At four in the morning, before the sun had risen, the sea was still blanketed in gray haze.
Golden Gallon Port lay sprawled along the coastline like a sleeping bull. Its concrete piers jutting outward were its horns, while the urban district stretched along the shore, densely packed with houses and shacks of varying heights, forming its bloated, hefty belly.
This settlement on the banks of the Eternal Flow River, situated on an alluvial plain, was the largest settlement and the largest port of the Xilan Empire's eastern coast.
According to the post Si Si had updated on the forum, an astonishing one million people lived here—more than the entire population of the Hump Kingdom combined.
In terms of scale alone, neither Silver Moon Bay's port nor the Ring Island port could compare. Beside it, they were little more than fleas.
But as for living standards, one only had to look at the dense, anthill-like houses and shanties to feel the suffocating hardship pressing in from all sides.
Of course, saying there were only shacks here would be slander against the Empire. After all, anyone who came ashore from this port, provided they were not blind, could not possibly overlook the straight concrete piers and the few streets fitted with streetlamps.
Although the incident a month ago had left the nobles living near the port shaken, it did not change the fact that this was the most expensive place along the entire Eternal Flow River. A single brick here could buy an entire nearby district.
Of course, no matter how expensive the houses here were, it had nothing to do with Palu, who stood guard here.
First of all, he was one of the Horse people. Only the noble Sun people, Ox people, and outsiders were qualified to buy houses