Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 465 Don’t you need any of them?

"Linger!?"

Aoweila was a little anxious when she heard this, and she pulled the corner of the young man's clothes hard. She thought Ling Ge was really considering whether to join the Witch Society. To be honest, the Princess of Beman had no good feelings towards this organization, not only because Fei'er's words reminded her of bad memories in the past, but also because their actions were too brutal and it was difficult for people to identify with them.

"What is Lingge doing?" Xie Mi also patted his friend's head and asked in a low voice: "Do we really want to join that devil's society? They are all a bunch of bad guys. If Lingge joins, won't he become a bad guy too? Metien, you must not sit idly by!"

"Well, well..." Metien hesitated and said, "I think Ling Ge is not that kind of person."

She still had some confidence in her brother's basic moral standards, and felt that he would not abandon his conscience in order to survive and get involved with the extremists of the cult who indiscriminately slaughtered aliens and magicians. What surprised her was that Sister Alice did not jump out and make a few remarks that were in line with her character. Instead, she kept immersing herself in studying the game console in her hand. The cold blue light projected by the virtual light screen sprinkled on her face, making her serious face look a little pale.

She completely ignored the situation around her, as well as the conversation between Ling Ge and Fei'er, and only focused on the matter at hand. In her bright and focused eyes, complex codes and strings kept flashing by, making people dizzy and dazzled, but she was able to devote herself to it, looking for a way to escape from the predicament with an extremely determined attitude.

Metien looked at this scene thoughtfully. She vaguely remembered that when Sister Alice stayed up late to play games, she usually had such a serious expression, and sometimes she would even stay up until four or five in the middle of the night before going to bed. For Sister Alice now, is finding a way out of trouble just as important as playing games? Is this what she often talks about... the strategy rules for genius players?

The pink-haired girl didn't quite understand, but she felt that there was something she could do, which was to help Sister Alice provide cover so that her little actions would not be discovered by the enemies around her.

So she quietly stepped forward and blocked Alice behind her. Although such a cover would not have any effect due to her petite body, it was a bit of an attempt to cover up something, but the pink-haired girl's kindness was worthy of recognition. So Alice raised her head in her busy schedule and happened to meet Metien's furtive eyes. The little girl thought she had disturbed Alice's thoughts and was startled, but the latter winked at her, then opened her mouth and said something silently.

She said calmly, "Yes."

As a talented gamer, she has already grasped the hope of conquering the game.

"Joining the Witch Society means that you agree with our cause and are willing to walk the same path with us. Based on this, we cannot exclude you or keep you out of it because of our personal likes and dislikes. Therefore, you will recreate the slaughter we have done with our weapons, and you will re-stain the blood that has been stained on our hands. Only in this way can we recognize you and call you a like-minded partner."

She saw clearly that Sister Alice's words were: Give me three more minutes.

……

She looked down at Lingge, with an indescribable coldness in her eyes. If she had to say, it was not because Lingge's question angered her that she became cold, but because his words made her think of other things, such as ideals, sacrifices, and great causes.

Metien was stunned for a moment, then nodded his head vigorously.

Just three minutes is enough.

The smile on Fei'er's face disappeared.

Fei Er paused for a moment and continued, "Of course, I can also arrange you to a position in a non-frontline combat department so that you don't have to take other people's lives with your own hands, but this is too hypocritical and cannot change the fact that you are still contributing to our cause, and the prerequisite for forging great achievements must be sacrifice and blood. When the war breaks out, do the logistics personnel who transport supplies to the front line not count as participating in the war? When your bullet penetrates the enemy's chest, will the workers who made weapons and ammunition say that they have nothing to do with the war? Everyone's hands must be stained with blood, it's just a matter of more or less. You might as well ask Dickens and Christian, they are both civil servants responsible for managing the internal affairs of the Holy See, rarely set foot on the battlefield, and have never participated in the battle in person, but this time the plan against Silver Moon and other swamp anomalies was formulated by them, and they participated in every step from proposal to execution. So, do you think you are just a behind-the-scenes planner, and those souls struggling to die in the mud and water at this moment have nothing to do with you at all?"

The last sentence was obviously said to the two philosophers beside him. Dickens smiled calmly: "I will never deny that my hands are stained with blood. In fact, this is how I can make sure that I am moving forward instead of staying where I am and accomplishing nothing."

Christian didn't answer, but her beautifully curved chin moved slightly to show her agreement. "That's right. So, if you want to join us, you should have this awareness—"

The corners of Fei'er's mouth slightly curled up, revealing a subtle smile, but that smile seemed a little cold and cruel: "For the sake of our cause, we must chase the enemy to the edge of the world, take their lives, break their bones, and burn their blood... Only in this way can we achieve our ideal cause."

Lingge was silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Actually, there is one thing that I still don't understand."

"Oh?" Fei'er raised her voice, "What's the matter?"

"What exactly do you mean by the great cause you keep talking about? Why can it only be accomplished through fighting and killing?" Linger's eyes slowly swept over the enemies around him, and saw that the cold magic weapons they were equipped with were shining with a silver-white luster in the dark night, like weapons forged by the moonlight. In the distance, the roar of artillery fire could be heard, and the light of meteors wove into a huge net, flashing freely under the sky fortress built by the dark blue crystal wall, venting power and terror. He saw all this and heard all this, so he was even more confused: "I am a history student, so I don't deny that war is indeed an excellent means of conquest. There are many great empires or nations in history that initially achieved unification through war and eventually became powerful. The typical representative is the land we are standing on. The Metosh Empire, which once conquered and integrated 88 nations and city-states under the leadership of Saint Junio, is glorious and visible to the world. Even the land and sea were once the inner lakes of the empire. If I remember correctly, the territory of the Metosh Empire ranks among the top three in the history of human civilization."

"but--"

He changed the subject: "I never thought that war is the only means, it is just one of the prerequisites. In the same way, a great cause is never a process of conquest, but a process of evolution. Military force can be the cornerstone of conquest, but it cannot replace the tool of evolution. Miss Nevill, when Saint Junio ​​established the Metosh Empire, did he kill all the humans in the empire?"

Nevill was stunned for a moment, but she quickly realized what Lingge wanted to say through her mouth. She sneered and answered very cooperatively, "Of course not. There are far more humans than aliens in Motosh. Without humans, who can he rule? Who can he rely on to govern such a huge territory? Rely on his wolf riders who only know how to kill and plunder? Therefore, not only did Neo not eliminate humans, but he legally gave them the same national status as aliens; allowed them to obtain independent political power, rather than just being vassals of a certain family; he respected the wise among humans very much. He believed that the aliens had the power to change the world and encouraged them to learn human knowledge. The powerful magicians among humans could become members of the ruling class. They even occupied one-third of the seats in the first Imperial Senate... Of course, it was because he attached too much importance to humans and gave them too much power that the Steam Cult later encouraged humans in the empire to resist the rule of aliens, causing more harm than the losses suffered in the founding war. But he was no longer alive at that time, so he could not see the consequences of his own actions with his own eyes. "

This long-lived countess was so familiar with the stories that were not mentioned in history books that she felt as if she had experienced them herself—in fact, she had experienced them herself. At the end, she did not forget to mock her former friend's decision-making mistakes and the betrayal of mankind. Lingge pretended not to hear her last words. After she finished speaking, he looked up and said to Fei Er, "This is what I am confused about, Your Majesty Fei Er."

Simple killing cannot achieve the effect of conquest. Only through the evolution of laws, culture and politics can the enemy be transformed into a part of oneself. Why did the Witch Society turn a blind eye to the truth that Saint Junio ​​knew? They only slaughtered magicians and aliens unilaterally, and ignored the latter's requests for peace and compromise. Ling Ge still remembered a story told to him by the bartender, Xie Liya, about the earliest indigenous wind fairies in Rostin City. They tried to unite with the cult and coexist peacefully, using their blood magic to purify the air and protect the environment in factories and train stations where gas pollution was more serious, and all they wanted was a small place to live.

In every way, this was a mutually beneficial deal, but the united cult refused and ruthlessly launched a campaign against the wind fairies, causing them to suffer heavy losses and forcing them to leave their homes and flee the homeland where they had lived for hundreds of years.

Why is the Cult Union - or rather, the Witch Society that secretly controls the highest power of the Cult Union so extreme?
"I understand." Fei Er pinched her chin, thinking: "Are you accusing us of being too extreme?"

Lingge didn't say anything, which was considered as his agreement.

"That does make some sense. I'm almost convinced by you."

Fei Er suddenly smiled: "But what if I say that true greatness does not require compromise?"

"People's vision is always limited by the position they are in. You haven't looked at the world from our perspective, so your ideas may make sense, but they are inevitably a bit naive, Mr. Ling."

"In essence, in the ideal world we pursue, explore, and create, we don't need those guys you mentioned at all."

"Aliens? Magicians? Extraordinary beings? Monsters? Gods? Are they great? Are they important? Are they... needed?"

“But we don’t need to.”

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)