Chapter 759: Observation
North of the main continent, Frisia.
During the day, the beautiful sunshine shines for thousands of miles on the cloudless blue sky. In the north of the world, which is still far away from the polar ice cap, there is a huge bay winding out from the northern part of the light land continent, and the calm sea water in the bay shows sparkling waves under the sunshine. At the southernmost and deepest land position of the bay, there is a beautiful city rising from the ground. This is the capital of Friesland and the largest city, Alandsdal.
To the north of the main continent is a vast Aurora Sea. Located deep in the north of the Aurora Sea is the Arctic Ice Continent, which is frozen all year round and is a forbidden zone for life. With the Arctic Ice Continent as its structure, large tracts of ice sheets extend in all directions and stretch toward the land in the south, until they are melted and blocked by the warm ocean currents from the Starfall Sea in the west.
The geographical environment in the north of the main continent is extremely complex. The entire northern coastline of the continent is winding and twisted, forming a large number of small bays and peninsulas. In the southern part of the Aurora Sea, there are countless large and small islands. These islands seem to be shattered and scattered in the ocean from the north of the main continent, and are distributed from dense to sparse from south to north.
There are many human settlements on these countless islands, and countless kingdoms have been established. Many of these kingdoms were fierce and brutal pirate kingdoms in the distant past, and even now there are still many people living there. Although there are many countries on the northern coast of the main continent of these northern islands, they are generally called the "North Sea" area according to geographical and political conventions.
Alandsdal is located in the largest bay in the North Sea, at the deepest part of Broken Dragon Bay. It is a natural deep-water port, and is backed by two deep inland rivers, the Bear's Bank River and the Sword River. It is located at the common estuary of the two rivers. In addition, it has dug many canal networks, which gives Alandsdal a unique geographical advantage. It has become the most important economic and trade center in the entire North Sea region and the capital of Friesland.
Under the beautiful sunshine, North Wind Harbor, the largest port in Aransdel, was bustling with people at this moment. Countless citizens from all over the city were gathering on the wide dock, filling up a large area with hustle and bustle. While they were stopped by the police and whispered outside, they looked to the north with anticipation. Over there, at the berth of the dock, a huge church warship was docked.
On the powerful church battleship, the tall side of the ship was now connected to a tall boarding ladder. Amid the ceremonial music playing below, a figure in white appeared at the top of the boarding ladder. Then, amid the warm cheers of countless civilians below, Vanya Chafillon slowly walked down the boarding ladder with a smile.
"Huh...Finally, I see something like this again..."
As she walked down the boarding ladder, Vanya looked at the lively scene in front of her and couldn't help thinking that she had seen such scenes many times a year ago, but she was more or less nervous at that time. But now, she has long been accustomed to it and is no longer at a loss when dealing with the current scene. Not only that, she even feels a little relieved.
"Compared to Shenglin Mountain... I still prefer this atmosphere..."
Vanya was so emotional. She had lived in the Holy Land for quite a long time. The overall atmosphere of the Holy Land was solemn and depressing. Although the entire sanctuary was filled with piety, it was also extremely deserted. In the Holy Land, Vanya had no one to chat with except Evie occasionally. When she met with others, including Amanda, they talked about serious matters. The person she confided in the most was Dorothy, who she contacted through the "Wenhai Navigation".
For Vanya, the depressing and heavy atmosphere of the Holy Mountain was not unpleasant, but she still preferred the lively atmosphere with many people in front of her. Although it was troublesome and noisy, it was more lively and energetic. This was especially true for her, a saint on the way.
After taking a deep breath and calming herself down a little, Vanya continued her steps. With the guards behind her, she slowly stepped down the boarding ladder step by step, stepped steadily on the pre-laid floor on the dock, and then continued to move forward. Vanya saw a row of unfamiliar figures in front of her.
There were both men and women in that row. Judging from their attire, they were both high-ranking secular government officials and church clergy. Standing in the middle was a middle-aged black-haired woman wearing an archbishop's robe, a crown on her head, and a scepter in her hand. She had a slightly wrinkled face and looked kind. She was looking at Vanya with a smile on her face.
"Welcome, Sister Vanya."
"Thank you for the welcome, Bishop Sinclair."
When they got closer, Vanya and the woman in front of them, who looked to be in her 40s or 50s, bowed to each other at the same time and held each other's hands. At the same time, there were bursts of shining flashes outside the cordon. The reporters on the periphery were excitedly recording the scene in front of them, and some reporters who did not have cameras were already nervously transcribing their conversation with pens.
"Sister Vanya, I have heard about your deeds a long time ago. I am deeply impressed by your compassion and contributions. I have always wanted to meet you in person as the most outstanding emerging representative of the younger generation of the Holy Church and the backbone of the emerging generation. With the blessing of God, I finally get to meet you today." Archbishop Sinclair of Frisia said this with a smile, holding Vanya's hand, and Vanya also replied with a smile.
"Thank you for the compliment, sir. I am just an ordinary servant of the master. I have always been doing what I should do... This excessive glory should actually be accorded to us. The backbone of the Holy Church should always be loyal people like you who have been silently guarding one side..."
"Hehe... Sister Vanya is too modest. For the construction and reform of the Holy Church, people like you are much more helpful than us old guys. It has been more than a thousand years... The Holy Church now really needs new vitality like you. To be honest, when I heard that you stopped the pilgrimage and returned to Mount Saint Lin and were involved in a heresy case, I was still very worried. But now that I see that you can start the pilgrimage again, this worry is finally put to rest..."
Continuing with a kind smile, Sinclair released Vanya's hand and continued to speak with a smile, and Vanya nodded in response.
"Thank you for your concern. It was just a small misunderstanding. Please take a look at it. Now that the misunderstanding has been clarified, it is my mission to start the pilgrimage again..."
"Has it been clarified? That's good... Then let me once again, on behalf of Alan Sdel, welcome you here, Sister Vanya. Well, this is not the place to talk about things. We have prepared a reception room for you. Please follow me." As he spoke, Sinclair made a gesture of invitation, and Vanya followed him in response.
Outside the cordon, many reporters followed in a hurry after seeing the situation, wanting to take more photos and listen to more conversations. Many of these reporters had already begun to interpret in their own way the various reasons why Sister Vanya's pilgrimage, which had been suspended for a long time, had resumed and why she chose to arrive in Friesland.
…
It was still daytime, and just as the port of Alansdel was excitedly celebrating the arrival of the Star Sister Vanya, in another part of the city, in an equally busy train station, a man was standing there.
On the crowded platform of the station, a tall, thin man with deep eyes and hooked nose, wearing a dark grey windbreaker and a short hat, was standing here, carrying a small suitcase in his hand, scanning the busy scene in front of him with deep eyes. Not far behind him, a huge train with steam still escaping was parked there, and people were constantly pouring out of the open carriage.
Ed lit a cigarette with one hand. He had just got off the train. He took a deep breath of smoke and exhaled slowly. Then he walked slowly forward among the crowd on the platform carrying the suitcase in his hand. Although he was not a passenger getting off the train, Ed did not seem to be in a hurry to leave the station immediately because the platform exit was too crowded at this moment. Therefore, Ed chose to stand and watch the surrounding scenery.
From Ed's perspective, he could see that the platform he was on was extremely crowded, much more than the train platforms he usually saw. Several exits were blocked, and among the crowds, there were many train station staff standing on a simple wooden platform, directing people and trying to keep order among the exiting passengers.
From Ed's experience, in terms of population density, the situation at this train station is second only to the Tivian train station during the World Expo. However, due to the larger size, wider passages and more exits of the Tivian train station, its evacuation capacity is much stronger, so this place seems to be more crowded.
Looking at the noisy scene in front of him, Ed paused slightly, then walked to one side before changing shifts. He stood next to a staff member who seemed a little tired and was taking a rest. He handed him a cigarette and asked in fluent Frisian.
"Is there some kind of event going on in this city? Why are there so many people getting off this train?" Ed asked the staff member next to him. Because he was sitting in a first-class carriage with an independent compartment in front of him, he didn't feel that so many people could be squeezed into the carriage behind him. The station staff member was slightly startled and then took the cigarette and answered.
"There's not much going on. It's always been like this here. You should come from a small place. You should know that we are the most prosperous city in the whole Beihai. Even if there are no activities, the degree of congestion at the station is not comparable to that of some other small cities." The young station staff said as he started to light a cigarette. Listening to the young man's words, Ed couldn't help but look at the wooden platforms on the platform that seemed to be temporarily built for people to direct the flow of people.
"Has it always been like this? Since there are so many people flowing in, why don't you consider widening the aisles on the platform and setting up a few permanent command platforms? Those platforms you have built look like they are about to break down?" Looking at the scene in front of him, Ed asked the young man curiously, while the young man took a puff of his cigarette and answered Ed while letting out a long puff of smoke.
"Oh... who knows what those officials were thinking, designing this station to be so shabby, the idle places are too idle, and the busy places are too busy, they are really a bunch of people who eat for nothing..."
With obvious complaints, the young man spoke while smoking a cigarette, and his eyes inadvertently glanced to the side. After hearing his words, Ed followed his gaze and looked to the side. As a result, he found himself on the opposite side of the platform. Ed looked at another platform.
That was a deserted platform, with no motorcycles parked nearby, no passengers on the platform, and no staff there to maintain order, which was in stark contrast to this side.
"That platform over there is so empty...is the train not here yet?" Looking at the scene on the platform over there, Ed asked curiously, and the young man shook his head in response.
"No... there has never been a car here. It's a useless platform. I've worked here for a few years and never once has a car parked there. There is absolutely no space for cars. I don't know why they built it there. If the officials had the time to build that thing, they might as well build a bigger platform for the ones we have now, so that we don't have to be crowded every day."
While waving the burning cigarette in his hand, the young man complained to Ed. Listening to the young man's words, Ed was also a little curious and continued to look at the empty platform.
"Thank you for your hard work. Take a rest here..."
Ed said this to the young man as he said goodbye, and then he quietly left in the young man's somewhat puzzled eyes and mixed in the crowd.
Although the current flow of people has become slightly relaxed, Ed, who has just walked into the crowd, did not choose to leave the station immediately. Instead, he quietly mixed in with the other side of the crowd, and then with an exquisite pace, he cleverly avoided all eyes. Without anyone noticing, he crossed several sections of rails and platforms, and finally arrived at the platform that the young man called a waste of work.
Standing on the empty platform, Ed looked around, and what she saw was a vast and silent scene. There were a lot of garbage scattered on the empty platform, some seats were covered with a thick layer of dust, and even tenacious weeds grew in the cracks on the edges of some tiles. It looked like it had not been used for a long time.
Walking onto the deserted platform, Ed looked around and saw a rectangular sign hanging on a pillar at the back. There was a big arrow on the sign, pointing in the direction where the rails extended in front of the platform. The sign read.
"In that direction."
Looking at the obvious and abrupt blank space on the sign, Ed paused for a moment, then he looked around for a while, came to the edge of the platform, then jumped off the platform and onto the edge of the track.
Ed squatted down and began to carefully check the rails corresponding to the spacious platform. Then he found that compared to the dusty platform, the rails on the two rails fixed by sleepers were not only free of dust, but also very smooth. From the smoothness of the rails, Ed could even see the sky reflected.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Ed couldn't help but frown slightly, then he stretched out his hand and touched the steel track, checking for signs of rust while feeling its smoothness. This track felt to Ed like other rails he often saw, as if they were often used.
After feeling it, Ed withdrew his hand, then stood up silently from the edge of the track, turned his head and looked in the direction where the track extended, which was the direction pointed by the blank space on the sign above. After staring for a few seconds, he silently withdrew his gaze and jumped back onto the empty platform.
Afterwards, Ed continued to walk quietly, and returned to the platform with normal crowds. He followed the crowds, which had become much thinner, out of the platform and out of the station, and walked onto the street in front of the station.
Then, Ed saw the streets of Alanstead for the first time. Compared with Tivian Street, the buildings here seemed to be lower, and the street frontage of each building was narrow. The colors used by the shops on the street seemed to be brighter, and there were carefully trimmed green plants on both rows and in the middle of the wide road. Overall, it seemed more pleasing to the eye.
After standing on the street and admiring the scenery for a while, Ed began to prepare to stop a taxi. After watching one taxi after another passing by him, Ed narrowed his eyes slightly, stretched out his hand, and stopped a taxi that looked a little different.
The overall color of this horse-drawn taxi is dark gray-yellow, like the color of mud. It is larger than ordinary horse-drawn taxis. There are several wooden boards nailed on the back, and many places on the wheels are nailed with visible iron sheets, which seem to be out of tune with the overall appearance of the carriage. On the driver's platform, an old driver with a white beard is respectfully taking off his hat to salute Ed.
"Hello, guest. Please get in the car."
Listening to the driver's words, Ed opened the door of the carriage, carried his suitcase and walked up. After he closed the door of the carriage and sat down, the old driver asked again.
"Dear guest, where are you going?"
"Well... I'm here to travel in this city. Can you take me to see the free attractions in this city one by one?" After listening to the old driver's words, Ed thought for a while and spoke frankly. The old driver responded immediately after hearing Ed's words.
"Oh, tour guide business. Then I wonder what kind of attractions you want to see? There are many places to visit in Alanster." The old driver asked Ed, and Ed answered after thinking for a while.
"Well... let's go to some historical and cultural attractions, preferably a little further away from the bustling areas of the city. I plan to go to those places later."
"Oh, I see. Sure, but there are many places worth visiting in the outlying areas of our city. I can't see them all in one afternoon. I can pick a few for you, but the distances between these places are not very close. If you want to spend money..."
"Don't worry about this, just go ahead." Ed said in a generous tone. After listening to Ed's words, the old driver also smiled and said frankly.
"Okay, then please take a seat."
As he spoke, the old driver threw the reins and controlled the horses pulling the carriage to move. Under the power of the two horses, the fancy carriage began to move and drove onto the street.
Sitting in the carriage, Ed looked out the window with a relaxed look, observing this unique and exotic scenery. On the street, Ed didn't see all the shops open normally. Some shops were closed. Some young people who seemed to have nothing to do were wandering in front of these closed shops. Some of them sat on the street with sad faces. When passing by a post office, Ed could see that there seemed to be many postmen holding signs to protest.
After driving for a while, the buildings on the street that Ed was looking at disappeared, and were replaced by a long river. There were many small boats sailing on the shimmering river water, and a stone bridge spanning the two banks of the river could be seen not far away.
"Guest, after you come here to travel, you can also try to go out by boat. In order to facilitate transportation, Alanster has dug many canals. These rivers are interconnected with other rivers, and boat travel is quite interesting." At this time, the old boatman suggested to Ed, and Ed responded with interest after hearing it.
"There are many canals... It seems that the leaders here pay a lot of attention to transportation."
"That's right. Since ancient times, Aransdell has been an important trade node in the North Sea and the center of the Northern Merchant Alliance. Through Aransdell, the entire Friesland... no, the entire North Sea countries are connected together. Goods from all over the North Sea are sold from here to the entire North Sea."
The old driver said this, revealing a hint of pride in his words, and Ed paused for a moment after listening to it, then continued speaking.
"Is it the center of the Hokkai area? But I wonder if the economy here is a bit bad recently."
"Um... the economy is bad? How do you know, sir?" After listening to Ed's words, the old driver paused slightly and then asked, while Ed spoke slowly.
"Just now I saw that many shops on the street were closed, and some looked like unemployed people were wandering around. There were even employees protesting in front of the post office. You used to run long-distance passenger transport, but now you have switched to running taxis. This situation can almost reflect that there are some problems with the city's economy now."
Sitting safely in his seat, Ed responded to the old driver leisurely, and the old driver seemed a little surprised when he heard it and spoke.
"How do you know I used to run long distances?"
"Hehe... it's easy to tell that the color of your carriage is a dark grayish yellow instead of the traditional color of a horse-drawn taxi. This color is not good-looking but it is more resistant to dirt. I mean, your carriage didn't run on the tidier roads in the city before.
"Your carriage is larger than ordinary horse-drawn carriages, and there are traces of modification on the outside and inside. This carriage should have more seats to accommodate more people, right? Also, your wheels have more obvious signs of repairs than ordinary horse-drawn carriages. The road conditions and usage time you have experienced are definitely different from other horse-drawn carriages. So I conclude that your carriage was probably used more on the roads outside the city in the past."
Ed explained to the old driver with a smile, and the old driver was also stunned after hearing it.
"Oh... it's a little bit exaggerated when you put it that way, sir. That's right, my car was not used for taxiing before, but for driving on dirt roads in the wild. I also wanted to change the car, but because I had no money, I had to give up."
After a while, the old driver said with a slightly helpless look, while Ed continued to ask curiously.
"How come you suddenly stopped driving long-distance buses and started driving a taxi?"
"This...tsk...it seems like it was a long time ago, I can't remember, it seems like it's because the road we used to run on was broken and abandoned, that should be the reason?" The old driver said to Ed while reminiscing, and Ed continued to ask after listening.
"So do you remember which route you ran before and where you were going?"
"This...hiss...I seem to have forgotten it. It's bad. When I get old, my brain doesn't care anymore. I forget everything. Please forgive me." After thinking for a while, the old driver continued to talk to Ed. Ed couldn't help but be silent after listening to the old driver's speech. Then he continued to ask.
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