Whispering Poems

Chapter 1586 The Unexpected Reunion of an Old Friend
It was just noon when I left Grandma Natalie's tailor shop.Because Mia's lunch was already prepared before going out, Xia De didn't have to rush back.

He still has a lot of things to do here, but considering that he is not very familiar with the whole area, Xia De went back to the Green Lake Hotel and had lunch, then took a carriage, and planned to go to the city of Mikaela Blast Furnace in the south to see one look.

Although the two cities are located in different countries, due to the particularity of the times, it is actually quite easy to cross the border.After getting into the carriage, Xia De chatted with the driver wearing a straw hat to shield the sun about the local customs, and then learned from him that generally speaking, there is no need to check when traveling between the two places.

It's just that after it was confirmed some time ago that negotiations between the two countries will be held in the Green Lake area, an outpost was established in the border area for inspection.But if the locals want to avoid it, it is not difficult. This is a plain area, and there is no barbed wire or wall between De La Rion and Carson Rique. Only the main road has checkpoints.And if you are not afraid of trouble, you can even go back and forth by boat from Green Lake.

After leaving the city limits, the carriage drove on a country road.Because of the frequent communication between the two cities, the country roads have also been repaired very well, which is similar to the level outside Tobesk.

Xia De knew that the two cities were very close, but he didn't expect it to be this close.In fact, within 5 minutes of leaving the urban area of ​​Green Lake City, he could actually see the distant southern horizon from the window of the carriage, with tall chimneys spewing black smoke into the sky.Pieces of buildings are piled up on the horizon, and you can feel the prosperity there just by looking at the distant view of the city.

"Sir, you see that the air in Green Lake City is so bad, but we don't have so many steam factories here, can you guess the reason?"

On the bumpy carriage, the coachman also noticed that Xia De was looking into the distance, so he asked him in a chatty tone.

Xia De said firmly:

"The industry in Green Lake City is not developed, so the pollution from Mikaela Blast Furnace City has spread to Green Lake City?"

"Yes, the southerly wind blows in the Green Lake area all the year round, and the black smoke from the chimneys of the glass-making factories in the City of Glass will eventually float to our place. So although there are not many factories in Green Lake City, it is the same as the City of Glass, all year round. It’s all foggy. I heard that Tobesk is also foggy all the year round, but I don’t know if it’s the same as ours.”

The voice of the coachman came from the wind, and Xia De continued to squint his eyes to look at the city in the far south:
"Don't the locals have any problem with this? I heard people say that living in such fog is easy to get lung disease."

"Of course there are opinions. Many people even want the City of Glass to compensate us for the cost of air pollution. This matter has been discussed many times in the newspapers, so even a driver like me can say a few words. But this kind of thing drags Talking about it, who can tell clearly? There are valuable trade routes in the Pantanal region, which are worth negotiating with the kingdom, but what do we have here?"

The coachman said, Xia De nodded, and was about to say something more, the coachman reminded again:

"Sir, I can only send you to the border checkpoint for a while, and then you have to take a carriage on the other side before entering the city."

"Kingdom checkpoint, are you not allowed to cross the border?"

"Of course not, but beyond the border is the territory of Mikaela Blast Furnace City. How can the local coachmen allow us northerners to make money on their land?"

The coachman said with a smile, shaking the reins to make the running horses go faster.

The so-called border checkpoints were run by the De La Rion Army, similar to the "Red Water Camp" that Shad had seen on Sikar Mountain, and the military camps were established near the border.Passengers who pass through the checkpoint need to check their carry-on luggage and register the reason for crossing the border.

If it is a carriage that transports goods, it takes a long time to wait, but for pedestrians like Xia De who don't even have luggage, they only need to queue up to register.

The driver sent Xia De to the entrance of the checkpoint, and told Xia De many ways to deal with the soldiers.When Xia De paid the fare, he also gave an extra 1 shilling, and the driver took off his hat to express his gratitude to Xia De.

Xia De planned to spend the whole afternoon in the City of Glass, and even thought about buying some glass artworks and taking them home as gifts for his friends.So he didn't observe the camp carefully, but directly entered the camp post which was muddy due to the rain a few days ago, and quickly found the place where he queued up for registration.

Most of the people waiting in line to cross the border here are nearby villagers, old women with baskets, peasant women with children, businessmen with backpacks, and even young travelers traveling together.Fortunately, although there are quite a few people in line, the speed of registration is very fast, and Xia De doesn't have to worry about wasting too much time.

However, less than 2 minutes after he started queuing up, he caught a rather familiar figure at the edge of his field of vision.Xia De froze for a moment:
"Did you read that right?"

【It's your friend. 】

A look of joy appeared on the face of the stranger, he took the initiative to leave the team, waved his hand and shouted at the figure in the distance:
"Captain Rudds!"

The middle-aged officer, who was checking the shift status of the night patrol with his subordinates, turned around and was also taken aback when he saw Xia De waving his hand, but he immediately recognized Xia De who was disguised by applying witch eye shadow:
"Mr. Hammy Watson?!"

He said in surprise, then walked over quickly with a smile, and held Xia De's hand tightly. "Captain Eight Guns" Lades, on this ordinary early spring afternoon, met Xia De unexpectedly again in a faraway country.

Relying on the border checkpoint and military camp, there are hotels and taverns in the "Crossroads Village" outside the camp, and it is very lively here.The two met friends in this strange land, and temporarily left the camp and came to the country tavern.

After pushing the door to enter the tavern, people automatically get out of the way and walk inward after seeing Captain Lades's attire.After sitting down, Xia De asked:
"Captain Rads, I did not expect to meet you here. Is this the first time we have met since you left Tobesk with the 'Gold Star' in January? Oh, you are not stationed in the Pantanal area , as the camp commander?"

Xia De asked curiously, quite happy to meet friends in a foreign land.

A fat woman in an apron and turban now made her way through the tumult of the crowd, serving them beer in wooden mugs.Probably because of the uniform worn by Captain Ladds, she was quite polite to the two of them.

"Thank you, just put it here. Oh, Mr. Watson, both Delarion and Carsonrick are gathering troops to the border. Our pre-armed troops need to be rotated to allow elite troops to enter the camp, so I will Called here."

Speaking of this incident, Captain Lades was quite sad:
"I worked as a battalion commander in the Pantanal region for two months. I was transferred to Green Lake to be in charge of border registration two weeks ago. Although there are more things to manage, the people under me are also more There are too many, but I have become the deputy battalion commander of the camp."

"Negotiations between the two countries are a major event. Maybe you can make great achievements like you did in Xikarshan, and then go further."

Xia De comforted.

"In my opinion, it is still possible in the Pantanal, which is full of gunpowder, here"

The captain sighed.

"Be careful."

Xia De reminded, the captain looked around cautiously, nodded and took a sip from the wine glass:
"But there are also good things here. It's too humid on the big swamp, and there are a lot of bugs in the camp. I've never seen so many bugs in my life. Although the air quality in the Green Lake area is not good, at least the camp is very clean." It is clean, and there is a tavern next to the camp. In the big swamp, if you want to drink a glass of light wine, you have to greet the quartermaster in advance."

There were quite a lot of guests in the tavern, the captain looked around again, then lowered his voice slightly:

"In my opinion, this negotiation is definitely not easy. I also have contacts in the army. Many people believe that there must be at least a small-scale contact war before the negotiations can have results. However, it is unlikely that we will fight here. The high probability is still Pantanal."

This reminded Xia De again of the topic of negotiation and war that he had talked with Rezia:
"If you can avoid war, it's better to be peaceful."

"Yeah, I don't want to fight either, but it's hard to tell what the big shots are thinking. What we care about is our own military pay and life, and what they care about may be the 'greater interests'."

The captain shook his head. It wasn't that he was eager for war or pessimistic about world affairs, but he felt that a war was more likely based on experience.

Of course, while reminiscing about the past, Xia De did not forget to talk about his purpose of coming to the Green Lake area.Captain Lades vaguely knew that Xia De was not an ordinary person, so he did not ask how Xia De got here.

"I was commissioned to investigate an ancient family here. It is the Edwards family that once existed on the central island of Green Lake."

"I know this."

The captain pointed to the direction of Green Lake outside the window:
"After I was transferred, the superiors said a lot of precautions. One of them is that under no circumstances is it allowed to board the central island of Green Lake. This sounds strange, it is obviously a good water port, and it is recognized territory of Delarion."

Thinking of the horrors that appeared in the Battle of Mount Xikale, the captain looked away from the window, and asked his friend across the table cautiously:

"So, that island"

"I haven't investigated it yet, but it's certainly not safe."

Captain Lades nodded slowly:
"I understand when you say that. It seems that this world is more dangerous than I thought. Oh, you were queuing to cross the border just now? I will give you a special pass later. You don't need to queue up for inspection in the future, just show your pass."

(End of this chapter)