Zhang Heng did not know that the Balance Blade was divided on whether to accept him.
Of course, he did not care too much about this kind of thing. Now that he was finally standing on the streets of ancient Rome, he could finally see what this ancient empire looked like with his own eyes.
There were many similarities between ancient Rome and modern society, such as the amazing urban water and drainage systems (some of which were still in use in modern times), as well as the outstanding contributions in architecture. Many people might not be able to imagine that in the first century AD, the city of Rome was already facing a population explosion and a shortage of land supply. In order to solve the housing problem, they had to build a lot of tall buildings.
Among them, the most famous was a building called the Happiness Building. Zhang Heng could see it now because it was ten stories tall. Compared to the houses of the later generations, this height was not considered low. Hence, it was hard to imagine how people who lived on the top floor would go up and down every day without an elevator.
It was like the Oriental Pearl TV Tower in Rome, standing in the middle of the city.
Of course, such a tall Happiness Building was a special case. In contrast, the apartment buildings that civilians lived on the roadside were not as tall. However, they were generally four or five stories high. With each additional floor, they could collect a lot more rent. Hence, the owners of the apartment were extremely enthusiastic about building more buildings. However, there were also great safety risks.
First, the stability of the building itself was definitely not as good as the reinforced concrete structure of the later generations. Hence, it was common to hear news of a building collapsing, and those who were buried could only blame their bad luck. In addition, there were no fire ladders in this era. Once a fire broke out, the people living on the upper floors would suffer. Hence, the gap between the rich and the poor in apartment buildings like this was very obvious. The higher the building, the poorer it was. On the contrary, the people at the bottom were often better off. In order to prevent greedy owners from building more buildings, the empire had to enact corresponding laws to limit the height of buildings.
In addition, once the building became taller, the phenomenon of high-altitude throwing became more serious. When Zhang Heng walked on the street, he saw people dumping garbage directly from the top floor. Fortunately, with Zhang Heng's agility, he would not be hit by the garbage.
Other than that, Zhang Heng also met a group of kids who were attending classes on the roadside. In Rome's primary schools, they studied directly on the street. There were people coming and going, and dust was everywhere, accompanied by the neighing of donkeys and the shouting of hawkers.
Here, teachers would teach some basic dictation and arithmetic. After that, most of the children of commoners would start working early to earn money. Only the children of the rich and nobles would continue to receive education.
In all fairness, the literacy rate of ancient Rome was quite good. It was much higher than the previous eras. Of course, even so, illiteracy was still the mainstream of society.
After asking the two locals, Zhang Heng continued to walk along the street, and it did not take long for him to arrive at the Probus Bridge. After crossing this bridge, he would arrive at the south side of the Tiber River. The Tiber River was the river that flowed through the city of Rome. Due to the large amount of sediment, the water of the Tiber River appeared golden under the afternoon sun. Coupled with the sycamore trees on both sides of the river, it was a beautiful sight to behold.
He crossed the Probus Bridge and finally saw the end of his journey.
The Red Nose Blacksmith Shop was located at the southern bank of the river. According to the Character Panel, the game items that he brought with him for this dungeon were stored there.
Zhang Heng walked into the blacksmith shop and saw the blacksmith forging a short sword inside. The blacksmith was a burly black man who was focused on the task at hand. When he heard footsteps behind him, he did not turn around.
So Zhang Heng said tentatively, "Vulkan."
Vulkan was the god of fire in Roman mythology. He was also the husband of Venus, and he was also the password for players to retrieve their game items.
However, when Zhang Heng said the name, the black blacksmith did not respond. Zhang Heng waited patiently for about five minutes. When the blacksmith finished sharpening the blade and stood up from his position, Zhang Heng realized that the blacksmith was very tall. At a glance, he was more than 2.2 meters tall. He was a veritable giant.
"You're finally here." The black blacksmith said, "Two months ago, someone deposited something with me. They said that you could come and pick it up at any time. I didn't expect to wait for so long."
As he spoke, he turned and walked into the inner room. After a while, he came out with a package.
Zhang Heng knew that the package belonged to him because there was the logo of the game organizing committee on the package. However, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. It was the most commonly used dye in Rome.
Zhang Heng opened the package and took out a few game items that could be used in this quest. After that, he put the rest of the game items back into the package and asked the black blacksmith, "Do you provide storage services here?"
"Yes." The black blacksmith nodded. "But you have to pay. One sestertius every two days."
The price was not low, but Zhang Heng had just made a fortune from the twelve-gladiator battle. Even if most of the money was taken away by the gladiator school, he still had some left. Finally, he was no longer empty-handed. Immediately, he took out a gold coin from his pocket and tossed it to the blacksmith. "This is the deposit for two hundred days. Help me save it."
The black blacksmith looked puzzled when he received the gold coin. "You don't know me, right? This is your first time coming to my blacksmith shop. Why do you trust me so much? Aren't you afraid that I will secretly sell your things? "
"That's a good question," Zhang Heng said, "but fortunately, I have always been good at reading people."
Of course, Zhang Heng was not the type of person who would trust others the first time he met them. He did not trust the black blacksmith, but the game organizing committee. Since the game organizing committee had stored his game items here, it meant that this place was the safest place to store his items. And Zhang Heng was too lazy to move to another place.
After paying the money, he left Red Nose's blacksmith shop. Now that he had finally recovered his full strength, he now had more initiative.
Next, Zhang Heng was about to go to the temple to take a look, but he suddenly stopped.
Because he found that the people who had been following him had appeared again. Zhang Heng thought that Mark Reuss was worried that he would run away, so he sent someone to follow him secretly. Now, it seemed that was not the case. Zhang Heng noticed the bulge on their waists. It seemed that they did not stay idle earlier. Zhang Heng did not know where they got their weapons from. This meant that once they found the right place, they would attack.
And Zhang Heng was of great value to Mark Reuss now. Mark Reuss needed him to sell tickets and earn money to win the gladiatorial show that would take place more than a month later. Hence, it was impossible that Mark Reuss sent this group of people.
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