Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 920 Are you shy?

In the end, everyone accepted Alice's proposal because there was no better way.

The Witch Society is too powerful. After thousands of years of hard work, the tentacles of this behemoth have already extended to all areas of the world. It is no longer just a simple secret society, but also a huge community of interests. Countless people cling to it, like barnacles clinging to a giant ship, forming the hardest protective shell - the United Church, the Kingdom of Great Britta, Mindrias, the Republic of White City, the United Army of the East Continent, and even those merchant groups and large enterprises that benefited from the colonial war, whether they knew it or not, have been tied to this ship, and have actively or passively become the cover and arm of the Witch Society in the secular world.

If you want to reach the real enemy in the shadows, you have to peel these stubborn barnacles off the hull first. However, such a great feat is no less than the continuation of the natural disasters in ancient times or the restart of the steam holy war in the Middle Ages. How can a few small travelers do it with their blood? Even with Xino, it won't work, because what she holds tightly in her hands is victory, not miracles.

Placing the hope of fighting the Witch Society on the Goddess of Creation cannot be said to be a helpless act, but it can only be said to be the only wise one among many unwise choices.

After making up their minds, even if some people still had doubts, they did not object, so the meeting related to the fate of Sky Island ended hastily. Almost at the same time, the long-planned boss lady finally found an opportunity and stood up to announce that she would hold a grand banquet to celebrate Xinuo's joining in advance. When the young man reminded her that Xinuo had not actually joined, she said: It doesn't matter, this is an early celebration, and when she officially joins, there will be a more grand welcome banquet, so everyone can look forward to it. Hehehe.

It left everyone speechless.

By the way, the word "join a gang" was proposed by Alice. Because it is simple and easy to understand, it is frequently used by everyone. Only Lingge thinks that this word is not very good, as it always gives people a feeling that evil forces are colluding with each other.

Maybe it's true?
……

Fairy traveler banquets are always cheerful and casual, without so many rules. Moreover, due to the boss lady Miss Shesta's character of having a small banquet every three days and a big banquet every five days, the Fairy Deep Sleep Inn, from top to bottom, whether it is the three sisters and Mr. Rabbit who are responsible for the banquet preparation, or the unscrupulous guests who are responsible for free food and drink, have long been accustomed to this set of procedures and consciously assumed their respective tasks. For example, Alice has begun to overeat, the potted band in the corner has begun to play classic old songs that have been played countless times on the playlist, Leticia has been chased around by her grandmother because she only eats meat and not vegetables, and the bartender has begun to recommend her masterpieces to customers...

Every time he saw these familiar scenes, Lingge felt like he was trapped in a world of infinite loop, or as if he was not attending a banquet but solving a difficult math problem in a college class, which was full of formulaic flavor from beginning to end.

Oh no, there was an extra part in today's banquet that was not originally there: Yieta, who had always wanted to attend the banquet but could not, was chattering to everyone about her envy and dissatisfaction through the magic conch, and Lorena seemed to regard these complaints as a way to liven up the party. The more excited Yieta talked, the happier she ate... What a terrible woman.

The lamb was not restrained by its owner. It ran around under the dining table, waiting for an opportunity to taste the delicacies that it didn't have the chance to eat normally (mainly because its owner thought a lamb shouldn't eat these things, and usually only let it eat grass and apples). It especially liked to snatch food from Alice. When it saw Alice's angry expression after having her food snatched away by it, a humanized look of pride would emerge on its face. The little sun crept around the kitchen door holding its flower pot, as if it wanted to find an opportunity to sneak in and then taunt those who had always been at odds with it. In order to deal with the hot and spicy onions and spicy peppers that were about to be cooked and served on the table, it can be seen that the internal competition in the herb garden was also very bad; in a corner of the hall, Gloria handed over control of her body to Bai Ye, as if she wanted her to feel the lively atmosphere of the banquet, but the cold gray-haired girl faced this scene of chaos and just uttered the word "idiot" as a comment, then leaned against the wall, folded her arms, and listened to the performance of the potted orchestra with an indifferent face, as if she had no intention of changing back.

Her aura, like an iceberg, kept people at a distance, brought great psychological pressure to the members of the Bonsai Orchestra. They played the song countless times, but they were a little out of tune because of their panic. Whenever there was a slight flaw in the performance, the girl would immediately cast a dagger-like sharp gaze, scaring the member who made the mistake so much that his whole body trembled, as if he was being stared at by a predator.

I hope that after Xino joins the gang and sees this scene, he will not lose faith in this gang.

Lingge sighed inwardly and prayed like this.

At the same time, someone else expressed a similar sentiment: "What a lively scene."

Saint Xia Liya came over and sat down next to Ling Ge, holding a cup of Xie Liya's masterpiece in her hand. She turned to the young man and said, "Every time I see such a lively scene, I hope it can continue forever. Ling Ge, don't you think so?"

Ling Ge raised his eyebrows when he heard this, and said meaningfully: "Then your psychological endurance is really not bad."

"hehe."

Saint Shallia smiled, held up the transparent glass with both hands, and gently drank a sip of the ice water in the glass, while her eyes were deeply staring at the lively scene in the hall. It seemed that as she said, she wanted to record this picture and keep it in her mind, so that it would last forever and never end.

Ling Ge saw her reaction and understood why she sighed like that. He was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Based on your understanding of the goddess, what do you think is the chance of us convincing her, Saint Shallia?"

Saint Xia Liya was stunned for a moment. She probably didn't expect Ling Ge to explain the problem so clearly and without leaving any room for doubt. But she quickly came to her senses, a look of confusion flashed in her eyes, and she shook her head and said, "I don't know."

She lowered her head and stared at the ice water in the cup. The cold and pure color was as transparent as her memory: "Although I didn't spend a long time with my mother, about three years after I was born, He told us that he was about to enter a long sleep and gave us the task of protecting the mirror star world. During this period, He taught us how to master our own power, how to maintain the operation of the laws of the world, and how to control the balance of the cycle of cosmic magic. But this kind of learning is not a simple process, because we are all His daughters, and He has given us the emotions of living beings. Some of us are naughty, some are careless, and some lack patience. In fact, it caused Him a lot of trouble at that time. But mother never blamed us. She would gently tolerate those naughty children, encourage those careless children with a smile, and then treat those impatient children with tolerance. In my impression, my mother has a kind and tolerant temperament. No one has ever seen Her angry. It's just that occasionally - occasionally, when He looks at us, there will be an extremely complicated sadness in his eyes. I still don't know where this sadness comes from."

As she recounted her memories, Saint Shallia's eyes became sad, but she was not sad because of her mother's sadness. Instead, she was sad because she could clearly see her mother's sadness but was unable to give her any response or comfort.

Perhaps it was because, at that time, she lived in the temple of heaven, in the embrace of the goddess, and felt extremely comfortable and happy. She never knew what sadness was, and naturally did not know how to respond and comfort. It was not until she fell into the human world and experienced many trusts and betrayals that these girls who had been living in heaven finally understood how complicated the emotions they were born with were.

Coincidentally, the young man was also a person who didn't know how to comfort someone, so at this moment, he could only choose to change the subject to distract the girl from her memories: "So, do you think that with the goddess's personality, it is unlikely that she would formulate the so-called Eden Plan?"

“Yes.” Saint Shallia nodded gently. With this movement, her small and delicate chin created ripples in the transparent ice water. “Mother not only loves us deeply, but also deeply loves this world He created and the countless lives on this earth. I think that even if He is really disappointed with the chaos in the world and wants to take back the magic power bestowed on mortals, He will never adopt such a radical strategy.”

"You think that this was all Tiandis's doing?" Linger frowned. "But this can't explain Tiandis's birth, and why the goddess always hides behind the scenes and doesn't want to show up."

If He did not stop the witch society, it would mean that He at least took a tacit attitude towards the Eden Project, which was enough to reflect many problems.

Saint Shallia fell silent after hearing this. This was exactly what she had always been entangled with and could not let go of. Would that gentle and all-tolerant mother really lose her faith in mortals because of a moment of confusion?
"A long time ago," she suddenly said, "I rejected Tiantis with the same reason and asked her, my mother would never agree to your plan." The young man quickly realized that the long time ago here should refer to the time when the young royal powers were first awakened by Tiantis and the Witch of Reality invited them to join the Eden Project. He subconsciously asked, "What was Tiantis's answer?"

Saint Shaliya looked at the young man deeply and said, "She told me that it is not a question of whether Mother wants us to do it, but a question of whether we must do it."

It’s not that the goddess wants them to do it, but that they have to do it...why?
Ling Ge couldn't figure out what the inevitable connection was, so he could only continue to ask Saint Xia Liya, but the shepherdess shook her head slowly, with a guilty look on her face: "After that... I don't remember."

Looking at the young man's dumbfounded expression, she said a little disappointedly: "Sorry, Lingge, I wish I could remember more memories."

That is indeed better, Saint Xia Liya, you must continue to work hard - facing the lost and helpless girl, even a harsh person like Ling Ge could not say such cruel words. So he hesitated for a moment and then said to comfort her: "It's okay, at least you have remembered the most important point. It seems that Bai Ye's dreaming is still very effective."

"Yeah." Saint Xia Liya's spirits perked up a little when she mentioned this matter, and she said, "Bai Ye has been working very hard. She has been helping us sleep recently, but she hasn't had a good rest. I wanted to care about her, but she ran away when she saw me. When Gloria came to face me, she didn't want to say a word to me. Maybe I did something to make her unhappy?"

"No, I think she's like that to everyone."

Except Gloria.

anyway.

"Why do you care so much about Bai Ye?" Linger glanced at the gray-haired girl leaning against the wall, then quickly looked away and asked, "She must be a very difficult person to approach, especially for you."

Bai Ye was an outlier in the group. In the entire Whale Island, besides Gloria, only Ling Ge could occasionally talk to her. If Gloria hadn't privately revealed that Bai Ye often secretly talked to the gray-feathered falcon named Xiao Bai, and sometimes showed obvious appreciation for Rorona's pranks, everyone might have suspected that she was actually a person without emotions.

"Maybe so, but I'm her sister." Saint Xia Liya's tone seemed matter-of-fact: "Sisters should care about their younger sisters. Do you think I did something wrong, Lingge?"

"..."

From the perspective of universal moral concepts, there is nothing wrong with it. The only point worth discussing is whether Bai Ye recognizes you as her sister.

Lingge suddenly remembered something and a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.

"Saint Xia Liya, your memory should be pretty good?"

"Of course, I can now teach Metien and the others without textbooks."

"Then you should still remember that Bai Ye is not the girl's royal power, but a personality born from a curse, right?"

"..."

"Once Gloria's curse is lifted, the White Night will probably disappear..."

"Will not."

Saint Xia Liya interrupted Ling Ge for the first time. She said seriously, word by word, "I won't allow that to happen. Although she is a personality born from a curse, she hasn't hurt anyone, right? She has also been protecting Gloria and has helped us a lot, so I will never let her disappear."

"So what are you going to do?"

"After returning to the Holy Temple of Heaven, I will ask my mother to remove the curse for Gloria while retaining Bai Ye's personality. I can even ask my mother to create a body for her. In that way, even if she herself doesn't want to admit it, I can be considered her sister, right?"

Saint Xia Liya felt a little proud when she thought of this, and she looked up at the gray-haired girl in the corner. At this time, Bai Ye seemed to have noticed her gaze, and his eyes were looking at her from afar across the hall. Their eyes happened to meet in mid-air, and Saint Xia Liya gave her a gentle sister-like smile (she thought so). Bai Ye was obviously stunned for a moment, and then he looked away awkwardly, his mouth moved, and he didn't know what he was mumbling.

"She's shy." Saint Shallia said firmly.

Ling Ge: “…”

Doesn’t this requirement for the goddess seem a bit too high?
　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)