Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 132: Is it a weapon that will kill you?
A path meandered through the dark and gloomy bushes and led to the top of the mountain. The black mist floating in the air was so thick that it was almost solidified, corroding the solid stones, which easily reminded people of the thick smoke mixed with acid mist spewed out from the huge chimneys of the steel factories in the suburbs. The two completely different images were strangely connected at this moment.

Lingge and his group climbed the mountain along the path. Behind the branches of the trees, they could vaguely see the shadows of man-made buildings. The collapsed ancient ruins looked like a shipwreck from the old days, stranded in a corner of time. The surface had been corroded by the fog and acid, becoming mottled and dirty and unrecognizable.

The young man picked up a stone from the ground and gently brushed off the darkened dust on the surface. He found that its shape was quite similar to the bricks used by rural villagers to build walls in the Middle Ages. There were also fuzzy lines on the stone, indicating that many years ago it was used to decorate a tower or palace and was given unique aesthetic properties, which was obviously different from the aesthetic concepts of humans of the same era.

He couldn't help but ask, "Are these relics all left behind by aliens?"

"kindness."

Saint Shalia, who was walking behind, nodded slightly.

"It's incredible." The young man sighed from the bottom of his heart: "I originally thought that the Sosen Mountains had always been a barren land. Even human swords or hoes could not leave any traces of civilization on it."

This is not only his personal prejudice, but can perhaps be considered the consensus of the entire human society.

Saint Shallia has a different view on this: "That's because humans only want to bring their civilization, but in fact, the history of alien civilization is much longer than that of humans. If we only look at the problem from a one-sided standpoint, it is undoubtedly a superficial understanding."

"Did you hear that?" Alice poked Ling'er's waist with her elbow in a gloating tone, "Superficial guy!"

Between humans who are born unable to use magic and aliens who are born able to use magic, the latter undoubtedly have the advantage, right?

Shaymi sat on Metien's shoulders, crossed his arms, and looked serious: "But they are very different from the magical plants raised in the hotel. They give me a feeling of being too evil."

Metien did not agree immediately, but looked back at her brother. After seeing Linger nod, she took out the dagger hanging from her waist and walked towards the thorn bush blocking the road. She held the Grass and Tree Disaster Star in both hands, carefully avoiding the barbs that looked dangerous at first glance, and gently scratched the thorn branches.

When humans began to rule the continent, where did the civilization of the aliens go?
These questions are destined to remain unanswered now.

About halfway up the mountain, the road ahead was blocked by a thicket of thorns. These dark red thorns crawled out from the ground and the cliffs, and their surfaces shone with a cold metallic luster. The tightly coiled thick roots were like the twisted tentacles of a monster, and the curved barbs at the end were probably sharper than a dagger. Just a slight touch would cut through a person's skin, greedily absorbing the sweet blood and strengthening itself.

The little girl didn't use much force. With her strength, it would be difficult even if she wanted to, so only a shallow scar was left on the thorn branch. However, even such a small injury caused the thorn bush in front of her to tremble violently. Their fear was visible to the naked eye. It was the fear of a lamb encountering a hungry wolf or a beast falling into a trap, unable to resist or escape.

"It is indeed a magical plant."

Lingge ignored her. He had already accepted Saint Shallia's explanation in his heart, but he was still a little confused: If the civilization of the aliens was indeed earlier than that of humans, why are humans ruling the continent now instead of aliens?

All the way up, deeper into the forest mist, and gradually approaching the vortex of clouds above. The wind blew fiercely, echoing on the gloomy mountain road, as if thousands of ghosts were screaming at the same time, irritating people's eardrums.

The goblin was already feeling uncomfortable with the surroundings, and now faced with these evil and filthy thorn bushes, he was even more disgusted. He patted Metien's cheek and urged, "Get rid of them quickly!"

Then, a golden flame ignited from the scar, and in just a moment it spread to every branch of the thorn bush, burning it into black ashes that fell to the ground like a light black snow.

"Okay, so awesome!"

Although he had known for a long time that the Plant Bane was the "nemesis of plants", it was the first time that he had witnessed its power so directly. With the dagger in hand, Metien could not help but exclaim. Alice was also very jealous when she saw it. What a good equipment! Although it has some limitations, the effect is also very strong. Unfortunately, it fell into Metien's hands. The pink-haired girl is just an auxiliary. It is a pure waste to give her the Plant Bane. No, I have to find an excuse to come over.

Medien had no idea what sinister plot her most trusted ally was planning. She held up the Grass and Tree Star and cleared a path ahead. Whenever she encountered a thorn bush blocking the way, she would cut it with a knife. As she walked along, the ground was covered with ashes left by the burning thorns. When the wind blew, the ashes floated up and merged into the dark mist.

At the same time, a doubt gradually arose in her heart, like a thorn that was burned to ashes and buried in the soil again, taking root and sprouting again. She called out softly, "Shami."

The goblin on his shoulder quickly responded, "I'm here, Metien, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, I just suddenly remembered that Madam Shu seemed to have said that the Grass and Wood Disaster Star was originally a tool knife used by her teacher to cut paper, right?"

"Hmm?" Xie Mi thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "Should it be like this?"

"In that case, why did Mrs. Tree transform it into its current form?"

From her expression and tone when recalling, it can be seen that Mrs. Shu respected her teacher very much. If that is the case, why did she transform the only relic she left behind instead of keeping its original appearance as a memorial to the past?

"Besides," Metien whispered again, "The Plant Scourge is the natural enemy of all plants, but isn't Mrs. Tree herself an oak tree?"

In other words, she had forged a weapon with her own hands that could kill her.

This metaphor of karma and fate always gave Metien a sense of foreboding.

"I do not know."

In response to her question, the little fairy shook his head honestly, and then comforted her: "Don't think too much, maybe Mrs. Tree has her own considerations? She has lived for more than a thousand years, so she must be smarter than us, right?"

When Metien thought about it, he realized that this was indeed the case, so he suppressed his uneasiness and continued to walk in front to lead the way.

After a long trek, they finally reached the top of the mountain. From here, the light became even dimmer, so dark that you could hardly see your hand in front of you. The naked eye could only see things within three or four meters around you, and the sight was cut off before you could see anything beyond that, until the sky was covered with dark clouds, and there was only a hazy darkness.

It was in this lifeless fog that the dark and eerie castle stood tall, surrounded by towering thorn bushes, like a city wall from ancient times, casting a huge shadow. In this vast darkness, the dark red of the thorns was replaced by a heavier dirty color, almost like a hazy and mournful ghost, floating above the castle.

The iron gate leading to the castle courtyard was also entangled by thorns. The pink-haired girl scratched a scar on them, and a raging fire ignited in an instant, which then spread to the thorn bushes of the entire castle, making it look like a burning ocean. But the mist itself was more powerful, so it quickly swallowed up the flames in turn. When everything returned to darkness, only black snowflakes fell from the sky, piling up snow in the courtyard in the deep winter.

Lingge walked forward and gently pushed open the iron door decorated with bronze statues.

creak-

The dilapidated and rusty door hinges made a teeth-grinding groaning sound, welcoming the long-lost guests to this ancient castle isolated from the world.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)