Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 568: Who can see the ocean in their eyes?
"This is your custom swimsuit." Rorona pushed the wheelchair to the inner room. When she came out, there was a small brown suitcase on her legs. She handed the suitcase to Alice. The golden-haired maid took it, opened it, took a look, touched it, nodded with satisfaction, closed the suitcase again, and said to Rorona, "Not bad, the goods are very pure, I am very satisfied."

The tone she used when she said this was exactly the same as those gangster bosses in Motosh who were involved in smuggling illegal drugs, which left Lingge speechless.

"As long as Miss Alice is satisfied," Lorena said with a smile, "In that case, can you pay the balance?"

"Of course!"

Alice was always generous when it came to spending money, since it wasn't her money anyway. The golden-haired maid turned around and gave Saint Charlia a look, and the shepherdess silently took out her wallet and paid for her, just like an old mother helping her extravagant daughter pay off her bills - had this metaphor been used before?

Lorena collected the money and put it in her pocket, announcing that the transaction was officially completed. Ling Ge finally had the opportunity to ask a question: "Can you explain what happened just now, Miss Lorena? Are you a magician or an alien?"

Rorona, who had just finished her business, was in a good mood. She did not mind Lingge's direct question and replied in a brisk tone, "I am an alien, an ordinary mirror elf living in the Mirror of the Azure Sea."

Mirror elf?
Lingge and Alice, who had not yet had a deep understanding of the alien races, simultaneously cast their eyes towards Saint Shallia, waiting for her to explain. Saint Shallia really lived up to everyone's expectations. Although she had forgotten many things, they were all about the girl's royal power. As for this common sense, thanks to the careful teaching of the old Morya wizard, she still remembered it very well, so she replied softly: "Mirror elves are an alien species living on the seabed. They are born with the ability to resonate with the sea and cast sea magic. Therefore, they established their own country and civilization in the sea. In ancient times, they once participated in the struggle for land hegemony. They were mortal enemies with races such as dragons and giants, and they also formed an alliance with the dust elves on the ground and the feather elves in the sky, and were called the three major elf races... This is the record of them by the Morya people. It is a version from a long time ago. As for the current situation, I am not very clear."

"Mirror elves are no different from other aliens now. They are just living a normal life." Rorona continued, "We try our best to avoid the influence of humans and be careful not to be discovered by the Silver Mad Dogs of the Balance of Order. We maintain a hard-earned peace in the deep sea... However, since the tentacles of the cult union have not yet extended to the deep sea, our situation is much better than that of the five major clans of Metosh, the Fairy Alliance of the White City Republic, or the Three Mountains of Renwitin. Of course, I am not sure how long this peace can last."

After saying that, she shrugged her shoulders. Although it was not a very ladylike action, it made her look playful and lively.

Mirror elf, sea magic, mirror of the blue sea...it should refer to the blue sky sea, right?

Unexpectedly, they passed through the territory of the mirror elves unintentionally. Perhaps when the cloud whale was drifting leisurely on the sea surface pretending to be an island, the mirror elves were hiding in the seabed and spying on them? This thought naturally emerged in Linger's mind, but he did not take it to heart. After all, there was the demigod vampire Nevill on the island, and Yieta who controlled the cloud whale sky island. Even if they were really attacked by the mirror elves, they could still escape if they could not defeat them.

Moreover, according to Rorona, the mirror elves are a peace-loving race - or they are forced to be peace-loving because of the alliance with the cult - so when faced with outsiders of unknown origin, their first choice should be friendly contact rather than rashly starting a war.

Therefore, Lingge was not too worried about his companions on the island, but fixed his eyes firmly on the girl in front of him. He saw her leaning leisurely on the back of the wheelchair, her body slightly tilted to the side, her hands folded and naturally hanging on her lower abdomen, and her lower body covered with a flannel blanket that covered her instep, with a pattern of white pine flowers printed on it. Seeing that Lingge had been observing her, she raised her head and showed a light smile to the young man. Under her crystal blue bangs, her eyes sparkled like the water of the blue sky and sea.

"You said you were a mirror elf, but," Ling Ge finally spoke, frowning slightly, "I didn't see any alien features in you."

He believed that the night watchmen of the Night's Roost were not fools. If there was a mirror elf who openly ran a shop in the city and even had a good reputation among the residents in the surrounding blocks, they would have come to carry out the mission to eliminate him. How could they let this workshop open for six years without doing anything?
"Ah, about this matter." Rolena blinked her eyes: "Have you read Andersen's Fairy Tales?" Linger was stunned, not understanding why she suddenly asked such a strange question. What is the connection between this matter and a fairy tale book? Saint Xia Liya nodded gently: "I have read it."

Not only have I read it, I've also taught others to read it. It's just that that person doesn't like fairy tales very much and always likes to treat fairy tales as reality.

"Oh, that's easy to explain." Rorona's eyebrows curved like a crescent moon: "Isn't there a story about the Little Mermaid in Andersen's Fairy Tales? The mermaid princess in the story made a deal with the evil witch in order to see the human world and pursue her beloved prince. She exchanged her beautiful hair for a bottle of magic potion. The potion could make her shed all the characteristics of a mermaid, transform into a human, and go onto land... That's about it."

"Oh!" Alice thought for a moment, "I see. You also made a deal with the witch?"

"No." Rorona showed a sly smile: "I am the witch."

"Ah?" Alice's simple intelligence could not understand such a profound metaphor: "What do you mean?"

"So," Saint Shallia whispered, "you made that potion yourself, drank it, and lost all your characteristics as a mirror elf?"

"That's right. That potion is just like the products in my store. They are all the result of my hard work using alchemy. They are all unique treasures in the world. Before this, you probably have never heard of a magical item that can disguise aliens as humans? Even the most magical relics can't do it. Of course, this disguise is not absolute, at least it retains one thing, that is-"

When Lorena said this, she suddenly stopped. Then, under the curious and puzzled gazes of Lingge and the other two, she slowly raised her left hand and covered her left eye.

Instantly, Lingge and the others saw incredible changes in Lorena's right eye. The blue water suddenly began to surge, stirring up turbulent waves and endless surging tides. Under the influence of some invisible force, the tides gradually twisted into a deep vortex, then solidified, sealed, and frozen, and finally turned Lorena's right eye into a crystal sapphire with a vortex shape reflected inside. Its color was clear and transparent, flawless, and exuded a magnificent and mysterious charm, attracting people's minds to sink into it involuntarily, seeing the roaring waves, the turbulent vortex, the rising and setting of the sun and the moon, the ebb and flow of the tide, the whales swimming out of the abyss, the solidified black rocks under the volcano, the ancient life nurtured in the crystal, and the sacred giants walking in the mist at the end of the world... From ancient times to the present, all the life processes and all the traces of civilization in the deep sea are presented one by one inside this gem.

Lingge and the others were fascinated by the scene, and did not make any sound. Even their breathing and heartbeats gradually slowed down. For a moment, the room became so quiet, like the ocean suddenly becoming silent, and darkness drowned the starry sky above.

"This is the Origin Stone."

In this silence where they could hear each other's thoughts, Rorona spoke softly. The cold tide seemed to surge in her eyes, making her voice sound like the echo of the tide and the murmur of the waves: "We are the natural treasures of the Mirror Elves."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)