Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 572 Is the Ocean Screaming?
Back to the beach again.

The scene was still the same as what I saw a few days ago. The sky was filled with depressing gray haze, dirty waves were surging in the sea, all kinds of domestic garbage and animal viscera were piled on the beach, and the fetid sea breeze blackened every stone on the breakwater. Even the seabirds soaring under the dark clouds did not dare to land here and flew away to the other end of the city.

From the distant dock came the whistle of a steam ship entering the port, as low and miserable as the whimper of a dying leper, and the bleak smoke from the steel chimneys kept merging into the clouds, expanding the scope of the dark vortex that shrouded the city, almost completely covering the suburbs of Heligoland; the rolling dark clouds were accompanied by faint thunder, and black and red lightning flashed faintly in the depths of the clouds, making everyone's heart shrouded in a layer of depressing haze. The air pressure was very low and the atmosphere was dull. A midsummer storm seemed to be coming. This was not a good time to go out to sea, so the port lighthouse had already lit up, and a thick, hazy white beam of light cruised back and forth in the darkness and fog, guiding the direction of the ships on the sea to return.

Under the strong sea breeze, the leaves of the silver pine rustled against the mottled brick wall, and the noisy sound made people feel a little upset. Linger noticed that Rolena's wheelchair was parked on the breakwater. The girl was just like when they first met, staring blankly at the ocean that had been polluted beyond recognition by human malice, inadvertently revealing a temperament of sadness and sorrow.

Lingge thought for a moment and suddenly said, "Although the Cult Union is very cruel to aliens, we have to admit that they have one advantage: they will definitely complete what they promised."

Therefore, although the city of Rothdana is still troubled by its sewage and garbage that soak into the bone marrow, with the establishment of the Investigation and Governance Committee and the promulgation of the "Water Management Ordinance", this situation will soon be changed under the iron-fisted implementation of the united religious orders. Perhaps it will take a year, five years, or ten years... This ocean will eventually return to its original appearance, just as its name implies: a blue and flawless sea like the sky.

Rolena turned around and gave Lingge a faint smile: "Thank you."

After that, the two of them did not communicate anymore. They walked along the breakwater, found a remote corner where no one passed by, walked down the street, and came to the beach. The piles of garbage here not only blocked the road, but also easily made people lose the courage to move forward. Fortunately, there was Lorena, who pointed out a hidden path for these outsiders. It was on a cliff naturally formed by sea erosion. Although it was difficult to walk because of the reefs, it could avoid the stinking garbage, which was the best news.

In fact, this secret path is not completely free of garbage. It should be said that there is no waste discharged by humans in production and life, but there are still some marine creatures that have mutated due to seawater pollution. Shells that have been corroded into pits and pits, stones with strange flares, rotten and decaying seaweed washed ashore by the sea, and even the corpses of turtles and hermit crabs can be seen, but their bodies are much smaller than normal ones, and their shells are often dull. The corpses emit bursts of foul odor from the inside out, attracting flies flying around, and the buzzing sound is endless.

Without Lorena's reminder, Lingge and others subconsciously avoided the corpses and didn't even want to look at them. Only the girl in the wheelchair showed no disgust or fear. Instead, she looked at the scenes happening before her with a sad and sorrowful attitude. Her emotional eyes seemed to be able to speak, giving the most sincere grief to those creatures who were unfortunately born here and died tragically here.

When she saw the thirteenth turtle corpse, which had been eaten by flies and scavenging insects until only an empty shell remained, Lorena suddenly said, "It wasn't like this before."

If she could hide her emotions better, Lingge wouldn't have heard the sadness in her voice. But even if a rational person could hear the girl's sadness, he couldn't offer emotional comfort, so he just replied, "We all know."

After all, you have already talked about what the city of Rotdana used to look like and why it has become what it is now.

"No." Rorona shook her head and whispered, "That's not what I meant. I mean, even when the pollution was the worst, when mines had searchlights on 24 hours a day, ore smelting factories were constantly discharging sewage, and cargo ships were constantly entering and leaving dozens of docks... there were never so many marine creatures dying on the shore. Mr. Ling, you should know that creatures will find a way to survive. If they can't survive in this place, they will go to live somewhere else. But now, they all died here. Do you know what this means?"

Without waiting for Ling'er to answer, she said to herself: "It means that there is no other place suitable for them to survive in this sea area." This is a very scary fact. What they see now is only a very small part of the marine creatures that have lost their living space. How many more aquatic creatures are desperately waiting for death under the deeper sea?

"I don't know how long it will take for the united cults to solve the pollution problem and restore this sea area to its past state, but I know that nature is fair. It will never let you repair something that took you ten years to destroy in one year." Rolena quietly clenched the armrest of the wheelchair, her eyes deep as she said, "All things have spirits, and the ocean also has its own will, which is the greatest will. Whether it is Crystal Snow, the god of our mirror elves, or the ancient gods of other deep-sea races, they cannot fully represent His greatness and grandeur. Now, He has issued a warning to all creatures in the sea or on the shore. If they persist in their mistakes and still ignore the power of nature, and repeat the tragedy of Lotdana City, then one day, when the black color symbolizing pollution covers the entire ocean, the people who need to pay the price will also be the most indifferent people in the past."

All things have spirits, and the ocean has its own will... This sounds like the argument of animists. Lingge didn't know whether there was a sect that believed in the God of the Sea Spirit among the branches of the Spirit Prayer Society. He just felt that the tone of the mirror elf girl was a little strange, as if there was a little guilt?

The young man glanced at her inconspicuously, but Rolena lowered her head, not giving him the opportunity to observe her expression and eyes. In order to avoid attracting her attention, Ling quickly retracted his gaze and said, "So you are not only concerned about the pollution problem in Lotdana City, but also the pollution problem of the entire ocean?"

"If you think I have this ability." Rorona pursed her lips and said, "I think so, because I heard the cry of the ocean."

"Is this also an ability of the Mirror Spirit?"

"No, it's just my personal feeling." Rorona said this and forced a laugh. "Of course, you can also think that I'm crazy and hallucinating, so I'm talking nonsense here."

"I don't think so, but your idea is indeed a bit empty." Linger commented: "The area of ​​the five seas and four oceans exceeds the total area of ​​the entire East and West continents. At least before the pollution burden of the continent reaches its limit, there is no need to worry about their status. The situation in Lotdana City is just an exception after all. Moreover, even if one day the ocean pollution really reaches the terrible situation you described, then it will not be a problem that only individuals like us can intervene in. In this industrial age dominated by human civilization, extraordinary people, magicians, aliens... all have no ability, so you don't have to blame yourself for this."

This was a bit discouraging, and Saint Charia quickly pulled Linger's sleeve, hinting him not to speak so harshly. What if the frail girl got angry and cried? Alice, on the other hand, was heartless and asked with a puzzled look on her face: "Why did we suddenly talk about such a profound topic? Rolena, I didn't expect you to be an environmentalist."

"Well, yes." Rorona wanted to say that her guilt was not due to a sense of powerlessness, but it was difficult for her to tell the truth, so in the end she just smiled awkwardly and did not respond.

Lingge did not continue talking to her about marine pollution and environmental protection, because he saw what he was looking for - not far away, surrounded by several huge reefs, a small wooden boat was quietly stranded in the gradually rising black tide.

Yukikaze, found it.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)