"This is a safe place. At least in the past fifty years, the Frost authorities have never known that there is such a secret hidden under their feet," Nemo Wilkins walked into the deep underground hideout and turned to Duncan and others who followed him in, with obvious pride in his tone. "These ancient sewers are crisscrossed, and most areas have been abandoned, so they are dry and safe. There are also some branches leading to the upper pipeline system, but all the connecting ports are safe. Even if one or two are discovered, the city hall cannot search the entire underground structure - they simply don't have that many people."

As the "tavern owner" spoke, he walked to a nearby concrete wall and turned a valve on a pipe. A faint hissing sound of air flow was heard from afar - suddenly more gas lamps lit up, and those that had been on all the time became brighter.

"In fact, it's already quite good that the current Frost City Hall can maintain the basic operation of the city." He turned around and grinned, with a hint of mockery on his thin face. "What was hidden in the sewers half a century ago? I'm afraid only the old craftsmen who served the Frost Queen back then can explain it clearly."

"...Is this a facility from the Queen's time?!" Fanna immediately guessed the truth from the other party's words. She widened her eyes slightly in surprise, "These underground waterways...how did you hide them?"

Nemo shrugged. "I didn't experience the chaos half a century ago, but my grandfather has been talking to me about it for half his life. He told me that the Frost Queen once built a huge underground structure for the entire city-state. It was originally to cope with land pressure and lay the foundation for the long-term development of the city-state. These underground structures included underground waterways, power pipelines, power grids and a complete transportation system that were leading the world at the time. The 'sewer' in front of you is the deepest one among them. Strictly speaking, it should have been named the 'Second Waterway', because there is a First Waterway above it, which is the sewer system currently used by Frost.

"After the Great Rebellion, the city-state didn't actually fall immediately - although the rebels later claimed that they 'completely disintegrated the Mad Queen's last guard in a very short time', the actual situation was that the battle continued for a full 72 hours after the Queen's Palace - now the Municipal Center - was captured. The loyalists who remained in the city moved from the ground to the underground, and the criss-crossing subway stations and power pipeline networks were full of people fighting.

"The rebels who had entered the city center were announcing victory, newspapers were publishing news of regime change, citizens were hiding in their homes in anxiety, the subway station was blocked, and people were lying on the ground near the pipe well, listening to all kinds of disturbing sounds coming from the depths far below.

"This continued until the day of the execution - the roar of the sea cliff collapsing shook the entire city and finally ended the last resistance of the underground.

"After that, the Queen's Guards blew up all the shafts leading to the Second Waterway and closed the gates connecting it to the First Waterway. Coupled with intermittent small-scale conflicts and artificial collapses, the entire Second Waterway was eventually completely separated from the upper level."

As Nemo Wilkins spoke, he raised his head and glanced at the heavy dome above him, as if his eyes were trying to penetrate through the layers of steel, concrete and stone and scan the busy streets of the city-state above.

“In fact, the new government established by the rebels later was not completely ignorant of this sewer. They knew about the existence of the Frost Underground World - but what can they do about it? They only knew of its existence.

"The sea cliff collapsed and the city suffered heavy damage. It took Frostbite decades to recover after the civil war, and Boiling Gold became the only remaining economic pillar of the city. The former No. 1 city-state in the Frostbite Sea now only has the glory in history books. To this day, the city is still using the pipeline system left by the queen.

"Under such circumstances, who would have the ability to search the vast network of channels deep underground in the city-state? The cost of reopening the shaft and reorganizing the Second Waterway is unacceptable to the new government. Moreover, for Frostbite, whose population and city size have shrunk after the war, the First Waterway on the upper level is enough."

"If it's enough, let's make do with it." Vanna suddenly remembered what Morris said not long ago, and muttered subconsciously.

"That's right. We have to make do with what we have. This city is already in tatters and can't afford another major war," Nemo said with a smile. "Besides, for such a big city, even if there are some 'moss' hidden deep in the sewers, it's not a big deal. Heretical worship, dark creatures, shadows at night, lost and out-of-control anomalies - there are many things hidden in the sewers, any of which is more worthy of giving the authorities and the church a headache than us."

Duncan had been silent the whole time, just listening to the "informant"'s rambling narration. At this moment, he suddenly spoke up: "Such a huge underground facility, and I see there is gas and electricity supply here - it's impossible for you to maintain it alone, right?"

"Of course not," Nemo Wilkins laughed. "We still have some people, scattered throughout the city, and even in some departments of the City Hall. Most of them are descendants of the Queen's Guard, such as me. Some are brothers and sisters who have passed the test of General Tirian and have been confirmed to be loyal and reliable. But they are not suitable to show up."

"...Tirion said he had planted some 'informants' in Frostbite. He's really modest." Duncan couldn't help shaking his head. "That guy actually buried such a large force in Frostbite..."

Nemo heard the name Duncan used when referring to Tirian. The expression on the middle-aged man's face stiffened obviously, but he said nothing.

While the others were talking, Morris was observing this underground world with great interest. His eyes swept over the towering dome, the abandoned pipes crisscrossing from the sky, and the many valves and pipe branches on the nearby walls that were obviously installed later. After a while, he suddenly asked, "Are you still in control of the entire Second Waterway?"

"Strictly speaking, it's only a small part of it," Nemo shook his head regretfully. "Although I would like to say that the entire underground kingdom is under control, we have limited manpower after all, and the scale of the entire Second Waterway is beyond imagination. Now only about one-fifth of the abandoned sewers are under our control. Other areas are either isolated and abandoned due to collapse, or covered by toxic sewage. Some places are eroded by dangerous forces and are difficult to enter."

"Dangerous power erosion?" Vanna on the side immediately frowned, and her professional sensitive cells began to beat.

"Sometimes, the illegal supernatural beings being hunted will mistakenly enter the sewers. If they die there, it will cause widespread pollution. But in most cases, it is the darkness itself that breeds monsters," Nemo said. "After all, this is a huge underground world. The gas we secretly bring in from the pipe well above cannot maintain the lighting of the entire Second Waterway. When the brightness is not enough... some places fall into darkness, and they will be in darkness forever."

Fanna stared, not knowing what to say for a moment, she just felt a little suffocated.

Coming from the prosperous Plande and being the protector of the city-state's order, she found it hard to imagine that a city would allow such a thing to happen - large areas of underground facilities had been in darkness for a long time, and had even begun to breed shadows and could not be purified. Is this possible?

However, the facts before our eyes proved that this was indeed possible, and the Frost Man had lived like this for half a century, and nothing major seemed to have happened.

"It's possible that some unlucky people who accidentally enter the underground will disappear, or that the death rate of defenders at night is higher than that of other city-states, but everyone has gotten used to it."

Nemo obviously saw the surprised expression on Vanna's face. He had already determined that these people in front of him were "strangers" and naturally knew what they were surprised about.

"If we clean up the dangerous sections of the First Waterway and the subway branch every few years, pour incense and holy ashes into the ground every now and then, and increase the death pensions of the defenders a little bit, and let the gatekeepers make two more trips, most ordinary people will still be alive and well... This is already a very good situation."

The "tavern owner" paused, smiled and turned his head: "Believe me, most city-states are actually not much better, and they have not been much better since ancient times."

Duncan and the others looked at each other for a moment, not knowing what to say. After a brief and awkward silence, Vanna spoke first. She looked at Morris next to her and asked, "What is your judgment?"

"There should be no signs of cognitive disturbance, and thinking and memory should be clear."

Morris answered Vanna's question, but his eyes were always on Nemo Wilkins. In the old scholar's eyes, a faint silver glow was gradually fading.

Nemo blinked, a confused look on his face: "What... are you talking about?"

Duncan turned his gaze and stared at the other person quietly: "Mr. Nemo, congratulations, you are not affected by cognitive interference."