City of Time: Falling into the kill zone at the start

Chapter 84 Tavern

After arriving in the City of Time and completing the revival ceremony, the first thing Lu Chen understood was that [time] is both a currency and a lifespan.

The second thing is that water is very expensive.

And it's ridiculously expensive.

Water is expensive, which means that anything containing water is unlikely to be cheap.

A glass of water can cost as much as 6 hours; similarly, a glass of wine containing water will also be priced higher.

District 18, on the other hand, is a slum area where workers with occupational codes 180 and above are concentrated, and is a poor area where "poor people" are concentrated.

Labor professions can only generate a maximum of 6 hours of effective income per day, which is equivalent to the price of a glass of water.

Combining the two, Lu Chen quickly came to a conclusion.

"Liquor made from sewage..."

...

"Is it safe to drink?"

"Won't it kill someone?"

Thinking this, Lu Chen's gaze remained fixed on the figures in the alley and the tavern at the end of the alley, which was brightly lit with fluorescent lights.

Reason told Lu Chen: It's best not to go.

Even in 2025, places where drunkards congregate will inevitably be "danger zones" where accidents frequently occur.

Not to mention the City of Time, a repressive society where time is the standard of order and everyone hovers around the threshold of death.

Even so—even knowing the tavern might not be safe, Lu Chen still didn't leave immediately.

It wasn't because Lu Chen was craving something and wanted to try the specialty drinks of District 18.

The reason Lu Chen took the bus around District 18 was precisely to get to know the entire District 18.

Taverns and bars, places where all sorts of people mingle and information is exchanged frequently, allow Lu Chen to obtain more information in a shorter amount of time.

— Lu Chen only had 3 hours each at the West Gate, North Gate, and East Gate to get to know the local area.

The tavern might be Lu Chen's best source of information.

"Hiss~"

...

"Phew~~~"

……

Light a cigarette and take a deep drag.

Looking up again, Lu Chen saw the police drone flying slowly back and forth a hundred meters in the sky, and felt a little relieved.

After hesitating for a moment, Lu Chen finally took a step and walked into the depths of the alley.

As he walked, Lu Chen tried his best to keep his eyes straight ahead and avoid looking at the drunkards in the alley.

The drunkards were still relatively well-behaved.

Or rather, they simply didn't notice Lu Chen.

Reaching the end of the alley, Lu Chen pushed open the door and entered the tavern.

The scene that came into view was quite different from what Lu Chen had expected.

—The entire pub was surrounded by a ring of square metal bar counters;

Outside the bar, there was a circle of tall metal stools.

In the middle area was an extremely old billiard table, which appeared an old, earthy yellow under the dim light.

In a corner inside the tavern, several drunkards were throwing darts at a round target on the wall, holding metal glasses.

A few people were sitting on the high stools in front of the bar—leaving space between them as if they were men urinating in the toilet.

Lu Chen stepped forward, chose a spot where no one was around, and sat down on a high stool.

The bartender then walked up to Lu Chen and looked at him expressionlessly.

"What would you like to drink?"

Lu Chen didn't rush to answer. Instead, he slowly and deliberately took out a cigarette case and a matchbox from his coat pocket.

He took out a cigarette, lit it, exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, and said calmly, "What do you have?"

The bartender, still with a blank expression, waved his hand toward the ground beside him.

"Water beer, one pitcher [45 minutes]."

He then picked up a metal bottle from under the bar and shook it: "This one's strong, a small cup every 2 hours."

After saying that, the bartender paused for a moment.

He subtly scrutinized Lu Chen from head to toe for a moment, focusing primarily on his leather trench coat.

He looked down again at the cigarette box and matchbox that Lu Chen had placed in front of him.

"A scavenger?"

Lu Chen nodded slightly.

Then the bartender turned around very naturally, bent down, and filled a large glass of beer with water from the metal bucket on the ground.

Then, he handed Lu Chen one metal cup containing water and beer, and one capsule in each hand.

But he said, "You've gone far enough."

"Are you going to the North Gate?"

Lu Chen extended his left hand, placed his wrist on the capsule, and paid for 45 minutes.

He then took a deep drag of his cigarette and nodded slightly.

The bartender retrieved the capsule, leaned his hip against the inside of the bar counter, and then looked Lu Chen up and down for a while.

After a long silence, he finally spoke again.

"I've heard that the rich people in the north of the city often hire scavengers from the south to find rare and unusual items from outside the city."

...

"Are you going to deliver something, or...?"

While the bartender was sizing up Lu Chen, Lu Chen was also secretly sizing up the bartender.

Perhaps it was because along the way, it was rare to see a "normal person" who had not been modified and did not have any metal parts on their body.

Lu Chen did not feel a strong aversion to the bartender in front of him.

Upon hearing this question, Lu Chen remained in no hurry to answer.

He brought the cigarette to his mouth with his left hand and took a deep drag.

He then reached out his right hand, picked up the metal wine glass in front of him, looked down at it, and took a small sip.

Upon tasting the intense metallic and coal-like flavors that burst forth in his mouth, along with a faint hint of industrial alcohol, Lu Chen subconsciously frowned.

After pausing for a moment, he feigned composure and said, "It's about something else."

The vague response only elicited a nonchalant nod from the bartender.

Then, he leaned against the inside of the bar, staring blankly into space.

Seeing that the bartender had no intention of continuing the conversation, Lu Chen did not hesitate and took the initiative to speak, pretending to be indifferent.

"Have you been to the North City?"

The bartender was taken aback at first, then shook his head slightly.

"Besides you scavengers, who has the time to travel all the way to the north of the city?"

"A round trip takes 8 days."

"Including transportation costs, it will take more than 10 days."

Lu Chen fell silent.

In the City of Time, most professions don't allow for much time to be devoted to things outside of work.

The working profession goes without saying—working at sunrise and resting at curfew.

The remaining time on hand is mostly maintained at the critical point where if you don't work for a day, you will be immediately cut off.

Even those in productive professions are often "tied up" by their fixed assets and cannot easily move around.

For example, the urgency-seekers—they have to watch the rope hotel at night and catch up on their sleep during the day;

If you close your business for more than 5 days each year, you will lose the [1 year] natural expiration subsidy issued by the City of Time.

The other shops are in a similar situation.

If the store is closed for a day or two, it might not be a big deal;

If a business is closed for ten days or half a month, it will inevitably face various forms of losses, as well as a break in cash flow—or rather, cash flow [time].

For example, bakeries and sandwich shops need to purchase goods from food factories every day;

The contracts are signed for several years at a time, so there's no such thing as "I'm taking a day off, so don't deliver to me today."

Whether the store is open or not, the food factory will deliver the materials to your door at fixed times, locations, and quantities.

This means that if the store is closed for one more day, the inventory will be stockpiled for another day.

Moreover, most shops only have time to pay for tomorrow's goods after receiving today's income.

If we don't open today, we won't have any revenue, and we won't be able to pay for tomorrow's inventory.

Those who are able to afford it have to pay for it themselves.

Those who lack ability may also be forced to sell assets and experience a career decline.

In this case, not to mention whether the stockpiled goods can be sold during the shutdown period, or whether they will spoil and cause losses;

The enormous financial pressure of stockpiling inventory alone is enough to drive the vast majority of property-owning professions, just like labor-owning professions, to work from sunrise to sunset and honestly run their shops.