Chapter 2127: Moon Bay City Sewer

After saying goodbye to the witch, Xia De went to Spider Alley to meet Mr. Bernhardt, and then they took a carriage together to the "Crowley Steam Bathhouse" at No. 18 Greif Street in the north of the city.

Since it was determined that the secret laboratory appearing in the memory of Hermann Wood that Xia De obtained was highly likely connected to the steam bathhouse, the two decided to start from the secret passage of the steam bathhouse and walk through the entire route from the steam bathhouse to the exit by the Taton River.

Therefore, they didn't take off their clothes and enter the bathhouse as guests, but used illusion to cover themselves and entered the wet bathhouse interior while wearing clothes.

Although it was still open early in the morning, there were not many guests. That room that had been used was empty at the moment. Mr. Bernhardt groped on the wall, and after gently pressing a certain stone brick on the uneven gray brick wall used for decoration, a hole that could be climbed down immediately appeared next to the cabinet in the corner of the room.

Xia De stood there and glanced down:

"I don't understand, after taking a bath, go to drill such a sewer, do they really not find it dirty?"

Even if the chosen passage was safe, the sewer that didn't see the sun all year round could definitely not be considered clean.

"Those people come here not to take a bath. Compared with the profits of shady business, what is this? These days I investigated a little, and can only say that the wealth of the nobles in Moon Bay City is indeed for a reason."

Mr. Bernhardt tsked, but didn't talk much about this topic.

Although there was an iron ladder nailed to the wall at the hole, he and Xia De still jumped down from the hole one after another. The ground below was not far from the hole. After landing, they looked left and right, only to find that it was unexpectedly spacious here, similar to the pipe where the autopsy room in Spider Alley in the lower city was located, and could allow a carriage to pass.

The air emitted a faint stench and musty smell. The ground was moist but fortunately there was no stagnant water. Of course, there would be no gas lamps in the sewer, so Mr. Bernhardt summoned two light orbs to illuminate left and right.

"From the map, now we walk to the left, which is the direction to the secret passage exit. Walking to the right will go deep into the city sewer system, where the terrain is much more complex."

"I walked to the right when I came down last time, but after turning the corner, I could see an iron fence door, and the lock on it had rusted. Georgia Black's gang shouldn't have walked that way."

Although he said so, he still took Xia De to the right to check. The pitch-black sewer led to the deeper part of the city, and the rust on the lock of that iron fence door didn't look fake.

To prevent someone from mastering the power of time like himself—although the possibility was not high, Xia De still split the lock and went to check the passage behind the door with Mr. Bernhardt, confirming that there were really no traces, only then did they walk toward the left side of the passage together.

The light orb led the way in front. Xia De lowered his head and looked at the map to mark the places he passed. Mr. Bernhardt introduced the situation of the sewer:

"The construction history of the Moon Bay City sewer is not something an outsider like me can investigate in a few days. Today, the city's sewer system is still bearing the needs of the city, but most of them were built in modern times. Part of the ancient sewer system we are walking on is still being used, and part of it has been abandoned due to land subsidence and groundwater problems. There are many different legends about the sewer locally."

Xia De raised his head and asked curiously:

"What legends can a sewer have?"

"It is said that before Moon Bay City was established, a huge ancient empire ruin was buried under the land here. When the ancient sewer system of Moon Bay City was established, it accidentally connected with that ancient ruin, and even transformed part of the ancient ruin's passage into part of the sewer. To this day, if you enter the deep part of the sewer, you can still hear the sound of wailing, which is the curse sound made by ancient vengeful spirits because their ruins were excavated."

"This... if there really is such a powerful vengeful spirit, it would have razed the ground Moon Bay City to the ground long ago. I see, maybe it's the wailing sound of the test subjects when the 【Dragon Feast Cult】 was doing experiments, which was accidentally heard by a homeless person who entered the sewer. Are there any other legends? This at least sounds interesting."

Turning left at the corner in front, the green paint symbol on the wall was a sign indicating the direction of the secret passage to prevent getting lost.

"There are quite a few interesting legends. Moon Bay area has been controlled by the seven great families for so many years, and there will always be people resisting. Historical records say that around 1577 in the Common Era, a large-scale bloody war occurred in the Moon Bay area. At that time, the Kingdom of Karsinrik had already taken shape. History books say that the two sides of the war were the Moon Bay City officials and pirates wandering from the outer sea. But the actual situation was that some nobles in Moon Bay City launched a rebellion, trying to overthrow the control of the seven great families."

He raised an eyebrow at Xia De:

"The seven great families occupy so many seats in the city council, and there will always be people who are dissatisfied or want more. But that rebellion was eventually suppressed, so there were rumors that the rebel army put a considerable amount of treasure underground in this city, waiting for new rebels to appear, using that wealth to overthrow the seven great families."

"Hmm... are you sure this wasn't news deliberately released by the seven great families?"

Xia De asked, so Mr. Bernhardt also laughed:

"There are other stories, such as the rumors very popular in the city recently, no, I don't mean the dragon and the city, that story has been circulating in Moon Bay since ancient times, not a product of recent times. This is also what I heard from Ptolemy not long ago: the cursed foreign prince turned into a monster, lurking in the Moon Bay City sewer, longing for a kiss to restore his original appearance. And the girl who can offer this kiss will obtain endless wealth."

Xia De looked at him in astonishment:

"First of all, the fact that the liar who manufactured this scam hasn't starved to death is enough to show that the anti-fraud awareness of the citizens of Moon Bay City is too weak. Has the City of Wealth become rich enough to support such liars? Secondly, foreign prince? Although there are many princes in Delarion, no one is missing. Does it refer to the princes of small principalities? Finally, is this story really not adapted from a fairy tale? Honestly, what normal girl would go deep into the sewer for such rumors? Not to mention finding someone in this dirty environment, just finding the entrance to the sewer and jumping down is already a remarkable difficulty."

Mr. Bernhardt also laughed:

"That's why it's an interesting urban legend. Like ghosts in the sewer, or stories that the sewer is actually alive and can eat people, I won't tell you, those are very boring."

"As long as there are no water ghosts here, I have seen quite a few of these things in Green Lake. I heard before that someone raised water ghosts in the Tobesk sewer and sold them to the local black market to make huge profits. Now it is 1854, that person was arrested thirty years ago, I don't know if he has been released."

The two walked along the arrows painted with paint on the side wall of the sewer all the way, and very smoothly reached the other end of the secret passage. The exit here had no mechanism, just a door that could only be opened from the inside and automatically locked after closing.

Because it was daytime now, there should be quite a few people in the row of houses on the river beach, so the two used illusion again before walking out. Mr. Bernhardt pointed out to Xia De the bloodstains whose traces had become increasingly blurred. After confirming that there were no clues outside, they returned to the sewer again.

When walking through the sewer just now, Xia De had already marked the road they walked on the map given by the Countess. But this map was different from the actual environment, and the map missed three or four intersections. At the same time, because the sewer had an upper and lower layered structure, this led to the actual environment being more complex than imagined.

Even if Xia De had "Enhanced Spatial Perception" to obtain the general terrain, in order not to miss any clues, they could only conduct a "carpet-style" search. But fortunately, Miss Belindell divined beforehand and had already marked several intersections on the map where clues might be found.

Of course, it would be more efficient for Xia De and Mr. Bernhardt to search separately, but neither of them had any intention of doing such an irrational act knowing that there was danger here.

Therefore, starting from nine-thirty in the morning, the two accompanied each other and began to walk through the sewer branches leading to various parts of the city one by one.

This time-consuming and laborious work, of course, could not be completed in one morning. At noon, they temporarily left the sewer area. Xia De went home to visit the elf girl and learned that she had gone to Old John's place to purchase 【Oak's Luck Potion】 to lift the curse of the 【Ghost Bone Tree】, but Xia De himself was disliked by Little Mia because of the smell on his body. In the afternoon, after he met with Mr. Bernhardt, the two bit the bullet and drilled into the underground again:

"If I can really catch the guy doing experiments underground, I must make him look good!"

Fortunately, that great witch of fate was indeed very powerful in divination skills, and Xia De and Mr. Bernhardt's luck was not too bad. Clearly there were no clues in the morning, but in the afternoon, the first sewer branch they entered after meeting showed abnormal conditions.

"Traces of soul, the resentment is really not small."

The light orb led the way in front. Two pitch-black shadows swayed on the wall on the side of the corner. Then they turned the corner of the pipe together and felt the ambient temperature drop sharply.

The resentment carried by a powerful vengeful spirit would always affect the surroundings by lowering the temperature, spreading terrifying emotions, and absorbing light. Realizing that they finally had a discovery, the two were excited and also prepared for battle. Mr. Bernhardt had a special strange technique for detecting vengeful spirits. After pinching a small amount of powder from his pocket and sprinkling it into the air, he took a deep breath, and then retched because of the smell of the sewer:

"Follow me, I have remembered the smell of that vengeful spirit. I feel like I'm going to vomit the sandwich I ate at noon, damn it."

The last sentence was a swear word in local slang. ===== CHAPTER 2128 =====