Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1021 Does Civilization Need God?

"W-what did you say!?"

After the initial shock, Alice quickly reacted. She raised her head and looked in disbelief at the silver-haired girl in mid-air, who was surrounded by a series of dim blue light screens. As if to confirm that she was not hallucinating, she asked again with a stronger tone: "Are you kidding me, Tianjie? This is not funny at all."

But it was obvious that Tianjie had not yet mastered the difficult emotional expression of joking, and did not know how to show Alice that her attitude was actually serious. So she could only silently stretch out her hand and gently draw a line in the void in front of her. A translucent light screen appeared in front of Alice, showing a map of the Eden Continent.

At the same time, the girl's iconic calm voice also rang in Alice's ears——

"On September 21, the human army of the Vanxel Kingdom crossed the border without permission and declared war on the old city of Shamel, which belonged to the dust elves. The two sides continued to confront each other on the border of Isgulin. So far, a total of 31 small and medium-sized battles have broken out; on October 5, the Cangtian King Court of the Feather Elves and the Araknovala Kingdom of the Mirror Elves launched an offensive at the same time, brazenly invading the weak areas of each other's territory and carrying out acts of destruction. So far, a total of thirteen floating islands and 130,000 ordinary sea miles of sea have been polluted and destroyed to varying degrees; on October 12, the Dragon King City of Idoriya, which belonged to the dragon, declared war on the Mensavak Veloria Empire, which belonged to the giants, at the call of the Dragon King. The dragons set out to the Snow Valley with great momentum. The giants were not careful for a while and suffered a small loss, but they soon stabilized their position. The two sides are still fighting..."

Alice stared at the map in front of her in a daze, listening to Tianjie speaking such cruel facts in such a calm tone. Every time she mentioned a country or city-state participating in the war, she would mark their position, battle line and fighting situation with red dots on this map of the continent. When her narration finally came to an end, the map in Alice's eyes was already covered with densely packed red dots, covering almost half of the continent, sweeping up all races and countries.

The central system's monitoring data of the Eden Continent is basically achieved by recording the change curve of magic power. By analyzing the change curve of magic power, specific data can be obtained. Due to the relatively hasty time, the Heaven Realm has not had time to calculate the specific intensity of the war and the number of casualties, but the glaring scarlet on the continent map is enough to explain everything. Rather than being a sign of danger and warning, it is more like the color of blood, which is shocking.

Alice stood there in a daze. Suddenly, she felt a chill all over her body. Her hands, which were unconsciously clenched tightly on the operating table until her knuckles turned white, were shaking. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest that it felt like it might freeze at any moment. Even her pale lips were trembling constantly. The temperature was so cold when they collided up and down that even her voice seemed to be trembling: "Why, why is this happening?"

She had only been away for half a month, so why had the situation deteriorated to this point? Could it be that the worry that Nigphlem had described to her had finally become a reality? The mortals, who were thirsty for power but unwilling to accept the status quo, chose rebellion and chaos, hoping to compete for the qualification to become new gods after their gods fell.

However, Nigflam had clearly said that he still had about 200 years to live, and Alice knew very well how high her friend's status in the dragon clan was. As long as he hadn't really aged or died, he would still be the supreme king in the eyes of the Hogarth dragons, the only lonely and powerful ancient dragon in the dragon clan, and he could still rely on his reputation and power to forcibly suppress those dangerous signs and prevent the situation from becoming so chaotic.

Even if Nigflam was careless and the dragon race fell into chaos, the war would not spread to the entire continent in just half a month, right? And according to the information provided by the heavens, the fuse that triggered this world war seemed to be the dispute between humans and dust elves. But what were the gods of humans, the Sage of Truth Isabel, or the ruler of the dust elves, the King of Rock Khonsu, doing? Why didn't they stand up to mediate the war?
Alice was confused for a moment, her mind was filled with countless difficult and complicated thoughts, and it was difficult for her to calm down and think. Tianjie silently observed her reaction, and after hesitating for a while, he spoke: "I think the most important thing now is not to find the cause, but to take countermeasures, Alice."

"Take countermeasures? Yes... You are right, Heaven, I should indeed take countermeasures. We cannot allow this war to expand. Many people will die, and many important things will be destroyed."

Including the mortal civilization she has always wanted to protect.

Alice murmured. She had recovered from her initial panic and confusion. She quickly made up her mind, turned around and walked out of the control center. Tianjie couldn't help but shout, "Where are you going, Alice?"

Alice stopped but did not look back. Her tone was firm and aware, which was hard to imagine in the heavens: "Of course, I will stop this war, because this is my mission and responsibility."

Not only is it the mission and duty given by the goddess who created the world, but it is also a sense of responsibility that naturally arises from her having lived in mortal civilization for so long, made so many friends, and experienced so many things, and gradually developed feelings for it. It was this sentence that made Tianjie stunned for a moment, realizing that Alice might not be as carefree as she seemed on the surface. Her usual casualness and free-spiritedness might just be a disguise, because she didn't want to be too deeply bound by the word responsibility. However, when it comes to the time when she should really take responsibility, she will never back down.

Just like last time, she could stand up for mortal civilization and confront her sister Tiantis until she got a satisfactory result; or like this time, she could make a decision without hesitation for mortal civilization and vowed to stop the war. Unfortunately, the original intentions of these two things were good, but they undoubtedly reflected a big flaw in Alice's character: she was too impulsive, always acting on emotion, and lacked the ability to think calmly.

The Celestial Realm was different. The Celestial Realm’s way of thinking was more rational. Therefore, she stopped Alice not to stop her, but to tell her a cruel fact: “Based on the current situation, you alone cannot stop this war, Alice, unless you can convince the 26 major races, 78 rare races and all 312 countries or city-states involved in the war at the same time. But obviously, even if it is feasible, we are not allowed to have such time. Therefore, we have to formulate countermeasures, but they must be truly effective countermeasures under the current situation. Regarding this, perhaps we can ask Tiantis for her opinion. She has a lot of experience in this regard…”

"no!"

Alice flatly refused. Then, perhaps realizing that her refusal was a little too emotional, she was silent for a while and then slowed down her tone: "This is my mission and responsibility, but not Tiantis's mission and responsibility. Mother has clearly defined our powers for a reason. Overstepping authority is not a good thing, Tianjie. Besides, she may not be willing to help me."

If the first reason made sense, the second reason was nothing more than an excuse. Everyone knew that although Tiantis appeared to be strict, she was actually quite gentle, even kind. If she knew about this, she might scold Alice, or even sneer and ridicule her, but she would never stand idly by as Alice said.

So, the real reason is...

"Alice," Tianjie stared at the back, and her eyes, which should have been as transparent and clear as amber, were filled with dark thoughts, like the mist floating in the depths of the moon. She was not very willing to say the next sentence, but her sense of mission and responsibility as an observer forced her to ask: "Are you doubting Tiantis?" "I'm not!!"

Alice clenched her fists and shouted loudly almost reflexively. Her excited voice echoed in the empty control center, hitting the cold metal cabinets and reflecting back. Because of the echo, it seemed more intense than the original tone, just like the echo in the girl's heart. But then her body shook, and her face turned pale in a place where the heavens could not see, because she suddenly realized that her answer was so excited, in fact, it was a bit of a guilty conscience, and it could even be said that her answer came out earlier than the heavens' question, as if she knew from the beginning how the heavens would doubt her, and she had also thought about how she should respond to such doubts from the beginning.

She bit her lower lip tightly, her eyes stubborn, and in an instant, many arguments to defend herself flashed through her mind. For example, Tiantis had a precedent. She could have secretly instigated mortal kingdoms to attack each other a thousand years ago, so why wouldn't she do it again a thousand years later? For example, Tiantis might not have participated in this war, but what if she thought it was a good thing? It even met her original needs better than the magic restriction plan proposed before, would she still be willing to stop it? For example... But so many examples, when they were spinning in her mind, they were all so weak.

Because Alice and the Heavenly Realm both understood what kind of person Tiantis was. She might be too cold, or radical at times, but since she had promised Alice, she would never go back on her word.

Therefore, in the eyes of the heavens, Alice's doubt and hesitation were actually unreasonable, and even the girl herself felt that it was unreasonable. But no matter what, she just didn't want to mention this matter to Tiantis. In fact, if possible, she hoped that the heavens would not mention this matter to Tiantis, and just let her handle it.

“Why, Alice?” When she made this request to the girl, Tianjie frowned slightly, finding it difficult to understand Alice’s thoughts: “I think hiding is not a good option, especially in such a serious issue.”

Tianjie is Tiantis's assistant and an observer who coordinates the relationship between the two. Without her support, this matter cannot be concealed at all. So Alice hesitated for a while, and finally chose to speak her true thoughts: "Because I don't want to continue to deepen Tiantis's resentment towards mortal civilization."

"You should be able to notice that, perhaps because of different responsibilities, when Tiantis formulated her plans and programs, she rarely considered issues from the perspective of mortal civilization. Whether it was controlling the population through war, natural disasters or plagues, or the magic restriction plan proposed later, it was actually very radical for mortals and easily aroused their resistance." Alice sighed and said, "I don't want to blame her for anything. After all, she is also working hard for this world, but Tianjie, do you think if your mother was still alive, would she agree with Tiantis's approach?"

After hesitating for a moment, Tianjie slowly shook his head.

"So, this is the problem." Alice's eyes were gloomy. "People have emotions, not stones or rotten wood. Emotional lives can only be guided. This is why my mother asked me to be the guide of civilization. Only emotionless dead things and magic can be managed. However, Tiantis tried to manage mortals in the same way as magic. Wouldn't this cause greater conflicts? If Tiantis's prejudice against mortals deepens because of this war, and its attitude towards mortals is more inclined to management rather than guidance, then I think that even if the war can be calmed down for a while, the rift between the girl's royal power and mortals will probably not be calmed down, right?"

Alice's words surprised the heavens. She did not comment on whether this statement was correct or not, but it was unexpected that Alice had actually seriously thought about the relationship between mortals and the girl's royal power.

"Don't look at me like that, Tianjie. These are what I learned from the game. There are too many similar examples of superiors or gods who think they can control everything, and mortals who think they don't need to be managed, which eventually lead to various tragedies." At this point, Alice sighed again: "It's a pity that Tiantis doesn't like playing games, and I can't find a chance to express my views to her. No matter what, you have to promise me, Tianjie, this is not out of selfishness, but for the good of everyone, do you understand?"

The "everyone" here naturally refers to all mortals and the young royal power.

Tianjie was able to understand Alice's thoughts in a subtle way. She was silent for a long time in an uneasy atmosphere, so much so that when Alice began to lose hope, she suddenly said, "I can't promise you that I will keep this matter a secret, but as long as Tiantis doesn't ask, I won't reveal it."

Recently, Tiantis has been busy formulating the next phase of the repair plan for the magic cycle system, and has not rested for half a month. The tasks on her shoulders are very heavy, and she has no time to deal with the various issues of mortal civilization; plus she trusts the heavens very much, and when she needs any data, she directly asks for it from the heavens, and never asks about the control authority of the central system, so it is basically impossible for her to find any clues.

For Alice, this is the most reliable guarantee.

When she heard this, she breathed a sigh of relief, but Tianjie hadn't finished speaking yet: "However, this is not without conditions, Alice, you must solve this matter as quickly as possible, otherwise, even if Tiantis doesn't ask, I can't sit idly by."

"Then you can rest assured."

Alice was confident in this matter alone. Perhaps it was because in the past, all her actions in mortal civilization had received positive responses, and her friends had supported and encouraged her. This made her feel that no matter how bad things were, there would always be someone standing on her side. As long as she had these friends who were gods as her backing, she would have the greatest influence on mortal civilization.

So, maybe what Nigeflam said is not unreasonable.

At least for now, mortal civilization still needs gods, even her.

Give me some meow