Alice in the Land of Steam

Olvera thought she was a little sleepy.

She looked out the window and saw a river of stars running through the dark blue night sky. But using the word "river" to describe it might not be accurate. A period of time that flowed quietly beyond human perception took away most of the river water, causing it to gradually dry up. Only two or three stars were still twinkling, and the shadows of some familiar constellations could be vaguely seen. But their birth and death were so silent that no trace could be found in them. Imagine how magnificent and magnificent this river was at that time.

At night, Whale Cloud Island and the Evernight Forest blended into one, so quiet that it seemed like they were asleep. The forest's breathing strangely overlapped with the sound of the heartbeat, and occasionally one or two long cries could be heard, echoing layer by layer in the darkness, diluted by the branches and leaves, and gradually fading away. Those were the great owls or night crows foraging at night, using their voices to scare off small animals lurking in the bushes, forcing them to reveal their flaws.

This was a very familiar feeling to Olvera. She hated the darkness, but that didn't mean she hated everything in the darkness. In fact, she spent more time with it. On countless sleepless nights, she would listen to the birdsong outside the window, and under the starry sky and the bright moonlight, she would slowly write down her thoughts on paper. She experienced every exciting and moving plot personally.

Late night is a poem that can inspire people. Olvera has experienced that feeling. How many tortuous and beautiful words are formed in such an environment? Even the poet Helen once said: "Night is my kingdom." Olvera would not think so, but occasionally she would walk out of the room, facing the empty hotel alone, and the farther, deeper, and more lonely islands. Sometimes she would wonder if she was the only one in the world. She was like a ghost, or a spirit, vainly possessing everything in the darkness, but unable to get close to them.

When the sun rises and everyone wakes up, the feeling will disappear, but its impact on Olvera is actually more profound.

The girl retracted her gaze and looked at the young man in front of her again. She saw that he was serious and meticulously proofreading the information in his hand. It was all copied by Avra ​​herself. And until just now, when all kinds of strange ideas came into her mind, her hand still did not stop. She did not even need to use her brain to control it. She was purely operating instinctively, like a precision machine. This was a skill that the girl had trained in repetitive work day after day, but for some people it was like a talent: the young man had not read so many books and had an extraordinary sensitivity to words; nor was he like Avra ​​who could do the same thing for hundreds of years of boring time, but his efficiency was no less than that of the girl. In the huge amount of information copied by the latter, sometimes he only needed to glance at it roughly to extract the most critical parts, and then copied them down and sorted them out in different categories.

Intelligence that deserves attention, intelligence that needs to be verified, intelligence that may play a role in the future... He classified them one by one and kept them on file. Olvera could imagine how shocked and ecstatic the leader of the Ash Guerrillas would be when he received this intelligence. Because the obstacles on the road ahead had been removed, he only needed to follow the instructions of this intelligence to get back the failures he had swallowed before, and even completely reverse the situation before the invaders could react.

Lingge said that Aoweila's kingship was the key to everything, and it seemed to be true on the surface, but the girl knew in her heart that without Lingge's help, facing such a huge amount of information, she might not be able to guarantee the three months she boasted before, let alone three days. Collecting intelligence is one thing, and organizing and analyzing the collected intelligence is another. Aoweila even felt that the only person on the entire Yunjingkong Island who could do the latter was the young man in front of her.

He was always like this, as if he could do everything perfectly, whether it was running a church, being a history teacher, being a team leader, making plans and strategies, reasoning and analyzing, seeing through other people's thoughts, comforting or guiding... There was nothing in this world that he couldn't do, right? Even if there was, as long as he was willing to learn, he would learn it sooner or later, and once he learned it, he would be better and more skilled than others. If he was in the eyes of outsiders, he would have been worshipped as a genius, right? It was just that everyone on Yunjingkong Island had always been accustomed to it, so no one thought it was something worth surprising.

I wonder if he has ever been proud of this? Even if he feels a little bit complacent, it is understandable. But from what Avella has observed, the young man does not seem to think this is a talent, but rather sees it as something he should do - but this further reflects his pride, which he himself is not even aware of. After all, if one is not fully confident in one's own abilities, who would take the talent in the eyes of others for granted? If the person who arrived at the Holy Temple of Heaven was not Saint Tumi, but Lingge, perhaps the result would be different.

Although reality cannot be assumed again and again, Olivia still couldn't help but wonder, how could there be such a perfect person in the world?
She secretly observed the young man's demeanor and movements over and over again, thinking that she was very secretive, but in fact, to Ling Ge, it was no different from an open scrutiny. At first, he could ignore it and force himself to focus on his work, but Her Royal Highness the Princess did not know how to restrain herself. Instead, she thought that she had not been discovered and became more and more unscrupulous. Finally, Ling Ge could not help it. He took advantage of the moment when Olvera had just finished copying a piece of information and the rustling sound of the pen tip paused slightly, and asked: "Olvera, is there something on my face?"

"Ah?" Princess Beman was startled. She almost lost her grip on the pen and drew a crooked curve on the brand new white paper, which seemed to reflect her panic and guilt. "No, no! Why are you asking me such a question all of a sudden?"

"Then why do you keep staring at me?"

The young man frowned slightly and said, "You should focus on your work, don't look at me, look at the book, what if you copy it wrong?"

There is no way I could have copied it wrong!
Avella curled her lips and didn't take it seriously. She was familiar with this job like instinct. Could someone make mistakes even when walking and talking? However, since her peeping behavior was discovered, she was too embarrassed to refute it, so she agreed hesitantly. Ling Ge saw at a glance that she was perfunctory, but considering that there were indeed no omissions or errors in the information she had copied so far, the young man turned a blind eye and regarded it as a reminder, and would talk about it later if she really made a mistake.

The young man's concession was mistaken by Aoweila as soft-heartedness. She suddenly felt that this was the best time. She could just ask Lingge to give her an answer to the question she had been unable to figure out.
However, if this guy knew that he was such a perfect image in my mind, would he be even more proud? He had always bullied me before, would I have to endure such bullying in the future? No, I must be more cautious and must not let him see the flaws.

"Well, let me ask you something, Lingge."

Avella began to ask indirect questions and probed in a roundabout way, successfully attracting the young man's attention. He hummed in confusion, as if asking: What's wrong? Her Royal Highness asked carefully, fearing that the young man would see her true thoughts: "Actually, have you ever thought about what kind of image you have in everyone's mind? Ah, let me put it another way... that is, has anyone ever said that you are amazing? For example, you know so many things, understand new things very quickly, and have an adaptability beyond ordinary people. Even in an unfamiliar environment, you never feel panic or fear. Isn't this amazing? Ah, that, what I mean is, whether it is what you think or what others say, I am just slightly guessing these ideas? It has absolutely nothing to do with me, uh, you can understand what I mean?"

"I kind of regret supporting you in writing novels." Ling Ge rubbed his brows and said, "When did your language organization ability start to deteriorate? If you need it, you'd better go to Metien to get some medicine. If that doesn't work, you can try Rolena..."

"I'm not sick!!!"

Avella shouted angrily, and then glared at Ling Ge fiercely: "Forget it, don't worry about it! Anyway, just tell me directly, do you think you are a perfect person? Or, does anyone think you are a perfect person?"

"Not really." Ling Ge shook his head: "Some people often say that I need to change. Maybe I can't satisfy them now."

"Who said that?" Aoweila was shocked when she heard this. Even such a perfect Lingge needs to change? Is there something wrong with those people's vision? It must be like this! If there is nothing wrong with their vision, doesn't it mean that there is something wrong with my vision?
“Yeah, quite a lot.”

Ling Ge thought for a moment and said, "Xino hopes that I can become stronger, Bai Ye hopes that I can become more cruel, Saint Xia Liya hopes that I can become more gentle, Rolena hopes that I can become more powerful, and Yieta hopes that I can become more selfish... These are just the opinions I received today."

"Ah, this!" Aoweila couldn't help but choke when she heard these familiar names. The idea just now was thrown out of her mind. Now it's not a question of who has vision and who doesn't. The key is that since everyone, including Xiaoxia, thinks that Lingge still needs to change, can I fall behind others? I always feel like I'm admitting defeat, although Aoweila doesn't know why.

She pondered over it, what else does Ling Ge need to change? Xinuo hopes that Ling Ge will become stronger, is Ling Ge actually a weak person? Bai Ye hopes that Ling Ge will become more cruel, is Ling Ge actually an indecisive person? Especially Sister Xiao Xia, she actually hopes that Ling Ge will become more gentle, is Ling Ge not gentle enough before? Alas, it seems that I can't think of what Ling Ge needs to change, it's really embarrassing.

In this case, the person who needs to change is actually yourself, right?
Her Royal Highness the Princess seemed to be thinking of something and sighed softly.

Ling Ge looked puzzled. From the beginning, he couldn't understand what Aoweila was thinking: "What's wrong with you, Aoweila?"

"No, nothing." Avella shook her head repeatedly and said softly, "I just feel that everyone is really strict with Lingge. You are obviously good enough, but they still hope that you can change for them. But I can't seem to think of anything that Lingge needs to change. It's me who is still far from it."

So that's what you were thinking about just now? What a strange comparison.

Ling Ge complained in his heart, and then said: "I think you are fine now. There is no need to force yourself to change."

"Really?" Olvera's eyes lit up.

"Absolutely true." Linger nodded affirmatively.

"Hey, I'm not as good as you say." Olvera pretended to be shy for a while, then suddenly became discouraged: "And you must be comforting me, right? Apart from anything else, don't you see my biggest flaw, Lingge?"

"Afraid of the dark?" Ling asked tentatively.

"That's because of the curse! I'm not a child who is afraid of the dark!"

"Do you act silly sometimes?"

"When did I act stupid? Tell me, if you can't tell me I will bite you to death!"

"Ahem, that's just tsundere."

"Don't use the words you learned from Alice so carelessly! I'm not a tsundere, it's Lingge who is the tsundere!"

You are not satisfied with this, you are not satisfied with that. What do you want?

Ling Ge spread his hands and said, "Then I don't know."

Avella slammed the table and stood up, glaring at the young man, disappointed with his slowness: "It's strength, strength!"

"strength?"

"Yes, I'm weak!"

After saying the most unjustified words in the most self-righteous tone, Princess Beman also realized that something was wrong. She quickly put away her fierce expression, shrank back into her chair, put on a delicate and weak appearance, and lamented: "I am too weak. I can't help my companions in the battle. I even have to be careful not to become a burden to them. Isn't this enough? I always think that it would be great if I could be stronger. In that case, I don't need everyone to protect me all the time, and I can play my own role in the battle. I can change some... sad plots, right?"

It might have been mostly a joke at first, but as she spoke, her voice gradually became lower, and she slowly hugged her knees and curled up in the chair.

Her eyes were somewhat empty. (End of this chapter)