Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1024 How dare you be so crazy?
Alice felt as if she had had a very long dream. Everything in the dream seemed bizarre. Sometimes she walked alone in the city with huge glass trees. The sky above her head was gray and black snow was falling. Sometimes she stayed alone in an empty room. The walls and ceiling were all snow-white. It was a very thin and depressing feeling. Only the screen of the game console in front of her was flashing with light, illuminating her face, which looked so pale... In the end, all these scenes would be shattered, just like dreams would be shattered by an incredible force from outside, and that force was called fate.

In a trance, she saw another self standing in a magnificent and sacred palace, with eyes full of grief and grievance, accusing those friends who betrayed her. She once thought that they had the most sincere feelings for each other, but in the end, it was not enough to match a desire for power. Or, is the desire to take root and grow the purest emotion in the heart of a living being?
"Why do you do this, Nigflam?"

Her eyes fell on the leading dragon, then moved to both sides, calling out familiar names one by one sadly: "And you, Isabel, Farano, Ganzel... I really can't understand why you made such a choice? Aren't we friends?"

Her friends all had complicated expressions. Some looked away, some lowered their eyelids, and none dared to look at her. Only the oldest and most powerful dragon dared to speak at such a sensitive moment and answered Alice's question: "It is precisely because we are friends that we have not thought of using force."

"I just hope you can stay here quietly for a while until... this matter is completely over."

Outside the Holy Heavenly Dragon Temple, in places invisible to the naked eye, huge golden chains penetrate the void, entangled and tightly bound the top of Hogarth Peak into an insurmountable cage. This is a trap they carefully set: first secretly provoke a war to make Alice run around, thereby completing the design and layout of the cage; then lure Alice into holding a joint meeting, gathering all the gods here in the name of rationality, and when she thought all the problems would be discussed and solved at this meeting, they suddenly attacked.

This led to the current situation.

"Completely over? What does it mean to be completely over? I don't understand, Nigframe." Alice bit her lower lip lightly, her hands clenched tightly without her knowing when. "Is there any problem that cannot be solved in this meeting? Do you really need to resort to such a despicable conspiracy? I remember that you clearly hated this kind of conspiracy the most in the past."

"People always change," Nigflam said slowly, "Mortals are especially fickle. Besides, I don't think this meeting can really solve all the problems. In most cases, it just brings new problems. If we want to solve the problem completely, then there is only one way - let us take back what originally belonged to us."

"Something that originally belonged to you?" Alice was confused at first, then shocked, and finally turned into an incredibly angry emotion. She never thought that these human gods would have such a rebellious idea: "Are you crazy? Magic power is a gift from Mother, and it originally did not belong to anyone except Her!"

"If that's the case, then in what name is the Maiden Kingship managing magic power?" Nigflam looked at her deeply. "If you believe that magic power is the private property of the Goddess and that nothing else can occupy it, then the Maiden Kingship has no right to manage it. If you believe that the Maiden Kingship, as a creation of the Goddess, naturally has the right to control magic power, then why can't we, who are also creations of the Goddess, do the same?"

Private property, occupation, management of magic power... these harsh words made Alice's body tremble, but she soon calmed down and understood their true demands at a speed that even surprised herself: "So, you are not against me, but Tiantis?"

"You are a friend of us mortals, so we naturally won't oppose you. In fact, even if it is the harsh and critical Lord Tiandis, we are not willing to act rashly. It's just that mortals need to fight for a future for themselves."

"You need to fight for a future for yourselves, right?" Alice's face was as cold as ice, which surprised her friends. In the countless years that had passed, this was the first time they had seen Alice show such an expression. Even her tone was icy: "You want power, you want longevity, you want more magic power - you can just say it directly, you don't have to use these high-sounding words to cover up for yourself."

Nigflam stared at her for a long time, then sighed softly, "I'm sorry to have caused you to misunderstand me like this. So, Alice, are you still determined to be an enemy of us and mortals?"

"Do you feel like you're representing mortals?"

Alice opened her palm, and dots of golden light gathered in her palm, gradually condensing into a gorgeous holy sword. She held the holy sword, with only disappointment and loneliness in her eyes: "I thought you could represent mortals, so I didn't stop you from using the title of God. But now I realize that maybe Tiantis is right. Gods like my mother and gods like you are different in the final analysis."

Following Alice's actions, the gods who were looking down from the sky also responded one after another: Nigflam, the virtual dragon god, narrowed his eyes slightly, and his body began to swell until it became as huge as a mountain. He could even reach deep into the clouds with his head sticking out, and his feet could step on the bottom of the valley. When he opened his mouth, a biting frosty wind whistled between his snow-white fangs, making people wonder whether he was going to swallow up the entire Hogarth Mountains; Isabelle, the sage of truth, sighed lightly and raised her staff helplessly. A series of complex and mysterious magic circles unfolded with her as the center and quickly expanded to the entire field of vision. In each magic circle, there was a power that could destroy a star; Farano, the king of the feather tribe, was born special. He did not have wings like ordinary feather elves, but when his single wing was spread out, it covered the sky and the sun. Every feather that fell down was like the sharpest sword, enough to easily cut through the stubborn stone that had been frozen for thousands of years...

Alice watched this scene, feeling even more grief-stricken and guilty, because most of the magic skills that many people in front of her mastered were even taught by her. She once naively believed that as long as mortals became stronger, civilization would prosper. But this naivety was still taken advantage of. Every human god present knew Alice's character, and even their courage to make such a crazy plan was originally based on Alice's naivety. Otherwise, if Alice had not thought about covering up for her friends at the first moment of the war, but directly told Tiantis, I am afraid that there would not be a scene today.

Taking advantage of other people's naivety is the most shameful thing in the world.

Nigflam was not reluctant to admit this, but he also had to say that it was a shame for him to put everyone in a dilemma because of his naivety. The mortal race has been caught between emotions and royal power for too long, and there must be a difference between the two. Is it that the emotions of mortals are far superior to the responsibilities of royal power, or vice versa?

"Alice," Nigflam suddenly said before the battle began, "I remember the last time we met, you said that you hoped to meet your old friends again in this Holy Dragon Temple one day."

"Anyway, as a friend, at least I helped you realize this last wish."

However, the way it is implemented will not please everyone.

The next moment, a violent wave of magic swept across the entire Eden continent, with the Hogarth Mountains as the center, almost sweeping away the clouds in the sky, revealing the azure dome; making the stars in the sky shaky and dim; and making everyone on the earth feel a tremor and sorrow from the bottom of their hearts. At this moment, when the astrologers in the tower tried to peek into the trajectory of fate, they would be surprised and horrified to find that the future of Eden continent was heading towards a path that was difficult to predict and irreversible.

At this moment, Tiantis was standing in the corridor in a daze, with an uneasy premonition in her heart. She had not seen her figure in the heaven for a long time, and she came out to look for her out of doubt. Because of this short absence, the girl did not notice a prompt message from the central system. Among thousands of possibilities, she finally missed the only one to make up for her mistake. …

Everything in the dream seemed bizarre, but was the reality what she wanted to see? Alice was not completely unconscious, but still had a vague consciousness and could sense the outside world. So she knew that she was being held in the arms of Tiantis, and her body temperature was surprisingly warm. It seemed that the sisters had never had such close contact since they were born, so she felt strange, as if she had not seen her sister for a long time, maybe as long as a century, or maybe just the passing of a dream.

She was vaguely aware that she was falling, but this feeling of falling was different from before, and it gave her a sense of security. Because she knew that she would be sent to Earth, to Mother's side. As long as Mother took action, she could stop Nigflam's crazy plan and protect Tentis and the heavens, right? It was really strange. She had always called Him Mother before, but when did she start using honorifics like Tentis and the heavens? Was it because she began to fear that she was not worthy of being Mother's offspring?

It seemed that she could still vaguely hear the scolding of Tiantis, "What a fool you are! Alice is a fool. A war broke out within the mortal civilization, involving almost all races and countries, but it only took half a month. Didn't she doubt her friends who claimed to be gods at all? Didn't she foolishly think that they couldn't control the situation and had to step in herself? You are also a fool, Tianjie, Alice couldn't see the clues, but you studied with me for so long, but you couldn't even see such a simple trick. Just because Alice begged you a few words, you softened your heart and agreed to help her conceal it, and even learned to lie. Didn't you think about the consequences at all?"

Tianjie held her head and curled up in the corner of the elevator, not daring to say a word. She knew that Tiantis was really angry. Normally, even if she or Alice was angry, she would at most call them stupid or foolish. It was the first time that the girl heard such a serious word as stupid. However, she felt that Tiantis was right to call her stupid. She was indeed too stupid. If it weren't for her, things wouldn't have deteriorated to this extent. If, if it weren't for her, maybe Alice and Tiantis would still be living well in the Temple of Heaven...

The more she thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, and the more she blamed herself. Her eyes gradually turned red, and she couldn't help but sniff. A sour feeling surged to the tip of her nose, making her very uncomfortable.

Tiantis stopped scolding, she frowned and looked at Tianjie: "Are you crying?"

Tianjie hurriedly wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand, but his voice was filled with tears when he spoke: "No, I didn't cry! Sorry, Tiantis! Really, uh... I'm really sorry..."

Tiantis looked at her who couldn't stop crying, and the anger on her face gradually dissipated. After a while, she sighed softly: "Originally, I really hope that you can learn to lie, conceal, and cry. In addition, I also hope that you can learn to be a spoiled child, get angry, and complain, because they can prove that you are alive and well."

But is it really a good thing to learn to lie, hide and cry in this way?

She reached out her hand and gently rubbed Tianjie's head, like comforting a small animal, and said softly: "Don't cry, Tianjie. I know this is not your fault, and of course, it is not Alice's fault either."

This sentence was like a switch, instantly activating the girl's tears. She threw herself into Tiandis's arms and burst into tears, as if she wanted to vent all the grievances she had suffered before. She cried so hard that she often coughed and choked. For a girl who had never cried before, both the pressure in the lungs and the soreness in the throat were very painful. Even so, she still desperately repeated the same sentence in her breathless crying: "Sorry, wu... cough cough! I'm really, really sorry, Tiandis... cough cough cough!"

Crying, coughing, choking, and apologizing.

Tiantis held the unconscious Alice in one hand and the crying Tianjie in the other, and sighed deeply, sadly, but also full of emotion: "Really, a troublemaker and a crybaby."

so good.

Alice couldn't help thinking, how nice it is, such a gentle Tiantis, how nice it is. Although she is very strict, harsh, and ruthless, she is still a sister after all. It is a very lucky thing for her and Tianjie to have such a gentle sister who is willing to tolerate all their mistakes, right?

That's why, that's why... Tiantis, you should leave here with us and go to our mother. Don't stay in this world and don't worry about those mortal and magical matters anymore.

You have to leave, because their real target is you, if you don't leave...

Alice tried desperately to say these words. If she could say them, she would be willing to die right now. But she couldn't do it. An invisible force strangled her throat, making her unable to utter even a syllable. She could only struggle repeatedly between dreams and reality. The more restless she was, the worse reality became. A noisy and piercing rumble suddenly came from above, and then the whole elevator shook violently as if there was an earthquake before returning to normal and continuing to descend.

Tiantis's face changed drastically. He looked up, and his eyes seemed to see the top floor of the building through the dark ceiling.

Unconsciously, she clenched her teeth.

Although I already knew that the gang had ill intentions, and that the sneak attack on Alice was just the first step to create conditions for subsequent actions, who could have thought that their plan would be so crazy——

They actually wanted to destroy the control center and the magic recording device!
Give me some meow