Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

“That’s a possibility… but we can’t rule out the possibility that Sadako Yamamura is inherently a weak option in the Ju-on world.” Xiao Honglu gently twirled a strand of hair, frowning in deep thought. “Alice and Patchouli are definitely plotting something, but I have too little information right now, and even with some guesses, I can’t draw any conclusions. Hmm… let’s assume that Sadako’s weakness and cowardice aren’t a natural setting of the Ju-on world. Then, combined with the fact that the ghosts triggered by other characters are all easily resolved D-rank side quests…”

His pupils suddenly contracted.

"Could it be that there exists a ghost king in this city whose power far surpasses that of other evil spirits?" He shook his head vigorously. "No, such a conclusion is too hasty and lacks any solid evidence."

“Perhaps we need additional intelligence sources.” Zhan Lan gently pressed her left earlobe and looked in a direction near the city’s outskirts. “Sakura just told me that she discovered something unusual near an abandoned school… She plans to investigate and told us not to worry. However, before cutting off communication, she gave me a key, which should allow us to directly access the local military and police system.”

“Understood, then leave it to me.” Xiao Honglu nodded. He took out his terminal, connected to the outdated network of this era, and quickly hacked into the local police system using the key provided by Zhan Lan. With just a glance, a particularly eye-catching bolded communication appeared before his eyes.

"A major incident has occurred at the Dolphin Hotel, causing significant damage. We have called for support from the Self-Defense Forces... Dolphin Hotel?" He casually opened the police file on the Dolphin Hotel, and the 37 unsolved murders that occurred in suite 1408 in recent years were particularly glaring.

“Room 1408… Is that Saito Hajime and Zero?” Zhan Lan frowned. She gently tapped her temple. “Wait, I’ll contact him right away.”

She was about to use mental communication when, in the next instant, the communicator in her pocket rang first.

“It’s Saito Hajime.” Zhan Lan glanced at Xiao Honglu and opened the communicator—and Saito Hajime’s calm voice came from the other end of the communicator, accompanied by continuous explosions and roars.

"I'm at the Dolphin Hotel, facing some trouble and some discoveries. Could you come and help me out?"

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

Zhao Yingkong breathed softly, her gaze locked on Shinozaki Sachiko's figure. The Netherfire Fang, burning with a deep, eerie flame, suddenly thrust out! In the instant of impact, several force field walls that had appeared before the ghostly girl shattered. Just as the dagger's tip was about to touch Sachiko's brow, the ghostly form vanished like frost in the sunlight, then reappeared behind the assassin girl.

"I really don't want to fight you. Can we stop here?" Sachiko glanced at the Fang of Netherfire, then waved her small hand, and a gigantic arm formed from black mist suddenly slammed down. The force was immense; it merely grazed the arm, instantly turning several dilapidated wooden tables into dust. However, Zhao Yingkong was faster. The moment the giant hand swung down, she abruptly retreated, a wisp of flame appearing between her eyes, then suddenly expanding into a spinning fireball.

[Spell: Fireball]

The fireball collided with the giant black mist hand, shattering into a shower of sparks in an instant. Unlike Alice's fireball, which was actually a high-temperature plasma from the science department, Zhao Ying's fireball originated from the conceptual flame derived from the enhanced embers of firewood within her body. Its physical destructive power might not match Alice's magic, but its effect against spirits was far more significant!

The giant arm of black mist suddenly receded, and she once again captured the ghost's figure—she exerted force with her feet, and the old wooden floor immediately cracked open with countless fissures.

She swept across the void like a shadow, reappearing as a deadly blade aimed at the ghost. This strike cleaved Sachiko's spirit in two, the fiery energy even splitting the ground behind the ghost and slicing the wall behind it into two scorched stone slabs!

[Fake product?]

Zhao Yingkong frowned, and the first stage of her gene lock quietly unlocked. She took a deep breath and, with a quick step, shifted her body nearly three meters to the side. At the same moment, the school building's floor and ceiling shattered, and several giant black mist hands suddenly smashed down from above, instantly turning the space where the assassin had been standing into a distorted vortex!

[Tsk, looks so soft and gentle, I didn't expect it to be a power type?]

The girl's pupils contracted, and her sideways movement stopped instantly. Her upper body executed a graceful bridge maneuver to dodge the sweeping attack of the other massive arm. Flames rekindled in her free hand.

[Spell: Ignite the Flames]

The raging fire that had covered most of the school building burned away the black mist in the blink of an eye. She could vaguely hear a scream and see a blurry figure fleeing rapidly into the distance.

Don't even think about running away.

The girl quickly adjusted her breathing, and after switching her high-consumption gene lock to a half-open state, she tightly gripped that shadowy figure. She imbued her dagger with flames, leaving a long trail of fiery light behind her as she rapidly pursued—this was a secret technique from her assassination studies, allowing her to concentrate her power highly during a long-distance chase, so that if the timing was right, she could strike with deadly precision!

Several massive arms reached out from the corridor beside her, but failed to harm her in the slightest. Her vision and senses were tightly focused on the movement of that shadowy figure, traversing the corridor and crossing the courtyard; the complex school buildings could not hinder her in the slightest. Her mind became increasingly focused, and the flames clinging to the dagger gradually spread up her arms, slowly transforming into a thin wall of flames that concealed her body.

This guy's strength is definitely more than that; we need to be wary of her traps and ambushes.

Zhao Ying was thinking to herself, but in the next moment, the space in front of her suddenly opened up. After passing through a corner of a corridor, a huge black mist humanoid suddenly appeared in front of her. The killing aura emanating from that humanoid was far more powerful than the previous black mist giant arm!

[Spell: Inner Potential!]

Author's Note:

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

Collector Drop

Section 17. Intuition is often unreliable.

Faced with the rapidly approaching ray of light, Zheng Zha didn't hesitate and immediately unlocked his gene lock to the second stage. Then…

"Zhao Yingkong, what are you doing?!"

With a roar, the Ghost Head Greatsword, already in [Fusion] state, was held horizontally in front of his chest. He didn't intend to strike, because the moment he saw Zhao Yingkong enveloped in flames, he recognized her from her size, breathing, and the Netherfire Fang.

Then, as he had hoped, the blade suddenly veered off course, cleaving a small section of the corridor beside him into burning fragments.

The flames on Zhao Yingkong's body subsided slightly, revealing the young assassin's face, a mixture of confusion and suspicion. She scrutinized Zheng Zha as if examining some rare and unusual insect.

"You... are Zheng Zha?" She seemed to be struggling to say those words.

"Do I need to prove it to you?" Zheng Zha replied irritably. "My appearance should be easy to distinguish, right... Wait, what do I look like in your eyes now?"

...A few minutes later.

"I see..." Zheng Zha scratched his head. "So in your vision I'm actually a giant black mist gorilla now? Hmm... was that ghost's doing? Tsk, it really was that guy behind all this. Once I find it, I'll definitely beat it into two little pancakes!"

Zhao Yingkong pursed her lips. Her gaze passed over Zheng Zha and fell on the high school girl who was hiding behind Zheng Zha, trembling with fear. A look of doubt appeared in her eyes.

"Ah, this is Tomie, Kawakami Tomie. A high school student I met at this school, she is Kisaragi... I think she is a student at a middle school with that name. She is the one who told me about the ghosts in this school, so it seems that this information is indeed useful."

He patted Tomie on the shoulder and pointed to Sakura.

"This is Zhao Yingkong, my companion. Um... just call her by her name."

"Is...is this Mr. Zhao? May I address you like that?" Tomie seemed somewhat frightened; her face was pale, and her voice trembled as she spoke. Indeed, after witnessing that flash of light slice through most of the corridor, anyone with common sense would be instinctively afraid. In fact, the fact that Tomie could still stand on her own two feet was already a remarkable feat—which subtly elevated Zheng Zha's opinion of her.

Zhao Yingkong nodded slightly to her as a return gesture. Then she took out Tomie's student ID from her pocket and tossed it over.

"This should be yours."

"Ah!" Tomie exclaimed softly, then quickly grabbed her student ID, carefully wiping it twice before putting it in her pocket. She bowed repeatedly to Zhao Yingkong, her gratitude and joy almost overflowing from her every move.

"Thank you so much for your help, Mr. Zhao! Please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."

Zhao Yingkong shook her head slightly, shifting her gaze away from her. Unlike Zheng Zha, who could never be relied upon for his scheming and plotting, although she had escaped Sachiko Shinozaki's trap, she still felt that some things seemed to remain unresolved.

[Something's strange... Sachiko Shinozaki deliberately disguised herself as a power-type ghost, probably because she thought Captain Zheng Zha and I didn't know each other, so she came up with this plan to use my vision to kill me. But if that's the case... why did she only block my vision and not my voice?]

Is it that it's impossible, or that it's not feasible? Or perhaps... something is interfering?

She looked at Kawakami Tomie, who was still thanking her profusely, and a sense of disharmony quietly surfaced in her mind.

We cannot draw conclusions so hastily.

"Captain Zheng Zha," the young assassin said calmly, "what's your assessment of the current situation? Should we go straight for Sachiko Shinozaki and take her down head-on, or should we follow the usual supernatural movie formula and try to find out her origins, weaknesses, or something like that?"

“I think it’s better to deal with it head-on,” Zheng Zha replied without hesitation. He then shook his head with a wry smile: “You’re asking me about this kind of topic… Sigh, if only Xiao Honglu or Margot Lloyd were here. They would definitely be able to quickly analyze the current situation and give us the right answer.”

“Yes.” Zhao Yingkong nodded, deeply agreeing with Zheng Zha’s statement.

Seeing the two of them like this, Tomie couldn't help but show a curious expression. "Excuse me, may I disturb you two?" she asked cautiously, subtly changing her address from the respectful '君' (kun) to the more respectful '様' (sama): "Master Zheng, Master Zhao, may I ask who you two are?"

"We're friends. I'll introduce you if we meet again. Tsk... It's only been less than half an hour since I got back here, but it feels like several days have passed. I wish Margot Lloyd were here... I wish I could be as quick-witted as her."

His thoughts shifted subtly, and the unreleased second-order gene lock silently operated.

If I were Margot Royd…

If I were Margot Royd…

If I were Margot Royd…

A strange idea suddenly popped into his mind.

If I were Margot Royde, I'd punch that Tomie dog's head off right now!

Zheng Zha was startled, then gave a bitter smile. He shook his head slightly, looking dejected.

"What's wrong?" the assassin girl asked.

"It's nothing. I was just trying to simulate Margot Lloyd's thoughts... It seems that women's way of thinking is still too profound for me. I'd better not do such stupid things in the future." He took a deep breath to calm his agitated emotions.

"Let's go, Sakura-sensei." He gripped the demon-headed broadsword in his hand tightly.

"Let's find that evil spirit named Sachiko Shinozaki and beat her into two little pancakes!"

"You've already said that once."

"Then beat them into four pancakes!"

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

Unlike the fate Zheng Zha had ordained for Xingzi, the ghostly girl now faced a far more perilous situation. She had initially thought she could find a powerful outsider to aid her, just like Tomie. To demonstrate her sincerity, she unusually didn't utter a single lie, genuinely wanting to join forces with Zhao Yingkong from beginning to end. Only when negotiations failed did she decide to use a borrowed knife to kill another, but she never expected that these two knives would actually know each other!

The sleight of hand used to obscure her vision was barely successful, but her attempt to alter her voice was thwarted by her nemesis. The moment Zheng Zha and Zhao Yingkong parted ways, she knew her strategy had completely failed. And the days ahead would undoubtedly be very difficult.

Why is this happening?! This time... I was clearly on the side of justice!

Even if I act completely harmless, a ghostly body still won't do... But I don't have a physical body!

The young ghost girl gritted her teeth and swiftly made her way deeper into the school—she bore a heavy responsibility and could not afford to die easily now. And if she didn't want to die, she had to…

However, the next moment, she suddenly felt her feet sink into the ground! An invisible force field restrained her, binding her tightly!

"Looks like I've arrived just in time. Hmm... this interdimensional barrier is quite interesting." A pleasant voice rang in her ears, but at this moment, it was nothing short of a death knell for her!

"Let me introduce myself. I am Alice, Alice Margotrovid." The blonde girl who appeared before her raised her hand and gave a strange bow. "Nice to meet you. You must be the witch who set up the magic circle that covered the entire city. I never expected that your true form would be a ghost."

Chapter 18. When it gets dark, please close your eyes... and have a good dream.

Alice gently patted the staff that controlled the cane. She keenly noticed that the ghostly little girl before her seemed particularly afraid of this cane-like scepter. However, the source of her fear seemed to be more than that; what she feared more was Alice herself.

She clutched her head, shivering like a quail caught in the rain.

"It's all over...it's all over...there's actually..." Her eyes were glazed over, and the spiritual structure that formed her body even showed signs of collapse. "There's actually a living witch!"

Her tone was filled with undisguised hatred and disgust, clearly showing her deep loathing for the group represented by the concept of 'witch'. The night wind howled outside the window, and the wooden doors and benches of the school building creaked, as if the entire abandoned academy was angry and wanted to vent its rage on its master's enemies.

However, Alice silenced them with a simple movement—she raised her dominion and touched the tip of the ghostly girl's throat.

“You should be glad you’re long past the age of getting angry over mere words,” Alice said slowly and deliberately. The little girl’s words had clearly caught her attention, so she decided to adjust her tone and demeanor slightly—of course, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to immediately ask how the other girl knew she was a witch. Instead, she would use a more subtle and indirect approach to questioning.

[To summarize the information currently available...]

[The sealing formation in this city is related to a witch. Perhaps one is sealed beneath... no, it's certain that one is sealed, but its power is very weak, and it should be unable to move freely.]

Although this ghost also uses magic, she lacks awareness of being a witch. It seems this unfortunate soul, once sealed away, has left behind quite a bit of trouble.

[We live in the information age, and this ghost is at least ten years old. Yet she still believes that witches no longer exist in this world. Therefore, there are two inferences: First, this world has authoritative historical records confirming the extinction of witches, and the one sealed in this city is the last one.]

Secondly, this sealed witch possesses some special characteristics; perhaps she represents the concept of the 'last witch.' Hmm… considering the common thinking of those idealistic fools, this second possibility is more likely than the first.

Her mind was racing.

[So, summarizing the above inferences, it can be confirmed that witch hunting also exists in this world, and those idealistic fools clearly lacked the ability to survive, ultimately perishing in a certain war. However, the magicians of this world obviously wouldn't want to die so easily, so they created a large-scale vengeful ritual to concentrate their remaining power into a spirit or concept capable of avenging them.]

[Tsk, it's nothing more than a collection of resentment... I see. A simple collection of resentment is just a chaotic mass of information lacking order, which does indeed meet the two conditions of being difficult to perceive as magical power and unable to interfere with my meditation using curses as a medium. These idealistic idiots have always been so petty. They lose, they lose, and yet they create these pointless things to disgust people. They'd never change their ways, even in another world!]