So everyone started to act separately. Ask took the subway and came to the northern part of Constantinople, at the foot of the fifth hill, at the door of a half-underground house called Cistern of Aspar.
He knocked on the door.
"Under the Eagle's Wings." The person behind the door said in a low voice.
"There must be a shadow," Ask replied.
The door opened, and a bald man in tight leather armor poked his head out. He was wearing an eye patch on one side, and his other intact eye looked at Ask and said warily:
"I don't know you, boy."
"But I know you, Mastro." Ask smiled indifferently, "I heard that Constantinople is the queen of cities, the trade intersection between the East and the West. Half of the goods in the world can be bought in Constantinople. And the other half of the contraband that cannot be bought on the market can be obtained from the black market of the Thieves Guild in Constantinople."
"How did you find this place?" Mastro didn't care about his compliment and just asked back.
"Introduced by an acquaintance." Ask said.
"Oh, are you going to make up a name I've never heard of, and then swear that he and someone from our guild are close friends?" Mastro's eyes swirled around him, his gaze falling on the silver pistol on his waist, "Eagle of the Empire... Anyone who can use this kind of 'hand cannon' is either an idiot or an expert."
"So what do you think I am?" Ask asked.
"If you were an idiot you wouldn't have found this place." Mastro spat rudely on the ground, "But I think you're not a spy for the church or the royal family... At least they wouldn't be stupid enough to walk around with an Imperial Eagle."
"Yes, I also know that your Thieves Guild used the 'Sunken Palace' in Constantinople as its base." Ask said bluntly, "If I were a member of the church or the royal family, you would have been wiped out long ago."
"Come in." Mastro made way for him, and he looked as if he had relaxed his guard. "Don't blame me if you get killed."
"I believe I am capable enough to protect myself." Ask smiled indifferently.
The Thieves Guild of each city is located in a place that is unimaginable to ordinary people. For example, in Constantinople, the local Thieves Guild is located in the "Sunken Palace", which is actually a cluster of reservoirs in Solomon's city.
In modern siege warfare, the city walls are far from the last line of defense for the defenders. The modern urban environment with high-rise buildings and subway networks is enough to become a nightmare for any attackers to engage in street fighting. Therefore, the attackers often use some means to weaken the morale of the defenders, such as cutting off power, water and food supplies.
As far as water supply is concerned, Constantinople did the same thing as the ancient Solomons. That is, they dug a large number of reservoirs and drew water from the depths of the Black Sea for supply. These reservoirs were built by the Eastern Solomons in the style of the ancient Solomonic aqueducts, with towering Corinthian and Doric columns, corridors with beautiful curved domes, and all the decorations that a normal ancient Solomonic palace should have.
The only difference from normal palaces is that one-third of the height of these underground palaces is flooded, and there are more than 20 kilometers of waterways connecting them. Of course, the waterway is also built into a 9-meter-high corridor, so anyone can easily pass by boat.