The outsider

Gray-White City Wall, about 3 meters high, stood in front of them, extending to both sides until it reached the end of Lumian's line of sight.

Numerous carriages, including box carriages, four-seater carriages, open carriages, tandem carriages, and cargo wagons, lined up, waiting to pass through the city gate.

There were tax officials in blue uniforms and Police in white shirts and black vests checking vehicles one by one, occasionally asking passersby to show their Identity Documents documents or open their briefcases.

Lumian, carrying a brown suitcase, gazed out at the checkpoint, glancing around every now and then, trying to find a way to escape.

Before long, a man who had noticed his behavior approached.

"What's wrong, friend? You seem troubled?" The man was slightly shorter Lumian, but twice as wide, with chubby cheeks that made his blue eyes appear small.

As soon as he approached, a stench of sweat and cheap perfume filled Lumian's nostrils, causing him to involuntarily frown.

Lumian pointed to the doorway, looking bewildered, and asked, "What's going on there?"

"Looking for wanted criminals? But why only investigate those who entered Trier, and not those who left the city?"

The man with messy blond hair and a slightly bulky blue cropped shirt sized up Lumian.

And the Library, "My Friend, Do You Come From a Small City, Countryside, or Town?"

Seeing Lumian nod, he sighed and said, "This is collecting a tax! An entry tax!"

"Tariffs on goods entering the Trier market?" Lumian countered.

The man nodded:

"Yes, this walled City Wall surrounds the entire Trier, with 54 gates, each manned by tax collectors and Police, who also arrest wanted criminals along the way."

"Are all goods subject to tax?" Lumian asked curiously.

The man touched his blue canvas jacket and said, "Almost only Grain and flour don't need to pay market entry tax."

" In the Past, yes, but a few years ago there was a war, and Bread prices in Trier skyrocketed, causing many citizens to take to the streets to protest and riot, which ultimately led the government to abolish all food market taxes."

"Hey, why don't the alcoholics dare to do that? Right now, spirits, wine, and champagne have the highest tax rates, and a lot of people go to the suburbs on weekends to find small bars to drink tax-free alcohol; they call it 'town liquor.'"

"I see..." Lumian nodded thoughtfully.

The man glanced around and lowered his voice, saying, "If you have anything on you that you don't want to pay taxes on, I can take you into the city for a small fee."

"You're trying to bribe them?" Lumian gestured with his chin towards the tax collectors and Police at the city gate.

The man immediately chuckled:

"Their appetites are more outrageous than an elephant's."

"I'll lead you into the city via a shortcut without any checkpoints."

"Isn't the whole of Trier surrounded by City Wall?" Lumian didn't hide his doubts.

The man smiled:

You'll find out soon enough.

He then asked in a teasing tone, "Honorable sir, would you like my services?"

Lumian thought for a moment and asked, "How much?"

"3 Felkine," the man said warmly. "If you'd like, we can set off now, and you can pay me when we get to town."

"Okay." Lumian adjusted his dark wide-brimmed hat, picked up his brown suitcase, and followed the fat man toward a place away from the city gate.

Fifteen minutes later, the two arrived at a hill where the vegetation and soil had been turned over, revealing Gray-White stones.

There are scaffolding, rotten sleepers, and many obvious pits here, suggesting it is a long-abandoned mine.

The obese man led Lumian through piles of messy rocks to the entrance of a Mine.

"Is this the path?" Lumian asked warily.

The fat man in the blue crop top chuckled.

"You really don't know anything about Trier."

"Haven't you heard the saying? The underground Trier is much larger than the above-ground Trier!"

"No." Lumian shook his head.

The man explained simply, "Trier used to be much smaller than it is now. It was surrounded by Quarry used to build the city. Later, as the population grew, the city had to expand outwards, so it included all these Quarry. The underground is full of excavated Cavern and mine tunnels."

"Add to that Trier, which sank Underground Fourth Epoch, and the government's construction of Sewer, Metro, and Gas pipelines—isn't that far larger than the above-ground portion?"

Lumian looked as if he had just realized something:

"Are you taking me through the Underground Trier into the city?"

"Yes." The man turned around, bending down to enter the Mine as he casually asked, "What's your name?"

"Charles," Lumian touched a strand of Golden hair at his temple, "And you?"

"Just call me Lamaye." The man, almost twice the width of Lumian, rummaged through a pile of stones in the corner of the Mine and pulled out a Iron-Black lantern.

The lamp is clearly made of metal, with rust on the surface. It is cylindrical in shape, with the top part being slightly narrower than the bottom part by about the width of a finger. The bottom part is a black rubber base.

A trumpet-shaped metal object is inlaid at the junction of the narrow and wide cylinders. It is cleaned and polished very smoothly, but there are still a few places where it is rusted.

Lamaye took out a matchbox, fiddled with it for a while, and an orange-yellow flame with a hint of blue immediately appeared from the metal horn, illuminating the Depths of the Mine.

"What is this?" Lumian asked, looking puzzled.

Lamaye carried the Iron-Black lamp and walked down into the Underground, muttering to himself;

Carbide Lamp.

"It was made by those people from the Cave Association. A lot of miners use it. I don't know why it glows. Anyway, you put some stones and water inside, one at the bottom and one at the top. When you need to use it, you press here and then strike Flames to light the horn."

Calcium carbide reacts with water to produce acetylene, and acetylene Burning light? Lumian recalled the chemistry knowledge he had been reviewing just a few months ago.

He remained silent for a long while, until he followed Lamaye Underground and along a remnant mine tunnel, before finally asking, "The Cave Association?"

"The Trier Cave Association, a bunch of people who love exploring Cave studying Cave, now seems to be involved in Mine matters too." Lamaye glanced at Lumian walking beside him and asked with a smile, "Why don't you just take the Steam train into Trier? The checkpoints at the train station have never been very strict, just random checks."

Lumian recalled, "I mainly wanted to experience the last bit of romance left over from the Classical Era."

"Stagecoach?" Lamaye laughed. "That's much more expensive than Steam train. Judging from your accent, you're from the Lim or Reston area. From the southernmost point to Trier, it'd probably cost 120 Felkine, and take four and a half days! With a Steam train, a third-class seat would cost less than 50 Felkine and take no more than 20 hours. Heh, all that talk about the last vestiges of romance in the Classical Era, it's just a lie to fool people like you... uh, you spent quite a bit of money, didn't you?"

Lumian answered honestly:

"That's quite a lot; I only have 267 Felkine left."

Lamaye glanced at him again, then looked away and said, "What a waste..."

He carried Carbide Lamp made of metal, and through the orange-blue Flames of its trumpet-shaped opening, he passed through an archway and turned onto another road.

Lumian looked up and saw stones Slumber in the darkness, occasionally dotted with moss and dripping with seeping Water Droplet.

The road beneath his feet was full of potholes, with Stone Pillars standing on both sides, supporting the cave ceiling.

Stones and other objects were piled between the pillars, resembling parallel wall panels, creating a "street" wide enough for six or seven people to walk side by side.

Illuminated by the light of Carbide Lamp, a steel plaque appeared on a Stone Pillars, bearing the inscription "Right Street" in Intisian.

"Are there street names here?" Lumian asked, puzzled.

Lamaye, carrying Carbide Lamp, chuckled and said, "Didn't I tell you? This is called Underground Trier."

"Okay, actually it was done decades ago during the municipal renovation. Those people in the city who wore fake collars thought the Underground was too chaotic, like a maze. Whether it was rioting, murder, smuggling, or cults, they all hid here, so it had to be managed. Moreover, many houses collapsed or subsided because of the Underground Quarry Cavern, so they needed to be reinforced. Therefore, the City Hall spent almost ten years repairing the pillars, building foundations, and connecting the originally separate Quarry, Underground ruins, Catacombs, and Sewer."

"To prevent the workers from getting lost, they made sure to match the roads, Square, and alleys to the ground during the renovation. Then, they hung up nameplates for the corresponding streets and labeled them with their names. If maintenance is needed in the future, they can just report the location name."

"So," Lumian pointed to the ceiling with his right hand, which wasn't holding the briefcase, "That's the real Right Street up there?"

"Yes." Lamaye continued walking. "This is the Underground Trier. Hmm, there's an anti-smuggling wall ahead. Those Quarry Police patrol here often, but don't worry, I'll take you through a small Tunnel to Past. Heh, those liars with fake collars think they can manage the underground Trier just like they do above ground, but they only know a little over half of the entrances and the modified roads..."

As he spoke, he led Lumian to the end of a dead end, then found a narrow crevice, squeezed inside, and Lumian followed closely behind.

Two or three minutes Past, they emerged from the small Tunnel, where they found themselves facing what appeared to be "walls" of Stone Pillars and the "streets" they created.

At that moment, a burly figure stood beside the Stone Pillars, carrying Carbide Lamp, and asked Lamaye, "Is this our guest?"

Lamaye turned to Lumian and smiled, "Stranger, I've changed my mind. The pay is 265 Felkine. How about that? Aren't I kind enough to leave you enough for Bread and lodging today?"

"What if I don't give it to them?" Lumian asked, her face filled with fear yet also a hint of stubbornness.

Lamaye laughed so hard his fat face jiggled.

What do you think will happen?

Didn't your mother tell you not to trust people too easily when you're out and about?

He and the burly man approached Lumian step by step from two different directions.

Lumian laughed and bent down to put the suitcase aside.

He Past toward Lamaye and his companions.

In the flickering firelight, a dozen seconds Past quickly, and the Carbide Lamp was in Lumian's hands.

He squatted down beside Lamaye, whose face was bruised and trembling, and pulled all the Banknotes out of the man's wallet. In the orange-blue light, he carefully counted them for a while.

He then patted Lamaye's right cheek with the stack of Banknotes and said with a smile, "Now there are only 319 Felkine left."

After saying that, Lumian put away the Banknotes and walked towards a path that seemed to lead to the ground.

The Stone Pillars there have plaques with two rows of Intisian:

"Honest Market District, Chamber Pot Street."

Among them, "Chamber Pot Street" was scratched with stones, and a new name was added next to it:

"Messy Street."