Chapter 2102: Sightseeing, Dungeon

Xia Duo seemed to be infected by Niya's excitement as well; he cast a spell to weave two wreaths and placed them on each other's heads, then walked hand in hand, wandering continuously through this alien city filled with garden landscapes.

Coming here this time, Xia Duo consciously avoided the main thoroughfares like Fengge Avenue, choosing instead to walk along small paths in order to see some different scenes that truly fit the authentic lives of the local residents.

As night fell, Kemansuoer City remained bright, though the light became softer than it was during the day, just like this gentle night sky.

Although the night sky of Kemansuoer was gentle and tranquil, the city's residents were actually more active than they were during the day; perhaps having experienced that special Judgment ceremony—which had been silent for so long and had even faded from memory—Kemansuoer appeared even more lively tonight.

Xia Duo and Niya strolled along the narrow paths between the blocks, their ears filled with the sounds of noise and revelry from the streets, while fireworks in the sky constantly shot toward the heights, stirring the usually hidden City Barrier into dazzling blue-purple radiance.

Faced with such a psychedelic scene, Niya was somewhat stunned; this was a scene that could be called "modern," something impossible to see in the current Netheril.

"Xia Duo, do you think your hometown has scenes like this too?"

"Yes!"

Xia Duo said with absolute certainty, "Some grand ceremonies are even more magnificent and lively than this; tens of thousands of people can often gather in the square to celebrate together. I really want to experience that kind of scene once more!"

"Tens of thousands of people!"

Hearing this number, which was greater than the total population of Savile Territory plus Daxia Territory, Niya widened her eyes in an instant, and thinking that a prosperous city like Kemansuoer only had this many people, she couldn't help but blurt out:

"I really want to go see your hometown!"

"There will be a chance!"

In truth, regardless of whether he wanted to go back or could go back, Xia Duo wanted to go back and see it in his heart; he wanted to see if the ideals of his predecessors had been realized by their descendants, and he wanted to see what the true future really looked like!

……

After wandering through most of the city, except for a few areas not open to the public, Xia Duo and Niya had walked through almost the entirety of Kemansuoer's—

Surface portion!

Corresponding to this, of course, was the part of the city below ground; one could find passages leading underground at the Dwarf markets throughout the city.

Most of the non-Elf races of Kemansuoer lived underground, while a few lived in the Commoner community on the east side of the city, living mixed with the Wood Elf Commoners at the very bottom.

Xia Duo and Niya found the passage to the underground next to an entertainment venue similar to a chess and card room; it was a semi-circular hole opened in the wall.

It was a bit like the cave dwellings in Xia Duo's hometown, only on the upper edge it used Dwarf Dekeite Runes that looked like cuneiform, and it also came with an Elvish translation, which meant—

"Passage No. 04—Leading to Shafeier Andalite Community"!

After entering the passage, the first thing they faced was a small bend similar to an entryway; only after turning it could one see the square, turning stairs extending downward.

After walking down all twelve steps, they arrived at a plaza similar to a subway transfer station, though of course, the size was far inferior, only about two or three hundred square meters.

Around this small plaza were multiple passages leading to other places; Xia Duo understood that only upon reaching this point had they truly arrived at the underground city district.

Although they were underground, while walking through it, neither Xia Duo nor Niya felt the slightest bit stifled; this was of course not due to a lack of Perception, but because this underground area also had a good ventilation design.

After walking only a few steps, Xia Duo even felt a breeze mixed with the scent of alcohol and spices coming from one of the passages; looking at the text above the passage, it read—

"Andalite Community—Shifeng Restaurant welcomes distinguished guests!"

Heh!

Seeing this scene, Xia Duo couldn't help but sigh; was this the legendary "naming rights road sign"? Looking at the other passages, they all had similar operations, pointing to some place that might be a landmark or might have paid money.

Noticing Xia Duo's gaze, Niya was the first to suggest:

"Xia Duo, why don't we go to this Shifeng Restaurant first? Looking at the name, it should be a restaurant specializing in Oriental cuisine; I want to see how it differs from the delicacies of Daxia Territory."

"Alright, let's go there first!"

In fact, Xia Duo was not very interested in these so-called "Oriental delicacies" of the Main Plane, because the Oriental people who transmigrated to this side from the Main Plane were all very young, or were born as Commoners, making it difficult to master very high-level culinary skills.

Therefore, the so-called "Oriental delicacies" of the Main Plane were, to a large extent, actually still Elf food, just made by Oriental people with some Oriental characteristics added.

Compared to the Daxia delicacies that Xia Duo, who transmigrated from the era of the Knowledge explosion, had personally instructed chefs to complete, the so-called Oriental delicacies might only win out on the individual experience of the Chef.

Daxia delicacies were superior in terms of conception, technique, or even Principles.

But Niya was interested, so Xia Duo naturally let her be; in any case, going anywhere was the same, so they might as well go to that Shifeng Restaurant and see, and if it was truly terrible, it wouldn't be too late to go elsewhere.

……

Just after walking out of that transitional small plaza, Xia Duo exclaimed that it was cunning; it turned out that the small plaza just now appeared to have multiple passages leading to various places, but in reality, after walking out, he discovered that the area outside the plaza was actually no different from the surface.

It was accessible from all directions, not the complex underground structure he had initially imagined—composed of multiple independent underground spaces connected by passages—but rather the entire underground city district was built within one large space.

It was completely just a normal city!

The passages at the edge of that plaza just now were truly similar to the exits of a subway transfer station; after coming out, they were actually all located in the same space, just in different positions.

So those prompt texts on the passages were indeed "naming rights signs"! It was just unclear who exactly received these naming fees!

……

However, before Xia Duo and Niya had walked very far, the two noticed the residents of the underground city looking at them with strange gazes, and the two then realized that they were still wearing "Elf skin"!

It was not that no Elves came to the underground city district, or even lived here long-term, but clearly those were the extreme minority, and to the residents of the underground city, they were likely all familiar faces.

So now that two new faces had suddenly arrived, it was inevitable that they would attract attention.

Thus, at a street corner, the two transformed back into humans; humans should be considered relatively common here.

In just this short while, Xia Duo had already seen no fewer than twenty humans, among whom Oriental people were the majority, but there were also people of this Plane.

Of course, the most numerous were still the Dwarves; after all, this community was named after Shafeier, and Shafeier referred to the Dwarf Kingdom Shafeier located under Cormanthor.

Being able to name a community after a country's name not only showed the large number of Dwarves in Kemansuoer, but also showed the close relationship between Shafeier and Cormanthor.