Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1191 Has it become stronger?

"Well," a voice broke the tense atmosphere in the restaurant, "About this question, maybe I can answer it on behalf of Alice?"

This sentence immediately attracted everyone's attention. Except for Alice who was still hiding behind Saint Xia Liya and didn't dare to look at Bai Ye, everyone's eyes fell on the person who spoke. Facing the thoughtful or curious gazes of her companions, the Princess of Beman laughed dryly twice, and before explaining in detail, she first gave herself a few layers of insurance: "Let me make it clear in advance, this is just my guess, a guess! It may not be accurate, so if I'm wrong, you can't blame me."

Do you think she is willing to speak up in such an awkward atmosphere? Someone needs to come out to change the subject, and she happens to have the ability to do so. Although it is just a guess, it is better than letting Bai Ye continue to question Alice, or letting everyone criticize Bai Ye for being unkind, right? Alas, for the sake of the team's atmosphere, I really did my best. If Ling Ge doesn't let me have a good dream tonight, I will never forgive him.

The young man seemed not to have heard Avella's thoughts. He frowned and asked, "What guess? If it's... well, if it's a plot in a novel, then there's no need to say it."

Aoweila immediately glared at him and said angrily: "I'm not the kind of person who can't tell the difference between fiction and reality!"

Besides, if you hadn't suddenly asked this question, would the atmosphere have become like this? I'm here to help you out, if you don't know how to cooperate, just stay by the side, stupid Lingge!

"Uh."

Ling Ge was frightened by the materialized resentment she exuded, and probably realized that the current situation was caused by himself, so he coughed awkwardly twice: "Cough! Then tell me, what is your guess?"

The others also pricked up their ears and listened attentively, wanting to hear what Her Royal Highness the Princess of Berman had to say.

"Humph."

Olvera snorted twice in a pretentious manner, and experienced the feeling of being the center of attention for a while, but soon she came to her senses under the vaguely hostile gaze of her sister Xiaoxia, and said honestly, "Nothing, I just want to ask, do you remember that we escaped from the pursuit of the cult in Lunweiting City, and were finally blocked by them on the Indosis Bridge?"

of course I remember.

Except for Heno who had not participated in the incident, everyone else was deeply impressed by it, because that was the first time that Tiantis, the mastermind behind the witch society, appeared in front of everyone and revealed to them the concept of the witch society, the horrifying plan to exterminate demons, and her true identity. It was also the most critical moment encountered by the group during their journey. From the sky to the ground and to the Tywell River, they were surrounded by the united cult. It was really appropriate to describe it as impossible to escape.

And they were finally able to escape thanks to Alice's newly developed cassette "Duelers of Genesis". In that duel, Gloria faced the eternal and immortal steam god Alexander who could reverse time and space, but she remained calm and finally drew a card that turned the defeat into victory - of course, everyone now knows that Gloria definitely does not have this ability. The person who was actually dueling on the field was actually her inner personality, Bai Ye, who was just questioning Alice in a cold tone.

I have to say that fate is full of coincidences, bizarreness and accidents.

But what does this have to do with the kingship of Tiantis?

"Of course it matters!" Avra ​​was a little anxious when she saw that no one understood what she meant. Why are you so stupid? Of course she didn't dare to say that. She would probably be attacked by everyone. Even Lingge couldn't protect her - and he might not be able to protect her. So she could only try to maintain a calm tone and hint little by little: "Although we did rely on Alice's new cassette to escape, do you remember that the means of escape we prepared at the beginning was not this. At that time, Alice had another cassette in her hand that was not in the cooling state, that was -"

"Dark Castle: Waltz of the Dawn."

Alice said calmly, but when everyone's eyes fell on her, she turned her head away.

Olvera didn't notice the genius player's reaction and clapped her hands happily: "That's it. Alice was ready to use this card to escape the blockade of the cult, but something happened afterwards, which prevented us from escaping successfully. I think everyone should still remember that incident, right?"

After she said this, everyone had an impression. Ling Ge frowned and slowly uttered a few words: "The cassette...is inoperable?"

"That's right!"

Avella nodded vigorously. "There was obviously nothing wrong with the game console and the cartridge, but it failed to start. And not long after that, Tiantis appeared in front of us. It didn't seem strange at the time, but thinking back on it, don't you think this is a coincidence?"

"So you think this was caused by the kingship of Tiantis?" Saint Xia Liya looked at her sister again with a surprised look, and praised her without any sarcasm: "I didn't expect you to have such a sharp side, Olvera."

Ah this!

Why is it that although I was praised by Sister Xiaoxia, I am not very happy?

As for why Olvera has always remembered this incident and has not forgotten it until now, there is of course a reason: at that time, if Alice's cassette had not been invalidated, she would have been the one to go head-to-head with the pursuers of the cult. The Princess of Beman had originally prepared herself mentally to protect her companions even at the cost of her life, but the final result... was like punching the air with all her strength, which made it hard to let go.

Well, anyway, at least the ending is good?
"According to what you said, could it be that the kingship of Tiantis is the ability to instruct the game console to fail?" Linger speculated, then shook his head and denied his speculation: "No, this is too limited. The abilities of the girl's kingship are all manifestations of the law, and should be a broader concept. Since Alice's game console is essentially her kingship, corresponding to the law of fantasy, then Tiantis's kingship corresponds to reality, which is... the ability to kill all fantasies?"

Alice's body trembled suddenly. She raised her head and looked at Avra ​​with disbelief, as if she couldn't accept this conclusion. Avra ​​was shocked by everyone's reaction. She shrank her neck and was obviously a little unconfident: "I just... just said it casually. It's just a guess. It may not be true, right? Ahaha, ahahaha..."

The more she laughed, the more guilty she felt. In the end, she simply lowered her head and dared not look Alice in the eye. After all, the facts were there. Excluding other impossible assumptions, Ling's guess was the closest.

Alice stared at Olvera for a while, then silently withdrew her gaze and looked at the half-full of food left on the plate. Somehow, she suddenly lost her appetite. But strangely, at this moment, she had no extra emotions in her heart. She thought she should have anger, disappointment or pain, but none of them existed. In the end, even numbness disappeared. Her heart was empty and she couldn't think of anything.

The girl suddenly stood up, and the rustling sound of the chair rubbing against the floor was particularly harsh, but it was no louder than the low voice she said: "I'm full."

Saint Xia Liya opened her mouth to call her, but it was too late. Alice didn't give everyone time to react. She just said this to herself and turned to walk upstairs. Ling Ge could guess without thinking that she must want to go back to her room to fix the game console that she could never fix, as if it didn't matter whether it could be fixed or not. This behavior has become a way for genius gamers to escape reality. Everyone knows that this is unhealthy, but no one can say anything to keep her. They can only watch her walk to the stairs and the sound of her footsteps gradually fade away.

"Sister Alice!"

At this time, Metien suddenly summoned up the courage to shout, "Tomorrow, tomorrow Kadora will come to Tianxin Church to participate in the baptism ceremony and officially become a believer of the goddess! Are you going to come to watch the ceremony too?"

The footsteps on the stairs suddenly stopped. Metien stared at the back and said word by word: "Cadora, Mitch, and everyone else are looking forward to playing the game you made, Sister Alice!"

So, will you still work hard just for the sake of letting everyone enjoy the game, as you did in the past?

Under her nervous and expectant gaze, the back figure on the stairs stopped for a few seconds, and time seemed to freeze around her. This brief silence even made people feel suffocated. But soon everything returned to reality. She said nothing, but walked up to the second floor without saying a word, and the footsteps soon disappeared.

But even after Alice left, the atmosphere in the restaurant did not improve at all. Metien could not hide the disappointment on his face, Saint Chariah sighed and whispered to comfort the girl, Ovira lowered her head even lower, almost hiding under the table, for fear that others would notice her, Xino looked at the stairs where Alice disappeared with a helpless look, Rolena shook her head regretfully, Ieta was dejected, even the feathers on her wings drooped, and Leticia, who usually had the worst relationship with Alice, did not mock her at this time, but just frowned, not knowing whether she was dissatisfied or unwilling, the proprietress tried hard to liven up the atmosphere, but it was useless, everyone's mind was no longer on the meal.

Bai Ye was the only one who looked calm, indifferent to Alice's departure. She scooped out the last bit of mashed potatoes from the plate with a spoon, cleaned up her own portion of food, and stood up leisurely, ignoring everyone's focused gazes, and said lightly, "I'm full, too."

She also turned and left the restaurant, but walked out of the hotel. No one knew where she was going, just as no one really understood the personality of this lonely and cold person.

This is a very familiar feeling for young people, but he suddenly felt that this kind of thing seemed to happen too frequently recently. Is something destroying everyone's confidence and cooling everyone's enthusiasm? Or is this a stage that every team that wants to mature must go through? First comes the internal conflicts, and then the external pressure. If you can't solve the former, you can't be considered a qualified leader; if you can't solve the latter, you can't be considered a qualified group.

So, we have to cross this hurdle.

"You need to be stronger, Lingge." That voice sounded in the young man's ears again, reminding her of her expectations of him. Lingge subconsciously looked at a girl with long crystal blue hair at the table. She happened to be looking at Lingge, her eyes as bright and clear as the shallow sea. She narrowed her eyes slightly, and her smile was as beautiful as a crescent moon.

Yes, being more assertive is what a leader should be like.

"give it to me."

The young man suddenly said, "Leave the matters concerning Alice and Bai Ye to me. I will handle them."

He rarely made such a big move, and rarely said such a firm word, usually "I'll try my best" or "I'll try", and the obvious difference was naturally caught by the sharp girls - well, those who were not girls also caught it. For example, the countess looked at the young man deeply and snorted intriguingly. Regardless of what this meant, at least she looked at Lingge with satisfaction.

"Don't you need our help, Ling?"

Saint Xia Liya asked with concern: "It would be too tiring if you were alone. I am their elder sister, can I help too?"

Well, although Alice, as the fantasy monarchy, was born earlier than Saint Shallia, and Bai Ye is more of an inner personality, the shepherd girl still puts herself in the position of the elder sister as always. I am afraid that even the parties involved will not question it, as if this is a matter of course.

In the past, Ling Ge would have considered Saint Shallia's proposal carefully. After all, he was not capable of dealing with two troubled girls alone. However, he was determined to become a qualified leader. Now he was in a stronger state, so he rejected her without hesitation: "No need. Tomorrow we will hold Kadora's baptism ceremony. I am worried that Miss Metien and Miss Livia will not be able to handle it. Please go and help. As for Alice and Bai Ye's matter, leave it to me. I will handle it."

He repeated the same words again.

At the dinner table, the girls looked at each other in bewilderment: How come Linger has become weird since Alice and Bai Ye? Of course, compared to Alice who escaped from herself and Bai Ye who was self-consciously cold, this change is at least positive, right?
"oops."

In a corner where no one was paying attention, Princess Umisu was smiling happily, with a strange blush floating on her pale face due to years of illness: "It seems like you have really become very strong."

Give me some meow