We Agreed to Set Sail, but You Became the Ruler of the Deep Sea?

If I had to use one word to describe the first impression that this [Rusted Waste City] brought to Xia En, it would probably be——

Profound!

The depth of this city far exceeds the [Coral City], and is even deeper than any underwater ruins that Shane has ever explored.

The deep water silently swallowed up the light from the sea, making the city below look dim.

Because of this, those tall towers standing on the seabed look even more spectacular.

Together with those tall buildings with unique shapes, they form a steel jungle in the sea!

And just like the rumors.

There are a lot of metal structures in this city.

Steam pipes that look like brass or steel are wrapped around high-rise buildings like snakes, and spread across every corner of the city like spider webs.

At the same time, Xia En actually saw intact railway tracks in the city!

Railway tracks are distributed like veins in the core area of ​​​​the city.

On top of it, there is a train that is supposed to be powered by steam.

Obviously, due to the huge size of the city, the city's former residents built this unique transportation system to meet the needs of commuting and moving around.

However, these are not the point.

What really surprised Shane was...

On those tracks, there was a slender, rusty train roaring forward menacingly!

Steam spurted out from the train's pipes and instantly turned into streams of heat in the sea water.

Only the series of inconspicuous bubbles can prove their existence.

"This train can still run?"

Xia En was astonished: "Could it be that since this city was submerged, it has been driving continuously under the sea?"

"No matter what, this is too exaggerated, isn't it?"

Even though Xia En already knew something about the black technology of steam in this world, this giant steel snake running endlessly on the bottom of the sea still gave him a great shock.

Soon, Xia En discovered——

In addition to steam trains, many steam devices in the city still show signs of being used.

It's just that the steam cools down quickly the moment it touches the water and is hidden in the dark sea water, so it is not as conspicuous as it is during normal use.

Temporarily suppressing the distracting thoughts in his heart, Xia En slowly dived downwards.

He did not forget the purpose of his trip.

Obtain the steam device and strengthen the [Black Swan].

It would also be great if you could get some ship soul experience by the way.

Before exploring, Xia En also did some research on [Rusted Waste City] and knew that the city is mainly divided into five areas.

They are [Black Queen District] [Factory District] [Port District] [Mining District] [Copper and Steel District].

The functions of [Factory Area] and [Mining Area] are just like their names.

The [Port Area] is the former seaport of the rusted and abandoned city.

Yes, before being submerged by sea water, this steam capital was a coastal city with extremely convenient shipping.

Developed transportation and transportation allow steam technology and geniuses from all over the world to gather, collide, and blend here, and sparks shine like stars.

According to legend, there are some huge and terrifying mechanical creations lurking in the abyss of this [Port Area]!

[Black Queen District] is equivalent to the uptown area of ​​the city, where the upper class of society live.

On the contrary, in the [Copper and Steel District], ordinary people live in this low-rise neighborhood.

For the purpose of testing the waters, Xia En chose the [Copper and Steel Zone] as the target for his first dive this time.

"The water pressure at this depth is really different from Coral City."

After sneaking into the abandoned and dilapidated neighborhood, Shane clearly felt a pressure coming from his body.

[The power of the ship soul -1! 】

The speed at which the power of the ship soul decays also illustrates this point.

This means that his submersible time will be limited to a certain extent - like returning to the time when he first submerged.

"You have to hurry up."

Thinking of this, Xia En began to look around.

Although this is a civilian area, there are still many steam devices on the streets and houses.

However, after being soaked in seawater for many years, those pipes have long been covered with dark red or dark green rust, and they look extremely fragile, as if they will break at the slightest touch.

This rusted metal is obviously not the material Xia En needs.

His eyes quickly swept across the entire block, but he found nothing of value, not even a working steam engine.

"It seems that there is nothing I want in the Copper and Steel District."

Xia En was not discouraged and was planning to explore the [Factory District] or [Black Queen District].

Not far away, at the end of the street, there was a sudden strange noise.

I saw a strange and stiff body standing up slowly, and a dark red light lit up from under its goggles.

"Buzz..."

"Po...iqrQkj..."

"Special environment detected, voice module debugging is in progress..."

At first, there was a chaotic noise.

But gradually, the voice turned into a language that Xia En could understand.

"Debugging completed, starting to confirm the identity of outsiders..."

"Identity...identity...identity..."

Its words gradually became stuck, as if it had encountered some kind of malfunction.

Immediately, the sound coming from the body quickly became sharp and even distorted.

"Unable to confirm! Unable to confirm!"

"Enemy! Enemy!"

The next moment, the figure suddenly turned into a black shadow and rushed towards Xia En at an extremely fast speed.

At this time, Xia En was able to see the other party's appearance clearly.

This is a mechanical doll, or... puppet? !

Its body is entirely made of metal, and it can barely be seen as human-shaped. Exposed gears and connecting rods can be seen everywhere on the body, and things like indicator lights on the chest and under the goggles are flashing red.

"Confirm the enemy, destroy... destroy it!"

Sharp, crazy sounds were coming out hysterically from inside the metal puppet.

Judging from the degree of rust on the metal of this body, it would not be a surprise if it were simply scrapped in place.

However, the metal puppet exploded with considerable fighting ability amidst the roar.

A rusty long knife popped out from the side of its arm, and struck Xia En quickly and hard.

But Shane's reaction was faster!

With just a thought, the Blood Demon Sword appeared in his hand and slashed towards the metal puppet's chest.

laugh!

Without any surprise, the puppet's body was split into two.

Exposing a steam core in the chest that quickly stopped working.

However, the strange thing is that a kind of dark, viscous blood actually flows out from the body of the mechanical puppet.

Machines also bleed?

Xia En was surprised.

What surprised him even more was the text that appeared next on the panel.

[Kill the alienated mechanical puppet]

[Trophy obtained: Steam Heart Type II (destroyed)]

[Quality: Poor]

[Type: Material]

[Description: The second-generation steam creation developed by the legendary steam mechanic of the previous era is widely used in the steam mechanical puppet "Patroler". 】

[This kind of mechanical puppet was given life by the heart of steam, and was infected by the secret power of sea water over the long years, turning into a special life form. 】

[They pray to the God of Steam and Steel all day long, but they never get a response, so they move towards madness and destruction step by step. 】

[It has been detected that "Secret Sea Crystal" is present in the corpse. Should it be absorbed? 】