Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 401: Is the style wrong?
I have to admit that Shelia's analysis makes sense and corresponds perfectly to what is happening in the swamp. After all, Gundaruf's plan was not that complicated. It was just three simple steps: attack the Temple of Judgment to anger the United Church; the angry United Church dispatched a large army to recreate the dark purge, with great momentum and nowhere to escape; finally, Silver Moon appeared as a savior, united with the aliens in the Great Swamp, and formed an alliance to fight against the United Church.

The last step is the key. If he can unite the fragmented alien races in the Void Root Swamp, he might be able to bring some trouble to the religious alliance - besides, isn't this what Saint Junio ​​once did?

Now, his descendants want to recreate their ancestors' great achievements through the union of the religious orders?
This thought subconsciously emerged in Ling'er's mind.

"That's not right, Shelia~" The lady boss said lightly, "You overlooked a very important point."

"Where?"

The bartender was immediately puzzled. She thought she had thought it through very thoroughly, her conclusions and facts matched each other, and her logic was impeccable. Could there be any loopholes?
"Because you don't know enough about the aliens in the Great Swamp." Shesta smiled gently: "What kind of conditions do you think an alien should have to survive the brutal cleansing of the cult and successfully hide in the Great Swamp to survive?"

Xie Liya thought for a moment, then replied decisively: "Powerful."

This is beyond doubt. If you are not strong, how can you escape the pursuit of the cult and how can you survive in the harsh environment of the swamp?
Shesta nodded. "That is indeed one of the points, but it is not the most important one. After all, there are only a few aliens as powerful as Gundaruf who dare to challenge the united cults head-on. It is impossible for everyone to be a demigod. Some aliens who are not good at fighting cannot even beat Shemmy, but they survived."

Xie Mi's eyes lit up as he was listening: "So if I had lived during the Dark Purge, I would have been able to escape the pursuit of the combined cult and survive successfully?"

This is recognition from the eldest sister! Thinking of this, she couldn't help but straighten her chest, her face full of pride: I am so young, but I have surpassed 99% of the aliens. This is the confidence that the travel fairy has brought me!
Metien held his forehead helplessly: "I'm not praising you."

"That's what the farmers in the country often say: Rats live longer than snakes." Olvera, who had been listening quietly, whispered. She forgot which book she saw this sentence from, but there was such a sentence anyway.

"Eh!?"

The proprietress concluded with a quote from an anthropologist, which also caused everyone to fall silent.

Facing everyone's surprised eyes, she explained softly: "The weaker and more timid the aliens are, the more they are afraid of fighting. So when faced with the pursuit of the cult, they will only run away instead of resisting. Compared with other aliens who are used to fighting fiercely and dare to face the cult's troops head-on, this behavior seems too shameful. Some people even think that it is precisely because they can only run away that they have boosted the arrogance of the cult and caused the collective defeat of the aliens in Motosh. But in the present century, we look at this matter from a higher perspective, and naturally we will know that the cult is unstoppable. Their strength may be stronger than the strength of all the aliens in Motosh united. Then, whose choice is more correct is undoubtedly clear at a glance."

"History tells us the answer. Those aliens who dared to resist the alliance of the cult have all turned to dust. Every inch of their ashes has been dissipated by the wind. On the contrary, most of those aliens who were weak, timid, not good at fighting, and could only escape have escaped to the Void Root Swamp alive. They have been lingering on and have not died."

In certain situations, being weak can be more advantageous than being strong.

Some kind of magical talent? Some kind of keen intuition? Or, a blessing from fate?
The answer given by the lady boss was beyond everyone's expectations: "Weakness and cowardice."

Xie Liya ignored her sister's antics and thought, "Then, how did they survive?"

Few people understand this, except those wise elders. Although the proprietress looks young and beautiful, she is actually an elder who has experienced the passage of three centuries. Among the members of the hotel, perhaps only the deceased Mrs. Shu is older than her.

"I once heard that a scholar named Darwin proposed the theory of evolution, which believed that nature selected the development path of life, that is, the so-called survival of the fittest. This may also be your usual understanding, but the survival of the fittest has never been the survival of the strong."

Alice immediately jumped out to show her presence: "Wrong! Snakes can live for decades, while rats can only live for a few years, so rats can't live longer than snakes. You don't learn biology well, Olvera."

Olvera was speechless for a moment: "So this is a proverb."

"That won't do! There are children here. Don't use such confusing proverbs to influence their mental development. What if they really think that rats live longer than snakes when they grow up?" Alice argued. I think you are the one who has the greatest influence on them.

Olvera was annoyed by her and gave Lingge a look for help. Lingge was silent for a moment, then gave Saint Xia Liya a look. The latter nodded to show that she had received it, and then pulled Alice, who was about to give a long speech, down and stuffed a piece of apple pie into her mouth, which made her quiet down - because the barbecue burrito had been eaten.

So we can get back to the topic.

"I understand what Miss Shesta meant," Linger said. "What she meant was that even if Silver Moon really angered the Cult Alliance and they sent out troops to encircle and suppress the aliens in the swamp, most aliens who are used to running away would not change their weak nature and join this alliance. So it is more likely that they will continue to run away, even if they flee from Motosh and find a new place to stay, they will never dare to fight against the Cult Alliance."

As a result, Gundalufu's plan naturally failed.

"Moreover, the aliens who can survive in the dangerous Great Swamp may not be strong, but their intelligence is definitely not bad. They can see the strategies we can see, and naturally understand that the joint encirclement and suppression of the Great Swamp by the cult is the trouble caused by Silver Moon. Therefore, not only will they not respond to Gundaruf's alliance, but they will complain and condemn him. This has intensified the internal contradictions of the swamp aliens and made them lose their due cohesion."

Shelia understood this, but it was hard for her to accept it. Of course, what made her hard to accept was not the loophole in her careful logical reasoning, but Gundaruf's behavior: "But, Gundaruf, as the leader of Silver Moon and the strongest among the swamp aliens, should understand this better than us. Why did he do this?"

"Perhaps, external pressure is only one of the conditions for the alliance." Linger pinched his chin and thought: "He has another way to eliminate internal conflicts and achieve unity. But what kind of method it is... we have no way of knowing."

"I know!"

Alice gobbled the apple pie in her mouth, then slammed the table and stood up: "The answer lies in that vampire! As long as we find her and torture her severely (Metien's eyes became sharp at this time, and the golden-haired maid quickly changed her words), uh, I mean ask her, we will know what the hell Gundaruf is up to!"

"Besides, I have a hunch that maybe that vampire is the young queen we are looking for?"

You seem a little crazy.

Ling Ge was speechless. Everyone looks like the young Wang Quan. Why don’t you say that I am the same?

"Humph."

Seeing that Lingge—not only Lingge, but also others, including Metien who regarded the vampire Leticia as a new friend, all had suspicious expressions on their faces, Alice hummed a few times, not panicking at all, because she came prepared: "I have a plan that can be verified!"

Ling Ge subconsciously said: "Oh? You have a plan too?"

Hey, that’s weird.

Why does this conversation feel... weird?

If Lingge had taken Alice's words to heart, he would have known that this was actually what the golden-haired maid had been saying: the style of painting is wrong.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)