Dream Island, eastern coast, observation platform.
A Lan stood atop the platform, the salty, damp sea breeze brushing the hair over his forehead.
He gazed toward the distant meeting of sea and sky.
Five unnatural distortions had appeared in the once-calm azure sky.
Dazzling energy rapidly gathered and spun, tracing the outlines of five enormous, intricately structured Spatial Teleportation Arrays.
Violent spatial turbulence roamed the edges of the formation diagrams with a low hum, churning the sea below into enormous whirlpools.
The five teleportation arrays were scattered rather than concentrated over Gambling City or the Chamber of Commerce headquarters at the island's heart, making their arrival seem more exploratory.
Their purpose was obvious: they wanted to use a probing assault to test the waters.
If Dream Island's defenses proved weak, easily breached by this first assault.
The greedy gazes hidden in the shadows would shift from probing to devouring.
Many factions wary of the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce would follow in their wake.
They would tear the island and everything of value upon it apart and divide the spoils.
Then the Gold Coin Chamber of Commerce would suffer a severe blow, forced to relocate and devote more effort to rebuilding.
The Player Faction's operations across the nearby waters would also be badly damaged.
The pressure weighed on his shoulders like an invisible mountain.
A Lan took a deep breath and swept Analysis across them. Information about the five teleportation arrays immediately surfaced in his mind.
These five factions came from five different sea regions.
Each dominated its own waters. One faction, named the Skyspine Featherfolk, was even an Overlord-level Faction that controlled the Three Great Sea Regions, just like Shuyan.
A Lan turned his gaze toward the island's interior.
Teleportation lights had almost joined into a brilliant ribbon, countless