Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 407 Is the truth always absurd?

The rotten wood monsters who accidentally entered the sky island and found that there were people living here were very frightened at first. Although they looked scary in appearance, they were essentially a group of pacifists with gentle temperaments and did not like fighting. Otherwise, the farmers and hunters who met them in the mountains and forests would not have had the opportunity to spread the legend of the "evil tree spirits".

At this time, the proprietress appeared in time and talked with the oldest and wisest of these rotten wood goblins for a while, and soon calmed their emotions. After all, the traveler goblins are a kind race by nature, and there has never been any record of "evil goblins" in history.

During the conversation, the proprietress learned that they had migrated away from the Xugen Swamp and were planning to find a new habitat. She immediately realized that this was the clue that everyone had been searching for in recent days, so she asked the Rotten Wood Demon Elder about the situation inside the swamp, but got an unexpected answer.

Ten minutes later, she returned to the hotel and brought back key information to Lingge and others who were already ready and ready to set off.

"Since the day when Silver Moon raided the Temple of Judgment, a legend about the 'Tooth of Eternal Life' has suddenly spread in the Voidroot Swamp."

"The Tooth of Eternal Life?" Alice asked curiously, "What is that? A holy relic?"

"It's hard to be sure." The lady boss shook her head. "Some people think it's a holy relic, some think it's a gift from God, and some even think it's a curse... But no matter what the true nature of the 'Tooth of Eternal Life' is, there is only one thing that is certain: it can grant any life the power of eternal life."

After the words were spoken, the hall was silent for a moment, and one could hear the breathing as if a pin drop.

After a long while, Alice spoke hesitantly, "Uh, excuse me, is the eternal life you mentioned the same as the eternal life I understand?"

"what?"

"Not all of them." The lady boss said lightly, "Like the group of rotten wood monsters, they fled the swamp in a hurry because they didn't believe Gundaruf's words and realized that danger was approaching, and planned to migrate to other places to live."

"Eternal Ones..." Olvera murmured, not knowing what she was thinking of. The white-gold star clusters in her eyes flickered and dispersed, as hazy and dazzling as the morning mist.

"All."

Not only her, but everyone present was more or less shocked by this term. It was hard to imagine, and even harder to believe, that there was eternal life in the world. After all, in this era where even true gods could perish like dust, who dared to say that they were eternal and immortal?

Shesta glanced at her with a half-smile: "I think so."

"Yes, all of them." Shesta said with a smile, "Legend has it that the Fang of Immortality is a treasure that can help the holder comprehend the secrets of life and gain eternal power. The so-called eternity means not aging, not decaying, not dying, and not even forgetting. Whatever it was in the past, it will still be the same a thousand years later, or even ten thousand years later. It can allow the tiniest cricket to live longer than a dragon, and it can also restore an old human to his youthful appearance. In front of it, there is no distinction between short-lived species and long-lived species. The only distinction in this world is between life that is destined to die and life that is eternal and immortal. Perhaps the latter can be called: immortals."

Ling was the least skeptical person and the first to regain his composure. He asked bluntly, "What does this have to do with the situation in the swamp?"

"Of course it is related." The proprietress said, "Because this legend was first spread by members of Silver Moon. Not only that, one of the leaders of Silver Moon, 'Gnawing Fierce Moon' Gundaruf, also publicly announced that he has grasped the clues and whereabouts of the 'Tooth of Eternal Life' and is willing to share it. Any alien who wants to obtain eternal life can go to the Forloze Castle in the Quaker Arc, where he will personally demonstrate the power of immortality."

Linger frowned when he heard this: "Could it be that the reason we can't find any traces of aliens outside the swamp is because they believed Gundalufu's words and responded to his call?"

"You might as well explain it more clearly." Alice was not good at telling riddles. She scratched the back of her head. "There are many kinds of immortality, right? Eternal life? Eternal youth? Eternal immortality? The difference is quite big, so which one are you talking about?"

And it also brought them such valuable information.

Ling'er's frown did not relax: "But they are the only ones."

Apart from this group of rotten wood monsters, they did not find any other traces of aliens. This shows that at least the vast majority of aliens believed Gundaruf's words and coveted the magical power of the Fang of Eternal Life. The rational and calm group like the rotten wood monsters became a minority.

Actually, we can't blame them. After all, "eternal life" is indeed a very tempting thing. Why do the aliens linger in the virtual root swamp? Isn't it because they are afraid of the pursuit of the cult? Why are they afraid of the pursuit of the cult? It's simple, because they will die. And now, a chance of immortality is in front of them.

Those who can resist this temptation are either extremely rational, like Lingge, or extremely weak, like the rotten wood monsters. Unfortunately, most people in this world are mediocre and inactive, just caught between the two extremes, unable to rationally resist its power, nor weak enough to fear the disaster it brings.

The only problem is-

"The question is," Alice asked in confusion, "how do they know that what Gundalufo said is true? Aren't they afraid of being deceived?"

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that this is just a lie that Gundaruf made up in order to unite the alien tribes in the swamp and form an alliance to fight against the cult. If there really is such a magical treasure in the world, why didn't Gundaruf keep it for himself, but generously shared it with others? Could it be that this "tooth of immortality" is actually solar-powered and can be recycled, which is very environmentally friendly?

Even Alice knows there is no free lunch in the world!

Shesta smiled and said, "Of course there are people who doubt it, and there are quite a few of them, but Gundalufu has produced evidence to prove that he is not talking nonsense."

"Evidence?" Alice was full of doubt: "What evidence?"

"One piece of evidence is that he has a file about the 'Tooth of Eternal Life' in his hands. It contains detailed information about this treasure, including the time and place of its initial appearance, the earliest owner, etc. Since the person who wrote the file has a special identity, it is highly credible."

"Special, how special?"

"Fei Er." The proprietress uttered a name softly. These two short words seemed to have some special power, causing the hotel lobby to fall into an eerie silence again. Only her voice could be heard echoing, hitting the wooden walls and ceiling, and spreading in a farther direction: "She is the Saint of the Inquisition Church, the de facto supreme leader, and also the Chief Judge of the Balance of Order, the Silver Death that the aliens are terrified of."

The arbitrators and judges of the Balance of Order wore silver-white uniforms, so they were fearfully called Silver Mad Dogs by the aliens. The leader of the Silver Mad Dogs, the notorious Chief Judge, was nicknamed the Silver Death God. The similarity between the two names seemed to reflect some bloody and cruel fact.

Chief Judge Fei Er... Ling Ge felt that this was the first time he had heard this name, but for some reason he felt familiar with it. In his mind, he vaguely recalled the scene of the day on the Saeliya Plains, when the Judgment Cannon roared and fired like the divine thunder of arbitration. He suddenly realized that he might have never met this Chief Judge, nor had he ever heard of her name, but this was not the first time they had met.

At that time, she was on the Scarlet Night Gate, commanding the most magnificent, shocking and unrivaled war creation in human history, which destroyed the kingdom of the false god and saved the residents of an entire city.

He finally understood why the werewolves of Silver Moon attacked the Temple of Judgment.

It was not for demonstration, revenge, or to vent their anger or show their strength. From beginning to end, their purpose was clear, which was to seize the "Eternal Fang" file from the archives of the Temple of Judgment. Only in this way could the alien alliance in the Virtual Root Swamp be formed.

"Not only that," Shesta said softly, "Gundaruf not only produced the files written by Chief Judge Fei'er as proof, but also used his own personal experience as evidence, which made the authenticity of the 'Tooth of Eternal Life' more certain."

"Personal experience?" Ling'er's mind moved slightly, and he quickly understood what the proprietress was referring to.

That was the hatred and war between the Neoersu family and the Valenhildr family that lasted for a thousand years, and they refused to give in to each other even during the dark purge.

In the past, some demons on the peninsula claimed that the two sides were fighting for a magical treasure, but no one believed it because it was too absurd.

Looking back now, I can understand a truth more deeply: lies are always true, but the truth is absurd and bizarre.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)