Chapter 2067: New Mine

However, seeing the residents arguing, Xia Duo couldn't help but feel a stir in his heart, and he said to Niya, "You see it too, the residents below are all very curious about what the Floating City looks like! Do you have the confidence to fly a bit lower?"

Although Niya is sometimes very competitive, she is not reckless; she knows her own ability limits very well, and would not disregard the safety of the residents below just for the sake of a joking remark.

Although she was certain that Xia Duo would not let the Floating City crash into the ground, she could not get past her own internal hurdle, so she refused Xia Duo's "instigation" almost without the slightest hesitation—

"I won't. Yesterday was just an accident. The Operating Manual is written clearly: no dangerous driving. My operation is not particularly proficient yet, so I won't add trouble for the residents."

To let the residents see the appearance of the Floating City clearly from the outside, it would need to descend to at least below one thousand meters, and according to the Floating City Operating Manual written by Xia Duo, below one thousand meters requires at least Level 2 operational qualifications.

Niya currently considers herself to have Level 1 operational proficiency, but there is still a certain gap before reaching Level 2!

Seeing this, Xia Duo did not force her, "Then watch how I operate it!"

"Mm."

……

As the designer and builder of the Floating City, as well as the compiler of the Operating Manual, Xia Duo is, of course, incomparably proficient in operations related to the Floating City.

He first began to descend slowly based on Niya's southward shift, finally descending to about 400 or 500 meters. At this height, for the people on the ground, the Floating City was already a behemoth hanging over their heads.

In the real-time image of the Control Room, the ground below had become somewhat dim, and almost everyone outdoors was looking up in unison at the behemoth with a diameter of two New Li in the sky.

At this moment, any further discussion or debate lost its meaning.

Next, Xia Duo drove the Floating City to fly a circle around the Territory from near to far. After such a process, the residents should know exactly what the Floating City looks like.

"Now it's your turn!"

After raising the Floating City to a high altitude, Xia Duo handed the control over to Niya, and Niya controlled it to wander around the Territory.

……

"Look, we've reached the Wofu God Mountain so quickly!"

Inside the Control Room, Niya excitedly pulled Xia Duo to look at the undulating mountain range below. It was already late autumn, and the mountains were covered in patches of withered yellow, with only a few scattered evergreen trees still struggling to maintain a bit of the autumn's luster.

However, what Xia Duo was paying attention to was not the mountain range itself, but—

Orcs!

Because Niya could only see the real-time image fed back by the Wide-Area Detection, she missed a lot of underlying information, but Xia Duo was different. In addition to checking the results of the Wide-Area Detection through the real-time image, he also had a complete Spell feedback.

This included the situation of the Orcs in the mountain range below!

The number was not large, but there were four or five hundred of them. They should be the remnants of the previous Wofu God Mountain tribe, though of course, it is also possible they migrated from other places.

But regardless, the appearance of Orcs around the Territory is never a good sign.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Duo paused the real-time image in the Control Room for a few seconds, during which he decisively activated the Annihilation Light to strike precisely at the locations where those Orcs existed.

Niya was completely unaware of this and continued to control the Floating City to fly south. Soon, the mountain range below gradually shrank and turned back into a forest. Of course, the Wolfburg River still ran through it, with a very strong presence.

"Is that the Basin Lake? It really does look a bit like a washbasin!"

The end of the Wolfburg River is the Basin Lake. Every summer, some Merchants from the Inner Land come here for vacation, and the real estate in the Savile Territory also rose because of this.

However, this lake does not exist naturally; it is said that it appeared suddenly due to an earthquake a few days before Savi opened up the Territory.

Niya had never seen the Basin Lake before, and Xia Duo was about the same. Now that he saw the real thing, he not only had a good impression of this nearly perfect oval lake but was also curious about how such a lake could be created by an earthquake.

"Niya, do you want to go down and take a look?"

"Okay!"

Subsequently, Xia Duo operated the Floating City to descend slowly, while at the same time constantly checking the geological environment around the lake through Wide-Area Detection.

When they had descended to about 700 or 800 meters, Xia Duo took Niya and teleported to the ground, appearing next to a cluster of wooden buildings nearby.

"They should be for the Merchants who come here for vacation to rest temporarily." Xia Duo looked at these wooden houses, which were unremarkable on the outside and extremely simple in their interior furnishings, and made his judgment.

Moreover, because the season was wrong at this time, these buildings were completely in a state of no maintenance, making them look even more dilapidated.

Looking at the Basin Lake from a close distance, Xia Duo had an even better impression. The shore was very low, almost connecting with the water surface. The north side with the buildings was almost entirely white stones similar to pebbles, while the south side was covered by trees.

At first glance, this lake looked like a turquoise eye, the trees on the south side were a thick patch of eyelashes, and the north side was the smooth cheek below the eye.

"I have never noticed that there is such a beautiful and deep landscape near the Territory!" Niya looked at the lake surface, which was almost like a mirror, and sighed incessantly.

"Yes, it's just that these wooden houses are a bit of an eyesore!"

However, Xia Duo did not move to clear these "illegal" buildings, but just planned to send people over to build a professional resort in the future.

Of course, such good scenery cannot be enjoyed exclusively by the Merchants of the Inner Land. His own Territory can also fully open a tourist route. It just so happens that the Territory's large Airship has been idle for a long time, and earning some extra money is not bad either.

However, although the Basin Lake is beautiful, the hidden dangers beneath its beauty are not small.

From the Floating City until now, Xia Duo had basically figured out the reason for the formation of this lake. The earthquake might be one, but a bigger reason should be that it connects to a Subterranean Sea of the Underdark below it!

Yes, this is a typical weak point of the earth veins, or more bluntly, it has already connected to the Underdark, but the way of connection is a bit special—it is not a spatial connection of a general Underground Passage, but a water body connection.

If the Drow guide the Subterranean Sea of the Underdark below the Basin Lake to other spaces, then this would be a natural Underground Passage. With just a little modification, it could become an important fulcrum for the Drow to counterattack the Surface.

"Xia Duo, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing, just thinking that such a good landscape, what if it disappears because of another earthquake!"

"No way, right?"

Niya stared at Xia Duo with a puzzled face, "You didn't discover something, did you?"

"It's nothing serious, it's just that the bottom of this Basin Lake connects to a Subterranean Sea of the Underdark. We might really need to pay more attention to this side in the future, so as not to have the Drow pop out from here one day without us noticing."

"Ah? This bottom connects to the Underdark?"

"Don't worry, I just checked it. That Subterranean Sea is very large, and the direction of gravity is upward. The Drow probably wouldn't think that it connects to the Surface, but just in case, we had better make some preparations."

In front of Niya, Xia Duo took out an Adamantine Small Ball originally used for the Adamantine Jet, fixed a Warning Magic on it, and then threw it into the lake.

If nothing goes wrong, this Adamantine Small Ball will fall to the gravity boundary between the Basin Lake and the Subterranean Sea. As long as there is a major change there, such as a sharp increase in water flow velocity, or medium-sized creatures like Drow passing through, it will send an alarm to Xia Duo.

Then we can come over for a detailed investigation.