Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

Rachel, standing in front of the wishing well, warns the priest.

The pastor nodded slightly:

"I've already thought about it."

In that case, Lacie didn't plan to say anything more.

There was nothing much to say. Although she was reluctant to admit it, she could completely understand the pastor's thoughts.

——Just as the pastor said, if their identities were swapped, she would probably do the same thing.

While Lacie was sighing in her heart that love-brain was really terrible, she made way for the pastor and stood aside.

As a person with vested interests in this matter, she has never had any objection.

Anyway, it is the priest who has to bear the price, not her as a witch. Moreover, if the priest can really succeed in creating another Charles, wouldn't it greatly increase their chances of resolving the anomalies in Diesel?

Advancing is winning, retreating is winning, she is numb to winning!

Of course, she and Charles had thought about using the limited wish machine to solve Diesel's abnormality before, but considering the price to be paid...they finally wisely gave up this plan and regarded it as a last resort.

So she had no intention of persuading the pastor any further.

At this time, the priest had arrived in front of the wishing well.

She lowered her head, clasped her fingers together in front of her chest, and began to make a wish.

Lacee beside her stared at her for a while, inexplicably thinking of Charles who had made a wish here, and Crazy John and the old woman who told them that this wishing well could not fulfill anyone's wish.

Facts have proven that what Crazy John and the old lady said were most likely wrong.

This wishing well, or rather, this limited wishing machine, can indeed fulfill wishes, and the best proof is the pastor standing in front of the wishing well today.

Isn't she the product of desire?

Laceier's thoughts suddenly paused.

She suddenly realized a problem.

Can the product of wishes really make a wish to a limited wishing machine?

Both Crazy John and the old woman stick to their views, they believe that the wishing well cannot fulfill anyone's wishes...

but if……

What if the person making a wish to the wishing well is not a living person, but the product of a wish?

Rachel doesn't know why the wishing well won't fulfill the wishes of outsiders, but she probably figured out why the wishing well can't fulfill the wishes of the Diesel people.

She subconsciously raised her head and looked around at the Diesel people who were gathered in the Wish-fulfilling Square and were no different from ordinary people.

Then, a chilling guess suddenly jumped out of her mind:

“They, they…”

……

"What the hell are they?"

The assistant tried her best to suppress her fear and whispered to the black cat on her shoulder.

The black cat stared at the ghosts wandering in the ruins behind the barrier in front of him. They had thin bodies and slender limbs, but lived like normal people. There were also a few Victorians who were mixed in with the thin ghosts but were completely unaware. His pupils couldn't help but shrink into a sharp and aggressive slit.

"Trouble..."

It jumped down from the assistant's shoulder and whispered:

"It seems that Diesel's abnormality is not just a limited wish-granting machine."

[To be continued]

-

53. Just Beginning

As the closest border town to Diesel in Victoria, Wuhaer has always been peaceful and tranquil.

As the saying goes, live by the mountain, eat by the mountain; live by the water, eat by the water. Wuhaer, which is adjacent to the sea of ​​forests, has no reason not to take advantage of this unique geographical advantage.

Relying on the rich resources of the Sea of ​​Forest, this small border town has developed quite well, in no way inferior to the big cities near the capital, and even became one of the first cities in Victoria to lay railways.

After all, the output of Forest Sea urgently needs to be transported by rail to other cities, or even exported to other countries.

Most of the Uhar people are also proud of the railway that goes directly to the capital. They even stubbornly believe that the railway should be a very important blood vessel among the countless blood vessels running through the steel giant Victoria, and is even inferior to the aorta of the empire.

And today, without any warning, the railway was blocked.

Under the control of some grand will, an unprecedented change happened silently but unstoppably, like thunder rolling among dark clouds.

Initially, all stations along the route from the capital to Ukrainian received a highly confidential notification, so railway workers left their posts urgently, irrelevant personnel were temporarily dismissed, and all steam trains that originally traveled on this route stopped running in an orderly manner under dispatch and command.

It was like some supreme being was about to descend.

But in Victoria, who or what was more supreme than the Emperor?

Some people guessed the answer.

Gradually, rumors began to spread among the people:

"It can't be wrong, it's definitely them!"

"That's right, apart from them, who else could make such a big noise!"

"But why do they want to go to Wuhar?"

"Stupid pig! You forgot that Diesel is next to Wuhar. I guess this time, His Majesty must have finally made up his mind to take down Diesel in one fell swoop!"

In the end, all the discussion turned into praise for His Majesty the Emperor Victoria.

The people praised their emperor almost fanatically, but the emperor did not give them any response.

Victoria, the cold steel giant, has an equally cold steel heart.

But no matter what, as the Victorians waited anxiously, after the witch and the hero noticed the Wall of Sighs that enveloped Diesel, and when the large monitoring array in the White Tower issued a warning of abnormal magic shocks just like it did thirty years ago...

The emperor issued an order.

Then, several pitch-black, heavy and cold steam trains, as if made entirely of steel, drove out of the city of steam and steel at midnight. Like ghosts, they ran at an astonishing speed on the railway tracks leading to Uhaer.

The Empire's blockade of the railways was not perfect, so a few lucky people finally witnessed the steam train with their own eyes.

With excitement and inexplicable fear, they gave it a name.

They call it...

——"The Iron Throne".

……

However, not everyone is happy to see the Iron Throne arrive safely at Uhal.

Even though the White Tower, which represents the opinions of new-school wizards, has acknowledged Victoria's existence, there are still some remnants of the old world. Those old-school wizards who painted the wizard tower black and buried it deep underground cannot accept Victoria's proposition.

In their eyes, ordinary people who have no magical talent at all are and can only be their consumables and experiments, and the country built by these consumables and experiments is undoubtedly a huge joke.

They are unwilling to acknowledge Victoria's existence, and even, if given the opportunity, they will spare no effort to obstruct Victoria's development and progress.

The wizards who consider themselves superior should not be able to accept being stepped on by ordinary people whom they regard as consumables and experiments. However, in recent years, Victoria has made more and more achievements in various fields, and they have almost begun to pose a threat to the status of the wizards.

But most wizards still disagree with Victoria's achievements.

Even though the news that "Victoria has begun to build steam armor" spread almost throughout the entire continent, the wizards still did not take Victoria seriously.

They look down upon the creations of mortals.

However, the attitude of mortals does annoy them. They believe that mortals should have the consciousness of mortals, work honestly for them, and provide them with resources.

As for building a nation, and fighting for the so-called "rightful place"...

That's totally wishful thinking!

Mortals should not have such extravagant hopes!

Therefore, the wizards decided to teach those disobedient and arrogant mortals a lesson.

Although they did not know why Emperor Victoria sent the Iron Throne to Uhar, they knew that the so-called Iron Throne was another name for the steam armored force that Victoria had already built.

Mortals try to challenge the supreme authority bestowed upon them by gods with steam and steel, and they will destroy the fantasies of mortals and turn those so-called steam armors into scrap iron.

By then, mortals will once again know who is the master of Pangaea.

That's what the group of mages thought and did.

They infiltrated Victoria and awaited its arrival on the path to the Iron Throne.

They didn't even bother to cover their tracks. They arrogantly believed that the armor made of steam and steel by mortals could not pose any threat to them, so they didn't even bother to cut the rails under their feet.

They even bickered until the Iron Throne arrived—

They all wanted the honor of destroying the Victorian Steam Armored Corps, although each of them belittled it to the point of being insignificant.

During their argument, the dark Iron Throne tore through the thick fog, leaving a large string of sparks on the tracks, slowly slowing down, and finally stopping in front of the wizards.

The mages' dispute ended.

Even though they looked down on mortals from the bottom of their hearts, they instinctively turned all their attention to the Iron Throne, to the supreme masterpiece created by mortals so far.

As the Victorian spokesman declared when the Steam Armoured Forces were unveiled:

"What does it take to build such a steam armored unit?"

"It requires countless workers to work day and night, countless scholars to study day and night, several large coal and steel consortiums, sufficient budgets and enough trial and error opportunities, professional construction workshops, mature design institutes and their affiliated parts factories with hundreds of senior engineers; it also requires tens of millions of taxpayers across the country, an emperor with farsightedness, a country that is great enough not to be enslaved by those 'noble' wizards, and its equally great people!"

"We will end the era of mages!"

Although most wizards shrugged off the remarks, they were still shocked when they came face to face with the Iron Throne.

Perhaps it was because such a creation had never appeared in the entire Pangaea before.

But soon, a strange noise interrupted their shock.

That voice came from the Iron Throne.

"laugh--"

Suddenly, hot steam erupted from the motionless steel monster.

Then, accompanied by the pleasant sounds of gears meshing and hinges tightening, the closed doors on both sides of the Iron Throne suddenly and slowly popped open outwards.

The wizards unconsciously clenched their wands. They knew that next, they would see the rumored steam armored troops.

But for some reason, no sound came from the dark carriage of the Iron Throne.

Several carriages were eerily quiet, as if they were dormant beasts that could suddenly attack and hurt people at any time.

After a long time, a wizard finally couldn't hold back any longer. He spat on the ground, cursed "playing tricks", and carefully clenched his wand with which he had pre-read the offensive spell. Under the gaze of many wizards behind him, he slowly walked into the carriage closest to him.

But nothing happened.

There were no screams, wails or calls for help. The carriage seemed to have become a black hole, and the wizard who walked in disappeared.

Panic gradually spread among the crowd.

But there was one wizard who still retained his sanity, so he raised his wand high and tried to tell the other wizards that they just needed to launch a covering attack on the Iron Throne, and that was the only way they could achieve their goal.

Then, the mage suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wrist.

He looked up subconsciously, only to find that the part above his wrist had been quietly cut off since he didn't know when.

Uncontrollable panic came over him along with the severe pain, and he screamed unconsciously.

However, his scream stopped abruptly, just like his severed hand.

A sharp blade appeared from behind him and pierced his entire chest.

The wizard looked down in a daze at the sword protruding from his chest, then turned his head with difficulty, trying to see what had killed him.

Then, as he wished, he saw the steam armor from Victoria that they had been looking forward to.

A three-meter-tall steel creature stood behind him, cold and hard. It had a structure similar to that of a human body, but was painted with pitch-black paint all over. It almost completely blended into the endless night, except for its eyes, which radiated a bloody crimson.

It wasn't even covered with armor, and therefore looked a little... thin. Large areas of complex pipes were exposed, constantly spewing out hot steam. Some parts even had only simple supporting structures, and looked shaky.