Hong Lu City

**Hong Lu**’s capital of the name Hong Lu City is home to billions of humans, all under the same leading body, a faceless puppet government controlled by the criminal syndicate of the **14 Red Dogs Triad**.

## Demographics

The mean population density of the city's metro area is around 22,065/km2 (57,124/sq mi), density of its metropolis is 112,412/km2 (291,020/sq mi). The overwhelming majority of **Hong Lu**'s 12.96 billion inhabitants live in Hong Lu City near the city core, the metropolis alone is home to 3.24 billion. The population size decreased significantly during the 18 years of Revolt on the planet, caused by people fleeing the planet, casualties of the civil war and extremely poor health and living conditions. An informal census had **Hong Lu**'s population at roughly 47 billion pre-Revolt.

### Religion

Based on a poll sent out in to the digital networks of Hong Lu in the year 3199:

1. 63% The High Church of Messiah-as-Emperor.
2. 19% Atheism. (Not due to lack of faith, but lack of teaching)
3. 8% The Church of Humanity, Repentant.
4. 6% The Guild
5. 4% Other

### Notable Gangs of Hong Lu

Although it’s **The Red Dogs** who maintain power over most if not all of **Hong Lu**, it’s unique history and opportunities have given rise to a gang culture unrivaled by any world in any sector of **Acheron Rho**.

**The Red Dogs** street presence is maintained via a mixture of the initiated ‘49ers’, who command respect and fear amongst the population and serve as elite muscle for The Dogs, and non-scarred affiliates. The uninitiated can roughly be divided into Blue Lanterns, independent crims or those whose only goal is to become a Dog, and those who belong to another gang or clan under The Dogs’ protection.

The trade centers and population hubs are kept firmly under **The Red Dogs** thumb but as you stray from these areas gangs spring up like weeds from concrete. Especially popular are the slum cities built around the old **Cygnus** “social housing blocks”, forgotten sublevels, and the rubble ruins from the revolt.

Some examples of the crooks that rule the streets include:

#### The Baíyìn Bloodletters

The Baíyìn Bloodletters, the most notorious of the Yellow gangs was formally formed in 3165, and quickly began a ruthless campaign of driving other gangs out of Baíyìn for good. The Bloodletters saw themselves more as a defensive army, protecting their home of the White Shade District and each other, than a gang at first, however, by the early 3170s, they like the gangs before them were engaged in all manners of criminal conduct.

#### Blue Lanterns

Although Blue Lanterns aren’t any kind of official title or rank among the Triad, they see themselves not only as an integral part of the **14RD** but as the next generation, one opportunity away from proving themselves worthy.

#### Hong Lu Zoo

Every member is styled after an animal, monkeys are currently in fashion. Lead by four owls. Vicious to a fault. Law of the jungle rules supreme.

#### Ratt nation

They’ve crawled out from the detritus of the old **Hong Lu**, finding gold in the garbage of others. Their members claim areas of the city that have fallen into irreparable disrepair, whether the levels of the city have collapsed in on themselves or the city has repurposed the area as a dumping ground. Hygiene is not part of a ratt’s life. *[think Die Antwoord and Johannesburg in aesthetic but probably shittier and probably diseased]*

#### The AntiSocial network

Hacker/tech group. Largely shut ins and cyborgs, not much is known about them, their presence is felt largely through daring hacks and their signature ‘tags’ (a quick way of hacking most screens to display logos or slogans of their choosing).

#### NOFUTURE

A young gang without much, they wear mainly black with half their faces tattooed over in black. Big on explosions.

#### The Tartarus Network

A gang of androids and bots operating all around Hong Lu City. Many believe it's some rogue AI operating these frames. In actuality it's **The Red Dogs** R&D department performing field tests or under the radar deals.

#### The Ominos del sonno

A dead organisation, destroyed a long time ago. They were information brokers, with a penchant for metaphores and poetry, communicating in cryptic coded languages amongst them. They wore almost cultist looking masks and very expensive suits. Somehow, they have reappeared in the city recently, selling information on the **The Red Dogs**,although these informations are not very accurate.

## Government

The current state of Hong Lu Politics is a dysfunctional political battlefield of different parties and ideologies fighting over a position, at the feet of the actual rulers of Hong Lu, the 14 Red Dogs Society. Each city sector is puppeteered by a council of 7 Red Dogs representatives of each Red Dogs  department, representing their desires.

All of this is happening in Guzhou. Which is the beating heart of the Hong Luan political charade and corruption. Formerly the home to the Imperial ministry, now the planetary capitol and city center of Hong Lu. Excommunicated nobles, Rich gang bosses and wanted corporates on the run operate this sector like a bureaucratic turf war, with functionally no regard to anything but their own agenda.

The parliament is currently in a total chaos. Writing laws and new constitutions when every major agents either die, get blackmailed out, are accused of treasons or corruption, is an impossible thing to do. The Hong Lu Loyalty Brigade is currently holding the peace and makes sure nobility are hunted down for justice against their crimes.

## Infrastructure

### Cityscape

Hong Lu City spans approximately ten percent of the planet's surface, making it one of the largest settlements in **Acheron Rho**. The city core is located circa 23° above the equator. Hong Lu City's mean diameter is roughly 1,533 kilometers (952.6 mi), its metro area amounts to 587,522 km2 (226,843 sq mi).

Hong Lu City is divided up in **Sectors**, districts and levels as explained under **Hong Lu sectors**

Since the **Hong Lu Revolt**, vast parts of the Hong Lu mega-City are abandoned and resemble a ghost town. No authority is enforced is those parts of Hong Lu City.

Only small settlements and outposts exists in remote regions of the planet, their main purpose being maintenance and operation of the photovaltaic mega arrays, hydroproduction plants and other facilities.

#### Hong Lu City sectors

For main article, see ***Hong Lu City Sectors***

The Hong Lu mega-City is structured in **Sectors** (that are in turn subdivided into 'Districts') horizontally and in layers or 'Levels' vertically. 'Level 0' indicates the city's ground level, levels above that are indexed with increasing numbers, though not uniformly across all of the city. 'Level 3' in one district might indicate the same building height as 'Level 7' in another district. The city's heighest building is the super skyscraper *Chéngbǎo Chùmō* (built in 3172 and still maintained and operated by **A.C.R.E.**), located in the Hong Lu City Downtown district near the city center. The building's total height is recorded at 2,413.1 m (7,917 ft) and has 476 floors. The top layer is indexed as 'Level 17' and encompasses just the four top floors of *Chéngbǎo Chùmō*. 'Level 17' is the layer with the highest index on all of Hong Lu.

A typical address would be of the following format:

`Name, Street Address, Story, Level, District, Sector, Hong Lu City, Hong Lu`.

#### Architecture

*(Expand gallery to the right)*

Made by Mark 'incomingdrawing' Wester

### Transport

#### Space

**Hong Lu** is a hub for space traffic in **Acheron Rho**'s Northwest. A steady stream of ships of all sizes travels from the

**Eunelas** system's outer edge to the planet and back every day.

Incoming and outgoing space traffic is laxly monitored by planetary control centers whose main purpose it is to collect appropriate bribes from freighters, noble yachts (however few of those reach **Hong Lu**) and Imperial ships. A few squadrons of fighters, remnants of the **House Cygnus** military force and other stolen vessels, stand by in case an incoming ship has to be intercepted. These squadrons are manned by fighter pilots of the **14 Red Dogs Triad**, battle seasoned veterans of the **Hong Lu Revolt**.

There are numerous refueling and service stations in orbit around **Hong Lu**. Many of which have a secondary function as trading posts for those who want to avoid setting foot on the planet's surface. Shuttles reach those stations regularly from the planet, mainly in order to transport service personnel to and from. The stations are operated by different owners, among which are the planetary government (and with that the **14 Red Dogs Triad** effectively), **A.C.R.E.** and private business owners.

On the planet's surface, countless small and five major space ports (*Hong Lu Capital Spaceport*, *HLC Cargo Terminal*, ***A.C.R.E.** Spaceport of **Hong Lu***, *Little Kowloon People's Spaceport*, *Kwun Tong Spaceport*) serve as terminals for all spacecraft capable of atmospheric flight. These space ports are usually equipped with the required refueling and servicing gear, as well as with loading cranes and drones to move cargo off and on ships. Delicate cargo—that which would be illegal on most other worlds—can usually be moved by sufficiently bribing officials without much risk of repercussions.

Depending on the distance, the quickest way to reach a destination in the moloch that is Hong Lu City is often by orbital shuttle, a method of transport too costly for the vast majority of **Hong Luans**.

#### Air

Air traffic is dense across all layers of Hong Lu City, especially near the city's core. Hardly any air traffic rules are enforced, resulting in a seemingly chaotic and randomly moving cluster of anti-grav vehicles. Yet, accidents are a much less common occurrence than intuition would imply.

All well maintained buildings of sufficient importance and size offer plenty landing pads for anti-grav vehicles. Finding secure landing spots in Hong Lu City's lower levels however often proves difficult. In the middle and lower levels of the city many vehicle owners find ways to park their aircraft in small hangars rather than out in the open due to the risk of it being looting and vandalized.

#### Surface

Surface traffic consists of vehicles not equipped with powerful enough anti-grav tech for flight in notable heights or those vehicles who lack the tech completely. As with air traffic, close to no traffic rules are enforced.

Low-height gliders and wheeled vehicles are most common for inner-city surface-level transport, although there is the occasional track vehicle—often in the form of old military equipment. Bikes of all sorts (motorized ones and even those powered by the heft of their riders) are a common sight. Walking is popular among those without other means of transportation.

## Culture

### Food

Food consumption habits vary with the city's different levels.

#### Level 0 (surface level)

The planet cannot grow anything on the surface. But, underground, in the heavily ventilated areas, the locals managed to mass produce a mutated algae. This algae is processed to replicate other cereals and vegetables such as a rice known as Algae-Processed Rice or APR.

Pollution and radiation prevent any local biosphere from flourishing and leave the ecosystem with only vermin and insects. As the only local source of any sort of meat, no attempts of extermination are undertaken. Food is so rare, the population of Hong Lu City's lower levels started regulating the vermin proliferation by making it part of their everyday diet.

A standard meal consists of a mix of Algae-Processed Rice and insects. Sweets, salty food, even insect liquor are now a core part of **Hong Lu** cuisine.

Other food is produced purely chemically, such as a synthetic caffeine beverage, typically consumed cold.

#### Level 1+

Most of the higher social classes import **A.C.R.E.** food. In a sense of local pride, however, variants of local dishes start to make their way into the kitchens of higher levels, in a refined presentation. Level 3 is known for a 14-floor megaplex of restaurants that serve dishes including flavored edible silk from gene-modded spiders.

#### Popular recipes

* **Hong Lu Phở UMA noodles 'Umabánh'**, Hong Luan broth, and insects. This is a popular Hong Luan street food that has seen many style from Level 0 junk food to delicious Level +3. The insect meat is usually under the from of delicious little meatballs.

* **Cardinâlis risotto**,UMA rice, Hong Luan broth, wine, onion, cheese, red blossom spice. It is a Neo Cardinâlis rice dish cooked in a broth to a creamy consistency. Red Blossom Spice is giving the dish an attractive cardinal red color to the rice and a powerful taste.

* **UMA Dumplings** the algae can be easily transformed to reproduce pastas, rice and other. Hong Luans make also dumplings out of them
	+ **Wonton** : is a type of dumpling commonly found in a number of Hong Luan cuisines. Wontons are made by spreading a square wrapper (a dough skin made of flour, UMA, water, and salt) flat in the palm of one's hand, placing a small amount of filling in the center, and sealing the wonton into the desired shape by compressing the wrapper's edges together with the fingers. Used as is, in soups or fried
	+ **Kachori** : a meatier, crispier and heavier version of the wonton. They are usually eaten as is with sauces, and contains a large amount of spice, meat and vegetables. Variations of it come in different sizes. One of them is large enough to contain a full meal, with a close esthetic to the kebab.

### Fashion

##### Pressure Masks

*For main article, see **Pressure masks***

**Pressure masks** street culture has always been a core part of **Hong Lu**’s culture. The masks are a way to express social status but also a way to show which group you belong to. It can be on a corporate level, government level and also cultural level. It is known across **Acheron Rho** that some of the most influent mask artists are from here.

### People of note

**Nine Treasures**, (九大圣器), a folk Metal band who draws inspiration from old Chinese and Mongolian culture. All their lyrics are in ancient mongolian. After the **Hong Lu Revolt**, their songs brought determination, strength, and pride back into the populace. They boosted morale and never asked for payment. They have become the heart of **Hong Lu** and preformed at the "**Hong Lu Reclamation Concert**" together with "The Violent Kowtow".

After becoming household names, 80% of all revenue, from their album sales, went to the **14 Red Dog Charity** funding.

Some of their greatest hits are, Wisdom Eye's, Tes river's Hymn and Sonsii

    **Songstress Kētóu,** from the band "**The Violent Kowtow**" (磕头如捣蒜). They got their fame doing the uprisings doing the revolts, when their first album "The Burning Synth"("燃烧的合成人") was used as a theme for the revolt.

### Best Selling Games on Hong Lu as of 3200

1. Synthetic Warfare: Revolt (FPS/AR or Dataslab/**PRISM**)
2. Blood Road: Most Wanted (Racing/AR or Dataslab/**PRISM**)
3. Game of Courts: Expansion of Brass (MMORPG/AR/Red Dogs Creative/Old Guild game)
4. A.C.R.E. Simulator: Cornucopia (Simulation/Dataslab/**A.C.R.E.**)
5. Mahjong 3199 (Strategy/Dataslab/Indie)

### Wànnéng Wǔjutsu (Universal Martial Art)

*For main article, see **Wànnéng Wǔjutsu***

The martial masters of **Hong Lu** have gathered to create the **Wànnéng Wǔjutsu**. A school for all arts, supported by the **14 Red Dogs** Society. It has been formed after the revolution, the bonding of war broke the negative relationships between the schools.
And with the help of **The Red Dogs**, they started to study together.
Learning each others art and philosophy, the masters are building a new one, a martial art that transcends all.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAQsFN64rEQ
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nla0UG2ATko
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e1JyWgVfnI
4. ↑ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1poJUXcxNiPtz7N73cemuDQh3KVYuiIcP/view?usp=sharing
5. ↑ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xTm9zjnQenGEbbnVusK1xzCX3\_nrkV1J/view?usp=sharing