Mage? Spell Engineer!

"Frogs! Bullfrogs! And delicious snails! All in a warm soup pot!"

"Give way, your stall is blocking the way!"

"How about exchanging my cowhide for your knife? If you don't want to, just exchange it for me."

Hearing the sound before seeing anyone, Freddy pushed open the half-broken wooden door, and a chaotic and somewhat prosperous underground world appeared in front of the two newcomers to the Shadow Land.

Very different from the miserable, sad and weird atmosphere in Jiao Maoding District, the semi-submersible area has an excessive pyrotechnic atmosphere. Everyone is walking on the muddy ground. Pipes and collapsed ancient buildings are intertwined. Residents’ small sheds and stalls are attached to these sinkholes. On the buildings that have entered the ruins of the Shadow Land, some "big stores" have wooden signboards.

In this market, Rorschach felt the fumes of hell.

Everything here is abnormal, and the currency price system has completely collapsed. Whether it is gold coins in the past or centimes now, people only use them for counting. Some shops simply do not accept money and just barter. As a result, the market was inefficient, with Rorschach standing next to customers arguing with the owner about whether it was worth exchanging a tattered felt hat for a frog's leg.

"There's no sun here, what's the use of a hat? Idiot!" The boss knocked on the soup pot angrily, trying to drive away the customer who had no transaction value, but the other party held his hat and looked at the soup pot, swallowed hard, and continued Insistence: "Boss, you will use it. No matter above or below the ground, all men's heads will always be bald and they need a good hat to decorate their heads."

The boss noticed Rorschach and his group. They were relatively neatly dressed and had healthy and rosy faces. They were definitely new arrivals who had just arrived in the Shadow City. His eyes lit up and he quickly greeted: "The two handsome guys and the dwarf over there! It's strange that they can actually do this. Saw the dwarf."

While the boss was talking to himself, Singletary rushed to the stall with anger like a gust of wind: "What are you talking about? I'm not handsome?"

The boss saw the big hammer behind the other party and understood that he was someone not to be trifled with: "You misunderstood, I'm a little surprised. I haven't seen a handsome dwarf guy on this street for a long time."

"Hmph, that's more or less the same." Now that he was closer and it was indeed time for dinner, Singletary touched his belly and asked, "How do you sell soup?"

"Uncle Dwarf, you must be new here. The money for doing business underground cannot be used the same as on the ground. Let's discuss it carefully. Your hammer is very good, and we are willing to exchange it for half a pot of soup."

"Don't be fooled, I'm not a raw melon." Freddy directly pulled the dwarf away from the stall, while Rorschach was always in observation mode, neither stepping forward nor staying too far away. When the poet brought back the greedy Singletary, Rorschach asked in a low voice: "Is there something wrong with the soup?"

"Uh-huh. Don't listen to what he is selling toads and snails. Just stir them up with a spoon and fish them out. It's not uncommon for them to break out on your fingers."

The dwarf shuddered: "Then I won't eat it."

"What kind of safe food is there?" Rorschach felt that he had been deceived by the name "Shadow City". It didn't look like a city at all. There were no supplies, and the clothes of pedestrians were no better than those of the Rat Whisperer.

Freddie looked down the street as if he could see through everyone. But I have to admit that he and Rorschach are taller than the residents who live underground for a long time. Looking at those busy people, since everything in the semi-submerged area has a low roof, everyone is just shuttling between man-made or natural caves. , always bend down unconsciously.

All the houses are made of wooden boards and cloth, not much different from the homeless huts on the street. If any stable or dog kennel in the above world can be sunk into the ground, it can be considered a mansion. There are still some ruins that once existed. To prove it, all you can see now is low earthen walls. The bricks have been torn apart one by one by you and me, but no new building has been reassembled.

They walked to a place where there were more and more people. A ship, no doubt a small cargo ship, was mounted on the roof and pressed against the broken wall. The largest number of people gathered around it. They watched eagerly as a group of young men came in and out, carrying goods. Wearing something.

"It should be what the count said, a cargo ship loaded with tea and sugar." Rorschach judged.

The cargo ship was originally a paddle steamer, and you can still see the broken and deformed chimney. The paddle wheel was either broken or dismantled, leaving only the hole where the bearing once existed.

The dwarf was very distressed: "This ship is so well built. Look at the curves and the paint is very good. It just sank."

Is there a river directly above? The land is humid but there is absolutely no "living water body". Just above the boat, like other places, are staggered rocks and mud. I don't know how they fell down.

But this issue is not important. Several young men are moving in and out of supplies, and some are on guard with long guns (cold weapons), ready to expel anyone who wants to get close to the ship. A flag made of sheets was hung high beside the ship, declaring that the ship and the supplies inside would now be the property of the Earl.

No wonder there were only Elgin and his old servant on the train. The so-called "Earl's Guard" seemed to have all mobilized to occupy the cabin supplies. Young adults are a group of young people who are relatively well-fed. They all wear cut wooden barrels as helmets and pieces of iron sheets hung on the front and back of their bodies as armor.

The crowd watching the shipwreck saw Freddy and kept saying hello to him:

"Freddie!"

"You came"

"Hey Freddy, long time no see, how's the weather down here?"

"Same old, terrible!" Freddy led Rorschach and the dwarf directly into the crowd. Rorschach focused on protecting his belongings, while the poet greeted everyone who knew him one by one.

"You are an underground star!" Zinglev was shocked. Now it was like a celebrity meeting. He and Master Rorschach had become the poet's security guards: "I will call you the Troubadour from now on!"

"Don't"

"They all know you?" Rorschach had never heard Freddie sing in full. He seemed to only be able to talk about chords on the piano and speak a few ditties.

"I once had an attempt to write songs for the residents of the Shadowlands, and then go to the ground to sing them to the people in the upper world." Freddy explained as he squeezed into the boat.

Luo Xia nodded: "There are so many weird things here, it is indeed a treasure trove of materials."

"There may be considerations in this regard, but what I want to do more is to let the people in the upper world remember these forgotten people." The poet spoke softer and softer, almost being covered up by the voice of the person greeting him: "As long as it is As for people who don’t do evil, I just want to interview them and write their experiences, why they fell, their previous hobbies, and their lives into songs and poems to see if I can free them from the curse of the Shadow City."

"Just like you?" Rorschach remembered that the reason why Freddy could travel across the two realms was because his poems were still sung in the upper realm. Even if his name was forgotten, he would not disappear completely and have a chance to return to the ground.

"Yes, but it's just me. People outside only think that I am a drunken inspiration. I originally wanted to write a novel, but I really can't write and I am an unqualified bard."

After saying this, they walked right to the edge of the inner circle of the crowd and reached the place where the count's men blocked them.

"We are the Earl's chartered investigators, let us in quickly!" The poet held the pass issued by the Earl. The guards did not know the words, but they knew that the dark red wax seal could be regarded as the certificate signed by the Earl.

After being released, the supplies from the sunken ship beckoned to the three of them.