Two Cities, I build mecha in Picheng

Chapter 8 Welcome to Zaun
Zaun is a sprawling subterranean city beneath the winding ravines and canyons surrounding Piltover.

To get to Zaun, you must take the hexpressurized transport plane in Piltover, also known as the "screamer" elevator.

The city-state north of Piltover is a rich area, and most people don't need to go to Zaun.

Therefore, most of the Hex pressure transport aircraft are built in the southern urban area.

At the bridgehead of the Piltover Grand Canyon, Li Lin took out two copper rings from his pocket and put them in the hands of a statue of an official wearing a robe. When the mechanism rang, the copper coins disappeared. This was used as a fee for crossing the bridge.

Then, he and Caitlin followed the crowded flow of people across the bridge, and made more than a dozen turns on the streets of the southern city, and finally arrived at a winding and undulating cobblestone road built along the canyon.

The street is also known as Drop Street, and most people head to Zaun from here, due to the public hex dropper at the end of the street that often roars into the night.

The urban area of ​​Zaun can be roughly divided into three parts:
The Dancestep Corridor and Frontier Bazaar are areas where the lower city of Piltover runs side by side with Zaun's upper floors, but the architectural styles of the two city-states are so different that they should not be confused.

The middle square is located in the middle of Zaan. Most of the ordinary citizens of Zaan live on this floor. They live a barely sufficient life, and occasionally see a ray of sunshine on days when the haze is not so severe.

As for the lowest level of Zaun, it is generally called the trench, and it is a place where the poor, forced to live or scavengers go.

There is no sky all year round, and a large number of toxic and polluting alchemy technology facilities and countless ore mining pits are gathered. Severe chemical pollution and suffocating haze completely cover this area.

Even the people of the bottom city who are used to Zaun's stale air can't stand the foul air without breathing filters.

People of different classes have very different needs for lifts.

The cabin of the elevator has many floors, and the main support structure is three longitudinal rails, perpendicular to the ground and at the same height as the ground.

Generally speaking, workers who commute to and from get off work will only spend a dozen copper rings or even half a silver wheel to take the lowest floor of the elevator, which is also a dirty and crowded cabin.

Businessmen who go to the market and those who have spare money to occasionally shuttle between the two cities for business, or those who have family reimbursement for ticket expenses will spend 3 to 5 silver wheels to take the middle cabin.

Wealthy Zaunites like those who shop and dine in the dance corridors, or barter for goods and supplies in Lower Piltover often pay 6 to 9 silver wheels to travel in the nicest upper cabins.

However, there are still some "smugglers" who are unwilling to spend money, often risking their lives, climbing along the outer longitudinal rail of the elevator to a height of tens of meters, and then jumping to the top of the elevator to take a "ride".

Although there are not a few people who die from this fall every year, they still enjoy it.

And the family that ran the elevator didn't bother to care about orphans from Zaun's trenches.

After all, human life is not valuable, and it still costs money to hire guards.

Li Lin handed over 14 silver wheels to the ticket booth to buy two tickets for the upper cabin, and then walked through the diamond-shaped iron fence with Caitlin, entered the iron frame cabin of the screamer, and walked along the rusty and decayed metal stairs to the top.

Black Lane is located in the mid-level area of ​​Zaun, and it takes them at least half an hour to get there.

"This should be your first time riding a screamer, right?" Li Lin glanced at Caitlin, who was silent and fidgeting beside him, "How do you feel?"

Caitlin frowned slightly and said nothing.

This is not because of Li Lin's problem, but because the elevator is a completely closed environment, mixed with various smells, and the air is dirty and uncomfortable.

In addition, the various life styles of the people at the bottom in the elevator also gave her a great touch.

The Piltover in her impression is obviously a well-ordered, bright and beautiful city.

But what she saw now made her slightly shaken.

Is this really the Piltover I remember...

Caitlin looked at the bustling street outside through the glass, couldn't help biting her teeth, and clenched her fists.

"Have you heard the story of the screaming machine?" Li Lin saw that she was not in a good mood and wanted to divert her attention, so he asked.

"Isn't it just because of the sound?" Kaitlyn was a little disappointed. "I know, it's the sound of cold wind blowing through the canyon below the city."

"No, no, there is actually something to it." Li Lin's tone of voice aroused Caitlin's interest a little.

"According to Zaun, the elevator is called 'Screaming' because of the statue of a howling lone wolf at the top." He pointed his finger upwards, "but what I'm going to say is Another allusion."

Caitlin raised her brows slightly, and looked at the young man beside her with her blue eyes.

She is quite interested in these strange stories.

"Elevator, go down!"

As the administrator yelled a reminder from the bell-shaped Sana horn in the corner, the roaring steam began to operate, and various mechanical parts and gears meshed with each other, making the metal friction noise of "squeaky" and sour teeth.

Immediately afterwards, the elevator descended slowly, entering into a tunnel with almost no light.

Li Lin paused for a while, reorganized the background story that was about to fade away in his mind, and only a few impressions remained, then took a deep breath, and said mysteriously:

"Actually, there is a black-veiled waiter ghost from Zaun in this cabin. Whenever he is away from his hometown and his lover, his throbbing grief will shake the metal core of the elevator."

"If you want to scare me...Unfortunately, I'm already past the age where I'm afraid of ghost stories." Caitlin curled her lips, but her mood improved a lot.

"I'm not scaring you, haven't you heard the story of Qian Jue? I suspect that the soul of the waiter in the cabin is the same as Qian Jue, serving the great death itself, the existence called the mother of the mask." Li Lin said with a smile.

"Compared with this allusion, I still prefer the so-called 'Lone Wolf Howl' version by the people of the bottom city."

Caitlin looked at Li Lin again, with a smile on her face, "But thank you, your story made me feel better."

In the next 20 minutes or so, the two chatted about everything, from the homely routines to the exotic customs of various countries in the world.

Although Li Lin has never actually been to these places, it is not a problem to tell one, two, three by virtue of his understanding of the background before crossing and the original memory of his body.

"Current arrival, middle plaza!"

"Hey, Li Lin, you haven't finished telling me the story of ancient fear!" Caitlin quickly followed Li Lin with a dissatisfied face.

"Okay, it's all over, let's talk about it next time when we have time." His voice was a little hoarse, and he waved his hands perfunctorily.

"On the road...cough cough cough cough..."

Caitlin, who had just stepped out of the iron frame cabin, stopped talking abruptly, and then coughed violently.

Li Lin patted her on the back lightly to relieve her discomfort. At the same time, he frowned and slowed down his breathing as much as possible, trying to adapt to the filthy air that was difficult to breathe.

After a long while, Caitlin, who had a slightly ugly face, slowly calmed down, "Thanks, thank you..."

"Look, it's not that I don't want to talk about it, it's mainly because there's really nothing I can do."

Li Lin touched his uncomfortable throat, the environment in Zaan was much worse than he imagined.

What's more, it's only at the middle level here.

Caitlin wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes from coughing, and covered her mouth and nose with her hands.

After her condition improved a lot, she took a panoramic view of the scene in front of her, showing a surprised expression.

"Is this what Dicheng looks like?"

"That's right." Li Lin turned his head and looked at her, and suddenly thought of a very classic line, and the corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitch, "Welcome to Zaan."

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(End of this chapter)