Chapter 2103: Dark Cuisine, Legend of the Wood Rock

————Still about an hour left~~

————

Xia Duo also seemed to be infected by Niya's excitement; he wove two wreaths with Spellcasting and placed them on each other's heads, then hand in hand, they wandered continuously through this alien city filled with garden landscapes.

This time, Xia Duo consciously avoided the main thoroughfares like Fengge Avenue, choosing instead to walk along small paths, seeking to see some different scenes that truly fit the reality of the local residents' lives.

As night fell, Kemansuoer City remained bright, though the light became softer than 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 during the day; perhaps having experienced that special Judgment ceremony—which had been silent for so long and had even vanished from memory—Kemansuoer was even more lively tonight.

Xia Duo and Niya strolled along the narrow paths between the blocks, their ears ringing with the sounds of the bustling, reveling streets; fireworks filled the sky, constantly rushing toward the high heavens, agitating the usually hidden City Barrier into a dazzling blue-purple glow.

Such a psychedelic scene left Niya somewhat dazed; this was a scene that could never be seen in current Netheril, a scene that could truly be called "modern."

"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; hundreds of thousands of people can often gather in the square to celebrate together. I really want to experience that kind of scene once more!"

"Hundreds of thousands of people!"

Hearing this number, which was greater than the total population of Savile Territory + Daxia Territory, Niya's eyes widened instantly. Thinking that even 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 descendants of his predecessors had realized their ideals, and wanted to see what the true future looked like!

……

Having wandered 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!

Correspondingly, there was of course the part of this 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 who were at the very bottom.

Xia Duo and Niya found the passage leading underground next to an entertainment venue similar to a card room; it was a semi-circular opening carved into 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-cornered stairs extending downward.

After walking down all twelve steps, they arrived at a plaza similar to a subway transfer station, though it was far smaller in size, 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 here could one be considered to have truly arrived at the underground city area.

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

Not having walked many 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 honored guests!"

Heh!

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

Noticing Xia Duo's gaze, Niya took the initiative 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 Eastern cuisine. I want to see how it differs from the delicacies of Daxia Territory."

"Alright, let's go there first!"

In truth, Xia Duo was not very interested in these so-called "Eastern delicacies" of the Main Plane, because the Easterners of the Main Plane were very young when they traveled here, or they were born as Commoners, making it difficult to master highly advanced culinary skills.

Therefore, the so-called "Eastern delicacies" of the Main Plane were largely still Elf food, just prepared by Easterners, with a few Eastern characteristics added.

Compared to the Daxia delicacies that Xia Duo—who had traveled from the era of the Knowledge explosion—had personally guided chefs to complete, the so-called Eastern delicacies might only win on the chef's personal experience.

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

But since Niya was interested, Xia Duo naturally let her be; in any case, it didn't matter where they went. They would go to that Shifeng Restaurant first, 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 at how cunning it was. It turned out that the small plaza just now seemed 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 interconnected in 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 area was built within one large space.

It was completely a normal city!

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

So the prompt text on those passages was 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 underground city residents looking at them with strange gazes; only then did the two realize that they were still wearing their "Elf skin"!

It was not that Elves never came to the underground city area, or even lived here long-term, but clearly those were the extreme minority, and to the underground city residents, they were likely all old faces.

So now, with two new faces suddenly arriving, 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, mostly Easterners, but there were also people of this Plane.

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

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