I, transformed into a vampire girl, sparked the Industrial Revolution.

Chapter 182 The Underground Realm

"Ugh... Where am I?"

Alice got up from the ground and looked around. The light was dim, with only a single candle flickering dimly. Judging from the temperature and the lack of air circulation, she realized that she was probably underground.

"Welcome, Your Highness Alice, welcome to the Magical Hermitage."

A voice echoed in the cell. Alice looked closely and saw several people standing on one side of the room, outside a thumb-thick fence.

"I never imagined that the great Princess Alice would fall into our hands like this. His Highness the Duke will be very pleased..."

One of the older men, dressed in finery, made as if to walk toward the fence, but a man holding a staff blocked his way.

"Our deal, 'our' part is done, but what about your part?"

The man in the purple robes spoke coldly, and the man in the gorgeous clothes took a half step back, glanced at Alice kneeling on the ground, and then looked at the magician.

“We can do it soon, but she…we want her.”

"Fulfill your promises first."

"Did you even understand? We need her as the key point!"

"A promise, or the deal is no longer valid,"

The magician said coldly, and the person in the gorgeous clothes had no choice but to give up: "Fine, we'll do it right away, but if you don't keep your promise..."

"That depends on your sincerity."

The man in the gorgeous clothes left, leaving only a few magicians in purple robes in front of Alice. Alice forced herself to stand up and looked at them.

"You... the Magical Hermitage? What exactly are you...?"

"Princess Alice? Or perhaps the so-called President? But whatever it is, it's all the same to us... However, as rulers of the earth, each new administration seems weaker than the last."

Alice remained silent, but then she suddenly remembered something and looked at the man in front of her: "Where is our maid?"

"died."

boom!

The fence made a loud, resounding thud as it was struck by a fist, and upon hearing this, Alice was affected by anger for the first time.

"Just kidding~"

"you!"

Alice punched the fence again, and the magician let out a soft laugh.

"Where is she?"

"Don't rush, do you know us? The story of this place, this little cave?"

Alice, of course, didn't understand. She shook her head, and the magician smiled, his expression as confident as a child who had acquired a new toy.

"Of course you don't know, like every ruler on this continent, for us, our entire lives will be dedicated to the great path of uncovering the origin of magic. We will explore, we will know, what exactly is the magic that governs this land."

“In the past, our forerunners sacrificed their bodies for this cause. We cut open the human body with sharp blades to explore the magical principles within the blood vessels, but like you, short-sighted rulers regard the great explorations of our forerunners as heresy!”

"They launched a hundred-year manhunt! A hundred years! The manuscripts of the pioneers turned to ashes, and their brilliant minds became skeletons in mass graves!"

The magician became more and more excited as he spoke, but for Alice, such a story could not push her to the opposite side.

"We scattered and fled, and the last pioneers found this place bestowed by the Path of Magic's Origin, a place with gifts from the ancient times that you cannot even imagine!"

"After hundreds of years, we have finally found an opportunity, an opportunity to stand in the sunlight and embark on the path of exploring the origin of magic."

Alice was particularly curious about the magician's long-winded speech. She nodded, took a deep breath, and looked at him calmly without being shocked or resentful.

"Of course we don't know what you mean, just as you don't know what we're striving for."

Alice said calmly.

Do you know what the so-called origin of magic really is?

"Of course, the source of magic exists deep underground, at unimaginable depths! We could never find it even if we spent our entire lives searching for it."

"We know what that is, Mr. Magician! We have a suggestion!"

Alice looked at the magician in front of her. She knew that in the current situation, such words were somewhat inadequate, but in reality, it was the best option.

She pulled out a small cylinder from her waist: "We saw you using products from the magical future, didn't you know? While we were talking, these magical devices were being manufactured in droves. The Halvin Gang—these people have no chance against our army."

"Besides, they don't understand you at all, do they? Mr. Magician, you are researchers. Do you really think those ridiculous nobles would understand your hard work?"

"They have reached an agreement with you now, but the two schools of thought, the advanced and the backward, will never be compatible. They will betray you one day, just like they did long ago."

“But we are different. You can see that in the North, there are many people like you who are pursuing the path of science within the system we have built. We utilize nature and magic. As the current leaders of this land, we respect your research results and pay tribute to the spirit of research.”

"Admit it, you don't care about those so-called nobles at all. They are different from us. You can't stand those swine's denigration of creation. Today they despise your creation, tomorrow they will destroy your knowledge!"

"Our worlds are incompatible with theirs; our logic is completely different from theirs."

"Joining us can provide you with a future bathed in sunlight! Don't you want to bask in the sunlight again?"

"We're giving you a choice: join our path, or be destroyed by our army, or be betrayed by them!"

Alice looked up, and the magician standing in front of her was immediately speechless. After calming down and thinking it over, he suddenly realized that what Alice said was actually correct!

The so-called nobles were the very culprits who hunted them down long ago! They were the ones who turned the magic guild into a magic hermitage.

But this was not a decision he could make. The purple-robed mage whispered a few words to the other two mages and then hurriedly left.

Who could resist such a temptation?

Alice simply stood there, watching the purple-robed mage who had come and gone, and knew that she already had a good chance of winning.