Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

So……

“Before that, we should also go to the Legend of the Gods and Demons.” Alice suddenly spoke up before he could reach a conclusion. “We need to revive Saito Hajime. It’s been so long, it’s time to bring him back to the team.”

“I know,” Zheng Zha nodded. “But this is easy, right? Just exchange for a day, and then Margot, you just need to make the trip, right? I can give you the Sun Scripture…”

“And there’s the Trial of Anubis,” Alice added.

Zheng Zha was stunned.

He truly hadn't expected, or rather, hadn't remembered, that Anubis's Trial could be performed. After all, that was something from a very, very long time ago, and it was only when Alice mentioned it here that he recalled the unfathomable and powerful force possessed by that Egyptian god of death.

That was a power beyond his current comprehension—a power that had forcibly created a physical world, even using the universe as its arena. Even if it was an incomplete universe, it was still at least at the fourth level, perhaps even a quasi-saint level. Add to that the almost tacit approval of the Supreme God… perhaps, guarding that black pyramid was a genuine sage on the side of the Supreme God?

Zheng Zha realized the true nature of the Reincarnation Squad, and the cycle of the Final Battle and the Reincarnation World. Clearly, they weren't the first Reincarnation Squad. And before them, there must have been many more victors dwelling in the ancient past!

Anubis... Could it be them?

He wasn't sure, but he felt it was necessary to verify it in person.

“I think this is a good idea, Brother Zheng Zha.” Xiao Honglu was toying with a card in his hand, the back of which was in the style of Yu-Gi-Oh!. “I… am somewhat interested in seeing this mysterious power that originated in ancient Egypt, but for which there are very few traces.”

Zheng Zha tilted his head and glanced at Chu Xuan.

"I don't object." — Chu Xuan knew about the existence of the Saint's Legacy. However, he didn't intend to mention it here, just as Alice's goal was also the Saint's Legacy, but she also kept quiet about it.

Since the main decision-makers within the Central Continent team have reached a conclusion, the remaining members naturally have no need to object.

But before that...

“There’s one more thing.” Alice clapped her hands, opening a door amidst the others’ 'why do you have so many things to do today?' expressions of bewilderment. The figures of the little devil and Ayaka Sajou immediately appeared, and the gazes of the others instantly shifted from confusion and indifference to seriousness and earnestness!

"While Patchouli and I were dealing with a problem with my sister, we also came up with something that should be somewhat useful."

She made a gesture of display, and then a vast and complex sea of ​​information filled the void behind her!

"Although this technology is still far from perfect, and although it is very resource-intensive and carries certain risks, but..."

"...We have found a way to transform inanimate objects into living, real ones."

Section 2: Pre-Operation Preparations

After some explanation...

"This is... a very valuable achievement." Zheng Zha rested his fingers on his chin, his expression indescribably serious. This was perhaps the first time he had given such high praise to Alice's research. Of course, this was the first time since he unlocked the fourth-level gene lock.

"Any technical shortcomings? Let's all work together to fix them. Just say the word, Margot Lloyd. I'm sure everyone will be happy to support you." — Clearly, this guy was planning to use his captain's authority. If necessary, he might even take back what he just said.

—It's not difficult. Adjusting the timeline within the God's Space is challenging, but with some effort, it's not impossible. Perhaps he doesn't have the ability to travel ten days into the future to hear the mission briefing of the next world—because that would require interfering with the God and affecting the God's authority—but if he could go back five minutes and have his past self swallow his words, that's something he could try, even if he did it with a little effort, or rather, with a lot of serious thought.

However, it was clear that Alice did not intend for the gorilla captain to break his promise.

"You can't help with this, because this technology requires interference from the source world line. It needs a single universe as a breeding vessel. Then, through exhaustive methods, it needs to cultivate the prototype of the chosen individual's Heart Abyss with enough wars, conflicts, changes, and so on. Then, it needs to sever everything and redefine itself within the Heart Abyss."

Alice's fingers came together.

"In other words, the most troublesome aspect of this method lies in the inherent qualities of the resurrected individual. How can one avoid losing their way amidst billions of years of time and bloodshed? How can one redefine themselves with the will brought by the nascent Abyss of the Heart after severing everything? This is the greatest challenge. After all..."

"...The creations of the Supreme God are not living beings. Once they fail, there is no chance of resurrection. The Little Devil and Sashou Aika are different because they are like programs. Self-replication and deleting discarded backups are commonplace for them. In other words, I have cut the timeline millions of times in order for the Little Devil to gain a self, which means I have killed her millions of times when I failed."

The little devil beside her showed no displeasure; on the contrary, she took it all for granted. After all, before gaining a self, she was merely a high-density, complex program that appeared to have a self. And programs don't care, and wouldn't care, how many times they've been backed up or deleted.

She was like that, and so was Sajou Aika, who always seemed determined to live. Because this girl was now standing obediently behind Luo Ye. Whether reading her mind or observing her emotions, it was clear she had no dissatisfaction whatsoever; in fact, she was quite pleased with the current situation.

They can be so open-minded because they have already succeeded. Alice and Patchouli can also be so open-minded because they are not afraid of failure. But others may not be.

After all, in the main god space of the Central Continent Team, the reincarnators created these beings to accompany them, to make them their emotional support and the source of their motivation to live. Now, although the reincarnators can live smoothly and for a long time without this external source, these beings remain the only true love in the hearts of the Central Continent Team's reincarnators.

Zheng Zha's Loli, Zhang Jie's Ya, Ming Yanwei's Huizi, and the creations of Zero Point, Cheng Xiao, and Xiao Honglu—though it's unclear why they didn't resurrect their original bodies—even Chelsea, who was always by Ba Wang's side… Unbeknownst to many, the family group within the Central Continent Team had grown to such a massive size. And if the reincarnators were to personally, or watch their comrades 'kill' them time and time again… could they truly do it? Could they truly endure such a thing?

Can it be done? No, it still isn't.

One glance at the twitching, hesitant faces of the reincarnators was enough to tell the truth. Except for Miss Sirin, who had already obtained her pass and tried her best to shrink back and minimize her presence, everyone else looked as if they had been brutally beaten.

What was originally a relatively ample amount of time suddenly became scarce. I believe that more than one person now hopes that the end of the war can be delayed for another seven or eight centuries so that their wife can wait for a better surgical plan.

A silence ensued around the table for several seconds.

Finally, under the intense gazes of others, Zheng Zha reluctantly gave a perfunctory conclusion.

“Let’s go to the Legend of the Gods and Demons first, taking everyone’s…family members with us. Then, before triggering Anubis’s Trial…no, let’s leave that choice to them. If they’re willing, we’ll take them with us on the rest of the adventure.” He rubbed his forehead vigorously. He glanced first at Alice, who was giving him such a headache, and then at Chu Xuan, who had always been reliable to him.

"Chu Xuan, your Tower of Babel world can take people away at the right time, right? I remember you said earlier that it had some problems?"

“The fragments of the Tower of Babel can be used at any time.” Chu Xuan adjusted his glasses. “I can imprint my unique mark on any individual at any time, and drag them directly into the Tower of Babel world whenever I feel it is necessary.”

He made a promise.

“I can set up all sorts of triggering conditions to ensure that nothing unexpected happens under any circumstances. And these arrangements will not fail until I am completely dead.”

“Very good.” Zheng Zha nodded. “Everyone go back and discuss it. We’ll meet here again in a day. If everyone is okay with it, then we’ll head to the Legend of Gods and Demons. If anyone has any other ideas, then we’ll discuss them then.”

He rose from his seat, and the others exchanged glances before following suit. Soon, silence returned to the luminous hall.

Everyone has left, some burdened with worries, others with heavy steps. But in any case, they will eventually arrive at an inevitable answer.

Beyond the extraordinary, there is no accident.

Since there are no coincidences, the outcome of the discussion was, strictly speaking, already predetermined at that moment, and everyone knew it was predetermined. The extra step was simply to give each party some time to prepare psychologically, and a way to move forward.

Alice was the last to leave, while Celine was one step ahead of her. As Celine passed by her, she heard a faint sound.

—Thank you, Alice, Patchouli… and Miss Loya.

And so, the platform beneath the sphere of light of the main god finally fell completely silent.

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

A day later, when the unanimous approval rang out from below the platform, Alice, who had driven all of this, was not particularly surprised.

Creating humans is ultimately just creating humans; they lack their own will. Even if they rebel, it's because they were programmed to rebel. This might not be a problem for beings below the extraordinary level, since they can't distinguish true self-will and might even find such obedient, customized lovers more appealing. But for extraordinary beings, they fully understand the tragedy of this situation.

If there's no other way, then so be it. But if there's even the slightest glimmer of hope, they'll hold on tight to it.

They desire a partner who is intellectually intelligent, not merely a beautiful but empty shell. Therefore, they are bound to make this decision. And because creating humans is essentially an extension of their will, once they make this decision, their creation of humans will inevitably follow suit.

How sad.

Therefore, this is inevitable.

The Supreme God's proclamation echoed the decisions of the reincarnators. Although the exchange time itself no longer held much significance, to prevent any strange or unexpected events, everyone still used a considerable number of reward points to exchange for a large amount of story time.

—'Teleportation initiation. Target: Legend of the Gods and Demons world. Duration: 100 days. Execute immediately.'

The next moment, accompanied by flashes of light, when the reincarnators opened their eyes, they found themselves in the long-lost Cairo.

Many years have passed since the Reincarnators last descended.

Cairo has begun reconstruction and is already quite large-scale. The world order is also vastly different from what it used to be.

World War II didn't break out, after all, the British Isles were divided into the Thousand Islands by Patchouli's Revelation: Ragnarok. Without this important world pole, how could a world war be fought? Moreover, when the power of magic truly manifested itself and demonstrated its authority, how could history and technology possibly progress in their original directions?

It's obvious that it won't, and there's no need for it to be.

Alice blinked, taking in the world's development over the past few decades.

The last time the Reincarnators visited the world of Gods and Demons, they dismantled Britain and made many arrangements in the East. While these arrangements no longer hold value for the Reincarnators, they continue to function and exert a significant influence on this world.

Let's pretend the East doesn't exist; at this point in time, it's likely to attract the ominous gazes of crustaceans. Meanwhile, the North Pacific coast has weakened due to the interference of the reincarnators. The specific effect is a mysterious, modern-day rise—a massive horde of modified mythical creatures descending upon the world.

This might be considered popular writing material, such as "I'm a monster in Japan" or "The Rise of the Gods in America." However, the only difference between reality and fiction is that those protagonists with superhuman abilities no longer exist, or rather, they're not on humanity's side. After all, the arrangements left behind by the witches were never intended for anyone other than themselves, and since they were activated by some overly curious and somewhat powerful individuals, they will naturally bring due retribution to those who tampered with these things.

In short, the North Pacific, except for areas inhabited by crustaceans, was practically ravaged. The extent of the devastation was roughly equivalent to being thrown back to the 18th century. The presence of characters from those supernatural tales—Evelyn, O'Connor, Imhotep, and others—has completely vanished from this world. And from Alice's observation, it seems they were taken away by Anubis after the script completely went awry, or perhaps simply thrown into another timeline.

I really can't understand why it did this; perhaps there's some special reason behind it. When Alice shifted her attention away from them and focused on what should have been the third movie, *The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor*, she was somewhat surprised to find that Anubis had taken away everything—the Fountain of Youth, the hermit Zi Yuan, the First Emperor's Mausoleum, and even the countless corpses beneath the Great Wall—perhaps throwing them into some other branching timeline.

All the mysteries of the entire Central Plains were removed.

This realm of 'mystery' even includes the colossal Buddha statues, Yellow Turban Warriors, and the hidden forbidden lands that contain the legacy of sages, all of which appear in the prediction records.

Without a doubt, this was also Anubis's doing. It even deliberately left traces of its power so that the Central Continent Team, these supreme transcendent beings, could notice its interference.

Its status as a sage is beyond doubt, and the world of this series of gods and demons is very likely its training ground.

Alice felt a slight headache coming on.

She roughly guessed why Anubis had taken the main characters away, and she could also foresee all the dangers she and her team might face. She didn't know if they would encounter the ancient immortals of the East, the divine rule of Egypt, or both, but it certainly wouldn't end well.

So, should we tell these guys in front of us?

Alice had just thought this when, in the next moment, a book made of gold and a message landed in her hands.

"Don't say anything yet, Margot Lloyd. I can tell from your eyes that we're in big trouble this time, but we can talk about that later."

"Go and revive Saito Hajime first. Go slowly and come back slowly. In the meantime, I want to take Lori to explore New Cairo properly. And the others obviously have the same idea."

Alice pursed her lips, and as she did so, Zheng Zha and Luo Li had vanished without a trace. And it wasn't just them who disappeared; everyone else with their families, except for Miss Xilin, had vanished without a trace—obviously, since they were all so familiar with each other, the upcoming headaches were something she could easily predict with just a glance from someone she loved.

Well, it seems there's no other way.

Alice turned her head... and as soon as she did, she saw Patchouli pulling Loyal away to go shopping. In the blink of an eye, she was all alone.

So……

Alice's lips twitched. "Go...go and revive Saito Hajime."

Section Three: Resurrection

Saito Hajime.

In Alice's long journey, the life and death of Saito Hajime are important turning points.

While he was alive, he inadvertently inherited the past etched into Alice's mind, sharing the burden of the events she faced on a matter of fate. After his death, the predictive records he left behind greatly helped Alice and became one of the many bases for her decision-making.

He lived and helped Alice a great deal.

His death helped Alice a great deal.

Therefore, from a moral, emotional, and logical standpoint, she should and needs to revive Saito Hajime. And that is precisely why…

She arrived alone at the Black Pyramid of Anubis.

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

The pyramids remained as solemn and majestic as ever, their massive diamonds atop radiating dazzling light. When Alice last left, she had moved the Altar of Resurrection to the pyramids to ensure it wouldn't be erased by human civilization for some strange reason. Now, though it seemed redundant, she didn't really care about walking a few extra steps.

She entered the pyramid, and the statue of Anubis guarding the main hall cast an indifferent gaze upon her—it didn't care about her, and she didn't care about it. It knew she was meaningless to it, and she knew it could do nothing now.

Even the most powerful sages are subject to the rules of the supreme deity. They can do nothing until the supreme deity permits them to act.