Three days after the liberation of Golden-Crow Capital, the morning sun rose over the rugged granite peaks of the Eastern Cloud-Ridge Mountains, ten miles east of the capital.
For eight hundred years, these steep, jagged mountains had blocked trade between the Royal Plains and the eastern coastal counties, forcing merchants to climb narrow goat paths where horses broke their legs every week.
Today, however, the base of the Eastern Cloud-Ridge Mountains looked like the liveliest festival ground in the world!
Four parallel tracks of gleaming steel rails ran straight from the East Gate of Golden-Crow Capital right up to the foot of the cliff. Five thousand citizens sat on wooden bleachers set up at a safe distance, munching on roasted sunflower seeds and drinking warm soy milk while watching the grand opening of the Eastern Mountain High-Speed Railway Tunnel Project.
And standing right in front of the solid granite cliff face were the four stars of the show—the former Four Supreme Foundation Establishment Immortal Advisors of the Great Yan Kingdom!
All four of them wore clean gray cotton work clothes topped with bright fluorescent-yellow canvas vests printed in bold black letters:
> [ DRY-WELL MUNICIPAL ROAD CREW — DEBTOR SQUAD #1 ]
