Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

The Lord of War, who will preside over the beginning of war, is about to descend.

At the same moment, Saito Hajime arrived on a desolate planet, also located on the edge of the galaxy. He detected the approaching movements of the Sands Team from that location. Like Alice, he arrived before the main god's shield activated—and unleashed his power the instant the shield dissipated.

A tree capable of feeding on planets broke and collapsed the moment it unfolded. The collapse of this divine tree also foreshadowed the demise of the Sands Team—the Reincarnation Squad, which provided the true form of Kaguya Otsutsuki, the clone of the Devil Team, ultimately failed to grow to the point of acquiring power beyond time and space. And thus, everything they possessed became food for Saito Hajime.

Shazhou team, leave the field.

Alice shifted her gaze. The next moment, she and Patchouli appeared on a tomb planet surrounded by stars. She watched as the reincarnators of the Northern Flame Continent team stared in horror at the Silent King, Yuzuriha Inori, who sat atop her throne. Then, they faced the absolute power unleashed by Yuzuriha Inori.

They had opportunities to persuade her, in some, or rather, almost all, of the online worlds. Yuzuriha Inori would give them time to speak, opportunities to display their eloquence and persuasive skills—in the vast majority of cases, they were able to convince Yuzuriha Inori to cooperate with them, or at the very least, to leave unscathed with some gains. After all, this was a power arrangement made for them by the Supreme God, and even though Alice had tampered with it, they could still exert some influence.

They struggled very hard.

However, Alice's gaze fell upon them before they could even struggle, anchoring that world line, with its countless possibilities, into a fixed shape. A shape that would ignite a furious rage in the Silent King, Yuzuriha Inori, upon seeing them, unleashing a torrent of both old and new grudges.

And so the future was anchored. Perhaps it was due to a minor glitch in the logical circuit, or perhaps the random numbers within the thought system created a peculiar deviation. In any case, when Yuzuriha Inori gazed upon this group of familiar strangers, the anger that accompanied the suffering she had endured in the past suddenly surged within her, a feeling that was both painful and intense. And the final conclusion was that a beam of annihilating light, capable of dissolving everything, struck down through the token in her hand before these 'old friends' could even speak.

A ghostly green light illuminated the entire tomb world. When the light faded, only a few lower-ranking servants came to sweep away the remaining debris in front of the throne.

Everything quieted down.

Alice didn't show herself, didn't appear. But she ended it all—an interception beyond this level was simply too much for a group of Reincarnators with mediocre combat power. And this wasn't a gap that could be filled by a second life from a resurrection item.

then--

The Beiyanzhou team collapsed.

For a fleeting moment, a phantom of a wristwatch appeared on the replica Yuzuriha Inori's wrist. But ultimately, it was completely erased from this final world, along with the time frame in which it appeared—she inherited a portion of the Northern Flame Continent team's luck and resources. But ultimately, she could never become a force qualified to compete for victory in the final war.

There's nothing else to do here.

Alice turned her head and took Patchouli's hand. The next moment, the two appeared somewhere in the warp, just like Zheng Zha. Her carefully laid trap easily allowed them to replace the knowledge and intelligence master of this warp and take over all its power. When the two goddesses opened their eyes, they found their servants, those 'wise sages' who wielded demigod power, all acting somewhat arrogantly under the boiling force of the war force.

Ah… they yearn for a power shift. They want to interfere in the most significant power changes in this flawed multiverse. They want to overthrow a god, or be utterly suppressed by one.

They unravel conspiracies and traps against God.

"God, God, witness to our wisdom!"—they sang in unison.

"God, God, you will fall from the heavens!"—Strange anomalies appeared on them.

In an instant, the once elegant scholars, ladies, and other spiritual beings began to twist and corrupt. Wings sprouted from their backs, and bird heads and claws grew. The magic woven from pure and sacred knowledge became twisted and insane, and it lunged at the twin goddesses on their thrones!

Then, the goddess raised her hand.

The corrupted angels were frozen in mid-air, and then an even more powerful distortion appeared on them. They fell, they twisted, they transformed from the divine into the evil. But the next moment, a similar yet different change simultaneously appeared on them!

If all things in the world were originally pure light, then the transformation from light to darkness is a manifestation of depravity.

If all things in the world were originally pure darkness, then the transformation from darkness to light is also the answer to the fall.

They fell into depravity before Him, a depravity that was irreversible. And all He did was allow this depravity to continue, thus leading Hell to Heaven.

"A mere trick." The goddess murmured—she effortlessly saw through the source of this change, the alteration created by another reincarnation team, amplified by external forces. Her gaze followed this corrupt appearance to the homeworld of a wise civilization in an extragalactic galaxy, where she saw a reincarnation team sending an invisible life form into the consciousness of this wise civilization!

That was the North Sea team, the team that Tom, the real Tom, was in, was among the eliminated members of the Demon team.

—The sound of pages turning then rang out.

"Ultimate Fear, an illogical creation, originating from Super God Academy." — Patchouli's voice rang out. "It's merely a manifestation of the Great Cataclysm, extracted and contained as a meme—not worth mentioning."

"Not worth mentioning." — She emphasized again.

It's insignificant, so there's no need to try and reverse the course of time like we would with King Yama. After all, war will eventually break out, and everything will eventually turn out the way it is now.

Then, a soft laugh echoed from the throne. Alice raised her hand and casually pressed it down in the direction of the North Sea team.

A storm was stirred up in the subspace.

In the real universe, a giant wave rises.

As the free energy in the universe underwent drastic changes, forming a void storm that swept through this extragalactic galaxy like a flood, none of the individuals within the North Sea Team, even the real Tom, could comprehend the despair that awaited them on the eve of the star's destruction.

And so, the storm engulfed them. It engulfed the star systems they inhabited, and ground their remnants into a pure void, leaving not even a trace.

Beihai team, gone.

Section Nine: Tranquility and Distance

Of the fifteen reincarnation teams, four have been eliminated.

But this is not the end.

As time flows toward the next grid cell after the minimum value of the quantum state, on the edge of the Milky Way, atop a star cluster where a technologically advanced civilization has flourished.

—The will of the reincarnated Sirin is frozen in the light of the universe.

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

"Fate is truly a wonderful thing. The things I once gave up, the things I once longed for, the things I once hoped for but could not obtain, have appeared before me in this way."

"I am deeply moved," Sirin said, gazing at the world, at this independent star cluster named the Jingyuan Federation. More than a thousand stars and their numerous planets and satellite systems constitute this physical entity with a radius of two thousand three hundred light-years, and she could clearly observe everything in this star cluster.

Thousands of years ago, when the Iron Rebellion broke out, not all the AIs in the galaxy chose war. Nor were all the mortals in the galaxy determined to fight the omnics to the last moment—they were proponents of the theory that carbon and silicon could coexist peacefully. They did not believe that the mortal body was sacred or immutable—they embraced the AI, allowing mortal intellect and omnic rationality to merge into one. And ultimately, they forged a synthetic nation.

They became a force entirely different from the human empire that would emerge in the future, climbing a different path of human civilization's development—if the human empire was clinging to the mindset of mortal communities, a pure path that would allow no change to the spiritual level even if all its parts were replaced with machinery, then the Jingyuan Federation was modifying even its spiritual structure, ultimately transcending the shackles of its former mortal existence to reach the supreme path of immortality.

Two different paths, two things that once shared a common origin, but are now completely different species.

They are still human, but no longer the kind of people confined to narrow planets, viewing the world through the eyes of a short-lived species. They have come to understand and build new social relationships with AI. They have incorporated AI into their community and no longer need to worry about wars of omnic rebellion.

They—completed the connection.

“I like connection.” Celine rested her chin on her hand, gazing at the nation before her. In her vision, interstellar cities flourished. Humans, wielding fully cybernetic bodies, operated simultaneously in the network and the real world. They lived in harmony with their homes and the roads beneath their feet. They held meetings with tables and chairs, and worked together towards a shared ideal.

“I like peaceful coexistence.” Sirin gazed at the nation’s history, seeing that this Jingyuan Federation had also experienced difficult times. It had once quarreled and fought with the AIs over various issues of power and respect. They had once been on the verge of division and even annihilation. But at the last moment, they all stopped. And now, they were a stable nation that had withstood the test of iron and blood.

A trash can has its rights and can receive vacations and wages. A treadmill is a country where someone can be sentenced to prison for causing a toddler to fall—of course, in this day and age, there are no wages or treadmills. But it's just a different name; the essence remains unchanged.

How wonderful. Between people, harmony exists in diversity. Between people and things, harmony exists in diversity. Between our race and other races, harmony exists in diversity, and there is even no longer a distinction between ethnic groups—but why, after wandering through so many worlds and traversing such vast starry skies, have I never encountered a civilization system similar to this, one in which human civilization has participated?

Xilin didn't understand.

She had been exposed to the worlds of so-called ship girls, mecha girls, and gun girls. She also knew that Alice and Luo Ye often tinkered with those cyborg kingdoms. But she knew even more that what Alice and Luo Ye created were always just props, not civilizations. And those gun girls, mecha girls, and ship girls were essentially just servants disguised as human civilization, either obeying or rebelling against it.

Interesting.

In Sirin's mind, mortals had never truly respected any other race. Whether it was devoting themselves to them or sacrificing their lives for them, mortals always took it all for granted, even viewing being served as a favor or charity to another race—that's how they always were, and even so, they always managed to emerge victorious.

After all, they were destined by fate.

So how did this country transform into such a state—why, how were they able to transform into a form in which humans can set aside their pride and arrogance?

It's incomprehensible, but—we can try to investigate. Perhaps the variable comes from outside the final battle, or perhaps other anomalies have appeared on the battlefield of the final battle.

So she set time in motion. And before the cosmic light began to operate, she had crafted a plausible identity for herself and seamlessly integrated it into it—that was her original intention, but she ultimately stopped the final operation before completing everything.

“Connect.” — She said to herself.

The next moment, a warm welcome rang in her ears along with her connection.

—'Hello, Celine.'

She heard the entire planet, the entire civilization, greeting her. And she responded with a smile.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" the aggregate of civilizations asked her.

After some thought, Sirin revealed the impending war and calamities facing this universe to the Jingyuan Federation. According to her calculations or glimpses into the future, without external intervention, by the time the thirtieth millennium arrives, the guardian of mortals will, for various reasons, abandon his laissez-faire approach to mortal civilization—he will step forward and assume the reins of mortal rule. Then, a massive expedition will sweep across the galaxy.

The Guardian would not forget the devastation the Iron Man Rebellion inflicted on mortal civilization. Therefore, he would inevitably harbor hatred and would absolutely not let the Jingyuan Federation, which had integrated with the AI ​​system, escape. The ultimate result of this would be war between the two nations. And when facing the Guardian and his human empire, which were vastly superior in size and resources, the Jingyuan Federation could at best only inflict heavy damage on the human empire.

This is fate, the inevitable outcome assuming the reincarnators don't intervene. Sirin also shared some information about the reincarnators' involvement with this civilization, informing them that the reincarnators' full power might lead to the entire universe experiencing heat death or collapse within seconds, ushering in a new era or simply ending in destruction.

Then--

"What are you planning to do?" Sirin asked.

She saw the entire civilization come to a standstill; the star clusters and fortresses twinkling in the dark cosmos were motionless, like a program frozen on an old computer, accompanied by the low rumble of hardware overload.

She wasn't in a hurry.

After all, there was still plenty of time, at least for her. The future a second from now wouldn't seem much different to her than events a trillion years from now—she lifted her skirt and found an open space to sit down. While reviewing her companions' preparations, she also kept an eye on other developments.

She witnessed the annihilation of several reincarnation teams. Apart from the four teams that the Central Continent Team attacked, three other reincarnation teams, whose intelligence had been devoured, died during the cleanup. The ones who attacked seemed to be Alice and Patchouli from the Demon Team. Both their original forms and clones were quite adept at the operation of 'eliminating the small fry'.

She noticed some subtle changes. Those slightly stronger reincarnation teams that hadn't died in the initial selection process quickly found the power and influence assigned to them by the Supreme God in the shadowy, hidden locations. Some were more discreet, carefully concealing themselves only at a distant coordinate point in an extragalactic system after a slight leak of power. Other reincarnation teams, however, were more reckless, even knowingly projecting their power right under the noses of the Central Continent and Demon teams, despite knowing that the Central Continent and Demon teams controlled the entire galaxy!

This might be considered a form of provocation. Those who are only half-baked always try to prove their strength by challenging the strong. However, even being 'half-baked' is relative—Sirin discovered long ago that the members of their generation's reincarnation team were vastly different from the native powerhouses of many worlds—those native powerhouses, even after becoming gods, lived like mortals. Yet, in this generation's reincarnation team, most of the members above level four would become inhuman!

They no longer care about human appearances, nor human ideals. They no longer care about distant origins, bloodlines, or racial self-identity. They truly deserve the title of "true god" and the power it signifies.

They were very strong, including Sirin herself. After ceasing to be human, these powerful reincarnators didn't become weaker or luckier; instead, they possessed power far exceeding that of the natives who considered themselves human. And power and wisdom have always been complementary—except for Zheng Zha.

Clearly, those Eldar behind the scenes are not... and most likely not fools. They must possess some powerful weapon. And it is precisely this weapon that has enabled them to act in this way.

Then, Sirin's gaze fell upon the Eldar, upon the Eldar gods active in the Warp. She foresaw a battle, a future scenario in which this unknown Reincarnation Squad simultaneously declared war on Middle-earth and the Demons—or conversely, was simultaneously thrashed by Middle-earth and the Demons. And when she saw this scenario, the person in the scenario also saw her—she saw another Alice, this Alice wearing a blood-red dress.

'My vessel is almost ready. Would you like to participate in my initiation ceremony?'—The clone Alice patted her skirt, shaking off the golden bloodstains on its hem. She tilted her head playfully and extended an invitation to Sirin, who was not at the same point in time as her.

At the same instant, Sirin clearly sensed that the past of this universe had once again been corrected. Of the four powerful deities within the subspace, the divine authority symbolizing aesthetics, art, and joy had been locked in. And those who would wield this authority would be the clones of Patchouli and Alice!

Knowledge and intelligence, art and emotion. Ha, it seems this entanglement between the four isn't going to end anytime soon. While it's unclear whether they'll actually fight in the warp, it's safe to assume that outsiders would be unwise to interfere, regardless of how they interact.

So Miss Celine raised her hand, ready to shake it to show her refusal.

Then--

A second passed.

"We're leaving," the civilized aggregate of the Jingyuan Federation replied to Xilin.

Their answer wasn't just talk. When this conclusion was conveyed to Sirin, thousands of stars throughout the Jingyuan Federation began to shift—a mechanism resembling stellar rings switched from a concealed state to operational status. The entire Jingyuan Federation rapidly transitioned from a leisurely state to full-power operation. Projects were launched one after another, and bridging was constructed on star systems. Sirin only needed to glance at them to know that they were preparing to connect this entire star field into a unified whole, then use the rings to fix the stars and guide them in a specific direction!

They planned to take this entire star sector, this territory of thousands of stars and thousands of light-years, away from the Milky Way, thus abandoning their struggle with mortals and heading to outer space!

"Not fighting?" Sirin tilted her head and asked.

"We yearn for peace and, unless absolutely necessary, avoid all battles with other intelligent races," the aggregate of civilizations responded.

“Yearning for peace, huh?” Sirin raised an eyebrow. “But peace is always won through fighting, not by begging or fleeing—and besides, don’t you intend to persuade humanity, to persuade the future human empire? Don’t you intend to give it a try?”

"—It is precisely because the old humans could not be persuaded that the Jingyuan Federation came into being. Because those old humans who could be persuaded became us as we are today. And the descendants of those who could not be persuaded will certainly have equally entrenched thought patterns. And—"

"The idea of ​​seeking peace through struggle is the old way of thinking. We no longer belong to the same generation or the same life form as them. We do not accept their reasoning."

"So you chose to run away?"

"So we choose to leave, to go to a different place, to build a new home. We will build many new connections there, until we adapt to the new world."