Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 932 Do you want to hold hands?

The alchemy workshop is not only where Lorena works daily, but also where she rests and lives, so it is not lacking in the atmosphere of life. The small but compact living room area is covered with exquisite hand-woven carpets, and the mahogany tables and chairs and ceramic tea sets are all exquisitely crafted, with a gorgeous temperament like handicrafts; the air is filled with the scent of blue mint from the deep sea, which is enough to invigorate people without a trace of fatigue; as for the lighting hanging above the head, it is not the common kerosene lamps and candles, but a prism called ice water feldspar. The faint cold light blends with the sunlight that shines through the window, giving people a dreamy feeling. Even the tiny dust floating in the air is as clear as the plankton on the seabed.

The sea angel fairies with transparent wings like frozen snowflakes flew around the round table. One was responsible for filling the teacups in front of the two people with black tea, one was responsible for adding sugar cubes into the black tea, and the other was responsible for stirring with a silver spoon to accelerate the melting of the sugar cubes. They had clear division of labor, and they looked as cute as dolls, but they worked very seriously. The sea angel fairy who was responsible for adding sugar cubes would even look up from time to time to observe the expressions of the two people, judging from the subtle frowns that she had added too much or introduced too much, which was very humane.

Why use the word "humanized"? Because they are not living creatures, but dolls made by Lorena using alchemy. It is said that many precious materials are used, and their only function is to take care of Lorena's daily life, such as waking her up, serving her washing and meals, or acting cute when guests visit.

It sounds like Lorena is a useless person, who even needs alchemical dolls to take care of her daily life. But in fact, she is very restrained. You should know that when she lived in Nereids, there were 300 maids serving her in her palace at any time, from mirror elves to Warsaw fishmen to half-mermaids, which shows how grand her palace was.

In comparison, the three alchemical puppets are nothing.

As the second daughter of Nereids, the sea-dwelling princess of the Azure Mirror, and the only half-son of a god in the mirror elves in ten thousand years, Lorena was honored and favored by more than ordinary people could imagine. Although she fled her hometown on a whim and failed to make preparations in advance, the treasures she took away from her private treasury alone were enough to pile up into a small mountain.

She was the most low-key wealthy woman on Yunjingkong Island. Without such a huge wealth, would ordinary people dare to play with high-end technology such as alchemy? Moreover, Rolena almost never refused the commissions of her companions on the island, and never asked them to bring their own materials. Yieta got the two alchemy props, the telescope and the magical conch, from her without paying a penny.

Of course, there is only one exception, and that is Alice.

It's not that she is discriminating against her, but if there are no restrictions, this golden-haired maid will probably make some shocking requests. Although Lorena is a wealthy woman, her wealth is insignificant compared to Alice's imagination.

After the sea angel fairy added black tea for the two, she stepped aside and hid behind the curtain to quietly observe the young man's reaction, wanting to know how he would evaluate the taste of this cup of black tea. Countess Nevill occasionally came to the alchemy workshop as a guest, mainly to taste Lorena's tea. The deep sea variety of tea cultivated by the mirror elves contains a refreshing and long-lasting charm like the sea breeze. It is a rare treasure on the ground. The countess likes it very much, and she also praises the tea art of the sea angel fairies.

But Lingge disappointed these cute alchemy dolls because he didn't even pick up the teacup. He ignored the rich tea aroma lingering around his nose and explained his purpose to Rosa in a calm and serious tone.

"To put it simply," Rolena had picked up the teacup, but after hearing Ling's purpose, she put it down again. The ceramic teacup gently hit the base, making a crisp and pleasant sound. She said thoughtfully, "Because the next destination is the Holy Temple of Heaven outside the universe, in order to defend against possible extraterrestrial disasters and interstellar tides, you want me to refine some parts with corresponding functions to ensure that Yunjing Sky Island can successfully cross the Ancient Road of Stars?"

"Yes."

Linger nodded and said, "Although the Cloud Whale Sky Island is blessed by Yieta's free kingship, that only eliminates its gravity, allowing it to fly freely with its huge and bulky body. However, the material of the Sky Island itself has not changed. It is still a product of earth and stone structure. It can resist ordinary attacks, but it may be difficult to withstand the extraterrestrial disaster beasts and interstellar tides."

If not for this, when they faced the imaginary Earth Mother - Titan in the Saria Field, they would not need to rely on Alice's cassette, but could directly let Sky Island crash into it - the terrifying kinetic energy granted by the acceleration was enough to smash the Earth Mother Titan into pieces in an instant, but Cloud Whale Sky Island would also disintegrate under the impact of the reaction force and turn into earth and rocks all over the sky.

"I hope you can turn the Whale Island into a warship that can sail across the sea of ​​stars." Linger calmly put forward a request that might easily anger Party B: "Just like the Zero Arus that Alice designed in the tape of Sky Orbit: Zero Behemoth."

The Sky Beast, the Type-0 Arus, was a piece of shit, but the battle with the Earth Mother Titan established its status. If it weren't for Ling Ge's indifference, this sky battleship alone would be enough to support him to be a small warlord in the distant East Continent. When it will be wiped out by the West Continent United Army is another matter, as Alice said, let's have some fun first.

Of course, being on good terms with the young girl Wang Quan who controls the laws of the world, but only thinking about being a small warlord, is too stupid, so Ling Ge never had such an idea. Alice... her intelligence and moral level are erratic, Ling Ge cannot guarantee it.

"What a grand goal, but I'm afraid it will be very difficult." Rorona held up her chin with one hand. Although she said it was difficult, the look in her eyes was not hesitation, but excitement and thought: "Since you want to benchmark the Zero Arus, why don't you just use Alice's cassette?"

"Because crossing the starry sea is a long process, it may take months or even years, and Alice's game can't last that long." Ling gave a reasonable explanation.

"In other words, we need to solve not only the defense problem, but also the durability problem... Well, it seems unrealistic to include the entire Cloud Whale Sky Island in the defense range. Whether it is a protective shield sourced from magic power or an armor layer that relies purely on hardness, it cannot sustain such consumption, unless we master the magic engine technology of the Witch Society. In this case, perhaps we should make a choice and abandon some less important areas, focusing on defending the Fairy Sleep Inn, the primrose field, the herb garden and other areas..."

Rorona's other hand was placed on the table, writing and drawing unconsciously, as if she was using the tea table as her workbench. She was drawing the ideal blueprint according to Ling's requirements. This was her instinct as an alchemist.

Lingge didn't say anything, for fear of interrupting her inspiration.

It is said that creators whose inspiration is interrupted will become very irritable, like Olvera who dared to confront Alice in person. Of course, Olvera was not originally a gentle person.

Over the past few minutes, the thoughtfulness in Rolena's eyes gradually turned into a bright light, and Linger knew that she had come up with a solution, so he asked, "How is it, do you have an idea?"

"That's it."

Rorona came back to her senses from her thoughts and smiled, "But this may require Alice's help."

"Alice?" Ling Ge was surprised when he heard this: "How can she help... ahem, what does this have to do with her?"

You're not thinking that making games is very similar to alchemy, so Alice is also a great alchemist? If that's the case, I'd really doubt your intelligence level, right?
"Haha."

Rorona understood Ling's look and couldn't help laughing. She probably thought this was ridiculous. "It has nothing to do with alchemy. I mainly hope Alice can provide the materials so that my idea can be realized."

"Provide materials?" This is more believable than assisting in alchemy, but the question remains, what materials can Alice provide? Or, what materials must she provide? Can't they be found in Rorona's treasure house?
"Yes." Rorona nodded gently: "I need to use Alice's cartridge, the "Sky Orbit: Behemoth Zero." "That may be difficult." Linger frowned: "Everyone can see how much Alice values ​​her game console and cartridges. If there is no suitable reason, I'm afraid she won't agree."

Rorona tapped her lips with her index finger, thinking, "A suitable reason... Does it count as making her cartridge stronger?"

"Become stronger? How do you want to do that?"

"How about using alchemy to change the internal structure of the cartridge and add some extra functions to it, such as an outer layer of armor that can withstand interstellar storms, magical weapons that can fight against extraterrestrial disaster beasts head-on, and a completely new energy engine device?"

Linger couldn't help but show a look of surprise on his face: "You can remake Alice's cassette? Can alchemy even do such a thing?"

"It has nothing to do with alchemy. In fact, you have already seen similar examples." Rorona said with a smile: "In the game called Dark Castle: Waltz of the Dawn, didn't Olvera's teacher, Mrs. Tree, do it?"

Tree Lady.

The name evoked some memories from long ago. Lingge seemed to recall that in the final chapter of the castle, Princess Beman encountered another personality of the dark witch Carabosse. The opponent was so powerful that it was almost overwhelming. Even if she tried her best, the princess was still helpless. In the end, she was deprived of all weapons and props and trapped in the original room, desperately waiting for time to end.

However, it was at such a critical moment that Madam Tree relied on the power of the Holy Dagger, the Grass and Tree Disaster Star, and forcibly intervened in this game that did not belong to her, bringing hope to her students, helping her to successfully escape from the predicament and take control of her own destiny.

Although the price was her own death, everyone believed that the kind old lady must have no regrets when she passed away. It should be said that she was very relieved.

The example of Mrs. Tree proves that Alice's cassette is not impossible to interfere with, but it requires some special methods.

"There are many other examples." Rorona admired Ling's thoughtful expression and said leisurely, "For example, on the Indorsis Bridge, Alice wanted to activate the cartridge but was stopped by external forces; for example, in the cartridge "Duelers of Chaos World", the power of a card can pull Yieta and Metien, who were originally on Cloud Whale Sky Island, into the game... I think these examples should be enough to prove that I am not kidding."

Linger nodded subconsciously: "If so, it is indeed possible to convince Alice."

But it is just a possibility. The stubbornness of genius players in this regard is not something that ordinary people can understand.

"In that case," Rorona tapped her lips with her slender index finger, thought for a while, and said, "I'll go and explain it to her in person. Maybe Alice will agree for my sake. Of course, if she doesn't agree, I'll give her a few alchemical props. I remember she's been coveting my memory shells and self-playing music box for a long time."

Well, this method is more reliable, at least more reliable than saving Rorona's face - I don't mean to belittle Princess Umisu, I just want to tell you that Alice is stubborn and won't give face to anyone.

"Let's go then." Lingge said.

When Rorona heard this, a look of surprise appeared on her face. It was obvious that the young man's decision was unexpected to her: "Eh? Lingge, are you going with me?"

"Yeah." Ling Ge didn't think there was anything wrong, and said in a matter-of-fact tone: "It just so happens that I also have something to discuss with Alice."

"That's it."

This was the truth, but Princess Haiqi had an intriguing expression on her face, and I wondered if she believed it. Of course, Lingge didn't care whether she believed it or not. Anyway, he had experienced similar misunderstandings many times, and now he was used to it and was too lazy to explain anything.

Since she had made the decision, Rolena simply picked up the teacup, raised her head and drank the remaining tea in the cup. Then she stood up, glanced at the almost untouched tea in front of Lingge, chuckled and said, "Come to think of it, it seems that we rarely act together. If Sister Xiaoxia and the others see us, will there be any misunderstanding?"

Linger was not too keen on delving into exactly what kind of misunderstanding she was talking about, so he simply answered with two words: “No.”

“That’s really unfortunate.”

"Pity?"

"I mean, this isn't fun. By the way, how about holding hands? I think it's more fun this way."

"No."

"Ugh."

(End of this chapter)