[Post-apocalyptic port + rule-based survival + hard-core deduction + ensemble growth]
After disaster strikes, a port city struggles to survive among the ruins.
And at Pier Seven, under Cheng Ye’s watch, a ship from another world may arrive in the dead of night.
They come from worlds that have already been destroyed, or are in the process of being destroyed.
Their cargo may include survivors, technology, resources, and the last legacy of a civilization.
It may also conceal infection, monsters, eerie rules, and things capable of making this world suffer the apocalypse all over again.
And Cheng Ye is the only one with the authority to control the gate.
Accept them, quarantine them, restrict contact, or refuse them outright.
Opening the gate could save a shipload of people.
Or he could be the one to let another world’s apocalypse in.
And things get even worse:
Once made, every ruling is irreversible.
Every ship allowed to stay will truly change Pier Seven.
Then, one night, a transmission sounds across the sea once more.
“Pier Seven, requesting permission to dock.”
“How many people are on board?”
“Forty-seven.”
“What about your world?”
There is a long silence on the other end.
“...It’s gone.”
Cheng Ye looks up at the ship approaching through the darkness.
“Don’t open the gate yet.”
