The old buildings and the sleek electronic screens stood in stark contrast, with lights of every color filling the space. The dim lighting made everything look murky and gave the streets a jarring mix of old and new.
Xu Huo ignored the gazes coming from the shadows and looked up toward the left side of the street. The buildings blocked his view of the East District, but an enormous red glow lit up half the sky, hinting at the vast scale of whatever lay beyond. It was probably the same light he had seen in the alley earlier.
Aircraft circled overhead all across the street. Without stopping, Xu Huo hurried toward the Surveillance Department. But as soon as he turned the corner, he sensed several people following him. Once they saw he was headed for the Surveillance Department, they stopped one by one. The people lounging along both sides of the street, however, looked at him with scorn. Some even spat openly, though when he looked their way, they hurriedly averted their gazes, afraid to meet his eyes.
It wasn't hard to understand. From the Dungeon's setting, he could tell that the Surveillance Department was essentially the armed force the East District used to suppress and control the West District. The people of the East District needed no explanation, while the West District locals recruited into the department would likely be despised by their own people, too. That was probably not just because they worked for the East District. The three men he had just encountered had moved with the ease of people accustomed to throwing their weight around, so it was no surprise they often caused friction.
But if attacks had left them so short-staffed, then either something had recently made tensions flare, or the West District was already