Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 489 Does it matter whose sacrifice it is?

The airship, shaped like a deep-sea monster, slowly cruised in the depths of the dark clouds, continuously dropping the final fires symbolizing death into the swamp below. Every fire that fell on the ground instantly emitted a deep red flame, burning on the water, in the soil, between the fallen trunks and branches of the mangroves... and even in every corner with only an inch of space. In an instant, it was like tens of thousands of enchanting red lotuses blooming, or like a sea of ​​blood boiling, with the wailing and screaming of countless dead souls surging in it.

Looking down from the sky, you can see a sea of ​​flames spreading across the tops of the mangroves at an alarming speed. Those greedy tongues of fire are like vicious dogs that have been released from their chains, tirelessly chasing their prey, licking the soft leaves and dry branches with a temperature that is enough to melt steel, and in an instant melting them into ashes and swallowing them into their stomachs.

Thick smoke billowed up into the sky, forming winding columns of smoke that merged into the dark clouds above, making the already dark sea of ​​clouds even bigger. Debris and haze from the burning flames flew everywhere, floating in the distorted air after being scorched by the high temperature. There was no shelter in the daytime, because the extremely dazzling firelight had illuminated the darkness of the entire swamp, making all the witnesses feel a burning pain in their eyes, and even the breath in their mouths and noses seemed to be tainted with the sulfur smell of the crater.

An insatiable monster of fire was wreaking havoc in the swamp. Wherever it passed, life was wiped out. Birds perched on branches and treetops were awakened from their sleep, and before they could spread their wings and fly, they were swallowed by the fire. Their bright and colorful feathers were instantly devoured by the flames, and turned into pale ashes along with their flesh and bones. The fish and reptiles living at the bottom of the water also failed to escape this disaster, because these flames could burn fiercely even in the water, and even melted the soft silted mud at the bottom of the lake, evaporating the corrupt germs accumulated in the swamp over thousands of years of life and death, and burning all the plants and scales to dust, no longer existing. The ghost lantern anglerfish and spiral sandworms could not stand the high temperature in the water, and they jumped into the air one after another. However, they were still alive and kicking when they jumped out of the water, but when they fell back into the water, they were already dying, floating on the water with their pale bellies turned upside down, and every fish scale was covered with charred marks left by the flames.

Arboreal birds and reptiles, burrowing mammals and rodents, cold-blooded animals such as water snakes, and swamp natives such as leeches, plankton, turtles and hermit crabs... all fled in panic in the raging fire, eager to find a way to escape. However, there were flames and thick smoke everywhere, and monsters with bared fangs opened their huge mouths and revealed their fangs at them in the fire and smoke, waiting for their prey to fall into their trap.

The more miserable ones should be those swamp aliens who thought they had escaped, because these final flames are not real fire in essence, but a phenomenon of magic reaction. In other words, they burn not with oxygen, but with magic. Therefore, these aliens with huge magic accumulated in their bodies are like natural combustion aids for the final fire. As long as they are slightly touched, they will instantly cover their entire body, burning their flesh, bones and even souls, bringing endless torture. Even when they die, the fire will not go out, but will continue to burn until the remaining magic in their bodies is completely dissipated.

Vampires, werewolves, golden-maned lions, harpies, leopards, hyenas, lizards, bats, night watchers... At this moment, regardless of the strength of race or the honor of bloodline, no matter how prominent the surname or how long the bloodline is, they will all be treated equally in this sea of ​​fire. Facing the disaster, they are powerless and can only watch their fingers, soles of feet, arms and thighs begin to burn, screaming in fear until their eyeballs and vocal cords are torn by the flames, unable to see anything and unable to shout anything.

Unable to bear this torture and pain, the aliens fled to the edge of the swamp like crazy. The little bit of rationality left in their hearts told them that only by escaping this area could they have hope of survival. However, the army of the combined forces of the cult had already surrounded the entire swamp. The fully armed magic knights were arranged in a strict formation, standing silently behind the dark blue crystal wall, raising their magic guns towards these aliens who were burning all over and like evil spirits parading under the cover of fire and smoke, and then pulled the trigger without hesitation. Immediately afterwards, the chariot slowly turned the muzzle on the high ground, roaring out a rain of light that fell into the sea of ​​fire, like a collision between a meteor and a flame, the scene was spectacular.

There were interceptions by magic knights and chariot troops on the ground, and blockades by mechas and airship troops in the sky. No matter whether it was the harpy men who could control the storm, or the bat monsters who emitted sharp sound waves from their sharp teeth to resist... the various monsters in the sky that gathered together were like a large dark cloud rising from the ground, or countless gray smoke columns erupting from the crater of a volcano, rushing recklessly against the blockade set up by the joint cult. The momentum was more violent than the tide hitting the reefs on the shore and the flood hitting the dams of the city, but in the end, they all had the last feather on their wings melted by the licking of the flames, and they fell powerlessly from a height of hundreds of meters, falling into their destined graves.

As they fell alone, separated from their companions, their bodies were still entangled with an unextinguished crimson flame. From a distance, it seemed that the dark cloud over the swamp was a sign of the end of the world, constantly dropping burning meteors to the ground, one after another. The fall of each fire meteor was a sentence of death and a foreshadowing of the end.

The flames that shot up into the sky made the forest outside the swamp as bright as day. The horrific disaster caused the birds and animals in the forest to flee in panic, fearing that they would be affected. The only sound in the air was the crackling of burning mangrove branches and leaves, occasionally mixed with one or two sharp and shrill wails, as if complaining about the brutality and ruthlessness of the combined sect.

Fei Er was still standing on the high ground, her face was reddened by the blazing sea of ​​fire, and the bright sparks like flame butterflies flickered back and forth between her golden hair and ponytail, sending a slightly hot and stinging touch to her skin. She gently pulled down the dark red windshield on her forehead, covering the shadow of the flames that kept jumping under her eyes, and said to the subordinates beside her in a calm tone: "Let this fire burn for a month. After a month, Christian, you send some people to check it out and clean up the traces. If there are any surviving aliens, they will be directly eliminated; Dickens, you coordinate and communicate with the municipal governments of the Rainy Harbor and several nearby cities, and let them call on and encourage residents in rural areas to settle here. For these people, the church can jointly fund to provide them with houses, seeds, farm tools and other necessities of life, and at the same time give them certain policy preferences... I don't understand the details, so it's up to you to decide."

Christian and Dickens both nodded to show that they had received the message. The latter asked one more question: "Are you going to build a new city here, Your Majesty?" "I hope there will be such a day."

Fei Er said: "But no matter what, the era when the Virtual Root Swamp belonged to the gathering place of aliens has passed. The Shiqilia Peninsula is no longer the area ruled by alien families in the Middle Ages. It will return to our hands, no matter how much sacrifice and price we have to pay."

And no matter whose sacrifice it is, no matter whose price it is.

"I'm a little tired. I'll leave the rest to you." She turned around and was about to leave, but paused for a moment: "By the way, Lang Ning."

"Any instructions, Master Fei'er?"

"Write a new report on what you know about Mr. Ling and submit it. Remember, your views should be subjective, not as objective as a mission report. What I want to know is what you think of him subjectively. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"That's it, ha~"

Fei Er stretched, yawned, and walked slowly, muttering as he walked: "I am so exhausted. I thought it was a simple task... I hope the elder sisters won't come to trouble me after knowing this. I didn't let them go on purpose. I can't stop them. Alas, the mid-year meeting will be held in three months. They might use this as an example to criticize me. Otherwise, I'd better let Melquiades go instead of me."

Her long sigh and worried figure made her left and right arms and her fourth ship officer stand there, looking at each other in bewilderment.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)