Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

“Jun chose to retreat on his own, and of course, this was partly due to the fact that this gorilla repelled Gu.” He slapped Zheng Zha’s stiff hand away, then pushed up his glasses and continued to eat the fish tofu on his plate. “But thanks to this guy, the entire universe as a battlefield, along with the script meme used to maintain humanity, was destroyed. And because this guy doesn’t intend to let the universe die on its own or to become a human pillar to mend the sky, I’m stuck here with this gorilla playing with these Lego bricks.”

Alice then tilted her head back and looked at Zheng Zha, who was extremely embarrassed.

"Haha...every man makes mistakes, even horses stumble..." His voice grew weaker and weaker until he finally lowered his head and said frankly, "I'm sorry, I was wrong, Chu Xuan, Margot, and Lloyd, please help me."

Alice's lips twitched.

Well... fine, it's just wasting some time eating that doesn't even exist here, what's the big deal?

“There won’t be a next time,” she said calmly and earnestly. Then she began to deal with the salt and pepper potatoes on her plate, which were equivalent to a star system.

"Hehehe." Zheng Zha scratched his head sheepishly. Then he casually asked, "By the way, what's the situation on the main battlefield...?"

"Not bad." Alice snapped her fingers, projecting information from the Anubis Trial Universe onto the surface of what looked like an open-air barbecue stall but was actually a corrupted universe. She also arranged explanations for many of the details.

“I’ve largely settled the situation there. At this point, there’s not much to worry about in case of any more unexpected events. Our trial is mostly over, and Anubis won’t do any unnecessary work.” She said calmly, “If you want to help, you can enter the final battle after you’ve finished here and chosen the timeline. If you don’t have time, that’s fine too; I have other ways to deal with these two opponents.”

"Ha, how could I miss out on something like this?" Zheng Zha laughed heartily, giving a thumbs up. "The combined results of a postnatal spiritual treasure and a half-step fourth-level high-level cultivation are definitely more than just one plus one equals two. Just wait and see my performance and you'll be amazed, Margot Lloyd!"

However, Alice simply took out a document and shook it slightly.

“No need to be surprised,” Alice said calmly. “Because if I wanted to, I could also possess a temporary acquired spiritual treasure during this ritual. And—”

"—I already have four highs."

Zheng Zha's smile froze instantly, as if made of stone.

"...Huh?"—The nameless little clock beside him suddenly became utterly boring.

Chu Xuan continued to deal with the fish tofu on his plate.

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

Alice closed her eyes, and the nearly ten thousand rays of light vanished. Her main focus returned to the Immortal Qin Universe, her primary battlefield. All the miscellaneous matters were thus completely eliminated.

All hidden dangers and concerns have been eliminated.

However, there are still thousands of years to go before the final battle in this planned scenario of seven kingdoms vying for power arrives.

So, all we can do next is spend time with our closest and most precious lovers and friends.

Then, resolve this cause and effect known as 'Andromeda'.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Alice Eight

A hundred years passed after that, a peaceful and uneventful hundred years.

The battle in the outer universe intensified, but Alice, who had already reached the fourth level, no longer harbored any concern about the overall war situation. She casually discarded her original plan to slowly wear down Hu Hai and Sekhmet using resurrection items; all she needed to do was wait for the inevitable outcome two or three hundred years later.

During this time, she visited Lin Xi several more times and, unsurprisingly, discovered that Sirin's future self, this lateral personality, had gradually become independent with the company of Miss Skadi. Sirin did not seem to intend to achieve advancement by devouring her but simply to repeat the transformation ritual of her past and present lives. As Lin Xi's alienation progressed, Skadi, who was originally Theresa's skin, gradually transformed into two independent individuals.

A couple from the past life is meant to be together, and a couple in this life is meant to be together. That's good.

Alice didn't intend to interfere with Celine's decisions, especially after she realized Celine was no longer in any danger—she quickly disappeared from Lin Xi's world. Lin Xi might still remember her former colleague named 'Luo Ai'. But that memory gradually faded away as she distanced herself from Terra time and time again.

Yes, that's right, Lin Xi and Skadi left Terra.

Although they did not become Scourge Messengers, they assumed the responsibilities of them—they ventured far from Terra into the depths of the Warp. They fought in many hidden and dangerous places against various powerful enemies, and occasionally news would circulate—messages of their successful defeats of terrifying creatures or rescues of Scourge Messengers—passed down through word of mouth and then relayed through information networks.

They have written many stories, some interesting and some epic.

They are no longer copies of Sirin and Theresa.

Alice then withdrew her gaze, no longer paying attention to things that were no longer of any use to her—she remained the Dean of the Terra Academy of Sciences, still in charge of, or rather, guiding, the advancement of scientific research on Terra. In the past century, she had trained numerous talented apprentices, though none of them had yet earned her a place in the memories. However, if it came to simply assisting with research, compiling theorems, or tinkering with textbooks, they were perfectly capable of handling that level of work.

Terra's changes were still within her plans—she occasionally introduced some variables, but unfortunately, these didn't produce any particularly impressive results. Besides, her collaborative project with Andromeda had continued throughout the past century.

Operation, operation, equipping this star system-level civilization with advanced super-single technology.

Their progress was slow, with byproducts appearing one after another, but their ultimate goal—to enable this subspace to transcend the limits of a single universe and navigate the multiverse—remained elusive. However, this didn't matter; Alice wasn't particularly concerned with her success. Compared to building an ark of civilization beyond any level, she valued her time with this man who called himself Andromeda more.

—The habit they established a century ago has remained unchanged. For the past hundred years, on the same day every year, Alice and Andromeda have lay together on the same grass, gazing at the sky.

Sometimes they would exchange a few words. Sometimes they wouldn't say anything at all. And most of the time, outside of communication, they would simply stare silently at the intricate constellations scattered across the sky.

From night to day, from evening to morning.

Then, at the moment of dawn, they each got up, walked away from each other, and went their separate ways.

On one occasion, Alice casually spoke a few extra words. That day, there was no moon, and all the stars in the sky had been hidden by the turbulence of the warp. In the deep darkness of that starless night, the girl's whispers brushed past the two of them like a gentle breeze.

“I have a guess,” Alice said calmly at the time. “If things change in Terra, before my ritual is completed, and while Loy is still here, if you meet the complete me then, you will definitely act without hesitation.”

Andromeda did not answer, and his silence itself was an answer.

"You will win, and I will lose. But you will die, and I will be resurrected." The girl's voice was indifferent, like a dark river that did not exist in the starry sky. "I will lose Patchouli forever, and I will break free from my obsession and become a saint on the spot. And when that time comes, you will die, but you will also get what you want."

Andromeda remained silent, only gazing at the spot where Andromeda should be, and blinked.

Alice then chuckled softly.

"But you can't do that now, not because you don't want to, but because you can't. You're actually no longer able to fight me, are you? After all, your strongest moment was when you first arrived and just revived."

Alice received no response, but she could feel the soft, warm body beside her stiffen silently the moment her words fell silent—

—She wanted to take action.

But she was no longer able to do it.

Because much of the oil on the water's surface has already evaporated, the remaining layer of oil, with just a slight stirring, will no longer be able to completely cover the thick layer of water beneath it.

She can't do it; she can do almost nothing.

And the only thing she could do was try her best to ask one question before dawn—

"Is this all you have to say to me?"

Then Alice nodded.

“You’re right, that’s all I have to say to you. Nothing else,” Alice replied calmly. She remained silent about the topic of red and green tea from distant generations. And just as she finished speaking, the sun rose from the other side of Terra.

That concludes today's stargazing.

Andromeda rose silently, her movements a little rougher than many of her previous occasions. She shouldn't have made such a lapse in composure, but what was done was done, and there was no need to say more.

She turned and left.

And so this conversation, which may have been ordinary or extraordinary, came to an end.

And so, the year came to an end. And at the same time the following year, another stargazing event began in the same place. And throughout its entirety, there was only silence.

Silence, silence.

At the end of the silence, just before sunrise, Andromeda asked the same question he had last year.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?" she asked.

"No," Alice replied simply and decisively. And so the stargazing trip came to an end.

And so, time flowed on. A year later, another year passed.

Andromeda would sometimes bring up the same topic again, but more often than not, she would remain quite quiet throughout.

Alice's answer was always a short and consistent "no".

No, no, it's always been no.

This continued until the hundredth year since the opening of the warp—on this very day. Wei Yanwu, who had ruled Terra for nearly a century, finally passed away—Iris and Andromeda were both invited to his memorial service. During the service, Iris clearly saw the departing Overlord wave goodbye.

Tsk, what a troublesome guy.

She and Zhan Lan are practically cut from the same cloth.

Alice waved her hand dismissively, signaling the guy to get lost. The Overlord, of course, chuckled knowingly, then, arm in arm with Chelsea, who had also shed her identity as Princess Wenyue, they left the Terra continent.

Where they went is unknown. But Alice knows they will definitely appear on the battlefield on time when dealing with Hu Hai and Sekhmet, who are no longer too troublesome. And since that's the case, there's no need to pay any more attention.

But as the memorial service ended and the crowd dispersed, Andromeda, holding a cup of tea of ​​unknown composition, stood beside her and asked—

"Is there anything you want to say to me, Alice?" — The same question, uttered by her in a slightly different phrasing.

Alice didn't even look at the cup of tea in her hand, and simply chuckled as she answered.

"Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, those who must leave, do not keep." — She spoke in ancient Egyptian, and this was precisely the curse Evelyn used to destroy Imhotep in the original Mummy storyline.

Andromeda froze.

The next moment, the teacup in her hand fell to the ground, and she walked away with a cold face.

Alice didn't chase after Andromeda, nor did she make any further moves. She simply watched quietly as the teacup shattered inside, and the murky liquid flowing from the broken pieces.

This cup of tea has no color; it's neither red nor green. It's simply a mixture of various colors, unlike plain water.

It has no color that can be described.

It can have every known color in the world.

This is Terra, a world of the mind, an ocean of consciousness. The colors of all things depend on the mind that shapes them and how it revolves.

So, her smile faded, and she saw the final result.

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

After the memorial service, a new ruler took over Wei Yanwu's responsibilities. However, the person who assumed these responsibilities was neither Wei Yanwu's two nieces, Chen Huijie or Talulah, who had already made a name for themselves. No, the transfer of power was flawless. The second ruler was none other than Amiya, the former head of the Rhodes Island council and now the Demon Lord of the Sarkaz race, wearing ten rings on her fingers.

She was no longer the naive little rabbit she once was. Now, she had long since overcome numerous harsh trials and become a queen capable of shouldering the rise and fall of her people. But even so, when she took over the throne of Terra through abdication, a formidable test still lay ahead in her eyes.

Because she had to deal with the people of this vast kingdom. She had to deal with the ever-growing number of mortals on Terra who were out of step with the rest of Terra's inhabitants.

She dislikes ordinary people.

It wasn't because mortals, as the only race in this ideal realm that actively commits crimes, caused her too much trouble. Nor was it because mortals always banded together and maintained a hostile attitude towards all other races—no, she disliked mortals for only one reason. That was because mortals always wanted to divide Terra, this ideal realm, and build a kingdom that belonged only to mortals.

Amiya disliked this—no unified nation's ruler would like this. If it were just an ordinary private plot of land, it wouldn't matter. However, the problem was that mortals wanted to create a foreign nation. A foreign nation parallel to Terra, with its own laws, authority, and in every aspect, more inclined towards mortals.

Amiya disliked it, but she had no way to send the ruling guard to suppress it—how could an ideal nation have internal strife, how could there be internal killings? The native inhabitants of Terra had no interest in participating in external wars, so how could they possibly raise their swords in internal conflict?

Amiya's guards couldn't do it, and neither could Amiya herself. Since the simplest, quickest way to resolve the situation wasn't an option, the only choice was to use clever tactics to divide the enemy, preventing these mortals from concentrating their efforts on internal power struggles.

This is a huge project, and a very troublesome task.

But Amiya faced it bravely and handled it well for decades afterward.

If she's doing well, Terra will naturally be doing well too.

Under Amiya's rule, although there were occasional conflicts on Terra, a stable order was maintained and the region continued to move towards the unknown.

Her reign also lasted one hundred years. And during those hundred years, the meetings between Alice and Andromeda never ceased.