Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1144: Let’s play two games first?
"…So we say that the goddess's grace turns into raindrops, nurturing the spirituality of all things; Her gaze turns into stars, illuminating the vast universe; when She feels lonely, life understands sadness; when She misses this, all spirits gain emotions; in the distant lightless sea, She examines every soul that has fallen into long sleep, washes away the filth, retains the purity, and allows the guilty and the innocent to live in Her carefree kingdom. We worship the great goddess and pray for Her only benevolence among all living beings in the world, so that the merciful are rewarded, the poor dream of their destination, the sinners are enlightened with kindness, and the heartless are inspired by fate. This is how it is when we are born, and it is also how it is when we return..."

The small church was very quiet, with only a young but clear voice echoing, enthusiastically praising the great deeds of the goddess, hoping that all living beings in the world would gather here to call upon her glorious grace. Her emotions were so devoted, and her voice was so full and powerful, as if she believed in every word of her words, but the audience could not hear the fanaticism and indignation of the fanatics from her sermon, only holiness and piety.

The audience under the altar had unconsciously relaxed their vigilance. Even Michelle pursed his lips and remained silent, looking particularly serious.

The sermon is a time that cannot be desecrated, and even God's eyes will fall on it. In this continent with a strong atmosphere of faith, almost everyone believes in this legend. Therefore, unless one is an incurable blasphemer, no one will disturb a pastor when he is preaching. Whether you believe it or not, you should listen attentively, which is the most basic respect for God, faith, and the destination of the soul.

But beneath this serious appearance, how much of the doctrine can penetrate their ears, bypass deep-rooted prejudices, and be accepted by their minds?
After Metien finished her last sentence, her voice seemed to split in two, one half went up to the church spire, and the other half went down to the tiny dust. In the middle, the only thing left was the audience's expressions of thinking, confusion, hesitation, or doubt. They must have a lot of doubts, right? This is normal. After all, the goddess has been asleep for a long time, and the Goddess of Creation has been in hiding for many years. The ancient creation myths have not been circulated in the world for a long time, which must have made all living things forget their creator and all things lose their origins.

Today, Metien stood on this altar to change this situation. She was ready to face all kinds of questions from the audience: Is there really this goddess you mentioned? Did she really create our universe and all living beings? Why have we never heard of her name? Then she would answer them one by one, so that they would understand what a true god should be. It was definitely not a mortal god like the original Night God who abandoned his believers and the kingdom of God because of fear of his own demise, but a selfless and loving natural god who was willing to devote everything for all living beings in the world.

Only those who are born with nothing are the purest, and thus can obtain divinity; however, gods transformed from mortals have too many desires mixed in their emotions. They struggle in humanity, but have not yet obtained divinity, and therefore are in great pain.

Come and listen! Come and question! And then, come and be inspired!

There is no need to worry about what is blasphemy, and no need to be anxious about what is the truth. The Goddess loves each of Her children equally. Whether it is you, him, or us, we can all find warmth and comfort in Her arms. Isn’t that what you need most right now?
Metien closed the scripture and stared at the audience below with his emerald eyes: "I'm done! How about it? Do you have any questions?"

Kadora and the others looked at each other without saying a word, and the atmosphere was a little awkward for a moment.

Xie Mi, an audience member outside the venue, thought that it might be because everyone was not familiar with each other and was a little reserved. She was about to jump out and play the role of a questioner. This would not only help her friends break the awkward silence, but also stimulate the emotions of the audience and make them relax. It was simply killing two birds with one stone. She was very proud of herself, but at this time, Mitch, who had been pursing his lips and not expressing his opinion, suddenly spoke: "Besides that?"

"What?" Metien didn't react for a moment.

"I mean, you have described the deeds of the goddess very clearly. She is indeed a great lady, but what about other things?" Mitch asked with a serious expression, "Regarding the strength and foundation of your church, how many demigod-level masters do you have? How many holy relics are inherited? Which area of ​​the continent has the sphere of influence expanded to? Which path of power do you control? If we are willing to convert to the faith of the goddess, what is the most basic treatment? For example, can we get the formula of the potion? Can we exchange the materials of the potion according to our contribution? Or even use some special method to help us become stronger quickly?"

"Eh?" Metien never expected that the audience would raise doubts, but these doubts all hit her blind spots. She couldn't blame the girl for not thinking carefully. In fact, this was far from what she knew about preaching. Whether it was when Lingge preached or when she watched the preaching of the pastors of the united church, she had never heard them talk about similar content. It was nothing more than the deeds of God, His teachings, and expectations for believers.

"Is something like this mentioned in sermons in the East Continent?" she asked hesitantly.

"of course."

The boy raised his head, his amber eyes staring at the girl on the altar. "Your Majesty the Goddess is a great deity. The sect she leads should also have corresponding power, right? If the believers knew this, they would feel more at ease, right?"

But that is using strength to attract the weak, rather than using righteousness to convince believers, right?

If I choose to follow just for the sake of power, wouldn't that be the same mistake as those human-gods in Eden in the old world?

Metien was about to say something, but she suddenly realized that the audience all had the same expression, calm yet enthusiastic. Their expectations and wishes for God were so calm, but they were so enthusiastic about the power that God had and could give them. All of a sudden, the girl suddenly realized where she was wrong. The religious system and belief atmosphere of the entire East Continent were completely different from the atmosphere she was familiar with. It would be better to say that the belief atmosphere that her adoptive father Yang Ke and her brother Ling Ge had painstakingly created in the past was the only outlier in the world, right?

The reason why the God of Night was expelled was not just because he abandoned his believers, but because he could not give them stronger power to help them resist or even expel the invaders and protect their homeland. Perhaps he knew this from the beginning and knew that he would be abandoned by his believers sooner or later, so he decided to seize the opportunity and abandon his believers? If we think from this perspective, the original intention of the believers of the Church of Night to resist the invasion and protect their homeland is certainly good, but their attitude towards faith is inevitably a bit... realistic and utilitarian?
Gods use believers as anchors to stabilize their existence and prevent themselves from being eroded and going crazy; believers take refuge in the power of gods and gain a sense of security from religion as a group and an increase in their own power. If this connection is lost, gods and believers, religion and faith will become extremely fragile, and can even be described as walking on thin ice.

So, can the Holy Goddess Cult give them what they want?
Of course.

Putting aside other matters, Saint Shalia has mastered all the sequence formulas of the fourteen kinds of extraordinary paths, and the herb garden of the hotel grows various rare magic potions, most of which come from the deceased tree lady, and a few are collected by Shesta and Shelia during their travels. Combining the two, it may take time to cultivate high-sequence extraordinary people and magicians, but it is just a piece of cake to help the dozen boys and girls in the church who have just awakened their spirituality to truly step into the mysterious world.

But can something like this be called faith?
When faith is put on the scale and weighed against mortals' own desires, does it go against its original intention?

The girl stood on the altar, stunned and not knowing how to answer.

She didn't say anything, and the others waited quietly for an answer, but the waiting time was too long, so that an invisible atmosphere gradually spread, making the church so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. After a long time without a clear answer, Mitch seemed a little impatient: "Can't you tell us the answer? If you want to preach to us, you should at least show some sincerity, right?"

"Stop making noise!" Leticia said to him, "Metien is thinking, why are you in such a hurry?"

After saying that, she looked at the other person with contempt: "I heard that you are the boss of these guys. You have been through hundreds of battles, but all you learned from the battles is impulsiveness and temper? You don't have any patience at all." Unlike me, I have sneaked into the Silver Moon's lair and the confidential data room of the Witch Society. If I didn't have enough patience, how could I have accomplished such an amazing achievement?

Thinking of this, Leticia couldn't help but feel proud. She raised her head with contempt and pointed her chin at Mitch, which made her very angry. She wanted to have a good argument with this arrogant guy and tell her that I learned much more from the battlefield than you. But Cardo pulled the boy's sleeve again and shouted in his ear hurriedly: "Don't be angry, Mitch! Think about what Sister Regina said!"

This sentence was like a magical spell, calming Mitch down instantly. Although his face was still ugly, he no longer wanted to argue with Leticia, so he turned his head away with a stern face, crossed his arms and sat in his original position without saying a word. Kadora and the others looked at each other in bewilderment. Although they successfully stopped a friction, why did they feel that the atmosphere became more awkward?

Metien on the altar did not come back to her senses until this moment. She did not notice what had just happened, but she could sense that there was a stiff atmosphere around her. She hesitated for a moment and whispered to the audience: "If, I mean if, if the Holy Goddess Church cannot provide what you want, will you not be willing to believe in the Goddess?"

Mitch and Kadora did not speak, but the expressions on their faces undoubtedly told Metien the answer. Come to think of it, according to Mr. Yangke, the essence of faith is the process of obtaining comfort. But for individuals, the comfort that everyone wants to obtain is different. Metien may feel that in a large environment, everyone supports each other, resonates with each other, and grows together because of the same faith. This process can greatly soothe the scars in these people's hearts and give them the courage to face reality and difficulties again. But Mitch and the others feel from the bottom of their hearts that those are meaningless. Only the power that can be seen with the naked eye and the power that can be touched by reaching out can give themselves a sense of security. Entrusting faith to such a god can be regarded as finding a suitable destination.

Metien doesn't know which of these two ideas - or, rather, which of the many contradictory ideas in the world is right or wrong. After all, the different situations that individuals experience in different environments will change their cognition. There are so many people in the world, how can we expect everyone to have the same ideas? Faith is not homogenization, it should be empathy.

She knew, she could understand, she even felt that if she were in the shoes of Mitch and Kadora, she would definitely think the same. But even so, even so, she still felt an indescribable sadness in her heart. Was it sadness for not being able to help others, or sadness for this continent that equated faith with power? In the beginning, wasn't the joy and blessing that the goddess conveyed to the world and creatures she created pure? Later, the human gods of Eden and Mirror Star regarded power as the foundation of their missionary work, and for this they did not hesitate to defy fate and defy the laws. Isn't it sad?
At this moment, the girl suddenly understood why her brother Lingge had been called a "true believer" by so many people.

He doesn't pray to God, doesn't act in God's name, doesn't rejoice in God's approval, and doesn't act for God's expectations. Even when blessing others, he never uses God's name. From any perspective, he is an unqualified believer, right? However, he also doesn't ask for grace from God, doesn't make a wish for gifts from God, and doesn't beg for power from God. He thinks he is a mortal, so it is enough to do what a mortal should do.

This is what my brother learned from my father, but I didn't learn it. No wonder my father handed over Tianxin Church to Lingge in the end, because he had already seen who was more qualified to be a true believer, right?

Metien suddenly sighed deeply and gently closed the heavy book with a dull sound. The audience and her friends were all confused and didn't understand what was going on. Did her mission end in such a whimper?

Gloria was watching anxiously from behind the pillar. She urged: "Metien seems very discouraged. What should we do, Bai Ye? We have to find a way to help her! What do you think we should do?"

"How should I know?" Bai Ye said coldly.

"How could you not know?" Gloria was greatly surprised. "Wasn't it your idea? Let Metien preach to his peers and say that children are easier to fool. How can they be easily fooled?"

"That's because you've got the wrong method." Bai Ye sneered, "It's true that you can treat those little brats as children, but does being a child mean being innocent and ignorant? Sometimes they are much more mature than adults. When I say they're easy to fool, I mean some methods that don't work on adults are very effective on them."

"So, what is the solution?"

"Don't make a mistake, Gloria. You are the nun of the Heavenly Heart Church. Why don't you use your stupid head to think about it? I really doubt whether its decorative function is far greater than its practical function."

"Well... let me think about it, let me think about it..." Gloria said with a bitter face: "What if I can't think of it?"

"If you can't think of anything, then—"

Bai Ye suddenly stopped talking and didn't continue. Gloria was about to ask more questions when she heard steady and powerful footsteps coming from the direction of the church entrance. Then, a voice that everyone was familiar with said, "Why are you all in a daze here?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on the uninvited guest.

After opening the door, Lingge faced a sea of ​​gazes without panic. He looked at his sister, who looked helpless on the altar, and then at the audience below who were looking at each other in bewilderment. He didn't know whether it was based on some kind of sharp intuition or his understanding of his sister, but he quickly understood what was going on. So he smiled slightly, walked to the prayer area, came to a half-man-high game console, and pressed the start button on the back with ease.

A bright flash flashed across the dark electronic screen, followed by brilliant colors and bizarre logos, as well as some pixelated game characters that jumped around on the screen, scaring the boys and girls of the Ash Guerrillas.

"It looks like you have nothing to do."

The young man tapped the iron shell of the game console, making a crisp sound. "How about we play a couple of games first?"

Give me some meow