Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a sharp pain in his face. He looked at Alice in astonishment, only to find that the witch's eyes seemed to be spitting fire.

"What...did you say?" She seemed to be spitting out these few difficult words through clenched teeth;

"Genesis...Father...Jehovah?"

Section 29. When a person is killed, he/she dies.

What happened next was somewhat unexpected. After Xiao Honglu uttered the words "Six Days of Creation," Alice began chanting Papacy-specific terms like "Six Days," "Genesis," "Jehovah," and "Angels" as if possessed. She seemed completely deranged.

To the people of Central Plains, this was a terrifying development, like something out of a ghost story. Before this, Alice had always remained calm and composed, her mind as still as water, no matter what the situation. Although she occasionally lost her composure, these minor lapses usually had no impact on the overall situation—this was the image she consistently projected.

In the eyes of the people of Zhongzhou, although she sometimes acted in ways that disregarded others' opinions and caused dissatisfaction, she was generally considered quite reliable. Whenever a perplexing problem arose, their first instinct was to seek her help. Therefore, when she displayed this demeanor that clearly indicated something was terribly wrong, the panic in their hearts was understandable.

Of course, this didn't last long.

Just a few minutes later, Alice recovered from that strange state. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, her pretty face quickly returning to calm.

"I understand now. I know what Death really is," she said calmly, her gaze sweeping across the road through the thinning rain. After locating the nearest village, she changed direction, leaving the national highway and deviating from the path of gravity.

The veterans exchanged glances, and finally Zheng Zha cautiously spoke up to ask.

"Margot Lloyd, are you... alright?"

“I’m fine, very fine.” Alice turned her head and glanced at him. “If you want to ask me what Death really is, then I can’t answer that question for now. It’s not that I don’t want to, or that I can’t, but that there’s no need.”

"Gah—?" Zheng Zha's eyes widened.

"You can't handle this answer yet, so just wait patiently. But now... I'm going to accelerate," Alice said calmly. The next moment, the puppet on her shoulder suddenly burst forth with dazzling magical light. As the gravitational field tightened, the force field sphere carrying everyone suddenly accelerated by nearly double.

The newcomers, whose physical condition wasn't very good, fainted immediately. The veterans also felt quite uncomfortable. Apart from Saito Hajime and Zheng, who specialized in physical enhancement, Zhan Lan and Xiao Honglu, who were most likely to continue to interrupt at this time, were speechless due to the G-force brought about by the sudden acceleration—and Zheng Zha obediently shut his mouth under her cold and sharp gaze.

She did it on purpose, because at this time, the less she said, the better.

Xiao Honglu's casual remark gave her an idea, allowing her to successfully connect all the information she had previously gathered. And then... she came to a conclusion.

That was a... terrible conclusion. Terrible, extremely terrible.

It was so bad that she even suspected the Supreme God… not the God of Death, but the Supreme God himself, intended to wipe out the entire Central Continent team in this world. Because if her prediction was true… or partially true, then the people of Central Continent would have no chance of survival in this world.

Yes, even the last resort—stopping time and activating the captain's authorization to end the horror movie—is utterly useless. Everyone will die, and there is no hope of turning the tide.

[I have to confirm this with Patchouli... I need to find out exactly what she did in the Ju-on world. No, there's not much she could do. Even if she destroyed the world, the Supreme God wouldn't treat the entire team so harshly. So... someone must know some secret they shouldn't know. Or the Supreme God believes someone knows a secret they shouldn't know.]

[...Saito Hajime.]

Alice closed her eyes, ceasing her thoughts. She couldn't help but feel a pang of regret—regret for sharing the knowledge of those strange beings in the world of gods and demons with Saito Hajime. But she also knew that regret was pointless. What had already happened wasn't unchangeable, but not everything could be changed… and in this situation, she simply couldn't afford the cost of change.

"Alright, let's put this aside for now. I'll go meet up with Patchouli first... Patchouli, please don't do anything foolish. If you leave me... I..."

She gently bit her lower lip, and the color gradually faded from her pretty face.

—The city she chose was not far from where everyone was now.

About fifteen minutes later, the force field sphere enveloping the group arrived at an ordinary small town under the cover of a sound and light-shielding barrier. It was the kind of truly ordinary town—sparsely populated, with few houses and poor communication. Just like the 'eerie, isolated town' in a typical thriller, without any difference.

The population... is around five hundred. The terrain is open, with no buildings exceeding three stories. In the center stands a church, and outside, exposed to the wind and rain, is a rickety cell tower. Through Alice's perception and observation, she can confirm that this town's connection to the outside world is extremely limited.

[What a perfect landing spot, too perfect.]

But... it doesn't matter anymore.

She thought to herself, and controlled the Shanghai doll to send a series of complex signals into the satellite network in the sky. Soon, the entire communication network of North America would be cut off. Although it wouldn't be as complete as cutting off military communications in the Transformers universe, with a little planning, destroying the town's communication base stations would be no problem at all.

A minute later, she led the Zhongzhou team into the town's church—the old priest, who had been praying late at night, was hypnotized the moment he saw her. He silently opened his umbrella and stood guard outside the church. Only then did the newlyweds recover from the shortness of breath caused by their high-speed movement, panting heavily.

“Margot Royd…” Zheng Zha looked at her, hesitating to speak.

"No need for further explanation, I'm going to verify something now. I'll share my conclusions with everyone when I return. For now... please stay inside this church and don't go out."

She stretched out her hand toward the center of the church, and seconds later, two fresh apple trees sprouted from the stone floor. They quickly grew and flourished under the influence of magic, bearing fruit. A strange snake crawled out of her sleeve and soon climbed onto one of the apple trees, where it remained motionless.

“So, it works as long as it’s not related to angels.” Alice smiled wryly and shook her head. She looked at Zheng Zha and said, “Don’t pick or eat the fruit on these, and don’t pay any attention to the snake. As long as these two conditions are met, this church should be safe. Death can’t get in, and it won’t make a move here… if my guess is correct.”

“Margot Royd, you…” Zheng Zha opened his mouth for the second time, but this time Xiao Honglu grabbed his sleeve and stopped him from saying the next sentence.

"That's enough, Brother Zheng Zha. Let's talk about it after Sister Alice comes back." Xiao Honglu looked at her, a hint of bitterness in his expression: "We've run into a lot of trouble, haven't we?"

"Hmm." Alice nodded gently. "I may be gone for a while. Remember, don't touch the trees or the fruit, ignore the snake, and don't leave."

"I will try my best to come back as soon as possible."

I'm taking the day off today. _(:з」∠)_

I can't take it anymore, if I keep pushing myself like this, I'll collapse. Damn it, working overtime after the May Day holiday... I'm exhausted.

I absolutely have to take the day off today, lol

Once these company tasks are finished for the next few days... I'll see if I should offer a bonus chapter. Uh, basically, I'm just looking for an excuse to add more chapters or something _(:з」∠)_

(Why isn't the word count enough? _(:з」∠)_)

Chapter Thirty: A Bolt from the Blue

About half an hour passed after Alice left. During this time, the veterans, without leaving the church, carried out precautionary measures in the surrounding area—perhaps because the movement of the gravity ball was too quiet, and because it was late at night, the changes in the church in this remote town did not attract the attention of the townspeople.

It was already one in the morning, and the weather outside was noisy and stormy. Although Death could indeed deliberately use various accidents to expose the reincarnators' whereabouts if he wanted to, that didn't happen at this moment.

[Perhaps it's due to Sister Zhan Lan's mental scan.]

Xiao Honglu sat on the pulpit in the church hall, resting his chin on his hand, lost in thought. Ever since Alice left the church, Zhan Lan had been scanning the entire town every five minutes. Coupled with the complete disruption of civilian communication networks across North America, even if Death truly wanted to cause trouble, it would have to set up a rather elaborate scheme to achieve its goal.

If my guess is correct, then we are indeed safe now. Even without Alice's backup plan, we are safe. Because 'Death' has achieved its goal. We are no longer its priority target.

He murmured to himself, leaning against the table and squinting slightly.

This is only the first day, the very first day that just ended. While the US military's strength isn't a fatal threat to the Zhongzhou team at this moment, if this is considered a tower defense game, the first wave of enemies—Tianxiang, three armored divisions, plus artillery capable of wiping out an entire city—is already overwhelmingly powerful.

That's too much.

Moreover, it will become even stronger later.

The main characters remained asleep, while the newcomers, unable to resist their drowsiness, wrapped themselves in curtains or sheets on the benches in the preaching hall and fell asleep. After all, although they hadn't been of any use in the previous battle, the chase had truly exhausted these ordinary people's mental and physical strength. In comparison, the death of the newcomer hadn't had much of an impact on the others.

[But that guy's death was really pointless... getting stabbed to death by ceramic shards or something. Hmm... what was that guy's name again?]

"Ah, I can't remember. Anyway, I wasn't really that noticeable, so I guess I'll just die. More than that, I'm exhausted myself." The boy thought to himself, his body relaxing slightly as his companion watched over him nearby. He had indeed expended a lot of energy deploying his protective shield earlier. And a good night's sleep was essential for him.

[Two trees, a snake, an apple. Even though I'm not very familiar with Alice's magic system, I can tell this is imitating the Garden of Eden. Ah, indeed, there should be no disasters or calamities in the Garden of Eden. As long as Adam and Eve are not there, this magical barrier should not be destroyed. So…]

Let's take a short break.

Soon, he closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep free of dreams.

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

Zheng Zha pushed open the door and walked out of the preaching hall. His footsteps were light, and without disturbing anyone, he arrived at the hall on the other side of the church, in the church restaurant where Zhan Lan was. The immature Eldar prophet was sitting there meditating, recovering his physical strength while expending his mental energy to conduct a periodic scan of the town.

He stood at the door for two seconds.

"Ah, you're here." Zhan Lan opened her eyes, turned her head, and gave him a gentle smile. "How are the others? Are they all alright?"

"Yes, everyone is fine." Zheng Zha nodded. "Sakura and Zhang Heng are watching over the preaching hall. Saito and Zero are on the second floor. I was a little worried about you, so I came over."

“What you’re saying is easy to misunderstand.” Zhan Lan tilted her head back, looking at him from a slanted angle. Her snow-white and slender neck was fully displayed because of this exaggerated movement, and there was no sign of her trying to hide it. “And many people will deliberately continue to misunderstand.”

"What misunderstanding?" Zheng Zha looked at her quietly, his gaze unwavering. "Aren't we partners who fight side by side? Since we're partners, isn't it only natural for us to care for each other?"

“A companion…” Zhan Lan shifted her position, her body twisting like a writhing snake, leaning lazily against the back of her seat as she looked at Zheng Zha. “Could we get a little closer?” Her eyes seemed to moisten, filled with a strange mist.

“No.” Zheng Zha rejected it without hesitation. He walked to another chair opposite Zhan Lan, sat down, leaned forward slightly, and said sincerely, “I gave you a reply a long time ago. You know it’s impossible. I won’t do anything to hurt Luo Li. Besides… we should have reached a consensus back then, right?”

He shook his head gently, and sighed dejectedly.

"Let's keep it this way, okay? We don't need to get closer, nor do we need to drift apart. We're still comrades-in-arms fighting side by side... and just comrades-in-arms."

However, Zhan Lan just looked at him sadly.

"Comrades... but I'm not reconciled. Brother Zheng, I'm not reconciled." She gently pressed her chest, her tone a mixture of self-mockery and sorrow. "I know I've become strange. If it were before, if it were before that horror movie ended, I probably would have chosen to bury this feeling deep in my heart until I died, or let another feeling cover it up. Because that's just who I am... not fighting, not acquiring, just waiting for that faint dream to perhaps come true someday in the future. But that was before... it's all in the past."

Her pointed Elven ears twitched slightly.

"Looking back now, I think my personality started to change after I exchanged for the Spirit Race bloodline. After all, it's a delicate and sensitive race... It's strange, Brother Zheng, the Vampire bloodline you exchanged for had no effect on you at all. You're not afraid of light, you're not bloodthirsty, and your personality hasn't become gloomy. But I'm completely unaffected."

“In that case—” Zheng Zha began, but was interrupted halfway through his sentence.

“I’m not trying to shirk responsibility, Brother Zheng.” She stood up. “The blood in my body has influenced me, but it was I who made the change. I became who I am because of my own decision, not because of any external interference. Because I care about you very much.”

“You know what? I can’t stand anyone interfering with you in the slightest. Just like before, Miss Alice was absolutely right, she was absolutely right, but I just wanted to refute her, to contradict her. Even if she was completely wrong, I didn’t want her to have it easy. Because she belittled you, Brother Zheng. Even if she could have done better, I couldn’t tolerate her trying to take away your power.”

She took a step towards Zheng Zha, her slender body, a head shorter than him, emanating a powerful aura that made males uneasy. She stretched out her hands, as if to tightly embrace Zheng Zha, who was trying to dodge.

Her movements were gentle, yet her steps were resolute. Zheng Zha, who was trying to escape, seemed to have wasted all his powerful abilities, as if feeding a gorilla, and he couldn't dodge at all. In just a moment, he felt himself being pressed down by a soft body, and his breathing and heartbeat became difficult.

“I care a lot, I care very much. I don’t intend to deny it, nor do I intend to hide it. Right now, I can no longer suppress this feeling from the bottom of my heart.” Zhan Lan whispered in his ear, “I don’t need you to take responsibility, nor do I need you to make any promises. I don’t care if you hate me because of this, I don’t care if you stay away from me because of this. Because this is all my own choice, I voluntarily want to get closer to you.”

"Why are you doing this...?" Zheng Zha turned his head with difficulty. "Stop. Continuing like this is not good for anyone."

However, Zhan Lan just smiled gently.

“You’re wrong, Brother Zheng.”

"It doesn't matter if you don't like me, as long as I love you, that's enough."

Author's Note:

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

Oh my god, the Dark Sword is finally level 21!

Then...wouldn't the era of Sword Twenty-Two be coming soon?

Chapter Thirty-One: Sorry, this is a routine...

For the extraordinary beings who have lived in Gensokyo, flight is an essential skill. Almost everyone has their own means of traversing the atmosphere and soaring into the heavens. Even Marisa, a half-baked individual who has not yet established a mature power system, has the ability to easily cross the gap between the Earth and the Moon, effortlessly stepping onto the Sea of ​​the Moon.

Alice could do the same thing with equal ease. She pierced through the thick, thunder-filled rain clouds with little effort, and within ten minutes, she reached the top of the clouds and entered the lower part of the ionosphere.

The Great Library lies atop the ionosphere, floating in a distant orbit below the exosphere. If measured from the Earth's surface, it's approximately 3,000 kilometers away. Crossing this distance would take at least an hour.

This was a very long time, long enough for Alice to sort out her thoughts.