Chapter 288: The Task of Saving the World

After regaining consciousness, the alchemist, reverted to her childlike form, scanned the ruined hall, now reduced to rubble.

The crimson molten lava had cooled and hardened; towering walls had collapsed and shattered, leaving only fragmented rock pillars standing, while the ground resembled something crushed by a typhoon, with scarcely a single intact spot left.

Her gaze finally settled on the figure before her—a repulsive silhouette.

From Carol's perspective, a bizarrely muscular giant had suddenly appeared in her hidden extradimensional home, asking if she wanted to save the world while beating her senseless—truly, sitting safely at home and disaster falling from the sky.

After centuries of lounging, she hadn't even started her plan to destroy the world—so how had a brutal, unheroic brute, acting as if he knew her well, shown up ahead of schedule?

Where was the holy sword? The verbal sparring? The hero team?

And where was the script where she, with overwhelming dominance, appeared first, crushed the protagonist's group underfoot, until they united through friendship and bonds to finally defeat her—the world-ending demon lord?

At the very least, all seven billion people on Earth should have risen against her, or at least forever remembered her, Carol Mars Daim, the strongest alchemist in history, making her grand exit on the most magnificent stage.

Nothing else could be seen—only raw, naked strength.

Her face burned with pain; even without looking, she knew her cheeks were swollen and red, her mouth full of blood, her entire body shattered—she couldn't move even a single fingertip.

Yet her injuries were far lighter than she'd expected—and though her body remained immobile, she had been gently placed upon the throne, draped in a witch's robe, her large hat properly covering half her face.

"Master… we can't fight him."

"This guy is absurdly strong."

"Aww."

Three distinct voices spoke—addressing Carol—but the last one belonged to a doll desperately trying to bite someone.

"Tch." Jia Ji slapped his hands, pressing down the head of the autonomous doll about to bite him, as if brushing off a trivial matter, then looked at the three autonomous dolls lying defeated, limbs dismantled, and said, "Good enough."

After Carol had been knocked into a crippled state by Jia Ji's Friendship Punch, her three alchemical autonomous dolls finally arrived and, ignoring the overwhelming power gap, launched suicidal attacks against him.

Yet their master, even at full power, couldn't break him—and these dolls, perhaps loyal, perhaps merely controlled by spells, were neutralized in a single glance by his White Egret's spinning kick.

Though each doll bore a human form, human speech, and the personality of a human girl, Jia Ji—always as hard-hearted as iron—showed no mercy, slicing them all to pieces.

Third-rate villains, in such helpless situations, spout mindless threats; second-rate villains weep and beg, twisting themselves into ugly, desperate shapes to plead for mercy—but Carol was clearly no ordinary girl or typical villain.

No matter how bitter her resentment, as an alchemist, she had her pride and would never show such a pitiful face before her enemy.

She cast a cold glance at the three pitiful dolls—now reduced to torsos and heads, still Mianqiang smiling at her—then asked without any emotional fluctuation.

"That was an utterly merciless strike… you won't kill me?"

Perhaps this tragic, absurd fate—being defeated by an unknown person, in an unknown time and place—was truly fitting for someone consumed by rage.

But let her die as an alchemist should—with final pride and calmness, like a wounded bird, bleeding out upon a scarred earth.

The instant she awoke, she assessed: she had no capacity to resist further—all her weapons had been stripped, the gem containing her spatial transfer spell and Alca-noise confiscated and placed nearby.

"There's no reason to kill you."

The answer was unexpected—normally, one would reply, "There's no reason not to kill you."

When she posed the question, he showed a faint look of discomfort, hesitated, then said: "I don't even know where to begin… but I don't hold you in ill will. On the contrary—I need your help."

Carol naturally displayed disbelief—how could anyone possibly ask for help like this?

Jia Ji understood: this condition was common. In some academic city, a spiky-haired cult leader might have saved her with half his life—but though he too had spiky hair, he skipped the heroic, self-sacrificing rescue scene and didn't burn to ash.

Though he possessed the prototype of the Friendship Punch—the Northern Dipper Compassion Fist—he lacked the charisma to make a girl just beaten senseless believe in him.

"Don't you feel something's off?"

—"You must understand the world more deeply."

This was Carol's task as an alchemist—and the prerequisite was the ability to think calmly.

At Jia Ji's words, Carol unconsciously recalled all the inconsistencies since his appearance.

How had he precisely located and invaded Tifurij City across the entire world?

Why, despite never having met her before, did he act as if he knew her?

And most importantly—why did he say he wanted to "save the world"?

According to her knowledge, the world was turbulent, but not so dire that someone needed to rise as a savior—let alone extend an invitation to someone like her?

Too little information—no way to deduce anything.

"Words would take too long." Jia Ji stepped closer to the tiny, golden-haired, legally underage girl, gripped her face with iron-like hands, and fixed her with his dark, deep eyes, staring into her beautiful, stubborn sapphire irises.

"You're an alchemist who manipulates memories—then see for yourself!"

See the memories of the world's end!

See the scene after the world's destruction!

Light slowly spilled from his eyes—a luminous river of memory, shimmering like a galaxy in darkness, frame by frame, flooding into the girl's mind.

"What… is this?"

Carol was utterly stunned, momentarily unable to react.

"Why save the world? Because it's my task."

(End of Chapter)