A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 278 The Sunken Ship on the Roof

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

"Excuse me, your stall is blocking the way!"

"How about I trade this cowhide for your knife? If you don't want to, then use this instead."

Before seeing anyone, they heard voices. Freddy pushed open the half-broken wooden door, revealing a chaotic yet somewhat prosperous underworld to the two Shadowland newcomers.

In stark contrast to the bleak, sorrowful, and eerie atmosphere of the Jiaomaoding area, the semi-submerged area has an excessively lively atmosphere. Everyone walks on the muddy ground, with pipes and collapsed ancient buildings interspersed. Residents' sheds and stalls are attached to these buildings that have sunk into the shadows, and some "big shops" even have wooden signs.

Rorschach sensed a ghostly, bustling atmosphere in this market.

Everything here is abnormal. The monetary system has completely collapsed. Whether it's the gold coins of the past or the current coins, people only use them for counting. Some shops simply don't accept money, only bartering. Therefore, this market is extremely inefficient. Next to Rorschach, a customer and the shopkeeper are arguing about whether it's worth exchanging a tattered felt hat for a frog leg.

"There's no sun here, what use is a hat? Idiot!" The shopkeeper angrily banged on the soup pot, trying to drive away a customer who had no business value, but the other party, clutching the hat, looked at the soup pot, swallowed hard, and continued to insist: "Boss, you'll need it. Whether above or below ground, all men's heads will eventually go bald, and they need a good hat to decorate their heads."

The shopkeeper spotted Rorschach and his group. Their clothes were relatively neat, and their complexions were healthy and ruddy—definitely new arrivals who had just landed in the Shadow City. His eyes lit up, and he quickly called out, "You two handsome guys and the dwarf over there! It's unusual to see a dwarf."

As the shopkeeper muttered to himself, Singhlev stormed to the stall like a whirlwind, his anger blazing: "What are you saying? Am I not handsome?"

The shopkeeper noticed the large hammer on the other man's back and realized he was someone not to be trifled with: "You've misunderstood. I'm just a little surprised; it's been a long time since I've seen a handsome dwarf on this street."

"Hmph, that's more like it." Now that they were closer and it was indeed lunchtime, Singhlev patted his stomach: "How much is the soup?"

"Sir Dwarf, you must be new here. Money can't be used the same way underground as it can on the surface. We need to negotiate. Your hammer is quite good; we'd be happy to trade it for half a pot of soup."

"Don't try to fool us, I'm not a greenhorn." Freddy pulled the dwarf away from the stall, while Rorschach remained in observation mode, neither approaching nor straying too far. Only after the poet brought back the craving Singrev did Rorschach whisper, "Is there something wrong with the soup?"

"Hmm. Don't listen to his hawking of toads and snails. If you stir it up with a spoon and scoop it out, you might end up with a knuckle."

The dwarf shuddered: "Then I'd better not eat it."

"What kind of safe food is there?" Rorschach felt he had been deceived by the name "Shadow City". This place did not resemble a city at all. There were no supplies, and the clothes of the pedestrians were not much better than those of the Rat Whisperers.

Freddie gazed at the end of the street, as if his gaze could penetrate everyone. However, he had to admit that he and Rorschach were taller than the long-time residents of the underground. Looking at those busy people, because everything in the semi-submersible area had low ceilings, everyone was just moving between man-made or natural caves, and they would always unconsciously bend over.

All the houses were cobbled together with wooden planks and cloth, not much different from the shacks of homeless people on the street. Any stable or doghouse in the world above ground could be considered a mansion if it could be sunk underground. There are also some ruins that are proof of its existence. Now all you can see are low earthen walls. The bricks have long been taken apart piece by piece, but no new buildings have been rebuilt.

They walked to the place where more and more people were gathered. A ship, undoubtedly a small cargo ship, was perched on the roof and pressed against the broken wall. The largest crowd had gathered around it, watching expectantly as a group of young men went in and out, carrying something.

"It should be the cargo ship the Earl mentioned, loaded with tea and sugar," Rorschach concluded.

The cargo ship was originally a paddle steamer, and you can still see the broken and deformed smokestacks. The paddle wheels were either broken or dismantled, leaving only the holes where the bearings used to be.

The dwarf was heartbroken: "This ship was so well-built! Look at its curves, the paint was so beautiful, and it just sank like that."

Is there a river directly above? This area is damp but there is definitely no "living water". Just like everywhere else, there are interspersed rocks and mud directly above the boat. I really don't know how it fell down.

However, this issue was not important. Several able-bodied men were moving supplies in and out, while others stood guard with long spears (melee weapons), ready to drive away anyone who tried to approach the ship. A flag made of bedsheets was hung high beside the ship, declaring that the ship and its contents now belonged to the Earl.

No wonder only Elgin and his old servant were on the train; it seemed the entire "Count's Guard" had been mobilized to seize the ship's supplies. These "young and strong men" were just a group of well-fed young men, all wearing helmets made of cut wooden barrels and armored with pieces of sheet metal hanging from the front and back.

The crowd watching the shipwreck saw Freddie and kept greeting him.

"Freddy!"

"You've arrived."

"Hey Freddy, long time no see. How's the weather up here?"

"Same as always, terrible!" Freddy led Rorschach and the dwarf straight into the crowd. Rorschach was focused on protecting his belongings, while the poet greeted everyone he knew.

"You're an underground superstar!" Singhlev exclaimed in shock. It was like a celebrity meet-and-greet; he and the sorcerer Rorschach were now the poet's bodyguards. "From now on, we'll have to call you the Great Wandering Poet!"

"Absolutely not!"

"Do they all know you?" Rorschach hadn't heard Freddie sing in his entirety much; he seemed to only know how to play chords on the piano and rap a few tunes.

"I once tried to write songs for the inhabitants of the Shadowlands and then sing them to the people of the Upper Realm on Earth," Freddy explained as he squeezed into the ship.

Rorschach nodded: "This place is bizarre and wonderful; it's truly a treasure trove of materials."

"That's part of the consideration, but what I really want to do is make the people of the upper realm remember these forgotten ones." The poet's voice trailed off, almost drowned out by the voices of those greeting him: "As long as they don't do evil, I want to interview them and write their experiences, why they fell, their hobbies, and their lives into songs and poems, to see if I can help them escape the curse of the Shadow City."

"Just like you?" Rorschach remembered that Freddy was able to travel between the two worlds because his poems were still being sung in the upper world. Even if his name was forgotten, he would not completely disappear and would have a chance to return to the ground.

"Yes, but only me. Outsiders just think that my inspiration comes from being drunk. I wanted to write a novel, but I just can't bring myself to write. I'm an unqualified bard."

After they finished speaking, they walked to the inner edge of the crowd, where the count's men were blocking their way.

"We are the Earl's authorized investigators, let us in!" The poet held the pass issued by the Earl. The guards couldn't read, but they knew that the dark red wax seal could be regarded as proof issued by the Earl.

After they were allowed to pass, the supplies on the sunken ship beckoned to the three of them.

(End of this chapter)