Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

“I have nothing to teach you, and I won’t, unless I want to start a war with you directly.” Luo Ye… Ceylon shook her head, the feathers on her head trembling slightly. “I wasn’t actually very familiar with your past life. The reason I came to see you is because you are very similar to me. Very similar to me at a certain point in time.”

"what do you mean……"

"You've decided your own destiny, but deep down you feel a little resentful. In your past life, her resurrection and replacement are already inevitable realities. However, you still hope to let the process of reaching this inevitability unfold according to your own preferences."

Lin Xi remained silent. She had to admit that having her inner thoughts revealed to a stranger she had only met once was not a pleasant experience. However, beneath this unpleasantness lay a slight sense of secret joy—a joy that she still possessed her own will and emotions.

“Do you want to help me?” she asked.

“I won’t help you,” Ceylon replied. “But I will do some things, say some things, that won’t affect you. But you can change your decision yourself.”

“The other me is your ally.”

“Andromeda is still my enemy. If the time is right, I will erase her completely without leaving a single record.” She led Lin Xi to a place that looked very secure, of course, with electronic security, because no one could hear their conversation: “But that doesn’t prevent me from working with her and getting along well until the right time comes.”

The door opened before them, revealing a high-tech research hall. Numerous unmanned automated robots moved about, handling various complex tasks.

"You people... are very strange."

"There's nothing strange about that. You can think of reality as a competitive video game. Ordinary people are the players, the capable and extraordinary are the pay-to-win players. And people like us are special players with legal cheat codes, who also serve as administrators—we can create whatever we want at will, and easily obtain the most closely guarded secrets. We can use our privileges to go anywhere, to destroy, or even eliminate other ordinary players. However, for each other, unless the timing is right, all clashes are futile."

"We cannot kill the enemy, and it is even difficult to defeat them. The strategies we devise are difficult to hide from the enemy, and we and our enemies know most of each other's methods and strengths."

“But this is still a ‘game’,” Lin Xi interjected instinctively.

“You’re absolutely right, even though you have no idea what I’m referring to. But you’re absolutely right.” Ceylon nodded and led Lin Xi in a certain direction within the research hall. “In the multiverse, individuals like us are called true gods, or even more specifically, transcendent beings. And the ‘game’ we’re in is an independent, single-entity universe.”

"We can jump between timelines at will, and we can create powerful tools and weapons that exceed the limits of the universe's tolerance. We can know what is hidden in the past and future, even information planted by our own kind. We have almost invincible power in this universe. However, we are still limited by the rules of this universe."

"Even if we have reached the limit that any universe can tolerate, even if a higher-level being, as long as they do not intend to destroy the universe itself and want to confront us directly, can only use that level of power at most. However, we are still limited by the rules of the universe we live in."

She snapped her fingers.

"No matter how strong a true god is, they still need to rely on the universe to survive. Transcendent beings can traverse universes, but they also need to rely on a universe to exert their power. No matter how strong we are, we are just a cheating administrator player in a game. Once the 'game' is shut down and the transfer routes between 'game rooms' are blocked, we will have no power to resist."

"And the reason your past life, the other you you believed in, died was because of contact, or rather, a direct collision with that level of power." A massive container before her cleared from its murky state with her snap of the fingers. "This is the difference between a sage and a transcendent being—the power to directly remove the storage space containing cheat character information, even to directly format and restore the entire game system... or rather, the status."

The next moment, a beautiful woman's body appeared in the container, her eyes closed and showing no signs of bestiality. She had long, flowing, silvery-white hair that trembled slightly in the liquid.

"—A woman named Skadi, who is neither infected nor exhibiting bestiality, will appear by your side and become your protective force." — Alice's voice echoed in Lin Xi's ears.

And Ceylon continued to provide answers.

"Your past life, the resurrection of another you, is inevitable. And you do indeed have the hope of taking matters into your own hands and doing something beyond this inevitability."

"This means the outbreak of a war, and at the same time, it means that you will be touching the power of sages who transcend race."

Chapter 47 'Kindness'

Lin Xi felt that the woman in front of her looked very familiar. As she saw her, she realized that both her outward appearance and her inner self were jumping with excitement.

These are people I knew in the past.

These are the people I am familiar with now.

But why—

She reached out and touched the transparent barrier on the outside of the container.

Why—I have absolutely no recollection of this face?

"You can call her Skadi, an Agor, a hunter from the deep sea—that's her name and identity in this world. And she will stay by your side from now on, protecting you and fighting for you."

Beside him, Luo Ye… Ceylon offered an explanation.

"...Why her?" Lin Xi asked, her voice filled with uncertainty. "And...have I seen her somewhere before?"

She saw Ceylon smile.

"Haven't you realized that you've forgotten or overlooked something? Something crucial, important, something you once valued more than life itself... Don't you remember?"

“More important than life itself…” Lin Xi frowned, deep in thought, but… she couldn’t come up with a conclusion that at least seemed plausible.

Important… what did I once consider incredibly important? Ah, yes, it was Alice who threw me into this world. There was definitely an element of wanting to find out what was most important to me. But Miss Ceylon used the word 'once'… once… what does 'once' mean?

She rummaged through her memories, from birth, growing up, developing, striving, until the arrival of the sphere of light, when she, as an outstanding individual, was chosen to become an assistant to a special personnel… Every process, every detail, was clearly displayed in her mind. However, she did not find a reliable answer.

Something important... doesn't exist. She, Lin Xi, this woman who was reincarnated from a previous life... has nothing she values.

—A sudden, dull ache appeared in my heart area. But it seemed to be just a fleeting phantom pain, lasting only a moment before vanishing without a trace.

She noticed that Miss Ceylon was looking at her strangely.

“I see. No wonder Alice let you come. No wonder she gave you a chance even though she had decided not to interfere. It turns out... you are not only similar to me, but also someone who can evoke her empathy.”

"You mean..." Lin Xi asked, puzzled.

“Let’s return to the previous topic.” Miss Ceylon snapped her fingers, and the unknown solution in the container began to drain. The tubing connecting to the sleeping girl named Skadi also gradually broke apart. As she spoke, she continued, “For us transcendent beings, there is something that prevents us from ascending to higher levels. And this thing should usually be considered a kind of ideology.”

“We are no longer human, or rather, the moment we become true gods, our former mortal selves are completely annihilated and die. We abandon our mortal bodies and mortal souls, and instead take something called ‘the light of the soul’ as our new subject. And the light of the soul is the manifestation of a certain Tao, a certain concept.”

"Take me for example, or... well, Miss Andromeda. Her philosophy is the recording and application of knowledge. When she transforms herself into a spiritual light carrying this philosophy, all her motivations will change. Everything she does, everything she does, will be for the purpose of proclaiming, or rather, validating, this path."

"This sounds..."

“Sounds a lot like a computer program, doesn’t it?” Miss Ceylon nodded in agreement. “That’s what I thought too, and it is indeed the case. If we GMs who use cheating abilities want to continue to advance, the usual way is to become a spreading electronic virus, infecting other games, or even the universe. However, the problem is that we want to be the masters of our own ideas, not their slaves, so we need a stable anchor.”

“We call this kind of thing ‘obsession.’ I’m not sure about Miss Andromeda’s obsession yet. Of course, if I were certain, I would have almost certainly killed her by now. After all, her situation is special now. If she makes the slightest mistake, she will have to roll back into the depths of death and remain completely silent… But that’s not important. We can still use her as an example.”

The lights in the research hall flickered suddenly, clearly revealing the unstable voltage to the two of them. Obviously, gossiping under someone else's nose is not something to be praised. And such an action would naturally provoke a backlash... well, to this extent, perhaps "protest" would be a better word.

Skadi's unsealing was slightly delayed as a result, but soon, a spark of electricity danced at Miss Ceylon's fingertips, manually stabilizing the voltage on the side.

"Then let's continue the conversation."

“Andromeda’s Tao is the recording and application of knowledge. All her actions are driven by the collection of knowledge and its application. For her, if one side is her own life and the other is some kind of precious and rare knowledge that is hard to reproduce, she will choose the latter without hesitation. However, some knowledge is an accident.”

She held up her finger to emphasize.

"The Way and attachment are necessarily contradictory. This is the fundamental premise of anchoring. Although I do not yet know the details of Andromeda's attachment, I know that her attachment must be 'I will collect and record certain knowledge, but a certain particular knowledge is an exception. It should be completely forgotten.' And under normal circumstances, this is also the simplest way for life forms at our level to fight each other."

“If I knew its contents, then all I had to do was find that knowledge and give it to her. Then she would be severely damaged. If she were at her peak, she might be able to avoid such a blow, but her situation is special now. Once she falls for it, she is destined to be finished.” Miss Ceylon repeated her previous point of view.

In addition, add—

"However, this method can only deal with 'special cases' like her. For other transcendent beings in their normal prime, unless they do it themselves, the blows to their obsessions will not cause much damage."

"Take Alice for example."

"Alice's philosophy is change, the development and evolution of all things. And her obsession is that her love for a particular individual will never change. In fact, her obsession has little to do with whether that particular individual is alive or not. Unless she herself denies this love, the blow to her obsession is unlikely to affect her, and may even backfire, giving her a chance to see through her obsession and thus advance her career."

"Attachment takes precedence over the Way. Therefore, if we encounter a situation similar to our attachment, it may trigger empathy... that is, emotional changes such as 'pity' and 'sympathy'. We will have a slight chance of offering help, which is why you are here."

"So, after explaining all this to you, you should know what I really wanted to tell you, right? Or perhaps..."

"...Has my love for someone changed?" Lin Xi looked at her hands and murmured to herself, "But...I really don't remember having anyone I particularly valued..."

“Poor child.” Miss Ceylon shook her head sadly. “You’ve spent every day together, you’ve had such deep feelings for her, yet you’ve forgotten her completely… Ah, well. If I say any more, I’ll just become a hindrance. So…”

"...You should know why I'm telling you all this by now."

Lin Xi's face, which had been filled with confusion, calmed down.

“I know.” Her fingers clenched into fists, as always. Even with her fists clenched, she didn’t want to strike anyone or anything. “You told me… how you dealt with my predecessor. You gave me… the opportunity to fight against another version of myself.”

“Correction: not mutual confrontation, but a struggle.” Miss Ceylon shook the finger she had raised. “You have evoked empathy between Alice and me, making us willing to offer a little help. But a little help is just a little help. Your predecessor, our companion, her resurrection is an inevitable outcome. Nothing can stop it, and we will not allow it to be stopped.”

"What I promised you before was the opportunity to act on your own and do some small things outside the inevitable future. What I just described to you is simply the method to achieve this goal—the means have been given to you, and the extent to which you can do it is up to you."

Lin Xi turned her head and looked at the vessel that had been emptied of solution.

“She is a tool used to carry out the means… well, perhaps you won’t like that title. Well then, just think of her as an assistant to help you,” Miss Ceylon replied.

Just as she answered, the sleeping girl opened her eyes.

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

Meanwhile, on the other side of the earth and the starry sky, Alice, located outside Qin, withdrew the gaze she had gained through empathy.

"Luo Ye...you're doing something unnecessary again." She gave a soft hum, though her expression didn't reveal much embarrassment or annoyance.

This was not outside her plan; she sent Lin Xi to Terra with genuine goodwill. And this goodwill was predicated on both Sirin's tacit approval and the premise that it wouldn't affect Sirin's resurrection.

Celine's philosophy is connection.

Her ideal is that all things are interconnected, that humanity and nature are one, and that all sentient beings can connect with one another. This ideal originated from her desire for friends. Although her philosophy has evolved from simply making friends to this point, one thing remains unchanged: the kindness that all sentient beings share in this wish still resides within her heart.

In the multiverse, life forms take many forms. Even in a prosperous world where mortals rule the heavens, diverse customs and traditions exist within mortal civilizations, along with various ways of expressing 'kindness'.

A friendly gesture in one place might be met with the most outrageous insults in another. Praise in one place could easily breed deep-seated hatred on another. In this endless, multiverse, it's difficult to find a way to travel between all worlds.

However, there is one exception: regardless of the civilization, its most fundamental core concept is inevitably 'continuity'. If capable, it continues to exist. If unable, it continues to leave traces and record legends. In other words, 'continuity' is the most convenient connection point for all civilizations in the multiverse. And as long as one acts in accordance with it, it will inevitably conform to the 'goodness' of most regions in the multiverse.

Sirin's philosophy dictates that she is destined to be the kindest member of the Central Continent Team—or at least the kindest one whose actions are most in line with common sense.

and so……

Even if she's just a tool for promotion, you'll give her a chance to 'continue'. To allow her to escape the fate of being used and then discarded?

She shook her head.

"Fine, whatever you want."

She took a step forward, and the next moment she found herself in a private hospital on the other side of the planet. Passing the perfunctory guards, the door to a ward opened before her.

There was a bed in the ward, and on the bed lay a sleeping white-haired little girl. The image of the little girl was vividly etched in her memory.

“Theresa Apocalypse,” she murmured the name, but made no move to approach her further. In this world, the sleeping girl was related to Lin Xi as sisters. She was also the key to awakening Sirin.

If there is an accident during Sirin's resurrection, then she can be forcibly awakened through her.

However, Lin Xi has now forgotten her.

— Made by Sirin.

Xilin made Lin Xi, her tool in future lives, forget this safety switch. Because excessive longing would awaken the pre-set mechanisms hidden deep within Lin Xi's heart. And that would cause her cognition to collapse in an instant, reviving her past life memories and then completely crushing her insignificant experiences in this life.

Sirin prevented this from happening. This is reflected in the fact that Lin Xi, who clearly had a younger sister to rely on, completely forgot about her after glimpsing Terra in that unexpected dream. It was precisely because Alice noticed this anomaly that she realized Sirin's will and that her resurgence was unstoppable.

Since she's made this choice, let her go. Alice's only purpose in this trip is to observe Theresa and obtain an answer.

The information she obtained presented her with the words 'Theresa's soul is not here'.

It's clear that Theresa now has a new identity. Whether she's playing along with Sirin or has other reasons is unknown. In any case, how their story unfolds depends on their interests and power. Alice doesn't intend to interfere much in this matter, and she has no plans to go to Terra.

after all……

A playing card she had obtained from Xiao Honglu appeared silently in her hand.