Deep Sea Embers

When Duncan and Alice went to the cemetery together, Morris and Vanna were not idle. They came to the "Citizen Help Center" in the south of Uptown early in the morning to complete one of Duncan's confessions— —

Looking for a stable and legal place to stay in the Frost City State, if possible, it is best to have one or two identities that can be revealed publicly.

After all, they may be active in this city-state for a long time, and they can't live in hiding like those cultists.

Considering that the informants Tirian left in the city were no longer reliable, Maurice decided to find a way by himself.

Frost’s Citizen Help Center is a large domed building with two long side buildings around the main body. It is said to be the Citizen Help Center. In fact, this building is also used to receive visitors entering the city-state. As well as undertake a large number of third-party intermediary work, from the registration of house rental and sales, to the issuance of temporary passes, to the employment of short-term maids, gardeners, and laundry workers, almost all of them can be completed here-it is stuffed in its long side building. It is full of all kinds of registration windows and offices, and the huge dome building is a hall that is always noisy and people come and go, which is quite different from Prand.

As soon as he walked into the huge domed building, the hot air rushed to his face. Frost’s unique high-pressure heating device dispelled the winter chill, and bright electric lights were hung high on the dome, making the whole building brightly lit.

It has only just been opened for a short time now, but many people have already poured in. Citizens looking for short-term jobs or registering houses for rent and sale walk through countless windows and counters, and there are air ducts in the middle of the noise The "click" and "hiss" sounds from the constant start-up, and Fanna is obviously not used to the environment here, she carefully avoids the crowds around, while whispering to Morris: "In Pulan De, the human resources and housing rental desks are not going to be in one building."

"You have to consider the cost of heating large buildings and the time it takes to renovate a heat pump exchange station," Morris shook his head. "Most of the basic municipal facilities in this city are left over from the era of the Frost Queen. But that glorious era has passed. After the Great Rebellion, the Frost City-State relied on the boiling gold industry to barely recover 70% to 80% of its original vitality. However, it is not easy to renovate the underground pipeline system and steam power network left by the queen. .”

"Then just make do with it all the time?" Fan Na's eyes widened immediately, "This is an antique from half a century ago!"

"Otherwise?" Morris sighed, "On the one hand, it is the decline of the city, on the other hand, the pressure of the population, and the reduction of the habitable area caused by the collapse of the sea cliff... The facilities half a century ago may be used now. It is indeed a bit cramped, but it is barely enough. Since it is enough, then continue to use it... In fact, this is not only a problem with Frost, but also a problem with many old industrial city-states. It's a minority."

Fan Na stopped talking.

This is not an area where she is good at thinking.

While talking, Morris had already found the location of the floating population registration counter on the dazzling route guidance map above the hall. He and the tall Fanna walked through the crowd, and finally came to In front of a relatively quiet counter.

The long wooden counter is placed against the wall, and the middle is divided into several grids with iron fences. Behind each grid sits a clerk in a gray-blue uniform—the expression on their faces is similar to the iron fence beside them. It was as rigid as a fence, and it was obvious that he intended to maintain this expression until the end of the work.

"We need a residence permit, and we also need to find a short-term rental house." Morris came to one of the grids, sat down on the creaking iron chair, and faced the middle-aged man with a sallow face inside. Said, "We just landed today."

"Which pier?" The middle-aged clerk with a sallow face raised his eyelids and glanced at the old man opposite him. When he noticed a 1.9-meter-long lady standing behind the old man, he was obviously taken aback, but recovered in a second. He said in a business-like tone, "Show me the proof documents at the dock and the boarding ticket."

Fan Na frowned, and looked down at Morris.

Morris, however, looked normal, and spread his hands calmly: "I lost it, maybe it was lost when I left the dock, and the ship has already left."

The clerk in the grid immediately stopped what he was doing, raised his head, and said with a hint of displeasure on his poker face, "That won't work, I have to prove the documents, go back to the pier to make up for it."

"But I have something else," Morris said, while digging in his arms, he took out a folded document and a small book with a dark red cover, and handed it over, "should be able to serve as a legal proof of identity .”

The clerk subconsciously waved his hands: "It doesn't work if you don't have a dock certificate, and nothing else..."

He saw the mark on the small book, and he didn't say any more. Then he reached out and opened the folded document, and glanced at it.

The poker-like expression changed instantly.

"The academic pass issued by the Institute of Truth and the Boundless Sea Navigation Council, the holder can stay and visit all the city-states protected by the righteous gods. During the stay, the local city-state university affiliated to the Institute of Truth will automatically serve as a guarantee unit," Morris said , and pointed to the small red notebook, "This is my ID, a degree from the Institute of Truth and a double certificate in theology, and the rank is a professor."

The middle-aged clerk with a sallow complexion was stunned for a while, and finally slowly raised his head, looking a little at a loss: "Uh...good morning, Professor Morris...it's nice to meet you, of course your identity is legal..."

Morris had a relaxed look on his face.

But the clerk paused immediately, as if he was struggling for a moment, he still insisted and said: "But... I must at least know which ship you are on, this is... a rule."

Maurice's relaxed expression was a bit awkward, while Fan Na touched the tip of her nose and turned her head away calmly.

Morris sighed, looking at the middle-aged clerk in front of him who was obviously a little nervous, but still looked straight at him.

"You already know which ship I'm on," he said with a sigh, his eyes flickering, "Let's prove it."

The clerk was stunned for a moment, and there seemed to be a flash in his eyes, then he lowered his head, began to operate the clicking punching machine, and put the punching card into the pressure pipe container next to the counter.

A moment later, with a hiss and click in the pipes, the card returned from an approval office deep in the building was sent back to the counter here.

The clerk stuffed the punch card into the small machine for reading, confirmed the serial number of the receipt and the anti-counterfeiting password, and then began to fill in the required content of the certification document, and said without looking up: "I can only issue a certificate here. Documents——You should go to the west wing building with supporting documents and look for window A-12, where there should be short-term rental houses that meet your requirements.”

"Thank you," Morris took the opened document, paused and muttered softly, "Sorry."

After finishing speaking, he and Fan Na quickly left the counter and walked towards the next window.

"This is the first time I've done this kind of thing," the old man couldn't help but lower his voice as soon as he walked away, "I originally planned to rely on the normal document process to get this done..."

"We arrived on a ghost ship that is not allowed in the world. You know, normal procedures will never solve this problem," Fan Na also whispered, with a hint of a smile in her tone, "Extreme times, extraordinary measures .”

"... What do you think is the probability that Mr. Duncan will issue a legal certificate of registration to the Lost Home?"

"what do you think?"

"...well," Morris sighed, looking at the supporting documents in his hand, "Heidi must not know about this—next time this happens, I'd rather make a fake ticket first. "

Fan Na looked at the moaning Morris with a half-smile. It was the first time she saw such a worried expression on the face of this old scholar who had always been "rigorous in his studies and abiding by the rules" since she was a child. It seemed... It's kind of fun.

...

At the same time, Agatha, who had just finished the on-site survey and had not had time to return to the cathedral, received an urgent message from her subordinates from Cemetery No. 3 on the way.

Sitting in the steam car, Agatha looked at the letter that had just been delivered to her, and her eyes gradually became a little dull.

A report letter - from the unnamed visitor.

As soon as I left, the letter was sent to the cemetery.

Should we feel sorry for this mistaken miss, or should we feel sorry for the strange behavior of that "visitor"?

She put away the letter, thinking quickly in her mind.

Anxiety spread in my heart, and one thing suddenly seemed urgent.

"Turn around, go to Donggang."

The subordinate who was driving in front was a little surprised: "Shouldn't we go to the cathedral first?"

"The plan is changed, go to Donggang first," Agatha said decisively, "I have a bad feeling...something might want to take the opportunity to land."

The subordinate who was driving was confused, but his instinct of obeying orders quickly suppressed his doubts.

The pitch-black steam car slowed down at the next intersection, turned, and then sped towards the port area in the east of the city-state.