The Mink Trio's First Impressions of the Federation

Eternal Federation, immigration checkpoint.

The sea outside the harbor seemed covered by countless vessels, their decks packed together from the shallows all the way to the distant horizon.

Single-masted sailboats and two-masted merchant ships of every kind lay anchored shoulder to shoulder. Colorful sails overlapped in layers, and the roaring hubbub nearly drowned out the harbor.

On the surface, most of the people aboard these vessels were citizens of other countries who had brought their families, even their entire clans, to seek refuge in the Federation. Their faces held both hope for a new life and apprehension;

the rest were mostly merchant caravans and explorers drawn by curiosity, testing the waters, their eyes filled with a desire to discover the unknown.

The Eternal Continent had a long coastline, but this area alone permitted legal entry.

All other areas were heavily guarded. Dark gray coastal fortresses lined the shore, their yawning cannon muzzles like cold eyes silently trained on the boundless sea.

Guard Corps members in matching uniforms patrolled back and forth, their footsteps as precise as a metronome.

Among the bustling crowds gradually approaching the immigration checkpoint, three figures stood out.

They were not humans, but members of the rarely seen Mink Tribe.

Leading the way, Pedro tilted his keen leopard ears slightly back as he warily surveyed the crowded immigration hall ahead.

"This is the place. It's even busier than I imagined, and different from anywhere else."

Beckmus followed behind him, his lion's mane shoved askew by the press of the crowd, leaving him looking rather disheveled.

At the rear, Jebao shook his head, trying to dislodge the bits of debris caught in his thick fur as he squeezed through the crowd. There was something simple and straightforward about his movements.

The three of them had set out from