Conrad and Dali, led by the woman, after about five minutes of walking.
They came to a human-sized circular metallic door; this was the human entrance door to the Cradle Underground City.
The woman turned to them.
"I open the first door and then you two enter it."
"From now on there, the doors will open automatically. After five doors, the guide will take you to the city."
"This is the last chance you people stop and turn back."
Conrad and Dali just nodded and said nothing.
The woman nodded and then made a sign to the camera on the corner of the hallway; with her sign, the huge circular metal door started making some machining sounds, and five seconds later, it opened.
"Go in," the woman said, and then Conrad and Dali entered a new room that was also closed by the circular metallic door.
After they entered, the door behind them closed; five seconds later, the door in front of them opened too.
Ten and fifteen seconds later, three more doors opened, and they passed.
Each time they passed a door, the circular door behind them closed. Then after ten seconds, a final door opened.
Conrad and Dali both noticed the change in just seconds; it was like a touch, some sort of feeling inside of them, the cold energy, not just cold air, but the energy touched them for a moment.
A mustached man with pretty thick clothing and middle-aged looked at them and gestured for them to come on in the new hallway.
"Hi."
"I am Tetro."
"I will be responsible for you to understand the general understanding of Cradle Underground City."
"From now on, then, you are in the city, and leaving here will take at least fifteen days."
"The jenny is used here in terms of money, and you are responsible for your actions."
"The cards are accepted, but it is better to use cash if you want to have more good relationships with the people living here."
Conrad and Dali listened without saying anything, as there is no need to talk for the time being.
"The total population is around one hundred thousand; there are two types of people who live here, Cradle People and Outsiders."
"The Cradle People are people who were born here and/or lived here for five years without leaving the area, and outsiders are all people that are outside of the Cradle People."
"Any questions?" Tetro asked after telling the simplest knowledge.
Conrad thought and then asked.
"We need better clothes."
Tetro nodded.
"Yeah, I can see that."
With these words ended, Tetro led the duo in the hallway, and after about fifteen minutes of walking, they came to an elevator. It was a huge elevator room, not normal at all.
The duo entered the elevator, and then the elevator started going down without needing any command from Tetro at all.
It went down for about one minute, and then it stopped.
The door opened.
A huge city showed itself in the eyes of Conrad and Dali. Tetro smiled as he looked at the reactions of Conrad and Dali; he was used to seeing this reaction.
Cradle Underground City was bigger than it looked; there was a ceiling of rocks in some places, and some areas did not have ceilings. The cold air blasted from all areas, and every fifteen to ten meters, there was a red glowing light signaling a heat source for the city.
"I never expected that this world would have such a city," Conrad thought. From what he knows in the series, the technological level of the Hunter x Hunter world always seemed to be twenty to forty years behind the modern world.
It was mostly due to the fact that the series was written in the 90s instead of 2010 or later years, but it was still a shocking and fun experience for Conrad.
"What a big city."
"Big buildings sprawling all around."
"The machinery is working and people are many..."
Conrad let out a deep breath; he then used some of his ten with conscious effort, and it made it easier to handle the cold air and energy all around him.
After he used it, then he was more comfortable.
"Okay."
"Please, follow me."
"We use small trucks to go between places in this city."
Conrad and Dali followed the man, while Conrad saw that Dali, who wears about the same level of winter clothing as herself, was starting to feel cold.
When they came to a highway-like area in the underground city, the truck arrived in one minute. As they entered, Dali took a deep breath.
"Oh..."
"At least, the trucks and machines in this place are hot enough to keep on breathing."
Conrad smiled and nodded.
Conrad is normally not the social individual and would not prefer to ask questions or anything, but he found this woman interesting.
"Why are you here?" Conrad asked Dali.
Dali looked at Conrad and then spoke.
"I will tell you if you tell me why you are here in return..."
Conrad smiled.
"Understandable."
Conrad then turned his eyes in front of himself, not interested any longer.
Dali looked weird and taken aback.
"I thought you would tell me your reason to be here."
Conrad laughed a little.
"I just asked you a question, and you made it a game."
"If you do not want to tell me your reason to be here, demand something in return for an answer."
"You are welcome to do so, but I am not inclined to abide by the rule you set."
Dali listened and then took a deep breath.
"This guy is different," she thought for a moment and then spoke.
"I am here to understand how an underground area like this forms naturally, if it is natural in the first place."
"I am a professor at Harvard University; it is my research. I am funded by the university to research this underground area for some time."
Conrad nodded.
"Time duration?"
Dali touched her chin and then said it.
"I will stay here for one month and prepare documents and my forms in this duration."
"Then, I leave."
Conrad nodded.
"It seems like we are going to stay around the same time."
"I am also exploring these areas."
Dali nodded.
"I guessed that what you research is more hidden and dangerous."
Conrad laughed.
"How do you figure?"
Dali looked at her hands and then smiled helplessly.
"You are a hunter; hunters usually pick dangerous things to be their hunting targets."
Conrad nodded and said nothing.