Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1188 Is this the ritual?
Since Carson Borg had already made a thorough plan, Linger naturally would not raise any questions. All he needed to do was to provide a true and effective intelligence when the plan was executed so that the plan could be successfully concluded. But to be honest, the young man was not optimistic now. It was not that he had doubts about the plan of Grayhill Eagle, but the amount of information revealed behind this matter made him a little frightened.

In the past hundred years of colonial wars, the benefits that the Western Continent has gained from overseas cannot be simply measured by numbers. It has shaped the dominance of the three traditional powers today, and has also allowed many unknown small countries to rise overnight and participate in the cause of dividing this big cake. Today, overseas colonization has become more common than breathing for politicians, soldiers, businessmen and even ordinary people who have equated war with interests. As long as people are alive, can they stop breathing one day? Of course, this is impossible, so the countries around the table cannot willingly give up this piece of cake and let others enjoy it.

In this case, the Axis powers' withdrawal of frontline troops from the central battlefield back to their homeland implies too much to think about. If they did not want to start an unprecedented war on the Western Continent, the young people really couldn't think of anything worth doing at the risk of damaging their overseas interests. In comparison, the attitude of the Church Union was even more ambiguous. As we all know, this organization is nominally a religion, but in fact it is a political and religious union that uses religious influence to infiltrate various fields such as politics, military and economy of various countries. They manipulate the political situation of the Western Continent through various means, from external expansion wars to internal regime changes, all guided and manipulated by their tentacles behind the scenes.

Even the development of overseas routes and colonial wars were led by the united cult. Therefore, the Crusaders were able to occupy a dominant position in the Axis camp, and the commander-in-chief of the Crusaders, the witch of strife Favrona, also legitimately became the commander of this complex joint force. Of course, there were factors of compromise among the countries, but the power held by the united cult was the most critical point. In most cases, the will of the united cult was the combat policy of the Axis camp, and now, the two sides obviously had a conflict. When all countries were withdrawing their troops, only the Crusaders still held on to the central battlefield, and even in order to maintain the front line, they also transferred the rear troops, resulting in a short-term defense line emptiness.

Does this kind of contradiction indicate that the cooperative relationship between the United Church and the Axis Powers has begun to break down, and that the two sides have irreconcilable differences? Linger felt that this was the only possibility, but he could not be sure where the differences between the two sides were. First of all, it could not be a disagreement over the interests of overseas colonization. This involved a very counterintuitive fact - although the Western Continent countries had gained a lot of benefits from the colonial war in the Eastern Continent, the United Church and the Crusaders under its jurisdiction were not among them. Although they had single-handedly promoted, promoted, and even dominated the war, they had not established any colonies overseas, had not signed any agreements with any defeated countries, and had not even built any churches in the colonies that had in fact belonged to the Axis Powers.

It was as if they had only started this war from the beginning. Once the war started, other things would no longer matter. Therefore, the people who made the cake did not share the cake, but left it all to the ants and flies behind them who smelled the sweetness and came to the front. The only demand of the Order Union in the colonial war was to firmly grasp the command of the joint forces, but they also did not use this power to do anything. They just focused on pushing the front forward. They even invested far more troops in overseas battlefields than other countries.

Therefore, if it is said that it is a political struggle within the coalition, it does not seem very realistic, and this kind of political struggle is too intense and too high-profile, as if they want everyone to know... wait?
Suddenly, it was as if a flash of lightning broke through the darkness, and Linger suddenly remembered something: the current ruler of the Kingdom of Great Brittany, Queen Victoria II, was a philosopher of the Witch Society. And, according to Queen Victoria, this kind of thing was not uncommon in the countries of the Western Continent. In the past, King Barbarossa the Red Bearded of Mindrias and Joan of Arc of the White City Republic were also philosophers of the Witch Society. Who said that they were not philosophers today?
In this case, can we make a guess: this is not actually a conflict between the United Church and the Western Continent, but a conflict between two factions within the Witch Society?

One faction is represented by the rulers of secular regimes such as Queen Victoria, and we will call it the secular faction; the other faction is still unclear, but after the secular faction decided to withdraw its troops, it was the Crusaders who sent reinforcements to the central battlefield. The commander-in-chief of the Crusaders was the Saint Favrona of the Crimson Church, and her other identity was the Witch Favrona. So it is very likely that it is the Witch Faction represented by Tiantis. There is an irreconcilable contradiction between the two factions, and it has even become so serious that they need to fight each other. Therefore, the rulers of various countries will gradually withdraw their overseas troops to deal with the civil unrest and war that may happen next and sweep across the entire Western Continent!

This sounds a little... incredible.

For the first time, Lingge felt unconfident about the result of his reasoning. Although all the facts and arguments were in line with the logic behind them, it was precisely this result that made him feel the most absurd. It was as absurd as conjecturing that the world was going to end when you saw that the cat stopped eating.

Will the Witch Society and the Western Continent countries really fall out completely? What is the reason? When did the seeds of rebellion begin to brew? What are their respective confidences? These questions cannot be answered through reasoning, of course. After all, Lingge is not the great detective Sherlock Holmes of 22B Baker Street, who has his own unique channels to collect intelligence. He thought about it and decided not to reveal this matter to Grayhill Eagle. He should go back and discuss it with his companions and listen to their opinions.

After making up his mind, Ling said goodbye to Carson Borg, who did not try to keep him. He needed to arrange follow-up matters and make plans for the next step. Fate had already given them too many favors, but time was still not friendly to this newly established alliance. He had to race against time to seize every fleeting opportunity.

Before leaving, he mentioned something to Lingge.

"Mitch and the others performed very well in this operation." He said, "If nothing goes wrong, they will also participate in the next operations. But I will try my best to leave them time to rest. If they still want to go to Tianxin Church to listen to the sermon, I'll trouble you to take care of it, Mr. Ling."

Linger nodded slightly, agreeing to his request, and the man turned and walked towards the center of the camp, where a huge bonfire was burning. Including Regina, some core members of the Ash Guerrilla were waiting for their leader to show them the way forward. This was responsibility, and compared to this, Linger felt that as an ally, he only needed to provide some supplies and intelligence, which was already quite easy.

However, responsibility always changes with time and fate. If Carson Borg's expectation becomes a reality, and the kingdom really sends out troops to cooperate with the resistance organization in Gray Hill to launch a war to recapture the Ansus region, the young man's promise to the Eagle of Gray Hill will be fulfilled. There is a knight on the Cloud Whale Sky Island who polishes his spear day and night and sharpens his edge, just to put an end to all the struggles and sorrows in person in an upcoming decisive battle.

Even if it requires sacrifice.

He looked in that direction for a long time before he retracted his gaze and walked back the way he came.

……

Metien waved goodbye to her friend, then turned around and ran towards her brother, carrying a small medical kit. Shemi was lying on her head, and Leticia was beside her. The girl ran to Lingge's side with a grunt, stood there, took a few sips of air, raised her red face, and her eyebrows were curved into crescents with joy: "Okay, let's go back, Lingge."

Although the girl was cheerful and optimistic most of the time, with a smile on her face, it was the first time she was so happy as today. Lingge couldn't help but look at her twice more and asked, "What good thing happened, Metien?"

"kindness!"

Metien nodded vigorously: "Cadora said that he will come to Tianxin Church tomorrow to participate in the baptism ceremony and officially become a believer of the Goddess. Mitch and others will also come to watch the ceremony!" So that's it.

Her own efforts finally paid off, her father's last wish was finally inherited, and the belief in God finally ushered in a day of revival. All the signs of hope were growing, and the wishes she had longed for were coming true. No wonder she was so happy.

Linger nodded slightly and said, "Then you must work hard, Metien."

"Hey, Lingge, you're not..." The girl was stunned for a moment before she realized that Lingge was no longer the pastor of Tianxin Church. In this case, wouldn't she be the one presiding over the baptism ceremony tomorrow?
She was so busy being happy that she never thought about such things.

Metien couldn't help but frown. It wasn't that she didn't want to host the ceremony, but it involved a very serious issue. She asked her brother cautiously, "Um, Lingge, how do you do the baptism ceremony at Tianxin Church?"

That's right, she didn't know at all.

Although she had been helping her adoptive father and brother in the church since she was a child and had been influenced by them, strictly speaking, the ceremony process she was most familiar with was only the seven-day ceremony held every week. As for the baptism ceremony, she seemed to have never had one.

Linger’s answer to this question was simple and frank: “I don’t know.”

All of a sudden, the three of them looked at him with strange eyes, wondering if this guy was possessed by a blue-haired shepherdess, otherwise how could he blurt out such words. Leticia was even more outspoken, and she said, "Are you stupid? As a pastor of Tianxin Church, you don't even know such a thing? No wonder you were replaced by Metien, I think you deserve it!"

As for Metien, she didn't know about this either, so she subconsciously ignored it. Also, the words "deserved it" are not used in this way.

The young man looked at the little bat who was so proud of himself for criticizing the big fool Lingge from a moral high ground. He thought about it but didn't refute her. He was afraid that she would take it seriously. If she was refuted, she would suddenly pounce on him and bite him. It would not be fun. He explained directly to his sister: "Because when Mr. Yang Ke and I were presiding over the church, we never held a similar ceremony."

The so-called baptism ceremony is nothing more than a process of conversion. It deepens the believers' sense of belonging through a sacred and solemn ceremony. Generally speaking, it is a method that only large religious groups will take; or the identity of the baptized is too noble to be suitable for general procedures. But unfortunately, Tianxin Church does not meet the above two conditions. Although the Holy Goddess Church has a long history, it has no foundation, and no noble people are willing to entrust their faith to such a church with a broad doctrine but no name. Even the residents of the same block, although they occasionally come to Tianxin Church to pray and listen to sermons, are not really devout believers.

Metien probably heard it from others and thought that every church had a formal baptism process. But in most cases, the church's recognition of the believer's identity or the believer's recognition of the faith was just verbal, and no one would take it seriously. Even if a baptism ceremony was held, does that mean the person being baptized is definitely pious?

Linger did not speak his mind, fearing that it would dampen his sister's enthusiasm. He thought for a moment and said, "Although there is no precedent, you don't have to worry about it. It is a good idea for you to set this precedent. So, it is up to you to decide how to hold this baptism ceremony, Metien. Of course, if you really can't think of an idea, you can refer to other people's opinions, such as Sister Livia and--"

"With me!" The traveler fairy lying on top of the girl shouted arrogantly, "I'm the best at this kind of thing! Since it's a ceremony, it must be lively! We have to invite the hotel's bonsai orchestra to play music at the ceremony, which will definitely be lively! Oh, yes, we have to set off fireworks to celebrate, and there must be delicious food and snacks, and more..."

Listening to Shaymi's description, Leticia wiped the saliva from the corners of her mouth and pointed out seriously: "You can have both delicious food and snacks, but not too many vegetables. Well, I prefer blueberry cream cake recently."

Do you think this is a party?

Ling Ge was speechless, but Metien pinched his chin and thought: "It sounds... not bad?"

This……

The young man could no longer imagine what kind of expression Kadora would have when he came to be baptized tomorrow - but since he had placed the game console in the church as a sacred vessel of the goddess, and asked Metien to lead everyone in playing, then replacing the ceremony with a banquet might be in line with the style of this church?

Give meow
(End of this chapter)