"Thirty years after the 'Sakura' appeared, the population of East Sea City had dwindled to 800,000..."
This city, amidst the mist of trials and tribulations, had stubbornly persevered for thirty years. Although the population continued to decline, those who were going to leave had already left after such a long time. Those who loved the city still resided there steadily, taking pride in being citizens of East Sea City.
Finally, the population size started to stabilize, no longer plummeting as severely as before.
Facing various rejections from the outside society, the East Sea people had to continuously achieve outstanding results to maintain their sense of superiority deep within. Otherwise, the loss of this sense could easily trigger a populist backlash.
This hefty pressure naturally landed on the shoulders of Zhang Yuan and others. Ordinary commoners only ranted verbally or pounded on their keyboards; expecting them to actually accomplish something was no doubt a pipe dream.
