Me? The director of the Asylum of All Heavens!

Chapter 12 Bustling Black Alley

Lin Zizhi followed Harley Quinn and the others out of the desolate bottom of Zaun and came to the dark alley, where Lin Zizhi finally saw the lively side of Zaun.

"and many more……"

Lloyd Foger grabbed Lin Zizhi and took out a human skin mask that he had prepared long ago from somewhere and put it on Lin Zizhi's face.

"There are wanted posters for you all over the walls here. If you don't disguise yourself, you'll be discovered soon!" Lloyd Foger said as he helped Lin Zizhi adjust the details of the human skin mask.

"Okay, now no one will be able to recognize you."

Zaun residents were coming and going, mobile stalls filled the entire street, and there were also some faces and goods that were obviously from foreign city-states.

Just like the snack pedestrian street in every city, this place is full of the atmosphere of fireworks.

Lin Zizhi even saw Vander's sculpture standing openly in a prominent position in the street.

He had seen this sculpture in the animation, but only by seeing it with his own eyes and touching it with his own hands could one feel the weight of this history.

Lin Zizhi came closer to see what was written on the stele.

[In memory of Vandall, the founder and guardian of Black Alley, who once fought for his ideals and led the people to resist the oppression of Piltover. In the end, he died for his ideals at the hands of Piltover's law enforcement officer. This sculpture is dedicated to us to remember his achievements. ]

"It seems that this sculpture was built at the behest of Hilco. He hates Fandel, but he also respects him."

Lin Zizhi said to himself.

It's just that there are some things he didn't dare say in public and could only repeat them in his heart.

'Hilco is indeed an ambitious and skillful politician. He is not afraid of the people's remembrance of Fandel, but he deliberately distorted some facts. He blamed Fandel's death on the law enforcement officer. This move was a good way to divert the contradictions of the people and increase the hatred of the people of Bottom City towards the law enforcement officer of Piltover.'

"Cough cough..."

An old man from Zuan accidentally heard Lin Zizhi's words and said with agreement:

"Yes, even though they eventually parted ways, the Black Alley has always been the place where they made their fortune. The Black Alley witnessed their friendship and also carried their ideals. People in this city are always forgetful. Young man, are you interested in the history here?"

When people get old, they always like to reminisce about the past, but few young people are willing to listen to the elderly talking about those old things.

Lin Zizhi was not from here, but with a tourist mentality, he was full of curiosity about this history.

"I guess so. I am indeed interested in these stories." Lin Zizhi simply sat next to the hunched old man and listened to his stories.

Harley Quinn and Lloyd Folger could only stop.

"Okay, okay, you guys just rest here, I'll go find you something to eat."

Harley Quinn had no interest in any of this. She asked Lloyd Folger to accompany Lin Zizhi while she went to buy food.

Seeing that someone was willing to listen, the old man also opened up:

"You know, Piltover and Zaun were originally one, but since Zaun sank, living conditions in Zaun have become worse and worse. At that time, import and export trade was monopolized by the Upper City, and even the fish caught by fishermen could only be sold to people in the Upper City. The people of Zaun had almost no other way to survive except mining. But not everyone had the strength to mine, and some old, weak, sick and disabled people could not find a way to make a living and had to starve to death. I have witnessed such tragedies with my own eyes."

Lloyd Foldger frowned slightly. He had experienced the sadness of hunger. He recalled the despair he felt when he was a child in the war. No matter which world, the powerlessness of the poor in despair was so similar.

"…Black Alley is another way out that Hilko and Vandal found for the people of Zaun. They built Black Alley and opened up a gray industry chain that relied on the port for smuggling. This greatly improved the lives of the people of Zaun, gave them the opportunity to sell their products overseas, and helped redevelop the fishing industry."

As the old man was speaking, he heard Lin Zizhi's stomach growling and he took out a piece of sashimi from the takeaway box he had with him.

"You look very hungry. Would you like to eat something? This is made by Jellicle. He is from the ocean tribe. He catches every fish by himself and kills and cooks it right after he kills it. It is guaranteed to be fresh."

"Oh, thank you so much."

Lin Zizhi took the blue piece of salmon-like fish and began to eat it ravenously, just like Wei did when he just got out of prison.

"Come on, kid, try it too."

The old man also handed a piece to Lloyd Folger. "This is so delicious! I wanted to try it when I was watching anime. Lloyd Folger, do you want to try it?"

Lin Zizhi hadn't swallowed the meat in his mouth yet, but he stared at the piece of meat that the old man handed to Lloyd Folger, as if hoping that Lloyd Folger would refuse it so that he could snatch it and eat it.

Lloyd Folger was staring at the bounty poster at the corner not far away, wondering what he was thinking.

Hearing this, Lloyd Folger took off his black gloves, thanked the old man politely, took the food and started eating.

"Maybe you should lose some weight, Mr. Lin."

Although Lloyd Folger exudes a hint of aristocratic elegance, he doesn't seem to be that pretentious, except that he eats much better than Lin Zizhi.

The old man couldn't help but look at Lloyd Folger once more. Lloyd Folger vaguely sensed something strange.

"What happened next? What happened here?"

Lin Zizhi swallowed it, licked his lips and asked with an unsatisfied look.

"Later, the collapse of the bottom layer became more and more serious, which led to the collapse of many mines. However, the council of the upper city did not take it seriously at all. They just symbolically closed the mines, saying that it was a safety rectification, but did nothing. The victims did not receive compensation for a long time, and their livelihood of mining was cut off again. So Fandel and Hilko led the people to rush to the bridge, but they chose the wrong means of protest, and the violent demonstration turned into an armed conflict. The unarmed people of Bottom City were no match for the fully armed Piltover law enforcement officers. The war caused Bottom City to suffer heavy losses, and many families lost their loved ones forever."

The old man sighed heavily and stroked the photo in the necklace. It was the photo of his son who died in a violent conflict.

Lin Zizhi swallowed, he knew this story, in the first episode of the Battle of Two Cities, the parents of the Jinx sisters died in this conflict.

"This war made Fandel realize the gap between the two sides. It was an all-round crushing from funding, personnel to firepower. He didn't want the lower-class people to make unnecessary sacrifices. So he changed his radical style of doing things, stopped opposing the Upper City, and concentrated on maintaining the stability of the Black Alley in the Lower City. He also used his connections to reopen the mine. Everything was getting better, but Hilko was still full of hatred for the Upper City. He firmly believed that in order to gain the respect of the Upper City, he had to become the embodiment of their fear at all costs. So he organized several terrorist attacks against the Upper City without Fandel's knowledge, which became the fuse for the split between the two."

"So that's how it is. I never knew they had such a past." Lin Zizhi nodded. He finally combined the story with reality and sorted out the background story of the Battle of Two Cities.

Only when Hilco did such a terrible thing could one understand why Vandel chose to betray his brother and even wanted to kill him.

"Yes, I don't know what happened afterwards. Some people said that Fandel was bribed by the Upper City Law Enforcement Officer and became their lackey. For the stability of the Black Alley, he decided to get rid of the unstable factor, Hilco. Others said that they broke up peacefully due to disagreements. In short, they agreed to meet at the riverside, and then parted ways and never appeared together again. Until the great change seven years ago..."

At this time, Harley Quinn came back with food and a drink in her hand. The old man smiled and ended the conversation.

"Thank you, old man, I'm very happy to learn about this history. You treated us to sashimi, so I'll treat you to the food and drinks." Lin Zizhi handed his portion to the hunchbacked old man.

"No, young man, you are growing up, you should eat more. We didn't have such good conditions as you back then. Remember, only by remembering history can we look forward to the future."

The old man stood up with the help of his cane and waved goodbye to Lin Zizhi.

"Thank you, I'll remember it." Lin Zizhi nodded seriously.

"Oh, kid. Hurry back to the city. There was a riot on the bridge yesterday and the whole city is under martial law. If you don't leave now, you won't be able to go back."

The old man turned and said to Lloyd Folger as he left.

"Oh, thank you..." Lloyd Folger was stunned for a moment, and he suddenly realized where his sixth sense of crisis came from.

"Go!" Lloyd Foldger frowned, observed the crowd around him, and walked away quickly.

"What's wrong?" Lin Zizhi looked confused.

"There are three people at the third stall, four people on the overpass, two people at the statue, and many people in the buildings on the left and right..." Lloyd Folger muttered to himself.

"This feeling cannot be wrong. I have experienced it many times. We are being monitored!"

His feeling was correct. Many people in the crowd had already been staring at them. When they saw them leaving, they all gave them naked looks.

"How could that be? Are the gangsters mixed in with the crowd and specifically monitoring us?" Lin Zizhi asked.

"No, that's not right. The Zaun gangsters were mixed in the crowd. They were not just monitoring us. Their annoying gazes were looking everyone up and down indiscriminately, so I ignored them. But from now on, their eyes have been focused on us. Damn it, when were we exposed?" Lloyd Foldger said in annoyance.

(End of this chapter)