Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"He's burnt to a crisp! You! Me! How could you!" Her mouth was agape, her gaze darting rapidly between the corpse, Alice, and herself.

"How did you do that! White phosphorus? You hid white phosphorus in your hand!?"

Alice ignored her.

“Looks like someone’s got their eye on you, Miss Evelyn. This room is yours alone.” Alice held an amulet in her hand, its front covered in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. A faint glow was fading from the surface of the writing. If Evelyn could make out the words, she would recognize them as prayers praising the god of fire.

[This makeshift fire-breathing amulet can probably only be used twice more... Tsk, my crafting skills have really deteriorated. I should have been more diligent in Gensokyo.]

"Wait! You haven't answered my question yet!"

“You’ll find out soon enough. Now, grab your bag.” Alice kicked the tightly closed wooden door open from the opposite direction. She pulled a pistol from her pocket and, without looking, fired half a magazine into the back of the door. The amulet she was holding slipped into her sleeve. Her free hand then grabbed Evelyn’s shoulder.

"Keep up, don't fall behind."

The body behind the door slid limply to the ground; it was a burly man dressed in a black robe. He was also holding a gun, and two wooden-handled grenades hung from his belt.

Alice flicked her toe, sending the grenade flying directly in front of her. She caught it, pulled the pin, and threw it into Evelyn's room. The next second, two heavily armed men in black burst through a window from outside the cabin!

"FXXK!" The two unlucky guys only had time to utter one curse before the blast wave, carrying dozens of shrapnel fragments from the grenade, swept through the entire cabin, flames shooting out of the windows with a deafening roar.

"Evelyn!" O'Connor's urgent voice came from the other side of the cabin corridor. The burly man, who had just found love, was clearly very fond of his little sweetheart. He rushed out of the cabin carrying a rifle and looked delighted when he saw Alice and Eve.

“O’Connor! I’m here!” Evelyn screamed, waving her hands frantically. Then she looked on in horror as Alice raised her gun in O’Connor’s direction.

Two men in black who rushed out from around the corner of the corridor fell to the ground.

"My God! You almost hit him!"

“I hit it perfectly.” Alice glanced at Evelyn. If a witch couldn’t even do something as simple as aligning three points, then she shouldn’t even think about brewing potions or making tools. Because that would be suicide!

She casually tossed the empty magazine of her pistol aside. With a quick clasp and release of her hands, she connected the thin strings used for puppets between her fingers. She preferred puppet strings to firearms, because her control over the strings far exceeded that of guns.

At this moment, O'Connor, who had been frozen in shock by the bullet that grazed his ear, suddenly snapped out of his daze and opened his arms to hug Evelyn, who was rushing into his embrace like a small animal. He comforted his sweetheart while thanking Alice.

"Thank you, ma'am." He managed a forced, hatless salutation, his arm around Evelyn. "But could you please not be so...sudden next time?"

"Where's Zheng Zha? I remember he came to chat with you after dinner."

"He's gone up to deck! We've only just separated!" O'Connor replied quickly. "We've been attacked! The other side has a ship too!"

“Oh, this situation is unexpectedly bad.” Alice nodded. “So we have to take care of that ship, or at least save the lifeboats on deck. Grab your guns and protect Evelyn; these men in black are after her. We’re going up now.”

“Evelyn? Her!?” O’Connor looked incredulous. “She’s just a regular librarian!”

“It’s obvious she’s not as ordinary as you thought.” Alice wiggled her fingers, reached a satisfactory conclusion, and then headed towards the stairs leading to the upper deck.

Evelyn, nestled in O'Connor's arms, suddenly looked at her lover with a pitiful expression. "You'll protect me, won't you, O'Connor?"

The man, who was still in shock just a second ago, suddenly burst forth with courage.

“Darling, I won’t let anything happen to you.” He gripped the gun, his face resolute. Just then, a weak voice suddenly came from the side.

"Hey, can I come with you?" Jonathan, who appeared out of nowhere, suddenly popped out of the next room. "I'm her brother, you need an officiant at your wedding."

“Oh, I think you should perhaps ask that lady for help.” O’Connor scoffed and looked at Alice.

“O’Connor! He’s my brother!” Evelyn playfully kicked O’Connor, who immediately apologized profusely.

At that moment, Alice had already reached the top of the stairs.

“You Americans who don’t know when to be in love…” She tilted her ear to listen to the intense fighting on the upper deck. She immediately got a general assessment of the situation. “If you don’t catch up soon, I’m going up by myself.”

Chapter 11 - There's something wrong with this art style...

On the wide Nile River, two burning merchant ships drifted side by side. The sounds of gunfire and explosions were incessant, like a pot of roasting beans over a raging fire.

"It's a little more than expected, but still within control." Xiao Honglu twirled a strand of black hair, observing the entire battlefield from the cover he had prepared beforehand.

This was both an evaluation battle and a trial run. He needed direct observation to accurately assess the level of teamwork among the Zhongzhou team members. Meanwhile, the veteran members of the Zhongzhou team, who had recently acquired Sage and Magic Legendary combat abilities, also wanted to witness the true skills of Xiao Honglu and Alice, along with other factors. It was a win-win situation.

In fact, aside from the few who managed to sneak into the lower deck of the cargo ship and were killed by Alice, the tomb guardians are currently at a disadvantage. Just now, Zheng Zha charged directly into the crowd of people climbing up the hull, unleashing a bloodbath.

Zheng Zha's marksmanship was only average, but his reaction speed was extremely fast. He could often easily dodge bullets when the opponent fired at him, and then kill them one by one with a shot or a punch at close range. Those who were shot would lose their fighting ability, while those who were punched would basically vomit blood and then collapse listlessly.

On the other side of the deck, Zhao Yingkong was primarily responsible for the attack. Zhang Jie and Zero were responsible for suppressing fire from the high ground, while the young assassin was responsible for close-range attacks under the cover of the barrage of bullets. She was incredibly fast; her dagger moved like a venomous snake, and with each strike, someone would die.

None of them used any power beyond the first level of the genetic lock. This made them appear like ordinary humans.

The strong among mortals are called heroes, and wherever heroes are, the banner of victory flies.

The sailors on deck cheered loudly, their morale soaring thanks to the Zhongzhou team. They picked up their guns and returned fire, while those who didn't know how to use guns grabbed oars and engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. The two cargo ships thus exchanged fire across the river, just a few meters apart.

"Miss Alice and O'Connor are coming up." — Zhan Lan's voice rang in Xiao Honglu's ears. This was the Mind Link, one of the abilities Zhan Lan, a specialist in mental power, had developed. At this moment, she was hiding in another bunker with the new recruits, protected by Saito Hajime with a gun.

“Understood. Now it’s Alice’s turn to shine. Let her give it her all and show us her abilities, and complete the previously planned mission,” Xiao Honglu said, his voice traveling through Zhan Lan’s mind link to the minds of the others.

'Understood, I've already passed your message on to the others.'

The next moment, a streak of light burst forth from the passageway below the deck.

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

The people from the Zhongzhou team are watching me.

Alice thought to herself. The puppet strings she held between her fingers surged out of the deck seal like a hound smelling blood, and in the blink of an eye, they caught a caught-off-guard tomb keeper in black. Her fingers twitched rhythmically, and the poor fellow was tossed around like a yo-yo, crashing into the mast with a crisp cracking sound.

he died.

One of Alice's amulets crumbled like sand, rolling off her sleeve like ashes after it had burned out.

[Physical enhancement, effective immediately.]

The other tomb keepers noticed her and turned their guns to fire at Alice's location.

[Reaction enhancement, effective immediately.]

More ashes spilled from the seams of Alice's clothes. She simply shifted her position a few times to dodge most of the bullets. With a casual pull of the puppet strings, the corpse of the tomb keeper, who had been crushed to death, became a human shield, blocking the remaining few stragglers. She took a step forward and reached out her hand towards the makeshift shelter the tomb keeper had made using boxes and barrels.

"Flames."

A wisp of fire took shape in her palm, instantly transforming into a hollow sphere filled with air. With a slight squeeze, the relatively cold air core immediately became extremely unstable, and before reaching this critical point of instability, she hurled the hollow fireball in front of the tomb keeper's bunker.

BOOM—!!! The boxes were blown to pieces, and the people hiding behind them were thrown into the air by the blast. Their hair and clothes caught fire, and they cried out for help from the heat and fear.

"Witch—!!" someone screamed.

The sailors who had fought so bravely turned pale. They became timid and hesitant, unable to meet Alice's gaze. For at that moment, five identical fireballs hovered silently beside Alice.

Flames weren't the best option, but they were the most direct manifestation of superhuman power. She noticed O'Connor staring at her dumbfounded at the bottom of the stairs below deck, looking completely bewildered, and instinctively stepped in front of Evelyn to block her way.

—As expected.

Alice turned her head and saw a heavy machine gun set up on the merchant ship opposite. As she looked over, several grenades were thrown at her.

But the puppet strings easily sliced ​​through the grenades. And as the machine guns roared, the five floating fireballs reached the deck of the merchant ship opposite.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The deck was blasted to pieces by the exploding flames. At least ten tomb keepers died in the blast. The ship rocked violently, and the half-body of the specially protected machine gunner fell into the Nile with a thud. But the remaining tomb keepers became even more fanatical, fearlessly returning fire, and new brave men rushed towards the scorching machine gun position.

Alice noticed a small boat quickly disappearing behind the merchant ship on the opposite side. But she paid it no mind.

She glanced at the Zhongzhou team members who had started paddling as soon as she stepped onto the deck, and the puppet string she flicked from her hand hooked onto the opposite ship's railing in the blink of an eye!

Their gazes were too uniform, even including Xiao Honglu's.

They have a secret way of communicating, but they haven't revealed it to me.

"Oh no." Xiao Honglu gritted his teeth. "She noticed. Is she really worthy of being called a witch? She noticed this anomaly with just a glance? Sister Zhan Lan, are you listening?"

'I'm here. Is there anything you need to tell me?'

"Get the captain and the others into the battle immediately! Telling her about telepathy and her discovering it herself are two different things. This battle isn't just us testing her abilities; she's also observing us!" Xiao Honglu forcefully pulled out a hair, his expression showing some impatience.

"Damn it, why is it acting like I'm the veteran member of the Central Continent Team? Magic is something I don't understand at all, so I can't treat it as a variable for calculation!"

He stomped his feet angrily, only then appearing like a twelve-year-old boy.

Just as Xiao Honglu was lost in thought, Alice had already gracefully scaled the opposite deck. The puppet strings around her pulsated like halos of light, effortlessly deflecting most of the incoming bullets. With a flick of her fingers, two tomb guardians strapped with explosives, attempting to rush forward to take each other down, were beheaded by the puppet strings. She took a step forward, and the intertwined puppet strings instantly transformed into a hunting net.

A witch who isn't skilled in melee combat and a warrior who isn't skilled in ranged combat are both trash. If they don't even try to make up for such obvious weaknesses, it's only a matter of time before they get killed. In less than half a second, she captured an exceptionally strong tomb guardian and bound him tightly with puppet strings like a dumpling.

We can't perform very precise operations now; we have to resort to brute force.

Let's use the method Patchouli taught me before. It's a real shame that she can't do any exercise at all now; I wonder how much pain she's enduring.

Alice waved her hand, and the bound tomb guardians were flailed around like flails. Their weight, exceeding a hundred pounds, seemed as light as feathers in her magically enhanced bodies. In less than two seconds, five or six tomb guardians on the deck were knocked to the ground. She leaped to the side, and with a single whip-like strike, she smashed the machine gun and its operator, deforming them both!

As bullets rained down, some fearless soldiers even stood on the deck and raised their grenades. However, she was faster than them, crushing the person who pulled the trigger before the grenade could fire. Before the bullets were even released, her giant, swirling flail blocked out all obstacles around her.

She actually used this 'flail' to unleash a powerful and sophisticated hammer technique!

On the other side of the deck, Zheng Zha, who had just jumped over from the opposite side, blinked in a daze.

"I'm saying this art style... isn't something a little off?"

Author's Note:

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

Referring to Walter the Grim Reaper in Hellsong, he's probably at an older level now.

Section Twelve: The So-Called Strategic Planning...

Once Zheng Zha and Zhao Yingkong joined the battle, the one-sided massacre ended completely within five minutes. When the tomb guardians realized the situation was hopeless, they brazenly opened the merchant ship's sluice gates, letting it sink to the bottom of the Nile.

“Hey, ma’am.” When Alice returned to the deck, O’Connor looked at her and Zheng Zha and the others with the eyes of a monstrous beast.

“I suddenly realize I seem to have fallen seriously ill. Perhaps you could find another guide to Hamunaptra…” However, he was interrupted halfway through his sentence by Evelyn’s joyful scream.

"Oh my god! Is that magic?!" Evelyn rushed to Alice like a happy little bird, her cheeks flushed and her eyes practically sparkling. "I always thought myths and legends were just myths and legends, but I never imagined they were true! God! So many unsolved mysteries in the world might be caused by magic! I feel so full of fighting spirit now!"

“Yes, this is magic.” Alice nodded. Then she changed the subject: “And I have some bad news for you, Evelyn, you’re being watched.”

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

"So, those men in black are actually the guardians of Hamunaptra, and their goal is to prevent anyone from excavating Hamunaptra. And because I have an important key, I've become their primary target? That's absurd!" After listening to Xiao Honglu's brief account of part of the facts, Evelyn felt her facial muscles twitching.

“Well, that’s not entirely unreasonable.” She sighed sadly, quickly acknowledging the somber reality. “Their black robes did indeed bear the marks of ancient Egyptian tomb keepers, and they did attack me.”

“That’s right, exactly.” Xiao Honglu nodded. “Miss Evelyn, you now have two choices. First, come with us to Hamunaptra, and we will provide you with protection as previously agreed. Second, withdraw from this operation, but those tomb guardians will come after you again, and regardless of whether you have the key or not, you will become their target. So, what is your choice?”

“I choose the first one,” Evelyn answered without hesitation. “I’m not going back here looking so dejected. I want to see that book; we made a promise!”