Chapter 30: The Miracle City on Arnus Hill (Part 2)
When the young magician Lelai was entangled by a large group of noisy children at the entrance of the village, the old village chief of Gota Village led his horse and walked slowly into the village, trying to find a few familiar faces. , asking about the villagers' current life these days and the arrangements made by the "man in green" for them.
However, after walking around among the rows of neat cement bungalows, the old village chief only saw a group of women and children, but could not find any adult men he knew. Finally, he looked at Tiandu When things got serious, he had no choice but to find Lena, the wife of his next door neighbor in the village.
At this time, Aunt Lena was sitting under the solar street lamp next to the village whistle, concentrating on sewing clothes - it was already dusk, and the street lamp was the brightest in the whole village. She noticed the village chief approaching and hurriedly stood up to greet him with a smile. , "...Oh, you're back! Mr. Village Chief, you must have had a hard time along the way. Right? By the way, do you know the new residence that the man in green has arranged for you? It's the first house on the right at the entrance of the village. But now, let's cook. It’s too late... How about coming to our house for dinner later?”
"...Haha, you're welcome then." The old village chief chuckled, "...but where has your husband gone? Also, there seem to be a lot fewer people in the village than before? I just turned around Why don’t you see any young men? There are also a lot less girls..."
"... You said they... some are hunting in the mountains with the men in green, and some are doing business with the goods given by the men in green. They live in the houses built by others, eat the flour they give, and use With the blankets and stoves given by others, how can I give some effort in return?”
Aunt Lena smiled and said, "...Although it is not a good season for hunting right now, those men in green from another world are not picky and find everything novel when they see it! The daughter of Sally's family is just helping them hunt." For a few slimes, I got a big bag of candies as a reward! My husband was in the north the day before yesterday! In the mountains, I helped a group of men in green to hunt down a magic wolf and capture a litter of wolf cubs alive. Those men in green seemed to be very happy. After they came back, they rewarded our family with many good things, including a piece of good cloth. . I used it to make a skirt for our daughter..."
She proudly showed the unfinished long skirt in her hand to the old village chief. The old village chief took a closer look and found that it was a kind of calico made of unknown material, but the texture was very soft and fine, and it was definitely of the best quality. goods. The golden flower patterns printed on the cloth are even more bright and dazzling, shining with a charming color under the light, just like the blankets given to them by the green-clad people from another world before.
"...It is indeed a good piece of fabric, and your craftsmanship is also good. Your little Lily will definitely look beautiful in it."
The old village chief nodded and praised, "...but...the men in green asked the people in the village to help them hunt and do business? Hunting is fine, it's just leading the way anyway, but when it comes to doing business...our Gota Village is afraid Not many people can Okay? Not to mention those brainless werewolves and cat people. Let them be bandits and rob the road... What's more, we don't have many livestock left, so what can we use to carry goods? "< br>
——The reason why there is such worry is not that the old village chief is looking down on others, but it is the truth in a certain sense. The culture and education in this world are extremely backward, and the illiteracy rate is extremely high. Most country people are neither illiterate, nor good at calculating accounts, and have little knowledge. They really have no business acumen. Even if they are sitting at home waiting for merchants to buy furs and mountain goods, they often get deceived and suffer losses, so many villagers generally only dare to do business with a few familiar merchants. If they are allowed to go to the city to do business by themselves, the risk of being cheated and losing all their money is really high.
“...Actually, it’s not really doing business. I just gave them a few samples and asked them to take them to nearby towns on foot, find the merchants and send a message to them, telling them that these things are for sale in Arnus Hill. In this way, caravans from other places will come here to do business. Even if it is the travel expenses and remuneration given by the men in green to everyone, the money from the sales in the towns belongs to them - the men in green in the other world have given us so much food, clothing, and buildings. House, now we should do something to repay others..."
Aunt Lena said with a smile, "...my sister followed a few cat people to Tungut with a basket of goods on her back, and the others went to Metabaru, Gremina, Hebraye..." She casually reported a list of place names, all of which were towns around the Arnus Mountains. Among them were towns within the empire, as well as commercial ports on the border of the Kingdom of Elbe in the south, but the closest ones were more than a hundred kilometers away, and the farthest ones were It is a full three hundred kilometers away from the Arnus Hills.
For hikers, this is really a long journey, but this is not where the old village chief is concerned.
"...So, what goods did the man in green entrust them to bring as samples when they came over from the 'door'? Is it the dyed blanket that was given to us last time? Or is it the calico in your hand?" Old Man The village chief asked, pointing to the calico dress in Aunt Lena's hand.
"...Ah, there are both of these things...but there are also many other things...Well, I also took one from the man in green and stuffed them all into this basket. Wait until I put this After the dress is finished, I will probably go to the village to the east for a run!”
Aunt Lena raised her neck and thought for a moment, put away her unfinished dress, and took out a basket from behind, which contained various gadgets: shiny silver stainless steel spoons and dinner plates, all in bright colors. The satin gauze scarf, the small box of matches and the refined salt in the white porcelain bottle are as gorgeous as gems. Translucent candies, neat white papers and delicate small mirrors, colorful and gleaming hairpins and brooches, and knives with complicated patterns on their handles... Some of them have been seen by the old village chief, and some have not been seen before. Yes, but they are all good things that once you experience them, you won’t want to let them go.
"...Well, they are all very good products. They will definitely be very popular in the market..."
The old village chief of Gota Village replied with a dry smile, and handed the basket filled with small commodities back to Aunt Lena's hand, but he couldn't help but feel a little worried in his heart - he was naturally concerned about the popularity of these otherworldly commodities. Not worried at all. It is even certain that after seeing such exquisite and rare goods, merchants from various cities will immediately flock to them and flock to them. But the problem is that while these foreign goods attract business travelers from all walks of life, they may also attract the attention of horse thieves and bandits. In addition, once the vassal princes and imperial generals from various places around the Holy Mountain of Arnus saw these coveted exquisite properties, the first thought that popped up in their minds was probably to gather troops and go out to conquer Arnus. Are you going to the mountains to rob and extort those "fat sheep from another world" instead of using gold coins to trade fairly with visitors from another world?
You know, just four months ago, the entire empire was still confidently preparing to go to the other world opposite the "door" to rob homes and make a fortune! Now, in the eyes of those big shots who don't know the details, this is simply a "fat sheep scheduled to be robbed" who took the initiative to come to the door - although as a personal witness, the old village chief of Gota Village can basically confirm that Arnus Hill The different world that the "door" connected to before is obviously not the same place as the hometown of this group of tough green men... but those princes and nobles will not know the difference!
Of course, with the strength of these men in green clothes from another world, they will definitely not be afraid of armed invasion by any force. But the problem is, if it's a small group of thieves, that's all. In case of a fight with the army of the empire or princes, they may not be able to care about protecting outsiders like themselves...
However, even if he thought about this problem, the old village chief was at his wits' end. It was impossible for him to let the man in green from another world hide his whereabouts - such a large city was built on the Arnus Hill, even if he wanted to hide it, it was impossible; nor did he know how to persuade the man in green. Officer, let the refugees like you move into that fortified city protected by tall walls - even the empire's army will never allow civilians and barbarians from subordinate countries to live casually in the border town... So in the end it's still just Able to worry alone.
At this moment, a three-wheeled electric vehicle honked its horn and drove into the village where the refugees gathered. It unloaded a pig, two live chickens and a box of Maotai liquor in a colorful porcelain bottle, saying it was to reward the elderly. A thank you gift from the village chief and Magician Lelai for helping lead the way. Pigs and chickens were fine, but that box of twelve bottles of Maotai liquor instantly blinded everyone in the village - not to mention the quality of the wine in the bottles, just the glaze color of each one The Moutai bottles, which are crystal clear, smooth and round, with gorgeous patterns and a metallic texture, can already be regarded as family heirlooms in the eyes of the villagers.
And when the old village chief tried to open one of the bottles, the sweet and mellow aroma of the wine gushed out and spread with the wind, making many people greedy... Looking back, I saw so many people in the village biting the bottle. With their fingers drooling in anticipation, the old village chief and Leilai looked at each other, and finally had no choice but to announce that while there was wine and meat, they would hold a bonfire banquet tonight, and everyone would eat, drink, and have a good time together, which could be considered a celebration. The end of the catastrophic times.
In this way, amid the laughter and the aroma of wine and meat, the old village chief temporarily put aside his worries and happily enjoyed the happiness at hand...
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At the same time, inside the tall city wall on Arnus Hill, Wang Qiu was also looking at the city that was built in only three days.
Well, according to the gatekeeper's information, and after discussions with the central government, it was decided that in order to reflect the custom of doing as the Romans do, the new city was named "Arnus City".
Just from the perspective of city appearance, this "instant city" born in another world is almost the same as most cities in the southern coastal areas of China: a four-lane main street and a two-lane side road, planted with palm trees and boxwoods. Wooden green belt, dozens of small high-rise apartments and office buildings, supporting arches A covered farmer's market, a city square paved with marble and granite, decorated with musical fountains and animal statues, and public buildings that look like cinemas, libraries, hospitals and stadiums... However, just as imagined, in the city Most of the buildings are still empty. The streets were also empty, with the occasional pedestrians, mostly soldiers wearing camouflage training uniforms.
In addition, what surprised Wang Qiu was that there was already a wireless network signal inside the city wall on Arnus Hill! Well, I just don’t know how to calculate the mobile phone roaming charges in another world... But anyway, he is not short of such a small amount of money...
"...I didn't see any thermal power plants or hydropower stations along the way, and it's probably not possible to pull cables from Hong Kong on the other side of the 'gate'. As for the power of those wind turbines, it is estimated that they are only enough to light a few street lights. , is the Ark reactor installed somewhere? ”
Sitting on a slow open-top electric sightseeing car, Wang Qiu boredly asked Marikawa Shizuka, who came to greet her and was responsible for driving.
"...Yes, there are a total of eight large-scale Ark reactors installed in the city. The power generation is enough for hundreds of thousands of people. And if necessary, they can be installed at any time. Anyway, each reactor is only as big as a public toilet. It’s so big that you can fit it in any basement.”
Marikawa Shizuka replied with a smile, "...and the construction area of Arnus City is not just the area on the ground! Just the morning before yesterday, not long after you set out for Italica City, the construction team arrived The props of [Explosive Basement] were used on the hilltop in the northeast to create a super large basement. It is said that if dwarves and dark elves can come to join us in the future, it can be transformed into a fantasy dungeon..."
Wang Qiu frowned when he heard this, "...really...let the dwarves live in the underground city, that's fine, but...dark elves? This is not the Faerun continent in the DND world! Although this world There are indeed dark elves, but the dark elves on the Falmat continent also live in the forest on the ground like the high elves, but their skin is darker! , and it’s just a bit showy. If they were to live in a cave, they would go crazy... Moreover, the relevant departments spared no effort to make this advanced base in another world so exaggerated. What is the purpose? In order to be self-reliant and collect funds, we actually want to build a tourist city in the Arnus Mountains and engage in special tourism from another world?”
"...Ahem, Comrade Xiao Wang, in fact, the central government did have plans to engage in other-world tourism at first. After all, we were originally going to set up a sanatorium here. But the problem is, I just browsed the internal news website, I find that the international situation in recent days is really not good!”
Political Commissar Guo, who had been looking down at his tablet in the back seat, suddenly raised his head and interrupted, "...I hope nothing really happens!"
"...What? The crisis of the confrontation in the South China Sea has not eased yet?" Wang Qiu was shocked when he heard this, "...Do we really want to have a war between China and the United States?" "...If we fight...it shouldn't be enough, but the situation is really... It's very complicated, and I won't be able to explain it for a while... So, let's go see the new mayor appointed by the central government first! This is your acquaintance!" Political Commissar Guo said with a smile, "...a very, very familiar acquaintance... …”