Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1121 Is the heart the final strength?
My body feels so heavy.

It was like flapping its wet wings, flying for three days and three nights without sleep in the storm that stirred the entire sky and the ocean. At this moment, this silver-white petrel was no longer as light and agile as before. She looked so miserable that it made people feel pity. The dirty feathers were clinging to her body, dyed a bleak dark red by the blood flowing from the wound; her throat seemed to be burned by the scorching flame, becoming mute and silent, unable to utter graceful songs and ethereal whispers; her heavy eyelids kept drooping, as if there was a voice whispering in her ear: Don't hold on. What's the point? Just give up? Maybe it will be easier? You have tried very hard, and you no longer need to save anyone, and of course, you don't need to be saved by anyone.

This voice attempted to deprive her of the few rationalities she could maintain in this fierce storm, just like depriving a drowning person of the courage to resist and struggle, making her completely indulge in a sad dream. The weak seagull knew that once she succumbed to its temptation and closed her eyes, she would eventually be completely swallowed up by the storm, and the story would end in an abyss of no return.

She didn't stand up for this result.

So, no matter how tired she was, how painful she was, or how much she wanted to stop and rest... she still gritted her teeth and persisted, flying towards the end of the storm.

but.

My body still feels so heavy.

After being nearly blown away by a hurricane and having to hold on by sheer willpower, Haiyan couldn't help but wonder how long she could hold on. The sharp wind was cutting every blue or red blood vessel under her skin, and the cold rain was washing the wounds on her body mercilessly. Her soul was heavy, and every minute and every second, she felt a tiny but dense pain like a needle. She felt like she was flying, but her spirit and consciousness could not stop falling. When the remaining heat in her body burned out, she would sink into the bottomless abyss and never wake up again.

If it's Alice.

In the chaotic and complicated thoughts, this thought occasionally flashes through my mind: It can't be so embarrassing, right?

No matter how many times she loses, no matter how badly she is beaten, no matter how her opponent attacks her with words and actions, that person will always shout slogans such as "Love, justice and courage will never lose", stand up again, and throw herself into the next battle with renewed energy. She is undefeated, and in a sense, immortal, because the Armed Goddess is a super robot that uses the power of the heart as its energy source, and no one has ever been as full of faith, fearless, and has unparalleled confidence in herself and her companions as Alice. So she is of course the most suitable pilot to control this Genesis Mech. It doesn't matter if she fails for a while, she will always pick herself up again.

But, Themis from Heaven can’t do that.

Themis has no courage, no faith, and no understanding of love and justice. She only knows how to run away when she steps on the battlefield, and when she leaves the battlefield, she is as dejected as a stray dog, always being chased by her own weakness and cowardice. No one likes such a protagonist, not even Themis herself, so she cannot use the power of idealism.

She doesn't have that kind of willpower.

There is no will to fight.

There is no will to live.

……

"She has come back!"

Alice saw the Armed Goddess, and it was actively approaching the Cloud Whale Island. The eyes of the genius player gradually glowed brightly, and the previous anxiety and uneasiness were swept away. She shouted excitedly, as if she had defeated a powerful enemy without injury in the most difficult game, and her voice was so loud that it seemed that Xino in Tianxin Church could also hear it, hoping that she could come out of the church and share the joy of this moment with her.

I am right.

Alice said to herself in her heart that Celestial Themis was strong, and the Armed Goddess was also strong. Their combined strength would never lose to the Dark Witch. She placed her trust in Celestial Themis, and Celestial Themis responded to that trust. This world is so simple. The power of trust will overcome everything, just as the power of love, justice and courage can open up the future, and the evil villain will definitely not be able to defeat the righteous protagonist. She gently pressed her hand on her chest, felt the hot and powerful heartbeat, and a smile appeared at the corner of her mouth. However, the genius player who was immersed in joy did not realize that his smile was not so much about peace of mind and relaxation, but about surviving a disaster.

Subconsciously, she may not be unaware that her behavior is actually walking on a tightrope, a gamble with no cost-effectiveness. If she wins, she only gets to keep her capital, but if she loses, she gets nothing. But blindness and arrogance born out of fear blinded her rationality and made her make such a radical decision; and what made Xino most angry and disappointed was that the genius player's willfulness was at the expense of his companions' lives.

Maybe she was still angry, or maybe she was worried and didn't hear Alice's voice. In short, the door of the church was still closed, and there was no sign of it being opened. Alice was very disappointed, but she comforted herself, it didn't matter, Xino was just angry for a while, she was very gentle, and she would admit her mistakes and apologize later, and she would definitely forgive her. What's more, until this moment, the genius player still believed that she was not wrong, because the ending of the story was not a happy ending, a happy ending without anyone's sacrifice, but if she didn't stop Xino from stepping onto the battlefield, someone would definitely sacrifice.

It shouldn't be like that.

The strategy route of a genius player shouldn't be like that.

Alice couldn't help but raise her head and look out into the sky. She saw that the sacred and awe-inspiring mecha was still flying towards the direction of Yunjing Sky Island. This made her feel at ease, as if if she didn't do this, the other party's figure would suddenly disappear from her sight. However, she soon discovered that the situation of Celestial Themis might not be as good as she imagined, because the body of the Armed Goddess was covered with scars, and the degree of damage to the armor could almost be described as tragic. She flew here staggeringly with only a thin pair of wings, like a petrel that had suffered too many blows in the storm, and was too weak to maintain that graceful posture.

Alice's heart tightened suddenly. Only then did she realize that she had made this weak girl who should have been well protected bear too much. She didn't want to fight at all, and she didn't know how to fight, but in order to protect herself, she was forced to be hostile to the dark witch. If she was stronger, this plot wouldn't have to happen. But what can she do? The genius player has done his best. Not only her, but everyone on Yunjingkong Island has tried their best to fight. Even Gloria and Olvera, who are not good at fighting, have taken the initiative to step onto the battlefield. But once Alice loses the most crucial battle, everything will be meaningless.

Or, as Carabosse said, was it because his "heart" was not strong enough that he was unable to unleash the true power of the Armed Goddess?

Don't fight just with the belief that you will win, fight with the belief that you will kill someone.

Because you should have understood that the difference in ideas between the girl and the witch is no longer a matter of who wins and who loses. It must be... the victorious party kills the losing party and eliminates all interference, so that they can change the world without scruples and achieve the ending they want.

The voice of the dark witch lingered in her ears coldly and reservedly, like a poisonous flower that eroded the deepest thoughts in her heart as nutrients, quietly growing. Alice was startled, and her hair stood on end, as if her exposed skin had suddenly touched the coldest ice. Every pore was shrinking inwards, squeezing out unwilling moans and distressed whispers.

No, no! How can I think of such an unlucky thing at such a happy moment?

The genius player shook her head violently, throwing away all irrelevant thoughts at the moment. She knew that she didn't need to take that guy's words to heart. After all, she kept saying that she was powerful, but in the end, didn't she lose to Themis? It can be seen that those theories are just farts, all perverse!
Alice breathed a sigh of relief and decided not to think about these unhappy things anymore. She raised her hands high, waved a few times at the Armed Goddess that was flying towards her, and shouted loudly: "Hey! Here! Celestial Themis - I'm here!!!"

I don't know if it heard the call or saw Alice waving her hand, but the Armed Goddess paused in the void, then turned around and gradually approached the Cloud Whale Sky Island. When facing the Dyson Sphere, the size of this Genesis Mech seemed extremely small, not much bigger than a stone at the foot of the mountain; however, once compared with the Cloud Whale Sky Island, it was as tall as a mountain, flying on the same horizontal line as the Sky Island, just like a towering snow mountain suddenly appeared beside the whale, casting a shadow that covered the spire of the Tianxin Church and also covered Alice's entire body.

Whether it was accidental or deliberate, the Genesis Mech and the Cloud Whale Sky Island were parallel to each other, right in front of her chest, facing the triangular pure gemstone - now dim and covered with dust, full of cracks. Through the fragmented mirror, Alice saw the celestial Themis floating in the driving space. The girl looked like she had just returned from the rain, with a wet forehead, soft silver hair clinging to her forehead, and a pale face without any blood color. But when her eyes met Alice's, she smiled at her.

Alice's nose felt sore, and for a moment she was too sad to speak. But she rubbed her nose with her hand, pretended to be calm, and waved to her, "Great, Celestial Themis, you're finally back. You didn't know that I was so worried about you just now. But in the end, we won, right? Oh, by the way, I'll turn off the game console now, so you can have a good rest... This is the first time I've taken the initiative to turn off the game..."

Alice muttered that in the past, after defeating the boss, the game console would shut down automatically, and Themis would pretend to be the narrator and read a very literary line, which made people confused, but Alice couldn't understand it anyway. But this time, she, the narrator, personally went into battle, so naturally there was no line.

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She reached for the game console at her waist, but at this moment, Themis from the Celestial Realm interrupted her: "Wait a minute, Alice... I have something else to do..."

The girl's voice was so weak that she seemed like she would fall asleep at any moment. Alice's outstretched hand paused in mid-air. She slowly raised her head, her eyes flickering. "What is it? Can't you leave it for later? You need to rest now."

"No..." Themis of the Celestial Realm forced a smile: "We can't delay it too long... Otherwise, Carabosse will catch up..."

"She has already lost..."

"I just temporarily paralyzed the Dyson Sphere's function, so that she can't continue to pursue." The girl paused and said, "Before she recovers, you must hurry and retreat... I will use the last bit of energy left in the Armed Goddess to help you return to Mirror Star as soon as possible... You still have a lot of things to do there, right? Be careful..."

Be careful of what? She didn't say anything. After giving such a word that I didn't know whether to say encouragement or comfort, she gently raised her hand, and the Armed Goddess also raised her scarred palms to support the bottom of the Cloud Whale Sky Island from below. Just this simple action made the girl's forehead sweat. She bit her tongue a little harder in a place where Alice couldn't see, using the thin pain to stimulate herself to continue to maintain a high level of concentration.

"Yieta..." Then she called another name softly: "Please control the speed of Yunjing Sky Island and try to keep it synchronized with the energy input of the Armed Goddess... The speed will get faster and faster, you just need to focus on controlling the balance..."

On the rooftop of the windmill tower, the angel lady was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously, closed her eyes and did what Themis said. In the dark vision, she clearly "saw" a stream of blue energy flowing from the gem on the chest of the Armed Goddess to the interior of the Cloud Whale Sky Island, like a growing giant net, quickly penetrating and spreading to every inch of soil and every crack in the rock, consolidating the island into a whole, and allowing the royal power that Yieta exerted on the Cloud Whale Sky Island to be more thoroughly and effectively exerted.

But for some reason, an ominous thought suddenly emerged in her mind: those energies looked like blood.

The Armed Goddess is transporting its blood to the Yunjing Sky Island.

Also, as Themis from Heaven just said, this is the last bit of energy left in the Armed Goddess.

However, according to Alice's setting, the source of energy for the so-called super robot is the driver's...

Heart?

Give me some meow