Hailan Refugees

Siyi Juesa, in the ancient script of the Hailan Kingdom, meant: the tide surge that visited winter.

However, ever since the continental common tongue had begun to flourish, Hailan's native language had gradually fallen out of favor. Now, hardly anyone could read ancient Hailan script. Still, some of Hailan's cities and islands retained their Hailan names.

Siyi Juesa was one of them. It was a city located on the outer island chain of the Hailan Kingdom.

Though its official name was "Siyi Juesa," compared with that tongue-twisting name, the locals preferred to call it—Wintertide City.

Blue Bay was a harbor along Wintertide City's coast. It had originally been an extremely prosperous commercial port, but after Hailan went to war with the Golden Sparrow Empire, it was commandeered by the military and temporarily converted into a naval port.

Turning it into a naval port had already dealt a heavy blow to Blue Bay's commerce, but everyone thought that as long as they could land on the Old Earth Continent and seize Golden Finch territory, better days would eventually come. Thus, the people of Wintertide City gritted their teeth and decided to endure this period of cold commerce.

What they had not expected was that Hailan had initially held an overwhelming advantage in the war, successively occupying Golden Finch provinces and expanding its territory on the continent. Yet somehow, within only a few months, Hailan had begun to decline. Now, it was even showing signs of defeat.

With the war having reached this point, the Hailan royal family could not possibly pull back now. Leaving aside the blow to morale, the country's domestic needs had been drained for nearly a year, and that loss had to be replenished with outside resources.

So, they could only remain locked in a struggle with Golden