Alice in the Land of Steam

"are you angry?"

"No."

"Are you angry?"

"No."

"You are indeed angry."

"So I said no."

Lingge stood in front of Princess Haiqi with his arms folded across his chest and replied expressionlessly.

"You're really not good at lying." Rorona poked the young man's arm with her finger, with a teasing look on her face: "You're just like a little kid. Even the way you get angry is so childish. Where's the mature, stable, rational and calm Lingge in the past? Where's the Lingge who never gets angry no matter how I tease him? You fake, give him back to me!"

Lingge's cold expression could no longer be maintained.

After Saint Shalia's shocking words, how come even Lorena began to think he was childish? Was he really a childish, immature, and always making people laugh and cry? It sounded like he had fallen to the same level as Shaymi. If this was a derogatory statement, it would be too cruel, right?

The young man didn't want to admit it, but after what Lorena said, it was hard for him to say that he wasn't angry. What made the young man even more embarrassed or unwilling to face it was that the reason he was angry was not because he was fooled by Lorena, but because when the girl held him in her arms with a sly and complacent smile, the fresh fragrance emanating from her hair and breath, like a breeze from the shallow sea, and the warm and soft touch, actually made him feel flustered, and his heart was pounding, as if it was about to burst out of his chest.

Lorena must have given me her disease!

I have to say that the reasons young people use to excuse themselves are indeed quite childish.

Of course, Princess Umisu might not know, but the young man knew how much willpower he had to use to pull his body out of her arms instead of continuing to sink into her, as if he was about to drown in a gentle ocean. Why did this happen? Why did he have such thoughts? While he deliberately put on an expressionless face to show that he was definitely not scared by Rorona's prank, another voice in his mind asked himself.

He was not a child. Although he understood the feelings between men and women, and knew that some girls on Yunjingkong Island who did not want to reveal their names had special feelings for him, the enemy was at hand and the situation was urgent. As a mortal, the young man had exhausted all his energy just to maintain the situation. How could he have the energy to talk about love? Probably, everyone knew this situation well, so they did not choose to go further, but maintained a tacit attitude and appropriate distance. Occasionally, there were more intimate actions, but they would not rise to the emotional level. Naturally, it was inevitable that Shelia or Nevier, who were watching the fun, would tease him a few times.

However, Ling Ge guaranteed that the girls who had ulterior motives towards him would not include Princess Kaisu...right? Her attitude towards this was always similar to that of Shelia or Nevi, watching, teasing, fanning the flames, and sowing discord for fun. Since she had no such intentions towards him, Ling Ge naturally regarded her as a companion and friend.

How come, now, he could still keep his sanity and control himself in front of those girls with whom he had a vague affection, but in front of a girl who he regarded as a companion and friend, he suddenly became flustered and lost control? Is this reasonable? Wasn't his mental state affected by others at that time? Maybe Rorona prepared some strange props to amuse him? Or was this the so-called "man's nature" that Countess Nevelle once mentioned when she teased him: he had already picked roses, but still wanted to pick roses.

But this was not the original work of the Countess. It was said that it was written by a great poet from Metsch after he was hurt by love. Of course, these were irrelevant. As for the fact that the Countess used this sentence to warn Leticia to stay away from someone and not to be taken advantage of by a bad man, and the little bat showed an unnatural expression, this matter was even more irrelevant. The important thing was now, what was going on with me?

Well, it turns out that I’m infected. I’ll go back and ask Medien for some medicine.

Lingge escaped from reality.

The young man remained silent, so Lorena thought he was still angry. Although she knew she was the one who played the prank first and was in the wrong, she couldn't help but feel a little emotional. She imitated Ling's behavior, crossed her arms, and snorted, "Stingy guy, I just hugged you, so what? Sister Xiaoxia can hug you, Yieta can hug you, and Xino can hug you, so why can't I hug you?"

"Varied--"

Lingge looked at Lorena in disbelief. How did you know such a secret thing?
"Humph."

Seeing the young man's expression of seeing a ghost, Lorena couldn't help but feel proud. She raised her chin and said to him: "How about it, now you know how powerful I am? You don't think I'm a loser who only eats and waits for death except for alchemy, like what Alice said, a dead otaku? That's really underestimating me. Don't forget, the telescope that Iyetanagen can use to observe the entire Yunjing Sky Island was made by me. I can have as many props as I want, but I just do it for convenience. Lingge, when you go to bed at night, remember to watch out for your bedside?"

She smiled slightly, revealing a row of neat white teeth, but the threat in her words was chilling.

Ling Ge was indeed a little numb after being threatened by her. In the past, he had been deceived by the harmless disguise of the sea-dwelling princess. How could he forget that she was not used to being quiet at all? When she was a child, she dared to sneak out of the palace with the props she made, leaving only a fake body to fool the queen; when she grew up, she even teamed up with a group of outsiders to forcefully break through the ceremony in Nereids City to awaken Petrod of the Sea of ​​Stone Crabs, and fled boldly. She even knocked down the elite guards guarding the Silent Night Palace on a wheelchair. In terms of the degree of danger, no one on the Cloud Whale Sky Island is more dangerous.

"So, be careful. If you make me angry, I will not only hug you, but also kiss you!"

Princess Umisu proudly showed the young man her teeth and warned him of a crime: "That should be your first kiss, right, Ling? If you don't want me to take your first kiss away from you, you'd better listen to me, hehe!"

What a terrible threat!

Indeed, if my first kiss was taken away by someone with such a funny reason, how could I face Medien... Well, first kiss?
Yes, yes, first kiss...

I see, first kiss...

The young man seemed to recall some bad memories, and his expression was unnatural for a moment. How could this escape Rorona's eyes? She hummed suspiciously, narrowed her eyes, and said tentatively: "What's wrong, Lingge? Is there something wrong with what I said?"

Something is wrong from the beginning to the end, right? Ling Ge's eyes wandered, "No, no. By the way, I suddenly remembered that I have other things to do, so I'm leaving first..."

He turned and ran away. This look in Rolena's eyes undoubtedly confirmed her guess. Princess Haiqi was quick-witted and grabbed the corner of the young man's clothes. She didn't know where she got the strength from, but she actually pulled him back, making him unable to move. Seeing Ling Ge turned back helplessly, she forced out a smile and said, "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Didn't we agree to accompany me to bask in the sun all day today?"

"Didn't you also say that you wanted to start working?"

“But I suddenly don’t want to work anymore.”

"Then I suddenly don't want to bask in the sun anymore."

The two looked at each other speechlessly.

Then, Lorena thought that she had already played a prank on Lingge once today, which made him very angry. If she continued to pester him, he might be doomed.
Princess Haiqi suddenly thought of an event from the distant past. When she was still young, there was a shark disaster in the Lujian Sea. Tens of thousands of demonized chalk sharks gathered in groups and swept through like a raging wave. Wherever they went, life was withered and it became a deadly place. Even large monsters like the Ube Snail Beast that dared to fight against the evil dragons in the sea, or even the large electric jellyfish that also gathered in groups to cause harm and turned a sea area into a thunder zone, had to retreat in front of this shark disaster and dared not fight. However, in the end, the city of Nereids only dispatched 1,200 elite soldiers, led by the guard knight Katins, and within half a month, they weakened the shark group to the point where only two or three large and small fish were left. Not to mention continuing to cause trouble, it was still a question whether the group could continue.

Her sister also participated in the battle. Afterwards, Lorena asked for details, wanting to know how Lord Katins defeated the shark disaster with a small force. As a result, her sister told her that it was more like a hunt than a battle. They just followed the most basic rules taught by Lord Katins and won the victory inexplicably. In the end, it was just a few words: show the enemy weakness, tire the enemy and disturb him; lure the enemy deep into our territory and defeat them one by one.

The difference between hunters and prey lies in whether or not to apply these laws, not in the difference between humans and animals. Chalk sharks have always been a group of a dozen adult individuals, and only gather in large groups during the spawning season. When they hunt enemies larger than themselves, they will adopt this tactic. At that time, they are hunters; but once they are contaminated by magic and gather in unprecedented numbers, they lose this instinct, and it is the turn of the mirror elves of the Nereids to hunt them. At this time, the mirror elves are hunters.

Adapting to the times and circumstances is what we call tactics.

Then, by the same logic, can we infer that I, who have been prepared, am the hunter, and the defenseless Lingge is the prey? As long as I follow the teachings of Lord Katins and my sister, sooner or later I will be able to find the weakness of this young man, break his defenses, and then expose the secrets he has always wanted to hide, and completely hold him in my hands, right?

By then, what I want will be more than just a prank hug.

Thinking of this, Rorona slightly curved her eyes and showed a brilliant smile to the young man. In her self-perception, this should be a sinister fang, a ferocious tentacles, and a deep malice hidden while she showed weakness to her prey. Of course, in Lingge's eyes, this was just a normal smile, representing the signal of reconciliation sent by Her Royal Highness Princess Haiqi to him.

After all, we are already mature adults, so how can we fuss over trivial matters?
So, hugs, first kisses, etc., why not let them go with the wind and dissipate into the depths of this forest.

Ling Ge asked tentatively: "Can we reconcile, Lorena?"

"There was no misunderstanding in the first place, so why bother to reconcile?" Rolena said with a smile, "I was wrong for the prank just now. I apologize to you, Lingge. However, since I have sincerely apologized to you, you can't tell Sister Xiaoxia what happened here today, okay? Otherwise--"

Otherwise, so what?

Rorona didn't say it explicitly, but Linger shuddered for no reason. Some bad memories were coming to his mind, but because they were too brutal, they triggered the self-protection mechanism of the brain, so that he was completely blank and couldn't remember anything. He looked up and saw that the sky above was very clear, and the sunlight shone warmly in the forest. It didn't look like the snow in June that Alice had described, so he could only helplessly reply, "This is... of course."

Lorena still smiled on the surface, but she secretly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

As long as Sister Xiaoxia doesn't know about this, then I still have a lot of room for maneuver. Just like Alice often says, there is still room!
As for why she was so afraid of the gentle and kind shepherdess, it was a sad story that could not be explained. If you really want to know the truth, Lorena can only tell you that as sisters, some sisters only tell you the difference between hunters and prey, while some sisters are always hunters, and they are better at disguising themselves.

Before I grow into a large shark disaster capable of sweeping across the Rikukan Sea... no, I'm afraid even a large shark disaster is not enough. I must grow to the size of Lord Petrod of the Stone Crab God Sea before I can confront Sister Xiaoxia head-on.

As for winning over allies and making friends, Lorena could only say that they posed no threat.

Olvera, also a princess, joined the team first, but she couldn't let go of her pride and was too proud. She was destined to be a loser, not a hero.

Yieta is weak by nature, hesitant, has lofty ideals but no ability to act, and is now far behind. She is not a hero.

Gloria, although she has Bai Ye as her assistant, her IQ has seriously lowered the lower limit of her personality. If she can no longer randomly get a high-intelligence character like a detective, she would probably have retired from the game and is no longer a hero.

Xinuo and Lingge have similar temperaments and interests, and can be called soul friends. However, friendship can make or break a relationship. Once she and Lingge get used to the identity of friends, it will be difficult to break this impression in the future. Therefore, she is not a hero.

As for Leticia, she's just a little brat and poses no threat at all.

The rest, such as the proprietress Shesta, the bartender Cielia, the Countess Nevill, and the nun Livia, are like dried bones in a grave. I will capture them sooner or later.

So, the heroes on Yunjing Sky Island are only me and Sister Xiaoxia, hahaha!

"Well," Ling Ge looked at Rorona, who was inexplicably excited for some reason. He always felt that she seemed different today than in the past, but what was the difference? It was so creepy that he didn't want to think about it carefully. He asked carefully, "Can I leave now?" (End of this chapter)