Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 941: Betrayed?
The steak grilled with wine is bright and full in color, with a strong aroma of wine. The exquisite craftsmanship and precise control of the heat lock the rich gravy firmly on the surface. With a little force from the knife, the golden fat flows out like honey, dripping on the silver plate with a sizzling sound. Paired with black pepper, fennel leaves, red chrysanthemum and cherry tomatoes, it is mouth-watering just by looking at it. It is undoubtedly a luxurious enjoyment with color, fragrance and taste.

The pan-fried silver trout is cut into thin slices, each only a few millimeters thick. When you pick them up with a fork, you can see the light through them and see the scene on the other side. They are stacked like a tower on a snow-white porcelain plate, and at first glance they look like they are surrounded by moonlight. They are embellished with tender green celery leaves and light black pine mushroom particles. The black and white image is so stunning that people even ignore the essence of the dish and mistake it for a unique work of art.

Every fairy traveler who has completed the pilgrimage is a qualified traveler, novelist, poet, food connoisseur, chef and artist. Sometimes they can even combine all of the above identities. From the proprietress, Xino has refreshed his understanding of this sentence countless times.

She thought she would be tired of the hometown delicacies after eating them for more than a month, but she unexpectedly finished both main courses at lunch. The deliciousness of the dishes was truly unforgettable, and they were even innovative in some places, improving on the original shortcomings. It was no wonder that she could feel a sense of freshness from them.

The girl from Grindelwald tried to make up for herself, picked up the white silk scarf and wiped the corners of her mouth. Her movements were elegant and natural, showing the etiquette and demeanor of an old noble. In comparison, the golden-haired maid sitting opposite was a bit unsightly. Not only did she eat wildly, but she even picked out the vegetables and put them aside. She was even more picky than Leticia. Of course, the premise was that Countess Nevile was also present, otherwise the result would be uncertain.

After finishing her meal, Alice slammed her knife and fork on the table and rushed to the second floor in a rage. When she reappeared, she had a familiar racket in her hand. She stood at the stairs and shouted, "The undefeated overlord of the universe, the Crimson End Demon King, come on! Let's have a showdown, Queen of Gray. Last time I saved your life, but you won't be so lucky this time. Watch me use the ultimate secret of Dark Apocalypse to blast you to pieces and defend the championship throne..."

Haven’t had enough fun yet?
Everyone was complaining in their hearts, how long are you going to play the Crimson End Demon King and the Queen of Ashes? And Alice, aren't you a game nerd? Why are you suddenly fascinated by a sport like Wind Flower Ball that requires physical strength and endurance? Of course, it's a good thing that you want to exercise, but you may not be able to play by yourself. Don't drag everyone over as free spectators every time, okay? And the first tournament just ended yesterday, and the second one started today. Don't you think this is a bit too fast? Why don't you go back to your room and play games? If it doesn't work, I'll let Ovira accompany you?

Unfortunately, Alice ignored their feelings and continued to stand on the stairs and speak nonsense. After shouting for a while, she did not receive any response from her old enemy, and she couldn't help but feel puzzled: "Hey, where is Gloria? Why is she silent? Is she scared?"

Because they are not here at all.

"Gloria is having lunch at Yieta's place at noon." Ling Ge said expressionlessly, "I'm telling you this in case you don't know. If you want to play ball, just go play against the wall by yourself."

"How could this happen!" Alice immediately expressed her dissatisfaction: "You actually deserted the battlefield, what a despicable villain!"

Uh.

You speak as if it wasn't you who was scored minus 30 points last night.

No one wanted to pay attention to her. They turned their eyes away and went about their own business: the proprietress and the rabbit gentlemen were busy cleaning the tables, the bartender was busy practicing her recent inspiration, Medien was busy preparing for the afternoon classes, Leticia and Shemi were busy discussing how to skip classes in the afternoon... In short, everyone was very busy, unlike Alice who was doing nothing.

Speaking of doing nothing, what about the cassette Alice is developing? Ling Ge was about to ask about the development progress, but the golden maid didn't give him the chance. Seeing that no one dared to confront her head-on, she felt that she was the only one who was seeking to defeat the wind flower ball. She couldn't help but sigh, and the whole person exuded an aura of loneliness and loneliness: "Alas, even my lifelong enemy Gloria bowed down to my domineering power. Who else in this world can be my opponent? Such an invincible and boring life may be the fate I have to bear..."

"Nonsense!"

A righteous voice came from the door, interrupting Alice's wandering thoughts.

Hey, this voice, could it be...

The atmosphere in the room froze. Those who were cleaning up the dishes, mixing drinks, organizing notes, and being lectured by the teacher... all stopped what they were doing and raised their heads at the same time, looking in the direction of the sound. A straight figure stood in front of the door like a flagpole, staring at Alice on the stairs with sharp and brave eyes, showing no fear.

The visitor wore a black wide-brimmed hat decorated with feathers and skull badges. The end of the back brim of the hat was forked, extending into two sharp arcs like a petrel's tail, which looked like a cloak fluttering gently; she wore a white silk shirt with gold-rimmed shell buttons, and the first button was deliberately open, revealing her white collarbone and slightly raised chest curve, as if tempting the enemy's sight; black hunting trousers and spiked riding boots, with a unique heroic air, two shiny tanned leather belts crossed across her slender waist, and two daggers were hidden under the scarlet tweed cloak, and only the sharp blades flashed a breathtaking cold light; in her left hand, she held a rapier with a gold-wire cage-shaped guard, the tip of the sword slightly drooping and pointing to the floor, and her right hand was resting on an ebony musket. The surface of the musket was engraved with patterns of irises and kingfishers, and angel wings were wrapped around the muzzle. It was clearly a murder weapon, but it gave people a feeling of holiness and solemnity.

The visitor strode into the hotel with a steady and firm step, and when she came to the bottom of the stairs, she waved her hand gently, and her cloak rustled, like a few huge waves exploding in the wind, which suddenly made people's spirits perk up and it was difficult to take their eyes off her. Her light gray eyelashes curled up slightly, and Alice's dumbfounded expression was reflected in her clear eyes. Her voice was polite but with appropriate vigilance: "I just heard someone slandering Gloria Resbellite's reputation, which I can't tolerate, so I came here uninvited, please forgive me."

Then, she gracefully bent her index and middle fingers, raised the brim of her hat, and introduced herself: "I am Gloria, the captain of the Cloud Whale Arus. Thank you for your appreciation and for serving as the leader of the Sky Whale Pirates. I wonder what advice Miss Alice has for me?"

"Ah, this." Alice opened her mouth wide.

"Ah, this." The others also opened their mouths wide, realizing what had happened.

Gloria is sick again... cough cough, Gloria's curse has struck again. It seems that this time her character is a great pirate with elegance, nobility and willpower. But what is the matter with the Cloud Whale Arus and the Sky Whale Pirates? Could they include us too?
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Why are you all silent?" The great pirate Gloria looked around and frowned slightly. If she had done this in the past, it would have definitely given people a gentle feeling, but now it seemed a little cold: "Could it be that you think I am not qualified?"

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly became several degrees colder. He was indeed a great pirate. His aura was much stronger than that of some crappy talented athlete.

Alice had reacted by now - she had always been the quickest to react to such emergencies - her eyes rolled around and she shouted, "That's right, I don't accept it! Why do you get to be the captain? I, Alice, think that my strength is not inferior to yours, and my contribution to the pirate group is far greater. If it weren't for me, do you think you can lead our Sky Whale Pirates to travel the world and plunder the five oceans by yourself? To tell you the truth, Gloria, there are many people in the group who are dissatisfied with you. As the first mate, I, Alice, have already gained their support. Today is the day for you, the cruel captain, to abdicate!" Not only did she react quickly, she even added new settings for herself, and added the mutiny plot that is popular in nautical novels. In her mouth, Lingge and others suddenly became the boatswain, doctor, cook and chaplain who were recruited by her and cheered for her. It seems that Captain Gloria is not very popular on this ship.

"It is indeed mutiny." Gloria curled her lips, showing a trace of contempt and disdain: "Do you think I didn't expect it, First Mate Alice? Your ambition is more obvious than the man-eating shark that follows the ship and tries to devour the drowning people, and you never know how to conceal yourself."

It's ok that Alice supplemented the setting, but why did you accept her setting so quickly? And after the character setting changed, did her knowledge level also improve? You couldn't think of such a vivid metaphor before. Or is it that a pirate who travels all over the world should be more cultured than a genius who can only play the game of whirlpool?
Lingge complained wildly in his heart.

"so what!"

Alice shouted, interrupting her, then walked down the stairs step by step, and walked to Captain Gloria with a menacing expression: "So what if the conspiracy was exposed? Can you still turn defeat into victory? I have won the victory after winning over all the people on the ship. As for you, the loser, you'd better hand over the position of captain honestly. Wahahaha!!! From today on, the Sky Whale Pirates will be renamed the Alice Pirates!!!"

Alice's smile was tasteless, and her name was even more tasteless.

"Don't resist, Gloria! As you are an old captain, surrender now and shout Captain Alice three times, you are so great, then I can spare your life...Gah!?"

Alice's wild laughter came to an abrupt end, because a musket was placed in front of her, with the dark muzzle pointing at her forehead. Then, Captain Gloria smiled and said, "Sorry, I didn't hear what you said just now clearly."

Because the conspiracy was about to succeed, she became careless and even walked into the opponent's shooting range. This mistake was too stupid. If it were a novel, Alice would probably be qualified to be elected as the first of the "Top Ten Most Idiotic Villains", right?

From the perspective of the back, the golden-haired maid was sweating profusely, but she did not give up struggling, because she still held a trump card in her hand: "It's useless, Gloria, all the members of the pirate group have been won over by me, even if you kill me, you can't stop this rebellion. In this case, why bother to tear your face apart? It's better to be sensible, so that both of us can save face, right?"

"Oh?"

It was a very tempting proposal, but Captain Gloria was unmoved. She smiled and said, "Is there such a thing? Everyone on the ship has been bribed by you, how come I don't know?"

"Ha, haha, isn't this natural? Come on, everyone, tell her who the new captain is that you support?"

Alice called on the people she had won over. After a few seconds of silence in the hall, the bartender, Shelia, who had been mixing cocktails behind the counter and remained unmoved even though the farce was unfolding before her eyes, stood silently behind Captain Gloria with the "hot rum" she had just mixed, and said righteously, "I have always supported you, Captain Gloria!"

"Nonsense!" Alice opened her eyes wide in disbelief, like a skua about to die. "How dare you betray me, Shelia! But it doesn't matter, even if you stand on Gloria's side, what can it do? After all, I have more people on my side... eh?"

She watched her companions walk past her one by one and join Captain Gloria's team. She couldn't help but feel sad: So, this is what it feels like to be betrayed? I have completely understood it, although it seems a little too late...

"Goodbye," Captain Gloria grinned cruelly, and gently pulled down the hammer of the musket, making a crisp sound: "Alice."

Alice exerted force on her fingers and pulled the trigger, a look of despair appearing in her eyes.

"boom!"

"Oh I'm dead!"

With a thunderous roar, a bunch of bright red roses shot out from the muzzle of the musket, and Alice screamed and fell on her back, with the pain and unwillingness of her "previous life" still lingering on her face. Due to the impact of the musket, several gorgeous rose petals slowly broke away from the branches, swirling and falling on the "corpse" of the golden-haired maid, as if covering her with a farewell flag. The people standing behind Captain Gloria witnessed this tragedy and bowed their heads in tacit agreement, paying silent tribute to this failed betrayer as a companion (let's call it).

"..."

The only people who didn't take part in this farce were Ling'er and Xino. The former was too lazy to care, while the latter didn't know whether he should get involved or not. He always felt that he was a bit stupid... ahem, it was a bit too childish.

After a moment of silence, the young knight turned around and asked Linger a very profound question: "Are they often like this?"

Lingge replied expressionlessly: "You'll get used to it."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)