Xingtetsu: Why is the captain on the train?

Shiluwa's attitude clearly showed that she wanted to see the guests off, and since no one present had low emotional intelligence, they all stood up together with the captain.

"Sorry, I do have something to do. I'll meet you at the hotel tomorrow." Shiluwa probably felt that she was being too explicit, and she apologized to everyone on the train.

"It's okay." The captain shook his head at Xiluwa, "Instead, we should thank you. After all, we don't have currency, and you are a great help... and..."

"Huh?" Shiluwa, who was about to lead everyone out of the machinery room, looked at the captain in confusion.

"Is it really okay?"

"If I say no..." Xiluwa smiled reluctantly, "You guys don't believe it either, do you?"

---

"Of course there are big problems." Dan Heng rested his hands on his knees, interlaced his fingers, and supported his chin with his two thumbs. His expression was serious. "Earth marrow is a kind of ore, a non-renewable resource."

"According to Danheng and I's visit, we learned an important piece of information." Yuexia crossed her legs on the sofa and looked at the captain sitting on the edge of the bed. "Beloberg is not as simple as the city we saw. It also has a huge underground part."

"Underground..." The captain nodded slightly, "So, the underground of Beloberg is the source of the earth's marrow?"

"That's the problem." Dan Heng narrowed his eyes. "The aboveground and underground parts have been cut off from each other for more than ten years. The specific number is probably between thirteen and fifteen years. Because we don't want to expose the identity of outsiders, Miss Yuexia and I didn't ask in detail."

As soon as the captain heard Dan Heng's news, he couldn't help but raise his hand and began to squeeze the corners of his eyes.

Yuexia sighed softly. The girl who was familiar with the captain knew that this was his habit when he felt stressed, but she really couldn't say anything to comfort him, and the captain didn't need that kind of pale comfort, so she could only sigh, "The situation is very bad."

"And what's worse is the boundary rift." Dan Heng mentioned a point that was overlooked by everyone in a low voice.

"The rift is a phenomenon of eroding space. A space filled with soil and snow is still space." Dan Heng pursed his lips. "The rift creatures will not be released into the filled space, but if there is a city underground, there must be gaps, cracking creatures..."

"Naturally, there will be a place to stand after being released." March 7 murmured to himself.

"Speaking of the Rift." The Star Core Spirit looked around at everyone, "In fact, this city is not completely safe. The city has also been eroded by the Rift."

"Not surprising." Dan Heng nodded. "The protection of [Cunhu] is always just a manifestation of imaginary energy, and the star core indiscriminately disturbs the imaginary energy. The protection of [Cunhu] is just a tough nut to crack for the star core, not an impenetrable barrier."

The captain glanced at Dan Heng a little more, but just nodded.

In the room of Goethe Hotel, the thick windows blocked out the sound of wind and snow. The earth furnace released a constant amount of heat, and the warm temperature could not make everyone relax.

The captain turned his gaze to the Earth Marrow Furnace. "The communication between the ground and underground has been cut off. In other words, the Earth Marrow has lost its stable source."

"Earth marrow is a survival material. The channels and sources should be controlled by the government. If there is no communication between the ground and underground, can we boldly guess..."

"Is there no more marrow underground?" The Star Core Spirit immediately responded to the captain's words.

"Or, is there no difference between having it or not?" Yuexia added, "Don't forget the problem of the world rift mentioned by Dan Heng."

"The shortage of survival supplies cannot be hidden from the smart people in this city."

"Especially those ordinary people."

The captain's gaze turned to the gap in the curtains, looking at the dark sky outside the window.

"They are very perceptive."

"They are much more perceptive and intelligent than Silva and Lingke."

Chapter 22: Issues that only the Great Guardian should consider?

This city.

The city that survives, the city that stands, Belloburg.

Already crumbling.

"Well, now let me go deeper and ask a new question."

Looking at the brightly lit administrative center in the night, Belloberg's [Klipperburg], the captain asked a question in a light voice, "Will the severance of the ground and the underground be a spontaneous act of the people?"

The words were spoken lightly, but they hit everyone's heart heavily.

"Impossible...right?" The kind-hearted San Yue Qi uttered his answer with difficulty, although he had some self-doubt.

"It's hard to say." Dan Heng was undoubtedly much calmer. He thought for a moment, "But if it's just cutting off communication, it's probably not a spontaneous action by the people."

The captain retracted his gaze and looked at Dan Heng, "Why?"

"Without the support of the authorities, this 'incorrect' thing could not have lasted so long." Dan Heng calmly gave the reasons he came up with after thinking about it.

"In other words, the ruler of Klipperburg, the Great Guardian, Cocolia Rand, cut off the communication between the ground and the underground more than ten years ago, and regarded the people and society underground as 'things' that had lost their value and abandoned them." The captain muttered this sentence in a low voice, "So, Lingke's vigilance and doubts about her are necessary."

"But, she also said that her ideas are unorthodox?" The Star Core Spirit frowned.

"Because Ling Ke is also from the upper class, she is indeed special. The people around her are all vested interests. Giving up the underground part does not harm the interests of the people above ground." Yuexia looked at Xing with a serious expression, and her gem-like red eyes flashed with seriousness. "We are standing now after everything has happened, looking at this issue from a holistic perspective, so we came to the conclusion that this decision is wrong."

"But the people on the ground have benefited for more than ten years. Many of their ideas and thoughts have been erased and disappeared in their habits." Yuexia sighed softly, and was silent for a while, perhaps remembering the experience in some world bubble. "They have become accustomed to the separation between the ground and the underground."

"Speaking of which." The captain turned his gaze to the crowd, "What is your most intuitive feeling about this city today?"

The most intuitive feeling?

The captain's question caused everyone to fall into a brief silence.

Because when the captain asked this question, their first thoughts were in direct conflict with their reasoning, making it difficult for the four to express their feelings.

"Safe? Peaceful? Calm?" Sanyueqi scratched his cheek awkwardly, "I always feel like something is not right?"

"I feel the same as March." The Star Core Spirit also nodded, "It's obviously very good, but this atmosphere feels very strange."

"Here, there is a lack of a post-apocalyptic sense of urgency. Here, resources are abundant and society is stable, but their foothold is clearly shrinking inch by inch under the pressure of the Rift." Yuexia has undoubtedly seen more, far more than the young people imagine, so her answer goes straight to the point, "If there were no external wind and snow, no seven hundred years of lost history, and no Rift, then its current performance might be normal, but the fact is the opposite, so calmness and stability are abnormal."

Everyone was silent.

"The people here, this city, are living in comfort, steadily heading towards destruction." The captain sighed softly.

The mournful tone, like an aria, gave everyone goosebumps.

"And the only person I can think of is the one who will perform euthanasia on this city." The captain's eyes turned to the towering buildings in the central administrative district.

Fort Klippe brightly lit.

"It's their ruler, the Great Guardian, Cocolia Rand."

"And the first people to be executed were the former residents of the underground city."

-----

The next day, Shiluwa arrived at the reception area of the Goethe Hotel as scheduled and met the train passengers who were having breakfast.

After meeting, the captain's first topic made Xiluwa frown.

"You want to go to the downtown area?" The tall blond lady looked at the captain suspiciously, "You, know?"

"If you're talking about the fact that the upper and lower levels have been isolated for fourteen years, then yes, I know." The captain nodded. "We only got a rough idea yesterday, and this morning, we got more detailed information from the hotel owner."

The owner of Goethe Hotel is named Goethe.

He has a wife who has been isolated in the underground city for fourteen years. He is a witness to the events of that year.

"So, is there any solution?" The captain looked at Shiluwa.

"Why do we want to go to the downtown area?" Shiluwa did not give a direct answer, but instead asked about the captain and his crew's motives.

"You should still remember what Xing said yesterday, [Explore] [Understand] [Establish] [Connect]." The captain looked at Shiluwa, "We have already seen the Beloberg on the ground, and now, we want to go underground and see the Beloberg underground."

Go and meet the real Beloberg.

"I have no way, but someone does." Xiluwa saw a cold light in the captain's eyes. It was a firm and cold will, which was revealed through the young man's black pupils.

"Who?"

"I can help you contact her. Come to my machinery room in the afternoon and I will call her over." Shiluwa smiled, trying to ease the subtle and tense atmosphere at the moment, but the captain just nodded at Shiluwa.

"Thank you."

Xiluwa hesitated for a moment, and suddenly asked, "You, what's wrong?"

The captain glanced at Shiluwa, then turned his gaze to his companions who obviously did not get enough rest last night. In fact, not only them, but also the captain himself, he thought a lot last night. During the process, he could also hear Yuexia beside him occasionally turning over and breathing in a disorderly manner.

"I didn't sleep well. I was thinking too much." The captain responded softly, "It's probably the same for all of us."

"Thinking? What?" Shiluwa restrained her smile and looked at the captain.

"I want to ask a question." The captain lowered his voice and asked the question in his heart, "Have you ever thought about saving yourselves?"

Why didn't the people of Beloberg notice this problem in just one day after the train passengers arrived? Could it be that after 700 years, the people in this city have become isolated and accustomed to the cramped city and the snow?

"Save yourself?" Hearing the captain's question, Xiluwa was a little dazed.

She recalled her past with Cocolia.

But in the end, she was kicked out by Cocolia and expelled from the [City Builders].

"That is the Great Guardian, the responsibility of the [City Builder]."

"Is that so?" The captain nodded gently, his eyes turned to the bread on the table. After a moment of silence, he finally couldn't help but say something with a hint of sarcasm.

"I wonder if there is bread to eat in the underground city."

And the captain's sigh.

Xiluwa could only remain silent.

Because she didn't have an answer either.

Perhaps... this is also something that the Great Guardian should consider?

Or is it no longer necessary to consider it?

Chapter 23: The Reseller, Sambo Koski

"Shiluwa, you said you had something important to tell me..."

In front of the door of the perpetual motion mechanical house, the delicate girl who pushed open the door quietly paused, stopped talking, and looked at the people in the room.

In Pera's memory, there were two strangers in the room. However, as the intelligence officer and clerk of the Silver Mane Guard, she had no impression of the five people who were in the same room with Shiluva, not even an occasional glance or any trace of witnessing them.

"This is Pelageya Sergeyevna, the secretary of the Silver Mane Guard." Shiluva turned to the captain and others and introduced the girl at the door.

"Ah, it's Sister Pella~" The Star Core Spirit stared at the petite girl who was wearing a black beret, had long, neatly trimmed azure blue hair, and wore large round-framed glasses.

The girl named Pelageya's delicate and slightly world-weary face showed helplessness and speechlessness. She turned her gaze to Silva, who was about to laugh, and asked, "Who are these people?"

"I've heard from Shiluva that you are familiar with the history of Beloberg. I wonder if you have read the records of the [Star Train] and the [Nameless Guest] in some documents."

In an instant, Pella recalled the key words uttered by the captain from her memory as if searching for key words.

"[Pioneering] Akivalli's creation, and [Pioneering]'s followers." The girl pushed her glasses up and looked at the five strangers. "What you mean is that you are interstellar travelers following [Pioneering]? Even for me, this kind of record is a wild history record that is more magical than a novel."

"We are indeed the [Unknown Guest]." The captain nodded and turned to look at March Seven, "March, show Miss Pella our evidence."

Pella raised an eyebrow and walked towards the rest area of the machinery room, joining the group of people.

After a brief commotion, Pella tentatively believed that the five strangers in front of her were aliens. After a brief pause, she turned her gaze to Shiluwa, "So, what is the so-called important thing?"

"They want to go to the lower city. You should have a way, right?" Shiluwa looked at Pella.

Pera fell into a brief silence, and then she stared at Xiluwa and sighed softly, "Xiluwa, why do you think that as a clerk and intelligence officer of the Silver Mane Iron Guard, I have a way to go to the Lower City that has been closed for decades?"

"You've explained the reason yourself." Xiluwa looked at Pera with clear eyes. "You are the intelligence officer of the Iron Guard. If you can't do anything, then it is even less likely that others will have a solution."

For a moment, Pera felt angry and amused at the same time. Her senior sister's words were not logical but strong, and her twisted logic actually hit the mark.

"I really don't have a specific and clear way to get to the lower city, but I know there's a guy who has a way to travel between the underground and the ground." Pera sighed, "But that guy is like a loach, a well-known criminal in the Iron Guard."

"Criminal?" Shiluwa raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Sambo Koski, according to him, is a trader from the lower city, and he sells everything."

"Everything for sale?" The captain raised his eyebrows slightly.

The earth marrow is a survival material under official control and is essential for the survival of the Beloberg people. I'm afraid no one would take the initiative to sell it. Sambo, who was mentioned by Pella at this moment, is from the lower city and probably has a source of supply. He also claims to sell everything... It's no wonder that the captain is so nervous.

"At least that's what he said." Pera nodded seriously.

"Then I wonder how much he'll charge to get us to the lower city?" The captain laughed deep, "Where can we find this Sambo Koski?"

"I can't help you." Pera shook her head. "I just said that this guy is like a loach. And, to me."

"His movements were irregular, and there was no fixed area where he sold his goods..."

"This Sambo Koski you're talking about," Yuexia suddenly asked, "is he a person who dresses very coquettishly, has a strong body, is nearly 1.9 meters tall, and has short blue hair?"

Pera turned her puzzled gaze towards the moon.