Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 945: Kill one to warn the rest?
"Lingge? Lingge! What are you thinking about?"

Perhaps it was because Ling'er had been staring at the map for too long, which made Alice, who was already impatient, even more impatient. She directly urged him and called him back from his thoughts.

The young man then withdrew his gaze from the map and met Gloria's eyes as soon as he looked up. There was a faint gray mist in the pirate lady's eyes, which slowly spread as she looked up and down, just like the fog that quietly arises on the endless sea, always swallowing up the travelers' ships before they notice.

Lingge sensed something wrong from the girl in front of him, but the feeling was fleeting and soon dissipated, leaving him unable to capture any inspiration.

After carefully observing the young man for a while, Gloria finally spoke up and responded to his proposal: "It's just a small thing, and it can be done easily. But Mr. Ling, you have to understand that nothing is free on the sea. If you want to drive a pirate to do something for you, you have to pay the corresponding price."

Ling Ge frowned slightly: "What do you want?"

"Request? My request is very simple." Gloria grinned, her tone was very gentle, but people could hear her firmness and unquestionableness: "In the next period of time - I mean until I switch identities again, this whale, or this ship, will temporarily belong to me and obey my command. Mr. Ling, what do you think?"

It was clearly not a negotiation, but a unilateral request, but she still used an interrogative tone, as if this method would make the victim feel better. In this regard, our Miss Gloria, although a pirate, is undoubtedly a very polite pirate.

When Lingge heard this request, his first reaction was trouble.

"What do you want to do now?" He asked helplessly. "We are heading to Heidebrusburg, the capital of Alois, and we plan to stop directly at the top of Mount Osor. We don't have much time to do other things, so--"

So, if you want to use this "big ship" flying in the sky to do some popular things that pirates like to do, or to look for lost treasure like Alice, let alone whether it is morally acceptable, the time does not allow it.

The witch society's net was tightening behind the scenes, making the young man feel a little nervous for the first time in a long time. He knew that only by moving fast enough could he find a glimmer of hope before the witches closed the net. This was a matter of life and death, and Lingge would not let them do whatever they wanted - whether it was Alice or Gloria.

But Gloria's answer was beyond his expectations.

"I didn't plan on doing anything."

The pirate leaned back on the chair, raised her left leg and placed it on her right leg, then crossed her hands on her thighs. Her black riding boots swayed with the swing of her calves, and she put on a leisurely attitude: "Don't worry, Mr. Ling, I won't do anything. The original sailing direction will not change, and the destination will naturally still be Mount Osor. In other words, there is no difference from now."

"Then what's the point of your request?"

Ling Ge didn't understand, was she just teasing me? Given Gloria's personality, even if she changed her identity, she wouldn't be so bad, right?
"Meaning? It doesn't need any meaning - or rather, it is a meaning in itself."

Gloria's eyes revealed a hint of sarcasm. "The fact that you asked such a question shows that you don't know enough about our business, Mr. Ling. You have to know that on the vast ocean, observing maps, commanding crew members, deciding the course and destination... are all the captain's privileges and our unshakable authority. If I can't even grasp this little power, then what qualifications do I have to call myself a captain and call myself a great pirate who travels all over the world?"

We are in this line of work... This statement is inexplicably subtle, and always gives people the feeling of facing thieves or gangsters. Of course, there is actually no difference between the three, but influenced by too many literary works, the world has an unrealistic liking for pirates, and believes that the plunderers who run rampant on the sea and resist authority are a very romantic setting.

In fact, the killing, betrayal, conspiracy and hatred at sea are far more cruel than people on earth imagine. As Gloria said, if a captain loses the right to observe maps, command crews, decide directions and destinations, then he is not far from a rebellion with swords and swords.

"So -" Ling Ge finally came back to his senses: "Is this 'acting'?"

Gloria needs to play the role of "pirate captain" well, so even if it has no meaning, she still has to keep the "big ship" of Yunjingkong Island under her jurisdiction, otherwise, the captain will be in name only. This is the same as when she had to participate in the Yamit Cup Championship when she was an athlete.

"It seems you are not so stupid."

Miss Pirate commented, indirectly acknowledging Ling's guess.

The young man looked at her expressionlessly. “Although it makes sense, I always feel that this is not something Gloria would say.”

Such a strong style is a bit like another person's style.

Miss Pirate heard his hidden meaning, but she just sneered and didn't answer the question directly. She probably didn't want to continue chatting with Lingge, so she stood up, stretched, and said lazily: "I have to admit that this role is more difficult than the previous one, so I need your cooperation even more. Do you understand, Mr. Lingge?"

This rhetorical questioning tone once again confirmed Ling'er's identity, but he didn't know what she was trying to do, so he didn't expose her. After a moment of silence, he nodded slightly, tacitly agreeing to this matter. Ling'er's cooperation also meant the cooperation of others, especially Yieta. In theory, she was the owner of Yunjingkong Island, but in the next period of time, she might have to give up the ownership temporarily.

It doesn’t matter. I guess Miss Angel won’t care about such a small matter (after all, she has been teased by Alice once).

"Actually," a golden-haired head poked out from under the table like a ghost, looking at Gloria with eager eyes, his left eye full of power and his right eye full of influence: "I can cooperate with you, Captain, as long as you return the position of first mate to me..."

Alice started to curry favor with the powerful again. This was her classic talent. She wanted to join any group and especially liked to rise to the top overnight. She wanted to be in a high position as soon as she joined, second only to the leader. Her enthusiasm for power was despicable. Lingge even suspected that if Tiantis was willing to offer a witch seat to tempt her, maybe the shameless golden maid would agree on the spot.
Gloria also looked down on such shameless people. Although she was a pirate, didn't pirates need ethics? If you ask what pirates hate most on the sea, one is storms and tsunamis, and the other is capricious villains like Alice. In order to fulfill her role as a "righteous pirate", she sneered at Alice's suggestion and gracefully pulled out the dagger hanging on the leather strap around her waist. With a slight movement of her wrist, the dagger passed through Alice's eyes like a silver light and accurately inserted into the spread map, just splitting it in two. The ebony handle soaked in palm oil at the end of the dagger was still swaying in the wind, making a clanging tail sound.

"I can tolerate betrayal once, but if you want to be my first mate, you must be strong enough—strong enough to convince me to show mercy after the betrayal, and strong enough to deal with all the enemies who covet the position under you. Miss Alice, do you have confidence in yourself? I have great confidence in you."

Gloria grinned at Alice, and that smile seemed a bit nasty: "Brave men on the sea are not afraid of challenges. Look, I have already invited you, don't you plan to prove yourself?"

Sticking a dagger into a nautical map is an alternative invitation to a duel, and it is usually meant to be provocative. On the vast ocean, ambitious guys who want to overthrow their superiors and call for allies often use this method to make an alliance, because destroying the captain's map is equivalent to destroying his supreme authority. No captain can tolerate such a provocation. Either he dies or the person who sticks the dagger into the chart dies. There is no third outcome.

It is worth mentioning that this kind of duel invitation, etiquette, or unwritten rules is not exclusive to the Age of Navigation and the Age of Colonization. It appeared as early as when the great explorer Magellan led a fleet to explore the end of the sea under the order of the Ingvir royal family. At that time, some of his crew members were tired of the endless journey and tried to kidnap the captain and order the fleet to return. So they broke into the captain's room when he was alone, staring at the sea chart and thinking about the next voyage. The leader threw the dagger he carried with him at Magellan, but he dodged it and only hit the map on the table, tearing it in half. So the ancient tradition continued.

The rebellion was a failure for both sides. The crew was suppressed and failed to achieve the expected results, but Magellan's fleet was also thrown into chaos and lost its way in the ensuing storms. It was eventually swept into the depths of the chaotic sea. Only Magellan himself and a few crew members survived. They mistakenly entered the mysterious homeland of the dead, Yixu, and lived there for ten years before escaping and returning to the human world. The above plot is mentioned in "Yixu Township Observations".

Alice didn't know this history, and naturally didn't know the deep meaning behind the dagger stuck in the sea map, but she was obviously shocked by Gloria's momentum. She subconsciously shrank her neck and muttered, "But I'm not a sea man. I should be called a sea daughter..."

If you were on my ship, you would probably be dead at sea by now.

Gloria quietly rolled her eyes. Seeing Alice was such a coward, she probably couldn't persuade her to duel with her, so she pulled out the dagger stuck in the map, put it back into the sheath in a cool manner, and said lazily: "Then you should go to the sea to gain experience for a few years, and then come to talk to me about this. If there is nothing else, I will leave first. A great pirate is like a king on the sea. It is also the duty of a king to patrol his own territory."

Without giving others time to react, she walked straight to the door, then stopped at the door, curled her right thumb and index finger into a ring, placed them next to her lips which were soaked in a gray misty luster, and whistled softly. Immediately, a loud response came from the sky, followed by a snow-white gray-feathered falcon that descended from the sky, landed on the girl's shoulder, and rubbed her cheek affectionately with its beak.

The pirate lady stroked the feathers of her beloved pet and disappeared from everyone's sight without looking back, leaving them with only a chic and dashing back.

"Whoa!"

The bartender Xie Liya behind the counter watched this scene and couldn't help but whistle, but she didn't have a pet to call, she was just speaking out of emotion: "So being a pirate is so cool, maybe I should consider changing my career?"

"Forget it."

After the great pirate's pressure was gone, Alice finally crawled out from under the table. She lay on the table with a dejected look on her face. She disagreed with Shelia's idea. Because she had just been ridiculed, she even spoke with a bit of anger: "You, a mere traveler fairy, want to be a pirate? Are you worthy? You don't have the ability, you know!"

"Not necessarily."

The bartender was very well-mannered and didn't argue with her. Instead, she analyzed the feasibility seriously: "We travel fairies are best at identifying directions, finding water sources, and observing the climate. Aren't these skills necessary for sea voyages? What's more, there is the magical fairy magic that can bring luck to the crew. I heard that people who travel on the sea believe in this. So, who said that Captain Gloria is unwilling to accept me?"

"Ah this!"

Alice found herself speechless and became a little flustered. If what Celia said was true, then there was a great possibility that Gloria would recruit her. She might even directly grant her the position of first mate to show her appreciation for talent.
That was the position that Alice had set her eyes on. Although she actually had no hope of competing, since Alice had set her eyes on it, it already belonged to Alice. Since it belonged to Alice, how could she allow others to covet it?

Her eyes rolled around, and she immediately came up with a strategy to divert the blame. She turned around and complained, "Lingge, look at this guy. He's obviously a bartender, but he doesn't do his job well and is always thinking about changing jobs. If this continues, how can the atmosphere in our team be harmonious? I think we should kill him to serve as a warning to others!"

She was murderous, and Shelia behind the counter rolled her eyes.

I think you are the one who destroys the team atmosphere the most, right?

Lingge looked at the map in front of him that had been split in half by a dagger, and then looked at Alice who looked loyal. His simple moral values ​​were tested again, and he suddenly felt a little nauseous.

He decided to kill one person to warn the rest.

So the young man said with a straight face: "Alice."

Alice rolled up her sleeves, eager to give it a try: "Oh? You want me to do it? I've been waiting for this day for a long time! The time has come, let's start the war today!"

"You, go and duel with Gloria now."

"Eh!?"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)