Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 776: Is the game console broken?
Without warning, darkness fell, just as it had always been there, in the world that everyone could see when they closed their eyes.

Since light can flood like a tide, darkness can also surge like a tide, silently spreading through every corner, drowning the eyes and souls of living beings. So, from the two sides fighting fiercely in the ruins of Guardes City to every lingering alien in the underground world, every underground person hiding from the light on the ground, every spider or lizard accustomed to crawling in dark corners... When they came to their senses, there was only darkness before their eyes.

The inhabitants of the underground world were used to living in darkness, but that was darkness in the dim light. No matter how remote the corner was, there was always a ray of light that could be captured by the eyes, giving the senses external stimulation. However, the darkness before them was completely different. It was a pure, rich, and irresistible force, as if it had formed a substantial curtain, firmly covering the face of the world and depriving the creatures of the qualifications to observe and recognize it - of course, it could also be considered that it allowed them to see the essence of the world again, because since ancient times, before the birth of the universe, the original and unchanging thing was darkness.

Gern, who was ferrying across the turbulent underground rivers, suddenly lost sight of the light in front of him, along with the continuous steep rock walls and the ferry stations with burning torches. Those stations had provided precious warmth to the residents of the underground world during the most difficult years. The light released by the torches that never stopped at night might not only be a signal of arrival, but also a sincere blessing. However, now they are completely gone, as if to confirm once again that the destination of all things is darkness. Just as torches will go out when they burn dry and fireflies will die when they dance to exhaustion, there is no eternal light. Even the sun will fade and die on an unforeseeable day. Only eternal darkness can lovingly and selflessly accommodate those things that are extinguished and die.

Gradually, the darkness spread through the cracks in the underground rock, the abandoned sewer ruins during the reign of King Ingver, the sewer pipes and steam valves rebuilt after the steam age, and surged onto the streets, climbed up the walls, and over the window frames, beginning to invade the light of the world above. All fires would be extinguished like candles in the wind, and all lights would flicker like fireflies and then fade away. So, if you look down from the sky of Lonwittin at this time, you will be surprised to find that in this international metropolis with a population of millions, the darkness is so clear for the first time, as if it is within reach.

The lights and candles along the street were extinguished one by one, like a dark ocean surging, drowning every house, every street and every passerby. This phenomenon was centered in the Roald District and showed a very regular radial trend. From a higher perspective, the speed of the tide was not fast, far behind the speed of the city's expansion in the past thousand years. However, for everyone in it, the arrival of darkness was abrupt and without signs.

In Westminster, in the mansions of nobles and big businessmen, the gorgeous and elegant gas lamps suddenly went out. The owners criticized the high charges and poor service of the gas pipeline company, and ordered the servants to light candles and kerosene lamps, but they could not wait for new lights to be lit in the mansion. They could not help but feel creepy in the darkness; in Caverson, researchers from the Royal Astronomical Society used astronomical telescopes to see that the stars throughout the universe were disappearing from the star field they were familiar with, as if they were being devoured by an invisible black hole. It was clearly summer, but he could not find the constellation of Astronomy. , the light of the White Frost Grass Seat and the Ancient Knight Seat, and suddenly opened his eyes wide, wondering if he was witnessing the process of the destruction of the universe with his own eyes; in the White Church District and the more remote Seven Stars District, the homeless people who crawled under the street lamps to keep warm looked at the empty lamp poles in despair. The only cheap sense of security they could get was gone the moment the street lamps went out. It was as if they had returned to the time ten thousand years ago when humans still lived in caves, shivering in the darkness, fearing the hunters who sneaked in at night, and the cold murderous intent emanating from their dark vertical pupils...

The thing that the Renwitin people feared the most thousands of years ago has finally happened. They were worried that the group of savages who had left civilization and voluntarily became underground residents would one day rush onto the streets and plunder their wealth and dignity, just like the northern barbarians in the era of King Ingver crossed the Wall of Varangin and plundered the granaries and livestock of their ancestors. The city government raided the underground settlements every once in a while, newspapers criticized the termites living in the city sewers every now and then, and the Renwitin people mocked the people they hated the most, "I wish you could live in the sewers"... If you could see the scene in front of you, you would find that this fear and worry are not completely unreasonable.

However, you can't see anything, there is only darkness in the world.

Nevile could not see anything either. She could not see the beams of light like fog lamps radiating from the front of the magic armored vehicle, because they had been swallowed up; she could not see the searchlights of the airships in the sky casting blinding light onto the bridge, because they had been submerged; the outlines of the silvery-white mechanical soldiers could not even be seen in the deep darkness, and the roar of steam engines could be vaguely heard on the water, but the banks of the Twell River were pitch black; even the faint blue beams that were pouring out of the game consoles and gradually decomposing the real world into strings of countless 1s and 0s were intercepted in the dark world, and they were like a faint flame on a candle, which was extinguished with a puff when the black tide flooded over them.

Seeing everyone's surprised look, Gloria blinked. She recognized the cassette because Alice had wanted her to touch it, as if to verify something, but she declined. Judging from everyone's reactions at this time, it seemed that it was something very important. Could it be some kind of powerful holy relic that could help everyone get out of their current predicament?

[PLeAse...StaRT aGAiN...LatEr...(Please wait...restart...)]

Alice was stunned for a moment and then cried out in surprise, looking like she couldn't accept it. Not to mention her, even her companions, including Lingge, looked at this scene with astonishment, because nothing like this had ever happened before. In everyone's cognition, Alice's game console and cassette should be beyond the power of this world, not restricted by any rules, and repeatedly helped them defeat powerful enemies and escape from danger. Who could have expected that such an accident would happen at some point?

Before Lingge could answer, Alice had already picked up the cassette on the ground and inserted it back into the slot of the game console, trying to restart it. However, the cold voice still came from the game console, and it was intermittent, making people feel that it should be coming from a very far away place, but this feeling was clearly not there before.

“What, what happened!?”

[DetECtioN…UnKNown VIruS…InTruSIon… (Detected…Unknown virus…Intrusion…)]

Without leaving anyone time to think, the black-haired girl withdrew her gaze and disappeared from the street the next moment, leaving the empty night spreading out.

[SysTEm…ErRor… (System…error…)]

……

Click——!!!
With a crisp sound, the cartridge was ejected from the game console and fell to the floor of the car.

At the same time, everyone's ears once again heard that cold and rigid female voice, but it was intermittent, as if a part of a well-functioning machine suddenly had a problem, causing the entire machine to malfunction.

She looked up in the direction of the Indorsis Bridge, and the corners of her mouth slowly curled up in a playful arc: "Still not as interesting as this one."

She took a deep look at the night sky above her head, her gaze was so deep that people thought she was actually looking at something farther away. But the night sky is far enough for humans, so what is farther away than that?

Alice would malfunction, but Alice's game console and cartridges wouldn't... that's how it was supposed to be.

[CaSSetTe…daTA…eRRoR…(Cassette…data…error…)]

She asked Linge curiously: "What happened?"

The next moment, I saw light again.

On the central avenue, the black-haired girl withdrew her hand, looked at the darkness that surged in and out like the tide, and smiled silently: "It seems that Karabos has also taken action, and actually used the Dark Apocalypse directly. It seems that the guys from the True Spirit Sect are more interesting than I thought. Of course-"

……

She was almost unable to suppress it, whether it was the mysterious and incredible power or the "seed" imprisoned in her body. Fortunately, she still won in the end, and the worst situation did not happen.

"If Bai Long and the others knew that I took such a risk, they would definitely say a lot of unpleasant things." The girl sighed, then shook her head: "Forget it, let's think about the future later. Now let's go meet that interesting guest. I hope you can treat her differently, not based on her identity, but for other reasons, the Celestial Themis."

[cASseTTe…DatA…ERroR…(Cartridge…data…error…)]

[PleaSE...STArt agAIn...LAtER... (Please wait...restart...)]

With a click, the cassette was ejected again. This time, Alice quickly grabbed it and inserted it back without hesitation. [plEAsE...STaRt AGain...LAteR...(Please wait...restart...)]

……

[plEASe…STArt agAiN…laTER…(Please wait…restart…)]

……

[PLeAse...sTARt aGaIn...LaTeR...(Please wait...restart...)]

……

She tried again and again, as if she would never give up until she succeeded in launching the game, until Lingge couldn't stand it anymore and stopped her, saying, "Don't try, Alice."

“But,” Alice raised her head, her expression somewhat aggrieved, like a child whose favorite toy was taken away. It was the first time that Lingge and the others saw her with such an expression. They were distracted for a moment, and only heard her mutter with her lips pursed: “The game console won’t start…”

Therefore, it's not that she is completely heartless, but she only shows other emotions when it comes to games. For example, when I tried to persuade her to keep the unfinished cartridges to deal with various emergencies, she mistakenly thought that I wanted to interfere with her freedom to create games, and she was angry for a while because of this.

This kind of personality is not bad, but it is indeed not like that of a normal girl.

Linger shook his head, throwing away these irrelevant and somewhat absurd thoughts. He said to Alice, "Calm down first. Maybe it's not the problem with the game console, but the problem with the cartridge."

"Huh?" Alice's eyes lit up and she quickly realized, "Yes, the system prompt just now said that the cartridge data was wrong, not the game console, so - I just need to change the cartridge!"

As for why the cassette data was wrong, let's think about it later. At least everyone felt that it was related to the sudden darkness. Only Lingge had a vague premonition that it didn't seem to be the case. But if he was asked to give a reason, he couldn't do it, so he chose to remain silent.

"New cartridge, new cartridge..." Alice fumbled around her body and finally found that only the cartridge she had just developed but not yet activated could be used, because the other cartridge of "Sky Orbit: Type-0 Behemoth" still required Ieta's presence. But Miss Angel is probably still in the windmill tower room eating snacks and admiring the stars. I don't know if she is worried about her companions' actions tonight.

"So you mean, you don't need me anymore?" Ovira said hesitantly. For some reason, she felt both relieved and a little regretful.

"You useless kid, go play somewhere else." Alice always ignored such useless friendly characters. She took out the unactivated cassette and stared at Miss Gloria with her eyes. "I wanted to save this trump card for the crucial plot, but there is no other way. Gloria, you must be the Girl King!"

She was earnestly trying to persuade Gloria. She tilted her head. Although she didn't quite understand, she still guessed the key point. Because when they first met in the detective agency, Alice had made a request in this regard, but she was rejected by her: "Do you mean, do you want me to touch this cassette?"

"Mmmmmmm!"

It's easy to talk to smart people. Alice handed the cassette to her directly. She didn't take it. Instead, she stretched out her slender white index finger and gently tapped the bright silver shell of the cassette. She felt a cold touch from her fingertips, and then an even colder reminder sounded. Although it was still intermittent, it was much clearer.

[Confirmation…Data is being input…]

[Start…ID VerifICation…Mechanism…(Start…Authentication…Mechanism…)]

【The ID Verification…was passed…】

[New cassette…IS ACTIVATINg… (New cassette…is being activated…)]

……

After that, there was a long mechanical noise, like the clacking of an old clock with rusty gears. It did not activate immediately like before. This time, Alice did not panic and quickly guessed the reason: "It seems that the game console is not completely unaffected. At least the network delay has become more serious. It may take some time before the cartridge data can be read. But it doesn't matter, at least——"

She stared at Gloria: "You really are the girl's king!"

The gray-haired girl withdrew her fingers, smiled silently, and did not respond.

Leticia pursed her lips and asked, "But who knows how long it will take to read the information? Will the enemy give us a chance to escape?"

After she said this, everyone remembered that there was a large group of combined forces from the cult outside, waiting covetously. Although the sound of gunfire had stopped since the carriage was forced to stop, the eerie silence made people even more uneasy. Who knew what the enemy was waiting for? They couldn't have mobilized such a large force just to surround them and treat them like monkeys, right?
Ling Ge was about to ask Nevile about the situation outside, when the Countess's voice came ahead of time: "I think maybe you need to come out."

"It seems like some important person has come and wants to talk to us?"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)