“First, we need to determine our location. We lack a definitive destination in America now, as well as the other team's locations. We don't know the Seventh Underground Laboratory’s location either. If we run about randomly in this world, a hundred days will pass quickly. At that time, let’s not even consider victory. We'll all be wiped.” Xuan said to the rest.
Ever since entering Resident Evil Extinction, Xuan hadn't looked at those documents again, instead whole-heartedly pondering various problems. It could be seen how much he cared about this final battle ‘in meaning’.
“This is the first problem we face… locations! The second problem, the need to conserve Zheng’s power, is comparatively simpler. Zheng. You cannot fight with anybody above the fourth stage or any monsters of that level before you face your clone. You must do this. If my guess is right, your clone will do this too. No matter how high both of your powers are, you cannot easily defeat a fourth stage combatant within a short time. Leave the rest to us.” Xuan said seriously to Zheng. This was a rarely seen expression on him, apart from when he was doing important experiments.
...Of course, this was also basically the same expression he made when he did those experiments which would cause huge explosions.
Zheng sighed, nodding his head silently. After a moment, he queried, “What should we do next?”
“Leave this desert. Find a city or somewhere with people alive. We also need to determine our position. We’ll be returning to where the first Resident Evil took place. There’s an important clue hidden there.” Xuan nodded.
No one asked what this clue was. There wasn’t even the trace of a clue, so they naturally had no idea what clue Resident Evil’s laboratory held. This was their trust towards Xuan. Or rather, it could be described as the experience of being toyed with multiple times and seeing others being toyed with as well.
They were very, very complying with his words, which was why they all stood up and started walking in a direction of the desert.
“Speaking of which, I thought the final battle would restrict the Revival Cross. It actually didn’t. If I had known, I’ll have exchanged it.” Heng grumbled as he walked.
“No. It’s actually been restricted already.” Honglu said without even turning his head back. “This is the final battle, so there are three points to confirm first. First, will a victorious team actually appear? If they do, the fate that awaits you would be destruction even if you return the Revival Cross to return to God’s dimension after you die. Secondly, can you actually return to God’s dimension? My answer is no, with at least an 80% of it being so. This is because of the the third point, the rules God gave us.”
“‘If no one has achieved the goal of eliminating all other teams, those who enter the Seventh Underground Research Lab alive, and stay within for three hours will return to God’s dimension to continue the cycle of movie worlds.’ This was what God said. What does this mean? It means that you’ll meet the condition of not being wiped after 100 days, not that you can safely return to God’s dimension after three hours. You’ll still need to leave the laboratory and survive the hundred days. That’s because its logical conclusion will be absurd. If a team is incredibly powerful, sufficient to destroy all other teams, what if others from other teams enter the Seventh Underground Laboratory and return to God’s dimension? The first method of victory condition wouldn't be achievable, because the powerful team wouldn't be able to complete the mission of killing all the teams. Based on God’s ‘If no one has achieved the goal of eliminating all other teams’, the priority should be the first method of victory. Hence, those who enter the laboratory and survive three hours will only have the qualifications of not being wiped after 100 days, not being directly sent to God’s dimension.”
Heng was still slightly confused. Seeing that he wasn't alone in this, he asked curiously again, “So?”
“It's simple. If this is the priority, then the Revival Cross would only provide the ability to revive, not return. That’s because it would cause a conflict in priority, understand? This way, the Revival Cross will end up a seemingly good item that doesn't actually have much use, a waste of points and ranked rewards.” [1]
As they spoke, everyone saw Xuan withdrawing many machine parts from his dimensional bag. He then began to assemble them, and he had no choice but to stop walking when it got too big. Everyone looked curiously at him.
“Doraemon. What did you take out from your 4D pocket this time? The Hopter? The Shrink Ray?” [2]
“A miniature satellite.”
“Oh. Miniature satellite… miniature satellite?”
“Mm, we can use the Yellow Turbans to bring it several tens of thousands of metres into the sky, then use the electrical jets installed on it to escape the Earth’s gravity. It can remain in low Earth orbit, thus…” Xuan’s head was lowered as he explained.
“I know what a satellite is. What I’m asking is, for what purpose?” Zheng looked dumbly at the triangular metallic object slowly forming on the ground. It was greatly different from regular satellites. If no one told you it was a satellite, you would definitely be under the impression it was just a creation of metal by an abstract artist.
“Information. We need large amounts of information.” Xuan lifted his head and gave Zheng a sidelong glance. He laughed coldly, “The total number of other teams, their manpower. What faction are they from? Do they not have one? Their location, as well as ours. The laboratory’s location. No team in this movie possesses too large an influence. In other words, even an extra bit of information could decisively influence the battlefield. What do you think?”
“I know information is important!” Zheng said heavily. He looked in astonishment at Xuan. “But don't be so ridiculous. I’m only calling you Doraemon as a joke. Who knew you would really end up making such weird items…”
Xuan ignored him, fiddling with his miniature satellite. The object finally took shape after a long time. He then took out three pieces of yellow cloth from his dimensional bag. He tossed them into the air. By the time the cloth landed, it had turned into three smaller sized Yellow Turbans.
“Then. Launch the satellite.”
***
“Xuan, it’s as you guessed. They launched a satellite.”
In a certain place in America where team Devil was, a woman was looking towards clone Xuan with astonishment and adoration. She said, “Also, the location of the Seventh Underground Laboratory has been confirmed. We used up over 3700 causality points, three times what was expected. Do we continue the surveillance on team China?”
“No need. From now on, you just need to monitor them once every three days. It's team Celestial that needs to be monitored for one to two hours a day. You can split it up into segments of twenty-four hours. My original is me as well. There won’t be too much deviation in our thinking. He knows we hold a special advantage, so if my guess is right, he’ll use an open and aboveboard scheme against us from the start, forcing us into a confrontation of kings and soldiers against soldiers step by step.” Clone Xuan was sitting not far from her. He was fiddling with something similar to team China’s Xuan, a strange triangular satellite.
The girl hesitated momentarily. She said softly to clone Xuan, “We hold such a huge advantage though. Why do we need to have this sort of battle? Isn't this unfair to our team? Couldn't you advise team leader?”
Just as her words fell, the nearby clone Zheng whose eyes were shut suddenly opened. He stared at the woman, “Zhang Xiaoxue. I care naught if you have the Godseal Board, or if you love Xuan or not. I just wish to tell you one thing. Don’t interfere and ruin my battle with him. The battle can involve the teams battling as well. Whichever one wins first can join our battle as long as you're strong enough. But before that? Before I fight him, I don't wish to see anyone interfering. Or else, I’ll definitely kill that person!”
“Send the location of the Seventh Underground Laboratory to me. I’ll wait there for him. If he lacks the qualifications to even meet me, there's no meaning to start whatever king versus king, soldiers against soldiers battle. If he can overcome all obstacles, and come before me without much loss in combat power, this fair battle shall be my reward for him.”
***
At team China’s location, Xuan and the rest were lifting up their heads and watching the satellite soaring higher and higher. After a long time, Zheng called out to everyone. “Let’s go. Nothing will happen just standing here. Let's continue moving forward.”
Everyone recovered and continued walking forward. Only Xuan was frowning and considering something. He only slowly followed along when everyone had gone a hundred metres. His brows remained furrowed however. No one knew what problem it was that this man couldn't handle.
If someone was besides him, they would have heard his mutterings towards himself.
“You need to lose in order to obtain… For a causality type enhancement or weapon for omniscience, what needs to be lost? There's a ninety percent chance of it being... luck?”
[1] I'm not entirely sure why they call it useless, since revival is still useful no matter what. It may be due to the Revival Cross only reviving you with half your power, so it's not considered very cost-effective.
[2] These are all references to Doraemon. The 4D Pocket is the pouch he uses to stores things, and the Hopter and Shrink Ray are two of his gadgets.