Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 706: Did you meet a strange girl?
On the way to Blackwater Lane, Lingge told Saint Shallia and Alice about his previous speculation, that the Church Union was actually a non-religious organization established by the Witch Society, and the so-called Seven True Gods actually referred to the seven chaotic girl kings. Because his reasoning was well-organized and logical, the two companions agreed with him, and Alice even said shamelessly: "In fact, I saw it a long time ago, but I didn't tell you on purpose just to test you. I didn't expect you to be so smart, Lingge, and you didn't let me down."

Since you've already thought of an excuse, please don't look so surprised just now.

Lingge complained silently in his heart.

"The question is, what does this mean?" Saint Shallia frowned slightly, and thought the same thing as Lingge: "They gave up manipulating history behind the scenes and chose to step into the eyes of the world, which increased the risk of being exposed. I think that the Thirteen Hermits mentioned by Gundaruf may have known about the existence of the Witch Society and chose to resist because of this. If their purpose is not just to create an enemy for themselves, I am afraid they have to do this for a reason, right?"

"It's very likely." Ling Ge nodded and said, "I think it should be related to the 'Eden Project' that Fei Er mentioned. Unfortunately, she didn't reveal more information to us, so we have no way of guessing."

Perhaps they should have tried to delay time and find out more information, but the situation was urgent. If Alice hadn't been quick-witted, it would have been difficult for them to escape, and naturally they had no time to think about other things.

Saying this now will only add to your troubles.

"Why not think positively?" Alice came over and said mysteriously, "Maybe those witches just think it's fun? Just like I founded the Gransefa Skyriders and the Adventurer's Guild just for fun! Yes, that's right, it makes sense, so I can understand their thoughts."

She crossed her arms and nodded seriously, leaving Ling Ge and Saint Shallia speechless: Do you think everyone is as playful as you? Also, are you finally willing to admit that you set up those inexplicable organizations just for fun? Go apologize to the stone guards who diligently accept the task of watering the flowers on the bulletin board every day, you guy!
After a moment of silence, the two of them tacitly ignored Alice's attempt to delve deeper into the topic, and focused their eyes on the thread of destiny that was extending straight forward. They saw that the ball of golden yarn at the other end of the thread had rolled over the uneven cobblestone road, around the corner, and disappeared from their sight.

Although they were looking for the next young queen, they might not be able to find the entire Seven Stars even if they searched aimlessly for a month, not to mention the city of Lunweiting, which had 32 administrative regions. Therefore, they still had to rely on the power of the thread of fate. At the same time, after finding the target suspected to be the young queen, they had to confirm the other party's identity. So far, the only hard standard for them to test whether the other party was the young queen was still the game cartridge held by Alice.

Since awakening some unspeakable talent, the shepherdess has been devoted to studying Alice's neck structure, trying to create a more gentle way to kill Alice, and now it has been very effective. Although the golden-haired maid likes to play pranks, she will not joke with her own life, right?
The thread of fate went around the corner of the street, with Lingge and the other two following closely behind. But suddenly, they all stopped at the same time, their eyes fixed on the end of the alley, their eyes slightly widened, as if they had seen something incredible.

Lingge saw through her plot, but it was useless to expose it. After all, the golden-haired maid's face had a high defense, and ordinary words could not break it. Therefore, he could only acquiesce and comfort himself in his heart: It is still good to let Alice go with him. At least Saint Xia Liya can control her and not give her the opportunity to cause trouble.

This is exactly why Lingge chose to bring Saint Shallia and Alice instead of others, although he actually didn't want Alice to follow him at all, and wanted her to hand over the cartridge so that he could play it himself. But the golden-haired maid regarded her game console and cartridge as treasures and refused to give them to others - especially someone like Lingge who had no passion for games. If the cartridge fell into his hands, it would be the greatest blasphemy to the game!

In fact, it was all nonsense. Lingge remembered it very clearly. One time, this guy ran to Yieta's windmill tower room and dragged the innocent angel lady to play games with her. As a result, when he returned to the hotel for dinner at night, he found that his cassette was missing. For this reason, he almost searched the entire hotel. In the end, it was Yieta who asked a stone guard to return it, and tactfully pointed out that it was actually Alice who was in a hurry to go back and grab meat with the children, so she forgot the cassette on her bed...

How dare you say that you treasure your game console and cartridges and will never give them to anyone else? You are just looking for an excuse to shamelessly cling to me.

There, with her back to the three people, there seemed to be a young girl. She was petite, a little shorter than Alice, and was wearing a khaki flannel plaid short cape, a pair of tan wide-brimmed breeches for easy movement, a pair of long boots with spurs in the same color, and a floppy brown deerstalker hat on her head. Her outfit was exactly like the protagonist in a well-known mystery series of novels, making people wonder if she was a fanatical fan of the great detective.

Because her back was facing away, the three men could not see her appearance. They could only see her long gray hair hanging down from the back of her deerstalker hat, fluttering slightly in the cold and damp wind in the alley. It was as far-reaching and elusive as a hazy mist.

If he saw such a girl with such unique dress and temperament in other places, even Lingge would have taken a second look, just like he had taken a second look at a shepherdess in the town square, but he would not have stared at her. What made the young man so rude was the girl's behavior: she picked up the golden ball of wool from the ground, held it in front of her eyes, facing the dim light in the alley, and observed it carefully and meticulously, as if she was observing evidence at a crime scene.

The alley was surrounded by tall, dilapidated stone houses, making it even narrower than the cells in Newgate Prison. The light was naturally very dim. The golden ball of yarn in the girl's hand was even more dazzling, almost like a small sun, adding a layer of brilliant golden light to her long hair that was as hazy as gray mist. A sun like this would attract the attention of passers-by no matter where it was placed, so it seemed normal for the girl who suddenly appeared to be attracted by it.

However, this is impossible.

Because that is not an ordinary ball of yarn, but a sign of destiny.

As Saint Shalia always said: Mortals cannot see their destiny.

On the other hand, those who can see their destiny are not ordinary people.

Ling Ge didn't know whether he should ask the girl about her identity or let her put down the fate sign first. As the owner of the fate sign, Saint Xia Liya also looked a little overwhelmed. She had never encountered a similar situation in the long years since she woke up. Because those who can see the fate sign must be in awe of fate. Who would be like this girl, bold enough to pick up the fate sign and observe it in front of her? Didn't she notice the mysterious and solemn atmosphere of fate emanating from this golden ball of wool?
In this situation, it was the most carefree Alice who reacted first. She raised her hand and said hello almost without hesitation: "Hey, beautiful, hello, that's our stuff, not lost property, could you please put it down..."

Before she finished speaking, the gray-haired girl put down the fate beacon in her hand and threw it back to the ground. It rolled a few times and disappeared. Alice was stunned and thought, could I have such great charm that I could make strangers obey me? Could I use it on Lingge as well?

While she was daydreaming, the gray-haired girl reached out and pressed the brim of her deerstalker hat, then turned around without hesitation and ran to the other corner of the alley. When she turned around, her profile flashed between the brim of her hat and her gray hair, leaving a glimpse of her in Linger's eyes. The young man was stunned for a moment, and then he was sure that he was not mistaken. The corners of the girl's mouth did indeed outline a very shallow arc. She was smiling at him, a smile that was mysterious and full of meaning, as if she was inviting him: Come chase me.

If you can catch up.

So, should you chase it?
The answer did not require much thought. The end of the girl's cloak had disappeared around the corner of the alley, and the sound of her footsteps gradually faded away. Ling Ge cast a [Agility] spell on himself and chased after her without hesitation.

Saint Chariah didn't understand why he was so anxious, but she also wanted to know the identity of the girl and why she could see her destiny. So after Lingge, the shepherdess also chased after him, using the experience she had learned when she wandered with the Moryas, and followed Lingge closely without being left behind.

The last person to fall behind was Alice. She shouted in panic, "What are you doing? Where are you going? Hey, wait for me!"

The sound echoed in the quiet alley, and faded away along with the hurried footsteps until it disappeared.

Then, everything returned to calm.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)