The carriage stopped a block away from the underground garden and seemed to have no intention of continuing.

They looked at each other, and Gu Ye opened the carriage door and jumped outside to take a look.

"What's going on?" Shireen asked.

"The road is being built ahead, and the carriage can only go here. We have to walk the rest of the way." the female elf replied.

"Okay, let's get out of the car." Shireen followed her and jumped out of the carriage. Because Moira's boots were a bit big, she almost sprained her foot.

"Isn't this too coincidental?" Dead Leaf said to himself.

"It's not a coincidence. Road construction has been going on around here a long time ago." Shirin replied. She vaguely felt that something was wrong. "And the people from the Port Authority are in charge of this matter."

Shireen paid the fare with her own money, and the carriage turned around and returned to the city. The place where they got off was at the east intersection of a street. From this position, Shireen could even see the roof of the Tulip Apartment.

Not far in front of them, workers hired by the Port Authority were digging out roadways and sidewalks with picks and shovels. Almost all the paving stones had been dug out, exposing the soil underneath.

"The Port Authority should know what's underneath this street," Dead Leaf whispered. "I guess they have given up on attacking the garden from the main entrance and plan to dig in from above."

"This won't work at all." Although it was not yet three o'clock in the afternoon, Shirin felt cold all over her body. "The seagull said that those underground plants are not afraid of the sun... so their approach will only speed up the plants to break out of the ground.

speed."

"What to do now?" Gu Ye asked.

Shireen walked forward quickly and started looking for people who looked like supervisors. These workers were all wearing light green Port Authority uniforms and straw hats, and almost all of them were sweating from working long hours in the sun.

Then she saw a figure in a light blue uniform. It was the female receptionist with short hair. Why was she here? Shirin turned around and walked towards her.

The other party also noticed her, and a look of surprise flashed across the short-haired woman's face, and then turned into false enthusiasm.

"Miss Commissioner," the short-haired woman took the initiative to greet her, "I really didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah," Shireen replied, "I didn't expect it either."

"If you want to see the harbor master," the short-haired woman said regretfully, "I'm afraid he's not here."

"I'm not here to find him. Are you the person in charge here?"

"I just stopped by to take a look. There is another supervisor on site. He is checking the progress of the construction on the street next to it."

Shireen looked at the dead leaves, and the female elf nodded towards her.

"Listen, I know what's down here," she whispered. "You want to dig multiple entrances out of the ground and break into the garden at the same time, right?"

The warm smile quickly faded from the short-haired girl's face, like winter snow meeting summer. "What do you want to say?" She showed a cold expression for the first time.

"This won't work." What should I say to clear Shirin's own suspicion? You can't just say that you heard it from the elf gardener, right? "Those plants are not afraid of the sun."

"Do you have any evidence?" The short-haired woman narrowed her eyes.

"If they were afraid of the sun, they wouldn't grow toward the ground." Shireen decided to give it a try. "I read in a botany book that the growth direction of a plant has a lot to do with its preference for sunlight.

The relationship. Photophobic vines, even if they are underground, know which direction the sunlight will shine from...so they will grow as close to the ground as possible instead of trying to break out of the surface."

"You said you read it from a botany book?" The short-haired woman looked at her suspiciously.

Before Shireen could think of how to reply, Dead Leaf suddenly took a step forward, "Nice to meet you, young lady," the female elf said in a charming male voice, "I am a biologist from the Grazo Institute of Nature.

, Adar Reef.”

The short-haired woman cleared her throat and looked carefully at the female elf dressed in men's clothing. By human standards, Dead Leaf disguised as a man was definitely handsome. And she happened to be wearing traveler's clothes, so she did look like

is a scholar from Grazo.

"Hello, Mr. Reeve." The short-haired woman's voice regained some enthusiasm.

Dead Leaf showed a very scholarly smile, "I accidentally learned from Miss Marron that there is an out-of-control elf garden under this street, is that true?"

The short-haired woman glanced at Shirin half reproachfully and half threateningly, "That's true."

"Then you'd better stop digging immediately, because everything this lady just said is true." Dead Leaf said in the nervous and cautious tone of a scholar when giving advice, "I am writing an article.

Research paper on fairy garden plants. There is enough evidence to show that these plants are not afraid of sunlight. In fact, sunlight may accelerate their growth and make the situation more serious."

The short-haired woman looked at the two of them suspiciously, "Where did you find this...biologist?" she asked Shirin.

"He wants to come to my company to get insurance." Shirin said casually.

"Then how do you know about the underground garden?"

This woman is so suspicious. No wonder the harbor master sent her to take charge of the matter. "You have been digging here for more than half a month. Although you have been claiming to be building a road, you have never seen any new stone bricks being delivered.

Shirin realized that all the previous mysteries had been answered logically at this moment, "So I took a map of the port area and found a city guard who was familiar with the port area...guess what he told me?"

The short-haired woman looked at her doubtfully, as if she didn't completely believe Shireen's explanation, but the appearance of Mr. Adalif made her shaken again.

"If you want to play tricks," she finally said coldly, "I'm afraid things will end badly."

"You know how many civilians live around here, right? Are you really not going to re-examine this matter?"

"Oh, that's no problem. But I'm curious as to why you suddenly showed up here with a biologist." The short-haired woman said, "Are you really just a specialist from Avon Insurance Company?"

"Precautionary Specialist." Shirin deliberately slowed down her speech, hoping to sound inscrutable enough. "Perhaps you have guessed that I have a good background, right? After all, you went to Lord Sedu to inquire about my background.

Speaking of which, do you really think that Avon Insurance Company will forget to place informants within customers with large-value insurance policies?"

That was bullshit, of course. At least as far as she knew, the company only had informants inside its larger clients. But that was the kind of bullshit she needed right now.

After Shireen finished speaking, she paused deliberately for a while, letting the lie hang between them. The short-haired woman's face was gloomy and gradually turned pale.

Finally she turned to a worker who was turning the soil. "You," she ordered, "go get the overseer."

The overseer was a tall man with thick arms, short black hair sticking to his scalp, and his face was covered with sweat. "Ms. Clover, are you looking for me?" he asked.

"Yes, Mr. Boscart, I need your people to stop what they are doing immediately." The short-haired woman said.

"But we are about to finish it, ma'am, most of it..." The supervisor glanced at Shirin and Dead Leaf standing nearby and did not continue.

The short-haired woman had a businesslike tone, "The plan has changed, and we need to confirm the feasibility and safety of the whole thing again. But you don't have to worry, the port director is still very grateful for your service, and we will still pay you all today."

Days’ wages.”

The supervisor shrugged, "Okay, as long as you pay normally, my boys won't have any complaints."

"Very good, let's do it immediately." The short-haired woman waved her hand.

The supervisor shouted and ordered nearby workers to stop working and gather in the material area. So the workers put down their tools and left the construction site one after another.

"Are you satisfied?" The short-haired woman turned to Shirin.

Shirin nodded, "I'm almost satisfied, as long as you do one more favor."

"Don't push yourself too far, Miss Marron." The short-haired girl narrowed her eyes like a snake.

"You have to evacuate the people around here as soon as possible." Shireen pointed out, "Anyway, the Port Authority's excavation operations have put the entire community in danger. Now that there are no stone bricks covering the ground, those elven vines may break through the ground at any time.

out."

The short-haired girl stared at her fiercely, as if she wanted to eat her alive. Shirin was terribly scared, but she still forced herself to muster up the courage to look her in the eye.

"Okay," the short-haired woman gently rubbed her temples, "I'll do as you said. I'll go find the City Guard right away. You better not be talking nonsense, Miss Marron, you better not."

She walked out of the construction site quickly and waved to several Port Authority guards. Shirin watched her get on the Port Authority carriage and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Is this the end?" Dead Leaf said in surprise and joy.

Shirin also couldn't believe it, "I hope so, I"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence, because a building next to them suddenly made a loud sound of broken boards. The ground began to shake violently, and everything around them became blurry.

Shirin's feet were unstable and she fell to the ground. Her hands touched the soil and she felt that the ground was sinking. Dead Leaf picked her up, held her in his long and strong arms and rushed to the sidewalk on the street.

Shireen watched in horror as the ground where they had just landed was swallowed up by vines. Dark green plants broke out of the ground, like monsters in a nightmare with teeth and claws.

The world around them seemed to have turned into a nightmare. People screamed in fear and pain, which were soon covered by the sound of buildings collapsing and collapsing, followed by a new round of shriller and higher-pitched screams.

The streets became fragmented, and the houses on the street tilted irregularly, like toys that had been played with randomly. There was a fire in some buildings, and black smoke billowed from the ruins.

Shireen was so frightened that her whole body went limp, her hands and feet were cold, but she couldn't even scream.

"We have to get out of here," Dead Leaf said. "It's too close to the garden center and the flagstones won't last long."

Through the black smoke, she saw that the Tulip Apartments a few blocks away was crumbling in the earthquake. Moira's heart sank to the bottom.

"Can you take me there?" Shireen asked, pointing to the apartment.

"Go to your house?" Dead Leaf frowned, "No, it's too dangerous. That apartment is too close and could turn into a hell like this street at any time."

"But you are here..."

"I can't protect you and operate in a place like this at the same time." Dead Leaf shook his head, "I have to send you away from here. You have tried hard, Marlon, and all this is not your fault."

"I can do better," Shireen hugged herself tightly, trying not to let her voice tremble, "I must do better. My friend is probably in that apartment, and she can't escape by herself...

…We have to save her!”

Dead Leaf gritted her teeth and looked in the direction of the apartment, as if simulating the route and assessing the danger. After a moment, she turned back and said in an unprecedented serious tone: "You must follow me closely, and you will do whatever I say."

What, don’t be smart. Let’s go and make sure your friend is in the apartment. After that, whether we find her or make sure she’s not there, we have to leave immediately, do you understand?”

Shireen nodded.
Chapter completed!