Chapter 285:
Two days later.
In the northern reaches of Black Cloud, a fleet of forty ocean-going cargo ships filed into Yusha Port, guided by a small pilot boat.
Scores of laborers from clans such as the Bull-men and Horse-men had already assembled on the docks, ready to unload. Behind them, trading-house managers stood beside large cargo wagons—half from races with a natural talent for commerce, like the Tiger-men, and the rest mixed-blood Goat-men who still bore vestigial horns.
In a district like Black Cloud, where pure-blooded humans dominated, these were the lower and middle classes of the Outer City. That non-humans could find work here at all was testament to the city's relative tolerance.
Thud, thud, thud.
To a rhythm of heavy footsteps, Half-Giants in gray vests—each back embroidered with the characters for "Hundred Seas"—moved into position along the edge of the wharf, carrying coils of heavy rope as they waited to handle the incoming cargo.
These Half-Giants resembled ordinary humans, only vastly larger—the shortest standing four meters tall, the tallest over six. Their skin was a dull gray, their heads cropped close or shaved entirely, and they wore sturdy hard-leather boots and gray leather gloves. Thick grayish-black towels hung around their necks.
A loose group of twenty-odd occupied a stretch of the quay.
"My goodness—I could never have expected Dao Master Lin to collect the goods in person. You honor me."