While the port was teeming with people, a livestock freighter beside the docks was likewise packed with ragged men and women.
Their expressions were vacant, their eyes numb, just like the two-headed cattle crammed into the cargo ship next door.
At that moment, several men in exoskeletons boarded the deck.
One of them used a plasma gun to cut through the chain on the iron gate, while another walked over to the crowd, activated his helmet's loudspeaker, and shouted.
"You're free."
The deck was deathly silent.
Faced with the commotion from the bow, those faces remained unmoved. They did not even glance in this direction.
Old White could not help feeling a little awkward.
The players beside him exchanged looks and whispered among themselves.
"What did that remind you of?"
"The Legion's clones."
"Haha, we were thinking the same thing."
Seeing Old White at a loss for words, Fang Chang sighed, walked over, and patted him on the shoulder.
"That won't work... Let me do it."
With that, he stepped forward, looked at the crowd crouching on the deck, and shouted in Human Alliance language.
"We are the Alliance, an alliance formed by survivors who banded together."
Old White stared at him in surprise.
Fang Chang gave him a reassuring look, then looked down at the bowed heads and continued in a raised voice.
"Before coming here, we met some of your suffering countrymen. Their diligence, optimism, and courage left a deep impression on us. No matter how terrible things became, they never gave up... the cramped, sweltering cabins, the journey with no end in sight, the contempt of others, and everything else you can imagine."
"Later, we found a place that could take them in and gave them some spare wood and hay. Before long, they had built rows