Chapter 30: The City of Miracles in the Hills, Arnous (Part II)

When the young magician Leilai was entangled by a large group of noisy children at the entrance of the village, the old chief of Gota Village led the horse and slowly paced into the village, trying to find a few familiar faces, asking about the villagers' lives in the past few days, and the arrangements made by the "man in green" for them.

However, after going around in a circle between the rows of neat and uniform cement bungalows, the old village chief only saw a group of women and children, and did not find any adult men he knew.

At this time, Aunt Lena was sitting under the solar street lamp next to the village outpost, concentrating on sewing clothes - it was already dusk, and the whole village was the brightest under the street lamp, and when she noticed the village chief approaching, she hurriedly stood up and greeted her with a smile, "...... Yo, you're back! Mr. Village Chief, this must have been a hard journey, right? By the way, do you know the new place that the man in green has arranged for you? It's the first house on the right side of the village entrance, and we've moved all your luggage in. However, at this point, it is too late to cook again...... Why don't you come to our house for dinner later? ”

“…… Hehe, then you're welcome. The old village chief smiled, "...... But where is your husband? Also, it seems that there are a lot fewer people in the village than before? I just went around in a circle, why didn't I even see a young man? Even the girls are much less ......"

“…… You say they...... At present, some of them are hunting in the mountains with the people in green, and some are doing business with the goods given by the people in green. Living in a house built by others, eating flour from others, and using blankets and stoves given by others, how can you have some strength in return! ”

Aunt Lena smiled, "...... Although it's not a good season for hunting, those green-clothed men from another world are not picky, and they feel new when they see anything! Sally's daughter just helped them catch a few slimes and was rewarded with a big bag of candy! The day before yesterday, my husband helped a group of green-clothed people in the mountains to the north to beat a demon wolf, and also captured a litter of wolf cubs alive. I took it and made a dress for our daughter......"

She proudly showed the old village chief the unfinished long skirt in her hand, and the old village chief looked at it 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 a first-class product. The golden floral pattern printed on the cloth is even more vivid and dazzling, shining with charming colors under the light, just like the blankets given to them by those green men from another world before.

“…… It is indeed a good piece of fabric, and your craftsmanship is also good, and your little Lily will definitely wear it beautifully. ”

The old village chief nodded and complimented, "...... But...... The Man in Green asked the people of the village to help them hunt and do business? It's okay to hunt, anyway, it's to lead the way, but if you do business...... I'm afraid there aren't many people in our Gotha Village who can do it, right? Those brainless werewolves and cat people are even more notch, and it is almost the same to let them be bandits to block the road and rob...... What's more, we don't have much livestock left, so what can we use to carry the goods? ”

——The reason why there is such a worry is not that the old village chief looks down on people, but the truth in a sense. The culture and education of this world are extremely backward, the illiteracy rate is extremely high, and most of the rural people are neither literate nor able to settle accounts, nor can they have much knowledge, so they really have no business acumen. Even if they sit at home and wait for merchants to buy furs and mountain goods, they often suffer losses, so many villagers generally only dare to trade with a few familiar merchants. If they are allowed to go to the city to do business on their own, the risk of being cheated and lost is really high.

“…… Actually, it wasn't really a business, but it was just a matter of giving them a few samples, and letting them walk to the nearby towns, and find the merchants to spread the word that they had these things for sale in the Arnoos hills. In this way, there will be caravans from other places coming here to do business. And the samples given to them, even if they are the travel expenses and remuneration given to everyone by the green-clothed people, the money from the sale in the town belongs to them - the green-clothed people in the other world gave us so much food and clothing, and built us a house, and now we should do something to repay others......"

Aunt Lena smiled and said, "...... My sister carried a basket of goods and followed a few cat people to Tungut, and the others went to Metabaru, Gremina, Hebraye, ......" She casually reported a list of place names, all of which were towns around the Arnous hills, including those in the empire and the border trading ports of the Elbe kingdom in the south, but the nearest was more than a hundred kilometers away, and the farthest was three hundred kilometers away from the Arnoos hills.

It's a long way for a hiker, but that's not where the old village chief is concerned.

“…… So, what kind of goods did the green-clothed people bring with them as samples from the 'door'? Could it be the kind of dyed blanket that was given to us last time? Or this calico in your hand? The old village chief pointed to the calico dress in Aunt Lena's hand and asked.

“…… Ah, both...... But there's a lot more to it...... Well, I also took one from the man in green and stuffed it all in this basket. When I'm done with this dress, I'll probably go to the village to the east too! ”

Aunt Lena craned her neck in thought, put away her unfinished dress, and pulled out a basket behind her, which contained all sorts of knick-knacks: silver glittering stainless steel spoons and plates, brightly colored satin scarves, small boxes of matches and refined salt in white porcelain bottles, translucent sweets as brilliant as jewels, snow-white and neat paper and delicate small mirrors, colorful and colorful hairpins and brooches, and knives with intricate patterns on their handles...... Among them, there are some things that the old village chief has seen and some that he has never seen, but they are all good things that he is unwilling to let go as long as he experiences them once.

“…… Well, they're all very good items, and they're sure to be very popular in the market......"

The old village chief of Gota replied with a dry smile, and handed the basket full of small commodities back to Aunt Lena's hand, but he couldn't help but be vaguely worried in his heart—he was naturally not worried about the popularity of these otherworldly goods. It is even certain that after seeing such a beautiful and rare goods, the merchants of various cities will immediately flock to it. But the problem is that while these otherworldly goods attract merchants from all walks of life, I am afraid that they will also attract the attention of those horse thieves and bandits. In addition, the princes of the vassal states and the generals of the empire in the surrounding areas of the Sacred Mountain of Arnus, once they saw these coveted exquisite belongings, the first thought that immediately popped up in their hearts was probably to gather troops and horses to march on the Arcnus Hill to loot and extort those "fat sheep from another world", instead of taking out gold coins to trade fairly with visitors from the other world, right?

You know, just four months ago, the entire empire was still full of ambition to go to the other world on the other side of the "gate" to rob homes and make a lot of money! Now, in the eyes of those big people who don't know the details, this is simply a "fat sheep scheduled to rob" who took the initiative to send it to the door - although as a personal witness, the old village chief of Gota Village can basically be sure that the "gate" of the Arnus Hills was connected to the other world before is obviously not the same place as the hometown of the fierce green men now...... But those princes and nobles will not know the difference!

Of course, with the strength of these green-clothed people from the other world, they will definitely not be afraid of an armed invasion by any force. But the problem is, if it's a small group of thieves, it's fine. In the event of a fight with the armies of the empire or the princes, they may not be able to take care of outsiders who shelter them......

It's just that even if he thinks of this problem, the old village chief has nothing to do for a while. There was no way he could have allowed the green-clad men from the other world to hide from now on—it was impossible to hide such a large city in the Arnous hills; I don't know how to convince the officers of the Greens to move their refugees into a fortified city defended by tall walls - even the Imperial army would never allow the civilians and barbarians of the subject countries to live in the frontier towns...... So in the end, I can only worry about it alone.

At this moment, a three-wheeled electric vehicle honked its horn and drove into the refugee village, unloading a pig, two live chickens, and a box of Moutai wine in a colored porcelain bottle, saying that it was a thank you gift for the old village chief and the magician Leilai to help lead the way. Pigs and chickens are fine, but the box of twelve bottles of Moutai is blind to the eyes of everyone in the village in an instant - not to mention the texture of the wine in the bottle, just the Moutai bottles with bright glaze, smooth and round, gorgeous patterns and metallic texture can already be used as heirlooms in the eyes of the villagers.

And when the old village chief tried to open one of the bottles, the sweet aroma of wine gushing out of it was even more wafting with the wind, which immediately aroused many cravings...... Looking back at the expectant eyes of so many people in the village biting their fingers and drooling, the old village chief and Lei Lai looked at each other, and finally had to announce that while there was wine and meat at the moment, a bonfire banquet would be held tonight, and everyone would eat and drink together, which could be regarded as the end of the celebration of the disaster time.

In this way, in the midst of laughter and the aroma of wine and meat, the old village chief also temporarily let go of the hidden worries in his heart and happily enjoyed the current happiness......

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

At the same time, inside the tall city walls of the Arnous Hill, Wang Qiu was also looking at the city that had been built in only three days.

Well, according to the doorman's notice, after discussion and decision by the central government, in order to reflect the local customs, this new city was named "Arnous City".

From the perspective of its amenity alone, this otherworldly "crash city" is not much different from most cities in China's southern coastal region: four-lane main streets and two-lane side roads, green belts of palm and boxwood, small high-rise apartments and office buildings with more than a dozen floors, vaulted farmers' markets, marble and granite city squares adorned with musical fountains and animal statues, and public buildings that look like movie theaters, libraries, hospitals, and gymnasiums...... However, as expected, most of the buildings in the city are still empty. The streets are also empty, and occasionally some pedestrians are mainly military personnel wearing camouflage training uniforms.

In addition, what made Wang Qiu feel unexpected and extra surprised was that inside the city wall of Arnus Hill, there was already a wireless network signal! Well, I just don't know how to calculate the roaming fee for a mobile phone in another world...... But he's not short of such a small amount of money anyway......

“…… I didn't see any thermal power plants or hydropower stations along the way, and it probably wouldn't have been pulled from Hong Kong on the other side of the 'gate', and as for the power of those wind turbines, it is estimated that there are only enough street lights at most, could it be that the Ark reactor was installed somewhere? ”

Sitting in a slow open-top electric sightseeing car, Wang Qiu asked Shizuka Jukawa, who came to greet and drive the car, boredly.

“…… That's right, a total of eight large Ark reactors have been installed in the city, generating enough electricity for hundreds of thousands of people. And if necessary, it can be installed at any time, anyway, each reactor is the size of a public toilet, and you can find a basement and stuff it in. ”

Shizuka Jukawa replied with a grin, "...... Moreover, the construction area of Arnous City is not only on the ground! Just the morning before yesterday, not long after you set off for Itarica City, the construction team used the props of the [Explosive Basement] on the northeast hill to create a super large basement, saying that if there were dwarves and dark elves to join in the future, it could be transformed into a fantasy dungeon......"

This made Wang Qiu frown when he heard this, "...... Really...... It's okay to let the dwarves live in the dungeons, but ...... Dark elves? This is not the Feren Continent of the DND world! Although it is true that there are dark elves in this world, the dark elves on the Falmatt continent also live in the ground forest like the high elves! It's just that the skin is darker, and it's just a little more sassy, and if they really let them live in a hole in the ground, I'm afraid they're going crazy...... Moreover, the relevant departments spared no expense to make this advance base located in another world so exaggerated, what is the purpose? Could it be that for the sake of self-reliance and recovering funds, he actually wants to build a tourist city in the Arnoos Hills, and it is impossible to engage in otherworldly special tours? ”

“…… Ahem, Comrade Xiao Wang, in fact, the central government did have plans to engage in otherworldly tourism at the beginning, after all, we originally wanted to set up a sanatorium here. But the problem is that I just looked through the internal news website and found that the international situation in the last few days is really not good! ”

Political Commissar Guo, who had been looking down at the tablet in the back seat before, suddenly raised his head and interjected, "...... I hope it doesn't really make a fuss! ”

“…… What the? The crisis in the South China Sea has not eased? Wang Qiu was shocked when he heard this, "...... Is it really going to be a big war between China and the United States? ”

“…… Fight...... It shouldn't be enough, but the situation is really complicated, and it will definitely not be clear for a while...... So, let's go and meet the new mayor appointed by the central government first! This is an acquaintance of yours! Political Commissar Guo said with a smile, "...... Very, very familiar acquaintance ......"