Chapter 1542

"Southerners and Northerners do have differences in appearance, but between cities, there shouldn't be such a big difference, right? Or rather, are you the kind of detective depicted in 'The Hamilton Detective Stories' who can judge a person's origin based on the wetness of the mud on their shoes and the marks on their palms?"

Xia De joked, and the man who took the initiative to talk shook his head:

"No, no, I'm not a detective. I am a professor of geology and folklore from the Karsenrik Royal School of Mines in Willundale, Jones Boulanger, bringing students to conduct geological survey work in the area. As for inferring your origin, it's because people in Green Lake City don't have your temperament."

"I am a writer traveling the Old Continent, John Watson. May I ask what kind of temperament I have?"

Xia De raised his eyebrows and asked, and Professor Boulanger said:

"The temperament of an adventurer, this is an unstable temperament that pursues risk and challenge, but looking closely, you are also like a scholar. In short, a dead city like Green Lake City wouldn't have someone like you."

"What a brilliant deduction."

Xia De praised, and the other four in the carriage were indeed not interested in the conversation between the two:

"Because of my research, I also know many folklore professors, but I have never seen a professor of folklore and geology like you."

"Geology is my job, and folklore was my hobby when I was studying, so I just picked up the degree along the way."

Professor Boulanger introduced, and Xia De expressed his admiration again and asked curiously:

"You brought students to the local area, is it because, like the Randall Valley in Karsenrik some time ago, gold mines were discovered here too?"

The four fellow travelers all looked over at once, and Professor Boulanger hurriedly shook his head:

"Of course not, how could there be gold mines everywhere? I brought students to investigate Green Lake. You must also know that the lake must have a period every year when the lake water turns green. Previous views believed that this phenomenon was related to algae growth caused by groundwater pollution, but I think it may also be related to rare metal veins existing underground."

"Could there be mineral veins under Green Lake?"

Xia De noted this point and then continued to introduce himself:

"I came to the Green Lake area for material because two cities so close to each other have completely different development situations. One is entering decay, and the other is thriving; this is truly an excellent novel subject."

"Yes, I am also considering writing a report on the different interpretations of similar legends in these two cities as a topic; this place is indeed very interesting."

Professor Boulanger was very talkative, and he and Xia De talked from their respective purposes for coming to the area to the border checkpoint, then from the border checkpoint to the difference between Deraerion and Karsenrik, and then from the difference in language to the negotiations between the two countries regarding the Pantanal area, and expressed their respective views on the negotiations.

The carriage would not enter the city, but dropped the group at the edge of the city, where people could take a proper four-wheeled rental carriage. When getting off the carriage, Mr. Boulanger also invited Xia De to wait with him for the carriage that would pick him up; the carriage could take Xia De to the city center on the way, and the two could continue to talk about the Pantanal area on the road.

Just now Xia De talked about the environment of the Great Swamp, which made the professor who had never been there very interested.

"Please don't be polite with me; it's a carriage from the Paradise Island Pharmaceutical Company, and this investigation of mine and my students is also funded by them."

"Oh?"

Xia De felt a bit curious; "Paradise Island Pharmaceutical" was something Miss Jia Lin Na had mentioned, the industry of the Great Witch Audrey Edwards:

"Why would a pharmaceutical company sponsor a geological survey?"

This was not a very secret matter, and Professor Boulanger didn't mind talking about it with a fellow traveler he met by chance:

"Actually, few people know that Paradise Island Pharmaceutical was originally established in the Green Lake area. In addition to producing common medicines such as quinine water for malaria and earthworm oil for trauma, this company is also committed to researching more drugs beneficial to the human body. They seem to believe that the strange lake water of Green Lake has the effect of prolonging the life of ordinary people, so they have sponsored scholars in geology, mineralogy, and environmental science all year round."

This was information Xia De didn't know either. It sounded like it was related to the Edwards family's initial research on "immortality." That witch didn't seem to have given up the research the Edwards family once had. Xia De didn't know if other witches knew about this, but presumably even if they did, they wouldn't care; after all, researching "immortality" was not illegal, and it was also a very popular topic.

The carriage sent by Paradise Island Pharmaceutical was very ordinary, but much better than the previous one. On the way back to the city, Xia De talked to Professor Boulanger about more information regarding Pantanal, and when the two parted, the professor even told Xia De the inn where he was staying and invited Xia De to visit him again when he had time.

"What a warm person."

Standing at the street corner of "Glass Avenue" in the city center of Mikaela Blast Furnace City, Xia De muttered as he watched the departing carriage.

Looking up, one could see the bustling city streetscape, and in the background of the new white buildings connected in pieces, there were almost chimneys emitting smoke. Although limited by the productivity level of the steam age, this city could not be compared with the stranger's hometown, but apart from Tobesk, this was the most developed industrial city the stranger had ever seen in this world.

Although shrouded in air polluted by heavy industry like Green Lake City not far away, everything here looked so vigorous and full of vitality. The sound of carriage wheels crushing the road surface formed a cheerful movement with the sound of leather shoes and boots stepping on the ground, and the noisy background sound of talking and hawking on the street was also so energetic.

The burnt smell in the air represented a highly developed steam industry level, and the city's bell in the distance and the whistle of steamships on the lower reaches of the Duin River made this afternoon scene in spring even more three-dimensional.

"Sir, can you spare me a copper coin?"

While Xia De was looking around, a little beggar by the wall raised his dirty brown crushed hat to him. Xia De looked down; the boy was wearing an oversized white shirt he had picked up from somewhere, with the cuffs tied up for warmth. His thin and gaunt appearance immediately reminded Xia De of the child he saw in the back alley of the Green Lake inn in the morning, living in a trash can.

Seeing Xia De looking at him with strange eyes, the boy closed his mouth in fear, but Xia De took out a 1-penny coin and threw it into his hat. The boy huddled in the corner thanked him immediately, and only then did Xia De see that he was disabled, missing his left leg and having only his right leg. So he hesitated for a moment, first gave him three more coins, and then took two white sugar cubes from his pocket and threw them into his hat.

"Sir, thank you!"

The boy hurriedly stuffed the sugar cubes into his mouth, as if afraid that someone would snatch them away. Xia De was about to ask him about this street, but a uniformed patrol officer walked over quickly. The policeman ignored Xia De, who looked like a Northerner, and scolded the boy:

"Didn't I tell you guys not to beg on this road for the past month? What does it look like if the Deraerion delegation sees it? Get out!"

"Yes, sir, I know."

The boy stood up tremblingly, leaning against the wall, and then, leaning on a wooden stick standing to the side, hurriedly "walked" toward the side alley like jumping and dancing. But before being driven into the alley, he didn't forget to turn his head and thank Xia De again.

The boy's figure disappeared at the entrance of the alley, and the patrol officer with a rough tone nodded politely to Xia De and continued to patrol along the street.

"I thought there was something different, turns out it's all the same."

The stranger muttered in a low voice, hands in his pockets, and looked up again at this bustling big city of the steam age.

"City of Glass" Mikaela Blast Furnace City is not a city suitable for travel and vacation like Mid-Hill Fort or Randall Valley, but if you really come here, you must see the city wonder "Glass Blast Furnace".

This is not a blast furnace made of glass, but the city's original blast furnace for firing glass, which was turned into a viewing spot after being decommissioned. The "Glass Blast Furnace" is located in the city center, and Xia De could see the 48-meter-high giant wind furnace from the street corner.

The glass blast furnace is cylindrical as a whole, except that the bottom, which covers a large area, is a frustum. The tall and magnificent industrial architecture and the eye-catching rust-proof red paint color give a strong visual impact. Surrounding the blast furnace, scaffolding was densely erected, and passages for walking were built on the scaffolding, and looking from a distance, the top of the blast furnace even had a pure glass viewing platform. Only in the strange steam age could there be such an authentic wonder with an "industrial bare face".

Although it cannot be compared with the city landscape of the stranger's hometown, for this era, this blast furnace is enough.

You have to buy a ticket to board the "Glass Blast Furnace", and smart businessmen have rented space under the blast furnace to charge tourists for taking pictures.

Although Xia De was very interested in this place, he didn't spend money to watch the city scenery from the highest point. He just stopped to look at the blast furnace, which counted as having toured it.

The area of Mikaela Blast Furnace City is about 1.5 times that of Green Lake City, and there are many places worth visiting within the city. Because of the accidental encounter with Captain Lei Jiede, some time was wasted, so Xia De quickened his pace during the afternoon tour.

Before throwing the crystal shoe to go home, he visited the Mikaela Blast Furnace City Industrial Exhibition Hall and saw various animals made of glass that were vivid and lifelike; under the guidance of the flower girl at the intersection, he found the "City Glass Art Exhibition Hall" in a remote corner and saw exquisite artworks made of glass by crazy artists.

Of course, Xia De did not forget to pick out a few small mirrors as souvenirs for the girls in the shops along the street. Although the production process of mirrors and glass is different, the local mirrors are also very famous.

By sunset, Xia De, who had finished a simple afternoon tour, was also ready to go home. Under the afterglow of the setting sun, he was standing in front of the "Paradise Island Pharmaceutical" factory in the City of Glass.

Because the pharmaceutical factory had higher environmental requirements, it was not in the industrial area where the glass factories in the city were located, but adjacent to the Duin River, which was also convenient for taking water directly from the water source. The factory covered a large area but did not allow tourists to enter for visits. Next to the factory, there was also a four-story building with a courtyard, which was the local office of Paradise Island Pharmaceutical.

"I wonder if that witch named Edwards is also in the Green Lake area."

He looked at the shining roof of the factory under the setting sun and said softly in his heart. Pressing his hand to his chest, confirming that the emblem showed no signs of heating up, he bypassed the alley between the courtyard and the factory, took out and dropped the crystal shoe belonging to Lei Qianya to go home.

Just after Xia De disappeared, the carriage drove from the east of the street against the setting sun and went straight into the factory. A young girl with light brown shoulder-length hair and bored golden eyes looked out of the carriage window:

"A boring day."

She said softly, her right index finger curling the hair hanging by her ear, her heart preoccupied with the news about "Orichalcum" sent by Granny Natalie.