Lu Li boarded the port that no longer belonged to humans.
The icy cold wind of the lingering winter blows, tearing the exhaled breath.
The Vina Refuge Area is similar to old Belfast. It is the same seaport city, and it also exists along the mountains. Sadly, there is no light here, and only the large number of underground residents distinguish Vina Freeze Harbor from other lost towns.
"Mr. Lu Li, long time no see."
Although he complained about Lu Li's reckless travel, Matthäus was still happy for his arrival.
"The surface is not safe."
Lu Li said to the powerful man who came from the refuge area in danger.
"You crossed the deep sea and came to the ice-free port of Vina, but I just came from the surface to the surface." Mateus said humbly, casting his eyes on the banyan tree guards dancing in the dark like sea anemones on the deck of the big ship: "This is
Those... friends of yours? Seeing them in real life is more shocking than in the letters."
After witnessing the existence of the Ancient One and maintaining correspondence with Lu Li, Mateus was undoubtedly able to accept these strange allies.
The twisted figure in the form of Saint Elena came to Lu Li surrounded by believers and greeted Mateus: "I am the successor of the Ancient One, the Star of the Land of Light, and the Twisted Shadow."
Maybe it's a bad idea to have Swamp Mother and Twisted Figure for afternoon tea every day.
"I am Ophelia...the undead returned from hell, the remnant of Belfast."
Ophelia is a recent addition.
"Nice to meet you two." Matthäus welcomed them, and did not show any signs of discomfort due to their introduction...
Lu Li and Mateus didn't waste time to be polite, they went straight to the point: "We had already controlled the area around the dock before you arrived. There's bad news... We didn't find any battleships in the dock. The Knights asked the only one who successfully evacuated for refuge.
District sailors..."
When the desperate disaster that residents of the Vina refuge area did not want to recall struck, a group of naval battleships was performing a cleanup mission outside the bay. The tragedy occurred: except for the fastest small battleship "Azazel", which rushed back to the port, the rest
None of the battleships returned, including the flagship "Hyglossus Titan", the symbol of honor of the ice-free port of Vina.
The Azazel, like other ships in the port, drifted out of the port during the four consecutive months of winter and disappeared without a trace.
Only the Heimglu survived because it was being repaired in a shipyard, and it should still be there.
That was also one of Lu Li's destinations, and the personnel who repaired Andrea were waiting in the queue of knights.
The twisted figure refused to allow Mateus to let the knights open the way, and his followers stepped into the cold water and crossed to the shipyard. The banyan tree guards also moved their roots, approaching slowly like a sleeping giant waking up.
The knights gathered around Lu Li and Mateus.
A few minutes later, the twisted figure brought back good news to the believers.
There is no strange thing occupying the ship repair yard. The Heimglu is still there. The bad news is that the Heimglu is in urgent need of maintenance after experiencing the severe winter. The good news is that the maintenance crew has arrived.
The Knights briefly served as workers' accusers, hauling dirt and piling it in front of the shipyard, allowing banyan guards to take root, and then stationed themselves around the area with the Twisted Cultists.
Lu Li and Ophelia followed Mateus in their twisted figures and went to the Wiener Refuge Area as guests.
However, Lu Li and Ophelia needed to wear cloaks to cover their bodies.
"We tried to clear a street from the entrance to the refuge area to the port, but they would attack endlessly, so we had to temporarily open a passable road," Matthäus explained.
And casualties are inevitable.
On the way to the refuge area, Lu Li saw many houses on both sides of the dark streets with their windows glued shut. Some were brand new, some were old.
The old traces come from the residents who did not hide in the shelter when the original darkness enveloped them, and the new traces come from the residents who ran out of the shelter.
"Remember those coastal refuges designated as migration points. I sent soldiers to maintain order there. I don't want a group of bandits and criminals to become residents of the Land of Light, and you probably don't want to either."
On the way, a group of knights dropped off from the port and told them that a group of civilians broke into the port and wanted to board the ship.
They came from the coastal shelter and got the news that Andrea had landed.
Mateus looked at Lu Li, waiting for him to make a decision.
"What's the quantity?"
"Less than a hundred people." The knight captain's voice trembled slightly, not knowing whether he was cold or excited.
"Let them return to the refuge first, and I will take them away after the repairs are completed."
The knight left with the reply, and Lu Li and Mateus, who were surrounded, continued to move forward.
"The Land of Light needs construction now. Are you sure you want to bring back a group of civilians who know nothing?" Mateus asked.
"The camp now only needs scientists and students."
The land of light requires accumulation.
They must first restore the lost steam technology, and then find the similarly lost survivors of Midnight City.
The good news is that everything in the camp is moving forward in an orderly manner. The bad news is that the crisis will not give too much time. No matter the strange fog and whirlpool that encroach on the land of light, or the strange things that covet it outside.
Arriving at an open park, he entered the entrance and passed a long staircase. Lu Li arrived at a refuge area that was smaller than the old sewers, with passages crisscrossing the area and doors lined up like cells.
Residents along the way stayed in narrow rooms filled with stench like cells, numbly watching or listening to the clattering sounds of knights walking in the passage. They could not recognize Mateus, and they had no time to pay attention to what big man was passing by outside.
This pigpen-like atmosphere got a little better until we entered the inner ring.
The passage is no longer narrow, the room has privacy, and decorations and fluorite lamps are hung on the rock wall.
"We have been thinking about migrating, weird attacks are becoming more and more frequent, they know we are here..."
"The worms can help you."
"I know, but there are too many people who don't want to leave..."
A cave dotted with star-like fluorite appeared before our eyes.
Exquisite buildings are built along the rock walls, and a granite fountain is set up in the square in the center of the cave.
This is the core of the Wiener refuge area, both political and financial.
"They don't want to leave, right?"
Lu Li's eyes fell on the men in formal suits and the ladies in long skirts in the square.
It seemed as if this was not the underground where they were hiding in embarrassment, but a night when the street lights were not on.
"There are currently 87,000 citizens in the Weiner Refuge Area. A week ago, the number was 93,000. Half a month ago, it was 100,000. And before that, it was hundreds of thousands..."
When the port of Wiener was still ice-free, there were more than 300,000 people.
Matthäus's answer lies in the decreasing number of people: "We are suffering from chronic death, hunger, plague, death, and war filling the ground... We dare not do anything because no one knows what the cost will be."
They could only accept the growing weakness brought about by the end of school, and Mateus always had an excuse for delaying: the Wiener Refuge Zone would persist until the Land of Light no longer needed help.
"I'll let the worms come over to help you dig deeper." Lu Li made the decision for the wavering Matthäus.
"Eighty-seven thousand residents is not a number."
