Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 390 An unpredictable development?

it's dark! ?

This is the first reaction of young people.

The scene in front of me suddenly became dark, and I heard terrified shouts all around. The silhouettes of the buildings and stairs turned into shadowy monsters in the thick fog. The elevator, which was still rising and falling along the vertical track, was like a huge black bat, flying through the depths of the dark night, with a crowd of people on its back. The piercing and sharp roar was like the machine releasing its power, and the beast trying to break free was roaring hysterically.

The street lights lit up as night fell, but the old, dilapidated lights reflected a heavy, corrupt, green haze, flickering on and off, adding a bit of eeriness and weirdness to the already panic-stricken atmosphere. Through these inferior lights, Linger clearly saw the faces of several nearby pedestrians, who looked terrified, confused, and stunned, and seemed to be a bit unbelievable, as if he had witnessed the most impossible thing in the world happening.

Following their gaze, Lingge also slowly opened his eyes, because he saw that the sun hanging above the dome of the Cathedral of Judgment, overlooking the entire Harbor of Sad Rain, had gone out at some point in time. Now only its huge and blurry outline could be vaguely seen, with a circle of withered yellow halo around the edge, shaped like the dim corona after the sun went out.

The real sun did not go out, but for the people of Qiyugang, their "sun" was indeed extinguished.

Due to the terrain, it was difficult for natural light to enter this city built in a dangerous canyon. Therefore, only a small part of the entire Harbor of Rain maintained normal lighting, while other places were plunged into pitch-black darkness. Linger saw some people picking up coal lamps and others lighting candles, walking out of their homes and looking up. Although the darkness of the world was imminent, it seemed that for these people, they still had to see the sun go out with their own eyes before they would believe that what they saw was not an illusion.

This is a habit deeply rooted in the bones, which has been developed since the Temple of Judgment took over this city and has not changed to this day.

The decaying afterglow of the inferior street lamps, the ring-shaped halo of the kerosene lamps, and the flickering flames of the candles together raised thousands of flickering sparks above the city, which seemed to ease the fear brought by the darkness. Linger heard someone sighing with relief, and then began to ask the people around him: "What happened..."

Before he could finish his words, there was a violent and shocking roar from above his head, like the explosion of heavy machinery, which made the whole city tremble. The huge elevator stopped working, a water pipe that had long been rusted by water cracked, and all the steel, rivets and gears were wailing and groaning in pain.

"here!"

Someone in the crowded crowd responded, then jumped up and waved over here.

What is this?
Ling Ge was thinking, and so were the others. So, at the doors of all the shops and houses, people holding coal lamps and candles subconsciously moved the lights closer to this side. With the remaining flames, everyone could see the true face of the thing.

But not people.

So he did not move forward, but took two steps back. The next moment, something fell from the sky and hit the thick steel plate heavily, making a dull thump, right where Ling Ge had just stood. If the young man had not chosen to believe in that sudden premonition, his fate at this moment might not be much better than that falling object.

He was about to catch up, but he stopped abruptly because he suddenly had a bad premonition in his mind. Before becoming a magician, Ling Ge was not a person who believed in premonitions. He always thought that they were just people trying to scare him. But facing the current situation, it seems that he has to believe it.

It is a humanoid creature.

While others were still panicking, Linger instinctively sensed something was wrong. He ignored the reactions of those around him and shouted, "Alice, Saint Xia Liya, where are you?"

Messy black mane, a protruding snout, sharp canine teeth, stiff vertical pupils, forelimbs longer than the knees, and sturdy hind limbs... If Lingge was not mistaken, this should be a werewolf.

It is the kind of monster that often appears with vampires in folk tales, is each other's mortal enemy, likes to eat raw human flesh and is afraid of silver weapons. It is also a kind of alien.

His body was covered with scars, including scratches from melee weapons and holes from bullets. Dark red blood gushed out of the wounds like viscous molten magma, gradually corroding the steel plates on the ground, making a hissing sound, as if magma was melting the steel. The atmosphere around him seemed to freeze for a moment. No one spoke, and the heavy breathing was artificially suppressed. Only the rapid heartbeat could be heard, making people feel that the passage of time had lost its meaning. It didn't matter whether it was a minute, a second, or a century. In the interlude of the stage play, it only existed again when the actors returned to the plot.

A scream suddenly broke through the dead silence of the night sky, and also opened the curtain for the performance of the script. All the actors were ready, and the panic could no longer be contained. Along with the scream came fleeing, blind obedience, coercion, congestion and trampling. Everyone wanted to escape from here at all costs. This panic was deeply transmitted to others, and a visible wave formed instantly, which might even be faster than the tide of the sea under the moonlight, surging from one side of the narrow street to the other side. Every weak light was actively rushing towards the dark and deep night, waiting to be swallowed up by the blackest evil.

But the fall of the werewolf corpse was only a signal of disaster. When panic gradually boiled over, explosions sounded one after another. The upper area was shaking violently, which in turn affected the middle and lower areas on the same structure, causing the disaster to expand further. The originally stable steel plates and scaffolding structures began to loosen, the stairs and overpasses connecting the streets and dark alleys disintegrated and collapsed one by one, the drainage pipe systems attached to the bottom of the steel base and the cliffs broke off one by one, and the abandoned containers hanging in the slums broke and fell to the ground in the violent shaking. The residents who were still in the slums had to risk jumping to the nearest roof, praying for a miracle to save their lives. Although they had never enjoyed the beauty of the world while living in this world, no matter what... it was always better to be alive than to die.

In order to reduce costs, the problem of shaking and loosening was never considered during the construction and planning of the houses in Sad Rain Port. This was because, in the designers' knowledge, this area had never experienced large-scale disasters such as earthquakes and landslides. As for forces other than natural disasters, it was impossible to shake this great and solid city. Even chariots or gunboats made by humans could not do so. Therefore, deliberately considering this aspect was undoubtedly a waste of effort.

But if they were still alive, they would regret it and wish they could go back to the afternoon when the design was finalized. No one could remain indifferent to this scene, watching countless buildings groan and collapse like fragile butter, the speed of collapse was like a fragile sand castle blocking a storm, and the smoke and dust splashed was enough to cause a serious smog, making it difficult for everyone in the middle to breathe and almost suffocate.

But no one cared about the smog at this time. People were running back and forth. When they encountered cracks in the streets or collapsed buildings, they immediately rushed in the opposite direction. They looked chaotic like headless flies. Heavy figures kept falling from the upper area. Among them were werewolf corpses like before, and fully armed but broken magic knights... Without exception, they all lost their breath, so every fall would arouse screams of terror.

It seemed that a fierce battle had broken out on the highest floor. Linger looked up and took a quick glance, and saw the magical rays passing through the sky, the dark blue color flashing like a meteor.

In the deepest part of the night, a wolf head as huge as a mountain could be vaguely seen, with sharp and cold pupils. It opened its huge mouth and bit towards the dark steel temple. Its throat, like a black hole, swallowed it up in an instant and disappeared without a trace.

The headquarters of the Inquisition, the place where the Scales of Order judge, and one of the holy places of the united church, was attacked, and swallowed up so easily! ?

Linger could hardly believe what he saw, but he also knew that now was not the time to investigate further. When the crowd began to move, he was almost swept away. Fortunately, he grabbed the lamppost beside him in time and was not taken away. In comparison, Alice and Saint Xia Liya were in a much easier situation because they were not at the center of the chaos. Moreover, with the guidance of the thread of fate, the crowd would automatically separate to the sides even if it rushed past, leaving a strange blank area.

"Linger!"

Alice finally brought Saint Xia Liya to Lingge's side. Although she didn't understand what happened, she knew that the situation was serious, so she asked directly: "What should we do now?"

What else can I do?
Lingge looked at the chaotic scene on the street and the gradually drowned lights, and replied without hesitation: "Run, don't go to the main street, let's leave here through the alley."

"Eh……"

Alice made a disappointed sound. She probably thought that this was an event that the protagonist had to participate in, and it would be best to turn the tide. But in fact, in a sudden disaster, no one would be the real protagonist, so Lingge ignored her thoughts, grabbed Saint Shallia's hand, and pulled her to the nearest dark alley.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Alice hurried after him.

Behind the fleeing figures of the three people, in the deep and dark night, under the suspended city of steel and machinery, disaster and chaos are still fermenting and intensifying.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)