Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

"If it's just about predicting the weather for the next few days, or the fortunes and misfortunes of ordinary people, even I can do it easily without much effort. Because there are so few variables, as long as you are familiar with the underlying principles, you can easily deduce the future."

Alice casually explained that in the history of her world, magicians often used this kind of planning and calculation project, called prophecy, which was actually extremely costly and not very accurate, to deal with various possible unexpected situations. Because of the differences in schools of thought and research focuses, prophecy was also called divination, astrology, fortune-telling, etc. by magicians in various regions. Among them, the information magicians of the East, or to use a more artistic description, sorcerers and qi practitioners, were the most proficient in this subject.

Of course, they also caused the biggest mess. While the direct cause of the mage group's demise was the backlash from the Apocalypse, this was merely a trigger. Among the countless factors contributing to this outcome, the mess created by the Qi cultivators was undoubtedly a significant one.

Of course, now is not the time to talk about these things.

She paused, calculated the time needed for the wind pillar to dissipate and for Zheng Zha to arrive, and concluded that she could still explain some historical allusions to her teammates—she then waved her hand, and a temporary protective barrier was erected. Then, her gaze swept over the others.

"First, we can conclude that there must be a reason behind the US government's relentless attacks on us. And since this is the world of Final Destination, it is very likely that it has a deep connection with Death. Therefore, it is highly probable that those 'Apocalypse Seekers' who can foresee the future and predict good and bad fortune are Death's henchmen or pawns."

“And in this way we can deduce the nature of ‘Death’.” Alice gently clasped her hands together. “The saying ‘Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated’—you Easterners should understand this better than I, a Westerner. So if anyone tries to ask me a stupid question like ‘What’s the use of knowing this?’ I’ll throw them off the building right now to ensure the average IQ of our team.”

She noticed that Zhang Heng's lips twitched noticeably, but she graciously pretended not to see it.

Good, no one interrupted her. We can continue now.

"Perhaps the rules of different worlds are not the same, but I think this world, which at least superficially follows the common sense of physics, should have something in common with the usual real world. If those 'divine beings' want to obtain prophecies, then they must have detailed information about us. Although I don't know how they obtain our information... I'll just skip that and analyze their prediction methods directly."

“They must have calculation tools, and these tools are very likely ‘Death’ itself.” She turned her head to look at Xiao Honglu.

"Unfortunately, your deduction that 'Death is the embodiment of Order' will probably be disproven. The embodiment of Order has no need to send a bunch of clueless 'divine beings' to deal with us. This kind of tactic of sending dreams to charlatans and then having them act as a front to fool the monarch is not clever. Nor is it something that 'Order' needs to do."

Xiao Honglu gave a bitter smile.

"Couldn't it be something like the Akasha Records, the Heavenly Path, or the Vortex of Origin... and then the Grim Reaper and the Awakened Ones are their tentacles or something?"

"The Vortex of Origin? What is that?"

"Uh...it's a setting from a novel."

“Never heard of it.” Alice shrugged, randomly shoving the strange phrase into her mind before setting it aside. “But based on the first two words, I can roughly guess what it is… Hmm, Xiao Honglu, do you think we have any hope of surviving if we encounter an enemy of that level?”

"...probably not."

"That's it, so your assumption is meaningless. There's no need to consider a doomed situation, because we're still alive, which means the enemy isn't as strong as you thought. And there's another very important point. You've heard of Occam's Razor, right... I think that's the name you use here too."

“…If it is not necessary, do not increase the number of entities.” Xiao Honglu pondered these words and sighed softly. “I understand, I was overthinking it. There is no need to consider that situation.”

“You know that much.” Alice glanced at him. “And as I just said, based on the various clues we’ve gathered so far, we can deduce that we haven’t reincarnated dozens or hundreds of times in this world. This world is very unfamiliar to us, and it’s also very unfamiliar to us. Our enemy is not omnipotent; on the contrary, its power has very obvious limits.”

Alice secretly prepared a spell to guide lightning inside her sleeve.

“For example, it can’t kill me with a single lightning strike right now.” She stretched out her other hand and pointed arrogantly to the sky—and then, silence.

"See? It can't. Because it can't do it. The distribution of charge inside the cumulonimbus cloud here has been completely disrupted by the wind column. If you want lightning to fall, you have to change a bunch of natural parameters. And it's obvious that it can't do that."

“Therefore, I deduce that this so-called ‘Grim Reaper’ is actually an unknown life form that we haven’t yet found a way to observe. Our top priority is to find those Awakeners, and then follow the clues to find a way to interfere with it. And then…” Her outstretched fingers quietly closed.

"Grasp it, solve it."

“But how are you going to follow the trail?” Zhan Lan asked, a hint of dissatisfaction in her expression. “How are you going to capture those ‘Awakened Ones’? They are highly skilled individuals under the protection of this country. Making contact with them rashly will inevitably trigger further conflict between us and this country.”

"It's not like we won't have a conflict if we don't get involved..." Alice chuckled. "The war has already started; there's not much room for maneuver. We can't find any allies in this world. Besides..."

She turned her head and looked into the distance. A dim shadow was rapidly approaching their location.

"I think we'll be able to find a way to contact them very soon."

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Patchouli's Preparation

Meanwhile, high above the atmosphere, the colossal Library floats silently at the edge of the exosphere. Drawn by gravitational tides, it surveys the near-Earth orbit like a silent, ancient beast, watching the tiny, mosquito-like satellites drift slowly below.

Patchouli stood inside the main control tower of the Great Library, looking down at the earth, watching the cloud mass that covered a third of North America slowly rotate. Her gaze was serene, her pale purple eyes like unchanging purple crystals. Only when the cloud mass was dispersed by azure vortexes in the sky above a small city in Massachusetts did she show a slight change in expression.

"The runes of East Wind Valley... It seems Alice has made up her mind. I've been waiting for so long. So long." She spoke softly, and as she did, a light screen beside her unfolded. A short list quietly appeared in her sight.

She had left the ground several hours earlier, encountering some obstacles as she passed through the clouds. But once the Great Library was fully deployed, the naturally generated lightning bolts posed no threat to her—they simply couldn't breach the Great Library's outer protective barrier. Even if they could, Patchouli was confident she could tame the lightning and transform it into backup resources for the Great Library.

As the two witches' ultimate weapon, their trump card, the Great Library had been meticulously prepared over hundreds of years to be virtually flawless. The only way to destroy it was through extreme external force; hoping for an internal malfunction was utterly absurd. From the moment Patchouli and Alice arrived, they had already planned to transport the entire Central Continent Team to the Great Library if all else failed, then hide in outer space and quietly await the end of time.

After all, compared to the desolate wilderness still vulnerable to natural disasters, the empty outer void is the best place to escape death. Because death cannot directly interfere with the human body's internal structure, and the Great Library has long since become part of the witches. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it their external organ.

However, it doesn't seem necessary to proceed to that step yet.

"But it will be soon," Patchouli thought to herself.

She actually deduced the nature of Death before Alice did—after she left the surface clouds and crossed the sea of ​​thunder, she knew that Death was definitely not some conceptual construct. Because it wasn't powerful enough, and because it couldn't interfere with the interior of the Great Library.

Without a doubt, Death is some kind of 'being'. Some kind of mysterious, powerful, and imperceptible being—at least, it cannot be discerned from nothingness by optical observation and common detection methods.

But it did exist, and it was right beside Alice and the others. In fact, it wasn't without any clues; from the very beginning, the gust of wind with its skull-like shape clearly demonstrated the presence of Death, thus giving it away.

Because the skull representing death is only a part of human perception; theologically, the skull carries a wide range of symbolic meanings, such as purity and the inner divinity of humanity. Representing death is only one aspect, and even this aspect is a concept constructed from human understanding.

Since it relates to concepts constructed by all living beings, the level of threat automatically drops a notch in the witches' eyes. This is because they know the immense power contained within human history. However, they also understand that while this power is indeed vast, it is harmless until the right person awakens it in the right way.

In this world, there should be no beings more adept at manipulating these concepts than they are. And if there were, they wouldn't have remained inactive until now.

Yes, they can't possibly remain inactive. Therefore, they don't exist... unless they deem these minor changes meaningless. There's absolutely no need for them to intervene—but that possibility is extremely low.

She watched the vortex of wind gradually disintegrate, lost in thought.

Undoubtedly, there aren't many extraordinary beings in this world. And even if they did exist, they couldn't possibly confront the witches who control the Great Library head-on in this void of the dissipation layer. However, in this void without any obstruction, there is no other way but to confront them directly.

So, the deduction concludes. As long as the Great Library is brought down, and the entire Central Continent team, along with all the main characters, is taken to space, this horror movie can proceed peacefully. Because in space, there's practically nothing that could damage the Great Library—unless Earth explodes.

But clearly, the horror movie awarded to the entire A-level team wouldn't be that simple. So…

The Earth's rotation is stable, and all parameters are normal. It can be confirmed that this planet will not suddenly explode due to internal factors within the next twelve days. Since the enemy is not internal, it can only be an external one.

She looked up, her gaze passing through the top of the command tower, which had transformed into one-way glass in the instant she was looking at it, and outwards towards the outside of the Great Library. She could clearly sense an extremely powerful light and heat gathering somewhere far away, and as it passed through the exosphere, it was absorbed by the Great Library, a small portion of which was swallowed up.

Even this small portion was enough for her to awaken the terrifying energy of tens of thousands of local specialties she brought back from the world of Ju-on, the mechanical army that had once wiped out a world.

So, what kind of enemy lurks behind this energy? She already had some guesses in her mind.

Without a doubt, it can only be the sun.

Indeed, the sun's activity is far too unusual in my observations. If my calculations are correct, a powerful electromagnetic storm will sweep across the globe in three days at most. And the impact on us will be enormous.

Casting spells will become much more difficult, possibly even approaching the level of those dead magic zones created by outsiders. Of course, that's not important; there's only one important thing. That is...

Just how intense can the sun's own fury be?

Patchouli didn't know, and she didn't really want to know. But no matter how much she tried to escape reality, what was coming would eventually come. Fortunately, she wasn't without means to deal with it.

She gently reached out and touched the air a few times. Soon, a successfully activated and configured robot appeared in her field of vision. And behind this robot, there were thousands upon thousands more with the same appearance.

And they will soon come in handy.

Author's Note:

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

I think I'm going to die... I hate holidays, I hate holiday activities... _(:з」∠)_

Section 28. God created the world in six days.

The clouds dispersed by the wind slowly healed, and soon, the torrential rain covering a third of North America fell once more. Because the Central Continent team had already escaped, the Americans' next pursuit plan failed—or rather, they simply didn't have time. After all, even the most swift mobilization of an army isn't something that can be accomplished in the blink of an eye, and the reincarnators had actually been in this world for less than a day.

To be precise, it was less than twelve hours.

The torrential rain, having lost its meaning, quickly stopped after the reincarnators had left the city. After that, Alice, carrying Zheng Zha who had finally returned, the veterans, and a bunch of burdens, floated at high speed within the force field sphere, moving without touching the ground. They traversed the wasteland and crossed the open national highway; Death seemed to have temporarily abandoned its pursuit. Until the timer crossed midnight, the group encountered no further obstacles.

Along the way, Zhao Yingkong also shared the intelligence she had gathered with others.

"So that's how it is? We... will cause the destruction of this world?" Alice tapped her temples, looking like she wanted to laugh but couldn't. She seemed to be holding it in, her shoulders trembling slightly. "Those Apocalypse... those fools actually foresaw this?"

“Hmm,” Zhao Yingkong nodded. “The information I obtained is as follows. It is said that those Awakeners all have the same premonition that in about six days, there will be a global super disaster, and they saw us active in it.”

"What kind of disaster is it?" Xiao Honglu asked hurriedly. "They should be able to see the manifestations and ways in which the disaster occurs, right? Or can they only see text messages like 'A group of people destroyed the world, and their names and appearances are XXXX'?"

“It’s a record with sound and visuals, not just a simple text description.” Zhao Yingkong shook her head. After thinking for a moment, she added, “It’s like the precognitive dreams that the protagonists in Final Destination have. They can see the disasters that will happen in the future from their own perspective. But the specific manifestations of the disasters… are not very certain.”

"Too many." Zhao Yingkong looked troubled.

“Some are like the Terminator, with robot armies destroying the world, casting death rays and ion clusters everywhere.” — Alice resisted the urge to look up at the sky, or more precisely, at the Great Library floating above the orbit.

"Some of them resemble Resident Evil, but they are many alien zombies that are far more powerful than those in the original movies and games." — Alice tried her best not to think about the vial of solution she kept close to her body, and confirmed in her memory that it was locked tightly enough.

"There are also ghosts and spirits all over the mountains and plains, as well as tsunamis and landslides..." Alice decided to postpone the planned ritual experiment on behalf of Kukulkan, Tartarus, and the Eastern Peak Emperor, etc., to the end.

Zhao Yingkong shook her head vigorously.

"I think this might be faulty intelligence. It could be a cover-up from the highest levels of the government to their subordinates, after all, my source is only the commander of an armored division. We probably need to contact the real high command to get accurate information." Zhao Yingkong let out a soft breath; the naturally aloof Zhao rarely spoke so much at once. Perhaps it was because this intelligence was simply too outrageous.

No, I think it might be true...

Zheng Zha's eye twitched. He remembered what Alice had said to him on the villa's rooftop about two hours earlier—'Ten thousand units can be provided in twenty-four hours, and there are many subsequent enhanced models.' However, he wisely chose to keep quiet at this moment. Because he had a feeling that... he would be in big trouble if he spoke out.

Margot Lloyd's acting strange... Hmm, it feels like back in the Mummy. There's a subtle sense of unease about her. Is she getting serious? Honestly, if only she'd done this sooner, I wouldn't have had to rack my brains like this before.

[...Although I think it's nice to use your brain occasionally.]

He thought to himself, but outwardly he pretended to be completely oblivious. And he knew he wasn't really faking it, because he felt a faint stinging sensation on the back of his neck as Alice's gaze swept over him—but it was just a stinging sensation.

This was merely a fleeting change of thought for Zheng. In fact, Alice picked up where Zhao Yingkong left off, just as she finished saying the words "accurate information."

“That’s irrelevant,” she waved her hand. “The future is uncertain, and I’m sure everyone here knows exactly what kind of people they are. I don’t think any of you are capable of destroying the world. So, what we should focus on is what’s hidden behind this message.”

She took a light breath.

“Why would the mastermind behind the revelation to these ‘Awakened Ones’ make them have such dreams? And why six days later? — This timing is too precise, and too strange.” Alice gently tapped her head. She said slowly, “The Supreme God gave us twelve days for the mission, and these time-limited survival missions undoubtedly become increasingly difficult as they progress. And if the world is destroyed on the sixth day, then how are we supposed to spend the next six days…?”

“Indeed.” Xiao Honglu nodded. “Moreover, if the Grim Reaper has the power to destroy the world, and actually destroys the world in six days… then even if we manage to escape the apocalypse, there is no doubt that we will have no chance of survival. After all, if the power to annihilate a world can be concentrated entirely on us seventeen…sixteen people, I think we have no chance of winning.”

"So if the apocalypse six days from now exists, it shouldn't be an inevitable event, but rather some kind of disaster that can be prevented. What we need to do is figure out what this disaster is all about before the six-day deadline arrives, and then... prevent it."

He looked at Alice.

“Sister Alice, when you previously refuted my conjecture that ‘Death is the embodiment of order,’ your arguments were that ‘Death’s performance was too weak’ and ‘Death did too many unnecessary things.’ I admit that your arguments were correct at the time, but the situation has changed now. The information provided by Sister Sakura is enough to show that ‘Death’ is not too weak, but rather that it now has more important things to deal with first. Compared to the great feat of destroying a world, we, these ‘mere’ sixteen outsiders, are far too insignificant.”

"Do you think I'm right, Sister Alice?"

Alice lowered her eyes.

“I admit there’s some merit to your reasoning,” she said in a deep voice. “In that case, it’s understandable that they manipulate the ‘Apocalypse’ and incite nations to oppose us. So that’s it. Their goal isn’t to use the power of nations against us at all, but to make us antagonize human regimes, thus preventing us from obtaining effective assistance to avoid the end of the world. Tsk, I underestimated them.”

She looked up, her gaze fixed on Xiao Honglu with an unusual seriousness in her sky-blue eyes.

"I underestimated you, Xiao Honglu."

“Same to you, Sister Alice.” Xiao Honglu smiled smugly. “I just happened to think of this possibility. After all, even the Father in the Bible took six days to create the world, right? So destroying the world would naturally take the same amount of time…”