Behind the helm, the sleepless Isaac Hall lay listlessly on the deck chair fixed behind the wheel, not even lifting his eyelids as he replied, “This is Dalian... Hmm, I don’t know what you call it now, but I chose this place to rest because its entire terrain juts into the sea like a shovel. The narrowest part, the handle of the shovel, is only four or five kilometers wide, with the sea visible at both ends. Digging a trench here would completely cut off land traffic... As for negotiations, if the two sides don’t have equal strength, any agreement is useless. So, I decided to stop here for a while and see how things go before moving on.”

Dalian... transportation... kilometers... agreement... Shawn Irwin didn’t understand any of these words, but she more or less grasped Isaac Hall’s meaning, so she quietly knelt down, gazing silently at the rosy glow over the sea.

The boat was heading east, or rather, toward the sun. Sunlight shone on that high, delicate nose, the porcelain-white face full of sculptural beauty. Isaac Hall gazed at this calm face, lost in thought.

Where does human courage come from? It comes from firmly believing that one’s hopes can be realized, and making unyielding efforts for them.

Such a delicate and beautiful woman, for two years, had endured hardship and wandering, traveled through the wilds, never forgetting to restore her homeland, and always believing she would succeed. That’s why she never feared the future.

What great endurance this must take!

But at this moment, all that was behind her. She sat quietly on the deck like a gentlewoman, right at the bow of Isaac Hall’s boat, enjoying the scenery!

In the contrast between stillness and movement, her beauty was breathtaking. Especially that tranquil grace, which evoked deep affection.

“Perhaps you’re wrong,” Shawn Irwin knelt on the deck, facing the dawn, not turning her head, her voice low and hoarse, as if talking to herself: “Two years, I’ve been running for two years. I’ve pleaded with every tribe I could. Murong Yan destroyed the Duan Xianbei, destroyed my Yuwen tribe... No one, no one dares help us in these times. People always like to add flowers to brocade, or kick you when you’re down—who would send charcoal in the snow! Favorable winds? I’ve waited two years for that. This Liaodong, it’s still Murong Yan’s wind.”

Shawn Irwin spoke slowly, almost word by word. Isaac Hall listened to every word, understood her meaning, but did not reply.

After a long while, Isaac Hall turned the wheel slightly, and the small boat made a gentle half-circle on the sea. Imitating Shawn Irwin’s tone, he spoke to the sea breeze, as if talking to himself: “Those who can create opportunities are the brave; those who only wait for opportunities are fools. I’d rather be a blindly brave man than sit and wait for chances to come... Now, we’re about to land. Welcome, everyone, to Dalian Port.”

The Bohai Bay was always calm. At the end of the Qing dynasty, during the “Rush to the Northeast,” many Shandong farmers could cross the bay with just a gourd tied to their waists. The raft Isaac Hall made was crude, but the journey was short and the waves were small. The ten Irwin attendants lying on the raft didn’t even feel the bumps and were dragged ashore in their sleep.

Dalian—Isaac Hall had sailed in and out of this port countless times before. His machinery factory had often dealt with the Dalian Shipyard. Now, things had changed; the place was overgrown with ancient trees, not a trace of human presence.

Liaodong had always been vast and sparsely populated (it seems it’s always been ancient), and in this era of slaughter, the entire northern territory north of the Huai River had only ten million people—on average, just three or four per square kilometer. In the Central Plains, under the rule of the Jie warlord Shi Hu, there was even an unprecedented beast park spanning tens of thousands of square kilometers, with not a single human inhabitant—only beasts. One can imagine that in the bitterly cold Liaodong, on the sunny slopes of the Qianshan Mountains, and in water-scarce Dalian, even fewer people would be interested.

However, beyond the Qianshan Mountains lay the fertile Liao River Plain. Shaped like a basin, the Liao River Plain faces the sea on one side and is surrounded by mountains on the other three, easy to defend and hard to attack—the birthplace of the Murong Xianbei. Only after the Murong Xianbei took exclusive control of this fertile land did they have the strength to challenge the world.

Ever since Isaac Hall learned of these circumstances from Shawn Irwin, he began to plan his own way out. In this era of slaughter, survival was not easy. When alone, hiding behind the Liao River Plain and watching the storms rise was actually a good way to survive in troubled times.

Dalian is the best natural ice-free port in the north, with countless natural berths suitable for docking. Isaac Hall walked along the shore for a while, searching his memory and comparing the changes in the landscape. Finally, based on the shape of a mountain, he determined the general geography and chose a shallow bay to dock.

This was what would later be known as Tiger Beach. Two mountains embraced the area, with only a single gorge connecting it to the outside world by land. One side of the harbor was a cliff, the other a small plain between the two mountains, enough to house tens of thousands of people. The natural dock required no repairs to accommodate small boats. If enemies appeared, a few minutes’ delay would be enough to board and escape. In the early stages of development, setting up camp here was a wise choice—easy to advance or retreat.