Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1090: Will you protect everyone?

"I'm not kidding."

Seeing the princess who was just snickering at first, then gradually bursting into laughter, laughing so hard that tears came out, totally disregarding her royal status and royal manners, Ling Ge was very serious and said solemnly: "Although you can't use magic, your swordsmanship alone is better than many people. Although I am a magician in name, you know that I don't have any fighting power. Before I became a magician, I was just an ordinary priest."

If it weren't for this incident, the young man would have almost forgotten that he was a magician.

Olvera didn't listen carefully to what he said. She was still immersed in Ling's self-deprecation. This was the most amusing joke she had heard this year: "Pfft, one hand... one hand beats ten Ling'ers, puhahaha! No, I can't stand it. How can there be such a funny thing, hahaha!"

Her Royal Highness the Princess bent down slightly and covered her mouth with both hands, trying her best to suppress the laughter that leaked out from between her fingers, but her shoulders still trembled, and her cheeks turned red from suppressing laughter. To use a metaphor that even elementary school students like, she was like a big red apple on a branch.

Linger looked at her helplessly: "Is it really that funny?"

If you keep laughing like this, I can't stand it anymore.

The young man counted silently in his mind, and only when he reached the 192nd number did the princess' laughter gradually subside. There was still a blush on her face, which she didn't know whether to call shyness or aftertaste. She gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and raised the corners of her mouth happily: "This is not a question of whether it's funny or not. It's just that I never thought you would be so... mocking yourself and making me happy. This is different from your usual self."

"Really?" Ling Ge did not comment: "Then what do you think I should do to be my normal self?"

"Of course, I'll talk about some big truths, like everyone has their own responsibilities, your contribution to the team is not just in combat... and so on. Depending on the situation, I'll also quote some of the goddess's mottos. After that, I'll leave without hesitation, leaving me some time and space to think. Of course, before I leave, I'll deliberately leave a message saying, I'm not caring about you or comforting you, I'm just expressing my thoughts."

Aoweila spread her hands and said, "That's basically the process. Although you always say that you are no longer a pastor of Tianxin Church, when you care about and comfort others, you still have the habits from your pastor days."

Ling Ge subconsciously replied: "This is not concern, nor is it comfort-"

He suddenly reacted and stopped talking, just in time to meet the princess's teasing gaze.

It seemed like she really understood me.

The young man felt a little embarrassed, but said calmly: "People always change."

This was a bit of an attempt to cover up something, but Her Royal Highness did not take advantage of the situation to pursue it. She just snorted twice and then let the topic go. She said to Ling Ge: "Although what you said does make sense, it is different in the final analysis, Ling Ge, because your heart is very strong, so it doesn't matter whether your strength is weak or not."

Ling Ge asked back: "Do you think your heart is not strong enough when you say this?"

Olvera was silent for a moment, then quietly looked away, looking further away, where the wind blew, and a few gray-tailed sparrows were flying over the branches, making a series of rustling noises. Her hand gently pressed on the guard of the cross sword, her hair and skirt fluttered slightly in the wind, her eyes were so calm that no one could see her true thoughts.

The young man realized that he had asked a question that he shouldn't have asked, at least not at this time. So he immediately changed the subject: "It's not good to stand here all the time. Do you mind walking with me, Ovella?"

Avella glanced at him and didn't object, but just asked, "Where are you going?"

"Just in front."

Linger pointed deeper into the woods. From that direction, the forest gradually became sparser, with patches of hills and meadows flickering in the light spots between the branches. Her Royal Highness didn't seem to be interested, but she nodded slightly and said, "Whatever."

The two of them walked out of the forest one after the other. When they came out of the forest, their vision suddenly became wider. Looking up, they could see the magnificent and huge city ruins in the Holy Temple of Heaven spreading towards the distant universe. The forest rising from the buildings was like arms reaching out to the sky, and the dense branches and leaves were as vast as the ocean. It made people feel that even the Yunjing Sky Island under their feet would be submerged in the endless dark green.

Most of the buildings were only partially exposed in the forest, but there was one building that broke through all the obstacles and stood like a tower. That was the headquarters of Game Command Company. To this day, the observers and mediators left by the goddess still silently guarded the top floor of the building, overlooking the rise and fall of the world, and the upcoming battle was no exception. But who did she hope would win? This was probably a difficult question to answer.

The young man suddenly realized that this was the right wing of Yunjingkong Island, and it was also the area that Olvera was responsible for defending. It was said that she had been busy arranging the alchemy tools given to her by Rorona in the past few days, preparing to build this place into a watertight fortress. But the scene seen today, except that it was quieter and there were no signs of aliens and animals, seemed to be no different from usual.

Could it be that Her Royal Highness Princess Bemang was so obsessed with swordsmanship that she forgot her mission?

Although he felt that she was not that kind of person, Lingge still asked a question for the sake of caution. As a result, Avella pouted her lips after hearing it, looking unhappy: "I've been prepared for a long time. Do I look like that kind of person?"

I also think you are not, that's why I asked.

Ling Ge naturally wouldn't say that. He just pointed to the surrounding environment and said concisely: "But I don't see any changes here."

"because--"

Olvera suddenly paused and glanced at the young man: "Don't you know what the alchemical tools that Rolena gave us look like, Lingge?"

"I don't know." The young man shook his head honestly. In the past two days, he has been focusing on another important thing, which is to build up the psychological strength of Yieta, so that the weak angel lady can muster up the courage to go to the battlefield even without the help of the game console. Although she had already made up her mind to fight, she was actually forced by the Witch Society. The young man knew very well that mustering up the courage to fight for what he believed to be right and being forced by the enemy to take up weapons to protect himself, although both were fighting, the psychological feelings were different. To put it more strictly, it was a question of morale.

"No wonder."

Olvera thought for a moment, then reached into her shirt pocket and rummaged around for a while. When she took it out again, there was a silvery, round, and smooth-looking...seed in her hand?
"It's a seed." "I think it's a seed too... But the question is why are you showing it to me? Is it the alchemical tool prepared by Rorona?" Ling Ge suddenly thought of the two ancient war trees that successfully intercepted the Order Balance team on the night they fled from Lunweiting City and helped them buy precious time to escape. It seemed that they also grew from such an inconspicuous seed. So he realized that he couldn't look at Rorona's alchemical tools from an ordinary person's perspective, so he asked cautiously: "Will they grow into tree people?"

Olvera’s answer was decisive: “No.”

"That--"

"But, maybe a little more special than the tree people."

Olvera thought that it was better to demonstrate it to Lingge in person than to talk about it verbally, so she injected a little magic power into the seed in her palm and threw it into a meadow. The seed broke out of its shell and sprouted as soon as it landed, and then began to grow at an astonishing speed. Finally, under the gaze of the two, it rose to a height of nearly two people, so that they had to look up to see the whole picture of the plant - in fact, Lingge didn't know whether he should call it a plant, because the young man had never seen a morning glory with a cannon-shaped mouth, two exaggerated big eyes, and even a body with only one stem that would shake magically.

No matter from which angle he looked at it, he felt that this thing was too weird. If it was a plant that existed in reality, it would definitely be scarier than the rotten wood monster. Fortunately, its style was closer to the video games that Alice loved, so it not only did not look strange, but on the contrary, it made people feel a little cute inexplicably.

"Lorana said it's called the Pea Shooter."

The corners of Olvera's mouth twitched, as if she was trying to hold back a laugh. She could understand Ling'er's feelings because she had the same reaction when she first saw these guys: "It was inspired by Alice. It's said to be a very famous game on Earth."

Sure enough, it has something to do with the talented players.

The corner of Ling'er's mouth twitched, and he didn't know what to say.

“Don’t underestimate it just because it looks cute, okay?” Olvera patted the leaves of the pea shooter and pointed toward the sky. “Come on, let him see how powerful you are!”

The pea shooter, receiving the order, spat out a pea from its mouth that looked like a cannon barrel... Since it was a pea shooter, it naturally spat out a pea. The green pea passed through the young man's sight at an astonishing speed, and then gradually expanded under his surprised gaze. The pea, which was originally only the size of a washbasin, expanded to the size of a carriage in just half a second, and even ignited a raging fire on the surface.

After the pea wrapped in flames reached the maximum flight distance, it exploded with a bang, emitting bright flames in the sky, and then the shock wave generated by the explosion swept through, causing the grass and bushes on the hill meadow to fall in the same direction. Even Ling Ge felt his body unstable, as if he was about to lose his center of gravity. If he had not been prepared, he would have been thrown to the ground.

This power... Linger raised his head and looked at the Pea Shooter behind him in surprise. The Pea Shooter also looked at him and blinked his big, stupid eyes innocently. He still looked unreliable.

Lingge seemed to be remembering something and had a strange look on his face.

"See, this is the power of the Pea Shooter. As long as we keep injecting magic power, we can launch attacks like the one just now as many times as we want. Moreover, the types of plants refined by Rorona are not limited to the Pea Shooter. There are also nut walls, watermelon pitchers, corn cannons and the like. I have already planted them in this area. I will wake them up when the army of the Witch Society attacks. By then, we will have an endless army of plants!"

Olvera put her hands on her hips, looking very proud. "Even if we are destroyed by the enemy, as long as the seeds are still there, we can continue to regenerate by injecting magic power. The vitality of plants is very strong! The only drawback is that it consumes too much magic power. Whether it is to maintain the attack mode or to regenerate, it requires a lot of magic power."

However, the young queen already possessed immense magical power, so this flaw could be ignored. Rorona must have known this, which was why she created such an alternative army of plants to fight against the mechanical army of the Witch Society.

Regardless of the victory or defeat and casualties of the war, Lingge only knew that the scene at that time would definitely be eye-opening.

"Lingge, why don't you speak?"

Aoweila introduced it for so long with great enthusiasm, but she didn't get any positive response, not even a word of praise. The young man in front of her could only stare blankly. She was immediately dissatisfied: "Don't you have any feelings?"

"Uh."

Ling Ge came back to his senses, retracted his gaze and looked back at Avra, and said, "Nothing, I just think...it looks a lot like you."

"What did you say?" Olvera became even angrier, her eyebrows raised: "How am I like it?"

Although she thinks the Pea Shooter is cute, any normal girl wouldn't be happy if someone praised her for looking like it, right?

Ling Ge shook his head slightly: "It's not that you look alike, but you have the same trait. You are both the type...who looks weak on the outside but is actually very strong on the inside. You always surprise those who look down on you."

Olvera was stunned.

She didn't expect Lingge to interpret the relationship between the two from this perspective, but it sounded subtly convincing. She subconsciously raised her head and looked at the Peashooter swaying in the wind. It was clearly a soft plant, but the only purpose of its creation was to fight. People who saw it for the first time would inevitably look down on it like Lingge did, right? But the actual result was just as Her Royal Highness the Princess said just now. The vitality of plants was unimaginably strong, which was why they were so powerful.

"We now have to rely on this fragile yet strong little fellow for protection. This shows that the strength and weakness of the world is not determined by strength, but by the meaning of our birth and the responsibilities we are born with."

Linger looked at Avra ​​deeply and said, "You always feel that you are weak, Avra, but that is only because you have not yet discovered the strong side of your life. When you truly believe in your own strength, then one day, perhaps even I, who you think is strong inside, will need to rely on you for protection?"

"I'll... protect?"

Avella looked up blankly, making it difficult to see the expression on her face. One could only hear her subconsciously mumbling to herself, telling of some plots that she had never imagined, or rather, aspirations: "I will protect Ling Ge, protect... everyone?"

Give me some meow