Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

—Those who suffer will be freed.

In other words, it is compassion and mercy!

The awakening of Gaia is inevitable, and no one can stop it. The reorganization that Gaia will undergo after his awakening is also inevitable, and the only one who can stop Gaia is Gaia himself!

She took the leap.

"Please have mercy, Mother."

The next moment, in every corner of the multiverse, in the eyes of every intelligent life form, they all saw a pure white full moon fall from the sky at the same instant!

From the highest point of the heavens to the deepest abyss of the earth!

No one knew what this meant, nor why the moon, which had been perfectly fine, would fall from the sky. And once the moon had fallen to the deepest depths of darkness, everything returned to calm.

The moon remained in the sky, and no unusual phenomena appeared in the heavens and earth. The story of Chang'e flying to the moon was still recorded in people's minds and in books, and Chang'e remained just the ordinary fairy Chang'e.

'Thud—!' The woman's corpse fell to the ground, splattering a patch of crimson blood.

But no one noticed it, no one realized its existence. Terrified by the spectacle of the setting moon, mortals ran back and forth in the streets, trampling it, crushing it, until it turned into a puddle of mud, until it vanished into the void like smoke.

No one knew she was dead, just as no one knew what she had done.

And on the outer edge of the universe, beyond the outer edge, in the abyss of death that boiled for the first time, the pure white moon was slowly melting within this long, eternal darkness.

Melt, erode, annihilate, and finally—

Everything is gone.

The boiling abyss of death has once again returned to calm.

a long time.

a long time.

I don't know how long it will take.

At a certain moment, in the deepest part of the abyss of death—

—A slumbering Supreme briefly opened his eyes.

“Aiqi…Della…”

Side Story: The Situation and Speculations on the End of the War

The war ended, and the reincarnators returned to their respective God Spaces.

Leaving aside the Central Continent team for the moment, some minor changes have occurred on the Demon team's side.

Six members of the Demon Team went to the stage where the Central Continent Team was located. Of them, apart from Yuzuriha Inori, who participated in the Adam Extermination Battle, the other four all failed—they did not successfully advance to the middle stage of the fourth rank, and Dechai even died once and had to use a resurrection item to roll back to the Main God Space. After realizing that they had missed this last chance, they consciously chose to leave before the others could speak.

They were clones, unable to return to the original world. However, the clone Alice provided them with several low-danger, resource-rich cosmic coordinates. After a simple farewell ceremony, they separated from the demon team, left the God Realm, and returned to the mundane masses.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; if you don't seize it, you don't seize it. After those who failed left the Demon Team, the remaining members went back to their own private spaces to handle their own affairs. Only the three decision-makers within the Demon Team remained, discussing and planning the team's future beneath the sphere of divine light.

The composition of these three is not much different from that of the Central Continent Team. They are simply clones of Zheng Zha, Chu Xuan, and Alice Margotrovid.

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

"Margot Lloyd, how much time do we have?" The clone Zheng Zha asked, resting his hands on his chin in a classic sitting posture.

“At most two worlds. One for digestion, one for adjustment.” The clone Alice replied without hesitation. “Then the final war will arrive. This cycle of reincarnation will also come to an end.”

"Final battle... Do we really need to have a final battle with the Central Continent Team?" He rubbed his forehead, looking very troubled.

“Strictly speaking, no. In fact, if the Central Continent Team wanted, we could even use special access items to bypass the twenty-person limit of the Reincarnation Squad and join their team directly. Then, the final winner wouldn’t need to be decided, since the winner of the final battle is a team, not an individual. However…” The clone Alice shrugged.

"But whether or not we fight isn't up to us, is it?" The clone Zheng Zha's lips twitched, then he sighed helplessly. "That's true, the Supreme God isn't doing charity after all. He gave us such a great opportunity, so naturally he has to collect a corresponding price as compensation... The war in the inner universe, tsk, we've really gotten ourselves into a terrible war."

“It wasn’t that we got involved; it was that we willingly threw ourselves into it,” the clone Alice corrected. “We’re different from the originals, Captain. You should know what the Demon Squad’s purpose is. We are both insurance and a patch. Compared to our originals, we owe the Supreme God a greater debt. And the price we have to pay for that is naturally much greater.”

“…I know.” The captain of the Demon Team sighed softly.

The Demon Team…what is the purpose of the Demon Team? When they were weak, the reincarnators might have thought of the Demon Team as a control group—an experimental project set up by the main god, a medium to trigger the catfish effect. However, as the members of the Demon Team grew stronger and came into contact with more and more secrets, the reincarnators' understanding of the Demon Team constantly changed.

The essence of reincarnators lies in those ancient sages and transcendent beings who died in the distant past. They are able to enter the world of reincarnation because the legacy of their past lives brings them great fortune, which becomes their reliance for joining the world of reincarnation—they will grow in the world of reincarnation, reclaim the power lost in the past, and then be reborn here with the same or different self-awareness, or even ascend to a higher level of life.

In other words, the Supreme God is not an arena but a sanatorium. Ancient deities are resurrected here, paying a hidden price for it. Given this, what is the purpose of a place teeming with clones like the Demon Squad?

Simply put, the existence of the Demon Team is an insurance policy. It's an insurance policy that allows the stagnant original to overcome obstacles at crucial moments—the original and the clone are, strictly speaking, originally one person, but through some method known only to the Supreme God or true saints, they were separated into two halves, each with its own independent Light of the Soul—

In this situation, if one side encounters a hurdle that it simply cannot overcome, such as the 'mid-stage of the fourth tier', then the other side can become a stepping stone to move forward, or it can devour the defeated side so that it can continue to grow.

In the previous battle, the clone Chu Xuan compiled statistics on the characteristics of the Light of the Mind possessed by all the originals and clones, and collected all their paths and powers. He then discovered that the paths and powers possessed by all the originals and clones were either completely opposite or complementary. This was strong evidence.

"The final battle is bound to break out. After all, it is the 'Reconstruction Center,' so in every generation of reincarnators, there should be at least one strong person qualified to walk the path of sainthood. And those losers who are impatient to become saints and reach the relative end point in the four high stages will be directly kicked out by the main god?"

“Exactly,” the clone Alice replied. “Therefore, we are bound to have a battle with the Central Continent Team. Even if there is no reason to fight, the Supreme God will arrange a reason for us to fight. And this is only considering the Supreme God's duties, without taking into account the intervention of the Supreme Beings above the Inner Universe. If this variable is introduced, then the final result will naturally be beyond our knowledge.”

The captain of the Demon Team tilted his head and looked at his other strategist.

"You can't do it either, Chu Xuan?"

"I am not omnipotent." The clone Chu Xuan pushed up his glasses. "I can only ensure that most of our team members do not die without purpose. As for the number of people who will ultimately survive, and whether we can win the final victory, that is beyond my calculation ability."

The clone, Zheng Zha, nodded.

"In other words, you're not sure if the war between us and the Central Continent team will be a life-or-death melee, but rather a struggle in a form that's not yet fully predictable?"—It has to be said that the saying "darkening makes you three times stronger" does have some truth to it. Although the clone Zheng Zha can't be considered truly darkened, the one from Central Continent definitely wouldn't have grasped Chu Xuan's implied meaning so quickly!

"Indeed, based on the intelligence I have gathered, after combining and analyzing it, the probability of a decisive battle where only one side survives occurring at the end of the war is no more than 30%. There is a greater than 50% chance that we and other reincarnation teams will fight against a powerful enemy and its affiliated forces in a 'cooperative competition' manner."

“The original Adam,” the clone Alice took over, confirming with an affirmative tone. “The probability of us encountering it at the end of the war is extremely high. The probability of us fighting it is extremely high.”

"Chu Xuan, can you handle it?"

“It’s difficult.” A strange light shone in the eyes of the clone Chu Xuan. This was a sign that he was ‘very interested in something.’ “Adam is a very dangerous and cunning enemy. I’m not absolutely certain I can defeat him in the realm of intelligence. And in the realm of strength—”

He glanced at the clone of Zheng Zha.

"I think I should be able to beat him."

“I don’t think you can handle it.” The clone Alice poured cold water on her captain. “You might be able to easily defeat Adam. But the original Adam is a different story. When we encountered it in the final battle, I felt it was at least at the Saint level in terms of combat power.”

However, the captain of the Demon Team was not angry. On the contrary, he noticed a detail that the upright ape of the Central Continent Team next door would almost certainly miss—both Chu Xuan and Alice counted 'Adam' and 'Original Adam' as separate individuals.

He immediately felt reassured and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright, let's leave that topic aside for now... Since we still have two worlds left, the Central Continent Team should also have at least two more, right?"

“At least three times,” the clone Alice replied calmly. “They don’t yet possess the relics of the sages from their past lives. In other words, they haven’t yet traveled to the ruins of the sages to face the treasures and trials left behind by their past lives. Of course, I cannot rule out the possibility that their relics are placed in worlds like the Legend of the Gods and Demons, which they have already visited once. In that case, perhaps the number of times they have access to the storyline would be reduced to a level comparable to ours.”

"Can't you calculate the Investiture of the Gods?" the Demon Team captain asked.

"I can't figure it out. Unless I get my hands on the Jade Disc of Creation, but I'm pretty sure it's inside the Sage's Ruins that the Central Continent Team is about to reach," the clone Chu Xuan replied calmly.

"I understand." The clone Zheng Zha lowered his eyes, knowing there was no need to continue this topic. So he began to ask about other things that interested him.

"Besides the Zhongzhou team, which other teams should we pay attention to?"

"Senju Team." The clone Chu Xuan shook the Investiture of the Gods, which resembled a newspaper, in his hand. "The Investiture of the Gods has detected that the captain's authority of the Indo-Pacific Team has been revoked. Meanwhile, the Senju Team's fortune has increased significantly—I judge that the Central Continent Team must have done something to Sesshouin Kiara of the Indo-Pacific Team before leaving. This led her to decide to join the Senju Team, and now they are the fourth-ranked team in the Reincarnation World."

"Fourth? Then what is the third...?"

"It's the Atlantis team."

"The team that Luo Hao's true form was in... Chu Xuan, didn't you previously calculate through the Investiture of the Gods that Luo Hao's true form had died early in a high-difficulty story world, to the point that it didn't even qualify to participate in the battle to hunt the saint? Could it be that Luo Hao's true form has been resurrected?"

"That's not all." The clone Chu Xuan flipped through the records on the Investiture of the Gods. "Luo Yinglong from the Celestial Team joined the Great Western Continent Team, which originally only had two or three strongest members who had only unlocked the second-tier gene lock, through a random team transfer contract. His dominance sparked discontent and fear among these veterans—"

"So they resurrected Luo Hao, who had just entered the Main God Space and hadn't yet recovered from the weakened state caused by the Main God's stripping of his enhancements, and who had been tricked and killed in the story world, in an attempt to fight against Luo Yinglong. This gave them a chance to catch their breath and maneuver between the two powerful figures. They succeeded, but they also failed."

“Normal.” The clone Zheng Zha subconsciously rubbed his face. When he first met this martial arts king who came from the world of god-slaying, he was punched hard in the face—although he won a great victory in that battle and blasted Luo Hao until only half of his head remained—being punched is being punched, and this is one of the few memorable things he had besides being dealt with by Alice and Chu Xuan every day.

"Luo Hao wouldn't allow traitors to live, much less make deals with them—I guess she's getting along pretty well with Luo Yinglong now?"

"Judging from the distribution map of the Atlantean team's fortune, there are no signs of infighting within this reincarnation team. Moreover, while we were meeting here, the Supreme God had already arranged two story worlds for the Atlantean team. One was for adaptation, and the other was a difficult story world, and they also added many promising new members. Now they are a team without any obvious weaknesses."

"I see. Tsk, the Supreme God always likes to play these little balancing games... What about the other teams? Are there any more?"

“There are basically none left.” Chu Xuan put away the Investiture of the Gods. “There is only one special case like the Great Western Continent Team. I tested the Sand Island Team, where Kaguya Otsutsuki’s true form is located, the North Sea Team, where Tom’s true form is located, and other teams that may need attention. The final conclusion is that they are still in the lower level of the cycle world—the West Sea Team is an exception. It seems to have some signs of recovery, but as of now, it is still in a very bad state.”

"It seems that there are at most only five Reincarnation Teams that can remain active on the final stage of the battle. And based on your high-probability prediction, Chu Xuan... I'll assume that this is the final outcome. So, if the Central Continent Team can become strong enough before the final battle, it will actually be beneficial to us, right?"

"You can think of it that way."

The clone Zheng Zha nodded. "The legacy of the past life, the legacy of the ancients... It seems that the original me has no interest in being the ancients either. So he will probably face a very severe test. He should succeed, but he will probably suffer a lot... This can be considered a trial for him."

He suddenly turned his head and looked at the clone Alice.

“Margot Lloyd, what kind of ‘legacy’ do you think your soul will receive?”

The clone Alice gave her captain a cold look, who was in a bad mood and would soon be punished.

"I'm trying hard to stop myself from thinking about this problem."

The Thirteenth Stop: A Journey of Fantasy

Section 1: An Unexpected Opening

Alice felt very embarrassed, extremely embarrassed.

To put it simply, it's the kind of awkwardness that makes you want to find a place to die.

As for why she had ended up in such a predicament—she tilted her head and looked at Patchouli, who was sitting on the left side of the table beneath the main god's sphere of light. The latter gave her a mocking look with a half-smile. She then looked at the right side of the table, where Luo Ye, with an indifferent expression, was like a lifelike clay or wooden sculpture with only a face.

Ah... how did things turn out this way?

The long war to hunt for saints had just ended, and all the instability within the team had just been resolved, with everyone's life level raised to near-uniform limits. These were clearly two joyous occasions, and combined, they should have brought double, or even square, happiness. But why...?

Why did things turn out this way?

Five minutes ago, the Central Continent Team returned to the Main God Space via the Main God Teleportation. Sixteen people went, and sixteen people returned—this seemed to make no mistake. However, the problem lies in the fact that Aika Sato, as Chu Xuan's vassal, joined the Main God Space, Zhang Heng remained on Wandering Earth and never returned, and Zhao Zhuikong was killed by Luo Yinglong, causing him to return before the others!

The addition of one more person was something a group of fourth-tier reincarnators would understand without even looking. While most members of the Central Continent Team had never seen Luo Ye, they clearly knew of her existence, what she meant to Alice and the entire team, and even what she looked like!

Zheng Zha swallowed back the opening remarks he had intended to use to summarize the current situation and, incidentally, to reminisce about Zhang Heng's departure. He grabbed the bewildered Luo Li and, like a gust of wind, rolled back to the Main God Space without uttering a word. The others, not to be outdone, also left. Although they were quite interested in what would happen next, they knew perfectly well that they shouldn't be there!

And so, the group of reincarnators scattered like birds and beasts.

Those who paid a little more attention to manners, like Xilin and Zhan Lan, who preferred to maintain a ladylike image, would bow slightly and then disappear in small, quick steps, vanishing like smoke, shadows, or light. But those less particular, like Ba Wang and Zhang Jie, would simply leave Alice with either a gloating or "good luck" look, then cover their mouths or awkwardly disappear completely from Alice's increasingly gloomy face.

Alice made a mental note about the latter. As for the former, after Alice 'accidentally' stepped on and destroyed a shadow disguised as a table, and crushed a miniature spatial bubble hiding in a spatial interlayer, she made two notes about them. And then…

Then there is no more.

Only Alice, Luo Ye, and Patchouli, who was shameless enough to stay even at this point, remained under the main god's sphere of light. Aside from them, the rest was utterly awkward.

Awkward, awkward—the awkwardness lasted for a full five minutes.