Leaving the tavern, Old Dmitry led Li Aozi and Qiu Ran through the complex alleys and containers of the Sikkim Settlement, opened a manhole cover, and took them down the ladder into the depths.
"Is this... a sunken ship?"
Qiu Ran brushed her fingertips along the alloy panels on either side of the corridor and said in surprise:
"The entire Sikkim Settlement is actually built on a ship... It's hard to imagine. How big is this ship?"
"Less than a million tons, a small cargo ship by the old standards. Back in the old days, that was considered small, not even equipped with a nuclear reactor. The warships and aircraft carriers of the old era, those were real behemoths, easily five or six hundred meters long."
Dmitry spoke wistfully:
