Alice in the Land of Steam

For the enemies who tried to land on the two wings of the island, this was definitely the most peculiar battle they had ever experienced. Before being selected to join the Interstellar Cruise Force, some of them came from the Night Watch, some from the Inquisition, and some from the Crusaders who had traveled across the ocean. They dedicated the first half of their lives to their careers, fighting against aliens, magicians, fanatics, extraordinary people and monsters from other continents. Although after coming to the universe, the targets of the battle became terrifying extraterrestrial disaster beasts, they believed that these guys were just alien monsters that were a little bigger, a little stronger, and much weaker in intelligence, and there was nothing special about them.

So when attacked, they feel angry, when injured, they feel pain, and when killed, they completely disappear and cease to exist. Their battle has never changed from the past to the present, and will not change in the future - it should be so.

Until they saw the strange plant army before them.

These are definitely not monsters, because the detection equipment cannot capture the magical aura in their bodies; but they are definitely not ordinary plants, because you will never see such rich human expressions on the faces of ordinary plants; however, if they are magical plants, when did those guys who can only be used as ingredients for potions become so aggressive?

The dull-witted pea shooters kept firing huge peas at the enemies in the sky. The overwhelming green peas fell like a rain of arrows. The energy and heat generated by the explosion were even enough to melt the solid shell of the Lancers' body, exposing their fragile internal structure. The honest-looking nut walls were shaking their heads in the front, seemingly harmless, but once the Lancers in the sky pointed their guns at the ground and suddenly fired a volley of fire, their bodies would quickly rise up until they turned into an indestructible wall, blocking wave after wave of deadly attacks for the friendly forces behind them. Some Lancers tried to bypass these nut walls and break through from the top, but the windmill-shaped clovers lurking in the forest puffed up their mouths and rotated their blades, non-stop. A fierce storm was stirred up, and it actually blew away the heavy machine body that was comparable to a turret, preventing it from moving forward; in the position further behind, there were even soldiers incarnated as paper cards operating huge corn cannons. They were like the most experienced gunners, skillfully adjusting their positions, calibrating coordinates, calculating errors, and then firing a cannon. The corn shells, which made people feel funny and weird, whistled into the sky, and then whistled down into the formation of the Sky Falcon, erupting with a destructive power that was completely different from its appearance. The Sky Falcon, which was hit head-on by the corn shells, was instantly stalled. The originally beautiful and solid outer armor was covered with dense craters made by corn kernels. Even several Lancer machines nearby that had no time to evacuate were affected. Although they did not crash, they basically lost their combat capability.

What made this army even more frustrated was that their attack was not without effect on these strange magical plants: the nut wall could block the first round of volleys from the Lancers, but would fall apart once facing the second round; the pea shooters' firepower coverage was amazing enough, but the high-altitude bombing of the Sky Falcon could also directly clear out the enemies in the locked area; and although the power of those corn cannons was enough to rival the magic cannons equipped on the cruisers, their defects such as long firing intervals, slow flight speeds and delayed explosions made them not difficult to deal with. As long as they found the right time and made precise cuts, a magic beam could destroy them and the card soldiers responsible for controlling them.

But the problem is, it doesn't make sense.

In past wars, destroying the enemy's manpower was once regarded as an important tactic, and could even be elevated to a strategic level. However, for this army of plants before their eyes, the concept of "manpower" seems to be non-existent, because no matter how many times they are destroyed, they will immediately grow again from the ground and continue to attack their enemies while shaking their heads. They do not know fear, do not care about battle losses, and do not even need to avoid the oncoming firepower. They are even more difficult to deal with than the dogtail grass that grows out of the cracks in the city's cement!

Sometimes one can't help but wonder, apart from their odd appearance, are they actually more suitable to be a soldier than themselves? They are definitely the soldiers that commanders dream of the most.

There is only one solution.

That is to find the person behind the scenes and eliminate him. No matter how dangerous the seal is, it needs to be continuously injected with magic power to be effective. The person controlling this plant army must be near the battlefield. Under the commander's order, the Lancers began to patrol around the battlefield consciously, exchanging fire with the plant army on the ground while turning on the detection equipment to try to capture the target's traces.

Olvera knew how great a responsibility she had, so she hid in the shadow of the forest without saying a word. No matter how much she hated and feared the darkness in the past, Princess Belman had learned something from it, that is, in certain situations, people have to coexist with things they hate, such as now.

She continuously injected magic power to activate the alchemical seeds buried deep under the soil, so that the plant army could be reborn in the baptism of artillery fire again and again, standing like a real forest. Behind her, soldiers holding swords and muskets, with funny paintings, walked out of the floating cards one by one, and under the command of an officer with more gorgeous clothes, more majestic temperament, and holding an officer's sword, they continued to rush to the battlefield. They looked so thin that they could not withstand a round of artillery bombardment, but they were so brave and rushed to the battlefield without fear. This may be because since their birth, the simple brain structure has never had the emotion of fear, but Olvera believes in another romantic saying, that they all stepped onto the battlefield with faith and a sense of mission.

Because the card officer also said: "Charge forward, good boys, don't be afraid, remember our duties!"

He brandished his sword, and his funny face showed a deep sense of responsibility: "Drive away the invaders and defend Her Majesty's country! Don't forget how much glory she has given us, and how much we deserve to repay her with our lives, boys!"

Under his encouragement and command, the battle line was maintained at a stable level, although not long after, he was regarded as the real commander by the enemy because of his outstanding performance and shouting on the battlefield. He rushed forward and annihilated the plant army with a close-range magic beam, regardless of the desperate interception of the plant army. Witnessing this scene, Olvera silently injected magic power into the cards, and soon a new commander came out and embarked on the path of his predecessor, but this one's character seemed to be more radical: "Kill the enemy when you see him, and don't spare a single one! The lunatics who dare to oppose Her Majesty the Queen must be judged with bullets and cannons!"

Olvera sighed silently. She knew that the queen mentioned by these card soldiers was not referring to herself, nor to Iyeta, the actual owner of Cloud Whale Sky Island, but to Rorona, who created them. Although she didn't know what kind of settings the latter had given them when creating them, as the Princess of the Sea of ​​Nereides City, she was indeed worthy of such admiration and following. The reason why Olvera sighed was not because the Princess of the City of Mirrors was respected, while the Princess of the Ancient Kingdom of Beman was not taken seriously. She was not angry with these simple card soldiers. Besides, Rorona worked tirelessly for seven consecutive days and nights to defend Cloud Whale Sky Island. Compared with her, what could she, who was only responsible for providing magic power, complain about?
What she was really worried about was the current situation. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that although Yunjingkong Island had temporarily held off the enemy's offensive, this was only the first wave. The real big army was still behind. More Star Knights, more Sky Falcons, and more Lancers were pouring into the battlefield. The Star Cruisers were pouring out, as if they were hunting them as a dangerous extraterrestrial beast. The hexahedral cage above her head was gradually closing, forming a closed stance. Further away, the already cooled Holy Cross was preparing for the next wave of bombardment. This time, could Yunjingkong Island, which was stuck in the quagmire and couldn't move, still escape?
Everything was caused by those anchors that fell from the sky. If we could cut them off...

Olvera pursed her lips as she thought of this, and glanced at the cross sword on her waist. Her swordsmanship was very good, and the sword forged by Rorona could definitely be described as a divine weapon, but was it enough to cut the chains? Her own strength was still too weak. Although Lingge said that she would swing the sword to protect everyone, not for revenge, if she didn't have the strength, there would be no point in swinging the sword, right? Just like now, she was powerless in the current situation.

Once again, Princess Beman once again strongly desired to become powerful.

However, on the other side of the Cloud Whale Sky Island, Gloria, who was facing the same situation as her, was not so worried. She also hid in a hidden place, constantly injecting magic power, letting the plant army and card soldiers go up to resist the waves of attacks like dripping water. Her cold eyes seemed not to be moved by the battlefield with flames scattered everywhere. If there was anything that could distract her slightly, it was probably the voice coming from her mind.

"I'm warning you again, you little fool Gloria," she suddenly said, with a hint of disappointment in her voice: "If you keep yelling in my head, I'll pretend to be you and steal Metien's snacks!"

"Wow! Mr. Ling and Sister Xiao Xia will kill me if that happens!"

A mournful cry came from my mind, and the little fool finally calmed down and stopped saying discouraging words, but still muttered unwillingly: "I know, I know I need to stay calm now, but aren't you worried at all? If you continue to delay, the defense line will be breached by the enemy sooner or later!" "Your worry is a bit unnecessary, little fool Gloria."

Bai Ye sneered, "Do you really believe that guy didn't anticipate this situation? Are you naive enough to think that he didn't even make any backup plans? Then I suggest you continue to sleep until your head is no longer so confused."

Gloria had long been immune to her sharp and sarcastic sarcasm, and knew that if she refuted, she would probably be humiliated, so she didn't take it to heart, but was thinking about it. Although Bai Ye didn't say who "that guy" was, combined with her tone and the current situation, it seemed that there was no other person.

That's true. If it were Ling Ge, he would have already thought of how to deal with it, right?

There was no evidence, but Gloria believed it, and—

"Bai Ye." Gloria suddenly asked curiously, "I noticed that you seem to trust Mr. Ling very much?"

As soon as she said this without thinking, she realized something was wrong, because Bai Ye's face darkened visibly. After she was speechless for a while, she suddenly sneered, "How dare you, little idiot Gloria! I'm a little sleepy and I'm going to go back to sleep. You will be in charge of these guys from now on. Come on, if the defense line is breached before that guy's countermeasures take effect, I don't mind describing your incompetence in detail to him and everyone else."

"Woooooo! Don't do that! I was wrong, Bai Ye, please don't leave, woooooo!"

Gloria begged for mercy, while Bai Ye sneered. Just as he was about to tease her a few more times, a strong wave of magic suddenly came from the depths of the island. She raised her head abruptly and looked in that direction. The corners of her originally stern mouth slightly curled up: "It seems that the back-up plan arranged by that guy is about to come into play."

"Not too bad."

She commented.

……

In the Fairy Sleep Inn, listening to the continuous gunfire and roars, feeling the occasional vibrations under their feet, Mr. Rabbit and the magic plants, who had no idea about war, felt a little uneasy and huddled under the table and refused to come out. Fortunately, Sister Livia gently comforted them and patiently soothed them, so that they did not panic completely. The usually honest stone guards stood outside the door with shovels and other gardening tools. On their faces made entirely of stone, a serious look could be vaguely seen.

In order to calm everyone's anxiety and to make a contribution in this turbulent time, Metien was preparing snacks for them in the kitchen, and Shemi, who was always playful and naughty, came to help. As for Leticia, although she stood by with a cool face, she had no intention of helping. In her words, "I am a bodyguard, responsible for protecting others, how can I do this kind of work!?"

Shaymi insisted that she just wanted to be lazy and act cool, but Leticia felt that her IQ was not enough to understand her good intentions, and the two of them started arguing with each other.

Metien cut the cheese into small pieces while laughing dryly, unable to agree or refute. No matter how tense the atmosphere outside was, the bickering and complaints of her friends always made her feel at ease.

Suddenly, Leticia stopped talking, and Medien also stopped cutting cheese. Both of them looked at Shaymi on the chopping board in surprise.

The little goblin thought he had won the argument with his mortal enemy, and he puffed out his chest proudly. Just as he was about to give a victory speech, his two friends blurted out at the same time: "Shaimi--"

"You're glowing!?"

"Ah?" Xie Mi was stunned and looked down at his body. After a while, a shocking shout came from the hotel kitchen: "Hey hey hey hey hey!!? (End of this chapter)