Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

“Nonsense, utterly useless,” Alice replied, her tone flat and calm.

“That’s true. If our positions were reversed, I would respond the same way.” The young girl sighed. Although her appearance and figure hadn’t changed, her temperament and demeanor were visibly converging with Alice’s. “But…”

She tilted her head and looked out at the clear sky.

"...Isn't it good to have a world where you're all alone?"

She received no response.

Alice reached out her hand and gently placed the tips of her fingers on Miss Qihuang's shoulder.

Thus, Sesshouin Kiara, the captain of the Indiana team who had once been Alice's enemy and nearly driven her to the brink of defeat, transformed into a new Alice.

From then on, the Indiana team withdrew from the game.

Alice raised her gaze slightly and looked into the distance. She then saw some changes in the Starship Troopers universe through this discovery from India.

Ex did not die completely. Patchouli's previous actions actually became the opportunity for her to break through the barrier of the true god and become a transcendent species.

And she is currently in the world of Starship Troopers, at the exact moment when Team Morizu arrived, waiting for her arrival.

That future is not far away.

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Path of Destiny, Part Four

The fourth world ended with the destruction of the Indiana team. This caused massive and dramatic changes in some distant futures. But until everything stabilized, they remained in a state of chaos.

Then, Alice arrived at the fifth world.

Final Destination 2, the fifth world.

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

"Hina no Tenshi is not here." Patchouli, a participant in the Shinigami world, appeared beside Alice. The others also reappeared in their respective positions.

“We don’t really have much to do in this world,” Patchouli added.

She's right. A simple, purely unfortunate Final Destination 2 wouldn't pose any threat even to the former Central Continent Team. After all, the concept of 'Death' has been greatly weakened with the disappearance of its source. And the other interpretation of 'Final Destination,' the universe's instinctive rejection of outsiders… is completely unnecessary to consider.

Because the universe reacts to different foreign entities with varying degrees of rejection. A true god who has revealed their true level of existence could potentially experience a cataclysmic upheaval in an unfamiliar universe. However, for an ordinary mortal, even the strongest rejection from the universe would not be strong enough to destroy a continent.

At most, it's just an asteroid falling down, but what does that matter?

not at all.

So there's no need to be too nervous.

Or rather, most people here, or non-humans who habitually refer to themselves as human, don't need to be nervous.

Alice glanced at Saito Hajime, who shrugged, took a step, and vanished into nothingness. He had once served as a messenger here, delivering intelligence, and had formed a bond with Yog-Sothoth in an attempt to turn the tide. Although Yog-Sothoth had long since disappeared from this multiverse, the source of its power, the interference of the 'Outer Gods,' still left some influence on the current multiverse.

This is cause and effect, and cause and effect must be resolved.

Alice didn't pay attention to what Saito would encounter or what he would fight—of course, not only him, but all the other members of Team Central wouldn't do that either. Because paying attention meant making contact, and making contact was tantamount to causing trouble for Saito.

Sirin might be an exception; as someone who practices the principles of connection, she wouldn't ignore the crises her companions face, and she also has the ability and ideal of not causing trouble for them. But the problem is, she shouldn't be here right now, so she, the only possible exception, is thus ruled out.

Saito has left, and whether he will return is unknown at this point in time.

After Saito Hajime's form disappeared, a man with the same appearance as Zheng Zha appeared from the other side.

“My clone.” Zheng Zha glanced at the other person and came to a conclusion. Unlike him, who practiced the path of creation, his clone, while living a fulfilling life and having a successful career, was strangely walking on a path of ending that sounded very negative—the two of them should have repelled each other like boiling oil and water, but at the end of the repulsion, a small area of ​​them merged together.

“It’s me.” The clone Zheng Zha nodded. A sword wreathed in black flames appeared beside him. “My spiritual light is called the Wrathful Flame, the path I walk leads to the ultimate destruction of all things, and I name the final power I wield ‘Universe End’—and you?”

Zheng Zha, in his traditional form, gave his answer and response without hesitation.

“I call the light of my soul the Dragon Transformation, and the philosophy I follow is the Principle of Creation. For now, I call my ultimate power ‘the Creation of Heaven and Earth’.”

“Then it seems that the two of us together constitute the ‘Great Dao from beginning to end.’” The clone Zheng Zha chuckled, his expression immediately turning serious. “Original Zheng Zha, you should know why I have come.”

“Of course I know.” The real Zheng Zha nodded slightly. “Chu Xuan and his clone have already gone ahead. And next, it will be our turn to fight… In this world, I was once briefly the Human Emperor. And that was the time when I first became acquainted with Gu.”

"So, is there anything else you need to prepare?" the clone Zheng Zha asked.

Zheng Zha shook his head, glancing around at his companions—he had received many words of encouragement and blessings. Even Alice waved her little fist, making a 'go for it' gesture.

"Everyone," he exhaled softly. "I'll be right back."

The next moment, he stepped into nothingness, disappearing completely from the universe along with his clone.

The ancient is inseparable from the jun (a type of ancient Chinese coin), and the jun is inseparable from the ancient.

Zheng Zha is inseparable from Chu Xuan, and Chu Xuan is inseparable from Zheng Zha.

Alice withdrew her gaze. In her memory, the record of Gu Jun's creation of the world still remained, but it was fading at a visible speed. And she knew that once she completely forgot this creation myth, the outcome of the battle between the outer and inner sides would be completely decided.

So, how many Holy Emperors are still outside now?

She tilted her head and easily arrived at the conclusions of 'Adam,' 'Pei Jiao,' and 'Bing Feng.' She knew that Gu Hejun was actually dead on the outside. And the final victory on the outside would be decided by these three.

Who will win? — I don't know.

Who will lose? — I don't know.

She turned her head to look at her other companions.

"Sister Alice, I remember we're supposed to stay in the world of Final Destination for twelve days, right?" Xiao Honglu, who had just said goodbye to Zheng Zha, chuckled, a smile that was absolutely pure and innocent. "How about we roam freely here for these twelve days until the outcome of the battle with Brother Zheng Zha is decided?"

“But even after twelve days, the outcome might not be clear.” Zhan Lan shook her finger. “Zheng Zha is a transcendent being, just like you and me. Whether he exists or not, this timeline will not hinder his past or future. He has no reason to appear in the next world.”

“But this doesn’t conflict with us staying here and waiting for twelve days. And…”

“…We were supposed to stay here for twelve days anyway,” Xiao Honglu said with a smile, showing his reincarnation wristwatch to the others. The numbers on the wristwatch, which had been constantly changing, stopped at twelve after he finished speaking. And with a flick of his finger, the newlyweds who had just opened their eyes were immediately reborn.

He carried out Zheng Zha's will very thoroughly. Although the process might have been a little rough, it was not a big deal.

Beyond that, the twelve days he mentioned weren't the conventional twelve-day process—he meant staying within this timeline for those twelve days. Not interfering with the 'future' representing the end, or the 'past' representing the beginning. This might offer some help to Zheng Zha's upcoming battle, or it might not. But in any case, it was his way of showing his concern.

He glanced at the others, and as he had predicted, no one objected. After all, the battle had progressed to this point; strictly speaking, there were no additional variables left.

So the remaining people went their separate ways and found their own entertainment according to their own preferences.

Zhang Jie temporarily left the stage when Sesshouin Kiara was defeated in the previous match. Therefore, the only one left to face 'Final Destination' is Zero—obviously, even a Transcendent wouldn't be able to immediately detect Zero's disappearance without going all out. Besides Zero, the remaining characters are Alice, Patchouli, Zhao Yingkong, Zhan Lan, and Xiao Honglu himself.

Zhao Yingkong went to the cinema to watch the horror movie "The Elevator," while Zhan Lan wandered aimlessly on the ground to kill time. As for Xiao Honglu, all he could probably do was sit down and play cards by himself.

This is boring.

Strictly speaking, it's also difficult to make something like "transcendental species" interesting.

Alice and Patchouli, traveling together, may have some pastimes, but it's clear that the witches' pastimes have little to do with her companions.

Well……

Okay, there was a slight error in the introduction. Besides these guys, there was one more person left, and that was Miss Luo Ye, who shouldn't have been there at this time either.

After Alice appeared, she basically maintained a low profile.

When Xiao Honglu suggested staying there, she was the first to leave, randomly choosing a planet more than 100 million light-years away from Earth, and then casually strolling along its surface.

She only cared about Alice, and everything else was beneath her notice. Patchouli was perhaps an afterthought, but nothing else mattered.

"There are four more worlds to go..." Luo Ye pondered as he strolled along.

After Final Destination came Starship Troopers, and after Starship Troopers came Lord of the Rings. After Lord of the Rings came The Wandering Earth. And when The Wandering Earth's story ends, the regular cycle of reincarnation will once again point to the battlefield of the final war.

Everything will probably end there.

At the end of that path of destiny, at the crossroads where all ties are severed, the war on the outer front will find its answer. And the battle on the inner front will lead to the final step.

She had already foreseen the ending, the final outcome of the story—even without using any power to interfere with time, she could estimate a general conclusion. And she judged that the possibility of that conclusion becoming true was increasing dramatically every second.

She had already seen it. Perhaps she wasn't the only one who saw the outcome. But neither she nor the other insightful observers spoke of this ending. Because now was not the time to speak of it.

Luo Ye gently pressed her forehead, trying to shift her attention to something else.

With a slight thought, a portion of her memory was brought to view. It was the last piece of information she had seen when she stopped interfering with the 'future'. And within that information were various records from the time thirty thousand years were approaching.

Her apprentice, Mankorndor, had assisted the human emperor in building twenty massive legions, but ones destined to betray him in the future. The emperor knew of their impending rebellion and thus despised them, treating them like mere tools. However, cause and effect were reversed under Tzeentch's machinations, and this very despair gained even greater influence, becoming a major factor in the outbreak of the rebellion.

The rise and fall of mortal kingdoms has become inevitable.

The decline and resurgence of inhuman kingdoms are equally inevitable.

She watched the Eldar barely cling to life, watched the beast kingdom rise and fall, watched the undead always keep their eyes on the outer reaches of space, and watched the swarms of insects on the outer reaches of space stir with restlessness.

She constructed a simple equation in her mind.

Emperor - original person.

The Legion of Loyalty and Betrayal—Mortals who acknowledge His ideals, and mortals who turn away from His ideals.

The Four Chaos Gods—other players besides the original humans. For example, Shinki, the witch, and… Gaia, who will successfully ascend in the future.

Eldar, Greenskins, Undead, Swarm—the servants of Gaia, the saints of all races, remnants of the Old Age, and the ever-disruptive forces of the Outer Gods.

All the factions that should be on the board have received their corresponding pieces. The only thing left to do is to link the factions and pieces together at the right time.

This wasn't difficult, at least not in Luo Ye's eyes. All the arrangements were complete; the only thing left to do was wait until everything was in place before it was all put into practice.

wait.

While waiting, sweep away some remaining chores.

For example—she gazed upon a world.

For some reason, Alice was particularly fond of this world. The world's name was "Akame ga Kill!", and Alice had constructed corresponding concepts for it more than once, showing a particular fondness for a minor villainous character within it.

"Because this is the bond I formed in the 'present'." Alice's form appeared beside Luo Ye, nuzzling against his shoulder affectionately, and then a wisp of light appeared in her hand.

"This is... Sesshouin Kihara?" Luo Ye stared at the fragments of light, within which such a message was clearly displayed.

"It's just an idea, not a person. Miss Qihuang from the Indiana team is destined to be reincarnated in the future." Alice shook her head, precisely throwing out the speck of light, letting it fall into the world that Luo Ye had just thought of. And that world of Akame ga Kill! is decisively different from its endless parallel derivatives.

That world is the world where Esdeath, the captain of the South Flame Continent team, was born long ago.

"This was originally supposed to be done in the next round, but I am a transcendent being, so whether it's sooner or later doesn't make a decisive difference—I passed on Sesshouin Kiara's 'self-centered' philosophy to that villainous lady. So she naturally transformed into an out-of-script deviant individual and was destined to entangle with the strongest person in the world, Esdeath—she will provide that captain of the Southern Flame Continent team with a new kind of despair. And this despair is enough to make this reincarnator, after gaining power in the Main God Space, choose to return to the original world at all costs to seek revenge."

"And then the natives killed you?" Luo Ye tilted his head.

“Better safe than sorry,” Alice replied. “Esdeath is an anomalous intruder just like us, and she was the first to be eliminated. To ensure that no strange variables arise in the subsequent developments, I have to eliminate the possibility of anyone using her for their own purposes.” — Even if that doesn’t work, we should still place a warning probe there.

"And is this actually your response to Sesshouin Kiara's last question before she died?"

“That’s right,” Alice admitted without hesitation. “Her ideas may seem like complete nonsense to me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t make the most of them.”

“This is my response to her. After all—” She shifted her gaze back from that direction.