Dockside

"Next!"

Gu Sheng's eyes swept around, and a flicker of surprise suddenly crossed their depths. What a coincidence—he had spotted a... somewhat familiar figure.

How could he be here...? No, no, it isn't him. He should be older than this. Could it be...?

A hint of emotion flashed through Gu Sheng's eyes, and a smile touched the corners of his lips as he walked toward the group preparing to unload cargo at the dock.

"Hey! You few over there, get moving!"

"What's going on this early in the morning? None of you had breakfast?"

"Faster, faster! Get to work!"

The docks were already bustling early in the morning. Quite a few laborers in coarse yellow clothes were working, while gang members in black jackets shouted at and supervised them. These people were all peripheral members of the local gangs.

As Shanghai had been the foremost international metropolis during the Republic of China era, it had numerous Concessions, and its docks were likewise extremely lively. Most of the docks along the coastal stretch of the Huangpu River were controlled by local gangs. Even after the island nation occupied Shanghai, this situation did not change much.

A great upheaval had taken place in Shanghai the previous year. The island nation's planes bombed Shanghai, and its army invaded the Central Plains. After the Central Plains National Government's forces fought a major battle against them and lost, a national war that swept across all of China began.

That war had continued to this day, and neither the north nor the south had found peace. Shanghai had been occupied by the island nation, which harbored the ambition of a snake swallowing an elephant, seeking to annex all of China from its tiny island territory.

For China, this war was a catastrophe. In the original