The Underworld is a true Underworld, in the physical sense. From Anna's words, it can be learned that the people of the Overworld indeed live much better than those in the Underworld. At least in terms of supplies, the Underworld needs to exchange marrow for supplies with the Overworld, and this is the only official communication path between the Underworld and the Overworld.
marrow is the glowing ore that Takatsuki and Seele saw in the mine, and it is also an important source of heat for the city of Belobog.
It is said that Belobog is the only city left in this world; other places have been swallowed by endless snowstorms.
Perhaps outside the city, there are people surviving in this extreme cold, but they certainly cannot build a city.
The reason Belobog has been able to stand firm against the world-consuming cold wave is thanks to the people of the Underworld who dig marrow day and night.
Anna didn't say much about the Underworld, only giving Takatsuki and Seele a general overview, and mentioning that the person who looked very similar to Seele and shared her name was part of an organization in the Underworld called the "Wildfire."
They maintain order and distribute supplies, but no one knows if they abuse their power for personal gain. However, seeing as they also protect miners from Wanderers, everyone tacitly accepts the organization's existence.
After all, the Wildfire is not an official organization. Belobog's only official organization is the Silvermane Guards, and when the Overworld and Underworld were sealed off more than ten years ago, all the Silvermane Guards withdrew from the Underworld.
As for the Stellaron and the Astral Express, Anna knew nothing.
However, Takatsuki felt that the name might be related to the mine, after all, a Stellaron sounds like the core of a planet. The people of the Underworld are constantly digging deeper, and it's possible they will eventually reach the deepest depths.
"I'm telling you all this because you helped Jim for free. You're a good person, and I hope you can help more people in the Underworld. This is Natasha's clinic, let's go in."
Takatsuki held Seele's hand and carried Jim into the clinic.
"Anna, why are you here?"
As soon as he entered the clinic, Takatsuki saw a woman with grayish-green hair tied with a white ribbon, wearing long leather boots and a black bodysuit underneath that completely covered her arms and legs, exposing only one arm. Over it, she wore a somewhat strange white lab coat adorned with many scattered decorations, and a red ribbon was tied on her right arm. At this moment, she was holding a tray filled with many medical supplies. She must be the Dr. Natasha Anna mentioned.
"Jim's leg was crushed by a rock, Dr. Natasha, please save him."
Natasha's gaze shifted from Anna to Takatsuki behind her. Her eyes lingered on Seele for a moment, then moved to Jim's... leg on Takatsuki's shoulder.
"This is terrible! Quickly put him here."
Takatsuki had carried Jim over his shoulder, so Jim's thigh wound was directly facing Natasha, who saw the horrifying wound at a glance.
"How can you transport the wounded like this? If it's not done right…"
Natasha hurriedly put down the tray in her hand, took out some alcohol, bandages, and sutures from the cabinet, and rushed to Jim, who was lying on the bed. Her words trailed off halfway.
Because she found that Jim's wound wasn't bleeding at all, but there was a lot of blood on his leg, and it had stopped flowing now, perhaps… there was no more blood to flow.
However, Natasha noticed that Jim's breathing was steady, not like someone who had no more blood to flow.
Surprised as she was, Natasha quickly cleaned the wound area, then carefully stitched it up with a needle, wrapped it with bandages, and applied a splint. After a series of operations, a long time had passed.
"Sister Natasha, wipe your sweat."
Seele, standing nearby, handed Natasha a handkerchief with one hand.
"Thank you, little sister."
The long period of suturing and wound treatment had left Natasha's forehead covered in sweat. Of course, Takatsuki thought a large reason was that she was dressed too warmly. After all, it was very stuffy and hot underground. Although it was some distance from the mine, the temperature wasn't cold.
Anna also quickly thanked Natasha, then said apologetically, "Doctor Natasha, I don't have any money right now for the medical fees…"
"It's fine. Just pay it back when you have money. I've already splinted Jim's leg. Although he can walk with difficulty, he still can't work. Take him back when he wakes up."
Natasha spoke gently to Anna.
"Thank you, Doctor Natasha."
After dealing with the wounded, Natasha looked at Takatsuki and Seele.
"You two, you're not from the Underworld, are you?"
Given some of the information Anna had provided earlier, Takatsuki wasn't surprised that Natasha knew they weren't from the Underworld.
"Yes, my name is Takatsuki, and this is my sister, Seele. We are travelers who journey everywhere, searching for the Stellaron and the Astral Express. Have you heard of them, Sister Natasha?"
Natasha exuded the charm of a mature woman. From her age, even if she wasn't thirty, she was in her twenties. In short, it was fine for both Takatsuki and Seele to call her 'sister'.
"Stellaron and Astral Express, you say?"
Natasha shook her head: "Names I haven't heard of. You might want to ask the Wildfire people about them. If it's something from the Underworld, they'll know about it."
"Do you know the Wildfire?"
Takatsuki nodded: "I've roughly heard about them. So, where can I find the Wildfire people?"
"Members of the Wildfire often come to my clinic. You can just wait here. Speaking of which…"
Natasha looked at Seele: "Is this little sister named Seele?"
"Yes, Sister Natasha, my name is Seele Vollerei."
Seele bowed slightly to Natasha. Natasha looked at Takatsuki and Seele's clasped hands for a while, but said nothing, continuing instead.
"It's quite a coincidence, actually. The Wildfire member who often comes here is also named Seele, and she looks very much like this little sister Seele."
"Seele also heard Sister Anna say so on the way here. Seele also wants to meet that sister."
Natasha looked at the delicate Seele and said, "However, our Seele's personality here is completely different from little sister Seele's. You'll know when you meet her."
"By the way, Mr. Takatsuki, did you treat Jim's wounds just now?"
Seeing Natasha's attention shift to him, Takatsuki nodded: "Yes, I learned some methods during my travels. It was just simple hemostasis, nothing worth mentioning. True healing still requires professional treatment."
"Mr. Takatsuki is too modest. That's not a trivial little skill. But thanks to your help, Mr. Takatsuki, Jim was able to make it to the clinic. Jim's family extends their gratitude to you."
Natasha bowed slightly.
"Speaking of which, I'm a bit curious, Doctor Natasha, do you know everyone here?"
Natasha didn't expect Takatsuki to suddenly say such a thing, but she still replied softly: "Yes, after all, Boulder Town isn't very big. Most of the residents here have basically come to my clinic for consultations over the past decade or so."
The conversation with Natasha didn't last long, as she still had some patients to attend to.
However, those patients weren't emergencies, so Jim's more urgent injuries were prioritized.
Because they had to wait for the Wildfire at the clinic, Takatsuki and Seele couldn't just stand by and watch others busy themselves, so they actively stepped forward to help Natasha.
Although Natasha found it strange why the two kept holding hands, as it made helping inefficient and troublesome, she didn't ask further.
Takatsuki was actually taking this opportunity to observe the only doctor in the Underworld.
After all, Anna had said a lot of "bad things" about Natasha in front of them.
But judging from the recent situations, Takatsuki felt that this woman named Natasha was not the kind of person Anna described, who would resort to any means to compete.
Moreover, her clinic truly had many patients, and she was already overwhelmed. But even so, she didn't perfunctorily treat patients, just giving them an IV and sending them off.
Instead, she carefully inquired about each patient's recent condition, examined them, and then arranged treatment measures. Some were told to go back and rest, some were prescribed medicine, and some needed to stay for observation.
Until all the day's patients were sent away, Takatsuki still hadn't waited for the Wildfire people.
"I'm sorry, I don't know why no Wildfire people came today. It's getting late now. Why don't you two stay at a hotel for the night and come back tomorrow? If I see the Wildfire people, I'll say hello to them for you."
Natasha said apologetically. Natasha's attitude was very sincere, not feigned.
"Okay, then we'll trouble Sister Natasha."
With that, Takatsuki prepared to leave with Seele.
"Please wait a moment."
Natasha took out some coin-like objects from a drawer.
They had a golden outer ring around a circular shape, with a silver-white metal inner circle, and a shield-like mark on it.
"Take these winter city shields as payment for your help today."
winter city shield, the currency here?
After Takatsuki accepted the winter city shields, Natasha continued: "After you leave, walk in that direction, then after a downhill slope, turn right, then right again. There's a place called the Goethe Grand Hotel, which is the only hotel here."
"Okay, thank you."
After Takatsuki and Seele left, Natasha gazed thoughtfully at the spot where they had departed.
"Outsiders from who knows where, they don't seem like bad people. I hope they don't cause trouble for the Underworld."
Meanwhile, Takatsuki and Seele walked towards the Goethe Grand Hotel. Along the way, Takatsuki found the technological level of this place very strange.
He had seen many PODs in the mine, and the mining tools weren't ordinary picks.
However, whether in Natasha's clinic or among the residents they saw on the road, the technology used in their daily lives was not advanced.
It was like…
A fault in civilization.
"Has this world experienced some major upheaval that caused a lot of technology to be lost?"
As is well known, the development of human technology is primarily for convenience in life, so technological development should be more people-oriented.
Whereas in a warring nation, technology would be heavily invested in weaponry.
But the technology Takatsuki was seeing here was focused on mining.
This was clearly unnatural.
"Takatsuki, Seele doesn't think Sister Natasha is a bad person."
Seele, holding Takatsuki's hand, suddenly spoke to him.
"I think so too. Perhaps there's some misunderstanding."
He had also seen Anna's plea to Natasha, and Natasha hadn't made things difficult for them just because they had no money.
It's worth noting that, not to mention the labor cost, the cost of medical supplies and materials alone for treating Jim was already quite high.
After all, this was the resource-scarce Underworld.
If resources were scarce, then food and medicine would certainly be the most scarce items.
Moreover, one can learn a lot by observing a person's character.
After an afternoon of observation, Takatsuki found that Natasha was highly respected. Of course, she was the only doctor in the Underworld, which was understandable.
But she was not only respected by patients but also loved by children.
In the afternoon, some children came to see her. Unfortunately, she was too busy at the time to spend time with them, but the children's affection for Natasha was evident.
Although children's understanding of the world might be simple and they might be easily deceived, conversely, they also wouldn't pretend to be friendly with someone they disliked due to status or position.
"Well, it doesn't have much to do with us anyway. Seele, you need to remember one thing."
After thinking for a moment, Takatsuki temporarily stopped pondering.
"Takatsuki, tell me."
"To this world, and to the people of this world, we are merely passersby. After we leave here, it's very likely we won't be able to return. So, parting might mean forever."
After hearing Takatsuki's words, Seele lowered her head and thought for a while.
"Seele understands."
"Mm, of course, I'm not saying not to make friends, but just to be mentally prepared for it."
Takatsuki added, "Let's go, Seele must be hungry."
Seele rubbed her stomach and thought for a moment: "I think I am hungry. I haven't felt hunger for a long time in the Sea of Quanta, it feels a bit strange."
"Then let's go eat. We can also try the local delicacies."
The two followed the road, asking for directions, and soon found the Goethe Grand Hotel that Natasha had mentioned.
It was also dinner time, and there were some people eating in the restaurant.
Takatsuki looked around at the food on the diners' tables in the restaurant.
"Uh… Seele, look at that… it actually has a tail."
Seele followed Takatsuki's gaze and also saw the food that had just been served on another diner's table. Although its head had been removed, its body still somewhat resembled a lizard.
"Takatsuki, that… couldn't be a lizard, could it?"