Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 552: Can Natural Disasters Be Predicted?
"It's incredible."

In a room on the second floor, someone expressed the same sentiment as Metien. At this moment, she was standing in front of the window, staring intently at the magnificent and mysterious deep sea scene outside the window. At the same time, she held a notebook in one hand and a pen in the other, constantly writing something on the paper.

"I'm afraid Ferdinand Magellan felt the same way as I do now when he was exploring the unknown in the chaotic seas?" Olvera murmured, "I want to record all of this and write it in my book... In the next book, like Ferdinand Magellan or Marco Polo, maybe I can also write a travelogue?"

Olvera had read Magellan's "A Journey to the West" and Marco Polo's "Travels in the Western Continent", and was deeply fascinated by the incredible scenes and things described in them. Since Ling said that her novels are not like novels, but more like prose, why don't she start with a simple travelogue? People live in the present, so writing about what is happening now should be more profound and vivid than writing about things that have happened in the past, right?

Thinking of this, Ovilla slowed down her writing speed a little. In the room, the rustling sound of the pen tip sliding across the paper was gradually replaced by a soft and soothing sound of water waves. The princess lowered her head and saw that the paper in front of her was already full of words. Each of the cursive words she drew subconsciously had a unique and meaningful nature before the book was completed. Together, they constructed the world that Ovilla saw -

She saw deep trenches, long seamounts, and even magnificent sea volcanoes. Countless marine creatures, some exotic and some ferocious, appeared in the complex and ever-changing terrain, and huge sea beasts swam by one after another, including giant sharks with sharp teeth and strange octopuses with countless sucker-like tentacles; she saw jellyfish as big as windmills chasing a sixteen-legged rock crab, and she also saw them being swallowed by an even larger whale the next second.

At that time, Yunjingkong Island was not far from where the hunt took place. Everyone on the island saw with their own eyes how huge the giant whale was, almost as big as a mountain. When it ate, it opened its huge mouth and took a deep breath, making a thunderous, low and shocking sound. The surrounding seas suddenly rolled up the tide, and the turbulent waves rushed into its mouth like a whirlpool. The fish, shrimp and other marine creatures caught in it were like being thrown into a bottomless abyss, being dragged by an irresistible terrifying force, unable to escape.

After eating in such a heroic manner, the giant whale looked back at Yunjing Sky Island. A bit of human curiosity and confusion emerged in its huge gem-like eyes. It was probably wondering where this strange-looking fellow came from, why there were land and forests on its back, and why it rashly broke into its territory without even saying hello. It looked stupid. Was it because of its low IQ? However, perhaps out of concern for the mirror elf soldiers patrolling and guarding the edge of Yunjing Sky Island, it did not approach to communicate with its fellows, but flicked its giant tail, turned around and swam towards the sea surface - it had just swallowed tons of seawater while eating, and now it needed to float to the surface of the sea and expel them through the breathing hole on its back.

For ships passing through the nearby waters, it would probably be a precious visual experience.

The scenery along the way alone is so magical, I wonder what the city of the mirror elves will look like?

Olvera couldn't help but daydream.

And soon, she will know the answer.

……

"Huh?" Metien suddenly found a strange building and asked in confusion, "What is that?"

After hearing what she said, everyone looked in the direction she was looking at, and soon found the object she was referring to in a winding rocky mountain: it was a black iron tower about 20 meters high, supported by a steel base with eight brackets at the bottom, and a round ball of light condensed from the high concentration of magic visible to the naked eye at the top, floating quietly on it, emitting a soft glow outward, illuminating an area of ​​about 100 meters around the tower. The exterior of the tower was covered with a thick layer of steel armor, making it difficult to see the internal structure. One could only see that there were densely packed pipes running along the outside of the tower, forming a complex structure; brass valves and pressure devices were also installed at the connection points of the pipes, which were clearly unmanned but could operate on their own, easily reminiscent of the automated cold machinery in a steam factory; the exhaust port of the pipe was connected to the magic ball at the top, and amid the harsh roar of a steam engine, it constantly spewed out high-energy magic in the form of stardust particles, smearing a dazzling phantom light around it.

Metien was not a magician, so he could not feel it, but everyone else could clearly feel that the magic in the area where the tower was located was extremely active, even beyond the normal tolerance of life. As a result, there was not even a single living creature near the tower, and the marine life swimming nearby would consciously avoid this area, fearing that they would see something terrible and avoid it.

"Heh." Nevi'er chuckled. "Although I don't know what it is, I'm afraid it has something to do with the alliance with the cult."

After all, the appearance of this thing is very similar to the magic system that the cults jointly advocate, but there is no obvious magic circuit, most of which are hidden in the internal structure.

"That's right." As the host, Galene explained to the guests who came from afar with great care and responsibility: "That is a natural disaster detection device invented by the Natural Disaster Mission. It is said that it will transmit information such as the content, flow direction and activity frequency of magic power contained in the surrounding sea areas and the submarine continental shelf to the local Natural Disaster Detection Bureau in some way, helping them to use this key information to draw maps, so as to predict the occurrence of natural disasters and respond in time - of course, this is what people on the ground say. In fact, I don't think this thing is of any use."

Galene said with disdain: "Under the leadership of Her Majesty the Queen and Lord Sandro, we Nereides can suppress small-scale natural disasters in the nearby seas with our Origin Magic. It is not their turn to inform the people on earth. If a large disaster that even the mirror elves cannot handle really occurs, such as the Belbanissa disaster seven hundred years ago, then what can the people on earth do even if they predict it? After all, they cannot save the nearby cities from disaster."

Therefore, she believed that the symbolic significance of these natural disaster detection devices far outweighed their actual significance, and that they were just a trick used by the cult to claim sovereignty over this sea area. Because as long as the natural disaster detection devices stood there, the nearby aliens would instinctively stay away from this sea area, fearing that they would be discovered by the cult, let alone destroy them. In this regard, even the mirror elves of Nereids were no exception. The two origin priests in the city, namely Her Majesty the Queen she just mentioned and the other Lord Sandro, although they could control the powerful origin magic and suppress small-scale natural disasters in the sea area, were powerless against these small natural disaster detection devices. They could only watch them slowly erode their territory, like driving nails into their territory. Although they were not fatal, they were enough to make people toss and turn and unable to sleep.

Based on this, her attitude towards these disaster detection devices, including the disaster mission that manages the disaster detection devices, is not very friendly. This is also the typical attitude of most deep-sea aliens.

But Metien didn't think so. As a person on earth, she understood more deeply how powerful these devices were.

Because humans have never faced only natural disasters in the ocean.

Storms, earthquakes, mudslides, volcanic eruptions, avalanches... Although this race, which was born weak, eventually accomplished the feat of conquering the world, the disasters and destruction it encountered in the process were also much more serious than those of other races.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)