Steam Era: The Lord of 'Puluo' Chapter 1444: Smoke Land (Part 4)

Tan Jinxiao pointed into the depths of the cave and said: “This is the Underground City, and up ahead is the Human Market.”

Li Banfeng asked: “What kind of place is the Human Market?”

“A place that sells people.”

“What other places are there besides the Human Market?”

“There’s also the Earth Market, a place that sells earth.”

“Besides the Earth Market?”

“There’s also the Sea City, a place that sells fish.”

Li Banfeng frowned: “In the Underground City, is there really a sea?”

“Yes!” Tan Jinxiao nodded earnestly, “A very large sea.”

Juanzi nodded beside him: “The rumors I heard as a child said the same, that in the Underground City there’s a sea with endless fish and shrimp, where no one goes hungry.”

Tan Jinxiao shook his head: “Still, people can go hungry.”

Li Banfeng was very interested in this Underground City: “Besides the Sea City, are there other places?”

“Yes, but the other place is unreachable; it’s the Sky Market.”

“What kind of place is the Sky Market?”

“A good place, I guess it’s a very good place!” Tan Jinxiao went ahead, “Let’s go to the Human Market first, that’s the place I’m most familiar with. I’ve lived there ever since the war ended!”

He mentioned the war?

“What war did you fight?”

Tan Jinxiao was taken aback: “What war? Who told you about the war?”

Li Banfeng wanted to ask more, but Tan Jinxiao walked ahead.

The group followed Tan Jinxiao deeper into the cave, torches along the rocky walls gave Li Banfeng a sense of nostalgia and age like ancient costume films.

This sense of age did not last long, as when Li Banfeng reached the first junction, he saw two iron rails ahead.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A steam train roared past, the vintage atmosphere swept away by the pervasive steam.

The train was loaded with coal, the carriages were open-topped and moved slowly; Tan Jinxiao leapt and jumped into a carriage, leaned out, and waved to Li Banfeng.

Getting on the train wasn’t a hassle, even Xiao Yeci, with the weakest skills, was a Third Layer Literature Cultivator and easily got into a carriage.

Tan Jinxiao said: “I didn’t mean to ride this train, nor do I want to take advantage of it, there’s great knowledge here, you better learn along!”

What great knowledge?

The cave was narrow and winding, Li Banfeng couldn’t see the way forward and asked Tan Jinxiao: “Where is this train going?”

“To the factory, all factories are in the Human Market; without people, where would you find factories?” Tan Jinxiao lay on the coal pile, eyelids heavy, soon falling asleep.

The train traveled for over an hour and stopped; the carriage was clanking open, Xiao Yeci was a bit nervous: “Benefactor, shouldn’t we have gotten off earlier? This situation now doesn’t look too good.”

Li Banfeng didn’t mind much, it’s just a hitchhiked ride, nothing big.

Xiao Yeci rubbed her pockets, prepared to explain to the people; if necessary, she would pay the fare.

Outside the carriage stood a man, wearing a black cloth shirt and a straw hat, glanced at the group and asked: “Arrived?”

Uh?

Li Banfeng was stunned.

This question seemed quite familiar.

Tan Jinxiao woke up, got up and nodded: “Arrived!”

The man outside the carriage looked at Li Banfeng: “Your outfit doesn’t seem like you’re in this business!”

Tan Jinxiao laughed: “Wearing clothes and hats, everyone has their preference, don’t worry about what we wear; we’re not ambiguous in doing things.”

“Alright,” the man snorted coldly, “You know your stuff, this job is two blocks each, go take your gear.”

After saying this, the man left.

Tan Jinxiao got off the train and shouted: “Brothers, pick up your gear!”

“What gear?” Li Banfeng had yet to understand. Was this a raid on the factory?

Tan Jinxiao said with a stern face, “This job isn’t easy, but they’re offering a lot!”

Li Banfeng asked, “What exactly is the job?”

Tan Jinxiao didn’t explain further; he went to the corner of the platform and came back with a few shovels: “Here, everyone take one, no need to fight over them.”

Li Banfeng held the shovel and asked, “What are we doing with this?”

Tan Jinxiao snorted, “I can tell from your looks that you guys have never done this kind of work. This is big business, and you all need to follow me. Insert the shovel into the coal, and once it’s in, fling it out!”

Crunch, crash~

Tan Jinxiao demonstrated a few times.

Li Banfeng observed that the work required some skill. Every time Tan Jinxiao flung coal, the distance it traveled was almost the same, and it landed on the ground in a neat heap.

This needs practice!

Li Banfeng inserted his shovel into the coal and flung a few loads with a crunch.

Tan Jinxiao praised, “Good technique, your shovel work is quite accurate!”

Li Banfeng laughed, “No need for you to say, I never miss within five meters.”

Tan Jinxiao shouted, “Don’t just stand around, get to work quickly!”

Juanzi had some familiarity with the job: “Are you asking us to unload coal?”

Tan Jinxiao proudly replied, “Yes!”

Li Banfeng was startled and asked with the shovel in hand, “Why do we have to do this?”

Tan Jinxiao was also taken aback: “What do you mean? They’re offering money, two bucks per person!”

Clang!

Li Banfeng threw the shovel down and got off the train.

Liang Wu sighed, “Is he really aware now?”

Liang Cai asked, “Are you talking about Seventh Master or Tan Jinxiao?”

Liang Wu pondered, “Is anyone among them really aware?”

Liang Cai was anxious, “Stop the nonsense, hurry up and get off the train!”

Tan Jinxiao chased after Li Banfeng, saying, “There are around ten carloads here; now is not the time to have a temper. We need to get to work, two bucks is quite a lot!”

Li Banfeng snorted, “Don’t mention two bucks; even for five bucks, I’m not doing it!”

Tan Jinxiao pursed his lips, “You want five bucks, are you crazy? I got here first; go ask around outside, plenty of people would do it for one buck!”

The train was parked inside a factory. Li Banfeng took a look around at the buildings, steam turbines, conveyor belts, pressure-reducing valves… all standard features of steam workshops.

The largest building was the boiler room straight ahead, known for its massive steam drum and towering chimney.

The chimney was unique, half built inside the cave and the other half protruding through the cave ceiling, leading somewhere unknown.

“Does this chimney go all the way outside the cave?”

“Yes!” Tan Jinxiao nodded, “Otherwise, where would the smoke land come from?”

Outside the factory, Li Banfeng saw many people waiting for work at the entrance. There were Three-Headed People and ordinary folks. Many held shovels, loudly asking, “Need workers, boss? Just one buck!”

They all called out to Li Banfeng as he was the best dressed.

Tan Jinxiao chimed in, “I wasn’t lying earlier. Look, those with shovels only ask for one buck!”

Li Banfeng shook his head, “It’s not about the money!”

Tan Jinxiao frowned, “You think it’s too little? At the Human Market, people live like this; earning one buck a day means having food, two bucks means having vegetables, three bucks means having meat. If we unload the carloads and do something else, we’ll have meat today. Aren’t you satisfied?”

Li Banfeng shook his head, “It’s not a matter of satisfaction either.”

“Then what are you doing? Isn’t it foolish to refuse work?” Tan Jinxiao thought for a moment, understanding Li Banfeng’s concern, “Are you worried they won’t pay?”

Let me tell you, you don’t need to worry about that. If they dare to renege, we will lie down in front of their factory door, let them kick us, let them hit us, we won’t leave.

If they have the guts, they can kill us, but if not, they have to pay us every penny. Stick with me, and you definitely won’t lose out!”

PS: Li Banfeng finally understood where Tan Jinxiao’s cultivation level came from.