen kilometers away by reading a magazine.

“They’ve decided to call for help,” the woman continued. “Thor’s hammer is broken, so he’s decided to go to the dwarves to forge a new one for him. The former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a way to contact Captain Marvel. Then they’ll also contact the Atlanteans in the ocean. Doctor Who will also summon more spellcasters from the magical world to help, and even try to seek power from their former enemy, the banished dimensional daemons… He certainly has the guts.”

"Some people want to compromise, arguing that Thanos only needs the Infinity Stones. Giving them the stones would at least ensure that half the population on Earth survives. But few support this view... Ah, Vision and Scarlet Witch are here too."

A page in the magazine in the woman's hand began to burn. It contained a precise and meticulously crafted talisman, capable of effectively concealing the excessive life energy and soul intensity within the residential building. It had been used multiple times before. Some time ago, she had somehow verified its effectiveness against Vision, the android with the Mind Stone on his forehead, when he wasn't fully focused. And this time would be no different.

Vision said he could vaguely sense that another planet in the universe also contained the Infinity Stones, and that he would lead a small team to seize them before Thanos could. Scarlet Witch, on the other hand, believed she could turn to her father, who had given her mutant genes and had been missing since birth. She felt she had a way to find these forces.

"But they were still terrified, even with their hearts overflowing with courage, they were still filled with fear of what was destined to happen in the future. They knew that with their small force, they simply could not possibly defeat Thanos. Even including their allies, it would be extremely difficult. Iron Man believed that Thanos's ability to modify planets stemmed from the power of the Infinity Stones. But Thor immediately refuted him, telling him that Thanos only possessed the Power Stone and the Space Stone. And he didn't care about those two stones at all."

"Thanos wants to destroy Earth, and the condition of the Infinity Stones doesn't seem to be a consideration for him—that's good news. The guy with the shield uses this to conclude that there's something or someone on Earth that Thanos fears, and it demonstrates that Earth has no way out—which is very effective in boosting morale."

"As expected of Captain America, his leadership and timing are top-notch. But this way..." The woman closed the magazine in her hand. She took one last sip of the bright green tea in her cup.

—In this way, everything will be basically exactly the same as last time.

The woman stood up, sighed, and ran her fingers over the many talismans and the ancient wooden longbow placed on the table.

Her identity was obvious, though her face, voice, iris, blood type, and physique were completely different from before. But those who needed to know would naturally know that she was Ming Yanwei—she had vaguely sensed that something was amiss ever since the world's last destruction. Perhaps she had already reincarnated in this world once… or many times over.

Of course, that's not important. She didn't have the power to interfere anyway, and the number of times the world had functioned was far too distant for her. However, once she realized this and began to act, she pieced together a rather complex truth by combining the divine message with information obtained from clandestine channels.

[This is a team battle, and I'm the only creature from the Zhongzhou team who was thrown here.]

Thanos, or rather, those around Thanos, have definitely been replaced by another team of reincarnators, and he could absolutely crush me with a single finger.

[However, my being transported here should be based on the judgment of the wise members of my team. Our Central Continent team should be on home ground, so I shouldn't have been thrown here to deal with that alien powerhouse who has definitely unlocked the fourth-tier gene lock and could evaporate me with a breath... My being sent here must have another purpose, and so does the other side.]

Before becoming a member of the Reincarnation Team, Ming Yanwei had read American comics and knew about the major events involving the Infinity Stones. Although the current worldview is at a lower level, and nonsensical entities like the Living Tribunal, the Five Cosmic Gods, and Adam Warlock haven't appeared, the logic behind Thanos's actions should be consistent—that is, to collect the six Infinity Stones to unleash a powerful spell that could wipe out half of all living things in the universe in an instant, thereby maintaining the unstable balance in the material spacetime.

Its goal is the universe, not Earth. Thanos is a villain with principles; his actions are driven by his own ideals or ambitions, and he never engages in meaningless killing.

But this time it wants to destroy Earth, which it has no hatred or interests with.

Ming Yanwei rested her chin on her hand, deep in thought. Years of interacting with the intellectuals in the team had given her a glimpse into their thought processes. This allowed her to subconsciously activate the third-tier gene lock—which had somehow reached this stage—allowing her to glimpse the thoughts emanating from those seemingly troubled individuals.

Thanos's anomaly suggests he might be a reincarnated being. His unusual behavior could be one reason why the wise men lured him here… Although I only remember it happening once, the script for this universe must have looped countless times. And since even I can sense these anomalies, the other side likely already knew about them long ago.

It must be weary, bored, and too lazy to continue this pointless cycle, wanting to leap to the next stage. So destroying Earth… no, destroying Earth in seven days is its way of ending this cycle. Whether or not all the Infinity Stones can be collected is irrelevant to it!

[I understand now. The key to rebooting the script is killing someone, or some people, or some people connected to Earth. That's why it gave Earth seven days to call for reinforcements, and then struck decisively the moment all the enemies gathered on this planet!]

[It is a scavenger, a harvesting device designed by the wise members of my team—Miss Alice, or Mr. Chu Xuan. Its purpose is to eliminate foreign elements mixed in with the script in each cycle of the story. It may not understand its own role as a harvesting device, but it knows that clearing away that foreign element will open the next cycle!]

But why should it obediently act as a cleaner? And why am I here?

Her thoughts were once again stuck in a rut. Although most of the puzzles could be solved—the hostile reincarnators obediently acting as cleaners probably because they were powerless to resist the wise men's schemes—she simply couldn't understand why she, a nobody in the team, had been sent to this inexplicable place alone.

There's definitely no need for fighting; that Thanos-like automated harvesting system is perfectly well-designed. There's no need for me to do anything extra. But if it's not about fighting, then what's the purpose? Surveillance? As an anchor point? Or simply to be thrown here, following behind the scavenger and reaping experience points?

Rationally, Ming Yanwei felt it was more likely the latter, since she had inexplicably unlocked the third stage of her genetic lock without being assigned any tasks. However, emotionally, she felt it was the former. In that case, her existence would still have some value, and she should fulfill her responsibilities as a member of the Central Plains team as a monitor or anchor.

So……