Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 608: Awaken the sleeping guardian?

"Actually, I didn't mean to eavesdrop." Alice said shyly, "It's just that when I was leaving the house, I suddenly noticed a purple mountain flower that had blossomed under the windowsill. You know, this kind of flower is very beautiful but also very fragile. What if it's accidentally stepped on and killed by a passing rabbit or squirrel? So I didn't leave, but chose to stay and use my body to protect it from the wind and rain, allowing it to bloom freely."

At this point, Alice's shy expression gradually turned into confidence, as if she had really done something great. She said righteously, "I know you will definitely praise me for being loving, kind-hearted, and caring for flowers, plants, and natural creatures, but there is actually no need to praise me like that, because these are all facts. Caring for the environment is everyone's responsibility. Only by starting with every insignificant little thing around us can our Sky Island family become more beautiful and the coexistence of man and nature can become more harmonious!"

Her expression was so sacred and solemn that it could be placed in the famous Vanisis Cathedral for people to admire as long as it was poured with cement. However, everyone wanted to vomit after hearing this, especially Lingge, whose face showed obvious disgust, and his stomach probably couldn't take it. By the way, Vanisis Cathedral is the holy temple of the Forest Spirit Church, which believes in the forest spirit god "Ancient Tree Elder". This church is also a sub-faction of animism.

"hehe."

In response to this statement, Galene smiled in complete disbelief: "To be so loved by Miss Alice, it must be a rare flower on land. Can you allow me to go and see it?"

"No way." Alice refused.

"why?"

Are you afraid of being exposed?

"Because I accidentally stepped on it and killed it."

Alice came up with a perfect countermeasure, and with a very sincere expression on her face, she seemed very smart, and thus won the contemptuous looks of everyone.

"As long as we don't get discovered, that's fine."

"..."

After an awkward silence, everyone tacitly changed the subject.

"Let's get back to business." Galene ignored Alice and turned to Ling Ge and said, "I have already promised Lorena that I will help you, so I will not break my promise. But to be honest, this matter is not easy to handle, because apart from the Royal Guards and the Crystal Guards, there are still two demigods guarding the city of Nereids, especially mother. She knows Lorena's character better than I do, and she will definitely pay close attention to her movements during this period. If we have any abnormal behavior, she will definitely find it, and then the plan will fail before it even starts. I don't think you want to see this happen, right?"

"Do you have any suggestions, Princess Galene?" Ling asked.

"Just call me Galene."

The princess waved her hand, seemingly not liking the title. She pinched her chin and thought for a while, and soon came up with an idea: "It is not easy to deceive the perception of a demigod, but we just need to change our thinking. That is, we can take advantage of the time when Mother and Sandro are distracted by other things and have no time to be distracted. Maybe we can take advantage of the situation and help Lorena escape from here."

"Oh, that's a good idea. It's half as smart as I am." Alice praised repeatedly and said confidently: "Then let's use my amazing wisdom to complete this plan! Got it, it's actually very simple. We just need to lure the cult to attack Nereids together, and then we can take Lorena away when the battle is fierce and the city is empty! How about it, isn't it a simple and perfect plan? Hahaha!" It was you who lured the enemy here?

Everyone neither agreed nor disagreed. Instead, they all stared at Alice until her laughter gradually faded away and she slowly shrank under the table, revealing only a pair of innocent eyes. She blinked twice and said, "Well, well, I was just joking to liven up the atmosphere. You guys continue!"

It seems that you also know that your method is purely funny.

Everyone withdrew their gaze.

Galene said, "It's definitely not possible to force it. Rorona won't agree to that. Besides, my mother and Sandro will never leave the Ice Water Palace at the same time. If one of them leaves, the other must stay to guard the royal court. This is an unchanging rule, so it's almost impossible to find a chance to sneak in. But you are lucky to have come at the right time. Maybe in two days, this opportunity will appear."

"In two days?"

Linger quickly thought of something: "Are you referring to the relocation plan of Nereids City?"

The migration started exactly two days later.

"That's right." Galene nodded gently. "After the migration begins, most of the troops in the city will be sent out to maintain order. It is estimated that only the Crystal Guard will remain in the Ice Water Palace, and the resistance to breaking through will be much smaller. More importantly, on the night of the migration, around midnight, Mother and Sandro will go to the Sea Altar on the White Sea Tower on the outskirts of the city to preside over the soul-summoning ceremony. Then we can start the action."

"Spirit Summoning Ceremony?" Linger frowned slightly. "Is this ceremony so important that it needs to be presided over by two demigods? What if Queen Aimi discovers our plan and stops the ceremony and returns?"

"That's impossible." Galene rejected it flatly: "Once the summoning ceremony begins, it will never be stopped. If it is stopped, it means the failure of the migration plan, so mother will never allow this to happen."

If the soul summoning ritual is terminated, the migration plan will fail? Why? Ling Ge and his companions looked at each other in bewilderment.

Seeing their confused expressions, Galene knew that now was not the time to hide anything. It would be better to explain things clearly to avoid any accidents. So she hesitated for only a moment, and quickly said, "Have you never wondered why the royal court has already made a migration plan, but the preliminary preparations, such as material reserves and personnel dispatch, route planning, road surveys and risk elimination, have not made any progress. In fact, it's not that we don't want to prepare, but that there is no need to prepare, because the migration method of Nereids City is different from what you imagine: we are not going to abandon the city and leave, but to take the city with us."

"The reason we made this decision is that the obsidian mountain where Nereids City is located is not actually a real mountain, but the shell of an ancient deep-sea monster. It is said to be the mount of the great sea hero Nereids. After the death of the great hero, it used its body to hold up the city he left behind and became the guardian of Nereids. It usually shrinks into its shell and sleeps. Only when it is necessary will the ruler of the city and the high priest of the priest group hold a summoning ceremony to wake it up."

"This guardian beast has a lifespan of over a thousand years and is as powerful as a human transcendent at Sequence 2. It has helped the city of Nereids defeat many powerful enemies and survive countless crises of destruction. Therefore, those who know about it, such as our Nieried royal family and the deep-sea priests, all worship it as a god. Because its original form is a crab monster, it is called—"

"Stone Crab God, Petrod of the Sea!"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)