While Duncan and Alice were heading to the cemetery, Morris and Vanna were not idle either. They came to the "Citizen Help Center" in the southern part of the upper city early in the morning to complete a task assigned by Duncan -

Seek a stable and legal place to settle down in the Frost City-State. If possible, it would be better to have one or two identities that can appear in public.

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

Considering that the informants that Tirian left in the city were no longer reliable, Morris decided to find a solution himself.

Frost's Citizen Help Center is a large dome-shaped building with two long side buildings extending out from the main body. Although it is called a Citizen Help Center, this building is actually also used to receive visitors entering the city-state and undertake a large amount of third-party intermediary work, from house rental and sale registration, to the issuance of temporary passes, to the short-term employment of maids, gardeners, and laundry workers, almost all of which can be done here - its long side buildings are filled with various registration windows and offices, and the huge dome-shaped building is a hall that is always noisy and bustling with people coming and going, which is very different from Plande.

As soon as you enter the huge dome building, the heat hits you in the face. The Frost's unique high-pressure heating device dispels the winter chill, and the bright electric lights hanging high on the dome make the entire building brightly lit.

It has only been a short time since the opening, but many people have already poured in. Citizens seeking short-term jobs or registering for housing rentals are walking between countless windows and counters. The noise is mixed with the "clicks" and "hissing" sounds of the air flow pipes constantly starting up. Vanna is obviously not used to the environment here. She carefully avoids the crowds around her and whispers to Morris: "In Plande, the human resources and housing rental counters are not placed in the same 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 city's basic municipal facilities were left over from the Frost Queen's era, 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 former vitality, but it is not easy to renovate the underground pipeline system and steam power network left by the Queen from scratch."

"So we're just going to keep using it?" Vanna's eyes widened. "This is an antique from half a century ago!"

"What else?" Morris sighed. "On the one hand, there is the decline of the city, on the other hand, there is population pressure, and the collapse of the sea cliff has caused the reduction of habitable area... The facilities built half a century ago may be a bit cramped now, but at least they are barely sufficient. Since they are sufficient, we will continue to use them... In fact, this is not only a problem of Frost, but also a problem of many old industrial city-states. Cities as vibrant as Plande are rare."

Vanna stopped talking.

This was not an area she was good at thinking about.

While talking, Morris had already found the location of the floating population registration counter on the dazzling route guide map above the hall. He and the tall Vanna moved in and out of the crowd, and finally came to a relatively quiet counter.

A long wooden counter was placed against the wall, divided into several grids by iron fences in the middle. Behind each grid sat a clerk in a gray-blue uniform - the expressions on their faces were as dull as the iron fences beside them, and they obviously intended to maintain such expressions until the end of the work day.

"We need a residence permit and a short-term rental house," Morris said to the sallow-faced middle-aged man in a cubicle as he sat down on a creaking iron chair. "We just landed today."

"Which pier?" The middle-aged clerk with a sallow face raised his eyelids and glanced at the old man opposite. When he noticed that there was a 1.9-meter-tall lady standing behind the old man, he was obviously stunned for a moment, but the next second he returned to his official tone and said, "Show me the pier certificate and the boat ticket."

Vanna frowned and looked down at Morris.

Morris, however, looked calm and said, "It was lost. It might have been lost when we left the dock. The ship has already left."

The clerk in the cubicle immediately stopped what he was doing, raised his head, and said with a hint of displeasure on his poker face: "That won't work. We need documents to prove it. Go back to the dock and get it done."

"But I have something else," Morris said as he rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a folded document and a small booklet with a dark red cover. "It should be able to serve as proof of legal identity."

The clerk waved his hands subconsciously: "It won't work without the dock certificate, and nothing else..."

He saw the mark on the small book and stopped talking. Then he reached out and opened the folded document, scanning it with his eyes.

The poker-like expression changed in an instant.

"The academic pass issued by the Academy of Truth and the Infinite Sea Navigation Council allows the holder to stay and visit any city-state protected by the righteous gods. During the stay, the local city-state university affiliated with the Academy of Truth will automatically serve as a guarantor," Morris said, pointing to the small red book. "This is my ID. It has a degree from the Academy of Truth and a dual certificate in theology. My rank is professor."

The middle-aged clerk with a sallow face was stunned for a while, and finally raised his head slowly, looking a little at a loss: "Um... Good morning, Professor Morris... Nice to meet you, your identity is of course legal..."

Morris had a look of relief on his face.

But the clerk paused, as if he was very conflicted, and then he said stubbornly: "But... I at least need to know which ship you are on. This is... the rule."

Morris's expression, which had just relaxed, looked a little awkward, while Vanna next to him touched the tip of her nose and turned her head away calmly.

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

"You already know which ship I'm on," he sighed, a gleam in his eyes, "Give me the proof."

The clerk was stunned for a moment, as if there was a trance in his eyes, then he lowered his head and began to operate the clicking punch machine, and put the punched cards into the pressure pipe container next to the counter.

A moment later, accompanied by the hissing and clicking sounds in the pipe, the card sent back from an approval office deep in the building was sent back to the counter.

The clerk inserted the punch card into the small reading machine, confirmed the receipt number and anti-counterfeiting password, and then began to fill in the required content of the certification document. At the same time, without looking up, he said: "I can only issue a certification document here. You need to take the certification document to the west building and find window A-12. There should be a short-term rental house that meets your requirements."

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

After saying that, he and Vanna quickly left the counter and walked towards the next window.

"This is the first time I've done this," the old man couldn't help but lower his voice and said, "I was planning to rely on the normal document process to handle this matter..."

"We came here on a ghost ship that is not tolerated by the world. You know, normal procedures will never solve this problem," Vanna also whispered, with a hint of laughter in her tone, "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures."

"…What do you think is the possibility that Mr. Duncan can obtain a legal ship registration certificate for the Lost Hometown?"

"What do you think?"

"...Okay," Morris sighed, looking at the certificate in his hand, "Heidi, don't know about this - next time I encounter this kind of situation, I would rather make a fake ticket first."

Vanna looked at the sighing Morris with a half-smile. From childhood to adulthood, this was the first time she saw such a worried expression on the face of this old scholar who was always known for his "rigorous scholarship and adherence to rules". It seemed... quite interesting.

※※※

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

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

A letter of complaint——from that unspeakable visitor.

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

Should I lament this accidental missed opportunity, or should I lament the strange behavior of the "visitor"?

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

Unease spread in my heart, and something suddenly seemed urgent.

"Turn and go to East Port."

The subordinate driving in front was a little surprised: "Aren't we going to the cathedral first?"

"The plan has changed. Let's go to East Harbor first," Agatha said firmly, "I have a bad feeling...something might want to take advantage of the opportunity to land."

The subordinate who was driving was confused, but his instinct to obey orders made him quickly suppress his doubts.

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