Leaving Sixth Avenue, Durin walked towards Ninth Avenue.
On the way, he remembered that he had gained a specialization point for one-handed weapons.
So, he opened the system interface on the way, looking at the two specialization choices that popped up, and their passive effects—
[Swift Strike: Personal one-handed weapon swing speed +2%. When you are wanted, all criminals' friendliness towards you +0.5.]
[Direct Hit: Personal axe and staff damage +5%. When you serve as a police-like official, the public order in your jurisdiction +0.5.]
Durin hesitated for a moment between these two specializations. The former's swing speed bonus would clearly give him the initiative when fighting. Although the latter's specialization was limited to two weapons, it pointed him to a future path: becoming a police officer!
However, for Zaun, there was no such thing as a police position.
Right now, strengthening his personal power and ensuring his survival in the lower echelons of Zaun was the most correct choice.
Thinking of this, Durin decisively chose the passive specialization [Swift Strike].
The next moment, Durin, who had been exhausted from a thrilling gang battle, suddenly felt all his fatigue vanish, and he also felt ravenously hungry, urgently needing food to replenish his body.
So, he followed the crowd into the market, but he wasn't in a hurry to buy anything. Instead, he planned to wander around thoroughly first to familiarize himself with the prices in this area of Sixth Avenue.
Aside from the environment and the strange people coming and going, Zaun felt similar to a rural market town in the 1980s or 1990s to Durin, with both shops and stalls.
The items sold were diverse; there was everything imaginable.
It was just that Durin recognized most of the items, but he didn't recognize them, so he just looked at them out of curiosity.
He even saw the skinned carcass of an unknown beast, about four meters long from head to tail, being rapidly dissected by the stall owner with a knife while he shouted to sell it.
"This… what kind of meat is this?"
Durin stood by, watching, and couldn't help but ask.
"Green-eyed white tiger meat from Ionia, just killed last night, the meat is fresh! If you cook this stuff into soup at night, it will definitely make your women scream. Only 2 silver lun coins for a jin, want to buy a jin to try the taste?"
After hearing that, Durin immediately turned and left to check out the next stall.
What a joke!
2 silver lun coins for only one jin of meat, no matter how much that meat strengthens virility, it shouldn't be so outrageous!
"Come one, come all, don't miss out! Freshly delivered striped mandarin fish, handsome guy, want to buy a few? I'll give you a good price," the fishmonger next to him shouted at Durin.
"What's the price?"
"10 copper circle coins for one, buy three get one free."
"Hey, hey, friend, don't leave! If you think it's expensive, you can bargain! Friend!"
Durin, with his shallow pockets, felt his liver and heart ache just hearing their prices, but he had to pretend to be nonchalant and composed.
He checked several stalls selling "ordinary" food, which left him wide-eyed and amazed.
Durin estimated that his 15 copper circle coins wouldn't buy much here, so it was better to honestly return to the Slums and buy some food there.
Suddenly, a commotion outside the market attracted Durin's attention. The noise outside grew louder and louder, making everyone curious enough to stop their work and go out together, intending to investigate what was happening.
The noisy sounds were very lively, as if people were arguing or quarreling, and by the sound of it, there seemed to be quite a few people.
As soon as Durin walked out of the market, he saw a large group of people walking towards them on a nearby street. These people occasionally entered the shops on both sides of the street, and then he could hear some arguments from inside those shops, as well as things being thrown out, and frightened women screaming and fleeing in panic.
Everyone watched, bewildered. The crowd somewhat realized that these people's actions seemed to be looking for someone or something, but what exactly happened, they were completely unclear.
Watching the approaching crowd, the people suddenly gasped, and Durin finally saw what these people were wearing.
"Damn it, why are the Piltoverianss here!"
"Get lost! Piltover's running dogs! Zaun doesn't welcome you!"
Durin swallowed, instinctively tugging at his shirt, wanting to conceal the hilt of his short knife; the blade was already wrapped in cloth.
He saw these running dogs, called Piltoverianss, wearing blue and black armed armor, which looked particularly bulky and heavy, but could provide these Enforcers coming to Zaun with a certain degree of safety and a slight enhancement of physical strength.
In the eyes of these Piltover people, accustomed to fresh air, Zaun's air was thick and heavy, and Zaun's haze left the burning taste of alchemical substances in their throats.
But for the locals, the air in the upper city was too thin, lacking substance.