Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1146 The one who loves and the one who is loved?

"KO!"

Looking at his own character lying on the ground on the screen, and then looking at the enemy character whose health was still intact, Mitch's expression was as gloomy as a dark forest after a rainy day, making people worry that he would throw the controller on the game console and yell "I don't want to play anymore" to vent his anger. However, this boy was obviously more qualified than some genius players. Even though he was unilaterally beaten for half an hour, he still did not collapse. He just silently returned to the character selection interface, still locked the character he had been controlling, and then lowered his voice and squeezed out three words from his teeth unwillingly: "Next game."

After playing for half an hour... I mean, in-depth understanding, he has seen through the essence of this game. It seems to be entertainment, but in fact it is a test of the player's reaction ability, control ability, body coordination and even psychological quality, but it has nothing to do with magic. In other words, maybe he is far inferior to Pastor Lingge in the extraordinary sequence, but at least, once sitting in front of this game console, both sides are equal.

If that's the case, why should I lose? Even if I lost at the beginning because I was unfamiliar with the game, why should I keep losing later? Both sides are controlling one joystick and four buttons. There is absolutely no reason why he is stronger than me and I can only take the beating unilaterally!
At least, at least win once!

The boy shouted in his heart, unwilling to admit defeat.

As if influenced by his emotions, or the duel between the two was too exciting, the other people who were originally scattered in the game area gathered behind them unconsciously, watching this exciting duel that was completely one-sided. Although she had realized that there was an absolute gap in strength between the two and it would be very difficult for Mitch to defeat Lingge, emotional factors still made Kadora lean more towards the former. She hid in the crowd and quietly cheered for her good partner.

Come on, big brother who controls fire.

I don't know if Mitch heard her voice, but Kadora felt that the words she wanted to convey had indeed been conveyed, and they were conveyed together with the words of many people. At this time, Mitch seemed not to be fighting alone, but to be carrying the expectations and trust of many people, challenging an enemy that was impossible to defeat, just like he always protected his companions and defeated the enemy on the battlefield before.

But this is just a game...right?
In the crowd, Kadora turned her head and looked left and right. Whether it was Mitch, whose expression became more and more serious and whose fighting spirit became more and more high, or Lingge, who was always calm and never showed mercy, they all seemed to be shrouded in a bright halo in her eyes, as if this bulky machine itself had some kind of mysterious charm, even those who disdained it at first would be attracted by it and fall deeply in love with it.

It is said that some extraordinary people can manipulate other people's emotions at will, making them fall into fear and despair, but that is all negative. Thinking of this, Kadora suddenly felt that the goddess was really amazing. She did not use majesty and awe to maintain her holiness in the hearts of believers, but wanted to bring happiness and joy to everyone. Even her holy objects can be controlled without magic power, and she doesn't even mind letting some children use them. In other sects, this is a scene that would never happen, right?
If, if it was not the original Night Church that preached in the Ansus area at the beginning, but the Goddess's Church, then even if He could not help the Gray Hill people regain their homeland, perhaps the Gray Hill people would be willing to advance and retreat together with Him? Because even mortals, even those mortals who are foolish and ignorant in the eyes of the true God and are only suitable to be led and tamed like lambs, can see who is the god who is truly worth following.

In the past, the mortals on this continent simply had no choice. The evil gods were cruel, the false gods were greedy, and the true gods were relatively better, but only to a limited extent. If you don't choose one of these three, you can only become an unbeliever without protection, either being ruthlessly abandoned after being squeezed out of all your value, or like the current Ash Guerrillas, who are nominally resisting, but in fact are just delaying their own demise in the name of resistance. Without the help of gods, without powerful extraordinary people and magicians, and without the support of the allied forces, can we really drive away the invaders? No matter how confident the Gray Hill Eagle is, it can't stop people from having such thoughts.

Trust and disbelief both come from the heart, but are also influenced by the outside world. On this continent, religion is undoubtedly the strongest factor.

in case……

Some outrageous thoughts popped up in Kadora's mind. In fact, she often thought that way. The girl herself didn't know why. Sometimes she would think about things that no one else cared about, and sometimes she would have some whimsical ideas. The various educations she had received in the past, whether from her family or society, had not taught her any thinking patterns in this regard. She seemed to have learned it by herself. Sometimes she buried these thoughts in her heart and didn't let anyone know, and sometimes she couldn't help but say them out and share them with her closest friend and partner Mitch, but Mitch asked her not to tell these words to anyone, not even him, so in the end, the girl could only confide in herself silently.

Am I a weird person?

She asked herself and felt something in her heart. She looked up at the altar and happened to meet the eyes of the pink-haired little girl. The latter narrowed her eyes and smiled at her. Kadora opened her eyes wide in surprise. She didn't know if it was an illusion, but she seemed to see Metien glowing, and in that soft and sacred light, her face gradually overlapped with the face of the goddess. The two were so similar that they seemed to be carved from the same mold.

The girl couldn't believe it and subconsciously rubbed her eyes. When she came to her senses, she found that everything was normal. There was no light at all. Metien's face was still her face. The baby fat that symbolized her youth and tenderness was fading from her face. This girl was growing up and she would soon become an adult. No matter who saw her, similar thoughts would pop up in their minds.

So, it was indeed my illusion?

Kadora was stunned and a little overwhelmed. At this moment, a familiar voice came from behind her, pulling her back to reality: "Next!"

……

"I refuse." Linger shook his head and rejected Mitch's request for another round: "We have been playing for a long time, let's take a break first."

"I'm not tired." Mitch replied unconvinced.

"Are you really not tired?" The young man raised his eyebrows: "You can try to stand up."

Mitch tried to do as he was told, but as soon as he stood up he felt dizzy and sat back down heavily in his chair.

"Moderate gaming is good for the brain, but excessive gaming is harmful to the body." Linger gave a simple warning, then stood up and walked towards the altar where Metien was. Seeing that he was completely unaffected, Mitch realized belatedly that in the previous duel, this young man who seemed to have a very peaceful personality actually did not use his full strength.

What a scary guy! He must be a very powerful supernatural being. Maybe even more powerful than Brother Carson!
Lingge had no idea what he was thinking. He came to the altar, reached out and picked up the heavy scriptures, then turned around and smiled gently at the young men and women of the Ash Guerrillas: "During the break, why not listen to the teachings of the goddess? I believe it will be of great benefit to your life."

Mitch was stunned for a moment, feeling as if he had fallen into some kind of trap. He showed a vigilant expression: "Are you planning to threaten us in this way? If we don't join your Holy Goddess Church, you will not allow us to continue playing these... video games?"

His thoughts surprisingly coincided with Gloria's.

However, this trick may fool children, but how can it fool us, real soldiers who have experienced the battlefield? Mitch believes that his companions will never fall into the trap for a mere game console. To put it bluntly, it is just a form of entertainment. They are burdened with national hatred and family feuds, so how can they indulge in games?
When he came to his senses, he found that his companions, including Kadora, were already sitting neatly on rows of oak benches. Kadora even turned his head and waved at him, as if asking him why he hadn't come over yet. Mitch's face suddenly darkened. He even vaguely heard the sound of Leticia and Shemy laughing beside him. Why are you just watching? Is there really a betrayal?
The boy cried out in his heart, but Linger shook his head and said, "I am not such a mean person. I hope you will listen to the teachings of the goddess. I really think that this will be extremely beneficial to your future life. As for what you want to do after listening, whether it is to join the church or stick to your original ideas, it doesn't matter. You can play the game console as you like, but you must be moderate and don't get too addicted to it."

Huh? That sounds good.

Mitch repeatedly confirmed: "You really won't force us to join the church?"

After getting an affirmative answer again, he muttered, "Just listen to it. If you don't speak well enough, I won't agree with you."

He moved to the bench reluctantly, and he didn't seem to notice that after the confrontation just now, his attitude towards Lingge was no longer as respectful and distant as at the beginning. Even his tone had become much more intimate, as if he was talking to a friend.

That's what kids are like.

You only need to have common interests to make them feel close to you. Mitch repeatedly tried to show his maturity and repeatedly emphasized his attitude and position, but it is precisely such people who are most like children.

"Then please try to listen and think about it."

Under the gaze of the eyes in the church, Linger casually turned to a certain page of the church scripture that he had memorized by heart. Because it was not a formal sermon or missionary, he did not insist on starting from the beginning, but just talked about the page that he turned to: "Just now, Metien should have told you the legend of the goddess' creation of the world, and what I am going to talk about next is the words that He conveyed to all things and spirits after the creation of the world. Those are proverbs, admonitions, and His expectations for all living things. In the second section of Chapter 6 of the church scripture, it is mentioned that God loves the world, so the world should also love themselves..."

Hearing this, Mitch couldn't help but interrupt him: "Don't you love God?"

Just now, when Medien was telling the legend of the goddess' creation of the world, he had been silent, but now he took the initiative to ask questions.

Lingge was not angry that he interrupted his story. He just looked at him calmly and said, "Is this what you have always believed? Because God loves the world, the world should also love Him and even dedicate everything to Him, including their lives and souls?"

Mitch asked back, "Isn't it?"

The others also had a natural expression on their faces. They had been taught this way all along. This was by no means an isolated case in the East Continent. In fact, in terms of religious dedication and sacrifice, both the East and West Continents showed amazing consistency. God loves the world, and the world should be grateful for God's love, and even voluntarily give up everything they have. Love has been concretized in an abstract sense.

"This is wrong."

Lingge's tone was gentle, but unquestionable: "The goddess never needs you to dedicate, pay, or even sacrifice anything for her. She created living beings, gave them life, soul, emotions, and ideals. If she wanted to get these things from you, why didn't she create them in the first place? Only those gods who have never given any gifts to living beings will use "love" as a chain in exchange for faith, because they know that they have no favors for believers, and they must deceive with lies and bind with hypocrisy to create the illusion of favor to believers. There are gods with great love and gods with small love. Those with great love have no boundaries and no desires; those with small love have different hearts and virtues, and they take whatever they want, nothing more than this."

Doesn't this mean that all gods except the goddess are demoted to "little lovers"?

The expressions of Mitch, Katara and others were even more shocked than when they heard the legend of the goddess' creation of the world.

The young man didn't care and just continued, "It is recorded in the third verse of the sixth chapter of the canon that the goddess has compassion on the sufferings of the world. She said, 'I have seen sores on your hands and feet, as if I was cold; I have seen you hungry, as if I was hungry; I hope you love yourself and others. When you cherish your hands and feet, I will no longer feel cold; when you can fill each other's stomachs, I will no longer feel hungry. This is to say that even the goddess, who is the creator, has compassion on the sufferings of her creation. How can the son of man not cherish his own body, causing sores on his hands and feet and hunger, causing the goddess to suffer the same suffering as you and me?"

"Always remember that the body and soul do not belong to you, but to the great God. This does not mean that you should dedicate it to Him, but that you should protect it while you are alive and not let it get hurt. When you die, bury it completely in the ground, sink it to the bottom of the water, or even burn it to dust. Only then can you return to the Goddess in your original form and be praised and called by Her. This is our duty as sons of men and believers."

Even the goddess loves you, so why don’t you love yourself?

The young man on the stage looked at Mitch deeply. The boy felt that he was seen through. He shrank unconsciously, stroked his arm, and remained silent.

There was a hideous wound there, which was left when he was ambushed by the enemy when he was fighting for victory and seeking revenge on the battlefield. Along with this wound, there was also a comrade who died in order to save him, and his last words before he died, "Live well with my share."

Does he also hope that Mitch will take good care of her body like the goddess does?

But the fact is, Mitch has more and more wounds, new ones are added in addition to the old ones.

Maybe I've never done it.

The boy thought sadly.

Give me some meow