Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

It can only act within the limits permitted by the Supreme God when the trial is initiated. Conversely, its act of forcibly relocating the protagonists to make arrangements must also be tacitly approved by the Supreme God.

—Zheng Zha didn't want to become Gu, and Chu Xuan didn't want to become Jun. This would grant them greater freedom than the prediction records suggested, but it would also subject them to far more brutal trials. After all, the essence of the Sage's legacy is the inheritance these reincarnators possessed in their previous lives before becoming reincarnators, and they certainly didn't leave it behind to give to someone unrelated to them.

In this battle, we may have to face the Eastern Emperor Bell and the Jade Disc of Creation, capable of unleashing at least a portion of their power. And the 'First God', far stronger and more capable than predicted, even equipped with weapons and tactical systems.

In the worst-case scenario, Anubis would allow its legions to participate in the battle. However, the possibility of its own body joining the fight... well, extremely slim. This would only happen if the team contained four truly powerful individuals, but it's not impossible that it would descend in an avatar... just like Satan did in the Zero World.

[...I really hope I don't see the statue of Anubis during the trials.]

She looked away from the jackal's head, and then she looked past it.

She entered the temple and came to the altar of resurrection. As she unfolded the Book of the Sun, she heard the voice of the chief god.

Alice lowered her eyes.

"God, resurrect the designated target."

Everything in her eyes immediately changed.

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

Saito Hajime is a literature enthusiast and a top student majoring in archaeology.

Saito Hajime, a tomb raider, a wanted criminal, and an accomplice who coerced others into transporting valuable cultural relics overseas for sale.

The two identities are not in conflict, and there is a progression between them—he may not expect the latter, but when he becomes the most outstanding and bookish student of his class through interest and talent, and at the same time his finances are quite tight, naturally there will be people who will help him change from the former to the latter.

This is beyond his control. As long as he desires to access more ancient artifacts, as long as he has financial needs, and as long as he cannot change his habits, it is beyond his control. This is not an excuse, but an inevitability, an inevitability that he will inevitably reach after indulging in his subconscious.

It started as a request from acquaintances. A few classmates who occasionally talked to him secretly took out a few ancient coins that they claimed to be family heirlooms and asked him to appraise them. After the matter was settled, these classmates treated him to a good meal at a hotel. However, when he woke up from his hangover, a stack of hundred-yuan bills appeared in his pocket.

At that time, he didn't know what this meant, and the next day he took the money to find his classmates, thinking that one of them had misplaced the money while drunk.

Then he saw his classmates giving him meaningful smiles.

This experience repeated itself several times over the next few months. Sometimes it was ancient coins, sometimes small trinkets, and sometimes illegible ancient scrolls. And when even someone as oblivious as him sensed something was amiss, his classmates finally revealed the truth after his repeated questioning.

—Part of the truth.

The next day, they took him to a country villa, where he saw a tall, strong man who claimed to be a private collector. The man had a ruddy complexion and always wore a sunny, cheerful smile. He was accompanied by several other people, some lively, some goofy, but none of them seemed like bad people. A beautiful, gentle older woman also seemed particularly fond of him.

How could a naive college student, inexperienced in the ways of the world, resist the charm of a beautiful and gentle older woman? After only a few meetings, Saito was completely bewildered and began to believe the 'private collector's' claims. From then on, he frequently visited the villa.

He began appraising the collector's collection. At first, it was ancient coins, then ancient jade artifacts. And within a few months, ancient calligraphy and paintings, as well as old ceramics, gradually became part of his work.

Sometimes he felt something was amiss, given the sheer number and variety of origins of these artifacts. Some weren't even on the official lists published by the authorities, existing only in historical records. However, when he raised questions, he was easily convinced and the matter was dropped.

Trust is a terrible thing; it makes people unconditionally agree with most of what another person says. Even if there are loopholes, the person who trusts will find reasons and excuses to fill them in.

Thus, he became deeply mired in the problem. Even when he discovered that the artifacts he had authenticated were exactly the same as those appearing at certain overseas auctions, he pretended not to notice.

When the bronze ritual vessels and the jade burial suit appeared on his appraisal table, he realized that it was truly too late.

What can he do? Call the police and get himself a life sentence? Or try to redeem himself and get a lenient sentence of three to seven years?

Ah... if conscience could truly accomplish such a thing, then the workload of police officers and judges would be greatly reduced. However, wishful thinking and self-deception exist in the minds of every criminal, and Saito Hajime is no exception.

Self-deception, self-righteousness, that's all there is to it.

And so, he finally became a full member of the tomb-raiding team—he operated alongside them. He personally designed more than one excavation route for the tombs, and even helped the tomb-raiding gang break through deadly traps that could kill them all in an instant on more than one occasion.

How fascinating! They were ancient people, yet they managed to design mechanisms that baffled many modern instruments. In this scientific age, they consistently discovered bizarre monsters underground that defied both biology and physics. Ghosts, zombies, even strange patterns that could drive someone to temporary madness at a mere glance. All these unscientific, illogical, yet undeniably real and wondrous things filled Saito Hajime's world, satisfying the curiosity and exploratory drive that had filled his heart since childhood.

He finally became a core member of this tomb-raiding team. They trusted him like a brain trusts its limbs.

However, trust... trust is a terrible thing. Especially when the trustor and the trusted party are on opposing sides, that trust can become incredibly deadly when necessary.

He betrayed them, locking them in a secure dungeon from which escape was impossible and activating all the mechanisms.

what is this?

A change of heart? A decision to abandon darkness for light? Or simply a case of the wicked eating the wicked?

No, neither. He didn't find his conscience, nor did he steal from these guys. Although he did call the police, he didn't turn himself in but disappeared into the night alone.

Was it a half-hearted escape from justice? No, not quite. He simply felt it necessary to erase all the sins he had committed in his own way—his classmates who had dragged him down soon contracted a strange, incurable disease and died a long, agonizing death. Many hidden collections held by domestic antique buyers suddenly disappeared and then reappeared in the nearest museum. In the end, he set off abroad to retrieve all those lost treasures—

"That's a ridiculous story, Saito Hajime. You and I both know you weren't capable of that back then."

Alice gave a soft hum and said indifferently.

Then everything came to an abrupt end.

The facade of events silently crumbled, revealing the true history to her—there were no classmates dragging Saito down with them, nor any beautiful and gentle older sister. From beginning to end, it was simply the story of a dull-witted archaeology student who, greedy for money, appraised stolen goods for a group of tomb raiders who were actually not very capable.

Ancient tombs do exist, but they are not sophisticated or complex. There are no remarkable hidden mechanisms or strange creatures sealed underground. What they contain are just a collection of ancient wisdom that are useless to modern instruments, and some mechanisms and props that are more like works of art than protective measures.

That's all there is to it.

The only similarity is that the college student actually made that emergency call. He was then caught red-handed by the tomb raiders and buried alive, along with his cell phone (which had no signal), in a coffin and dirt, left to die.

Despair arises from this, and it is precisely because of this that he arrived at this vast world of reincarnation.

The college student reached out, pushed aside the nailed coffin and the half-meter layer of soil on top of it, and bowed slightly to Alice, who was standing outside the coffin watching.

“A story always needs some twists and turns, some drama, so that the protagonist can seem like a protagonist.” He took out a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from his breast pocket and put them on. “Don’t you think so, Miss Alice?”

Alice looked around and sensed the presence of another world—this was not a memory, but a different world from the legend of gods and demons!

"The shift in the origin world line...you've unlocked the genetic lock in the middle of the fourth stage?"

"Perhaps?" She saw the young man in front of her give her a refined smile. "Lying in a coffin, you always need to find something to do to pass the time. And if not, how can I draw your attention to this place when we can't communicate?"

Alice frowned slightly, and she instinctively reached out to look outside, to look at a place beyond Saito Kazuhara's worldline. However, before she could do that, she deleted her 'subconscious' thought and forced her gaze to stay fixed.

She recalled... some old stories. Some bad things.

"Who...who are you now?" she asked softly, but only softly.

“There are three voices in my head. One claims to be Cangjie, the creator of characters, a quasi-saint from the primordial era who died in the distant past. The other claims to be Igoronek, the Great Old One who governs corruption and depravity and operates through writing. It fought with Cangjie in the distant past and fell into eternal slumber together. And their awakening is at the same moment.”

"The last voice belonged to a poor college student named Saito Hajime, who went astray and did wrong things, and even after entering the cycle of reincarnation, he longed for death. Of course, he eventually got his wish and contributed a somewhat significant amount to the victory of his companions. He then fell into a deep sleep, until one day he was awakened again."

“I am Saito Hajime.” He adjusted his glasses. “The Central Continent Team… recently experienced a surge in luck. This helped me to some extent, allowing me to break free from the struggle between those two monsters. Although they will come sooner or later, and very soon, not now.”

"So that's why you said you can only be awakened when there's a stable fourth-tier member in the team?" Alice rubbed her forehead. "Oh well, what's one more debt than another. Even the weakest member of the Central Continent Team has a stable early fourth-tier member. Although we don't have any high-level fourth-tier members, we're not helpless if we encounter one... Want to come together?"

She reached out her hand to Saito.

Saito Hajime grasped her fingertips.

"It's better than I expected. After all, my original estimate was a bit wrong, and I lacked a correct understanding of the difference in combat power above the fourth level. If you come to revive me when there are only one or two level four players in the team, or even just a few level four beginners, then I might have to die again to avoid not even having a chance to come back to life."

Alice nodded and pulled hard. The next moment, the barrier between the two universes vanished. Through the resurrection authority of the supreme god, the individual named Saito Hajime was pulled from that buried, distant past. When he opened his eyes, he and Alice appeared before the altar of the black pyramid!

The resurrection process is complete.

Alice could vaguely hear the angry roar coming from the darkness deep within the otherworld.

Ah... it seems that Anubis's trial will be even more difficult than anticipated.

Section 4. Emergencies

Saito Hajime left soon after waking up. According to him, he planned to take a good look at the world, adjust his state, and make some preparations before new challenges came. Alice had no reason to stop him.

He quickly left Earth, arriving at the outer edge of the solar system in the blink of an eye. In the next blink, he had traveled even further, heading to some place on the Milky Way's spiral arm. And when Alice blinked for the third time, she could no longer catch a glimpse of Saito.

He really is a god; to rise to such heights in one step is truly remarkable.

but……

“Cangjie…” Alice murmured, taking small steps out of the pyramid.

Based on her current knowledge, all the famous gods or powerful beings in the ancient myths that are prevalent throughout the myriad worlds are basically sages or even more powerful beings who have left their mark in the primordial heavenly realm. And Cangjie, the creator of characters, was originally someone she had estimated to be a sage who had already reached a relative pinnacle, but she never expected that he was actually a quasi-sage with room for improvement.

That's terrifying. To fight a Quasi-Saint with the current strength of the Central Continent Team would probably come at a heavy price. Even if that Quasi-Saint isn't at his peak and there's someone holding him back... it's still the same.

but……

Is it already 'dead' even though there are still historical records, traces, and legends about it?

Alice frowned slightly.

"That's because they chose to die in the distant past; they buried themselves." — Luo Ye's voice suddenly echoed in her ears.

"Sister." Alice turned her head, and Luo Ye's figure came into her view. She saw that Luo Ye had changed into his usual school suit. Then he nodded to her.

—This is an avatar. Luo Ye's true form is still in New Cairo… no, right now she's being dragged around the business district of Frankfurt by Patchouli. She reached out her hand to Alice and then made a gesture.

This is not the place to talk.

Confidential?

No, it's not that we're keeping this a secret from others. It's that if others heard this topic, they might lose interest in continuing their leisurely stroll. After all, this tiny planet is home to so many fourth-order beings. And to these mature transcendent life forms, this planet is barely larger than a small balcony with a garden.

And the next moment—

Alice and Luo Ye then returned to the past of this world decades ago, before the reincarnators of the Central Continent Team first descended upon this world.

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

This is... Hamunaptra. It's the city of the dead, still standing on the vast ground, before it was turned into a floating pyramid. And right now, it's the scene where the original protagonist O'Connor's army was attacked by the Gravekeepers at the entrance to the ruins, nearly annihilated.

However, O'Connor wasn't there, nor was the important commander of the Gravekeepers—the black-robed figure who had many interactions with O'Connor in both the first and second books. When Alice and Loretta arrived, they witnessed the Gravekeepers annihilate the foreign mercenary force that now had a second commander.

Even as the last soldier fell in battle and the gravedigger's cavalry departed with the legion and the corpses of the fallen, the face of the original villain, the undead priest Imhotep, did not appear in the center of Hamunaptra, on the sand where there would have been some signs of the curse leaking out.

They all disappeared. Anubis took them with him.

Perhaps it was because witnessing this scene triggered some switches that Alice clearly sensed the memories in her mind changing rapidly!

The original battle in his mind about the legend of gods and demons was changed, even though the outcome was already set.

All records related to O'Connor, Evelyn, Imhotep, and others, including the mission of the main god, are being changed. She sees that 'herself' only accepted one team battle mission at the moment of her arrival. Watching herself lead the still somewhat inexperienced members of the Middle Continent team to Hamunaptrae, she then observes Sesshouin Kiara from that time in her memories.

The battle was still a battle. The old self, as always, modified Hamunaptra, arrived in Flesh and Blood Cairo, and subjected his crew to the same level of enhancement. And in the end, the battle brought the same result.

Zhang Jie still died from self-destruction, and Sesshouin Kiara still survived her final cursed death. And then…

...and then it all ended.

The team battle mission was set as a timed match, but the time wasn't a whole number; it was precisely a few seconds after she successfully unlocked her genetic lock and defeated Sesshouin Kiara. Comparing the memories from both ends, she unsurprisingly discovered that the moment the team battle ended was exactly the same moment she killed Imhotep in the normal world online!

This is... quite a novel approach.

Alice rubbed her forehead and frowned.

"This is... Anubis's influence on me? The chief god allows it to do this?"