Gun of Ashes

Chapter 340: Chapter 21 Rat Nest_3

As expected, Old Dunling is not just about what’s on the surface; it is a city with ”depth,” just like this subterranean city.

”One of the Rat Nests, everyone needs a place to huddle together for warmth, and this is a pretty nice one,” Kamu replied.

Lorenzo looked up. A faint light descended from above, and with it fell millions of tons of water, cascading down from a height, creating a light mist.

It was a massive waterfall, diverted by channels from the Thames River, flowing continuously into the boilers deep underground.

The entire space descends vertically downward. This is one of the multiple filters for water purification; the waterfall crashes into the reservoir below, continuing downward through various web-like channels.

Within this space, complex steam pipes cover everything, with heavy machinery operating on its own, rusted airborne walkways crisscrossing through it, marked by orange-red paint with numbers at the highest point. This is also part of the Furnace Pillar, a section along its edge.

”The Mechanical Institute has almost hollowed out the underground, filling the void completely with steam pipes and machinery. You could say Old Dunling is built atop a colossal machine,” Kamu said, ”Though this underground world is still too vast, this is the edge of that subterranean kingdom. No one cares, so we made our home here.”

Lorenzo’s gaze turned to the waterfall’s sides, and along the walls’ edges, there were many iron doors leading into the machinery. But now, shadows flitted there, and in the suspended corridors, the Inferior Rats were using broken wood to build makeshift homes. These homes resembled deformed tumors, hanging upon the vertical well walls.

The corridors were like spider webs, with entangled and dead prey hanging from them.

”These are hazardous buildings you have here...”

After pondering for a long while, Lorenzo spoke the harsh words.

”We only have this place to live, so why care about hazardous buildings?” Kamu didn’t even glance at him and continued leading the way.

The largest ”tumor” lay at the intersecting corridors. One could see scattered people emerging from nearby sewers, moving in and out between the tumors.

This was Lorenzo’s first time in such a place. The Furnace Pillar System was too bloated for Lawrence to establish a breeding ground among it, and the Inferior Rats built their nests here.

To call it an underground kingdom was indeed true; this was the kingdom’s edges, far from the core of the Perpetual Motion Pump.

Due to the moisture and corrosion from the steam, the corridors were covered in rust. As Lorenzo stepped forward, he felt the structure sway, as if it might collapse the next second.

Looking down, the reservoir lay several meters below, its surface shrouded in a film of mist from the falling river water.

Suddenly something fell, a dark object separated from the falling waterfall, crashing onto the corridor with a slight tremor.

Lorenzo grabbed a rusty handrail, steadied himself, and looked to the side. The fallen object was stuck on the corridor, a corpse that seemed to have been soaked for a long time, its skin pale and ghastly.

”You’ll get used to it. People from the Lower City District always like throwing strange things into the river, thinking they will ultimately be incinerated in the furnace. But in fact, there are a few more filters before that.”

Kamu seemed accustomed to all this. He said this as he kicked the stuck corpse down, and Lorenzo watched it plunge into the mist below.

”Let’s go.”

He continued guiding Lorenzo toward the largest tumor at the center.