Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 293 Is It Really Invincible?
"To be honest, I don't like you, David."

In the quiet museum, Rochelle looked at the professor with eyes that were deeper than the oldest spring in Nimsher, as if she was revealing some unknown oracle: "When His Majesty Kellur guided me here, he mentioned the deeds of Mr. Schmidt, and there was no lack of trust and confidence in his words. This made me think that you, who inherited Mr. Schmidt's will, should be a devout and sincere believer. Otherwise, you would not be able to protect the Holy Spring Sanctuary and the Temple of Tiphis, which belongs to the Spring Spirit believers, under the coercion of the united religious groups."

Although it has been renamed the Lubeon Museum, the essence of faith has not changed with the change in appearance. It always exists here, as if it has never left.

"But after seeing it with my own eyes, I didn't feel such devout faith from you. There are many complicated thoughts hidden in your heart. They are polluting your soul and adding unnecessary colors to your spirituality, which will make it extremely heavy and unable to bear the weight of faith that can linger in this small space. But it seems that you are willing to do so, and you are not forced to change by external forces."

"You are even more foolish than the most ignorant country peasants I have ever seen, because they at least know not to speculate on the majesty of God with their shallow knowledge, but you seem to lack a reverent heart, clinging to something that cannot be pursued, and even if you use any means to do so, you think it is a matter of course."

"You don't look like a believer. You look more like the fool that Moriah often talks about, who knows nothing about his fate but still tries to change it, Sir David."

"This is why I don't like you."

Rochelle finished speaking, and put on his old, tattered hood, hiding his weathered face in the shadows. He turned around and was about to leave, and it was already late at night.

Professor David, whom he called a "fool", watched this scene quietly and suddenly felt a little ironic. However, the irony was not that Rochelle's evaluation was wrong. In fact, he was not a devout believer and had no awe for the so-called spring spirit. What he found ironic was that he actually heard the words "any means necessary" from Rochelle's mouth.

A man who decided to hold a ceremony to invite gods in Nimsher, an "international city" with a population of over half a million, during the World Expo when tourists from all over the world flocked to the city, and in this land where the belief in spring spirits had been forgotten for nearly a hundred years... said that he would "use any means necessary."

"I'm just helping myself." His tone was meaningful.

He replied indifferently: "Coincidentally, I am also not interested in a paranoid guy like you. If it weren't for the letter from His Majesty Keliul, do you think you can stand here and discuss tomorrow's affairs with me? Remember one thing, Rochelle - this is not Bishan."

In other words, is it reasonable for Rochelle to offer sacrifice, create, refine, and involve countless mortals in this struggle between animism and the church? Is it the path that must be taken to achieve ideals and great undertakings? Is it God who is silently watching his people in heaven, and are both believers and non-believers undergoing trials?
Madman. He said to himself in his heart: A complete madman.

"Then should I be looking forward to it?" Professor David glanced at his back and thought, I'll wait until you survive before saying this, what's more.

Rochelle turned his back to Professor David, expressionless, as if the words from the latter's mouth did not affect his thoughts in the slightest. The walker's tone was still steady and heavy, sometimes even making people think that the rock 5,000 meters below the ground was speaking: "Perhaps my words are offensive and make you feel uncomfortable. I apologize for this, but this is indeed my most practical feeling. In addition, thank you for your help in this operation. After the incident, His Majesty Kailuer and other Spring Spirit believers will remember your contribution, and I will also give you the rewards you deserve on behalf of the Fertile Soil Sect."

Didn't the cult know what the consequences of their actions would be? Of course they knew, but they didn't care, because they had absolute strength and confidence, enough to suppress the wishful thinking of all the rebels.

Therefore, power, unrivaled power, is everything in this world.

Rochelle nodded with her back to him, then walked towards the exit of the exhibition hall. After passing through the cold glass display cases, she suddenly turned into a puff of black smoke and drifted away silently. This was the magic of the [Night] path. I didn't know what sequence it was. Professor David didn't have a very deep understanding of this path. He just felt that Rochelle was lucky to master this magic. Otherwise, he should have been arrested and tried when the Salia Wilderness was surrounded by the twelve arbitration teams, and there would be no incident today.

A madman with clear goals, paranoid beliefs, calm and prudent, but ruthless, the product of the religious order's cruel and bloody massacres. However, in fact, Rochelle is not the only madman like this in the world. After all, the Fertile Soil Sect is not the only religion whose holy city was breached, idols were trampled, and faith was destroyed in the past.

The holy city of your Fertile Soil Sect has long been destroyed under the magical torrent of the united religious orders. Now there is only the "City of High Rock" Bishan, and the former "Sanctuary of Mother Earth" Linbis Monastery is no longer there.

This is true for constructed mechas and for constructed gods...but the latter is too dangerous. It is not a power that can be mastered by humans, so we should look further afield, such as into those ancient legends.

Professor David turned his head, still staring at the Kreisov brass volume behind the glass display case. His eyes were deep and cold, much like the twinkling cold stars in the night, gradually emitting a fiery light that showed ambition and desire.

...The exquisite brass shell exudes a sense of classic elegance under the bright white moonlight.

He removed the outermost protective layer with skillful movements, checked the damage to the isolation layer, and after confirming that the rune circuits were intact, he gently turned the gear next to it, causing the valves in the core layer to slowly open. He then pulled out the already dim cylindrical magic crystal from the hexagonal hole, and found a magic crystal of the same specification from the tool kit he carried with him, and inserted it into the hexagonal hole, making the circuit on the magic crystal fit perfectly with the internal rune circuit without any breaks or gaps. Only then did he nod with satisfaction and reinstall the disassembled parts one by one. The whole process took less than five seconds, which was a reasonable amount of time for a skilled wizard to perform routine maintenance on a clockwork fairy and replace magic crystals.

The more complex the magic device, the more sophisticated its internal structure is, and the more energy it requires to maintain it. Aegir is the assistant in the team, mainly responsible for intelligence gathering, battlefield reconnaissance and rear support. Repairing magic devices is also part of his job. It only took him half a year to grow from a novice to a skilled auxiliary magician.

Five other clockwork fairies were lying quietly on the grass nearby. Their magic crystals had all been replaced, but they needed to stay on standby for a while to allow their internal structures to cool down before they could carry out reconnaissance missions. This was for the sake of their service life.

As for the other two magic fairies that were watching the front and back doors of the museum, there was nothing they could do. They couldn't let the monitoring period go by in order to replace the magic crystals, could they? Aegir set up a self-discipline mode for them, which only required them to sound an alarm when the target intended to leave the museum. This would delay their destruction to some extent, giving the other clockwork fairies more time to rest.

After this mission, I have to apply for a new clockwork fairy from the Construction Administration. The new magic device I applied for last time has not been issued yet. Those troublesome processes and procedures are really a headache when I think about them.

Agil sighed silently. At this moment, the captain's voice came from behind him: "What's wrong, Agil? Is there anything wrong?"

He turned around subconsciously and saw the tired face of Captain Wade Locke. He quickly shook his head: "Nothing, nothing is wrong here for the time being. But how is the Captain's matter going?"

"Just a few insignificant water ghosts. I have eliminated them all."

In Nimscher, a city once known as the "City of Fountains", water-related monsters and demons always appear and disappear along with human footprints: water goblins born from dirty water, water fairies born from clear springs, water ghosts born from the resentment of drowning people, water phantoms born from the filth and debris accumulated at the bottom of the river... Although the names sound similar, only the water goblins are harmless to humans. Other monsters or demons, some in search of food and some driven by instinct, will attack humans.

In the past, the efforts of the Night Watchmen reduced the number of aquatic monsters and demons in the city by 90%, but the remaining 10% still appeared from time to time, harassing and attacking local citizens. They were generally not strong, and local citizens would not casually approach the filthy waters and dark streets that might breed monsters, so the frequency of attacks was low and the Night Watchmen could still handle it.

However, the opening of the World Expo attracted a large influx of foreign tourists, and the number of attacks suddenly increased dramatically, and the staff suddenly seemed stretched.

Originally, the night watchmen of Nimsher City had prepared for this situation in advance, and had drawn a group of people from the night watchmen of several nearby cities to maintain order, but who could have thought that they would run into Rochelle's attempt to hold a ceremony to invite the gods? As a result, most of these drawn-out people were assigned to monitor suspicious believers, and they were in a dilemma of insufficient manpower. As a last resort, even an outside arbitrator like Wade Locke was pulled in to help.

The other two team members, Sally and Michelle, were also pulled over by the Night Watch to deal with the frequent supernatural cases, leaving only Aegir, who controlled the clockwork fairy, here to continue monitoring Professor David's movements.

Fortunately, so far, the other party has not shown any abnormal behavior.

However, the calmer the surface, the more uneasy Aegir's heart became, because everyone knows that the real undercurrent is often brewing under the calm sea surface.

What is Rochelle doing now, who has been missing for a long time? How far has he prepared for the ceremony of summoning the gods? What will be the consequences if we cannot stop him?
Aegir clenched his hand holding the clockwork fairy slightly. The lines on the surface of the brass shell rubbed against the sweat on his palm, which was a little slippery. He sighed sincerely: "I really hope that the Chief Judge can get to Nimsher as soon as possible."

Wade didn't say anything, but just stared silently at the magnificent shadow of the Luberon Museum in the middle of the night.

Maybe he had the same idea in his heart?
Because every believer of the Inquisition believes that His Majesty the Grand Inquisitor, who guides the direction of justice and brings final judgment to all evildoers, is invincible.

The arbitrators who belong to the Balance of Order and are ranked as "Apostles" within the association are even more convinced that the Witch of Fear, Lady Fear, who controls the Earth Witch, Fear Night Gate, and brings the shadow of fear to all aliens, monsters, magicians and false believers, is absolutely invincible.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)