Chapter 1999: City of Wealth - Moon Bay City

After getting ready, he continued to set off, and Xia De walked into the passage connected to the dragon lair.

The passage was huge, clearly not prepared for creatures of human size. Similar to the wide cave, the walls and ground of the passage also had traces of slight polishing, and the murals had almost completely faded.

It was clearly felt that this passage was going upward. At the same time, traces of other branch caves gradually appeared on both sides of the passage. Unfortunately, those caves had either completely collapsed or were clearly destroyed by huge forces. The only cave that could be explored was still the one in the deepest part.

"I remember 'Architecture of Dragon Lairs' is also an elective course. Maybe I can go back and find a few books to read. Maybe I can guess the reason why this lair was abandoned."

After fifteen minutes of fast movement, Xia De, who felt like he had climbed a mountain, finally reached the end of the passage. A huge stone five or six meters high blocked the exit of the passage, but the key was not the stone, but the dim silver light flickering on the stone.

A complete ritual array written in dragon runes was carved on the huge black rock. Relying on his proficiency in languages, Xia De saw that its meaning was "only giant dragons can pass through here".

This was not a blockade specifically aimed at walking from the inside out. The stone itself had such ability from all directions. "Witch Echo - Fiona" had an introduction to this kind of blockade. The racial memory inherited by Fiona described that this was a means for powerful giant dragons to block their lairs. Although the stone area was limited, as long as the rune array on the stone was still there, the entire dragon lair was inaccessible from any direction. Even if the earth was dug open, it was absolutely impossible to enter or exit.

"A lock, is it?"

Xia De, who thought this was also a kind of lock, originally wanted to summon the 【Staff of Yggdrasil】 and try to force the lock with "Key of the Door". But considering that this was a precious complete dragon rune array, it would be a pity to destroy it, and if this place belonged to him in the future, this kind of door lock would be quite reliable, so he temporarily gave up the idea of forcibly opening the ritual.

"Only dragons can... try this again."

The right-hand glove Fiona gave him was taken out again. He had originally thought that if this was not enough, he would take out the "Higgs Dragon Head Stone" to try, but he didn't expect that as soon as the glove touched the dim ritual array in front of him, all the lines on the ritual lit up.

The stone also began to glow, and then turned into light spots and disappeared, revealing the cave behind the stone. And when Xia De walked out of it, the stone that had just turned into light blocked that position again:

"Really convenient... Thank you, Fiona."

The image of the big-tailed red dragon girl appeared in his mind, Xia De smiled, and put the glove away again.

Passing through the stone door left the range of the dragon lair, and the strange mental pressure disappeared completely. At this time, he was still in a dark cave, but this cave was quite low, and he could smell animal feces around him. This should be a naturally formed cave.

The cave was not deep, and it was easy to reach the outside along the direction of the light.

Around him was a sparse forest on a hill, and the sky at two o'clock in the afternoon looked extremely gloomy, as if it wanted to rain. The Moon Bay region is a region composed of coastal mountains, forests, and steel cities surrounded by smoke, so hills outside the city are not uncommon.

And after reaching the ground, Xia De didn't even need to take out the map to locate himself. Walking south while listening to the noisy sounds in the distance, in less than five minutes, the sparse small forest came to an end. A wide road connected the villages scattered like stars outside the city on one side, and a stone bridge wide enough for seven or eight carriages to pass at the same time on the other side.

On the pillars of the fence on both sides of the wide stone bridge were small giant dragon stone carvings with some traces of wind erosion. Below the bridge deck was not a river, but a gully growing trees and weeds. Plus the huge city gate with a strong old-era style at the other end of the stone bridge, for a moment, Xia De even thought he had come to the medieval fantasy era in the story.

"St. George Stone Bridge."

On the city wall of Moon Bay City in the cold weapon era, there were a total of eight exits connecting to the outside world. Among them, St. George Stone Bridge is located in the northeast of the city. It is said that the stone bridge built around 1400 has not been destroyed for four hundred years and still plays a role in the current era, which can be called the most famous building in the northeast of Moon Bay City.

Although in 1854, only a part of the city wall of Moon Bay City remained near St. George Stone Bridge, it was still an important trade route for entering and leaving Moon Bay City. On a Wednesday afternoon, under the gloomy sky, the pedestrians and cargo carriages entering and leaving the city made St. George Stone Bridge and the villages in the countryside on the other side of the stone bridge even more lively than the urban area of Green Lake City.

And Xia De, who left the forest, also successfully merged into the crowd, watching the scenery here while walking and stopping, and finally passed the stone bridge and officially stepped into Moon Bay City.

The City of Wealth, Moon Bay, is generally considered one of the wealthiest cities on the west coast of the Old Continent. Before the arrival of the Steam Era, the city relied on its location and the advantages of maritime trade to occupy the position of the economic center of western Casenrick. After the Steam Era, the City Council that controlled the city seized a once-in-a-millennium opportunity, making Moon Bay the cargo distribution center for the entire west coast of Casenrick's deep-sea trade.

Therefore, unlike the dilapidated Green Lake City and Cold Water Port with old-era buildings, the vast majority of buildings in Moon Bay City were newly built in the past hundred years. The supporting steam pipes and gas pipes made this coastal port city seem more progressive and advanced than the inland Willendale City and Tobesk.

Although he was used to the prosperity of the northern capital in Tobesk, Xia De had to admit that the construction level of Moon Bay City was not inferior to the "Pearl of the North - City of Steam" Tobesk.

The "Taton River", which flows from the northeast to the southwest until it merges into the sea, divides Moon Bay City into two, but both the east and west of Moon Bay are equally rich.

Tall city buildings show the power of the era, while magnificent opera houses, concert halls, city parks, and noble manors show the cultural style of the city. Even in the lower city of Moon Bay City, the thriving civic economy and various civilian shops are quite different from "slums" in the traditional sense.

The Outsider who entered the city from St. George Stone Bridge was immediately dazzled by the style of this big city, which was different from Tobesk. Although he had been to many cities in this world, only Tobesk and Moon Bay City could be called steam metropolises.

Following the clues given by Miss Bernice, he walked and stopped while admiring the prosperous city scenery, and finally arrived at "Herring Street" on the east bank of the Taton River. This street belongs to the lower city. Fishing boats that do not unload at the pier area mostly sail into the Taton River and unload in the nearby blocks, so this street is named this way.

And Xia De was standing on the river bank at this time, looking at the river channel embedded in the city to the southeast. Under the dim sky, the Taton River, which was wider than the Terraril River in Tobesk, was filled with ships, as if it were about to block the entire river channel.

In the city under the dim sky light on the other side of the river, rows of houses extended to the distance, and tall tower buildings and magnificent high-rise buildings dotted the city skyline scenery.

The shouting on Herring Street behind him was endless, and on the streets on the other side of the river, pedestrians were also coming and going. Shops along the river were not short of customers, four-wheeled rental carriages traveled through the streets and alleys, shop windows displayed various goods, and the street surface paved with uniform long stone bricks and gas street lamps along the river showed the wealth of this city.

The lively city was radiating vitality. Although it was a port city like Cold Water Port, it was completely different from Cold Water Port.

Looking to the left, downstream of the river, Xia De even saw a tower bridge still under construction.

The bridge was divided into two levels, and it seemed that it was intended to directly lift the lower bridge when ships passed. Under the dim and gloomy sky light, construction on both sides of the river at the same time, the steel, brackets, ropes, and bridge towers and pillars extending from the river bank to the wide river surface, not only did not destroy the beauty of the city scenery, but this messy scene made the City of Wealth - Moon Bay City look more vital and energetic.

Judging from the current construction progress, this bridge should be completed by the end of this year or early next year.

"Very magnificent, right?"

A voice came from behind, and then a man in a brown robe whom Xia De had never seen walked from behind Xia De and stood beside Xia De.

This person's dress was very strange in summer, but considering the recent changeable weather, such dress could be understood.

【Ordinary person.】

"Yes, very magnificent."

Xia De nodded, and the strange middle-aged man introduced to him:

"This bridge is the largest project in Moon Bay in recent years and was named Moon Bay Bridge by the City Hall. The bridge deck is almost as wide as St. George Stone Bridge, and the upper and lower levels are connected by automatic elevators driven by steam power, allowing pedestrians to pass. As a brand-new bridge connecting the East District and West District of Moon Bay, the city councilors of the City Hall hope that it can bring more wealth and prosperity to this city."

The stranger spoke in a Casenrick accent from Moon Bay, skillfully introducing these circumstances that Xia De was not very clear about:

"The design blueprints came from the Casenrick Kingdom Design Institute, and the engineering and architectural style adopt the industrial style of this era. You can see the iron structures, high towers, stone masonry pillars, and exquisite decorations right now. This bridge has been under construction for three years, and the budget has been increased repeatedly during this time. To date, the overall cost has already exceeded the original budget of 12,500 Crowns, which is about 150,000 Gold Pounds. Everyone in this city is looking forward to the completion of this bridge, as if once the bridge is finished, everyone's lives will immediately improve."