July 12, 1899 Shanghai — East Asia Cooperative Railway Project Headquarters
The midday sun glinted off the metal rails laid down across the outskirts of Shanghai, where the first leg of the East Asia Cooperative Railway was beginning to take shape. Cranes moved with slow precision, lifting steel beams onto elevated concrete supports. The rhythmic pounding of hammers and shouted orders filled the air. Laborers from all three nations—China, Korea, and Japan—worked side by side under the banners of peace.
Inside a modest but bustling administration building just off the site, Hesh Corporation engineers and regional representatives crowded around a long table strewn with blueprints, timetables, and weathered maps. At the head of the table sat Frederick Kane, Amerathian-born and the Chief Technical Officer of the East Asia Cooperative Development Program.
