Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 727: Is there a reason to resist showing up?

In the end, Linger decided to accept Miss Gloria's cooperation proposal. As Saint Charlene said, this was a great opportunity and the only clue they had at the moment. It was worth taking some risks. He also decided to visit the Holmes and Watson Detective Agency at 22B Baker Street again tomorrow to ask the girl for more details about the cooperation. However, this time, he and Saint Charlene would go alone. As for Alice, she should stay.

Of course, this is not because Linge is dissatisfied with Alice, but he needs her to play a bigger role, such as making new games before Professor Heinrich Schliemann's party to deal with various emergencies. At present, both "First Fantasy: Four Warriors" and "Blood Creed" are in a cooling state, and "Sky Orbit: Zero Behemoth" cannot be used at any time due to the special nature of Iyeta. In fact, the only one that can be used is "Dark Castle: Dawn Waltz", which is somewhat insufficient in terms of combat power. Therefore, Alice's new cartridge is urgently needed to break the deadlock.

The golden maid was indignant at first, thinking that Lingge looked down on her as a talented player by not playing with her. However, when the development progress of the new game was mentioned, her attitude immediately changed, and she began to perfunctorily say "It's already in development, when has Ai-chan ever lied to you?" or "Soon, it will be done in a little while, but you don't need to know how long that is." These words, which can't even fool a child, show that the development of the new game is probably still in the conceptual stage. In short, there is no progress at all.

Facing everyone's contemptuous gazes, she still calmly enjoyed her dinner without any guilt. One can only say that this is what a scoundrel is like.

Lingge was too lazy to argue with this guy. Since he had to go into the city the next day, he would have to trouble old man Pancras to lead the way. Besides, he had other things to discuss with the old man. So, after a simple meal, the young man left the Goblin Deep Sleep Inn and headed for the Gospel Convent.

……

When Linger found old man Pancras, he was praying with his eyes closed under the statue of the saint in the main hall of the church, performing his daily evening practice. The Spiritual Prayer Society has had a tradition of "three practices" since ancient times, which refers to the daily ritual of believers offering prayers to the saints before three meals a day, which are called morning practice, noon practice and evening practice respectively. It is said that this is to let them experience the hardships and greatness of the saint who worked without sleep and without meals on the top of the ancient Orisol Mountain to perceive the changes in the nature of heaven and earth, and finally created the system of animism.

In comparison, the Holy Goddess Church does not have such strict rules. Some devout believers will offer prayers to the goddess every morning, which is called morning service. For example, Mr. Yang Ke and Metien never miss their daily morning service. However, less devout believers often forget it, or skip the prayer process for the sake of convenience, and simply close their eyes for a few seconds to complete a simple morning service.

To be honest, Lingge was one of these "not very devout believers". When he was a pastor, the first thing he worried about when he opened his eyes every day was either the daily expenses of the family or the bread and milk for the next seven-day service. How could he have the mood to waste half an hour to perform a morning service?

However, he did not despise those who insisted on praying every day. On the contrary, the young man felt that they were very perseverant. With such perseverance, even if the gods did not respond to their prayers, they could still make a career with their own qualities. Facts have proved that this is indeed the case. During Mr. Yang Ke's time, Tianxin Church had more than a dozen devout believers who came to the church on time every day for morning worship, rain or shine. Later, they all got their ideal endings: some found stable jobs, some formed harmonious families, and some left the white-skinned urban areas and moved to neighborhoods with better security.

For those well-dressed upper-class people, this might be funny, but only those who struggled at the bottom of society understood how happy it was to have a stable job, a harmonious family, and a chance to escape from the filthy and filthy environment they were in. Those people became the object of envy and were often mentioned with relish, but Linger never saw them again, either on the street or in the church.

The more devout the faith, the cheaper it becomes, because in the ever-changing material life, the comfort felt in the spiritual world has been weakened? Ling Ge sometimes thinks so, but he has not got the answer so far.

In the solemn and quiet cathedral, the young man waited quietly for several minutes until old man Pancras slowly opened his eyes and ended the evening study. He turned around and apologized to the young man: "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Mr. Ling."

Ling Ge lowered his head slightly: "I should say that I disturbed you."

A smile slowly emerged on the face of old Pancras. His cheeks, which were as old as dry bark, were ugly but not scary. On the contrary, they gave people a kind and benevolent feeling. The traces left by the years seemed to have accumulated deep wisdom in his calm eyes: "It is my honor to guide young people. You must have something to ask me, Mr. Lingge, no worries, but please speak frankly." Lingge nodded silently, and then told the old man that he and his party would still go into the city tomorrow, hoping that he would allow these guests to continue to use the underground passage of the Gospel Convent. After listening, old Pancras pondered for a while, slowly took out a simple badge from his pocket and handed it to Lingge. The young man took the badge and observed its appearance by the light of the candlestick. From the touch and vision, he judged that it should be made of brass, with a pattern of a circle with a slash running through the middle, and the slash was blocked in the circle without crossing.

The old man said slowly, "I am happy to continue to introduce you to the great city of Lunwitin. Unfortunately, as I age, my body no longer belongs to me, but to the call of the saint in the kingdom of heaven who may come at any time. I intend to follow the saint, but I am afraid that the current Evangelical Convent still cannot do without me, so I can only try my best to preserve my body and prolong my life. Adventure, exploration or a long journey like you young people are keen on are no longer suitable for me, so let this badge represent my will. I am willing to promise that as long as you need it, the underground passage of the Evangelical Convent will be open to guests at any time. You only need to follow today's route and call Sir Gern at the ferry station, and he will take you to your destination. If you meet other aliens underground, show them this badge. For my sake, they should not be too embarrassed."

"As for me," Old Man Pancras smiled deeply, "I will pray in this church. May the saints protect your future and give you the faith and will to realize your ideals."

Ling was silent for a while, then he put his palms together and accepted the badge. He bowed his head and thanked him: "On behalf of my companions, I thank you for your help, Lord Pancras."

"I'm just doing my best to repay Miss Shesta's kindness." Old Man Pancras said, "If there is nothing else, please excuse me. The photon curtain of the academy needs daily maintenance. Best is a good child except that she is too forgetful. If I don't remind her, I'm afraid she will forget about this matter."

"take care."

Lingge stood there, watching the old man, leaning on his cane, disappear step by step at the door of the church main hall. His back seemed hunched, but gave people a sense of greatness. He couldn't help but pursed his lips, and a hint of thought flashed in his eyes.

As perceptive as a young man, he could naturally realize that old man Pancras's refusal just now was just an excuse.

It was not because he was old and didn't want to move that he was unable to lead the guests, but because he had other reasons, such as... he didn't want to go to St. Annville's Cross Church.

This sounds incredible, because the Evangelical Seminary and St. Annville Cross Church are interdependent, and old man Pancras and Brother Mufasa and others are all members of the True Spirit Sect. The latter respects him very much, and the old man seems to have no reason to resist. At least until today, the communication between the two sides has been very harmonious, and there is no sign of confrontation.

But young people just feel this way.

So, did something happen today?

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)