The art of making artificial amber wasn't difficult, and the residents of Ember City were especially skilled at it. A small, inexpensive machine could handle the whole process, making amber in any shape and even allowing you to provide your own inclusions. As long as they weren't too large, the job could be done at a street stall.
Once the fully automated machine was switched on, its nozzle poured some resin into a container. A mechanical arm beside it placed the inclusion inside, then more resin was poured in. The machine vibrated to remove the little air bubbles, and before long, a piece was ready.
"I want to make this!" A chubby child came over, holding a beetle he had just caught.
"That's a live bug," the shopkeeper said with a smile. "Good children shouldn't be so cruel. How about I make you a flower instead?"
"Can't I use a bug?" The child drew out the words in disappointment.
"You can, but it's best to use a dead bug. See how the one in your hand is moving? If it moves, it'll leave lots of marks in the resin, and the amber won't look nice. Besides, it isn't dead yet. It'd be pitiful if we poured resin over it..."
Xu Huo didn't listen any further. He left the mining district and returned to the city center, where he rented an expensive shop on a side street near Amber Square and settled in.
Before long, it was midnight. Xu Huo used a sound-muffling item, then sent out the mechanical pangolin he had picked up from the curly-haired woman.
He was only guessing that the "Enbel Maiden" lay beneath Enbo's residence. He had no idea how deep it was, or whether Enbo had expanded in other directions after digging deep enough. So