Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1165 Is it very hard?

Lingge is such a waste!
After knowing what methods Saint Shallia used to make Alice willingly go downstairs to eat, a little bat who did not want to reveal her name spoke out on the spot, questioning the ability and moral slander of a young man who also did not want to reveal his name. Of course, she also had reasons to say that what ability do you have, Lingge, and what ability do Saint Shallia have? You have worn out your lips but still failed to persuade Alice, and in the end you can only quibble in shame that you have tried your best; but as soon as Saint Shallia made a move, the genius player bowed his head and dared not make trouble again. In comparison, just calling you a waste and not expelling you from the team is already a mercy!

In response, the young people can only say: As long as you are happy.

"Of course I'm happy!"

Even this one-sided response of submission could not arouse the little bat's sympathy. On the contrary, she went even further and pointed her chin at the young man with an arrogant attitude: "Everyone has been fooled by you. They thought you were so powerful. Only I, Leticia! I will never, ever, ever be fooled by your sweet words. Just give up on this idea, stupid Lingge!"

Well said, but I never used sweet words to deceive you, did I? I was not careful at the time, and you left a deep impression on me.

Recalling the past, the young man shook his head helplessly, letting everything drift away with the wind. Then he lowered his head and silently took a bite of the pie, which was smeared with lard on the surface, wrapped with meat and mashed potatoes inside, and baked to a golden crisp. Well, the boss's craftsmanship was still so exquisite, but it was a pity that there were too few, only one.

Why only one?
Because the rest were quietly taken away by Leticia. Of course, she didn't want Linger to suffer a loss. In exchange, she put all her favorite and most reluctant vegetables on Linger's plate. As for whether this exchange required the opinions of young people? Of course not. After all, this was the privilege of the winner!

She thought smugly as she ate her pie.

Of course, this was just a deep-rooted prejudice of the little bat against young people. In fact, no one thought that Alice was conquered by Saint Shallia's iron-fisted methods... ahem, I mean, by Saint Shallia's gentleness and tolerance. If it was so easy to solve the problem of genius players, Saint Shallia would have done it long ago. Why wait until now?
It was Alice's attitude that softened that gave Saint Shallia such an opportunity. As for why her attitude softened, it was naturally because of what Lingge said to her last night. Although it seemed to have limited effect, Alice was still listless and only focused on eating after sitting at the table, not participating in the conversation at all. But no matter what, Ai-chan was willing to walk out of the room and act with everyone, which was a good start. As for the next problem, it can only be solved by time, right?

But is time really a panacea that can heal all injuries?
Saint Shaliya was thinking about this complicated question while drinking fish soup.

Taking advantage of this rare opportunity when everyone was present, Linger also informed everyone of the result of his private communication with Carson Borg, that Cloud Whale Sky Island would temporarily form an alliance with the Ash Guerrillas to support the latter's resistance activities in the Ansus region. In this way, before successfully retaking the Ash Hill City of Suare, they might have to stay in the Evernight Forest for a while. This was not something Linger could decide alone, so he asked for everyone's opinions.

Most people had no objection to this matter. After all, Linger had made his considerations very clear. Supporting the resistance activities of the Ash Guerrillas was not only based on the simplest moral concepts, but also for the smooth progress of subsequent plans. In the universe, the battle with the alien philosopher Dyson Sphere has proved one thing, that is, fighting alone will never be able to compete with the Witch Society, which has already formed a huge force. For this reason, everyone must unite. But in this strange and alien continent, they are isolated and helpless. Whether it is the new rebel army in the Atorica Province or the illusory paradise town Assyria, they are too far away. Naturally, it is better to seize the opportunity in front of them.

With the capabilities of Cloud Whale Sky Island, it is fully qualified to form an alliance with the Ash Guerrillas and help them win this war.

The interests are clear, and everyone knows how to choose. However, as mentioned before, it is just that "most people" have no objection, but there is an opponent, even if there is only one person.

“Is this really necessary?”

Alice's somewhat dull voice pierced the calm atmosphere at the table. When she raised her head, she saw that everyone's eyes were fixed on her, so she lowered her head silently again, staring at the already shiny plate with extra concentration, as if she could see flowers from it. However, the silver plate only reflected the hesitant and confused face: "After all... this is their war, and it has nothing to do with us... right? We can rest here for a while, and then we can leave, whether we go to find the new rebels or to find Assyria in Paradise Township... there must be other ways, right? We don't have to join this... war..."

Because there are always sacrifices in war.

The genius player who no longer regarded the people around her as NPCs and no longer regarded this living world as her playground seemed to find it difficult to accept such sacrifices. Although sometimes it was necessary and sometimes it was forced, it made no difference to her. Thinking of what the girl said before she left, a trace of sadness appeared in the eyes of the blonde girl.

Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to respond. After a brief and awkward silence, Linger said softly, "If it was the Alice I know, she would never say such a thing."

If it were her, she would definitely say, "A new plot has been triggered," "Of course you have to accept the main quest," "We are the righteous rebels, how could we lose to the evil invaders?" and so on, and then in turn encourage Lingge to form an alliance with the Ash Guerrillas. Although she only regarded everything as a game at that time, the decision she made in the end seemed to have never been wrong, at least, it must be better than the decision made by Alice in front of him.

"This is different..." Alice lowered her head even lower.

"What's the difference?" Ling asked.

"It's just different!" The genius player's rebuttal was more like a tantrum than an argument. The bluffing in it seemed far greater than her belief that she was right. Perhaps she realized this, so she clenched her hands unconsciously. Because she used too much force, her nails pierced into the flesh of her palms, and her knuckles turned pale and blue as if she had lost too much blood.

Lingge wanted to say something else, but at this moment, Xinuo, who had been silent all this time, suddenly put down the knife and fork in his hand, raised his head to look at Alice, and called her name in a calm tone: "Alice."

There was no trace of unusual emotion in her tone, just like any other conversation, but Alice seemed to have received a heavy blow. Her body trembled violently, and then all the energy in her body drained out. Her clenched fists loosened weakly. She no longer tried to argue with Lingge, but said in self-abandonment: "It's up to you. It has nothing to do with me anyway." After the game console was shattered, Alice's royal power also fell silent. She was completely reduced to a spectator in this war. No matter how the Ash Guerrillas fought, it had nothing to do with her, so she made such remarks.

She picked up the cheese next to her and licked it in small bites. However, her gloomy temperament, numb expression, and mechanical movements did not seem like she was tasting delicious food, but rather like a wounded beast licking its wounds. Xino stared at her silently for a long time. Seeing that the genius player did not dare to raise his head to look at him, he did not know whether to say he was disappointed or helpless. He shook his head slightly and retracted his gaze, no longer paying attention.

The relationship between these two people is very delicate.

Perhaps it was because Xino insisted on fighting that day and Alice insisted on stopping her from fighting, so both of them had a complex feeling towards each other. Alice was mixed with complex feelings of self-blame, pain and self-abandonment, which was not difficult to understand. Self-blame and pain came from the sacrifice of Themis of the Heaven. In the past half month, Alice couldn't help but think, if she hadn't stopped Xino at that time, would Themis of the Heaven have survived? This assumption is meaningless and will only make people regret it, but humans are creatures that can't help thinking more and more when they regret. Every time they think, it's like a knife scraping through the heart, cutting off a large piece of flesh and blood. Only this kind of self-abuse behavior can make people feel better; but then she thought of Xino's kingship and curse. Victory is often accompanied by sacrifice. Even if she didn't stop Xino from participating that day, Themis of the Heaven survived, but there will always be someone on Yunjingkong Island who will die in place of Themis of the Heaven because of the curse, right? This means that it is meaningless to stop her or not. Fate will not be moved by her regrets, nor will it give in to her choice. Whenever the genius player thinks of this, he feels that his efforts, the efforts of his companions, and even the existence of this world are meaningless, and he inevitably gives up on himself.

As for Xino, her feelings towards Alice would be too serious if she gave up completely; and it would be superficial if she was just disappointed. It should be a feeling of disappointment. Even now, she still has hope for the genius player, thinking that she is not incapable, but just not ready yet. There are many people in this world who have fallen to the bottom, but not everyone is like Alice, a young queen, a self-proclaimed genius player, with sufficient strength, clear goals and a group of like-minded partners to face all the difficulties on this road with her. She should have cheered up. Even if she lost the will to fight for a while, she should not have said such cold words as just now. The genius player has disappointed Xino again and again.

Now, their relationship has not reached the point of conflict. It can even be said that Alice is somewhat afraid of Xinuo. Just being called by her name, she is like a small animal that has encountered a natural enemy and dares not argue. Xinuo is not aggressive and forces Alice to cheer up, but chooses to let nature take its course and use time to prove everything. In this case, how to ease the relationship between the two and make them understand each other has become something that must be faced.

Understanding...what a distant word.

Lingge sighed slightly and soon came up with an idea.

We still have to find a breakthrough from Alice.

The young man looked up at Alice, who had already finished her cheese and was reaching for the sweet ginger cookies. During the half month she had locked herself in her room, although the boss lady and Saint Shalia had brought her food every day, it was conceivable that the genius player must not have eaten well, so that when she returned to the table today, she ate three servings of food without making a sound. It is said that people who are depressed will also have a low appetite, but looking at Alice's situation, Ling Ge was a little unsure.

"Alice," he said, breaking the silence at the table caused by the previous argument: "Tomorrow -"

The young man thought for a moment, pointed at Metien and said, "Metien is trying to spread the teachings of the Goddess to the members of the Ash Guerrillas. They are mainly children. She may not be able to handle it alone. You can go and help her tomorrow."

"what?"

Two people had confused expressions on their faces at the same time. One of them was Alice, and the other was Gloria. After she came to her senses, she tried her best to wink at Lingge, as if to say: How can there be a shortage of manpower? I can help! I am a nun from Tianxin Church! Am I not a human being? You have me, so how can you fall in love with someone else...

The young man didn't bother to pay attention. He just walked past her and winked at his sister Metien. The pink-haired girl immediately understood her brother's intention and her eyes lit up. Without waiting for Alice to refuse, she said happily, "Okay, okay, we really need you, Sister Alice! You don't know, today Mitch thought I was bad at playing games and refused to play with me. If it were you, he would definitely not dare to say that. After all, Sister Alice, you are a genius player!"

In order to achieve her goal, she even went against her conscience and praised Alice's gaming skills a little. Under normal circumstances, Lingge would definitely hope that her sister was an honest and good child, but today was a special case... Let's just turn a blind eye.

Alice, who had no interest at first, caught the key words in Metien's words: "Game...?"

She asked in confusion: "Isn't it a missionary work? How is it related to... games?"

Hehehe, I was fooled.

The pink-haired little girl winked at her brother, indicating that the plan was successful. Lingge also returned the look, indicating that sister had worked hard.

It is indeed hard work.

At least Lingge couldn't tell such a lie.

Give me some meow