Alice in the Land of Steam

Later, humans still did not learn to restrain their desires. The motto of knowing when to stop was forgotten. The beautiful vision of peace and prosperity seemed to be far less attractive than the temptation of power. Those who longed to become gods were blinded by jealousy and greed. They wanted to climb the ladder at all costs, and they thought it was worth it even if they lost themselves. Thus, the ancient war was rekindled, and the baptism of blood and swords never stopped. If mortals could not realize what the most precious gift bestowed on them by the great goddess was, perhaps this tragedy would just be a cycle in time.

Later, the girl woke up from the same dream countless times in shock. Finally, she could no longer sit by and watch the ambition and betrayal of mankind. For the first time in her life, she disobeyed the instructions of her beloved mother and came to the mortal world secretly. She saw the dark dragon tide sweeping the earth, the crazy gods killing everywhere, the mountains were pushed down, the rivers were cut off, the earth was torn apart, and the city-states were shattered. Goodwill turned into hatred, trust was buried in the dust, and even the teachings of chaos were twisted privately, becoming an excuse for launching wars and massacres.

Later, a fierce battle broke out between the girl who could not accept the betrayal and the mortal who did not want to lose his power. However, the twisted believers regarded the punishment of God as a disaster, and prayed to God for protection to quell the disaster. The sad prayer also reached their ears. The betrayal of mortals and the expectations of believers entangled the hearts of the girls at the same time, making the repressed dream become a reality. Under the loss of control and rampage of the royal power, the cruel and indifferent god of dreams came to the world, bringing terrible disputes, disasters, death, plague, fear, darkness and the end.

Later, when the Order Kingship finally noticed something strange and followed closely, they only saw a sad scene. They called out their sisters' names, but the voices could not reach the depths of their dead hearts. In order to stop the Chaos Kingship from losing control and running away, and to protect the beautiful world left by their mother, these sons of God who were born from the same source and spoke with the same heart over the past tens of millions of years, finally stood on opposite sides of each other. When their eyes reflected the most familiar face of each other, would they realize for a moment that having emotions was the most painful thing in the world?
Later, the man who thought he was chosen by fate and saw the future in his dream finally appeared. He betrayed his oath, but did not get the faith that could comfort him. Therefore, he was just a ghost stranded in the world, lingering on with his twisted obsession. He once vowed to bring hope to mankind, and later made up his mind to lead them out of a catastrophe that could destroy the world. However, he never realized that all the prophecies were just early repayments for the price. This catastrophe was brought by him, and it was a punishment for mortals who believed in dreams.

The images on the screen began to flash rapidly, and the switching between scenes was like the changing of the curtain in a stage play, but it was so short that it made people think that they were actually traveling through a certain memory, seeing the past and the future at the same time.

They saw the four disciples ordered by the saint unify the cities with absolute force, establish the most glorious dynasty and country in human history, and begin to invade the land of other races, and use this huge force to seek further possibilities for themselves. They plundered the stone tablets of the dragon clan, occupied the ancient secret scrolls of the dust elves, coveted the mysterious codes hidden in the sky city by the feathered people, and searched for the wonderful skills to break through the bottleneck of power from those obscure and profound texts, but finally chose the simplest and most brutal method: eating their flesh and blood, drinking their blood, gorging on the remains like wild beasts, devouring and growing, until they themselves became half-crazy pseudo-gods.

They saw the young queens of Chaos and Order confronting each other, with the same pair of sad eyes inside and outside the dream, telling a story that could not be escaped. Perhaps faith is something born in dreams, so returning to dreams is the reasonable ending. In the dream, some believers shouted, ushering in the purification of divine punishment for this filthy world; some believers mourned for the humanity and emotions they lost in the war; some believers were desperate, and some were crazy. All beliefs and dogmas were destroyed in this war, but their roots have been planted, so they will be immortal with civilization. Perhaps one day after the disaster, new buds will sprout from the soil, and then the existing story will be circulated.

They also saw that the man who once had a resolute face and bright eyes, chose his own kind over his promise, and chose the latter, even at the cost of detonating the holy weapon that he had inherited from the fourteen young girls. In an instant, the sun and the moon lost their luster, the dust lost its color, and everything seemed to turn gray. In the horrible catastrophe, the earth began to split, the storm raised huge waves, the plates gradually moved away under the push of the tide, and the mountains scattered into islands amid the violent wailing.

When everything calmed down, there was no more war, no more disaster, no more crazy gods, and no more numb fighting. What was left was a devastated world, as if everything had just been born and needed to be rebuilt. Even the young queens were nowhere to be found. Some said they were dead, some said they had let mortals accept the punishment, and returned to the goddess's holy land, never to care about the world again; others said that Saint Tumi made a decision that he regretted very much. He was going to destroy civilization with his own hands, but even though the young queens were betrayed by humans and felt angry and disappointed with them, they were still worried about the world and life created by the goddess at the last moment, so they gave up resistance and used their last strength to protect them from harm, but they themselves were severely injured. Since then, they have been sleeping in a corner of the planet, waiting for someone to wake them up.

Whether this is the expectation of mankind after repentance or a beautiful lie, no one knows, but time is still moving forward, and the images on the screen continue to cross every era without stopping: from the chaotic era at the beginning of the era change to the new era when civilization emerges from the haze; from the prosperous era when various races merge with each other and are no longer divided by race but by region and country, to the secret era when extraordinary people are no longer controlled by the regime and begin to operate in secret associations; from the religious revival and the brief peaceful doctrine era to the ambition re-emergence, the war era when countries begin to compete for continental hegemony...

But they have one thing in common. When the young royal power fell asleep, Saint Tomi rebuilt the Holy Kingdom of Nordorn and then retired. The few disciples who survived the war went their separate ways. Among the few remaining gods, even the most powerful Infinite Dragon God Bahamut succumbed to the years and fate, and lived in seclusion on Platinum Mountain, not caring about worldly affairs... After that, in every era thereafter, those familiar figures could no longer be seen.

Finally, the picture freezes in an ancient forest. The wind blows from the distant sea, carrying the smell of blood and fire from the long journey, as if it has also stained this quiet place far away from the world with a heavy haze. The long and ethereal sound of waves rustles under the canopy of branches. It is all the old trees that have seen the vicissitudes of life, offering a low requiem for the dead souls.

In the center of the forest, among the ruins hidden by trees and vines, a silver-white spire slowly rises. After millions of years of long sleep, it finally sees the light of day again. The transparent glass panels reflect the shining light in the sunlight, like a gorgeous kaleidoscope.

The long-sealed door opened to both sides, and a young girl staggered out, staring blankly at the world in front of her.

Her skin looked a little pale, as if it was because she hadn't been exposed to sunlight for a long time.

However, the black hair and black eyes have become the most profound mark in the picture.

…"File record X-55, playback complete."

Following the cold statement of Themis from the heavens, the picture on the screen froze at the last scene, not returning to darkness like before. For these fifty-five archives that record all the joys and sorrows and war conspiracies since the creation of the world, the stories they know have reached the point, which seems to be an incomplete ending; however, for some people, the story has just begun, such as the black-haired girl who just woke up from a long sleep. She was looking at the world in front of her with a blank look, trying to find some plausible traces from it, but found nothing. Does she know that a long time of 120 million years has passed? Does she know that she is alone in this universe? Does she know that this world is actually separated from the original world by a gap called memory? If she knew all this, how would the story develop later?
The past has become history, and history is right before our eyes, clear and unmistakable.

Tiantis stared at the girl in the picture quietly, just like staring at a shadow of herself in the past. To this day, she can no longer remember what she felt when she first woke up, but she still remembers what she saw and heard that day: "I woke up in the forest of Erangel, which was one of the few areas that remained peaceful throughout the war. It was there that I met Bailong."

The corners of her mouth slowly drew a curve, and the meaning of this smile was particularly complicated. It was too bland to say that it was nostalgia, and it was too deliberate to say that it was ironic. Therefore, it could only be understood as a simple statement. This realistic witch just happened to remember such a past event, so she shared it with the audience: "He was a member of the Seeking Knowledge Society, but also a victim of the war. In order to avoid the war, he fled to the vast forests of Elangol with a group of companions. Even so, he could not stay out of it. He still attracted an army to hunt him down and try to capture them and go back to serve in the war. In that era, all extraordinary people needed to be controlled and become registered weapons of war, even unarmed scholars were no exception. I rescued them, and then asked him about the situation in this world: Mirror Star, Spirit Prayer Society, Natural Disaster, Secret Society, Yah Empire, Magic Potions and Fourteen Paths to Kingship... All of these were unheard of, but there was only one thing in common, that is, desire."

"Mortals are still squandering their desires, greedily wanting to take all the magic, knowledge and power into their own pockets. They are willing to lose themselves for this, not to mention just starting a war and sacrificing the souls of millions of people." Tiantis chuckled: "I took a nap, but when I woke up, I found that the world had not changed at all. I think you can't understand how I felt at the time. Of course, I don't intend to share it with you."

Everyone was silent, speechless. The simplest truth is that only those who are similar can empathize with each other, and the only one who is indifferent is often oneself. Since none of them has ever experienced something similar to Tiantis, in the end, the only one who is qualified to laugh at this past event is her.

"No matter how the world changes, mortals remain unchanged. It seems that they are too stubborn to avoid the same wrong path. However, this has nothing to do with me. In fact, during this long sleep, I was not unconscious. I always had the same dream. I dreamed that if I could do it again, would I do better and more resolutely than last time?" The smile on Tiantis's mouth gradually disappeared, and his tone became cold: "Later, when I saw the cause and effect of all events in the database of the Holy Temple of Heaven, and knew that fourteen sisters I had never met had experienced the same betrayal, I realized that it was not a dream, but a sign of fate. It has taken a lot from me, and now it will return all those things it has taken away, provided that I can seize this opportunity."

"But I have vowed that I will not repeat the same mistake, because there is a flame of hatred that sustains me."

Tiantis did not shy away from saying that she had been able to hold on until now. In addition to the inherited sense of mission and guilt towards her mother, there was also a deep hatred. However, she did not mention who the target of her hatred was, but only cast her cold eyes on Themis. The silver-haired girl trembled and instinctively wanted to retreat, but then she realized that she had no room to retreat. In the past, she retreated so many times, was weak so many times, concealed and lied so many times, and disappointed everyone again and again. If she chose to retreat here again... perhaps there would really be no room for redemption.

She mustered up her courage, raised her head and looked into Tiantis's eyes. Although there was guilt and sadness in her eyes, she did not avoid it.

Alice stood below, staring at the scene in a daze.

This is the distance arranged by fate, which deliberately alienates people who were once close to each other. Only in this way can this story continue to be played out until the end.

But, who wanted this ending?
"All important files have been played, and you have a thorough understanding of the cause and effect of the matter. In this case-" Tiantis said in a cold tone: "Mediator Celestial Themis, in the presence of the old and present worlds, and under the joint witness of the sixteen young girls' royal powers, what is your choice? That answer...who are you going to give it to?"

Her pressing words made the atmosphere suffocate, and Metien suddenly had an ominous premonition, as if something she had been afraid of for a long time was about to happen, and it would not be diverted by anyone's will. She swallowed hard, as if holding a fragile glass product, and asked carefully: "What, what answer?"

Upon hearing this, Tiantis looked at her deeply and said, "Of course it is the answer to the whereabouts of the golden apple." (End of this chapter)