"Wasteland City was actually Paladova's old district," Alan explained.
The cities of the Yirong Kingdom were generally built in a style full of steel and concrete, with steam machinery everywhere. They stood distinctly apart from other nations.
However, not every city in the Yirong Kingdom was like this.
The Yirong Kingdom's rapid transformation had only emerged over the past century. Many cities still retained the style of the previous era. The architecture of that era was steeped in a decayed religious air, and the king of the Yirong Kingdom had strongly demanded reforms in every city. Thus, many cities came to possess two utterly different architectural styles.
On one side stood newly built forests of steel and concrete; on the other, ancient Byzantine-style architecture.
Paladova was one such city. Its urban area was divided into the New City and Wasteland City. The New City was the current main district, where most of Paladova's citizens lived. Wasteland City was the former district, almost entirely abandoned, inhabited only by a few drifters and impoverished people struggling to get by.
"So it was in the midst of the transition between old and new reforms." Angel suddenly understood. No wonder the skies above most Yirong Kingdom cities were so often blanketed in smog.
After hearing Alan's explanation, Angel asked, "Is there anything unusual in Wasteland City?"
Alan shook his head somewhat dejectedly. "No. I made a round through Wasteland City, and it was very quiet. I occasionally saw some crimes, but just as that young man said, it was full of vagrants and poor people. Such things were unavoidable."
"But my sister couldn't possibly have skipped out on a young man's guide fee. She must have disappeared after entering Wasteland City... I was thinking, perhaps she encountered some enemy there."
This was also why