Heaven's Formula

"..." Li Banzhang couldn't answer the words.Obviously this answer was too shocking for her.

"Then why don't you prepare an umbrella for me?" Xia Fan protested.

"You are a man, and holding an umbrella will lower your demeanor." Olina suppressed the upturn of her mouth, and replied in a serious manner, "Isn't there a saying in Qiguo that you do as the Romans do? You can use a high felt hat and Cloak to prevent accidents, but I am not prepared for this kind of clothing."

Suddenly an umbrella leaned over.

Li stretched out his umbrella handle to cover Xia Fan, "Why don't we share one."

"This..." Olina was dumbfounded for a moment, she hadn't figured out how to dissuade her, Xia Fan had already taken the umbrella from the fox demon in a grandiose manner.

No gentleman would do such a thing!

This umbrella is only the size of one person, so if two people share it, no one can cover it?

Sure enough, a guy with no grace!

Olina slandered endlessly, but Li's expression didn't look forced, she was obviously happy to do it, and it was not in the mood for her to stop it forcibly, so she could only keep her words in her stomach.

The practice of the two sharing an umbrella has attracted the attention of many people on the street.

Low voices and whispers continued for a while.

Not only was Xia Fan not at all embarrassed, but he also took the initiative to follow the sound and looked at each other without shy away from making eye contact. This move also made many women's eyes shine.

As a rare oriental person, Xia Fan's dress and attire have a distinctive exotic style, and the foundation of his height and appearance is also there. Coupled with the aura bonus brought by the person who is sensitive, he is obviously different from the surrounding same-sex competitors. opened the gap.While covering their mouths and snickering, they looked up and down without shyness, the curiosity in their eyes was self-evident.

This time it was Olina's turn to feel the pressure.

After all, if no one else is embarrassed, the one who is embarrassed becomes herself—even though there are three people traveling, two of them are very close to each other. Doesn't this mean that the remaining one is redundant?

As she expected, the focus of passers-by quickly shifted from Xia Fan to her.

Some people are already speculating about the relationship between these three people.

After all, Dragon Girl's face is not as thick as Xia Fan's.

Despite a hundred reluctances in her heart, Olina could only choose to approach Xia Fan, pretending to be casual and covering the other shoulder for him.

"So, where do you want to visit?" she asked coldly.

Xia Fan was quite puzzled, the other party was in a very good mood before going out, why did it suddenly turn from sunny to cloudy? "Uh...you're not feeling well? Why don't you go back and rest."

He noticed.Olina sighed secretly, her tone softened slightly, "I'm fine, don't worry about me. I've been to Azure Castle a few times before, and the places worth seeing include the pier, the market, the auction house and the lord's castle. But The auction house usually doesn’t open until evening, so you can go to other places first.”

"Auction house? What is that?" Li Qi asked.

Facing the fox demon, Olina's attitude is obviously much better. "Some rare things do not have fixed prices and are not suitable for sale in the market, so everyone will gather together to bid with each other, and finally the highest bidder will get it. Because often One item has one price, and a special person is needed to preside over it, so it has evolved into an auction house.”

"This kind of transaction generally has a threshold for entry. Not everyone can go, right?" Xia Fan interjected.

"You know a lot." Dragon Girl glanced at him, "Even the auction house has multiple subdivisions inside. The top level is naturally recommended by wealthy businessmen or nobles, and it is open to ordinary people. There are not so many requirements for the auction, as long as you buy a ticket. Of course, if you want to participate in it, you have to do a simple property certification."

"Sounds very interesting!" Li couldn't help but wagged his tail.

"Of course, although Azure Fort is only the third largest port, the trading volume of goods is not lower than that of the other two cities. It is connected to the border of the king's capital Hilla, and there is a spacious inland river directly leading to it. Some fleets shuttle through the Tranquil Sea Even if you choose to go around the archipelago half a circle, you will come to Azure Harbor to unload, let alone the expedition team that chose to go east."

"What did these expeditions find?" Xia Fan asked.

"The main thing is to search for new land and sea areas, such as the Eastern Continent and the Sea of ​​Dusk, which have been popular areas in recent years. As for the spices, ores, treasures and lost treasures brought back, they are all by-products .”

"Lost treasure?"

"It's like a gimmick. Especially gold and silver utensils and coins, nine out of ten are counterfeit." Olina sneered at this, "With the same materials, as long as the name of the lost treasure can be hung, the price will be higher than that of the lost treasure. It has been multiplied several times. In the final analysis, it is people’s desire for the Holy Grail that has fueled this trend—according to the records of the church, the Holy Grail itself is a lost treasure bestowed by heaven on earth.”

Xia Fan's heart skipped a beat, "So, could the ancient coin in Qianyan's hand be forged as well?"

As early as on the road, Qianyan asked Olina to carefully observe the coins, but the latter could not recognize the meaning of the words on them.

"I can't rule out this possibility." Dragon Girl nodded slightly, "If that thing means a lot to her, maybe it's not a bad thing to keep it as a mystery. But when you mention it like this, I think of it. When it comes to appraising ancient objects, no one should She is better than the experts at the top auction house, if she only wants to find the truth, maybe she can try it there."

Are you looking for an auction house to identify it?

This might be a good choice.

However, the auction house will not open until evening, and Qian Yan is not interested in accompanying them on the road, so Xia Fan did not make a decision immediately, but said to Olina, "In that case, let's go to the market area first."

As the saying goes, a city's market can indirectly reveal its own prosperity, and this sentence is also applicable to the West Pole.The market area in Olina’s mouth already has the embryonic form of a commercial street. There are only a few open-air stalls, but most of them are fixed stores, and they use conspicuous signs to indicate their products and characteristics; looking around, a street The signboards lined up in the sky can be described as colorful, just like flowers.

There are also a large number of guests and merchants who come and go here, including well-dressed rich families and plain-clothed sailors.Ragged beggars are also a common sight, and there are gangs of "beggars" gathered in almost every street.

"Pay attention to your wallet, and don't get close to those people." Olina warned, "Some of them are underground rats, and they often use sympathy to cover up their real purpose. Outsiders like you are their top priority. Target."

Xia Fan didn't care about this. After being trained by Li for so long, ordinary people would never even think about approaching him quietly.

"Xia Fan, I want to eat that." Li pointed to a glass jar on a shelf in a store—the stuff in it had distinct grains and a bright red color, resembling a top-grade fish roe.

But judging from the sign, it seems to be a pastry shop.

Since the fox demon opened his mouth, Xia Fan naturally would not refuse.He took out a few copper coins exchanged from the receptionist and bought a can.

When he opened the lid, he realized that it was a kind of jam.

Before eating, a seductive aroma hits the face.

Li scooped up a scoop with the attached wooden spoon and put it in his mouth, his eyes narrowed instantly.

"How is it? Is it delicious?"

"Yeah!" She nodded, "It's sweeter than sugar cane, but also has the fragrance of apples!"

"Good vision." Olina smiled, "Intoxicated jam is one of Azure Fort's specialties. It looks like fruit when you first eat it. After a period of time, it will produce a peculiar wine aroma. It is the most popular dessert in the royal city. Seasoning."

"That store seems interesting, let's go and have a look." Li found a new target.

Xia Fan has nothing to do.

Or that's what he intended to bring Li to the market area.

A one-month sea journey will inevitably feel boring and exhausting. Shopping and shopping is undoubtedly a good way to relax.

Of course, this kind of thing is not so attractive to him.

Compared with the dazzling array of goods in the shop, Xia Fan was attracted by the chimneys not far away that were billowing white smoke.

"Where is that place?"

"It should be a factory." Olina followed his gaze, "Many goods shipped to the market for sale need to be processed in advance. There are many factories like this around the market area."

Chapter 5 The Demarcation Point of the Era

"Can you go and visit?" Xia Fan suddenly became interested.Having a factory means centralized labor, which means having workers who are completely out of agriculture, which is undoubtedly an advanced existence compared with small manual workshops.

In fact, Jinxia City's new machine building bureau has evolved into a large-scale comprehensive manufacturing plant.

"Yes, but..." Olina showed a hint of hesitation, "It's not a good place."

"How to say?"

"In the Holy Wing Islands, people who are desperate usually have two choices, either join the black street organization, or find work in the factory area. So... you won't like it there."

Having said that, Longnu still took the two of them along the way.As she said, the market area and the factory buildings are very close, and the four-wheeled carriage between the two has become the absolute main force of transportation on the street.This is a bit like the difference between a bulk store and a wholesale store. Generally, customers shop in the market area, while merchants who need to purchase a large amount of goods will go directly to the factory area to pick up the goods.

There are neither walls nor guards around the factory, but it is filled with many shacks.They seem to be transitional areas connecting the two areas.Because the sheds are made of various materials, such as felt cloth and wood boards, it looks like a sea of ​​"mosaics" when looking around.

The smell here is even worse. Garbage and black mud are piled up between the sheds, and the smelly sewage flows wantonly on the stone floor, and even seeps into some of the sheds.

"This is..." Li slightly raised his eyebrows.She saw that there were people living in the shed, but most of the people staying inside were the elderly and children.Especially children, ranging from two or three years old to seven or eight years old. One thing they have in common is that they are thin and dirty, and they are completely different from their peers in the market area outside.

In addition, in order to avoid direct contact with the dirt, people put all kinds of things on the ground, ranging from bricks and stones to linen. However, this cannot fundamentally reverse the situation. On the contrary, it will cause a lot of sewage to accumulate and further ferment and rot.

The temperature in June is gradually rising, and the smell of swill and fishy smell in the air is not to mention how strong it is.

"Families of factory workers." Olina replied, "It is empty now because most people are busy working, and everyone will come back to live here at night."

"Do you live in this kind of place..." Li looked back and forth, "It's almost like a refugee in Qiguo."

"But at least they can have something to eat."

Xia Fan remained silent.Refugees are reduced to this point because they are homeless. They clearly have a home, but they can barely survive, which is very self-explanatory.

But this is the norm in the world today.

Those who can eat and drink enough are already an extremely lucky group.

Even Jinxia City has just saved the whole people from the plight of hunger.For these people, he can only wait and see from a distance at most.

Passing through the shantytown, the three approached a factory in production.

The wagons coming from the port dumped the loads of goods on the ground, and the workers put them in baskets, climbed up a high platform, and threw them from above into a huge copper furnace.

"Those red fruits, could it be the drunken fruit that I ate just now?" Li pointed to the bright red fruits on the ground.

"It seems to be right." Olina nodded, "But the main ingredient of the jam is its seeds, and these are the original fruits shipped from the island plantation."

What Xia Fan pays attention to is completely different from that of the fox demon.

He saw a crude machine standing beside the stove.It looks like an iron tripod, the main body is a cylindrical weight, and there are two movable flywheels and a cast iron cylinder at the bottom.From the top of the tank, you can see white gas coming out from time to time, and the flywheel drives the weight to rise slowly. When it reaches the top, the hammer head will suddenly fall and smash into the copper furnace.

Accompanied by the rhythmic dull roar, tens of thousands of fruits were crushed repeatedly until they were completely broken, and the pulp and fine seeds inside flowed out.

Despite its crude construction, it did utilize steam power.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen and ladies." At this time, a well-dressed middle-aged man came over, his eyes swept over the three of them one by one, and finally fell on Olina, "My name is Philip Law. The steward of the orchard, is there anything I can do for you?"

He noticed the cyan scales on Dragon Girl's wrist.

"I'm just accompanying," Olina shrugged and pointed at Xia Fan, "You can talk to this person directly if you have anything to say."

"Is that so?" There was a flash of surprise in the other party's eyes, and he looked at Xia Fan again, "Excuse me for being rude, but what do you call me?"

No matter how poor the Orkan family is, compared to the dragonborn, as long as she inherits the blood of the flying dragon, she is born superior.Because of this, Philip was surprised that the Dragonborn would be willing to be the company of a stranger.

"The manager of this kind of place is in a sense the agent of the factory owner." Worried that Xia Fan would not understand, Olina listened to her and explained in a low voice, "He is in charge of both production management and marketing. goods."

Xia Fan blinked at her, expressing his understanding, "Good afternoon, just call me Xia Fan. What is that metal lump that hits up and down the stage?"

he asked intentionally.

"Oh, what are you talking about..." The steward smiled, "It's a product that has only recently become popular, similar to a hydraulic hammer, but it doesn't need to be built by the river, it's all driven by boiling water. Of course... Among them The principle is more complicated. If you are interested, you can consult "Frank" metalworking. "

"Are there many factories using it in Azure Castle?"

"Haha, it's only used by small factories like ours." Philip waved his hand, "There is no shortage of water in Azure Fortress. The Dragon's Saliva River is five miles away, and the real big factories are concentrated there. Water hammer It is powerful, cheap, and not easy to break, unlike this thing, which often breaks down."

Sure enough, it was similar to his intuitive feeling, Xia Fan thought to himself, as a steam engine, it was still in its early stage, and its design and workmanship revealed roughness visible to the naked eye.However, according to the other party, it has become a commodity and has become popular among small factories far away from the river. Once its inventor has capital at hand, it will only be a matter of time before the steam engine can be further improved.

Frank Metalworking... He silently wrote down the name of this industry.

"By the way, do you guys want to try Pagoda's new jam?" Philip took the initiative to start the business. "We have recently developed two new flavors, which are not yet on the market, but they will definitely be well received. And it The honey content is high, even if it is brought back to the east for sale, it will not deteriorate."

"I'm just strolling around, I don't have any plans to buy anything yet."

"That's no problem, we welcome you to visit the factory." The manager's enthusiastic attitude did not diminish in the slightest, "Why don't you let me take you for a walk?"

This guy... quite understands the skills of salesmanship.

Xia Fan was about to agree, when suddenly there was a loud noise from behind the factory building.

Chapter 521 Half Beast Demon

"What happened?" Olina asked.

"No, it's nothing... just a small situation, let's start with the product drying room." Philip said calmly, as if he didn't take this accident to heart at all.

But soon, whippings and screams were mixed in the noise.

Among them are insults such as half-beast and low-born.

Li's ears pricked up immediately, and she took the lead to walk towards the side of the factory building.

"This is..." Philip couldn't help frowning. He had always regarded the fox demon as air before, and he didn't say anything to drive it away. It exceeded his expectations.

But to his disappointment, neither the Oriental nor the Dragon Lady made any punishment.

Not to mention punishment, not even angry scolding.

"Li?"

"I want to take a look at the situation."

Seeing what she said, Xia Fan could only choose to keep up—Olina had repeatedly told her that this place was not Jinxia, ​​and if Li didn't hide her appearance, she must not be allowed to contact outsiders alone.

The factory building is only a hundred steps from front to back.

But the picture that unfolds is quite different.

There is also a small open space here, but what is stacked on it is not goods, but torture racks.Seven or eight people were tied behind their backs to thick wooden poles, exposing their entire backs, and a strong man was waving a leather whip to beat these skinny people.