Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

He bent his knees slightly, ready to leap to Uranus to stop this foolish battle. He intended to choose between dealing with Ex or Sirin. However, just before he was about to move, Alice's voice suddenly rang in his mind.

Don't stop her; it's her own choice.

“What do you mean? Margot Lloyd, I can’t watch my comrades go to their deaths…” Zheng Zha’s eyes widened, his tone serious, but his voice softened the moment he spoke.

He suddenly thought of something.

[Do you remember? Why did you descend to this land in your true form? — You wanted to pave a path for these mortals you could see. You wanted to prove your own path, and for that you were willing to throw your true form into the interference of saints… She was simply doing what you would inevitably do sooner or later.]

Zheng Zha remained silent.

Alice's voice continued to ring out.

[It's not just you, it's the same for everyone else. Soon, my true form will also descend—we're no longer the same reincarnation team struggling just to survive. We have higher aspirations, farther goals. You should have realized this a long time ago.]

“I know.” Zheng Zha lowered his eyes and took a deep breath. “But even so, I hope that everyone in the team can live. To live healthily and peacefully… This is my responsibility as the captain. Whether you acknowledge it or not, whether you need it or not, I will take it as my responsibility.”

"...Then become stronger, stronger than all of us, stronger than everyone else, stronger than the Demon Team. That way, your wish will be fulfilled."

Zheng Zha ended the communication—he rarely voluntarily ended communication with his companions.

"To become stronger faster than everyone in the team and outside the team...?" He clenched his fist slightly and slowly exhaled a long breath. "Let's give it a try."

He turned his gaze from the starry sky back to the tranquil city of Ur shrouded in night—only about half an hour had passed since he had posed his question to Quetzalcoatl within this singularity. Quetzalcoatl had yet to give him an answer that would satisfy or dissatisfy him. And he had decided not to wait any longer.

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

Alice shrugged and went back to being a Liberian on Ba's shoulder. The early descent of the Indian and Senzhou teams was somewhat unexpected, but since she had foreseen this before the worst consequences occurred, what happened next was irrelevant.

[Sirin is still in her guaranteed admission period; while she might not succeed, she's unlikely to die... As for Ex, damn it, both are True Gods, so one-on-one versus two-on-one makes little difference. This isn't like mining with a graphics card where whoever has more computing power wins. To defeat her, unless you cause her to collapse, no matter how hard you try, you can only temporarily weaken her... Let her and Sirin fight for now. Although they've really gotten into the swing of things, they're still holding back.]

The night sky is ablaze with stars. Tonight's stars are more magnificent than ever before, but on this continent, no one knows what their true meaning is.

Compared to true god-level reincarnators who need at least a planetary system to operate freely, this stage is far too small. However, smallness has its advantages, namely, the variables are reduced to a very comfortable level.

The fewer variables, the easier the project is to manage.

[And Sesshouin Kiara of Indochina... if I'm not mistaken, she should have already arrived on Earth at the timeline where Chaldea is located. She may have already landed, or she may not. But in any case, she should be here sometime during this period—let the agents handle things here as best they can. The plan is set, but it's not appropriate for me or anyone else to take direct action yet.]

[The Demon Team... never mind them for now. We've already dug so many holes, I have a feeling they might give up... no, they won't give up. Unless one of us takes that first step towards the spirit tablet... hopefully what I said earlier will be of some use to Zheng Zha. But even if it isn't... it doesn't matter.]

As for the Celestial Team...

She leaned on Ba's shoulder, and the city of Kusa was already in sight. The journey to the underworld was about to begin, and her gaze immediately shifted upwards, looking up at the sky.

She was looking at the ring-shaped band of light in the sky.

Insertion Section · Reincarnator · Celestial Team Decision

As the Flame Bird's eyes were fixed on the halo in the sky, inside the halo, in the Temple of Time, where the Chaldeans' ultimate goal—the end of their journey to the Grand Order, the culprit behind the 'Humanity Burning' incident—resided, a grand war was also coming to an end.

“The five spirits are gathered, and the four symbols take form.”

"Establish the Four Symbols, Five Elements, and Eight Trigrams Formation!"

Four enormous beams of light descended from the four directions of the Temple of Time, within which the illusory forms of the four sacred beasts—dragon, tiger, sparrow, and tortoise—faintly appeared. All material structures belonging to the categories of 'metal,' 'wood,' 'water,' 'fire,' and 'earth' that constituted this material region ceased functioning due to the operation of the spell. At the very core of the formation, a gigantic golden humanoid figure, several meters tall, gradually became sluggish, slowed down, and ultimately ceased to function.

Luo Yinglong of the Celestial Team descended gracefully from the very top of the formation. Countless lifelike ink-wash runes surged forth from his sleeves like a swarm of insects, completely enveloping the tall, now-dormant golden humanoid figure in the center of the temple. This was clearly some kind of sealing technique, and it had already taken effect. He landed precisely atop the jade throne in the center of the temple as a black and white cocoon of seal was completed.

He let out a soft breath.

"Phew, the Four Symbols, Five Elements, and Eight Trigrams Sealing Array. As expected of a top-tier sealing artifact provided by the main god, it can completely suppress even a native powerhouse who has awakened the Light of the Mind and would be a hidden boss in other story worlds. The two S-rank side quests were well worth the money."

He stretched, two sword lights, one blue and one purple, swirling lightly around him. His gaze shifted to other battlefields within the temple, where his companions had just finished their battles.

The Celestial Team has three leaders: Adam, Song Tian, ​​and Luo Yinglong. Besides them, there are several minor members—however, the Celestial Team's minor members are somewhat different from those of other teams. Due to the team's unique characteristic of only allowing captains to join, and the painful lessons learned in previous worlds, the members still remaining in the Celestial Team have at least unlocked the third stage of their genetic locks and received at least S-level enhancements. Compared to the Lord of the Rings world, their overall combat strength has made a significant leap.

The Temple of Time is the temple of Goetia, the Demon King, who is the sum of Solomon's seventy-two demons. There are nine nodes around the temple.

Adam purged four of the nodes, using his incantation to simply curse the constantly resurrecting demonic pillars to death. Song Tian suppressed the other four nodes, using his extremely sharp and ruthless sword intent to slice dozens of demonic pillars into fragments of dust, destined for self-destruction even if they were to be reborn. Luo Yinglong rushed straight to the center of the temple, taking advantage of the fact that the Demon King Goetia had not yet fully subdued the band of light in the sky, and directly used a powerful artifact made by the main god to suppress it. As for the remaining weakest and smallest node… the minions barely managed to buy some time.

The current result is a resounding victory for Team Celestials. Thus, Chaldea's journey of 'restoring humanity and designating the Grand Order' is not yet over, but the final boss that they were supposed to face has become a dead fish—although they are still completely unaware of this.

Besides, even if we knew, it wouldn't make much difference.

Minutes later, with Adam and Song Tian casually suppressing the Demon Pillar inside the last node, the Celestial Team finally gained complete control of the Temple of Time. The spacetime link from the outer node to the inner one was completely opened, and a few seconds later, the Celestial Team's reincarnators gathered before the throne of the Temple of Time.

"all the best?"

"all the best."

Adam asked a question, and Luo Yinglong answered. After this brief exchange, Luo Yinglong reached out, and a ball of pure light enveloping the nine rings landed steadily in Adam's hand. When a glimmer of light appeared in Adam's eyes, and he used some unknown divine artifact to bless the nine rings, the rings, which had initially shown some resistance and struggle, quickly became docile and ceased their resistance.

The band of light in the sky rotated slowly.

Adam put away the nine rings and nodded.

"Very good, everything is exactly as I expected—this Demon King Goetia, and these nine rings are the ritual core that drives these light bands. Phew, this guy's idea is quite interesting, collecting the heat of three thousand years of human history, turning it into fuel to turn back the history of the earth to the beginning of creation and reshape the world. Still an idealist."

He turned his head to look at his companion.

"Luo Yinglong, if this guy hadn't been caught off guard by our surprise attack, but instead had used this light band as a weapon from the very beginning, what would your chances of winning be?"

"Let's say it's 60/40, I'll take 60% and they'll take 40%." Luo Yinglong snorted softly. "I know what you want to ask, and I can tell you very clearly. Even if it were the Middle-earth team from Lord of the Rings, that woman named Alice Margot Lloyd, I would only have a 60% chance of winning against her now. Even if I unlocked the fourth-tier gene lock, even if I reached the Out-of-Body stage, even if I were filled with a large number of spells and treasures, I would only have a 60% chance of winning against her back then, a 30% draw, and a 10% loss. The only thing I can be sure of is that I won't die."

"And the premise that I won't die is that she hasn't made any progress since Lord of the Rings."

Adam nodded and looked at Song Tian.

"Zheng Zha has a 70% chance of winning before the end of Lord of the Rings." — Song Tian's words were as indifferent and concise as ever. He gently stroked the long sword in his arms, pale purple lightning dancing between his fingers.

“You have 70%, you have 60%. The East American team has joined the Central Plains team, and besides those two, they have at least three more Reincarnators at the early fourth level or higher. And this time it's their home turf.” Adam reached out, gently stroking the ring of light above the sky. Unlike the Demon King, who was determined to recreate the world, he only intended to use this ring of light as a weapon—“In terms of overall strength, we are definitely behind, and this weapon… at most provides one fourth-level turret. It seems like a lot, but in reality…”

His gaze passed beyond the halo, looking into the infinite void beyond it. Unconsciously, a faint trace of blood appeared quietly from the depths of his pupils.

"The actual battle situation is something we both know."

"So, are we going to give up?" Luo Yinglong crossed his arms and sneered, "Adam, if we choose to give up now, then these seventy-two demon gods and this Temple of Time alone will be worth the price of our ticket. Although we are destined not to get the biggest piece of meat, these things alone are enough to serve as resources for us to move to a higher level—the three of us have been stuck at the threshold of the middle of the fourth tier for a long time, and our accumulation has long since reached its limit. Taking a step back and finding a world with a slightly lower difficulty level would truly open up a whole new world for us."

Adam did not answer; he looked at Song Tian.

"I don't care," Song Tian replied calmly, merely flicking the blade of the long sword in his robes. "You're the captain; whether to fight or retreat is your decision."

Adam glanced at the small fry again, and this time he received a bunch of nods of agreement.

“We have no hope in a head-on confrontation.” Adam chuckled and said, “Of course I’m not going to be foolish enough to go head-to-head with the Central Continent Team or any of the other Reincarnation Teams. Everyone knows how deep the water is in this team battle. But that doesn’t mean we’re going to slink away like this.”

His toes touched the ground of the Temple of Time.

"This temple... is indeed a considerable gain. But it hasn't been fully utilized yet, because it's also a valuable asset. It's a hub through which we can gain mobility across various parts of time and space. And more importantly, in this special team battle, we are not in an enemy relationship with the other reincarnation teams."

“But they might not need allies.” Luo Yinglong tilted his head slightly and glanced at him. His gaze drifted past him into the distance before quickly returning. “Even if they needed them, we couldn’t be. Or do you think we could participate in that battle outside?”

"They certainly don't need it, but that doesn't mean we can't remain neutral. This Temple of Time is not just a hub; it's also a fortified stronghold that combines mobility and concealment. If we modify it a little over the next few days, it will be enough to give us an invincible position—they get the meat, we get the soup, simply put, grab what we can and run."

Luo Yinglong raised an eyebrow.

“If you only intend to modify this temple, instead of rushing up directly or sending others to their deaths, then I will not object to your decision. In any case, even if we run back, we will eventually have to modify this Temple of Time into a suitable war fortress, so it doesn’t matter if we do it first—but before that, there is still something I want to ask you.”

He stared at Adam, his sharp eyebrows suddenly rising.

"The end of the world, this 'burning of humanity'—how do you plan to deal with it?"

Adam clenched his fingers tightly, and the light band above the sky moved slightly faster.

"This energy, this technique, can become a sharp spear that complements a strong shield. And Luo Yinglong, do you really think it's a good thing to eliminate the Humanity Burning Technique of this world at this time, allowing the chaotic Earth on the surface to regain order and directly expose it to the battlefield of those two guys outside?"

"........."

Luo Yinglong nodded, then shook his head. He didn't say a word, and just turned and left.

Among the miscellaneous... oh, among the other members of the Celestial Team, a girl with wine-red hair glared at Adam, then hurriedly ran towards Luo Yinglong's direction.

That was Lina, who had a somewhat ambiguous relationship with Luo Yinglong long before the time of The Lord of the Rings, and later even openly considered herself Luo Yinglong's wife. Perhaps before the time of The Lord of the Rings, she would not dare to disobey Adam's will because of his profound strength and divine wisdom. However, after Adam was defeated twice by Alice, and Luo Yinglong returned to the Shu Mountain world after that battle and his strength skyrocketed, the factions within the Celestial Team quietly split.

The three leaders remained the three leaders, but Adam's position had unknowingly shifted from leadership to advisory role. Coupled with Song Tian's continued inaction and Luo Yinglong's differing values, three factions were subtly emerging within this already small team.

This isn't something that can be resolved with illusions, rhetoric, or social skills. Different paths lead to different paths, and the stronger the group, the more pronounced the disagreements. They might not know that the Central Continent team had experienced something similar in the past, but they had already resolved the problem, while the Celestial God team is still struggling to find a suitable solution.

Perhaps Adam didn't intend to find a way out of the predicament either.

He turned his head towards Song Tian, ​​and a storage device he had casually conjured flew towards Song Tian, ​​who caught it. After reading the contents of the storage device, Song Tian nodded slightly and left, heading to other parts of the Temple of Time.

He then looked at the other members of the Celestial Team present.

"Everyone," a smile played on his lips. "Next, we need to renovate this temple, and there are some tasks to be assigned... Does anyone have anything important they plan to do? If not, then I will now assign tasks to your teams."

"…………" — Time silently passed three seconds.

“Very good.” Adam spread his hands, looking at his companion with great satisfaction. “Now, let’s deal with these issues first.”

"first……"

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

When Luo Yinglong stopped, his feet were on the spatial node called 'Observatory Funuos' within the Temple of Time. This was the outermost part of the Temple of Time, the closest point to the outer space—he looked up, peering out from the now-ruined white stone temple's top, vague, invisible outlines flickering around him before vanishing as he shifted his gaze from the depths of space to the Earth's surface.

He could see the Earth's surface, now a chaotic mess, ravaged by the removal of its historical foundations; he could see the Chaldea organization atop Antarctica; he could see the restless, dark shadows beyond the last beacon of humanity, and he knew exactly what they were.

He stretched out his hand, forming a sword with his fingers, ready to obliterate the lurking shadow approaching Chaldea. However, he hesitated for a moment before he could act. He knew he shouldn't act now, shouldn't reveal the coordinates of the Temple of Time. But he just couldn't help himself…

...Well, he didn't need to hold back any longer. The shadow didn't notice Chaldea; instead, it was drawn to another tiny light outside of Chaldea. The shadow chased the light away, and when it looked again, it was difficult to find any trace of it on the dimly lit surface of the earth.

He sighed softly, and the next moment, a pair of hands reached out from behind him and embraced him.

“Yinglong…” a soft female voice came from behind him. “Don’t argue with Captain Adam, okay? He’s doing it for the whole team…”

“Linaya…” Luo Yinglong tried to locate the tiny light, but the failure made him sigh helplessly. He shook his head and looked away. “It’s not that I want to compete with him, but this is the only way.”

"...Is it because of the 'Taoist Erosion' you mentioned to me before?" The woman behind him hugged him even tighter.

“Yes, it’s precisely because of the erosion of the Dao.” Luo Yinglong pondered for a very brief moment, then nodded with a slightly heavy tone. “Because his Dao… is too far apart.”

He still remembered what Linaya was like before he arrived at the Fourth Primary School. Back then, she was willful, capricious, possessive, and arrogant, conceited about her talents—he quite liked her then, and of course, he quite liked the gentle and considerate Linaya she was now. But he also knew why Linaya had become the way she was now.

Because of the erosion of the Dao, because he reached the beginning of the Four Beginnings and reached his limit. And even more so because his ideal girlfriend... should look like this.

He wanted her to be this way, so she inadvertently became this way—he didn't regret it; it was better for Lina to be corrupted by his own Dao than by Adam or Song Tian. But he also harbored regrets, regretting that his partner couldn't be like the partner of that woman named Alice, able to understand her own Dao at the same time as taking that crucial step.

“You’re always right, Yinglong.” The woman behind him was oblivious to his inner thoughts, simply obeying him as he subconsciously desired. “So what should I do? You seem unhappy. What can I do to cheer you up?”

'You can throw a tantrum at me like you always have,' Luo Yinglong thought to himself.

Then he immediately felt a kick to his shin. The warm embrace also moved away from behind him.

"Honestly, you're like a silent gourd. You big idiot, I'm ignoring you!"—He heard the girl's coquettish voice, and then the sound of high heels 'tap tap tap' quickly faded away. Her emotions were genuine, and he knew that he hadn't used a single bit of his strength.

Powerful gods always get what they want because the world revolves around them. And because of this, how powerful gods interact with each other is a very complex subject—and the true god therefore finds it difficult to focus on life forms other than those of his own kind.