Earth, Trade City.
Night fell, and lights came on across the supercity spanning an artificial island chain in the Pacific Ocean.
Seen from above, the entire city resembled a vast net woven from light.
Lights of different colors outlined the city's seven districts.
The white lights of the Human Race district, the blue-green fluorescence of the Sea-Dwelling Race district, the red lights of the Resilient Race district... each kind of light represented one of the Earth Alliance's races.
The city had also been jointly built by seven races.
The Descent War back then had subjected Earth to a succession of climate disasters, energy crises, and waves of automation-driven unemployment over a period of time.
The wave of automation-driven unemployment, in particular, had plunged many races into turmoil.
The Eclipse Race's advanced technology replaced manual labor, meaning ordinary manpower would struggle to create value.
Ninety-five percent of the traditional workforce could no longer generate income for themselves.
Factories no longer needed workers, logistics no longer needed drivers, and even basic medical diagnosis had begun shifting to Eclipse Intelligence.
The credo that "labor creates value" came crashing down before the Eclipse Race's efficient machinery.
Unemployment swept the globe, and society fell into turmoil.
To solve this problem, the Human Federation and the other races had tried distributing basic income directly, using machine-generated wealth to support the unemployed.
But this seemingly perfect solution soon revealed a fatal flaw.
When people lost the meaning of work, society began to fall apart.
Idle crowds wandered the streets, and crime rates soared.
Especially with the potential crisis weighing on the hearts of all races at the time: the arrival of the next Descent Faction.
Depression swept the globe during this period, and suicide rates hit historic highs.
Humans who had lost their goals began splintering into