Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

“You’re injured! I’ll bandage you up right away!” [Ancient Egyptian] The young woman rushed over and tore off a piece of her clothing to bandage Sam’s wound. The little girl also approached him with concern, gently massaging him while looking at him with admiring and respectful eyes—as if she were looking at a hero.

Sam smiled and reached out to stroke the little girl's soft cheek. At that moment, he suddenly felt that all the deaths he had suffered before had been repaid. A sense of exhilaration welled up within him, and his vision was once again enveloped in white light.

He returned to the pyramid once again.

“Well done,” Patchouli gave him an approving look. “Although you’ve died a lot, this is undoubtedly a huge improvement. Come on, put your hand out, it’s time for your shot.”

"What is this?" Sam looked at the bright green medicine in the syringe with some curiosity, but he only asked and his hand still reached out and rolled up his sleeves.

“You already have basic combat awareness, and this potion will enhance your physique, making you like a superhero. Of course, just a superhero in a general sense, not the one in the comics.” She injected the entire vial of potion into Sam’s body.

"Next, you need to familiarize yourself with your newfound power and train your leadership skills. So the next setting will still be ancient times, primarily featuring melee weapons. It'll still be Egypt."

"Still Kush?" Sam's eyes lit up. "Then I'll have to settle some scores with them... Will I ever see that mother and daughter again?"

“Unfortunately, they’re not Kush.” Patchouli clapped her hands, and the scene before them changed once more. Before them lay a vast and bustling ancient port city. Countless ships lined the Mediterranean Sea, hurling stones and fire arrows at their enemies. Within the city, countless soldiers wielding large shields and short swords clashed in fierce combat.

"This is Alexandria in 48 BC. The Roman Julius Caesar came here in pursuit of his great enemy Pompey, while Cleopatra and her brother Ptolemy XII were engaged in a civil war. You are now a centurion under Pompey... The relevant phalanx command techniques will be transmitted to you later. Your task is to help Pompey defeat Caesar."

“Me?” Sam pointed to himself, then to the city below. “Defeat Caesar?”

He looked just like a choked, dumbfounded goose.

"Are you kidding me? That's Julius Caesar! How could I possibly do that!"

“What’s the panic? This Roman has lost before.” Patchouli glanced at him. “Heroes are destined to make history, and you have many chances to start over. This dream will be relatively faster, so you don’t need to worry about running out of time.”

She paused for a moment, then added.

"Here's another task for you. Stop the Romans from burning the Library of Alexandria. If you succeed, I'll give you some extra rewards."

"Uh... what would happen if I ignored this mission?"

Patchouli chuckled softly. "Not very good."

Chapter Twenty-Seven: When will BX finally arrive...?

Witnessing Sam re-enter the virtual world constructed by the message, Patchouli freed one hand and made a few gestures. The large barrier surrounding the entire pyramid then began to operate, and several gravity fields descended, transporting the orders previously placed to certain online stores via satellite network to the pyramid by truck.

The funds had already been transferred to the recipient's account, and the people in charge of the transportation had used hypnosis to send them back and make them forget everything about this place. Therefore, there was no need to worry about being seen by others.

Or, to put it another way, it wouldn't matter if they were seen; it would just be a matter of using hypnosis again. But that would greatly increase the workload of follow-up processing, so it's better to remain discreet and save unnecessary energy.

The truck was dismantled at her will, revealing its contents—steel, copper, silver, gold, titanium, radioactive minerals obtained through special channels, and a number of corresponding pipes and ceramic plastics—these raw materials were then bound by a gravitational field, surrounding her like the rings of a planet.

I flipped through a few pages of the magic book...

"Let's begin shaping now."

A stream of heat, nearly as hot as solar wind, erupted from the magic furnace of the Great Library. This heat was then confined by a magnetic field, creating a simple high-pressure furnace. The raw materials were then added to the furnace in batches according to different proportions, quickly smelting the alloy plates she needed.

Similar to how Alice built the cannons on the floating Hamunaptra, she employed the same strategy. While far inferior to the regular military factories of outsiders, she could still produce components with strength equivalent to the active-duty power armor of the outside anti-mystical forces if she only manufactured handmade items that did not require mass production.

“It’s a pity that we mages can’t wear this kind of force feedback powered armor. Unless it’s directly connected to our nerves, these protective gear simply can’t keep up with our operational precision.” Patchouli bit her lower lip. She knew about the nerve-connected powered armor technology used by outsiders. But in that era, both she and Alice could only hide in Gensokyo to resist the curse, and they simply couldn’t apply these technologies to themselves.

But now... never mind, there's no need.

The main god offers corresponding exchanges. A power armor suit plus corresponding neural modifications costs C plus 3,000. However, if you only want the blueprint, it only costs a little over 1,000 reward points. This is an acceptable price for her. After this storyline ends, she will definitely need to craft several sets to equip the various members of the team to enhance the team's combat effectiveness.

But that's a matter for later. Right now, there are things to do in the present.

"Alice won't be back until dawn, and the Source Matrix should be in place by then. With that power, we should also be able to activate the Magic Reactor. That way, most of the prerequisites for the final battle will be met."

“Now, it’s time to examine the details.” Her gaze shifted slightly, and within the large barrier covering the pyramids, a physical projection of light depicting the entire Earth appeared. She could clearly see points of light twinkling on each continent, representing the complete construction of the 'tower' network covering the entire world.

Unlike satellite networks, this is a message network constructed from 'towers'. Through this network, the two witches, acting as information magicians, can mobilize the information waves of all civilizations worldwide. This preparation is, of course, for the purpose of using the Apocalypse—an apocalypse that covers the entire world, drawing upon the accumulated power of all civilizations on an entire planet over thousands of years.

If a magician hadn't done this before, Alice and Patchouli would never have made such an attempt on their own.

"I hope this time it will end well." She gently shook her head, quickly suppressing the slight worry that had surfaced in her heart. "No, this time we won't fail, because we are on the side of the majority, or rather, the majority of people are on our side."

She reached out and began to refine the power armor, which was already roughly taking shape. She created runic shields to protect against energy attacks within the layers and a composite material ballistic coating on the armor's surface. In addition, a small power reactor and corresponding weapons were rapidly forged, soon taking on a basic form.

In the final battle outside, the mages initially believed they could turn the tide with this attack, destroying the mechanically advanced army before the situation deteriorated to its worst. However, once it was activated, the mages realized they were terribly wrong.

[The Book of Revelation is such an unreliable thing; a civilization can only use it once every few centuries, which eliminates the possibility of repeated experiments. Based solely on theory and speculation, the final outcome is essentially left to fate—although all previous revelations had been successfully released, who could have imagined that this final, and most powerful, attack would go so terribly wrong?]

Decades of painstaking preparation by countless mages amidst the chaos of the battlefield ultimately resulted in a blade that devoured its master. The Apocalypse was indeed unleashed, and it certainly unleashed the anticipated destructive power. Unfortunately… those who were attacked were none other than the mages who had released the Apocalypse.

Ninety-five percent of the mages remaining outside perished within minutes. The battle between machinery and information had thus come to an end.

What remained were just a few weaklings, who quickly lost their spellcasting abilities in the global apocalyptic environment. They vanished without a trace in the tides of time. That's why Alice could assert that a fourth information mage no longer existed in the world, because outside… there was simply no fertile ground for their survival.

And if Alice and Patchouli hadn't hidden in Gensokyo and avoided the battle, they too would have been among the dead. Without exception.

She shook her head, clearing these distracting thoughts from her mind. Several mirrors then appeared before her eyes, displaying a general overview of the various kingdoms on earth.

The factory has begun operations, and the production of equipment and parts belonging to the Autobots has started.

An elite assault force, comprised of troops from various nations, was also mobilized. They would be equipped with powered armor and, along with various types of aircraft from other countries, would serve as cannon fodder to draw the fire of the Retribution.

Everything is ready, or nearly ready. All that's left to do is wait. Wait for the moment when the Retribution spacecraft reaches near-Earth orbit.

But before that...

She glanced at Sam.

How did this guy manage to hold out for so long this time?

Author's Note:

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

I'm so sleepy, I'm not sure if there will be a fourth quarter.

Should Sam's dream be described in detail or briefly...?

1/14

Section Twenty-Eight: I, Jiu, have always readily accepted good advice.

Sam Witwicky awoke from his hallucination. When he returned to reality, his mind was still filled with disbelief.

[I won just like that? I survived to the end so easily and won the victory?]

Is there some mistake?

Memories of three months from 48 BC flashed through his mind.

He vividly remembered his initial trepidation upon entering the battlefield, and the regret he felt upon seeing the corpses of his fallen comrades after surviving. What followed was a series of battles, each a desperate struggle—his body grew stronger, his combat skills and command abilities more refined. Before he knew it, he had become a promising talent in Pompey's eyes. And before he knew it, he was commanding an entire legion, leading an elite force that had broken through Caesar's lines, forcing this historically significant figure into a desperate situation.

He still remembered Caesar's last words to him. That imposing man wore a magnanimous face until his death.

"Young people need to learn to get used to winning; confidence is what you need most right now."

He rubbed his eyes.

[What does this mean? Was he doing this on purpose? ...Wait, so it wasn't just a simple hallucination? Was it this witch in disguise?]

Patchouli's voice rang out at just the right moment.

"You did very well this time, succeeding on your first try. It seems that even if you were to actually travel back to ancient times like in a novel, you could survive and achieve great things."

There was a hint of appreciation in her tone.

"Congratulations, Sam Witwicky. You already possess the most basic qualities to become a hero. What you lack now is skill and luck."

"Victory?" Sam looked at his hands. "Uh, I should have won. Shouldn't you know that? After all, it was you who created this illusion."

He looked up at Patchouli: "The Library of Alexandria is fine... well, I should say Caesar's troops weren't even near the library. He made a different decision than recorded in history; he didn't set fire to the port to sabotage Pompey's fleet, so the library is naturally safe and sound."

"Oh?" Patchouli raised an eyebrow slightly.

[No wonder this guy won so easily. Hmm... he was so focused on building the power armor that he couldn't concentrate on the trial illusion at the same time.]

However, victory is victory after all, although the subsequent tutorials will likely need some adjustments. At this point, undermining the opponent's confidence is pointless.

She chuckled and made a 'good' gesture. "I see, you have indeed completed the task I assigned you, so the reward we agreed on beforehand is hereby given to you."

She snapped her fingers, and the powered armor, protected by optical shielding, appeared before Sam. It was a majestic suit of armor, resembling a giant from mythology. The main body was a high-strength outer shell made of titanium alloy and ceramic interlayers. Inside was a small reactor capable of providing an extremely abundant amount of energy. This energy was primarily used in three places.

The first is the rocket-type vector nozzle installed at the rear of the armor, which allows the wearer of the power armor to fly and swim in the air like a bird.

Secondly, the power armor is equipped with its own energy weapon systems, namely a shoulder-fired plasma cannon and a six-barreled laser cannon. With the reactor charging them, these energy weapons can unleash a large amount of firepower in a very short time.

The third component is the protective shield and the power system. While the protective shield is merely an energy turbulence generated by information disturbance and has little effect on physical munitions, it is effective against energy weapons. The power system, of course, needs no further explanation; without it, the armor is nothing more than a pile of thick iron blocks.

Sam stared at the armor, almost speechless with amazement. His lips parted several times before he managed to utter a few words.

“Oh, oh, oh… my goodness. This is for me? It’s absolutely gorgeous. Good heavens, I think I’m in love again, this armor… I’m so sorry, Michaela. This thing is just too tempting.” He reached out and stroked the outer layer of the armor with an amazed expression, looking more careful than he ever had with his girlfriend.

"Does she... I mean, does it have a name?" The man's gaze quickly returned to his own, casting a questioning look at Patchouli.

[My reaction time... well, not bad. I didn't misread anything, and my alertness was adequate.]

“No, take one yourself,” Patchouli replied. “Wearing this will make you strong enough to deal with those ordinary Decepticons who are still using old-fashioned gunpowder weapons. You can also participate in the war later on, although the current preparations are still insufficient.”

"You will need to enter a new training ground, this time a modern battlefield. You need to learn how to use various firearms and weapons, and at least be able to aim accurately. At the same time, you cannot neglect close combat skills. If the plan succeeds and we successfully penetrate the interior of the Nemesis, then close combat may sometimes have a greater advantage than long-range firepower."

"Can I take this in?" Sam tapped the power armor's shell lightly, and a more satisfied expression appeared on his face after noticing a barely audible muffled sound instead of a crisp echo. "I plan to paint it yellow, and name it 'Hive'."

Patchouli shrugged.

"Whatever, I can take care of the paint job. Paint it however you like. So, are you ready to enter the Trial Illusion again?"

"Anytime is fine."

Patchouli nodded, and the grimoire turned a few more pages. The white light that enveloped the pyramid shone brightly again—and after that, it was just a simple repetition of the task.

She also shifted most of her attention to controlling the information network to monitor the armament progress of various countries around the world.

Time passed slowly, day turned into night, and night gave way to dawn. As the first rays of light grew larger, illuminating the narrow entrance to the pyramid, Alice and Optimus Prime returned to the pyramid.

—It also carries the source energy matrix.

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

A small theater, the forgotten Bumblebee and Tinker—

Somewhere in the desert...

"Hey, don't you think what we're doing is a bit silly? I bet nobody else is doing anything productive."

"Waaaaah..."