Alice in the Land of Steam

At this time, what was Lingge, who was mentioned by Kadora, doing?

He was in Rorona's alchemy workshop, explaining to her why he came this time. Outside the window, the night was falling. In the vast darkness, only this small workshop was still lit with orange lights, creating a warm atmosphere in the loneliness. The young man was called to attend the Liberation Front's combat meeting at dinner time. It was already late at night, and the forest was so quiet that even the sound of crickets crawling through the dead leaves could be clearly heard.

"Engineering explosives?"

After hearing the young man's intention, Princess Umi nodded thoughtfully: "This is not difficult, but for engineering explosives, the equivalent and power must be strictly tested. I haven't done much experimentation in this area, so it may take some time. Of course, a week is definitely enough, so there is no need to worry about not being able to catch up with their actions. As for what you said about preparing some useful props for Mitch and Kadora... I'll look for them."

She walked to her workbench, opened the drawer and started looking. Linger took a look and found that her workbench was really a mess. Various tools such as beakers, gooseneck bottles, test tubes and alcohol lamps were scattered everywhere. The bread for hunger and coffee for refreshing were still intact, and the unused materials were casually put aside. It was unknown how long they had been there. Linger even found a strange plant preserved in a transparent glass cabinet that was stretching its roots to climb the edge of the cabinet, trying to escape - Hey, is that thing still alive?

"You obviously made a lot of housekeeping dolls," the young man couldn't help asking, "Why don't you let them clean up for you?"

Lingge was referring to the puppets created by Princess Umizu who imitated a race of fairies called sea angels in the Mirror Sea. They looked no different from real living things and were very hardworking. The lazy and ignorant Lorena relied entirely on them to help her run the workshop, and Saint Shallia often came to care about her daily life, so she didn't starve to death in an unknown corner.

As if they heard someone calling their names, the two sea angel dolls flapped their small pink wings, slowly floated over, and landed on the young man's shoulders, one on the left and one on the right. They all stared at Lorena, their calm and deep black eyes seemed to be issuing a silent question: You created us, so why don't you let us fulfill our duties?
Of course, this is all an illusion. Although these alchemical puppets look like living beings, they only have some simple intelligence and can accept orders from their masters, not to mention real emotions. Creating living beings is the privilege of the Great Goddess. Even the self-righteous gods of Old Eden only dare to ask Her for power and life, but not for the right to create. Therefore, so far, no one has been able to touch that forbidden area.

"Hahaha."

When asked about her lifestyle, Rorona laughed dryly and avoided the main point: "I'm not being sloppy on purpose. I just need to put some things in a convenient place so that I can use them at any time. You know, alchemy is a focused job. I can't be distracted by looking for materials every time I'm halfway through refining, right?"

Nonsense.

Lingge didn't believe a word of her lies. Alice said that when she came to play with Rorona last time, she was doing two things at once, doing alchemy while guiding her through the game - well, she was a few minutes faster than her normal record.

You told me this is focus?

Faced with the undisguised suspicion and confusion in the young man's eyes - doubting whether she was really as focused as she boasted, and puzzled as to how she could say such shameless words - Princess Umisu's answer was to stick out her tongue, act cute, and muddle through the matter. In her words, "Boys shouldn't be so fussy, Lingge."

"Ah, I found it."

She finally found what Linger wanted from the mess of things in the drawer and handed it to the young man. Linger took the inconspicuous little bag, opened it and found some seeds inside - although most people would think these colorful and crystal clear round particles were gems or something, Linger knew they were seeds.

As for the reason...

"We used a lot of them to intercept the pursuers of the Witch Society last time, and these are the only ones left." Princess Haixi counted them on her fingers: "Pea Shooter, Nut Wall, and Potato Mine. Well, it's a pity that we don't have the most powerful Corn Cannon, otherwise, Mitch and the others would have had an easy mission."

That's right, these are the magic plant army that Alice came up with, Rorona implemented, and shined in the pursuit of the Witch Society. Although they look strange and don't look like normal creatures (they are originally alchemical products), they are very powerful in combat, easy to carry, and do not require too much magic power to form. They often have unexpected effects on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, after that great war, the plant army suffered heavy losses, and now only these are left.

otherwise……

Lingge tied the bag again and suddenly fell silent, as if he was remembering something.

Rorona keenly noticed that the young man seemed to be in a low mood, so she asked, "What's wrong with you, Lingge? Don't you think these seeds are not enough? Well, if this is not enough, I will have to go into battle myself. I don't know if I, who am weak and powerless, can defeat those evil and brutal invaders?"

As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeves, deliberately showing her white and slender arms to the young man, sighing. If you didn't know her, you would have thought she was really going to go to the front line and fight bravely.

The young man was distracted by her antics. He glanced at Her Royal Highness the Princess and replied, "Nothing. I just suddenly realized that I'm not that sensitive to war."

Rorona was very interested: "Oh? Why do you say that?"

"If I were sensitive enough to the war, I should have been prepared before the Liberation Front took action. For example, I should have commissioned you to refine some alchemical tools for the war, instead of finding out that we were not fully prepared when we needed them, as happened today." The young man thought of the school he had just built when he said this. He sighed softly, "If we could put all the energy we put into building the school into preparing for this war, perhaps the Liberation Front would not be facing such a difficult situation, and fewer people would be sacrificed in the subsequent battles."

"I understand."

After listening to Ling'er's explanation, Lorena nodded, with a look of certainty on her face: "So you are dwelling on this again, Ling'er. Really, no matter how long it has been, you always have this problem. It makes me worry."

She had an expression that said "I really can't do anything about you", just like she was facing a child who was making trouble but had to be tolerated. Ling Ge was stunned and subconsciously wanted to refute: "How is this considered nitpicking..." "Okay, don't try to explain. What you say doesn't count. What I say counts."

Princess Umisu interrupted the young man's explanation domineeringly, and then raised three fingers to him, with an imposing manner, just like a chief judge sentencing a prisoner: "I have three points to prove that you are digging into a dead end! First of all, do you really think that being sensitive to war is a good thing? The children you teach are very sensitive to war. At the beginning of the class, they were always scared and treading on thin ice. It took you and Sister Xiaoxia a long time to help these children get out of the shadow. Why do you help those children get rid of the memory of war, but at the same time blame yourself for not being sensitive enough to war, Lingge? This kind of contradictory mentality is not good."

"Secondly, I don't think it's a waste to use precious energy to build a school. On the contrary, this is the second most correct thing I have done since I learned alchemy. The first most correct thing is to find a way to purify ocean pollution. In addition, even curing my illness through alchemy does not count, because in the final analysis, this is for myself; purifying ocean pollution and helping children who have suffered from war to find their spiritual home again are for others. Alchemy is a skill for others, not for hurting others. I am very grateful for giving me the opportunity to help others, Lingge."

"Finally, finally! Don't take on too much responsibility for yourself, Lingge. We have done enough for the Liberation Front, including intelligence, supplies, and various kinds of help. If you still feel that it is not enough and want to give more support, then is it the Liberation Front that is using your power to get rid of the control of the invaders, or are you using the name of the Liberation Front to satisfy your habit of helping the weak? Are the people of Gray Hill leading this war to liberate their hometown, or are you, a person from the West Land, leading this war to liberate a strange land? We will leave one day. If the Liberation Front cannot win this war on its own, how can we defend this land in the future? I think Mr. Carson is aware of this, so he doesn't make requests to you too often. But you, Lingge, you are usually very calm. Are you too sensitive recently, so you are stuck in a rut on such things?"

Lorena looked at the young man suspiciously, and the latter was speechless. Thinking carefully, he was indeed a little sensitive during this period. Perhaps it was because he had too much contact with children. Their hatred of war and confusion about fate also indirectly affected the young man. Of course, he would not become pessimistic because of this. He just kept thinking in his heart, if only this war could end sooner, if only the children would no longer be afraid, if only everyone in this land could enjoy sweet peace...but he forgot that these things were not something he could decide alone.

The end result was that he expressed this idea in words and actions, which was not as clear as Lorena's. In this sense, the latter's criticism of him for being "stubborn" was not wrong.

He avoided Princess Umisu's gaze awkwardly and said insincerely, "I didn't expect you to be so good at debate, Lorena."

This was a roundabout way of admitting her mistakes, but why couldn't she be more honest? She obviously wouldn't be like this in front of Sister Xiao Xia, right? Lorena curled her lips in dissatisfaction. Suddenly, an incredible idea popped up in her mind. The girl's eyes gradually brightened, and a strange smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.

"Uh, what's wrong with you, Lorena?"

Her smile was so weird that even Ling Ge couldn't help but shudder. He quietly took two steps back, ready to retreat at any time. But how could Her Royal Highness Princess Haiqi not see his little thoughts? She sneered and waved her hand. Several alchemical dolls flew out from nowhere, flapping their little wings to surround the young man, blocking all his escape routes.

"Hahaha, you have nowhere to run, Lingge." Rorona put her hands on her hips and laughed wildly, just like Alice: "So just stay here tonight!"

"What do you want to do?" In desperate situation, the young man remained calm and fearless.

"Nothing, I just think your mental state isn't very good right now, so I want to help you heal it." Rorona laughed strangely: "Use a more special method!"

"Uh, the special method you mentioned, is it alchemy?"

"What are you talking about, Lingge?" Princess Haiqi smiled like a flower and said the most terrifying words in the most gentle tone: "Of course - not."

"Let me go back."

"No."

The fate of the young man was decided in the question and answer. Even so, Lorena still felt it was not enough. She took a pen and paper from the table and wrote furiously on the workbench for a while. Then she handed it to an alchemy doll and told it, "Send this paper to the Fairy Sleep Inn. Well, it's better to send it to Sister Xiaoxia. Okay, go, and come back soon."

Seeing the alchemy puppet holding the note and flying out of the alchemy workshop, Ling Ge asked curiously, "What's written on it?"

"Nothing." Princess Haixi said with a smile, "Just a few small tips."

The young man could not help but remain silent, thinking pessimistically in his heart, can that alchemical doll really come back?

……

Ten minutes later, at the Fairy Sleep Inn.

Saint Xia Liya looked at the note in her hand with an expressionless face. The fairy doll that brought her the note hid behind the counter with the bartender Xie Liya, trembling.

"Ling Ge will stay at my place tonight. I will take good care of him. Don't worry too much, Sister Xiao Xia."

"Your dearest sister, Lorena."

There is also a simple drawing of a smiling face attached to the signature. In the drawing, Princess Kaisu sticks out her tongue mischievously, trying to be cute to her good sister. (End of this chapter)