On either side of the road, golden-orange ears of rice rolled in the breeze. Old farmers wearing bamboo hats and holding sickles were busy harvesting, while a few calves wandered leisurely nearby and a flock of barefoot children played in the flooded paddies. Looking ahead from outside the village, one could see rows of neatly staggered houses packed close together.
The road was broad and crowded with pedestrians. This was a densely populated little village near the harbor.
As far as the eye could see, the sea stretched without end, its sails scattered like stars across a chessboard. At dusk, mist veiled the horizon. Viewed from the harbor, the sunset filled the sky with a rosy glow as the dark red sun slowly sank where sea met sky. The water shimmered with dazzling colors, magnificent beyond compare. With sails weaving back and forth, it formed a vibrant tableau, adding a leisurely, lyrical beauty to the scene.
Weiss City, a southeastern city of the Heaven Dou Empire, was an important port along the coast of the entire Douluo Continent. It had a permanent population of 470,000 and was built primarily on shallow coastal waters five kilometers offshore, with an average depth of 2.1 meters. Official highways and dirt roads connected it to inland cities. Nearby, 208 scattered islands were linked together by 120 waterways and 307 bridges, with boats carrying people between them. Known as a city on the water, it was one of the coast's most prosperous trading centers.
A month earlier, Tang Chen and Tang Hao, the Sky-Blasting Gang's two Demigod-level powerhouses, had joined forces to lead the Imperial Allied Forces in a fierce assault on Jialing Pass. After taking the mighty fortress—which had held out for half a year—in just three days, their army had driven deep into